Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, I have a lot of respect for the member, but I was deeply disappointed to hear the opening of his speech where he said that he disagrees with everything that the Conservatives are proposing. Does he disagree with increasing competition in grocery chains? Every first-year economics student learns that when markets have more competition, it drives prices down, it disciplines profits and …
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Mr. Speaker, in my community, police officers, firefighters, paramedics and nurses cannot afford to buy homes in the communities they serve. Eighty-seven per cent of Canadians are now worried about the housing market, and 86% of builders say they might not survive the next 12 months. In the middle of a housing crisis, homebuilding should be accelerating. Instead, home sales are down 45% in the GTA…
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Mr. Speaker, I inevitably think of this one mother, a single mother of three, I met in Newmarket. She is a mother of three boys. When I knocked on the door, she was very reluctant to open the door, and I later understood why. She is struggling to pay her rent. When I introduced myself after she opened the door, she burst into tears and told me she cannot keep up with the rent and that she does not…
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Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the member's suggestion. In speaking to my neighbours in Newmarket—Aurora, any sort of relief would be helpful at this moment. Monthly relief would also be helpful to them, but I do want to reiterate that Canadians have been asking for serious long-term solutions to the root of the problem that is driving up the cost of food disproportionately compared to other G7 countri…
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Mr. Speaker, I know my colleague's riding well. I used to cover it when I was in the financial sector. As I mentioned in my speech, Canadians have been pushed beyond their limits. They are doing everything they can to make ends meet, and they are exhausted. On that basis, every little bit helps. This $10 a week will provide some sort of relief, but the reality is that we need to address the root o…
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Mr. Speaker, I will be splitting my time with the member for Stormont—Dundas—Glengarry. It is a privilege to rise in the House and once again represent my neighbours in Newmarket—Aurora. Today I am speaking to Bill C-19, the Canada groceries and essentials benefit act, but before I go any further, I want to take the opportunity to thank the Newmarket Food Pantry, the Aurora Food Pantry and the cou…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, this is the same Liberal government that campaigned on building at speeds not seen in generations, but in the last year, home sales are down 45% in the GTA. The Canadian Home Builders' Association warns that allowing these conditions to continue will create a lost decade for home ownership. The longer the government delays, the more businesses will close and the more Canadians will lo…
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Mr. Speaker, the reality is that the Liberals have tried this before, and it has only made matters worse. Canada is a country full of farms and fields, yet we are known as the food inflation capital of the G7. Food inflation has doubled since 2019. This is a homegrown crisis caused by high taxes on farmers, truckers and food processors, lack of competition in grocery chains and reckless inflationa…
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Mr. Speaker, there are critical statistics every member of Parliament must take seriously. There are 2.2 million visits to food banks every single month. Canada's food inflation is 6.2%, and that is double that of the U.S. This year it will cost $17,600 to feed a family. That is a national emergency we must take seriously, and Conservatives want to expedite a real solution. Will the Liberal govern…
Read full speech →Private Members' Business
Mr. Speaker, I rise today to speak to a private member's bill brought forward by my colleague, the member for Edmonton Manning. His bill proposes something simple: a national medal of recognition for every living organ donor in Canada to raise awareness and education about the power of living donation. My family has lived with the cruelty of Alport syndrome, a genetic disease that steals kidney fu…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, I take that as a compliment. I rise today to table a petition from Canadians who are alarmed by the Liberal government's manipulation of our national books. They are calling for honesty and integrity in fiscal reporting, and demanding an end to the practice of redefining “capital investments” to shrink the deficit on paper. Under this practice, subsidies, tax breaks and corporate hand…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, I rise today to table a petition, for a second time, from Canadians alarmed by the Liberal government's manipulation of our national books. They are calling for honesty and integrity in fiscal reporting, and demanding an end to the Liberal practice of redefining “capital investments” just to shrink the deficit on paper. Under this scheme, subsidies, tax breaks and corporate handouts a…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister wanted to be judged by prices at the grocery store, and eight months later, Canadians are judging and they are hungry. The food price report released today shows that the reality of Canadians is only getting worse. In 2015, a Canadian grocery bill was $163 a week. Under the Liberals, it has more than doubled, to $340. That is a grocery bill of $17,600 a year. Libera…
