Steven Bonk

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to a great Saskatchewan cattleman and, more importantly, my friend and mentor, Thomas “Teg” Grieve of Fillmore, who recently passed away at the age of 93. Teg was a cattleman through and through. For 51 years, he exhibited at Agribition, supported 4H and young cattlemen, and earned the respect of people in the cattle industry across Canada and far beyond. However, that is not why I will remember him. Teg lived by the cowboy code: work hard, keep one's word, help one's neighbour and do the right thing, especially when no one is watching. When I was a young man, Teg showed me kindness when there was absolutely nothing in it for him. He encouraged me and guided me in his own quiet way, and was simply there when I needed him. That is integrity. I thank Karen and the entire Grieve family for sharing Teg with us. Happy trails, my friend.

Mr. Speaker, the government announced a supply chain office in 2023, with no results. Then last year we passed Bill C-5, which gave the Liberals extraordinary powers, with no results. Then they started a special projects office, but so far, there are no results. Now they want to build on more bureaucracy. When will the government finally get something done? There are 500 projects in the wings waiting to be approved, and so far, the government has done nothing. We have had enough of announcements. When will the Liberals actually get to work for Canadians?

Mr. Speaker, the government has done everything it can to make food more expensive in Canada. When it comes to the industrial carbon tax and the clean fuel standards, do they not realize that these taxes add costs to every step of the value chain when it comes to food production? Are the Liberals not embarrassed that they had to create a program in Canada to help Canadians afford to eat?

Mr. Speaker, my hon. colleague mentioned at the beginning of his speech that the Liberals have a bad habit of redefining terms. One of the things they redefined at the beginning of their mandate was the fiscal anchor of “debt to GDP”, which they changed to “deficit-to-GDP ratio”. They then started the sovereign wealth fund, which is based on debt, but that is going to give them more room to borrow more money and not have it affect their deficit-to-GDP ratio. Could the member explain to us how that is just another example of the Liberals moving the goalposts midway through the game?

Mr. Speaker, my colleague gave an excellent speech highlighting some of the affordability challenges that are affecting people in her riding and across all of Canada. I would just like to read a quote from Dr. Sylvain Charlebois, the food professor. He said: ...Canada does not have a food security problem. We are one of the world’s largest agri-food exporters. Canadian farmers produce far more food than Canadians consume. Our challenge is not food availability. It is competitiveness. Do the Liberals not understand that the taxes they put on every step of the value chain when it comes to production, when it comes to processing and when it comes to retail are driving up costs for Canadians? Maybe my colleague could expand a bit on how that is affecting people in her riding.