Shannon Stubbs

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister claims that affordability is the best it has been in decades, but he should say that to the faces of the 1.5 million jobless Canadians, the 60% of people who are anxious about their finances and the 15,000 people who now use GoFundMe to pay for basics. Liberal taxes and inflationary spending hike the cost of living. Antidevelopment laws drive out jobs, innovation and $1 trillion in investment, like in the last five quarters. Canada is the only G20 country in a recession. When will the self-identified European PM reverse his costly recession policies so that Canadians here at home can afford to thrive, not just survive?

Mr. Speaker, the fact is that more Canadians than ever before need food banks and have to choose between eating, heating and driving. In a year, the PM spent $1 million on inflight cushy caviar catering for him and his cronies. That is enough to feed a family of four for 55 years. On one trip, he spent 175,000 tax dollars, which is 92% more than most people make in a year, if they have jobs at all. While he makes families spend over 120% of their income on rent and food alone, when will the PM cut inflationary spending and his luxury, high-flying lifestyle so that Canadians can afford to live and young Canadians can hope for their futures?

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to present the official opposition's dissenting report for the Special Joint Committee on the Exercise of Powers Under the Building Canada Act, Bill C-5. The committee heard that a minimum of 275 projects were submitted to the Major Projects Office in the last year. The federal government has made 22 related announcements, yet not one has a national interest designation, with not a single new project that was not already at end review stages or was not already being built. Conservatives highlight potential conflicts of interest around seconded private sector and bank employees with salary top-ups; national security reviews, including Beijing's state-owned enterprise involvement in major projects; the role of the sovereign debt fund; and the federal government's refusal to confirm whether the Prime Minister considers a Pacific pipeline in Canada's national interest. Conservatives put forward common-sense amendments to improve and pass Bill C-5, to define the national interest, to entrench promised two-year reviews in law, and on the federal Crown's duty to consult to get to “yes” in a good way with indigenous people on major projects. The Liberals defeated them. Conservatives still call on the Liberals urgently to repeal or reform the 12 laws and seven regulations in Bill C-5 that Liberals admit block building. Conservatives will demand accountability, transparency and real deliverable action from the Liberals, not just photo ops, to ensure private sector projects can get built in Canada by Canadians for Canadians for self-reliance, affordability, national and economic unity, and to be stronger at home for unbreakable leverage abroad.

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister has made Canada the only G7 country in a recession. Even though the other countries face the same global challenges and tariffs, Canada's economy shrunk 75% of his term, with the lowest investment per worker in the G7. That is less opportunity and more stress for Canadians who cannot afford it. A year in, almost 46,000 more Canadians are jobless, household savings are at their lowest and millions of Canadians, especially kids, visit food banks just to get by. These are predictable results with deficits double Trudeau's, higher carbon taxes and a decade of top-down “Ottawa knows best” chaos and division. So much for the elbows-up man with a plan for Canada. Canadians get photo ops, discussion papers and a self-identified European PM who just said he wants to make America great again. Conservatives will cut taxes and inflationary spending, slash big bureaucrat bonuses and corporate cronyism and axe antidevelopment laws and red tape that block building to unleash Canada's economy so Canadians can hope to thrive, not just survive.

Mr. Speaker, I want to thank my colleague for his excellent speech. I think more Canadians than ever before are ready to hear it. They want the government to change the fundamentals, to get rid of its anti-energy laws, so that Canada can be affordable, self-reliant, strong and free. In partial response to what a Liberal member asked my colleague earlier, I would just point out that, indeed, when former Prime Minister Trudeau, advised by the current Prime Minister, vetoed the northern gateway pipeline, he did not consult any of the various indigenous communities that had worked for years to establish agreements and had hopes and plans for the revenue that would derive from that pipeline. The former prime minister could have chosen the option to get the court right. He did not. Then he screwed up TMX, and he called a mulligan on it later. Those are the facts. What is also interesting about this tanker ban, and my colleague is exactly right, is that it is actually about stopping the shipping of energy exports for the benefit of Canada and global security, because it only stops the onloading and off-loading of crude and persistent oils. I wonder if my colleague would talk about the negative signal that maintaining the tanker ban sends and how it does not actually line up with the Prime Minister's great rhetoric of Canada becoming an energy superpower, which every single one of us knows could happen if—

