Parliamentary Speeches

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to remember the life of a remarkable daughter of Prince George, Alexandria “Alex” Garneau, who tragically passed away on August 20. Alex was an exceptional athlete at high school, collegiate and national levels, but Alex's impact on our community went far beyond her athletic career. Her smile, her laugh and the energy she brought to every room and every person she met was infectious. She gave back to the community as a coach and became a dedicated hockey mom supporting not only her own children but countless young athletes and families. Her family described her as the glue that held them together. Her father-in-law said, “She was the best of us”, and her husband Jordan described her as a person who made their house feel like a home. Alex's death reminds us to cherish the ordinary moments we have together, because when someone we love is gone, sometimes it is not on the big occasions when we would give anything to have them back. It is one more morning, one more game of crib, one more drink on the deck, one more conversation when nobody is watching the clock; just one more. It is one more ordinary moment with someone we love. To Jordan, Josie, Jackson and the entire Garneau, Miller and LeBrun families, please know that their Prince George community stands with them.

Mr. Speaker, I am honoured to present a petition signed by the residents of Prince George and hand delivered by members of city council, who are all deeply concerned about repeat offending, court delays and the growing impact of property crime in our community. The petitioners point out that downtown Prince George businesses continue to face theft, vandalism, broken windows, arson and ongoing public safety concerns, while a small number of prolific offenders are responsible for a disproportionate amount of crime. The petitioners call on the government to strengthen bail provisions for repeat offenders, appoint more judges and prosecutors, increase resources for Crown counsel to reduce court delays and provide additional funding for correctional facilities, rehabilitation programs and release planning. I am pleased to table this petition on behalf of my constituents.

Mr. Speaker, I want to extend my thanks to the hon. member, as my colleagues have done. I was elected with my friend in 2015. As many know, we go through highs and lows in this job. She has always been resolute in her faith. She is a strong supporter of her colleagues. She was always someone who, if we were going through a hard time or if she found out that we or a loved one was struggling, was quick to tell us that she would pray for us. I do not know about you, Mr. Speaker, but when somebody reaches out to tell me that they are praying for me, it is deeply personal and means a whole lot. Therefore, from me and my family to my colleague, I wish her success and thank her for the years she spent with us here in this House.

Mr. Speaker, $38 million spent, 1,000 deliberately set fires in just four years and businesses closing and leaving town are the true devastating costs of Liberal catch-and-release and mental health policies in the city of Prince George. Prolific offenders are arrested and released the very same day. Homelessness, addiction and crime have turned our communities into war zones. That is the reality, and that is the Liberal government's legacy. Members of the Prince George city council are here in Ottawa today. Will the Prime Minister accept their invite to come to Prince George to tell our business owners directly to their faces why he believes they should give his catch-and-release policies another chance?

