Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, I very much enjoyed working on the public accounts committee with the member. I always found her thoughtful. I will say that, from Milton Friedman to Thomas Sowell, it is clear from history that, throughout the numerous inflation crises this world has experienced, including the last one under Pierre Elliott Trudeau, it is nearly always a government issue, either because it was printin…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, I am actually struck by similarities. This member does not have the benefit of the years that I do, but I remember during Pierre Elliott Trudeau's time there was stagflation, which is high inflation, low economic growth and serious economic problems. My question for the member is this: Is this a return of “Trudeaunomics” or is it “Justinflation”?
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, the government's tax-and-spend policies have created an affordability crisis in our country. According to recent inflation numbers, food is increasing by the unbelievable amount of over 10%, which will leave many Canadians deciding this winter whether it will be eating or heating each month. When will the government stop fuelling inflation and start helping Canadians by reversing its …
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
With regard to Via Rail's morning commuter service: when will train 651 between Kingston and Toronto (including stops in Coburg and Port Hope), be reinstated and begin operating again?
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
With regard to the electric vehicle charging stations installed on government property: (a) what are the locations of each station; (b) on what date did each station become operational; and (c) for each location in (a), what was the total cost to acquire and install the station?
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
With regard to the various user fees collected by the government, including those collected by any department or agency: what are the details of all fees which have increased in the past 12 months, or are scheduled to be increased in the next year, including, for each, the (i) title and description of fee, (ii) fee amount or structure prior to the increase, (iii) dates of increase, (iv) increased …
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
With regard to Royal Canadian Air Force flights, including training flights which flew over downtown Ottawa between January 1, 2022, and May 1, 2022: what are the details of each such flight, including (i) the date, (ii) the type of aircraft, (iii) the origin, (iv) the destination, (v) the number of individuals on board, (vi) the purpose of the flight, including the type of training, if applicable…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, I share my colleague's deep concern, empathy and sympathy for all Canadians who are unfortunately addicted to substances across the country. I have certainly seen it in our towns of Port Hope and Cobourg, the havoc it can wreak, not just on the individuals who are addicted to these substances but on their family members. It would give me no greater joy in life than if we could get goo…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, I will certainly go to our whip's office and tell him that we need important, diligent debate on this issue, as we need it on everything. I appreciate that. I thought I was fairly persuasive in the fact that I asked his colleagues two substantive questions about the bill, and they had no idea what was there. It is sad that the government does not know its own legislation. The speech I…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, with regard to where I left off on speaking to Bill C-9, this provision has many things that the Conservatives will support. I was just outlining the substance of the changes to the judicial review process. Of course, if this bill passes, there will be a screening officer and then there will be a series of panels. We had gotten to the hearing panel, which would be the first review of …
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, I am actually going to go through the substance of this bill. I agree with many parts of it. I would say this is one of the least contentious pieces of legislation that we will go through and that we have discussed. However, I do believe that our job, for which we are very well compensated by Canadian taxpayers, is to make sure we understand any legislation that goes through the chamb…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, throughout the discussion, I have heard from the other side the importance of moving through this legislation with due dispatch. However, it is also important to have due diligence. The last time I asked a substantive question, I did not get an answer, so I am going to attempt another substantive question just to prove once again that even the government does not know what it is passi…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, one of the important changes in the legislation is the inclusion of the review and hearing panel system. I was wondering if the member could tell everyone what the difference between a review and a hearing panel is.
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, that is a very good question and I intend to work with my colleague on judicial appointments. I have been troubled, as I think a lot of Canadians have been, by some of the news stories. It appears there is some connection or correlation between donating to the Liberal Party and being appointed as a justice. I appreciate this question.
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, I know the hon. member has a long track record of speaking in this House about the importance of debate. I would call upon those comments. I know her comments are made with the best of intentions, but I still believe this bill deserves additional study and conversations. Whether it be the appointment of an individual screening officer versus the executive director, or whether it be th…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
moved for leave to introduce Bill C-281, an act to amend the Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development Act, the Justice for Victims of Corrupt Foreign Officials Act (Sergei Magnitsky Law), the Broadcasting Act and the Prohibiting Cluster Munitions Act. Madam Speaker, to thunderous applause, I may say, it is a privilege and an honour to rise in the House to introduce my private member's …
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, Canadians are experiencing economic challenges that they have not seen since Pierre Elliott Trudeau was Prime Minister. They are struggling through a cost-of-living crisis. Inflation is at 6.8%. Supply chain disruptions have Canadians waiting for months for essential items. Gas prices are over $2 a litre. A struggling stock market has Canadians' retirement savings disappearing. Are we…
Read full speech →Government Orders
There can't be more.
