Parliamentary Speeches

Oral Questions

Mr. Speaker, the cost of living in British Columbia is higher than anywhere else in Canada and is led by the high cost of housing. Gasoline is close to two dollars a litre and going higher still with the government's plan to triple the carbon tax. Adding to all this inflationary pressure, the government is now planning an increase in payroll taxes. This is the last thing hard-working Canadians nee…

Routine Proceedings

With regard to government funding for flood mitigation measures in the Fraser Valley: what are the details of all federally funded projects which are either ongoing or planned, including, for each, the (i) title or description, (ii) summary of the work being completed, (iii) location, (iv) amount of federal contribution, (v) total project cost, (vi) breakdown of how much each level of government o…

Routine Proceedings

Madam Speaker, I present a petition signed by Canadians across the country who are concerned about a Liberal Party platform promise in 2021 to deny charitable status to certain organizations. The petitioners are calling on the House of Commons to protect and preserve the application of charitable status rules on a politically and ideologically neutral basis. They are calling on this Parliament to …

Government Orders

Mr. Speaker, I will be sharing my time with the member for Pitt Meadows—Maple Ridge. We are here today talking about Bill C-22, an act to reduce poverty and to support the financial security of persons with disabilities by establishing the Canada disability benefit. I am generally in favour of that and supportive of this draft legislation. We all want to see all Canadian citizens, regardless of th…

Routine Proceedings

Madam Speaker, I have a second petition signed by a number of Canadians across the country who are in support of Senate Bill S-223, a bill that seeks to combat forced organ harvesting and trafficking.

Government Orders

Mr. Speaker, indeed it is Parliament's function to look at exactly those questions about what the qualifications are going to be. The regulations should be limited to the more technical aspects of the functioning of the program. On his example of people who age out, this is exactly what the citizens of this country want. They want to see all people being treated fairly and equally. This is what se…

Government Orders

Mr. Speaker, I completely agree. It is this body that should be looking at who qualifies, whether there are going to be clawbacks, how much it is going to cost and what the dollar amount is. These are the sorts of things that should be in the legislation and not in the regulations.

Government Orders

Mr. Speaker, it is a very interesting proposition. My understanding of the legislative process is that Parliament gives cabinet, the Governor in Council, authority to make regulations. Every bill we pass and review here has a regulations section. This one is just so broad; that is what is unusual about it. Regulations are usually there for setting fees, the application form and appeal procedures i…

Government Orders

Mr. Speaker, under another part of our Constitution, section 92.13 of the Constitution Act, 1867, property and civil rights come under the exclusive jurisdiction of provinces. I would say this is exclusively a provincial jurisdiction. The only way the federal government can get involved in this is to work together with provinces. I would completely agree with the member opposite that whatever the …

Mr. Speaker, the world changed on Thursday, September 8, 2022. It has been stated by many that most people alive today have known only one Queen of the United Kingdom, of the Commonwealth, of Canada, and that is certainly true for me. We have a collector's magazine on our coffee table at home dated June 1953, commemorating the coronation of then 25-year-old Princess Elizabeth, who had been Queen f…

Routine Proceedings

With regard to government programs conducting surveillance or gathering information from Canadians through their phones or other mobile devices, including programs involving anonymized data: what are the details of these programs since January 1, 2020, including, for each, (i) the name of program, (ii) the date the program began, if it began after January 1, 2020, (iii) the description of the data…

Government Orders

Mr. Speaker, it is my understanding that Bill C-9 was first introduced and had its first reading on December 16, 2021, more than six months ago. Now here it is, just a couple of days before the summer break, and we the opposition are being urged to pass it without further debate. If the issues are so important, why was it not brought forward to the House of Commons earlier so that we could have a …

Government Orders

Mr. Speaker, I would just underline that this is important legislation. This goes to the very foundation of what Canadian society is. We are a nation that is built on the rule of law. For us to feel that we need to hurry this very important piece of legislation through Parliament just because we are all in agreement is something I disagree with. I was ready to speak to Bill C-14 today. I did not r…

