Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, we have heard over and over again that Canadians have never had it so good. During Wednesday's question period, the Prime Minister guaranteed to the Canadian public, those people who are counting on interest rates going down, that they will start coming down in the next few months. That is great news. The problem is that the Bank of Canada, the organization that actually decides what …
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, over the last six quarters, there has been declining GDP per capita growth. There has been zero GDP per capita growth in the last 10 years. The government's response has been to spend more money, spreading more fire on the already burning-out-of-control inflationary fire, with $61 billion in new spending. Once again, I will ask this. Canadians are barely hanging on. Some of them are g…
Read full speech →Statements by Members
Mr. Speaker, the NDP-Liberal Prime Minister is not worth the cost, the chaos, the drugs and the crime. After nine years of the Prime Minister's extremist policies, deadly hard drugs are now available in B.C.'s public spaces, such as parks, coffee shops and even hospitals. Now, the Prime Minister wants to expand his radical experiment from British Columbia to Toronto. Of course, my riding is only a…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, in this most recent budget, it is predicted that the interest will outstrip the transfers on health care. Does the member think that $54 billion is a big number?
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, we request a recorded division.
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
With regard to government programs that provide funding for roads and highways, including both regular and non-traditional highways or roads, such as those in northern or remote areas: what are the details of all funding agreements that are currently in place, including, for each, the (i) amount of federal funding, (ii) type of agreement, (iii) partners of the agreement, (iv) cost-sharing arrangem…
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Mr. Speaker, while the Liberals deflect, deny and gaslight, common-sense Conservatives will remain laser-focused on the affordability crisis. Bill C-234 is back before the House and the Liberals have a chance to help Canadians by reducing food costs by reducing the burden on farmers, which would ultimately make everything more affordable. Will the Liberals finally give farmers and Canadians a brea…
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With regard to government funding for highway or road projects: (a) what are the details of all proposals or requests for funding related to highways or roads which the government has received but for which the funding has not yet been either formally approved or denied, including, for each, the (i) date on which the government received the proposal or request, (ii) amount of federal government fu…
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Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister has a superpower: the ability to spend other people's money. However, I would like to remind him that it is not his money he is spending. It is the hard-earned dollars of Canadians. It is clear he has no respect for Canadians or their hard-earned dollars. He is just not worth the cost. Will his government commit to a pay-as-you-go rule in the upcoming budget to help…
Read full speech →Orders of the Day
Madam Speaker, I know the vast majority of our civil servants are working their tails off to do what they can to make Canada a better country. This is a big challenge, though. As they say, the fish rots from the head down. We really need to get to the bottom of this to make sure we do not have any more issues such as this.
Read full speech →Orders of the Day
Madam Speaker, I am open to any discussions that might make the process better, but the reality is that a lot of this should be public. Canadian taxpayers have the right to know where their millions of dollars are going. If it is not essential to the national security or to other related issues to keep their privacy, the Canadian public should know what is going one.
Read full speech →Orders of the Day
Madam Speaker, I have two children, an eight-year-old and a 10-year-old. When, occasionally, they do something wrong, one of them will immediately point to the other one when they are guilty. It is amazing. It is called “whataboutism”. That is the base level of the Liberal politics. They will deflect, deny and do anything not to take responsibility. The arrive scam is the Liberal government's faul…
Read full speech →Orders of the Day
Madam Speaker, I would be remiss if I did not note that we are experiencing the eclipse right now. We even saw a dimming of the light in the House of Commons. Unfortunately, that will not be the biggest cover-up we talk about today. It will also my great honour and privilege to split my time with the member for Mégantic—L'Érable. We will be talking about the privilege motion, which is the subject …
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
With regard to the government's Medical Expense Tax Credit, broken down by year since 2016: (a) how many individuals filed medical expenses for gluten-free products; (b) what was the total value of tax credits claimed for gluten-free food products; (c) what is the breakdown of the individuals who claimed medical expenses for gluten-free products by income level; (d) how many audits were conducted …
Read full speech →Statements By Members
Mr. Speaker, the government cannot give anyone anything that it did not first take from someone else. In the case of the carbon tax and the so-called rebate, the government is literally taking from one pocket and putting it into another, but not before stuffing its own. Canadians are smart enough to recognize a scam when they see it. This carbon tax shell game has gone on for long enough. The fact…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, to be crystal clear, the Liberal government does not support $10-a-day child care. I just read a number of emails. It does not exist. It is like unicorns or Pegasus; it just does not exist.