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, I was a little disappointed during committee. There were certain amendments brought forward to remove mandatory minimums for heinous crimes committed against children. As the father of an eight-year-old son and a soon to be seven-year-old daughter, I find that revolting. Would the member care to apologize for entering those amendments?
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, I would say that the Constitution actually trumps the order of the Speaker, or of—
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, I rise on a point of order. Bill C-21 is being considered without quorum, and for Hansard it should be noted that a debate is happening contrary to the constitutional requirement that the House cannot depart from its own code of procedure when the procedure is entrenched in the Constitution of Canada.
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, that is the difference between the Liberals and the Conservatives. The Liberals measure success by the amount of money spent. The Conservatives measure it in results. Clearly, we are losing when it comes to innovation and productivity. An expensive failure is still a failure.
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, I rise today on a serious and sober note. I am here to ring the alarm bells. Our future prosperity is at risk. I am expressing this concern not out of some sense of blind partisanship but rather out of a sense of duty to my country, which I love, but which I also fear for. As has been said by the Prime Minister, the finance minister, the associate finance minister, many members acro…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, the member is perhaps one of the most experienced in the entire Parliament, which is surprising given her relative youth. Given that experience, would she agree with me that often times it is in lengthy debates that legislation gets improved, that we find issues and make laws better for Canadians.
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, bentornato. Welcome back. It is great to have you back in the chair. When I left off, I was talking about a challenge that faces our Canadian economy and really puts all of our prosperity at risk, and that is our failure to be a leader in productivity across the world. That noted right-wing commentator, Bill Morneau, actually commented that we are, as he correctly points out, number 2…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, I want to say a quick word of thanks to all of the interpreters. They are doing an amazing job. I understand that CBC had a story about their contributions to the workplace, and I thank them for all that they do. They are doing great, but I did not quite catch all of that. However, I think I understood the basics of it. We need to empower our provinces to be ambitious as the Liberal…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, I enjoyed serving with the hon. member for Stormont—Dundas—South Glengarry. I agree with what the Auditor General said. In my year and a half at the public accounts committee, I became increasingly frustrated that government departments, and indeed the Liberal government, were measuring success not on the results they achieved but on the money they spent. To repeat, an expensive fai…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, this is part of what I am talking about when I say we need a national economic development plan. Part of that will be more traditionally Conservative ideas, such as reducing regulation and taxation, but part of it is also more traditionally the space of the NDP, I might say, which is funding the areas of education that are in demand. Right now we have a disconnect between the educat…
Read full speech →Statements by Members
Madam Speaker, with 83 seats, 41%, 52 seats more than any other party in the Ontario legislature and a 16% margin of victory, it does not get much more decisive than that. The Ontario PCs ran a disciplined and smart campaign that focused on the issues that Ontarians are concerned about. They had a plan to address the affordability crisis and to rebuild the Ontario economy. I congratulate my MPP, D…
Read full speech →Statements by Members
Mr. Speaker, today it is my honour to rise on behalf of Republic Day in Azerbaijan. Azerbaijan is an amazing country, full of diversity and even contradictions. It is a country where the majority of the population is Muslim. However, it has also been a refuge for hundreds of years to thousands of folks of the Jewish religion. It is a country where, when the Soviet Union tore down churches, Muslims…
Read full speech →Private Members' Business
moved that Bill S-216, An Act to amend the Income Tax Act (use of resources of a registered charity), be read the second time and referred to a committee. Mr. Speaker, it gives me great joy and pleasure to rise in this House to talk about a very important piece of legislation, Bill S-216. I do, at the outset, want to talk about the budget implementation act, as well as the budget, because it claim…
Read full speech →Private Members' Business
Madam Speaker, I thank the government for its initial efforts. However, in multiple consultations with some of the leading stakeholders, their concerns are that the legislation is overly prescriptive. There are specific legislative requirements that will be extremely burdensome for organizations such as Black Moms Connection and others that simply do not have the infrastructure to respond to that.…
Read full speech →Private Members' Business
Madam Speaker, I would agree with the premise of the question that charities have been in a difficult situation because of COVID-19. There is certainly no doubt about it. I would also agree that we need to look at charitable law and the charitable sector in a greater context. I believe this is a great first step. One of the things the government could do that would not cost the taxpayers anything …
Read full speech →Private Members' Business
Madam Speaker, I must say it is great that all the questions have been extremely respectful, and I look forward to working with all parties in the House to potentially amend the BIA. The overall theme of what I have heard from stakeholder after stakeholder from the charitable organizations is that it is far too prescriptive. What does prescriptive mean? It means that there are two many written req…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, regardless of the language, there was no answer there. On January 24, 2022, the Minister of Transport affirmed that Via would be back to full operations. However, it appears that this promise is broken, as the Via route 651 is not being put back to restoration and the Liberals will not even tell us when. When will route 651 be fully restored?