Government Orders

Mr. Speaker, this is very important legislation. This goes to one of the cornerstones of our democratic society, and that is judicial independence and whether Canadians have confidence in their court system. This is one of the most important things that we are going to debate in this parliamentary session. Even though we are all in agreement, it does not mean that we do not debate the issues. Thes…

Government Orders

Mr. Speaker, I will be sharing my time with the member for South Surrey—White Rock. It is an honour for me to be here today to engage in the debate on a very important topic, the reform of the Judges Act. Bill C-9 introduces comprehensive reforms to the Judges Act. It introduces comprehensive reforms to the process through which judicial conduct is reviewed and sanctioned. The proposed reforms to …

Government Orders

Mr. Speaker, I agree that this is a priority and I would like to thank the member for Nunavut for pointing that out. The Conservative caucus fully agrees that this is an urgent matter that needs to be discussed. I wish the government had put it on the legislative agenda earlier so that we would not be rushing it just before the summer break.

Statements by Members

Mr. Speaker, in my riding of Langley—Aldergrove, we celebrate Canadian Environment Week by planting trees. They are mere seedlings now, but in the process of growing up, they will add beauty to our community and greening for the planet. On Saturday, June 4, with the help of Langley Environmental Partners Society, we gave away 500 native tree seedlings. Admittedly, 500 trees is not nearly as impres…

Government Orders

Mr. Speaker, the Conservatives recognize that there is some good in this legislation. We would be happy to support that if the bill did not have these other problems, which are well known and the Liberals knew about. They had an opportunity to repair them properly, but they have not done that. They did half the job, not the whole job. I have a burgeoning movie industry in my riding. People, partic…

Government Orders

Mr. Speaker, I will read another quote from Professor Geist about exactly that point on proposed section 4.1. I recognize that Bill C-11 is improved, at least to an extent, with the inclusion of the wording in proposed section 4.1, but this is what the professor says: “While this is true in the sense that users are not regulated like platforms due to an exception in the bill, the truth is the bill…

Government Orders

Mr. Speaker, that is a really good question and I am grateful to have received it. Many experts are saying that the Internet is different and that the people who wrote this legislation clearly do not understand how the Internet works. I have a further quote from Michael Geist. He says: ...regulating user-generated content in this manner is entirely unworkable, a risk to net neutrality and a threat…

Government Orders

Madam Speaker, it should not come as a total surprise that the Liberal government would make strategic moves to limit my freedom of speech as a member of Parliament who wishes to speak to the topic of freedom of speech. It seems very ironic. Today, we are talking about a programming motion that would cut off debate on the substance of a very important piece of legislation: Bill C-11. I am hearing …

Oral Questions

Mr. Speaker, at $2.36 a litre, the price of gasoline in B.C.'s Lower Mainland is the highest in North America. We hear the Minister of Finance say that the price of gasoline is beyond her control, yet we know that it is the government's policy to actually drive up the cost of gasoline. When will the government come clean and acknowledge that its policies are hurting ordinary Canadians and fuelling…

Government Orders

Madam Speaker, I am pleased to rise today in the House of Commons to join the debate on Bill C-5, which is a seriously flawed bill, in my opinion. It presents itself as wanting to keep Canadians safe against gun crime and illicit drugs, but if the bill is passed by Parliament, it will eliminate mandatory minimum penalties for many of the serious crimes listed under the Controlled Drugs and Substan…

Government Orders

Madam Speaker, the member's comments are well thought out and sensitive to the needs of many people. Bill C-5 eliminates mandatory minimum penalties for very, very serious crimes. That is the objection I have to this legislation. I believe that addiction should be, in certain circumstances, treated as a health issue, rather than a criminal issue, but that is not what we are talking about today. We…

Government Orders

Madam Speaker, I have an indigenous community in my riding and I have developed a very good relationship with them. I have been advocating for a government response to the recommendations from the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, the ones that are important to them, particularly relating to residential schools. I think that the Gladue principles are very important. Judges need to be educated o…