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to speak to Motion No. 12, a motion that would dramatically curtail Parliament's ability to properly scrutinize Bill C-30, the Liberal budget implementation act. The government says it wants to move quickly, but Canadians want us to move carefully. When Liberals ask Parliament to fast-track another budget bill and limit scrutiny, Canadians have every right to ask a simple question: What has the last decade of Liberal economic management delivered for ordinary families? When I return home to Prince George, Vanderhoof, Quesnel, Williams Lake, 100 Mile House and the communities throughout Cariboo—Prince George, I do not hear people saying that life is more affordable than it was 10 years ago. I hear quite the opposite. I hear from young families that have given up the hope of home ownership. I hear from seniors who never imagined that they would have to worry about affording groceries after a lifetime of work. I hear from small business owners struggling with rising costs and shrinking margins. I hear from forestry workers worried about whether their mill will still be operating next year. I hear from the hundreds, if not thousands, of forestry workers who are now out of work because of mill closures that happened under the Liberal government. The simple fact is that after 11 years of Liberal management, Canadians are not better off. Our communities are being punished. Rural and remote communities, specifically, are being punished with the catch-and-release policies. It is getting harder and harder for Canadians to make ends meet. I stand in this House, day in and day out, and I champion those in my riding and across Canada who are facing hardship and who are facing mental health crises and addiction crises that have not been seen in generations. Since 2016, more Canadians have died from overdose than in World War II. It is hard to sit and listen, whether I was at home in recovery or here in the House, to the talking points from the other side. We have a former Conservative colleague, now on the other side, who just gave a speech for 10 or 15 minutes with the Liberal talking points. It is a sad day for me, because I was elected with her. I have a lot of respect for her, but now we see her kind of changing her tune and spewing the very things that we fought against. The truth of the matter is that over 2.5 million Canadians are using food banks every month. More and more Canadians are a paycheque away from insolvency or bankruptcy. It is getting harder and harder for Canadians to make ends meet or to live that Canadian dream. It is hard to sit and watch and listen to the talking points being spewed. I have said it before, and I will say it again. I am not quite sure of the world that some of my colleagues live in. It is hard. In British Columbia, we have had over 35 mills close in the last 10 years, many of those in my riding of Cariboo—Prince George. Those are high-paying, generational jobs. Many of those mills have been operating for a number of years, with generations of a single family working in the same mill because it is a great job. They were the number one employer in most of our communities. When those mills close, there is not another major industry coming behind them. What the Liberal government has created over the last 10 years is not an environment where we are open for business. It is an environment where investors really, truly question whether they want to invest in our country and where we have major producers looking elsewhere to relocate their businesses. That is the reality we live in. We talk about the last election, and the Liberals say this is a new government with a man with a plan. The Prime Minister was elected as being the man with the plan. He comes with a pretty impressive résumé, I will say that. However, everywhere he has gone, he has left a wake of economic devastation. We are the only G7 country and the only G20 country that is currently in a recession. Now, people will say, “What is the G7?” We always talk about these acronyms. It is a packed gallery here on a Friday, and I know that the viewership goes up when they hear that the member for Cariboo—Prince George is speaking, every time, so the bandwidth is just crazy right now. People are definitely going to be smarter at the end of this speech. There are no two questions about that. We talk about the group of seven, the G7. Let me just tell those at home what this means, in case anyone is confused about it. The G7 is a coalition of countries that share core values: pluralism, liberal democracy and free market capitalism. They meet annually to coordinate global economic policy. Members include Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States. We are the only G7 country in that list that is technically in a recession. We cannot figure out whether it is a technical recession or whether we are actually in a recession. As I have said before, if it walks like a duck and it quacks like a duck, it probably is a duck. If we are technically in a recession, we are in a recession. We talk about Canada being the only G20 country that is in a recession. What is the G20? Well, it is the same as the G7 countries, plus Argentina, Australia, Brazil, China, India, Indonesia, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, South Korea and Turkey. Canada, once again, is the only country out of that mix that is in a recession. The Liberals will stand up and say that their plan is working. Was their plan for us to fail? It is not working. They can be tone-deaf. They can be ignorant of the facts. However, the facts are these: More businesses are fleeing our country; more jobs are fleeing our country, regardless of whether they say the job numbers are up or not; and more Canadians are lining up at food banks. That is the truth. There is no misinformation or disinformation or whatever they want to say. It is reality. Food banks all across our country are saying that they are in dire need because more and more Canadians are accessing their services. We talk with those on the ground. In Prince George, the food banks and community organizations are facing demand levels that would have been unimaginable a decade ago. The Salvation Army in Prince George reported unprecedented demand and significant increase in food bank usage, with many clients citing the rising cost of food, rent, utilities and fuel as the reason they needed help. Think about that. People who have worked their entire lives, people who never thought they would need assistance, people who did everything society asked of them, today are lining up for food hampers because the cost of living has risen faster than their paycheques. Nationally, food bank visits have reached nearly 2.5 million in a single month, the highest number ever recorded in Canadian history. Food bank usage has doubled since 2019. Many of those seeking assistance are actually employed Canadians who simply cannot keep up with the rising costs. What does that say about the state of the country, when people working full-time jobs cannot afford groceries? What does it say when families are skipping meals so that their children can eat? I know it is happening all across our country. We see the number of encampments of RVs that people are being forced to move into. They cannot afford a home and they cannot afford rent, so they are moving into these rest areas in RVs, or tents in some cases. That is the reality. It is not misinformation; it is not disinformation. I ask any of those who are paying attention today to take a look around their neighbourhood and take a look around their community. Does it look the same as it did 10 years ago, or is their community, like mine and many others, riddled with crime and addiction? It is absolutely