Mr. Speaker, Canada's new job numbers are out. They are devastating: 47,000 full-time jobs gone and unemployment at 7%. It is 4% in the U.S. For young Canadians, it is double the overall rate. The Liberals' trillion-dollar debt means higher costs of everything, lower standards of living and fewer opportunities for Canadians who want to start families, plan a future and put aside savings, but they cannot afford it since the government takes and takes. Canada is rich in natural and human resources. No one should struggle to find work. How much longer will the Prime Minister force Canadians to pay the price for his costly credit card budgets?

Mr. Speaker, these guys are so out of touch, they just do not give a rip about what Canadians are actually going through. Last fall, the Prime Minister told young Canadians they would have to “make sacrifices”. Well, he sure did mean it, did he not? New numbers show youth unemployment is at 14.3%. Young Canadians now face the toughest job market on record and struggle to afford rent, groceries and textbooks. No wonder young men and women lose hope. How can they ever get ahead? Young Canadians pay the highest price for Liberal debt, deficits and costly credit card budgets that mortgage their futures. Over a year in, how much more will the PM force young Canadians to sacrifice and suffer?

Madam Speaker, the Liberals' costly credit card budget plans a deficit of over $65 billion. That is more debt, more costs, more spending and more of the same. I would say that the Prime Minister is just like the last one, but he is twice as bad. He doubled Trudeau's deficit. The debt costs each Canadian $33,000 a year. Who can afford it? Debt interest charges alone are over $55 billion, more than transfers for health care to all the provinces combined. While young Canadians face a jobs crisis and food bank use skyrockets, how can the PM tell Canadians they should foot his costly credit card bill?

Madam Speaker, here is the Liberal record: spending up, food inflation up, debt up and photo ops way up, but investments down, no trade deal with the U.S., and zero Major Projects Office approvals. The Liberals landlocked Canada with costly red tape and shifting rules. That is why Canada now has the most unaffordable housing and the lowest investment in the G7. Canada is rich in natural and human resources. No business should be driven out. No family on fixed income should choose between heating and eating. Why will the PM double Trudeau's deficit, double down on costly credit card budgets and force Canadians to pay more for gas, groceries and homes?

