Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, it is great to receive a question from my hon. colleague, with whom I have served on multiple committees. I look forward to collaborating with him further. He always asks really good questions. We are having a rigorous debate on this piece of legislation. I think it is a very important piece of legislation, and it is time-sensitive, given the threats to our economic security. Canada a…
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Mr. Speaker, I appreciate my hon. colleague's question and his reference to something that is a core commitment for me, which is to build a sustainable economy in Canada. I think this bill tries to strike a balance between where we are at as a country, having to move much faster, and also trying to balance that with protecting what we hold as core values on this side, which is to protect our envir…
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Mr. Speaker, that is a very good question. I am glad the member asked it. My understanding is that the major projects office would have a list that is developed in consultation with provinces and territories. Obviously, that list is not necessarily formulated yet, because I am not sure that all of the major projects have been vetted or evaluated due to the five-point criteria I mentioned in my spe…
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Mr. Speaker, as always, I know my colleague asks good questions. We often disagree at committee, and I know we can disagree in this House. That is part of what it means to be a democracy. We are not short-circuiting democracy. This legislation has been tabled in this House. We are debating it today. We have debated it on other days. It will be referred to committee. That is my understanding. The p…
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Mr. Speaker, there is a lot in that question, and I thank the hon. member, for whom I have the utmost respect, for asking it. I have served on committees with the member, and she is always insightful. There are many benefits in this legislation. Obviously, increased labour mobility is key, but so are all kinds of cost benefits and the possibility of boosting productivity and decreasing prices for …
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Mr. Speaker, I am happy to repeat for my colleagues again that GC Strategies has been deemed ineligible by the office of supplier integrity and compliance to enter into any contracts with the federal government. The matter has been referred to the RCMP. Legal action is under way.
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Mr. Speaker, we can all agree in this House that the integrity of our procurement processes is of utmost importance. Certainly, taxpayers are owed some answers. This company has been referred to the RCMP, and legal action is under way. We have also ensured that it can no longer enter into any contracts with the federal government for seven years.
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Mr. Speaker, misconduct of any kind in our procurement process is completely unacceptable. That is exactly why we have acted on this matter and ensured there is an investigation. The company in question is no longer eligible to enter into contracts with the federal government. The matter has been referred to the RCMP. Legal action is ongoing.
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Mr. Speaker, I know that all of us in the House can agree on one thing, which is that the integrity of our procurement processes is of utmost importance. It is taxpayers' money that is in question, and we take that matter very seriously. We have conducted an investigation through the office of supplier integrity and compliance. They deemed GC Strategies to be ineligible to receive any federal gove…
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Mr. Speaker, it is great to rise again and answer this question. Obviously, I have done so numerous times in this question period, and I am happy to do so continuously for the remaining time that we have together today. GC Strategies is no longer able to enter into government contracts for up to seven years. That is an investigation that we triggered. The matter has been referred to the RCMP and l…
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Mr. Speaker, I know that all of us can agree in the House that misconduct of any kind in our procurement process is completely unacceptable. That is why our government has acted on this matter. An investigation was undertaken by OSIC. The company in question has been deemed ineligible for receiving any federal government contracts for seven years, and the matter has been referred to the RCMP. Lega…
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Mr. Speaker, I am more than happy to repeat this as many times as the members opposite would like me to. Our government has taken a firm stance on this matter and has said that any misconduct of any kind within our procurement processes is completely unacceptable. We have made improvements to the integrity of the system, based on the Auditor General's report and recommendations. We have made sure …
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Mr. Speaker, misconduct of any kind in our procurement process is completely unacceptable. We agree with the members opposite. That is exactly why we have acted on this matter. We have conducted an investigation and assessment. The company in question has been deemed ineligible for any federal government contracts for seven years. The matter has been referred to the RCMP for legal action.
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Mr. Speaker, we agree, as I have said, that the integrity of our procurement process is of the utmost importance to Canadians. That is exactly why we have deemed this company ineligible to enter into contracts for the next seven years. We have referred the matter to the RCMP. Legal action is ongoing.