heartbreaking. There are people on the streets in a state of overdose or in some form of addiction or mental health crisis, and it has almost become the norm. People just walk by it, when normally they would want to stop and help. Many times I do not know whether a person is alive. It is unbelievable. What does it say when a food bank has become a permanent part of household budgeting? This is not the Canada that previous generations built. Housing tells a similar story. For generations, home ownership represented the Canadian dream. People worked hard, saved their money and eventually bought a home. Today, many young Canadians have stopped believing that this dream is achievable. Many young Canadians have had to move back home into their parents' basement. People worked hard, saved their money and eventually bought a home. Now they cannot. Now they do not see that dream as possible. I recently spoke with a young couple in Prince George. Both have great jobs. Both are responsible. Both have done everything right, yet they feel like they are running on a treadmill. Every month they save money, but every month housing costs seem to rise even faster. The down payment they need keeps moving further and further away. They are not asking for a handout. They are just asking for a chance. They are asking for the same opportunity their parents and grandparents had. Unfortunately, after 10 years of costly Liberal policies, that opportunity is becoming increasingly difficult to find. I touched a little on the forestry sector earlier. Few regions understand the consequences of economic mismanagement better than northern British Columbia. Where I come from, forestry is so much more than just an industry. It is families. It is communities. It is minor league hockey team sponsorships. It is swim team sponsorships. It is high school sponsorships. When forestry dollars are earned, forestry dollars are spent in the communities they are earned in, and when those businesses go out and those jobs are lost, those dollars are no longer in those communities. Our region has absolutely been decimated. I rose in the House last fall to talk about 100 Mile House, a community in my riding that lost its last mill, which represented half of its municipal tax base. When a forestry job is lost, it is not just that job. If their spouse is a teacher or a nurse, those jobs are lost when they leave our communities. When they leave our region, they are not coming back, because there is nothing there for them. Entire towns are built around the jobs that forestry provides. Over the past 10 years, forestry communities have faced uncertainty, curtailments, shutdowns and job losses. In late 2025 alone, temporary closures and curtailments affected hundreds of workers in Prince George, Vanderhoof, Quesnel, Williams Lake, 100 Mile House and all areas in between. Those are all communities in my riding. In the last 10 years, we have seen thousands of job losses. Our forestry industry, once a cornerstone industry in our country, has been all but decimated by this government. It has honestly been 10 years of mismanagement. I do not think there is anybody on that side who can say that they have handled the forestry file correctly. When the Liberals took office in 2015, there was a one-year grace period on the softwood lumber agreement that our former Conservative government had negotiated. The Conservatives put to bed one of the longest-standing trade disagreements with our U.S. counterparts and negotiated a one-year grace period, knowing that 2015 represented an election year. The former Conservative government got that agreement, literally, if anyone is a sports fanatic like I am, to the one‑yard mark. The next government, whichever that was, just needed to get it into the end zone. It was there for the taking. I stood in the House for my maiden speech. I reminded the new government at that time of the importance of this. I said, “If this is not secured in the one year, in the grace period that you have, we are going to face the downfall of an industry. Now is the time.” We were told at the time that there was a new‑found bromance between the incoming, new Prime Minister and the U.S. administration at that time, and that they had it handled. “Don't worry about it. We've got it handled.” Ten years later, we are seeing a cornerstone industry in our country absolutely decimated. There were job losses in the tens of thousands, not just in my province of British Columbia, where softwood was the number one export at one time. Over 65% of our softwood lumber exports went to the U.S., and the industry was decimated. Now we have a president in the United States who is saying that they do not need anything from Canada, as things have gone sideways. When the Liberals say that their plan is working, it is so frustrating. I guess their plan was total economic destruction, Every time a shift is lost, a family feels it. Every time a mill closes, local businesses feel it. Every time a forestry job disappears, a community loses part of its economic foundation, yet the government comes to this House and says we should spend less time examining legislation that will affect the economy. That is exactly ass‑backwards. After 10 years of rising costs and economic uncertainty, Parliament should be asking more questions, not fewer. We should be demanding more accountability, not less. We should be examining every dollar of spending, every new program and every economic proposal with greater scrutiny than ever before. The owners of small businesses in Williams Lake review every invoice before they sign it. The ranch near 100 Mile House reviews expenses before making a major purchase. A family in Quesnel studies its household budget before taking on new debt, yet somehow the federal government believes Parliament should spend less time reviewing legislation that affects billions and billions of taxpayer dollars. It makes no sense. Now the Liberals say they want to work collaboratively. They say they are working for the people, and they invite collaboration from all sides. However, we have seen quite the opposite. Once they got their false majority, committees were shut down and filibustered. We see more and more time allocation motions, such as the one that we are debating today. There is no collaboration. They say they need to rush this through, and they talk about the obstructionist Conservatives and opposition. The government has a majority. It controls the legislative calendar. The government controls when bills are introduced. The government controls its priorities. After creating the timetable, it now wants Parliament to surrender its responsibility to scrutinize the details. That is not accountability, that is not transparency and that is not good government. When I go home to Cariboo—Prince George, nobody tells me, “Todd, stop asking questions.” Nobody says that we should vote faster. What they tell me is that groceries cost too much, housing costs too much, fuel costs too much and life costs too much. They want someone in Ottawa to ask hard questions on their behalf. That is why this motion is so troubling. After 10 years of Liberal economic management, Canadians have earned the right to expect more scrutiny, not less. If the government's economic plan is sound, it should survive debate and hard questions. If its spending priorities are justified, they should survive a committee review. If its legislation is well crafted, it should survive amendment and examination. Accountability should never be viewed as an inconvenience. It is the very reason Parliament exists. At its core, this debate is about accountability. It is about whether Parliament will continue to fulfill its constitutional responsibility to examine legislation, challenge government spending