Mr. Speaker, like many Canadians, I remember a time when hard work paid off in Canada, when people could start a business or a family with hope for a bright and prosperous future, and when government did not stand in the way of businesses, pick winners and losers in industry and society, or tax Canadians, businesses and entrepreneurs at every turn. That was just over a decade ago, under the last Conservative government, led by Stephen Harper. Canada had a balanced budget and a $1‑billion surplus. Canada had the strongest economy in the G7, with the largest and most prosperous middle class in the world. That is the Canada the Liberals inherited. Since then, they have imposed punitive laws that landlock and roadblock Canadians, entrepreneurs, investors and inventors with costly red tape, mixed messages and constantly shifting policies and regulations. Today, the Prime Minister sits in the same chair he advised for the last half-decade, where he pushed policies that strangled the Canadian economy and drove $1 trillion of investment out of Canada and into the United States, which probably explains why he moved Brookfield south of the border. The results speak for themselves. After 11 years of this same Liberal government and a year of this Prime Minister with all the same key players, Canada now has the highest household debt, the most unaffordable housing, the lowest investment per worker, the second-worst productivity and the second-highest unemployment in the G7. The Prime Minister cannot blame global factors. Other countries face the same pressures and have responded with real action and secure trade deals, while the Liberals have responded with delay and confusion. Canadians are in this position because Liberal policies punish work and drive out investment for anti-development ideology and government control. How do the Liberals respond? Well, they set up another half-baked scheme. This week, the Prime Minister announced a so-called sovereign wealth fund or, as he calls it, “a people's fund”. I wonder if that name came from his visit to Beijing. In this long, drawn-out, rhetorical photo op, he said that this fund would finance major projects in Canada, because nothing says free enterprise like a government fund that looks like top-down state control, does it? However, he did point out Norway and Singapore as examples. Let us look at his claims and how they compare to his plan for Canada. Norway, of course, is a unitary state, with a single centralized government. It runs consistent budget surpluses, because it develops its abundant resources, especially oil and gas, which drives its economy, creates jobs and funds strong public services without crushing taxpayers. In fact, Norway's budget surplus is one of the largest in the world and far exceeds the OECD average. The Norwegian government then puts that extra wealth into their sovereign wealth fund. Singapore, which the Prime Minister also mentioned, is a small city-state that built a highly attractive business environment with low taxes and minimal red tape that draws investment, jobs and businesses. Singapore has low corporate tax rates, big tax exemptions, no capital gains tax, and a highly efficient, transparent and independent legal system for permitting and contract enforcement. It competes for investment; it does not chase it away. Oh, and it has a big budget surplus, too. The Singaporean government puts that wealth into their sovereign wealth fund. Now, let us look at Canada. The Prime Minister said that he would saddle Canada with a budget deficit of $66.9 billion, which is double Trudeau's. If it requires further clarity, that is the opposite of a surplus. The Prime Minister also revealed that debt interest charges alone will be $59 billion annually, and that will rise by 50%, up to $80 billion, in 2030. Of course, it does not stop there. The Liberals' $264‑million Major Projects Office has approved zero projects. There is no start date, deadline, start point, end point or really any clear material progress on the Prime Minister's promised pipeline to the Pacific, and Liberal red tape still drives business out of Canada. Just this week, business leaders said that Liberal anti-development laws are worse for Canada than Trump's tariffs. François Poirier, CEO of TC Energy, said, “Capital goes where it is welcome. And for too long, it hasn’t felt welcome here”. David Pierce, from the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, said, “I've heard of resource projects that require hundreds of permits, due to federal, provincial and municipal requirements”. He tells the truth. Enbridge, North America's top pipeline company, said, “changes in policy and regulatory environment need to happen”, not only for a new pipeline but “for producers to have confidence to increase production”. Not really an attractive business climate, is it? Under these Liberals, Canada does not have a budget surplus; caused a historic capital flight, especially to the U.S., which started in 2015 and has gotten worse every year since; and does not develop or export the full potential of Canada's resources, either for Canadians here at home or for allies abroad. In fact, this government blocks projects, landlocks production, bans exports and then wonders why investment leaves. There really was no point at all to compare Canada's alleged sovereign wealth fund, which is clearly a sovereign debt fund, to Norway or to Singapore, other than to make it seem like the Liberals have a good plan, but it is just an illusion. What wealth is actually going into this so-called wealth fund? It seems like the Prime Minister had an idea. One could say it is the Liberals' old reliable. They will, of course, take Canadians' money, just like they always do, because, when in doubt, they will just tax Canadians out: out of their homes, out of their businesses and, in the very end, all the way out of Canada. He said that if Canadians had a bit of extra money, they could give it to him, just a few bucks here or there, because he needs more of their money. He thinks he has not taken enough of it. For the Liberals, it is always “spend first, tax everyone and everything later”. Why does he want our money? What is the point of this sovereign debt fund in the first place? It seems to be so the Prime Minister will have the power to bankroll hand-picked projects while claiming it is independent. He will be able to pick winners of a few and make losers of the rest in Canada's economy. He will make sure, once and for all, that the lucky few who tow Liberal talking points and parrot his globalist, European, neo-Marxist agenda get to rake it in, so they can hire the top consultants, line their pockets and add just a few more zeros to their big fat bonuses. As for the rest, they get shut out and drowned in anti-development laws, regulations and taxes. They get told to go wait at the back of the line, while the Prime Minister holds the door open for his big banker elite buddies, his cronies, all the guys who helped get him to where he is today. As Dan Kelly, president of the Canadian Federation of Independent Business, said, “every other unwashed business owner [is] stuck in the old, unworkable system.” Meanwhile, food banks get 2.2 million visits per month, double from seven years ago. Canadians are forced to sacrifice basics and put food back on the shelves. More young Canadians lose hope as to whether they will ever be able to get a home, start a family or get ahead, no matter how hard they work. Another bureaucracy is not the solution to $1 trillion in lost investment. Another bureaucracy is not the solution to lost opportunities across Canada after a decade of the Liberals, but to them it appears to be. They have created the Canada Infrastructure Bank, the Growth Fund, the Major Projects Office, the defence bank and the green slush fund, but Canada still has the worst investment record in the G7. Those have not worked so far. Why do the Liberals expect that another one will? We know the definition of insanity. This is more bureaucracy, another fund with no delivered results for Canadians, but words that sound good. What they have delivered are more offices funded by taxpayers and more executives who get six-figure salaries while everyone else suffers. Instead of pouring more money into a broken system, the Liberals should fix their own laws and regulations that broke it in the first place, but why would they? As long as the Liberals are in total control, with their laws, policies, taxes and red tape, they can extort private businesses and provinces to get their way and to implement their agenda so the Prime Minister can make sure that his agenda to creep more into Canadians' lives, into provincial, territorial and municipal jurisdiction, and into Canada's private sector will be put into place. It sounds like a certain Communist regime to me. After all, he seems much more comfortable now cozying up to Beijing, as he lets their EVs on Canadian streets, even though they spy on Canadians and interfere in Canadian elections, academia, social media, law enforcement, defence and natural resources. The whole point of a private sector, of a free economy, is supposed to be freedom from government interference, the freedom for businesses to prosper and to create jobs without being taxed to high heavens, since lower taxes actually always result in more government revenue, so that Canadians can build good lives without the need to survive on government programs. That is necessary, also, to ensure that supports for vulnerable Canadians who really need a safety net can be sustainable. That is why Conservatives will fight every day for affordable and abundant Canadian energy and exports, low inflation and low taxes by cutting the cost of government, free market competition, and a self-reliant, sovereign and secure Canada. Life does not have to be this way. In a country as rich in natural and human resources as Canada, no business should be driven out and no family should have to choose between heating their home and feeding their kids. The beauty of Canada, its resilience, is the diversity of regions, resources and people who work, live and co-operate free of government micromanagement, who build a nation on hard work and share in opportunity and prosperity to pass on something stronger and better to the next generation, not controlled by Ottawa, not held back by red tape, but driven by hard work, innovation and pride in what Canadians can build ourselves and in who we are. That is what Conservatives will fight for every day.