Government Orders

Madam Speaker, I enjoyed the speech from the member, and I enjoy working with her on public safety. Reference has been made several times in tonight's speech to the study coming out of the public safety committee on guns, gangs and drug smuggling. One piece of evidence that we heard from quite a few witnesses, including Statistics Canada, is that we do not really know the source of guns used in cr…

Government Orders

Madam Speaker, it is honour for me to be here this evening to join the debate on Bill C-21, a bill recently introduced by the government in an attempt to keep our citizens safe. I will be sharing my time with the member for Coast of Bays—Central—Notre Dame. In his opening comments, the Minister for Public Safety stated his wish that we would find common cause on this very important topic, and I wa…

Government Orders

Madam Speaker, having guns come into Canada is a very complicated social problem and there is no easy solution. I do not believe that the CBSA can stop all guns coming in. As the member pointed out, they are being smuggled across the border by rail. Trains are not being inspected for guns. They are being smuggled in by boat across rivers and lakes. They are being smuggled in across unofficial, non…

Government Orders

Madam Speaker, I am not a hunter or a gun person myself, but I have a lot of constituents who are and I speak with many of them. They are all law-abiding citizens and they are okay with gun control laws that make sense. They are okay with background checks. The RCMP does criminal checks. All of that is completely acceptable. That is all good policy, so laws around that I would completely support. …

Government Orders

Madam Speaker, I am assuming that is a rhetorical question, as I cannot answer why the government is not doing something, but I would completely support the underlying premise. We have discovered that illegal drugs and illegal guns are tied together. We cannot solve one problem without solving the other, and I am mystified as to why the government has not yet introduced a study into the source of …

Government Orders

Madam Speaker, I do enjoy working with the member at the public safety committee. We, the whole committee, have done some very good and important work together. We have put out some pretty good studies, including the one on guns and gangs. I hope that leads to further legislation and policies to be considered by this Parliament. Bill C-5 is not one of them. I do not think that Bill C-5 accomplishe…

Government Orders

Madam Speaker, we also need rental properties. A lot of these investors are renting properties out, which is satisfying a market demand, so I am not that worried about it, to be honest.

Government Orders

Madam Speaker, it is a pleasure for me to rise to talk about budget 2022, or what the Liberals are calling “A Plan to Grow Our Economy and Make Life More Affordable”. I thought I would put that audacious claim to the test against reality on the ground. Inflation is at a generational high. House prices are out of reach for most first-time buyers. The price of gas is soaring, at $2.36 a litre in my …

Government Orders

Madam Speaker, I would request a recorded division.

Private Members' Business

Madam Speaker, it is an honour for me to rise today to join the debate on Bill C-216, an act to amend the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act and to enact the expungement of certain drug-related convictions act and the national strategy on substance use act. The sponsor of this private member's bill is a fellow British Columbian, the member for Courtenay—Alberni, and I want to thank him for introd…

Oral Questions

Madam Speaker, the whole world is starting to see the COVID-19 pandemic in the rear-view mirror. Governments around the world are starting to ease up on gathering and travelling restrictions. Canadian travellers are certainly back in full force. Too bad their government is not. Look at the long lineups at airports and passport offices. When will the government start following the science that the …

Oral Questions

Mr. Speaker, Vancouver has the highest gas prices in all of North America. The gas station at the Vancouver airport is advertising regular gas at $2.34 a litre. The Minister of Finance keeps saying that inflation is a global phenomenon, yet we know it is the current government's policy to actually drive up gasoline prices through its taxation policy. When will it quit blaming others, take responsi…

Oral Questions

Mr. Speaker, the cities in metro Vancouver need 25,000 new houses every year just to keep up with population growth projections, but we are building only 20,000 new homes. This supply and demand imbalance is hurting a lot of Canadian families that just want a safe home and financial security. Clearly, the government's housing policies over the last six years have not been working. Why should Canad…

Routine Proceedings

Mr. Speaker, I am submitting a petition signed by Canadians from across the country who are concerned with the lack of palliative care services in Canada. They are calling on the government to create a national strategy on palliative care and to work with provinces to create national standards for palliative care training.