and ensure that Canadians receive value for the billions and billions of dollars being taken from their pockets. Let me remind those in this House and those listening that the money being spent is not the government's money. It is taxpayer dollars. Unfortunately, this motion moves us in the opposite direction. The Liberal government is once again asking Parliament to surrender its ability to carefully examine legislation. It is asking members to accept less debate and less committee scrutiny, to accept fewer opportunities for amendments and to identify mistakes before they become law. That should concern every member of this House, regardless of political affiliation. Let me remind this House and those listening, and I say this often in my speeches, this House is not ours. This House belongs to Canadians, those who elected us to be here to speak on their behalf, represent them, scrutinize the government and provide support where necessary, but to challenge the government. This House is not the government's House. It belongs to those in the gallery and those watching from all across our country. Committees exist for a reason. Debate exists for a reason. Committees are where legislation receives detailed examination. They are where experts testify. They are where stakeholders identify unintended consequences of poor legislation. They are where parliamentarians from all parties can propose amendments and improvements to legislation. The government now proposes to impose an artificial deadline on the finance committee study of Bill C‑30, and if the committee members have not completed their work by a predetermined hour, all remaining amendments would simply be deemed moved and voted upon without further debate. Let us think about that for a moment. Regardless of how many clauses or amendments remain, regardless of how many concerns experts or stakeholders have raised, regardless of how many concerns Canadians have raised, regardless of whether parliamentarians have had the opportunity to fully disclose and discuss those proposals, the Liberal government wants the process to stop and votes to begin, essentially silencing the Canadians and stakeholders who elected us to be here. This is not the thoughtful law‑making that Canadians expect from their Parliament. Bill C‑30 is not a minor piece of legislation. Like many budget implementation acts before it, it contains numerous measures affecting Canadians, businesses, taxpayers and communities across the country. When legislation is broad in scope, scrutiny becomes more important, not less. The larger the bill, the greater the need for committee review. The more spending involved, the more questions are needed. The more power that is granted to the government or the ministers to make decisions without scrutiny, the more oversight should occur. Instead, the government is proposing exactly the opposite. Canadians are being told that Parliament should simply hurry up and approve legislation. That is not how a responsible government works. Parliament should not just act as a rubber stamp. Members of Parliament are not spectators. We are sent here to ask questions, challenge assumptions and ensure taxpayer dollars are spent wisely. When governments become impatient with accountability, Canadians should start paying attention, because accountability is not an inconvenience. It is the very foundation of parliamentary democracy. Canadians are already struggling. Families are struggling with affordability, businesses are struggling with uncertainty and communities across northern and rural Canada are struggling with economic pressures, labour shortages and declining opportunities. People want to know how their government intends to spend their money. They want to know whether programs are effective and they want to know whether commitments made in Ottawa will actually deliver results on the ground. Committee study helps answer those questions. This motion would limit those opportunities. The government argues that legislation must move quickly. However, whose fault is it when Parliament is presented with a massive omnibus piece of legislation requiring extensive examination? Whose fault is it when complex measures are bundled together? Whose fault is it when committees are given insufficient time to hear witnesses and review evidence? Whose fault is it when Canadians are not heard? The answer is obvious. Governments control their legislative agenda and control the timing of legislation. Governments determine when bills are introduced. Time and again, Liberal governments create their own scheduling problems and then use those problems as justification for limiting parliamentary scrutiny. That pattern has become all too familiar. Whenever questions become uncomfortable, debate is shortened. Whenever scrutiny becomes inconvenient, deadlines are imposed. Whenever opposition members attempt to improve legislation, procedural tools are used to limit discussion. Canadians deserve better. There is another important principle at stake. Good legislation benefits from criticism. Strong legislation survives scrutiny. Effective legislation is improved by debate. Governments should welcome examination if they are confident in their proposals. Instead, this motion suggests that the government sees scrutiny as an obstacle rather than a safeguard. That is troubling. Every member of the House has seen examples of legislation that required amendment after flaws were discovered. Every member has seen examples where witness testimony highlighted concerns that government had overlooked. Every member has seen examples where committee work improved legislation. That work becomes more difficult when Parliament is placed under a procedural guillotine. Representing northern British Columbia has taught me an important lesson. People do not expect perfection from the government and do not expect transparency. However, they do expect accountability and they do expect their elected representative to ask tough questions before billions of taxpayer dollars are committed. Whether someone lives in Prince George, Quesnel, Williams Lake, Vanderhoof, Lone Butte, 100 Mile House, Horsefly, Likely or any other community I represent, they understand a simple principle: When someone asks for more money, people deserve to know how it will be spent. The same principle should apply here. The government should welcome scrutiny. It should welcome questions. It should welcome accountability. Instead, government Motion No. 12 seeks to reduce all three. The House should be very cautious whenever a government asks Parliament to do less of its most important work. Debate matters, committee study matters, amendments matter and accountability matters. Parliament exists to examine legislation on behalf of Canadians, not merely to accelerate government timelines. For those reasons, I cannot support this motion. I believe Canadians deserve a Parliament that scrutinizes legislation thoroughly, examines spending carefully and holds government accountable every step of the way. That is our responsibility, it is our duty and it is exactly what we should continue doing. After 10 years of deficits, rising debt and an affordability crisis, the Liberal government's answer is less accountability, less scrutiny, weaker communities and weaker democracy. Canadians should be asking themselves a very simple question: If this budget is so good, why is the government so afraid of letting Parliament fully examine it? Therefore, I move, seconded by the member for Langley Township—Fraser Heights: That the motion be amended: (a) in paragraph (a), (i) by replacing the word “completing”, in subparagraph (i), with the word “continuing”, and (ii) by deleting subparagraphs (ii) and (iv); and (b) by deleting paragraphs (b) to (f).

