Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, earlier in the debate today, we heard the Minister of Finance say that he wants to make Canada the “strongest economy in the G7”. It was pointed out to him that Canada's productivity metrics are lagging behind those of our major trading partners, particularly the United States of America. Does the member see anything in this bill that is going to improve our productivity numbers? Why …
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, I rise today to speak to the making life more affordable for Canadians act. This act was made necessary by a decade of economic mismanagement by the Liberal government. Why are things unaffordable for Canadians? Well, inflation is up. Let us take a look at the cost of groceries, which is at 3.8% inflation year over year, according to Stats Canada's April figures, which is twice the …
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Madam Speaker, there the member for Winnipeg North goes again saying the Liberal government is a whole new government. No, it is not. It has the same old ideas, just recycled and repackaged, and somehow it is expecting Canadians to believe that this time, finally, it has the solutions. If we talk about housing, housing prices have doubled in the 10 years of the Liberals' regime. What is so differe…
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Madam Speaker, new housing construction starts in my area, the Lower Mainland, are down. There might be a bit of a blip up right now. I am not quite sure exactly what the latest trends are. A combination of bad legislation from both the federal government and the provincial NDP government has not been helping. We just wish the government would stay out of the way and encourage private enterprise t…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, this is the way Canadian democracy works. We get voted into this House of Commons. Canadians have once again said they want a minority government, but the Liberals are acting as though they have a majority. The reality is that the Liberals need to work with us. They need to work with the opposition in order to get things done. They expect co-operation from us. We expect co-operation…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, that is a very good summary from my colleague from St. Albert—Sturgeon River as to what the problem is with Canada's economy after 10 years of Liberal governance. It is spend, spend, spend. We were somewhat optimistic that the new Prime Minister, with a degree in economics, might understand the economy better than the previous—
Read full speech →Speech from the Throne
Mr. Speaker, the member highlighted the Liberal government's latest housing crisis solution as building more prefab homes. In metro Vancouver, where my riding is, we built 20-storey and 30-storey high-rise towers close to transit stations. The hard part in urban development is land assembly, rezoning applications and putting in the civil services. How is prefab housing going to solve that problem?
Read full speech →Statements by Members
Mr. Speaker, what was meant as a celebration of culture and heritage turned into a moment of unspeakable sorrow. On April 26, the Lapu-Lapu Day festival in Vancouver, a symbol of Filipino unity and pride, was shattered by an act of senseless violence. Many lives were taken, many more injured. Families were torn apart. Dreams were cut short and a community was left grieving, but in the face of all …
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Madam Speaker, I rise to present a dissenting report by the Conservative Party on the study on Islamophobia. The study was undertaken at a time of conflict in the Middle East between Israel and the Palestinian people of Gaza. As one witness noticed, the committee suffered from a fundamental category error by confusing Islamophobia and anti-Palestinian racism. We agreed with that assessment. Indeed…
Read full speech →Statements By Members
Mr. Speaker, after nine years of the NDP-Liberal government, our once-safe towns and cities are now rife with crime and chaos thanks to the Liberal Prime Minister's radical catch-and-release bail policies that allow dangerous people, lawbreakers, to stay on our streets. Our worsening public safety record has been made evident by a recent Fraser Institute study comparing our crime stats to those of…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Madam Speaker, I am proud that my country has two official languages. My first language is English, but I also speak French. Today I will ask my question in English. I always love listening to the member for Winnipeg North speak because I love hearing his western Canadian accent, and today he was expressing concern about the contempt that some people have for the CBC. However, my question is about…
Read full speech →Orders of the Day
Madam Speaker, it is often noted by political commentators that Canadians are losing confidence in our democratic institutions, such as our courts and electoral system, and now Parliament. I wonder if my colleague could comment on what happens to this confidence, or lack thereof, when the governing party refuses to comply with an order of this Parliament, which is definitely within its power to be…
Read full speech →Orders of the Day