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Mr. Speaker, we thank the Auditor General for her work. Obviously, we can all agree in the House that misconduct of any kind in our procurement processes is completely unacceptable. It is notable that we have terminated all contracts and suspended security clearance for GC Strategies. An investigation and assessment were undertaken, and GC Strategies was deemed ineligible for receiving government …
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Mr. Speaker, of course, misconduct in our procurement process, at any moment, is completely unacceptable. That is exactly why our government has acted on this matter. We have done so responsibly. We have ensured the integrity of the system. We have ensured this company can no longer do any business with the federal government for seven years. The matter has been referred to the RCMP and legal acti…
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Mr. Speaker, misconduct of any kind in our procurement process is completely unacceptable. This is why we are making changes to ensure the integrity of our system. We have made sure GC Strategies has been terminated from all contracts and that its security clearance has been suspended. The investigation of OSIC has deemed it ineligible for any federal government contracts for seven years. The matt…
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Mr. Speaker, I think we all know who brought it home in the last election; it was every member on this side of the House. Why did Canadians vote for this Liberal government? It is because they know we are compassionate and we care about the affordability challenges that they are facing. We have a plan to create good jobs, build a stronger economy and make life more affordable. What do Conservative…
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Madam Speaker, while I appreciate the member opposite's passion, I still respectfully disagree with her argument. I think it is a deeply flawed argument. The Bloc asks us every day in this House, and in every committee meeting that I have ever been in, to respect Quebec's autonomy. Quebeckers did not pay federal fuel charges to the federal government, because they opted out of the system that woul…
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Madam Speaker, with deep respect to my colleague on the opposition benches, I understand very well the argument the Bloc is trying to make, and I do not agree with the argument. Quebec and the Bloc need to realize that Quebec opted out of the federal backstop when it created its own carbon pricing system at the provincial level. That means that it never contributed fuel charge payments to the fede…
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Madam Speaker, it is true that we are discussing Bill C-4, which would repeal the consumer carbon tax. I am also referencing a middle-class tax cut that has benefits for Quebec, which is the subject of today's opposition day motion, and that middle-class tax cut would have a positive effect for Quebecers all across the province of Quebec. We would be able to deliver these tax savings to Canadians …
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Madam Speaker, it is interesting to note that, for two years in the House, the Conservative Party of Canada and its members claimed the consumer carbon price was the only cause, and did not allow for any other factors, of food price inflation. We have now removed the consumer carbon tax, and food prices are still going up, but the Conservatives are still making the same argument, which does not ma…
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Madam Speaker, it is good to see you in the Speaker's chair. I am thankful for the opportunity to take part in today's debate. As hon. members are aware, one of the things the Prime Minister did upon assuming his responsibilities was to introduce regulations ceasing the application of the federal consumer fuel charge, effective April 1 of this year. As we also know, one of the first things our gov…
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Madam Speaker, as we have made clear in the course of the debate on Bill C-4, most of the benefits of the tax cut would go to hard-working Canadians. That is because the bulk of its tax relief would go to those Canadians with incomes in the lowest two tax brackets, which includes those with taxable incomes under $114,750 in 2025. Within that group of hard-working Canadians, nearly half of the tax …
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Mr. Speaker, as usual, my colleague poses excellent questions in this House. I very much appreciate his pointing to the fact that we need a dual-pronged strategy to address the housing challenges in this country. Obviously, we can do things to help young families and new homeowners get into the housing market. If that is all we do, I think that our strategy would be lacking. In fact, we need to in…
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Mr. Speaker, I am grateful for the question. It gives me the opportunity to point out that if there is any disingenuousness felt, it is on this side of the House with having witnessed time and again the Conservatives stand up and vote against affordability measures that will save Canadians literally thousands of dollars. In this case, we encourage them to support our income tax cut and waiving GST…
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Mr. Speaker, I wish my French-language speaking skills were a bit better, and I am working on that to answer in French in the future. I do want to say that Parliament is in session. We are debating key pieces of legislation that would enhance our economy and make life more affordable. We have advanced, in just 11 sitting days, three or four major pieces of legislation and the ways and means motion…
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Mr. Speaker, it gives me great pleasure to rise and participate in today's debate, and hopefully make some contributions to the discussion this afternoon. I think we can all agree that on the tail of the last election, where our government presented a fully costed platform to Canadians, we were returned to this side of the House, under new leadership, granted, but it is not as if Canadians had no …
Read full speech →Emergency Debate
Mr. Speaker, I know that members opposite have talked a lot about controlled burns and ways to manage forests and ensure that forest fires do not become wild or uncontrolled. I wonder if the member opposite knows that forest management plans are a jurisdiction of the province. I wonder whether he will acknowledge in this House that private forestry companies must operate under licence and timber s…
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Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the member for Davenport, who is one of my favourite colleagues. It is great to be in the House tonight with such a thoughtful and empathetic member of Parliament, as she always shows herself to be. She gave a very thoughtful speech that I know she worked very hard on. It is unfortunate that someone is not present, the leader of the official opposition. He was the memb…
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Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the Minister of Northern and Arctic Affairs for a very insightful set of remarks that I think outlined exactly how climate justice is so important in this country and how indigenous and northern communities are disproportionately impacted. I know she represents many of those communities and many that are impacted by these wildfires, and I am sure it is not the first ti…
Read full speech →Speech from the Throne
Mr. Speaker, of course the member opposite is heckling me, which is fine. Our government acknowledged that this had become a divisive issue for Canadians. We eliminated the consumer carbon tax because we really think that we can find a way to reduce our emissions that will put less burden on the average consumer.