Mr. Speaker, there is a lot to unpack there. Our oil and gas and mining sectors are truly important sectors for our country. Some great announcements have been made, but I highlighted that over 35 mills have closed unnecessarily in the province of British Columbia, and tens of thousands of British Columbians are out of work. There are not tens of thousands of jobs they can move to. The fact of the matter is that over two and a half million Canadians are accessing food banks. It is not getting easier or better for Canadians. It is getting harder under the Liberal government, which should wake up and see that its plan is not working, because Canadians are not better off with it at the wheel.

Madam Speaker, it is my favourite season of the year, rodeo season, in Prince George, Quesnel, Vanderhoof, and in my hometown, the greatest show on dirt, the Williams Lake Stampede. The dust is rising, the countdown's on, And before you know it, rodeo season will be gone. From near and far for 98 years, They’ve packed the stands for the sweat and the tears. The Williams Lake Stampede is second to none, The roping, the riding, the legendary fun. Where the cowboys ride, and cowgirls fly, And city folks learn about dust in the eye. The Williams Lake Stampede is more than a show— It's community, tradition, and full-blown rodeo! To the volunteers, competitors, handlers, and sponsors too, We tip our hats for all you do. If I’ve said it once I’ll say it again, You son of a gun, We’re the best there’s ever been! It's the bulls and the blood, it's the dust and the mud It's the roar of a Sunday crowd It's the boots, the chaps, and the cowboy hats And they call the thing rodeo. Yee-haw!

