Parliamentary Speeches

Routine Proceedings

With regard to government expenditures on membership fees, broken down by department, agency, Crown corporation, or other government entity during the 2022-23 fiscal year: (a) what were the total expenditures; and (b) what are the details of each expenditure, including the (i) name of the entity for which the membership fee was paid, (ii) date of the purchase, (iii) amount, (iv) number of membersh…

Routine Proceedings

With regard to wrapping or other advertising expenditures for the exteriors of buildings since April 1, 2019, broken down by department, agency, Crown corporation, or other government entity: (a) what is the total amount spent on wrapping or advertising, broken down by individual building; and (b) what are the details of all wrapping, tarp, or similar type of advertising on government buildings, b…

Government Orders

Madam Speaker, the marginal effective tax rate for people making under $50,000 is more than 50%, so when the member is calling for tax hikes, he is hurting the most vulnerable. The reality is that in Canada the corporate tax rate is 12% and in the rest of the OECD it is 9%, which is 30% to 40% higher. Neil Brooks, NDP member and my law professor, said to me many years ago that corporations do not …

Government Orders

Mr. Speaker, just to set the record straight, on average, 9% of OECD countries' revenue comes from corporate taxation. I have this from the OECD report. In Canada, it is 12%. Tax revenue that comes from corporate taxation is 30% more in Canada. Therefore, to say that we are somehow below the average in the amount of taxation we take from corporations is simply not true. I heard the member criticiz…

Government Orders

Madam Speaker, it is a privilege and honour to rise tonight in this House of Commons, perhaps on the last of this cohort of Parliament. I will be splitting my time with the fabulous member for Renfrew—Nipissing—Pembroke, who was first elected in 2000 when she was 12 years old, the youngest parliamentarian in Canadian history. It is an honour and privilege to serve and to talk about this motion tod…

Government Orders

Madam Speaker, Winston Churchill perhaps said it best when he said, “For a nation to try to tax itself into prosperity is like a man standing in a bucket and trying to lift himself up by the handle.” The government does not create wealth; the private sector does. As the government takes more fuel from the private sector and wastes it on things like Asian infrastructure, “arrive scam” and numerous …

Government Orders

Madam Speaker, my answer is relatively easy. There are millions of dollars of waste. Hundreds of millions of dollars have been sent to the Asian infrastructure bank. There was $50 million to MasterCard. Millions of dollars went to Loblaws. There were millions of dollars for “arrive scam”. I am confident that when the Conservative Party forms government, we will be able to put in place the savings …

Statements by Members

Madam Speaker, no matter how much the Liberals like to pretend, things are not easy for Canadians right now. Buying a home has never been so unaffordable. Food bank usage has doubled for the unemployed and for the employed. Over the last ten years, Canada has experienced the worst economic growth since the Great Depression. The cause of these problems is no great mystery. Liberal deficits have led…

Government Orders

Madam Speaker, we are going to bring it home. For their home, our home, my home, let us bring it home. To begin, it felt great to be sitting momentarily over on that side of the House. I know we will be there soon and I am looking forward to it. There has been some discussion, and in the limited time left, I want to present the framework before we actually discuss the amendments. There has been so…

Government Orders

Madam Speaker, we request a recorded vote.

Government Orders

Madam Speaker, I would say respectfully to the government that, if it wanted this law passed, it should not have prorogued or called an unnecessary election. This could have been law years ago. These are substantive amendments to be put in place here, so this is not some tactic. We are talking about the livelihoods and reputation of justices. In my opinion, it is not untoward to have a right of ap…

Government Orders

Madam Speaker, I will finish off with more of the quote. It says: To say only 15 MPs are able to speak to all of your average bills, that is very clearly contravening what Canadians want to see here. They want to see vivid debate, they want to see a government that actually listens to the improvements that can be made to bills and they want to see their member of parliament being able to speak out…

Government Orders

Madam Speaker, my private member's bill, Bill C-281, provides parliamentary oversight in order for the Magnitsky act to be triggered. Does the member believe, as I do, that sanctions are not being triggered often enough by the current government, and that there are many human rights violators who are getting off scot-free in this world?