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Mr. Speaker, it is great to be back in the House with the member opposite asking good faith questions about an issue that is very important, which is how we support both our veterans and our armed forces members, who deserve our greatest respect and greatest support. In the platform, we have committed to building more housing, offering more supports to our veterans and armed forces members. More d…
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Mr. Speaker, it is great to be back in this honourable House to serve the people of Whitby. I have been elected for the third time, and it is a great honour to be back in this chamber representing my community once again. We have begun the 45th Parliament at a time of real challenge and great promise for our nation. Around the world, alliances are shifting, economies are evolving, and uncertainty …
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Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague and friend from Kings—Hants. I very much appreciate the question. He is right: I have done a lot of work in the sustainable finance space. I was happy to see, in our platform, a commitment to expedite taxonomy for sustainable finance in this country, which underpins financial products, eliminates greenwashing and increases credibility and competitiveness in the Ca…
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Mr. Speaker, I empathize tonight with all the members from the northern Saskatchewan and Manitoba communities that are impacted. It is unfortunate that in a time of crisis, when people are in dire need and government is working to coordinate an effective response to evacuate people, we see in this House the Conservatives try to politicize and blame the government for wildfires, which we know are f…
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Mr. Speaker, I am very happy to say that the hon. member for Mirabel collaborated quite well with me on numerous standing committees that we served on in the last Parliament. This is truly an area that I feel passionate about and have done a lot of work in. I believe strongly that our environmental policies from the past have a lot of credibility. We are pivoting and ensuring that we can build a s…
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Mr. Speaker, our government did a poor job of selling Canadians on the truth, which was that the carbon tax was the most cost-effective measure for reducing emissions.
Read full speech →Statements by Members
Mr. Speaker, I rise today for the first time in the 45th Parliament with a deep sense of gratitude and humility. I thank the people of Whitby for placing their trust in me for a third time. It has been the honour of my life to serve since 2019, and I remain committed more than ever to delivering results that improve the lives of people in our community. I thank so very much the incredible voluntee…
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Mr. Speaker, I have been here for five years, thank God, for the people of Whitby. I have never seen the level of obstruction in the House that I have seen over the last 40-something days, when the Conservatives have continued to filibuster and block every aspect of parliamentary functioning and work. Are they standing up complaining that the fall economic statement is just a bit too late for them…
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Mr. Speaker, it is great to learn today that our government will announce the fall economic statement. It will be tabled on December 16, which is good news. What is interesting is that when the Conservatives say, “fix the budget”, what they really mean to say, and what Canadians should hear as translated, is “cut programs and services Canadians rely on”. Whether it is dental care, pharmacare or ea…
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Mr. Speaker, we have an AAA credit rating, the lowest deficit and the lowest net debt-to-GDP ratio. We have seen that Stats Canada has revised the forecast for Canada for the last three years up, which is significant. We are also rated by the IMF to have the strongest GDP growth in the G7. I think that economic record stands for itself.
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Mr. Speaker, our government will stack up and run on our record, our fiscal and economic record, against the Conservatives' any day of the week and twice on Sundays. I am happy—
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Mr. Speaker, our government will stack up and compare our record to the Conservatives' and run on that any day of the week and twice on Sundays—
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Mr. Speaker, we know the only thing the Conservatives are serving up for Christmas dinner is stale slogans. They have been trying to change the channel. The Bank of Canada governor said at a Senate committee recently that government spending is not pushing against us getting inflation down. The Parliamentary Budget Officer recently said the current fiscal policy in Canada is sustainable. He also s…
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Mr. Speaker, the Conservatives want to talk about tax tricks, but what I think is interesting is tricking Canadians into thinking the Conservatives are actually serious about cutting taxes for Canadians. At the first opportunity they get to stand up in the House and support Canadians who they well know have been struggling through an inflationary period, the Conservatives will not. They stand up a…
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Mr. Speaker, our government has stuck to our fiscal guardrails and that is exactly why inflation has come down for 11 months in a row. It has been within the Bank of Canada's target range for 11 months in a row. We were the first in the G7 to cut interest rates and we have had four consecutive rate cuts. We are looking forward to this Wednesday when the Bank of Canada will have another meeting. We…
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Madam Speaker, a GST break on essentials for Canadians over the holidays is going to make life more affordable for them for the next two months. That is good news for Canadians. It is great to see the NDP behind that proposal from the government. It is a shame that the Conservatives, who have harped on in the House about cutting taxes, for months and months, for as long as I can remember, would ac…
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Madam Speaker, it is clear that the Liberal Party of Canada and our government believe in giving Canadians a break over the holidays. This relief will certainly save families money over the holidays; this is much-needed relief after the struggles many workers and Canadians have gone through with the inflationary pressures they have felt over many months. It is too bad the Conservative Party of Can…
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Madam Speaker, 15¢ on a $100 bill is how small the impact of carbon pricing truly is. However, when we offered Canadians a GST tax cut over the holidays that is 100 times greater than that, the Conservatives opposed it. Conservatives demonstrate in the House every single day how they are not supporting Canadians, but this is truly a new height to the Conservatives' hypocrisy.
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