Madam Speaker, every Liberal campaign is on the Prime Minister being the man with the plan and an economic genius. However, under the Liberal Prime Minister, Canada is the only G20 country to fall into a recession. The Parliamentary Budget Officer has now confirmed that there is less than a 1% chance the government will meet its own fiscal anchor. After an economic decline in three of the last four quarters, he cannot even tell us whether we are in a recession or a technical recession, so I will ask again: Which one is it?

Madam Speaker, as a British Columbian, the member knows that more British Columbians are out of work because of the Liberal government. The Parliamentary Budget Officer is sounding the alarm, saying businesses are postponing expansion plans and investing elsewhere. Under the Liberal Prime Minister, Canada is the only G20 country to fall into a recession and Canadians are paying the price. If it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck, it probably is a duck. I will give the Prime Minister one more chance. If he is the economic genius he says he is, will he stand and tell us whether we are in a technical recession or a recession?

Mr. Speaker, it is an honour to rise today to speak to Bill C-240, an act to amend the Criminal Code, to make related amendments to the Corrections and Conditional Release Act and to amend the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act, more simply known as the offender rehabilitation act. It is hard to say this early on a Monday morning. I am struggling with what to do for the next 10 minutes. Do I read the prepared speech that my staff worked tirelessly to put together and did a great job of, or do I talk about our colleague and the importance of the bill she has brought forward? This bill is important. It looks specifically at three areas. One is in-custody treatment and rehabilitation programs. Another is earned release. The offenders, those who are in jail, would have to demonstrate that they are actually taking the measures they need to, with the responsibility on them, so that they earn their release. They would not, as my colleague mentioned earlier, just be waiting out the clock. The final area is harsher sentences for fentanyl traffickers. Very plainly, I truly believe that if somebody is producing fentanyl and selling it on the streets, the harshest penalties we have should be levied against these people. This is because, very simply, they are killing Canadians. Over 50,000 Canadians have died through our opioid crisis since 2016, and we do not have an answer. I talked about a senior constituent in my riding who was run over. He returned home to find his house being ransacked and robbed by a group of people who were addicted. They were looking to find ways to get that next fix. When he tried to stop them, they ran him over. They dragged him down a rural road and left him for dead. They were caught later that same day and released within hours. Just this past week, we were informed that the charges had been dropped. We are failing Canadians. We are not making communities safer. I want to talk about our colleague from Kitchener Centre. This is not an issue that attracts headlines. It is not sexy to talk about accountability, rehabilitation, public safety, addiction and criminal justice all at the same time. However, people who are in the gallery and the 12 or 13 people who are watching online or on TV should know the incredible story of our colleague. I met her just weeks after the last election, when she was a newly elected MP. She asked to meet with me. She wanted to talk to me about what she wanted to do during her time here in Parliament. We have a unique platform to be able to really make a difference, regardless of whether we are in government or on the opposition side. We have worked for the last 11 years to try to make a difference to the mental health of Canadians, whether it was through our Bill C-211, making Canada the first country in the world to adopt a piece of legislation to combat post-traumatic stress disorder, or in launching 988, making Canada a country that now has a three-digit suicide hotline 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. Those are things that we did on this side of the House to try to make a difference. The member for Kitchener Centre's story is incredible. Here is a member of Parliament who at one time was struggling with addiction herself and lived homeless on the streets for a number of years. She pulled herself out of addiction, put herself through school and is now a sitting member of Parliament, representing the very place where she was homeless. What an incredible story that is. It should be celebrated. What she wants to do in her time here is leave a legacy of change to help those who mirror her life as a youth, addicted and on the streets. It is incredible. The reality is that our current justice system is not producing the results Canadians deserve. Across the country, communities are dealing with the consequences of repeat offenders, addiction-fuelled crime and an overdose crisis that continues to take lives each and every day. Canadians are frustrated because they see individuals cycling repeatedly through the justice system without change. They see offenders arrested, released, rearrested, released again and often returning to the same destructive behaviours the very same day. At the same time, they see families devastated by addiction and communities struggling with the consequences of fentanyl trafficking and organized criminal activity. I was talking about our colleague. The strength and courage it took for her to share her story is incredible. I have probably cried more times than I would like to count here in Parliament as we recounted our own stories or talked about other colleagues. I have also shared that my family has been impacted by the overdose crisis. My brother-in-law died by overdose. My brother is gripped with addiction and lives on the streets. We just cannot seem to get him off the streets. We have struggled since the nineties. We say a cat has nine lives. I do not know how many lives my brother has. He has had so many overdoses, he has been in and out of the jail system and he was shot with a double-barrelled shotgun recently, and he still survives. The grip of that addiction still pulls him back onto the streets. When people are arrested and go into the jail system, there is not a lot of incentive for them to get better. As a matter of fact, they probably become better criminals and just bide their time until they get out. They can get the drugs in prison, as well, but through Bill C-240, it would become mandatory that those who are incarcerated and addicted take the measures and take on the responsibility necessary to get themselves better. That is why Bill C-240 is so important. Regarding in-custody treatment, we talk about how there are not enough beds in our country to get people well. We should be investing in recovery, not investing in perpetuating people's addictions, which is what we have been doing over the last 10 years. We need in-custody treatment. That could include addiction treatment. It could include educational programs. It could include jobs training and skills development. I spent an awful lot of time talking about our colleague, but I honestly do not think we have shared her story enough. She works every day, representing her constituents of Kitchener Centre, being a better MP, being a better representative and ensuring that she leaves a legacy of change. I am so honoured to count her as one of our colleagues. I am proud of her, as everyone can tell. Bill C-240 looks at three distinct areas in this piece of legislation. One is in-custody treatment and rehabilitation programs. Another is earned release, so the responsibility would be on the incarcerated person to demonstrate that they deserve parole. They would not just get it. The last is harsher sentences for fentanyl traffickers, because if we do not start doing something about our opioid crisis, we will continue going down the same path we are on, and more Canadians will die. I support Bill C-240 and humbly ask that our colleagues do as well.