Government Orders

Madam Speaker, my question related to Bill S-8 is on my private member's bill, Bill C-281. The NDP, supported by the Conservatives, introduced the idea in the amendment to have an international human rights strategy. Unfortunately, the Liberals decided to shoot that idea down. I still think it is a great one. Does the member agree with me?

Oral Questions

Mr. Speaker, I must have misheard because he said he admired Canada. I heard the Prime Minister say he admired the basic dictatorship of China. I would ask that member to come down to the food banks in Cobourg. I think it is about two hours from his riding. He should see the children lining up outside the food bank. Shame on you. Shame on you. Life has never been better, that is all we hear. That …

Government Orders

Madam Speaker, we would grant unanimous consent if the hon. member wanted to split his time.

Oral Questions

Mr. Speaker, Canada is supposed to be a place of prosperity, hope and opportunity, yet for far too many Canadians it has become a place where they can no longer afford to work, to live and to thrive. Earlier this year the finance minister admitted that her Liberal deficits were driving inflation. Still, they added $60 billion of inflationary fuel on a cost of living fire. We know that deficits lea…

Government Orders

Mr. Speaker, I would like to request a recorded vote.

Government Orders

Mr. Speaker, I understand that the minister may not have an answer to this question right off the top of her head, but I would ask that she come back to the House with an answer or send it to my office within one week. How many new spots have been opened up in Northumberland County because of this program?

Private Members' Business

moved that 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, be read the third time and passed. Mr. Speaker, as always, it is an honour and privilege to rise in this House on behalf of the people of Northumberland—P…

Private Members' Business

Madam Speaker, as members know, we supported that amendment and continue to support that. My father, who was a businessman, used to say to me when I was young, “Son, what gets measured gets improved.” If we cannot measure something, it is very difficult to see whether we are improving or not. We simply do not know. I thought the NDP's amendment was a great one and that it would give us the ability…

Private Members' Business

Madam Speaker, I thank your father for fighting for the cause of freedom. We would not be where we are in this country, and around the world in many of the liberal democracies we now enjoy, without the great service and sacrifice of people like your father, so thank you for that. The idea for this legislation is that Canada would now put its stamp or seal behind those human rights advocates like y…

Oral Questions

Mr. Speaker, food costs are up. Inflation is up. Mortgage payments are up. Rental payments are up. Faith in the Prime Minister is down. When will the Prime Minister end these inflationary deficits, scrap the tax and bring back the common sense of the common people?

Private Members' Business

Madam Speaker, what I would say to that is that this legislation actually proposes a framework for human rights reporting and with respect to prisoners of conscience. The more we can raise the awareness of the Canadian public, and I know that all of Canada is in favour of human rights, the more we can get that case to build. I might say that the NDP amendment would have been helpful with that as w…

Private Members' Business

Madam Speaker, I would like to start by thanking all of the individuals who played such important roles in getting this legislation before the House today, up for a final vote and, hopefully, off to the Senate. I will start with thanking the hon. member for Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan. He worked very closely with me in drafting and putting this legislation together. I would like to also thank …

Routine Proceedings

Mr. Speaker, the second petition is from a group of petitioners who are against the expansion of MAID to include infanticide. They believe that the lives of children are sacred and that MAID should not be extended to infants.

Routine Proceedings

Mr. Speaker, I have two petitions to present today. One is in support of Bill C-257, which seeks to include political rights within human rights. As members know, unfortunately many Canadians are discriminated against because of their political beliefs. This legislation seeks to protect their political rights and the freedom of expression associated with them.

Routine Proceedings

Madam Speaker, I request a recorded division.

Routine Proceedings

Madam Speaker, there is contempt. There is contempt for the lack of democratic process in this Liberal budget. That is what there is—

It is a different point of order.

Oral Questions

Yes, it is working, Madam Speaker.

Mine is on the question of privilege.

Madam Speaker, mine is on the same point. Please give the member—

Madam Speaker, I believe that men are required to have a jacket at all times in the House. There are certain wardrobe requirements, and I believe wearing a T-shirt borders on being disrespectful to the House.