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, today, I am continuing my speech on child care, and in the earlier part of it, I went through some of the challenges with the child care system and outlined them. I would like to go through some proof points, which are actual emails I received from constituents. I will try to read these as clearly and as unredacted as possible, but obviously, for personal reasons, for names and other …
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, we have heard stories. I would like to take this moment to talk briefly about Clare from my office. She is a very special employee. I tell her every time I see her that she is my favourite. She has Down's syndrome, but because of the gift of an amazing raising and child care, and being an amazing person, she works her heart out every time she is at our office. She does great work for …
Read full speech →Private Members' Business
Madam Speaker, I will start my speech with a couple of important messages. Recently, we saw the passing of Daryl Kramp, who was an amazing member of Parliament and a personal mentor to myself. I give my best to his family going forward. He was a legend of a man who really contributed to his family, to his community and to this place as well. I would also like to give a shout-out to the member for …
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, I would put that question directly back to them. Do they support child care? Clearly, they do not, actually. I already have the answer. Did they not just hear the litany of emails I just read? Canadians are not only unable to afford child care, but also unable to access child care. There are many dads and moms in my riding who want to return to work but cannot because they cannot find…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, the Senate has openly said that it does not want private child care. We need to value all forms of child care, whether it is a wonderful, licensed facility, of which there are a ton in Northumberland—Peterborough South that try to do there best but do not have enough spots or whether it is a grandma in the neighbourhood who takes care of not only her grandchildren but also a couple of…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, I will not dignify the Peterborough comment with a response. Other than that, I have great respect for the member. She has done a wonderful job, and I hope she caught, in one of the emails, that one of my constituents thanked her specifically for all the fantastic work she has done. We need to put help where it is needed most. If we are prioritizing, as I said, it behooves us. John Ra…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, of course we want all Canadians to have access to affordable child care, and that is a reasonable and meaningful goal. However, as another member talked about, if we are prioritizing, we need to focus on those who are in the most vulnerable situations, those who are trying to climb up that economic ladder and those who desperately need that income. The Liberals have failed those indiv…
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Mr. Speaker, I make no apologies for our support of the Canadian energy sector. In fact, the sector is required to fund social policies and social benefits. Without the revenue from the Canadian energy field, this country would be in financial ruin. We would not be able to support many of the great programs we have. We need more Canadian energy. We need the economy to grow stronger so we can have …
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Mr. Speaker, the member was a lobbyist for numerous multinational corporations, and has since been in the House for a long time and knows he cannot refer to whether a member is or is not in the House.
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, on a point of order, the member is an experienced member of the House. He has done it repeatedly, and there should be more than an apology for this because the New Democrats have done it twice in just two hours. He knows that members cannot talk about whether a member is present or not. This is beyond the pale.
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, we are rising today to talk about amendments to Bill C-35. All 338 of us value child care and the tremendous work of moms, dads, grandparents and other individuals who love and take care of children from coast to coast to coast. Before I even commence my speech, I would just like to thank all the parents and child care providers from coast to coast, whether they are a grandma at the e…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, I rise on a point of order. I do not believe we have quorum in the House.
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, I would say that the Liberals have actually forgone speaking times in this debate. If the member wants to jump in, he should talk to his whip. Last but not least, Sharon Gregson of the Coalition of Child Care Advocates of B.C. says that while there are 130,000 licensed child care spaces in the province, 75% of children aged zero to 12 are unable to access them. It does not matter ho…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, when the government takes money and no one has the ability to say no, it is a tax. That is just the reality. I do not care what the Supreme Court says on that. If the government wants to take money, but people do not pay it and they go to jail, that is a tax. It is simple. I went through the math. The Liberal-appointed Governor of the Bank of Canada, not some Conservative, said that…