Madam Speaker, the speech by my friend and colleague, the member for Selkirk—Interlake—Eastman, was a thoughtful one on the Liberals' latest scandal, the green slush fund. I was happy to hear him make reference to the specious arguments based on the charter that the Liberals are now advancing late in the day to justify their non-compliance with a perfectly legitimate order of Parliament. The membe…
Read full speech →Orders of the Day
Madam Speaker, here we are, five weeks in, and we are still debating the Liberal government's refusal to produce documents relating to the latest scandal, the green slush fund scandal, as ordered by Parliament on June 10. This is the third time that I am rising to speak on this issue, so I want to take a slightly different approach. I want to talk about the legal principle of subsequent remedial m…
Read full speech →Orders of the Day
Madam Speaker, it is amusing that that question is coming from the only person on the Liberal side of the House who is allowed to comment and be involved in these debates. I am very proud to be a member of this caucus and to have the member for Carleton be our leader. I am happy to get gold stars from him, but what I am really looking forward to is getting gold stars from the Canadian citizens in …
Read full speech →Orders of the Day
Madam Speaker, I am very honoured to have a question from my friend and colleague, the member for Rivière-du-Nord. We have a great time working on the justice committee together, and I think we are accomplishing some really important things. He said that this is an important issue, and I agree. I am very grateful that the NDP and the Bloc Québécois voted with us on it. I think we all want to get b…
Read full speech →Orders of the Day
Madam Speaker, the member asked a thoughtful question. I agree that we should all try to work together. Just a little while ago today we heard the Thursday question. I would encourage the Liberal government to comply with the order and to not look at us to say that we are not being co-operative. There is an order that it has to follow, and it has not. It is a breach of privilege. This is a very se…
Read full speech →Orders of the Day
Madam Speaker, my friend and colleague from Fleetwood—Port Kells is my next-door neighbour, and I enjoy working with him. I do not think it is an either-or. He is saying that we either have the government complying with a just order from Parliament or we have justice in the way law enforcement is done by the RCMP. I do not think that there is a contradiction here. The RCMP has very smart people on…
Read full speech →Orders of the Day
Madam Speaker, the answer is that I do not know. What we really need is for the documents to be produced so that we can discover what has been going on.
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
With regard to the Lytton Homeowner Resilient Rebuild Program: (a) how much money has been distributed through the program to date; (b) how many recipients have received funding through the program; (c) what was the average payment amount received; and (d) how many applications have been received to date?
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
With regard to entities that owe tax to the CRA for unpaid excise tax on cannabis: (a) how many have filed for creditor protection or bankruptcy, broken down by year since the legalization of cannabis; (b) how much excise tax has been written off, in total, and broken down by the province or territory of the entity owing tax; and (c) for each entity which owed unpaid excise tax on cannabis and had…
Read full speech →Orders of the Day
Madam Speaker, one of the primary responsibilities of Parliament is to hold the government to account. That is exactly what we did as the loyal opposition of His Royal Highness, working together with the other opposition parties, when we passed an order of the House compelling the government to produce documents relating to its most recent scandal, the green slush fund. Just a little while ago we …
Read full speech →Orders of the Day
Mr. Speaker, I have the honour of rising in Canada's Parliament to join in the debate about the privilege question relating to the Liberal government's latest scandal: the green slush fund. Before I do that, I just want to take a moment to mark this historic day and congratulate our neighbours to the south for a very decisive election. I congratulate Mr. Trump for regaining the White House. Canada…
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Mr. Speaker, I have the greatest respect for the member for Nipissing—Timiskaming, who is a former Speaker of the House. He supported us, of course. He was doing his job. That is what the Speaker is supposed to do. Now we know the Liberals did not like the special committee on China-Canada relations right from the start. We know that they did not like the makeup of the 43rd Parliament, a divided H…
Read full speech →Orders of the Day
Mr. Speaker, the Conservative Party will put out its platform in due course. I am not going to answer that question directly, other than to say that we are sensitive to the needs of Canadians. We are, I believe, well attuned to the issues of the day, and we will have a platform that is going to be a winner in the next election.
