Government Orders
Madam Speaker, the member talked a bit about silos and the inability for governments to sometimes work in them. I know he has a great background in innovation and business. Maybe he could expand a bit more on the importance of collaboration with respect to cybersecurity and in business in general.
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Madam Speaker, I very much enjoy working on the finance committee with the member and enjoyed his thoughtful remarks. I hope my question hits the other Liberals' concerns about partisanship, as this is substantive criticism and not partisanship. We have heard concerns from both the NDP and from the Conservative Party that the bill would provide a broad swath of powers to the minister. Is the gover…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Madam Speaker, there is some overlap, I believe, between the NDP and the Conservatives. We both see the affordability crisis affecting all of us and, of course, the most vulnerable at the lower end of the economic spectrum. Where Conservatives, I guess, differ from the NDP is that we believe one of the most effective ways to help individuals is to stop taking their money. We have marginal effectiv…
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Mr. Speaker, I thank the member for bringing forward this important area of discussion with respect to this debate. It always merits taking time on the floor of the House of Commons to discuss these issues. Unfortunately, my time is very brief. I believe that any child, born on or off reserve, deserves an equal opportunity to be successful in this country. It is my commitment to do that. I have th…
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Mr. Speaker, the short answer is that I agree. The longer answer is that I agree with the comment the member made earlier with respect to modernization. We need to modernize our view on security. The world changed dramatically a year and a half ago, and it continues to change. We need to be adept and agile, and quite frankly, willing to put the resources where they are needed for the future.
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Mr. Speaker, I agree with the government's recommendation or policy to remove TikTok from all government devices. I believe the CEO of TikTok is testifying in front of U.S. Congress today, so we will see what comes from that. I would agree with him that we need to be on guard against foreign interference in all forms.
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, after eight years under the Prime Minister, Canadians have never been more indebted. Wasteful government spending has driven up the costs of heating, housing and food. We know that Canadians can no longer feed themselves because food banks are overwhelmed. In fact, in a recent visit to a community food bank in my riding, I was shocked to see people lined up out the door to get food. O…
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Mr. Speaker, I would sincerely invite this member to come down to the Food Share Food Bank in Cobourg, meet with these individuals and tell them that life has never been so good because that is just not true. The truth of the matter is the Liberal government is as incompetent at fighting the affordability crisis as it is at climate change. It fails to meet every target. It continues to make life m…
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Mr. Speaker, I will apologize and not resign. I am glad I gave the member for Kingston and the Islands something to do today. I am pleased to have accomplished that today. Like I said, it has to hurt Bill Morneau to be referred to as a random Liberal. I certainly hope the next Prime Minister of Canada does not refer to me, or any member of our caucus, as a random Conservative, or worse, a random L…
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Mr. Speaker, getting into the substance of Bill C-34, this is an important topic. I do not know whether this legislation really crosses into being an important piece of legislation. Unfortunately, it is another half measure, a poorly drafted piece of legislation. It is going in the right direction, there is no doubt, but I want to give a little context before we break into a piece-by-piece discuss…
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Mr. Speaker, I very much enjoyed working with the fine member from the Bloc Québécois at the finance committee. I am confident we will work with the members of the Bloc to include things like automatic triggers for reviews by cabinet and for reducing the ability of actors to avoid this through things like asset sales and otherwise. We need to tighten up potential loopholes in this legislation to m…
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Mr. Speaker, I am not sure it is a great thing that I speak on behalf of the government. What I would say is that there are many different fields where the government could have acted, including perhaps reviewing past applications and transactions. That simply has not been done in many cases and should have been. Divestitures should have happened with respect to state-owned enterprises. Even with …
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Mr. Speaker, it is a joy to be a neighbour of the member for Kingston and the Islands. That probably ends my career with the Conservative Party, but there we go. What I would say to him, in all seriousness, is that that is a great exception. It unfortunately proves the rule that Canada continues to be a laggard in the G7 and the OECD when it comes to productivity and innovation. While I certainly …
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Mr. Speaker, we have to acknowledge the world that we live in today, not the world we lived in 20 years ago. There are challenging actors out there who are trying to take Canadian ideas and utilize them for their own prosperity. We must control our ideas. We have to be straightforward with it but cannot back away from the ideas. Canadian ideas are Canadian, and they are there for Canadian prosperi…
Read full speech →Statements By Members
Mr. Speaker, at the heart of any definition of leadership is the ability to unify people for a common purpose or cause, but after eight years of the Liberal Prime Minister, Canadians have never been more divided. He has used issues like mandates to pit Canadians against each other and to distract from the issues and problems he has caused. He believes that if people are afraid of their neighbours,…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, we heard today from the Governor of the Bank of Canada that after eight years of the Liberal Prime Minister, inflation continues to be a concern and interest rates will stay high for the foreseeable future. Despite the fact that Canadians are continuing to struggle just to heat their homes and to feed their families, on April 1, the Liberal government will increase the inflationary ca…
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Mr. Speaker, when someone is losing an argument, they distract and deflect. The truth of the matter is that the Liberals are as incompetent at fighting climate change as they are the affordability crisis. The Liberals do not have an environmental plan; they have a tax plan. I was there at public accounts when the environmental commissioner scolded the Liberals for not hitting a single target. Will…
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Madam Speaker, I guess I am troubled by the trajectory of the MAID discussion and MAID legislation. I am glad Bill C-39 is here to delay this a bit more. The member talked about how he predicted the slippery slope. Where else could this go?