Mr. Speaker, let me give the member some advice right off the top. I think she should actually engage in the policy discussion here instead of impugning the motives of duly and equally elected people who represent hundreds of thousands of Canadians and care about our country exactly as much as, and maybe more than, every single other person, which is why we are fighting so hard to save it. I think that as a Liberal government member, she should stand up here and explain all the details about the fund: exactly how it would work, who would run it and what it would do for Canadians who cannot afford to pay rent or their mortgage, or to feed themselves, people who have to ration their basics and live in sacrifice because that is what the government has made them do. It is the member's job to stand up to answer those questions.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the member for all his advocacy for energy development and for making life more affordable for every single Canadian in every part of the country. Of course he is exactly right. The Major Projects Office is just the latest example of big promises and great rhetoric of the government's trying to pretend it is new compared to the exact same one that it was, which had driven out investment. In fact, the member raises a major point. In 2015, and I wonder what happened then, it the first time in Canadian history that capital from Canada started to flow into the U.S., rather than the other way around, and it has gotten worse every year since. Here we are, a year out, and the Major Projects Office has not designated a single project in the national interest. Most of the projects it is announcing have already been built, and most have already gone through regulators or their provincial jurisdiction. There are a bunch of others for which nobody has any idea what is going to happen. There are a hundred people who are making a lot of money, and the Liberals have not delivered on a single thing in terms of their promises for getting major projects built or for cutting red tape and interprovincial trade barriers. That is the problem. They—

Mr. Speaker, we entirely agree. The Liberals have created constant chaos, uncertainty and confusion with fund after fund that is not delivering any positive results in any way whatsoever. Life just keeps getting more and more expensive for everyday Canadians. I think all opposition parties need to unite in pushing the Liberals to tell them exactly what they are going to do. I think they are going to pick winners and losers in every part of this country, this society and the economy according to their own total-control agenda, which they are showing is what they want to do here in the House of Commons. In addition, related to another comment, do members know that there are 71 proponents in front of three Canadian regulators right now, and that they are all stuck, waiting around and not getting fast-tracked in any way whatsoever, no matter what the—