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, the broadcasting and communications industry has changed dramatically, and COVID-19 has shown us that it is incredibly important in today's day and age to have access to unfettered news and unfettered communication. Many of us were locked down in our houses for months at a time, and in many cases our sole form of communication was through the Internet. That is the way we communicate…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, it is always an honour to speak in the House, but particularly on an issue as important as Bill C-10, or rather, Bill C-11. I apologize. I am in the last Parliament.
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, as always, I admire the passion, although not necessarily the substance, of the member's question. Proposed subsection 4.1(2) creates an exception to an exception for user-generated content when the user makes some type of profit or dollars from it. That is absolutely brought in and is clear. That is the right answer.
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague for her question. Unfortunately, this legislation is a failure. Of course, I share the member's passion for Canadian and Quebec culture and would like nothing more than to see it promoted. However, this bill is replete with challenges and difficulties, including a lack of definition and clarity on what Canadian content is and on the regulation of user-generated …
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, there is no doubt that work needs to be done. The Broadcasting Act needs to be amended and changed. I certainly do not use my Sony Walkman anymore, so we need to update it. The problem is that this bill is so bad that we need to go back to the drawing board, unfortunately. It has all the hallmarks of bad legislation. It has a lack of clarity. It is overly burdensome to the industry.…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
With respect, Mr. Speaker, that is not what the media are saying and that is not what is coming out from insiders in the CRA. According to the report, CRA violated its own policy and procedures to give a sweetheart deal to big business. This is in addition to not prosecuting one person for the Panama papers. Why is the CRA aggressively pursuing hard-working Canadians while letting big business off…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, my question will again be directed toward the potential implementation of the spirit of Bill S-216, as included in the budget act. As we have seen, the existing charitable law, or the transfer between charities and non-qualified donees or non-charities, is extremely archaic. In fact, some would say it is colonial in structure, which makes it very difficult for charities to have the ri…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, I want to talk specifically about an area of the budget with respect to a private member's bill, Bill S-216. Bill S-216 is a piece of legislation that seeks to remove the archaic “own activities test”. The budget said that it wanted to have the spirit of Bill S-216 brought into effect. First, will these changes be made in the Budget Implementation Act? Second, a big part of Bill S-216…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, it is my honour to introduce two petitions to the House today. The first is in support of Bill S-223, which seeks to combat forced organ harvesting and trafficking. It would make it a criminal offence for a person to go abroad and receive an organ taken without the consent of the person giving the organ.
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, the second petition is in defence and support of the people of Ukraine, given that the Russian Federation has launched an unprovoked war against the people of Ukraine. The Russia Federation has committed multiple war crimes against the people of Ukraine and the Russian invasion has triggered a human rights and humanitarian displacement crisis, the worst such catastrophe in recent Euro…
Read full speech →Statements by Members
Mr. Speaker, today I rise to recognize the great work of Habitat for Humanity Northumberland. Back in March, I attended Habitat home dedications in Cobourg and Bewdley to celebrate the wonderful work they are doing in our riding. Habitat for Humanity's mission is to break the cycle of poverty through their innovative home ownership program, which helps individuals and families in financially vulne…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, Belden, a manufacturer in my riding, has been struggling with its expansion. It needs two engineering experts from India to train Belden engineers, machine operators and local installers. Work permits from India are taking well over a year in processing time. Belden is coming close to a standstill and layoffs are close. When will the NDP-Liberal government finally take ownership of th…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, last summer, I met with the Popal family, who own the Shawarma House and Pizza in Cobourg. The Popals have family members from Afghanistan who are in fear for their lives. Before the Taliban took over, they were women’s rights defenders, they were activists for democracy, and they were fighting the Taliban in the Afghan army. However, at every twist and every turn, my team has been me…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, it is a troubling development that the new NDP-Liberal government seems to focus, more and more, on centralizing. It is taking money and the rights and freedoms of Canadians, of Quebeckers, and transplanting them into Ottawa. Yes, I stand with my friend against centralization and I stand for Canadians and individuals across this great land.
Read full speech →