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Madam Speaker, we hear more and more about spending. Let me paraphrase a little bit. After eight years of the Liberal Prime Minister, life is objectively getting worse for many Canadians. Hey, the government might be failing miserably, but it is spending a lot of money doing it, so that is okay, right? It seems like the only ones in Canada who have money, the only ones who are not going broke, are…
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Madam Speaker, after eight years of the Liberal Prime Minister, Canadians are quickly running out of patience and time. Let me tell the House about Donnie from my riding. He depends on the Ontario disability support program to get by. With the surge in rent, he spends 90% of his income just to keep a roof over his head. That leaves very little for groceries or heating. Donnie needs help. He needs …
Read full speech →Statements by Members
Mr. Speaker, after eight years of the Liberal Prime Minister, Canadians can barely afford to feed themselves, with food inflation over 10%. After eight years of the Liberal Prime Minister, Canadians can barely afford to fill up their gas tanks to go to work because of the punishing impact of the carbon tax. After eight years of the Prime Minister, Canadians cannot even afford their own homes with …
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Mr. Speaker, part of this, of course, is to prevent human rights violators from entering our country, but in order for them to be stopped, they need to be named. The Magnitsky sanctions have not been well used. In fact, in the last five years, there have been zero folks named. Does he believe the government is dropping the ball when it comes to labelling human rights violators?
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Mr. Speaker, the Auditor General is an incredibly critical part of our democracy. When an individual calls the Auditor General's integrity into question, which happened just now in the House, it is an attack on our democracy. Simply put, her only offence was not supporting and endorsing Liberal waste. Will the minister apologize?
Read full speech →Statements by Members
Mr. Speaker, children represent the best part of humanity. They are imaginative, resilient and inquisitive. They bring joy to even the most difficult of circumstances. They give us hope in the face of the biggest challenges. The responsibility of the rest of us is to ensure they live up to their potential. Unfortunately, far too often we have not lived up to that hallowed responsibility. We must n…
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Mr. Speaker, it was not the opposition who called out $32 billion in waste. It was the Auditor General. My question again is a simple one. Will the minister retract her comment calling into question the independence of the Auditor General, yes or no?
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
With regard to sanctions imposed on Russian individuals in response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine: (a) what is the total number of individuals sanctioned to date; (b) of the individuals in (a), how many (i) have assets in Canada which have been seized, (ii) do not have any known assets in Canada; (c) what is the total number of entities sanctioned to date; (d) of the entities sanctioned in (c…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
With regard to expenditures on communications professional services (codes 035, 0351, and 0352) since April 1, 2021, broken down by department, agency, Crown corporation, or other government entity: what are the details of each expenditure, including (i) the date, (ii) the amount, (iii) the vendor, (iv) the description of goods or services, (v) whether the contract was sole-sourced or competitivel…
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Madam Speaker, I can attest that this is not the gentleman's first day. It seems like I have spent a year staring into his eyes here. In the legislation, there is a fair bit of gray area with respect to definitions. Will the government be releasing additional information on such undefined terms as “cyber- incidents”?