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister promised to spend less, but a year in, he spent $90 billion more. Who thought Trudeau could be outspent? Well, his former adviser, the PM, said “watch me” and doubled his deficit. Deficits drive inflation and higher credit card, grocery and mortgage bills here at home. Deficits, taxes and red tape cause the worst food inflation in the G7. With high housing costs, high food bank use and a jobs crisis for young Canadians, when will the self-identified European PM stop his high-spending, high-flying lifestyle that everyone else pays for so Canadians can have a high quality of life?

Mr. Speaker, the government has made it so Canadians cannot afford essentials, and experts say Liberal red tape is worse for Canada than Trump's tariffs. Businesses say Liberals must cut their own red tape for investor confidence so proponents can build. The PM says Canada is in a crisis but will not match U.S. emergency timelines, put two-year reviews in the law or even define Canada's national interest. Here at home, it takes over two years to approve a domestic natural gas line expansion and 20 years to do a mine, and the Liberals say we are not grateful enough. If the PM says Canada is in a crisis, when will he scrap his costly credit card budgets so Canadians can compete?

Mr. Speaker, Canadians must cut back at home, while the Prime Minister has doubled Trudeau's deficit, spending $90 billion more. Debt interest charges alone are over $55 billion. That is more than federal transfers for health care to all provinces combined. The Prime Minister spends drunkenly on lavish food and flights while he travels the world, but families pay over $3,300 a year for his interest charges. The Liberals force Canadians to sacrifice essentials every day. Food bank usage is up because food costs have skyrocketed. When will the Liberals get spending under control so Canadians can afford to live again?

Mr. Speaker, as always, Liberals love to spend other people's money and blame everyone and everything else for their own record. The Bank of Canada confirms that high deficits drive high interest rates. Since 2015, the Liberals' crazy deficits have skyrocketed. That means higher mortgage payments, higher car payments and higher credit card bills. High Liberal spending drives high inflation, and Canadians pay the price. Every buck the PM spends comes from Canadians. Will Liberals agree with Conservatives to cut consultants, foreign aid and health care for fake refugees; bring down costs at grocery stores and at pumps and for homes; and make Canada affordable for all?

Mr. Speaker, Canada's food inflation is the highest in the G7 for the fourth straight month, but the PM wrongly claimed affordability is the best it has been in over a decade. Well, gas was a buck a litre in 2015. It is up 62%. Diesel is up 93%. A trillion dollars in brains, businesses and jobs has fled Liberal red tape and roadblocks. Most Canadians cannot afford to eat, house themselves, drive and put savings aside anymore. Young Canadians are losing hope. The middle class is almost gone. The rich, like the PM, keep getting richer. How can the PM ignore Canadians' struggles and lecture them about just how good they have it?

Mr. Speaker, Canadians should be able to afford essentials themselves. That is the job of the government. The PM says he is like Canadian war hero Sir Isaac Brock. Well, people ration food in wartime, but the Liberals make Canadians ration it in peacetime, do they not? Since 2015, the cost of beef is up 69%, baby formula is up 84%, eggs are up 44%, and the PM has cut only one-third of Liberal fuel taxes for one-third of the year yet keeps his federal industrial carbon tax, fuel standard and other red tape that hikes costs for growers, shippers and Canadians at the grocery store. We are a year in. When will the PM drop photo ops and one-third measures, and cut taxes on food and fuel so Canadians can afford to thrive, not just survive?

Mr. Speaker, the energy minister said, “A crisis is a terrible thing to waste”. It takes 20 years to get a mine built in Canada, while the U.S. approves mines on federal lands in 28 days under emergency crisis rules. Canada sends rare earths to Beijing, which controls 90% of world refining and processing, while Bill C-69 blocks the Ring of Fire with endless regional assessments. It sounds like a waste of a crisis to me. When will the Prime Minister approve the Ring of Fire permits so the private sector can build mines here at home?