Read full speech →Orders of the Day
Mr. Speaker, the only conclusion we care about is the conclusion that the House of Commons came to, which was to order the government to produce the documents. Parliament is supreme. It is completely within our wheelhouse to be able to make that order for the production of documents. This is an age-old tradition, and the government should respect it. If the Liberals do not, then they should call a…
Read full speech →Orders of the Day
Mr. Speaker, I guess I am not surprised to hear a member of the NDP, which continues to support the Liberal Party in preventing an election that so many Canadians want, now looking back in history for other scandals to divert Canadians' attention from what is going on in Canada right now with the green slush fund. This is what our focus is right now. We want to get to the bottom of it. There is co…
Read full speech →Orders of the Day
Mr. Speaker, that is a great question. I wish I could answer quoting directly from my constituents, but their statements would probably be ruled as unparliamentary. People in my home community are fed up with the Liberal government. They want so desperately for there to be an election. So many people ask me when they see me, “Why are the Conservatives not putting forward a non-confidence vote?” I …
Read full speech →Orders of the Day
Mr. Speaker, that is a good question: What would the next step be? The motion says that the documents should go to the law clerk and parliamentary counsel for them to review, and I am sure that we would take advice from them. The order also says that the documents should go to the RCMP. The Liberals are saying that it might be problematic for the officers to deal with it. Well, they are very smart…
Read full speech →Orders of the Day
Mr. Speaker, Parliament has the unfettered authority to do exactly what it has done. The Liberals keep trying to divert people's attention to something else, but the real issue of the day is why the government is refusing to produce the documents that it has been ordered to produce. What do the Liberals have to hide? Who are they protecting? Canadians want to know.
Read full speech →Orders of the Day
Mr. Speaker, here we are, I believe in week four, still debating a privilege motion because the Liberals are refusing to comply with the order of the House made back in June about the green slush fund. They are refusing to produce the documents. What are the opportunity costs here? What is being lost in this chamber when we could be debating important issues that are relevant to Canadians in this …
Read full speech →Orders of the Day
Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank my colleague for a very inspirational speech. In his comments—
Read full speech →Orders of the Day
Mr. Speaker, for four weeks now, while we have been debating this privilege motion, we have been hearing specious arguments from the Liberal side of the House saying, “Oh, maybe this order made back in June is contrary to the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.” It is a little late to be advancing those arguments, after the Speaker has made his ruling supporting the motion. I wonder if my hon. colleag…
Read full speech →Statements by Members
Mr. Speaker, Conservatives would cut the GST on new homes. The reviews are in and the plan is a blockbuster. Members should listen to this. The Canadian Home Builders' Association says, “Today’s announcement by the Conservative Party...will make a big difference”. The West End Home Builders Association says, “Removing the GST for new homes purchased for under $1 million may be the most significant…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, I rise to present a petition signed by Canadians who are deeply concerned that the Chinese Communist Party has launched an intensive nationwide persecution campaign against practitioners of Falun Gong, including Ms. Alice Zhang. They are concerned that many of these Falun Gong prisoners have died and their organs have been harvested. They are calling on the Canadian government to pass…
Read full speech →Concurrence in Committee Reports
Madam Speaker, I know that my colleague has young children. I have young grandchildren, and I am deeply concerned about their safety in this age of technological accessibility to the Internet and all the poison there. On the other hand, I am also very concerned about protecting privacy. I have a wide-open question: How do we find a balance between those two competing interests?