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Madam Speaker, in earnest, the government has had significant failures when it comes to procurement. I would point to shipbuilding, where we are years behind. It has also had significant failures with respect to IT. I point to the Phoenix pay system. Given these failures, what has the government learned, and how can the Canadian public believe the government will be able to deliver on this legisla…
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Mr. Speaker, what the Conservatives do understand is the number of targets the Liberal government has hit, which is zero. The cost of government is raising the cost of living, with $54 million for arrive scam, $6,000 for a hotel room for one night and billions of dollars in corporate welfare. All the while, Canadians are suffering with high rates of inflation, the doubling of interest on mortgage …
Read full speech →Statements by Members
Mr. Speaker, Canadians cannot afford their homes. A house is not simply four walls and a roof. A house is the single largest investment most Canadians will ever own. Even more important, a home is a place where people start their families, where they celebrate with family and mark some of the most important events of their lives. The reality is that if people own a variable mortgage or if they hav…
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Mr. Speaker, this morning the first snowfall arrived in my riding, and the children were out playing, making snowmen and throwing snowballs. However, the snow unfortunately served as a harsh reminder of the difficult winter to come and the challenges parents will face as they decide whether they pay for home heating or they pay for groceries. Will the Liberals finally show some compassion and cut …
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Mr. Speaker, the institution whose revenue has raised higher than Loblaws and higher than any oil and gas company is the federal Government of Canada. If anyone needs to give a refund or a dividend back, it is the Canadian government. It is called tax relief. It is called not tripling the carbon tax. It is called reducing the payroll tax and incentivizing workers entrepreneurs instead of penalizin…
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Mr. Speaker, I will say at the outset that I am splitting my time with the fabulous member for Haldimand—Norfolk. We are debating the fiscal update, or the fall economic statement, and when we look at the update, it is important that we have some context for the environment it was put into. Let us go back seven years to when the government was elected. At that time, the soon-to-be Prime Minister s…
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Mr. Speaker, I may have to repeat my speech for the member as he must have not heard it or he was not here. It is not the money that was put toward the COVID relief, which we did support; it is the $200 billion in non-COVID dollars and the $100 billion in deficit spending prior to COVID. That $300 billion is more than $20,000 for a family of four. It is that money we want back in the pockets of Ca…
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Mr. Speaker, what we can all agree upon is that a strong balance sheet helps us with all of our priorities, regardless of what they are. In 2023, we are forecasted to spend $43 billion in interest payments. That is more than the health transfers to all the provinces. What we can do is get our balance sheet, just as it was underneath Stephen Harper, under control and then we have more money to spen…
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Mr. Speaker, the Liberals just do not get it. Their seven years of tax and spend have put students in a difficult position. They are having to go to food banks. They are giving up the dream of home ownership. They want more. They want a Conservative government.
Read full speech →Private Members' Business
Madam Speaker, it has been said before that to accomplish something one needs the support of many others. Today, I rise on the shoulders of giants. Of course there was Sergei Magnitsky, who stood up bravely against corruption in Russia and was supported by Bill Browder, who has campaigned around the world to put these sanctions in place so that gross violators of human rights and corrupt officials…
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Madam Speaker, $20 billion of inflationary spending, massive tax hikes on everyday essentials, continued high inflation and a potential economic slowdown: all of this in one fiscal update. Are the Liberals aware of how badly they are failing?
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Madam Speaker, if only Canadians could eat that word salad. It has been observed that Liberals define compassion by how many people the government helps. Conservatives define compassion by how many people the government does not have to help. It seems like the Liberal government is intent on making everyone dependent on the government. Will the Liberal government finally show a little fiscal disci…
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Madam Speaker, I rise on a point of order. There has been considerable discussion by the other side, which we might say is misleading, about the effect of the carbon tax on Canadians. The reality is most Canadians are paying—
Read full speech →Statements by Members
Mr. Speaker, the burden on Canadians has never been heavier. The Prime Minister's tax-and-spend policies have driven a record number of Canadians to the food banks. Recently, 1.5 million Canadians used a food bank in one month. Nearly a third, or 500,000 of them, were children. This is unacceptable, and it is an increase of 35% from 2019. The government is raising taxes on gas, groceries and home …
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Mr. Speaker, the Liberals need to be honest with Canadians. They are benefiting from inflation. While record numbers of Canadians are using food banks, they are raking in record revenues. However, their greed knows no bounds. They want more and more of Canadians' dollars. When will the cold-hearted Liberals show some compassion, give Canadians a break and pull their tax hikes off the table?
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Madam Speaker, the member talked a lot about trust and specifically about the arrive scam. However, there has also been a number of other indiscretions, including the WE Charity, the Aga Khan trip and others. The member talked about the impact of those. Many authors have written about trust and how that slows down the operation of business. Are the people of Quebec starting to feel as though they …
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Madam Speaker, I am wondering if the member would agree with the following statement: A friend is a friend indeed; however, only when it serves Liberal greed.
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Madam Speaker, I am glad to see that New Democrats are calling for greater accountability with the arrive scam debacle, however, I am still troubled by the fact that they continue to prop up the Liberal government. Does the member know if the words “transparency”, “accountability” or “ethics” are in the confidence and supply agreement?
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Mr. Speaker, the verdict is in. The evidence is clear. The cost of government is driving up the cost of living. The Prime Minister's own Parliamentary Budget Officer said that, of the new spending, 40% was not related to COVID. Liberal leadership members seem to agree. Mark Carney recently said that inflation is now primarily a Canadian event. Even the deputy leader, with her new religion of fisca…
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Mr. Speaker, let me set the record straight. What Conservatives stand against is high inflation leading to the highest food bank usage, and a third of those users are children. That is what Conservatives stand against. If Liberals do not believe me, they should ask the governor of the Bank of Canada who said that high inflation is leading to hard times for Canadians, particularly the most vulnerab…
Read full speech →Private Members' Business
Mr. Speaker, it is always a privilege and honour to rise in the House. Today, we are talking about a private member's bill for renaming the riding of Châteauguay—Lacolle to include Napierville. I want to talk a bit about that community and why I believe it is important that it get recognized. Of course, it is famous for its fruits and vegetables and has a beautiful rural countryside. There are man…
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