Madam Speaker, I believe that the parliamentary secretary for finance was in the House without a jacket on, which I do not believe is—

Madam Speaker, I will be brief. Having been at the finance committee, I know the violation of privilege happened. This is totally separate and distinct, as I mentioned earlier in my point of order, from the point of order on the allowance of amendments at report stage. Points of privilege are, of course, incredibly critical to the functioning of the House. If the rules and the privileges are viola…

Madam Speaker, my point of order is a little different from what the member for Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan was saying, but I look forward to hearing his comments with respect to that. I was literally stating the facts, which I believe, on a point of order, I am not only allowed but also obligated to do. Facts that I am describing are critical to the argument because, in order to introduce an …

Madam Speaker, I will jump ahead in my remarks here in order to expedite things, given your continued patience. I will start here and, I promise, get to my point relatively quickly. This little bit of context is important and germane to my point. I am just going through the facts here. On May 29, beginning at 4:30 p.m., the Chair was empowered by a programming motion to put every question necessar…

Madam Speaker, as always, I appreciate your patience on these matters. It is normal, of course, for a government to table a budget and then get a bump in the polls, but this budget is so unpopular with Canadians that the Liberals actually dropped in the polls after the finance minister tabled it in the House—

Madam Speaker, I rise on a point of order before you make your decision on how to group report stage motions on Bill C-47, budget implementation act 2023, no. 1. Before I get to the specifics of my request, let me say at the outset of my appeal to the Chair how disappointing it is that the debate on the budget has been shut down at every stage of the legislative process so far. In its rush, the go…

Madam Speaker, I certainly respect any ruling you might make, but I did have my hand up prior to your saying that we would go to orders of the day after this. I would like my point of order heard before we—

Oral Questions

Madam Speaker, my point of order is with respect to the Minister of Tourism. I had intended to raise this issue earlier. The Minister of Tourism, in responding to a question, said, “it is so nice to have so many friends from the blue team from Alberta”. This is doing indirectly what he cannot do directly. Of course, members cannot comment on the presence or absence of a member.

Government Orders

Madam Speaker, I just have a brief point of order. I know the member is very passionate, but he has been yelling for an extended period of time, and our interpreters could be hurt by this. I would just ask him to maybe—

Statements by Members

Mr. Speaker, Philip Cross, former chief economic analyst at Statistics Canada, testified before the finance committee that Canada has had its lowest GDP per capita since the 1930s. Yes, that means we are languishing in the worst economy since the Great Depression. The reason is the Liberals' war on work. Excessive taxation and regulation is punishing our entrepreneurs and our workers. Parents and …

Government Orders

Madam Speaker, I think that was a fantastic and fair question, and that is why we supported the amendment put forward by the NDP. We will continue to support that. Obviously, the residential schools and the stealing of indigenous children are absolutely beyond the pale, so inclusive of that or exclusive of that, Conservatives believe entirely that children should be raised as their parents and the…

Government Orders

Can I have unanimous consent to table this after my speech?

Government Orders

Madam Speaker, I thank the member, first off, for extending her sympathies. I appreciate that, and I appreciate a lot of the member's response, but I just want to address a couple of points. One is that we want to enable and empower grandparents, and there is nothing in the legislation, to be clear, that would stop them from looking after kids, but if we were able to reduce the cost of living; red…

Government Orders

Exactly. Madam Speaker, I just want to walk members through a couple of the actual numbers. Let us say that we have a parent who is earning $45,000 and a second parent who wants to go back and earn $20,000. Their participation tax rate, as I outlined it earlier, if they live in Newfoundland and have one kid, is 38%. I have a lot of these, but I am just going to go through and pick a couple of them…

Government Orders

I know.

Government Orders

Madam Speaker, I just want to start out my speech tonight by talking about something that is related, although perhaps not directly on point, if I could have the indulgence of the House. An incredibly sad story came out of my riding in recent days. Vienna Rose Irwin, age two, was discovered in an open well outside of a day care in my riding. She had obviously passed away. I just want to take this …