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Mr. Speaker, when Canadians tell the government they cannot afford food, its response is that they are taxed to death and cannot afford groceries but should cheer up: It has a program for them; they should be grateful and have never had it so good. Eighty-six per cent of Canadians list food as their largest financial worry. The food price report confirms grocery prices are set to increase by up to…
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Mr. Speaker, all we hear from the Liberals are empty promises. For the last decade, they have been promising the same things. They know these ideas do not work. The record speaks the truth. In the GTA, housing starts have plunged, not increased, by 34% in just nine months. Condo starts are down 51% and the slowdown in the construction industry means 35,000 lost years of employment for Canadians. I…
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Mr. Speaker, a resident pleaded with me, “My family and I are struggling with rent costs and the price of food.” They are not alone. A CTV News article tells us that 35,000 families are fleeing the GTA because staying in the GTA means living on the edge financially, with very little room to grow. Families are being uprooted, with generations torn apart. Canadians are forced to leave the very commu…
Read full speech →Statements by Members
Mr. Speaker, this week, the owners of a small family-owned business in Newmarket—Aurora reached out to me. They have been serving our community of Bayview and Mulock for 50 years with no major theft or crime, but over the past two years, they have been hit so often that they have actually lost count. They have spoken to other businesses in the area and heard the same stories. The incidents are so …
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Mr. Speaker, the Liberals have been saying those same words for over a decade, but life has only gotten harder. They call it an investment, but it is not. It is a mortgage on our youth's future. A 19-year-old girl from Halifax was on national news saying she cannot afford groceries and she cannot find work. That is the reality behind their so-called investments. Youth unemployment is at 15%, not b…
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Mr. Speaker, young Canadians are asking a simple question: What is left for them to sacrifice after a decade of failed Liberal policies? They are saying they cannot find a job, they are delaying starting a family, they cannot buy a home and they are living in their parents' basement. What is left to sacrifice? What is the Liberal government's response? It is going to mortgage their future with mor…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, I rise today to present a petition on behalf of Canadians who are deeply concerned about the government's manipulation of our national books. These citizens are calling on the government to restore integrity and transparency in fiscal reporting and to stop redefining what counts as capital investment simply to make the deficit look smaller. The petitioners note that under this new def…
Read full speech →Statements by Members
Mr. Speaker, there have been 2.2 million visits to Canada's food banks in a single month, and one in three of those walking through the doors is a child. That is over 700,000 little ones in a single month. Too many Canadian families cannot afford to feed themselves, and what do the Liberals say? They ask why parents should feed their children when the government can do it for them, as if dependenc…
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Mr. Speaker, youth unemployment is nearing half a million people. That is the worst in 25 years, and that is the price that young Canadians are paying after 10 long years of Liberal failure. They have already sacrificed owning a home and starting a family. Food prices have skyrocketed. Housing starts in Toronto have fallen to a 30-year low. Nonetheless, the Prime Minister stood before a room of st…
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Mr. Speaker, the deficit is doubling. The Liberals are changing definitions so they can manipulate the results and confuse Canadians. They are not spending less. Our youth are living with the fallout of failed policies. They cannot afford a home, and they are searching for jobs that no longer exist, while the Liberal government mortgages their future. When will the government open its eyes to the …
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Mr. Speaker, yesterday the Prime Minister told a roomful of students that they were going to have to make sacrifices, but after 10 long years of failed Liberal policies, they already have sacrificed their dream of owning a home and sacrificed their dream of starting a family, because they cannot afford it. They have watched food prices skyrocket, and housing starts in Toronto are at a 30-year low.…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, we hear from the Liberal government that it takes fentanyl so seriously that it is willing go as far as looking into people's mail and violating their privacy, yet under the bill, there would be no mandatory prison time for fentanyl traffickers. I would love for my colleague to please comment on that.