Routine Proceedings

Mr. Speaker, I have a second petition, signed by Canadians who are deeply concerned that President Putin has launched an unprovoked and illegal war against the people of Ukraine. The petitioners are calling on the government to immediately implement a government-assisted refugee program for Ukrainians coming to Canada.

Statements by Members

Mr. Speaker, it was supposed to be temporary, transitory and tied to supply chain disruptions with the pandemic, and things were going to get back to normal with the lifting of gathering and transportation restrictions, but if we ask the average Canadians today what they think about inflation, if we ask my granddaughter, who filled up her car in Vancouver yesterday at $2.20 a litre, if we ask the …

Oral Questions

Madam Speaker, with the average price of a starter home in some parts of metro Vancouver now reaching the $1-million mark, many people are giving up hope of ever owning their first home. It just keeps getting harder all the time. To quote the Vancouver Sun, “Young, educated, urban Canadians have many reasons to be angry with Ottawa for the ways it has worsened the housing crisis.” After so many fa…

Statements by Members

Mr. Speaker, 77 years ago, on May 5, 1945, the Canadian Army finally liberated the Dutch people from Nazi occupation. It was a welcome end to a fierce year-long campaign, starting in Normandy, continuing through a winter that was bitter cold and finally ending with the liberation of Arnhem and surrounding cities. The victory came at a high cost: 7,000 Canadian lives. However, it was also the start…

Statements By Members

Madam Speaker, we are hearing from so many people in my riding of Langley—Aldergrove who are frustrated with the disfunction of the passport office. We hear of people lining up at six o'clock in the morning, and even camping overnight, in the hopes of being the first in line, yet even some of those people are being turned away. We have heard some people calling it “the lineup of despair”. We heard…

Oral Questions

Madam Speaker, contrary to the song the Liberal government has been singing about inflation being transitory and tied to short-term supply chain disruptions, Bank of Canada Governor Macklem is now acknowledging that inflation is going to be with us longer than anticipated and 6% higher than anticipated. This inflation costs the average Canadian worker $2,000 a year and the average family $4,000 a …

Oral Questions

Mr. Speaker, that was very amusing. The government’s first-time homebuyer’s incentive program is a bust. I have spoken to home builders, mortgage brokers, realtors and prospective first-time buyers who tell me that the program does not work in Canada's more expensive real estate markets. The average price of a home in my riding of Langley—Aldergrove is now higher than the upper limit permitted und…

Oral Questions

Mr. Speaker, so many small and medium-sized businesses in my riding of Langley—Aldergrove tell me that one of their biggest challenges is to find good workers with the skills and knowledge needed for today's economy. We know that many young people and new immigrants are anxious to get to work, but if the economy cannot produce the products, services and workers the economy needs, we have inflation…

Government Orders

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to speak to the government's fall economic and fiscal update. To better understand the economic pressures that Canadians are facing, we need to look at the data. We have the highest rate of inflation that we have had in a generation. My children are all adults now and do not know what inflation is. It is at 5.7% at the moment, and that means that, on average, everything i…

Government Orders

Madam Speaker, I would support any programs that are effective in helping first-time buyers get into the market. It can be very challenging and very intimidating for first-time buyers to bid on a house. I have talked to many people in my riding who are desperate to get into a house, but they keep getting outbid by investors and they fail to buy the home they want. Yes, I would support anything tha…

Government Orders

Madam Speaker, we are talking about Bill C-8, an act to implement certain provisions of the economic and fiscal update. We are talking about the economic pressures that Canadians are feeling, which are today at a generational high of 5.7%. However, if we look at industry-specific statistics, it can be much worse than that. We are also talking about housing. The cost of housing, in the time the Lib…