Read full speech →Adjournment Proceedings
Madam Speaker, the government's reckless spending and mismanagement of the national economy are causing inflation. Now, on top of that, it wants to tax this inflation. This is how it works. Somebody buys a capital property, say, a commercial warehouse for their business, and over time, the value goes up. When they sell that property, that capital asset, there is a tax to pay on that capital gain, …
Read full speech →Adjournment Proceedings
Madam Speaker, I have three comments in response. First, the parliamentary secretary said that a capital gain is a profit. It is not really a profit; it is inflation. Profit is when someone works hard and earns an income based on what they are selling. This is just inflation. If a person had to buy another asset, it would cost that much more, so it is not profit at all. Second, he said that compar…
Read full speech →Statements by Members
Mr. Speaker, today the leader of the common-sense Conservatives announced that we will be axing the federal sales tax on new homes. It is going to have a huge impact on ground zero of the housing crisis in metro Vancouver and right across the country. Homeowners will save $50,000 on a million-dollar home purchase, reducing their mortgage payments month after month, year after year. This tax cut wi…
Read full speech →Adjournment Proceedings
Madam Speaker, a couple of weeks ago, I asked a question during question period about the possibility of the Prime Minister's calling a carbon tax election. This was an important question for me and it was based on conversations that I had with many people in my home riding of Langley over the summer months, people who are deeply concerned about the ever-rising cost of living. We hear the Minister…
Read full speech →Adjournment Proceedings
Madam Speaker, I would like to thank the parliamentary secretary for highlighting the fact that there has been a provincial election recently in British Columbia. He might not be aware that both parties said in their electioneering that if the federal government drops the carbon tax, they will too. There are different variations of it but, effectively, they are responding to calls from their const…
Read full speech →Orders of the Day
Mr. Speaker, my colleague makes a great point. Indeed, this is theft, and it is not just us who are saying this. The independent auditor has said it. The Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner has raised deep concerns about it too. Indeed, we as the opposition would not be doing our job if we were not holding the government to account on what looks like scandalous behaviour, probably crimina…
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Mr. Speaker, people back at home in Langley, British Columbia, are asking me what is going on in Ottawa, why Parliament has come to a halt and what is the impasse so soon into the fall session. The NDP tore up its supply and confidence agreement with the Liberals. What happened there? The NDP discovered that hitching its wagon to the Prime Minister's train was not really helping it very much where…
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Mr. Speaker, I was sharing some of travesties the Prime Minister has wreaked upon great institutions and great people, like David Johnston, the former governor general of this country, a man with a huge reputation until the Prime Minister appointed him as special rapporteur on foreign interference in our elections, our democratic institutions. That appointment was made despite the close ties Mr. J…
Read full speech →Orders of the Day
Mr. Speaker, indeed, we should get on with debating things that are important to Canadians, like axing the tax, building homes that are affordable and getting the cost of living under control. I encourage the corrupt government to get on with the business of running this place in a clean, clear and ethical manner. That is what we should be debating right now.
Read full speech →Orders of the Day
Mr. Speaker, I am going to turn that around as a question for the member for Winnipeg North: Why do the Liberals not comply with the order? Parliament is supreme and we have the right to make this order. We did make the order. It is too bad for the Liberal Party that we have a minority government. It is an order of this House; it must be complied with. There is an ancient tradition in our Parliame…
Read full speech →Orders of the Day
Mr. Speaker, that was an interesting question. The easy answer is that the Liberals are not going to take any advice from me. I wish they would, because we have some pretty good common-sense advice to give them. Why are they not anxious and eager to get on with their legislative agenda? I do not know. I can say that people in my riding are not all that anxious for the Liberal government to continu…
Read full speech →Orders of the Day
Mr. Speaker, really, the Liberals should be listening to what Parliament has told them to do. Parliament is supreme. Parliament has the right to make these types of orders. Talking about abuse of power, let us talk about the invocation of the Emergencies Act. That was an abuse of power. The courts have ruled on that. The Liberals have nothing to be proud of. They are the ones who should be taking …
Read full speech →Orders of the Day
Mr. Speaker, we are all getting very tired of it. I see that the member for Bruce—Grey—Owen Sound is gone, but he had many quotes from many constituents who are sick and tired of the corruption from the government. In my riding, it is the same thing.
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, before our colleague from Winnipeg North's speech, there was a more informative speech from our colleague from the province of Quebec, whose riding is actually on the St. Lawrence. We are talking about the erosion of the St. Lawrence River due to shipping. I am reading from the recommendations from the committee report, which call on the Government of Canada to do this, that and the o…
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