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Mr. Speaker, a business that fails to meet its service standards 95% of the time would go bankrupt, but under the Liberal government, that is the standard of the CRA. Its answer is to throw more money at the problem. Costs are up 70%, but still, 8.6 million calls are still being deflected, and 83% of the answers to individual tax questions are wrong. Even the CRA chatbot got questions wrong two-th…
Read full speech →Statements by Members
Mr. Speaker, October is Latin American Heritage Month, a time to celebrate the contributions of over one million Canadians of Hispanic and Latino heritage. When we think of Latin America, we think of flavour and music: food like tacos or a soup that warms the soul on a cold Canadian winter, or music that makes us dance before we even realize it. At Fiesta in the 6ix, hundreds gathered to celebrate…
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Mr. Speaker, my heart goes out to the hon. member and her family members for the loss of a family member. In my riding, I am receiving calls from constituents in Newmarket who are worried about the safe injection sites that are close to schools and day cares, as they often have to go into lockdown because somebody has come onto the property. I wonder if the member could expand on that and give her…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, I would like to ask the member to give us his thoughts on the Liberal government pretending to get tough on fentanyl traffickers, yet there are no mandatory minimums in this bill. Can the member speak to that?
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, I would like the hon. member to comment on why the Liberal government refuses to shut down consumption sites that are close to schools.
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, if I were to describe an entity that changes its fiscal reporting midway through the year, alters the financial metrics by which it judges itself, repeatedly misses every fiscal anchor it sets, racks up unsustainable debt and refuses to provide transparent answers to basic financial questions, one might assume that I was describing a corporation on the brink of collapse. However, thos…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, I would like to remind the member that the Parliamentary Budget Officer is non-partisan. He is independent, and he himself has said that the government's finances are very alarming, that they are “unsustainable”, “stupefying” and “shocking”. In the financial sector, the integrity of financial statements is crucial. If we start to change the definitions of what “expenses” are, that is …
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, that is one of my main concerns. I truly wish that the government would be honest and would focus on balancing the budget and reining in spending so that we can actually have a future for our children. We cannot spend our way to affordability. We cannot continue to spend and spend and pretend there are no consequences. There are consequences. It is generational debt. It is generationa…
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Mr. Speaker, all I hear from across the aisle is arrogance and no desire to actually work together for a better future for Canadians. Fiscal responsibility is important. It has long-term consequences, but the Liberals seem to be laughing and think that it is a joke. On the topic of seniors, there is a senior in my riding who shared a story with me. He said that his father taught him to work hard a…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Madam Speaker, the Parliamentary Budget Officer called our finances “very alarming”, “shocking” and “unsustainable”. He warned if we do not change, “something's going to break”, and it already has. Every dollar the Liberal Prime Minister spends is coming straight out of Canadians' pockets, wrecking our finances and driving up the cost of food. He said he would be judged by grocery prices. Well, Ca…
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Mr. Speaker, I hear it every day in the calls, the emails, the letters: We cannot afford food. The Daily Bread Food Bank expects four million people to visit, which is a lot of Canadians in despair. Today, the Parliamentary Budget Officer confirmed that the deficit will be double that of Justin Trudeau. That is the reckless spending that drives up inflation and increases the cost of everything we …
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Mr. Speaker, after 10 years of the Liberal government, Canada's immigration system is broken. The Prime Minister promised he would be different, but nothing has changed. The only way to stop illegal border crossers from abusing our asylum system is to end the incentives that turn it into a back door for economic migration, yet the immigration minister has done literally nothing all summer. Therefo…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, today, I would like to speak to recommendation 430 of the House of Commons finance committee's pre-budget report proposing removing the advancement of religion as a recognizable charitable purpose under the Income Tax Act. Religious organizations are more than just places of worship; they are pillars of civil society. Every day, they run programs, food banks, shelters, counselling ser…