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Madam Speaker, I have appreciated working with the member. I would say that I take a bit of offence to some of the member's comments. My presentation was full of numbers and data. I was not just meandering about, with whatever insult I felt about the Conservative Party. I had statistics and am happy to share them with the member. Winston Churchill once said that taxing oneself into prosperity is l…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, I will give a brief answer; there will certainly be more to come on this. We believe that ultimately the solution for this, as for most problems, is the Canadian people. We have the most resourceful, most caring people, including farmers who spend every day caring about the land, upgrading their technology so they can protect the soil and limit emissions. We believe in farmers. We b…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, before I begin I would like to recognize that I will be splitting my time with someone I think is one of the greatest MPs in the House of Commons, the member for Montmagny—L'Islet—Kamouraska—Rivière-du-Loup. I want to do some carbon tax math to begin. This is carbon tax 101. I would actually suggest that the members opposite grab their calculators, follow along with me and do this m…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, I appreciate that, and I apologize. I get passionate as well. However, the reality is that the rebate is taken into consideration. The Governor of the Bank of Canada looked at the entire picture, including the rebate, and said that if we eliminated the carbon tax today, we would reduce inflation by 22%. We have had some fun about the math and stuff like that, but that has real impac…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, the Liberals are great at breaking things. They have broken the bank. They have broken the law, and they have broken the budget. It turns out that budgets do not balance themselves. Record government spending leads to record inflation and soaring interest rates. Canadians need the budget fixed. A dollar of new spending must be met with a dollar of savings. It is a simple concept; even…
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Mr. Speaker, I will tell members what Conservatives are going to cut. We are going to cut broken apps and we are going to cut high-priced consultants because Conservatives talk directly to Canadians, so we do not need to spend billions of dollars to find out what Canadians think. Let me tell members what Canadians are thinking. They want to axe the tax. They want to fix the budget. They want to bu…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, I did actually outline the Conservative position on the bill in the first 30 seconds. I am sorry the member missed it. What I will say is a microcosm of the way Conservatives see the world as opposed to NDP folks. I do have a ton of respect for the member, but that being said, in order to have strong union jobs, jobs that pay the bills, we need a strong economy, and that is what Con…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, that was part of my speech; unfortunately, I did not make it there. We have a double-edged sword, because Canadians are getting hit twice: once because of low-economic growth, the worst since the Great Depression, and Canadians' wages not increasing; and a second time because of the government's propensity to outspend any reasonable metric. We have inflation, which is driving up cos…
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Madam Speaker, we agree unanimously with respect to our workers' being the best in the world, but the rest of it may be on division. I thank the member for his kind words. I did very much enjoy working with him on the finance committee. What I would say is that I believe that everyone here wants the best for Canada and Canadians. The difference, though, between every other party in the House and C…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, I would like to start by wishing everyone a merry Christmas on these final strokes of the parliamentary calendar for this year. I want to talk a little bit about the context of Bill C-58. I believe there is 100% agreement among all members, and probably among all Canadians, that we need more great-paying union jobs in this country. I want to talk about how we get there, how we make …
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, with respect to those comments, first, if you check Hansard, you will find that the Speaker did rule, in accordance with Standing Order 18, that there would be no false titles in this House. That is clear. Second, the member did directly what you told him not to do. That is grounds for being expelled.
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, we respectfully request that we axe the tax and have a recorded division.
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, I would respectfully request that we axe the tax and have a recorded division.
Read full speech →Private Members' Business
Mr. Speaker, it is an honour to rise today. I very enjoyed my talks with the member for Vancouver Centre. We have had a number of great conversations about various issues, including seniors issues. I have found her to be an outspoken supporter and critic when it comes to seniors issues. It is an absolute privilege to be standing here on legislation she has no doubt proudly brought forward. This is…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, we have billions of dollars going to the Bank of Canada, by the way. Only the Canadian government could lose money selling drugs and running a bank. That is money that could go to health care, to education and to helping the most vulnerable.
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, I completely agree. We do need to focus on local farming. In my riding, there are some great farmers' markets in Port Hope and Cobourg. People driving from Toronto to Ottawa, or maybe people from Quebec who want to go to Toronto, though Quebec is beautiful and I do not know why anybody would want to leave Quebec, should come to my riding and stop at the Port Hope market or the Cobourg…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, we absolutely understand. That is why we want to send fuel, energy and arms, not the carbon tax, to Ukraine. The carbon tax and food insecurity are important in my riding. There are people lining up at food banks because the cost of food is so high, so I resent the member's saying that it is not important. Food insecurity is important. If he does not believe it, he should come to Cobo…
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Mr. Speaker, unlike in Putin's Russia, this is not a dictatorship. We still get to vote and to have the ability to work in Parliament. Liberals do not get to decide everything. Conservatives support Ukraine. That is why we are going to send them arms and not a carbon tax.
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Madam Speaker, I want people at home to listen carefully, because what we will not hear from that side at all is “per capita”, “per Canadian”. Every Canadian, on average, is getting poorer. In fact, our economy shrank by 1.1%. Our per capita growth is the worst in the OECD. In the U.S., it has gone up by nearly 5%. I am just curious; what would cause the Liberals to reverse direction? Is it longer…
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