Read full speech →Adjournment Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, I received no answer to my question. How much will the deficit be? Let me remind the member that the Liberal government has been in power for the last 10 years. It is the reason why we have the statistics that we do. I also want to point out that the government, the Liberal government, likes to wrap itself in its social programs as if these slogans were solutions, as if these programs…
Read full speech →Adjournment Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, the Liberals' inflation is the slow undoing of a family's dignity, yet the government keeps driving the deficit higher with reckless inflationary spending that is even worse than Trudeau's. We already know, based on last year's economic statement, that the deficit was $62 billion. Now, unfortunately, Canadians are bracing for something even larger. What do the Liberals tell us? They t…
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Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister promised more jobs, but the only thing that is booming is unemployment. EI use among women aged 25 to 54 is up 12% in just one month, and overall, EI claims are up nearly 13% year over year. It is yet another Liberal broken promise. In Newmarket, I met a mother. She cannot find a stable job. She worries about feeding her three kids and paying her rent, and that worr…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, I would have the same question for the Liberal government, which has failed to deliver real bail reform. I am glad that Conservatives have talked tough on crime. We have a member who is working on bail reform. I am very much looking forward to that, and I have been sharing that with people in my riding. I can tell members that they want a serious government to tackle violent crime.
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Mr. Speaker, in June, Canadians pleaded with the Liberal government to keep Parliament open and deliver real bail reform. Its members refused, and they went on vacation. While they were away, tragedy multiplied: A three-year-old girl was assaulted in her own bed, a boy was killed by a stray bullet as he slept in his mother's arms, a father was slain while defending his family and a grandmother was…
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Mr. Speaker, this summer I sat with agencies in Newmarket and learned of the urgent need for mental health counselling, yet the funds are never enough. However, today we obtained new data that shows that the Liberals have increased funding for services like mental health counselling for a group that includes bogus asylum claimants by nearly 1200%. There are many Canadians who have paid taxes their…
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Mr. Speaker, I agree with my colleague. I do not understand how government members can stand time and time again, applaud after their failures and say that they are actually trying to save Canadians from themselves. I do want to mention that I knocked on thousands of doors in Newmarket—Aurora and heard the concerns of my constituents, which are around violent crime. If I were to go back to the mot…
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Mr. Speaker, I very clearly laid out my concerns with the bill, predominantly around the violation of civil liberties for Canadians and government overreach and its desire for control. That is what we do not agree with. The reality is that criminals will adapt, and they will adapt quickly. They will change their methods. We have seen pigeons and drones. Left behind will be ordinary, law-abiding Ca…
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Mr. Speaker, I spent 15 years in the financial sector, and I can say with full confidence that criminals will move way faster than the government can ever move, and what will be left over is ordinary, law-abiding Canadians with their civil liberties violated and a government that can go into anyone's mail without a warrant, just a will, and violate people's privacy. I do not support that.
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, even the government's own fiscal watchdog said that he is in the dark on the government's financial plans. He would not even comment on whether the finances are sustainable and is in the dark on how the Liberals are going to pay for nearly half a trillion dollars. It is not enough to have a plan but not know how they are going to pay for it. Perhaps they do not want their broken promi…
Read full speech →Statements by Members
Mr. Speaker, we all remember that one teacher who made a lasting impact on us, the one who believed in us before we believed in ourselves, the one who would stay up late to push us further and who made us feel worth every minute of their time. At Sacred Heart Catholic High School in Newmarket, I saw that spirit alive. I saw it first during the election, when teachers organized a candidates' debate…
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Madam Chair, if the minister has the will, does he not have the time, then, to prepare it?
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