Mr. Speaker, this morning Canadians received deeply troubling news. According to the latest StatsCan data, Canada is now in a recession, with two consecutive quarters of negative growth. That makes Canada the only G7 country in a recession. In a global environment where all G7 nations are facing similar challenges, tariffs, war and global uncertainty, Canada alone has fallen into a recession. How did we get here? It is because of the 11 years of Liberal policy choices that continue to stifle investment, block productivity and undermine confidence in our economy, choices like hiking the industrial carbon tax, maintaining antidevelopment legislation that discourages major projects and having a deficit that is double the size of Justin Trudeau's. Canada deserves better than a Liberal recession. We need a change, one that restores competitiveness, creates jobs, unleashes resource development, supports investment and puts affordability first, because Canadians deserve results, not more Liberal excuses.

Mr. Speaker, residents of Williams Lake are once again sounding the alarm about rising crime, street disorder, open drug use and repeat violent offenders terrorizing local businesses and families. Williams Lake city council is holding an emergency public safety meeting after RCMP reported more than 1,400 calls connected to the downtown core already this year. The Prime Minister promised Canadians safer communities, but after 11 years, people in Williams Lake feel less safe walking down the street, less safe opening their businesses and less safe raising their kids. Will the Prime Minister stand in the House today and finally admit that his soft-on-crime policies have failed?

Mr. Speaker, I do not know what fantasy world my colleague is living in, but there are bad people doing bad things to good people, and Canadians are fed up with it. I spoke this week about a constituent who was run over, dragged down the street and left for dead. The perpetrators got off scot-free. Williams Lake city council is actually considering sending all the criminals to another jurisdiction because of soft-on-crime policies. This is real. When will the Prime Minister admit that his catch-and-release experiment has failed to keep repeat offenders off the streets?

Mr. Speaker, on that point of order, Conservatives would support, maybe, during that amendment, the government's changing it for the rest of the year. This is a novel idea. That is why we are here today. While the government is amending the proposal, why does it not just waive the taxes for the rest of the year and support this motion? I have sat here and listened to the debate, and I apologize to all the people who are struggling to stay awake, not only here in the gallery but also at home watching, the 12 or 13 people who are watching on TV. This is so frustrating because the government says, “Surprise. Do not worry; we are here to help.” Then, of course, the real world sets in for those of us who live in rural and remote areas and know that everything the government has done, well, maybe not everything but most things it has tried to do, in the last 11 years has made life more difficult, especially for people who live in rural and remote areas. Today in my riding of Cariboo—Prince George, a family pulls up to a pump to get gas. When they see the numbers ticking away, they start doing the math in their head. They wonder what they are going to forego. They cannot go to the grocery store anymore and buy just 100 dollars' worth of groceries. How far will that go? A hundred dollars does not buy even one bag of groceries, especially in rural and remote areas. My riding is over 90,000 square kilometres. We do not have the benefit of jumping on an O-Train or other rapid transit to get groceries or go to medical services. In my riding, the one thing my constituents know is distance. We have to drive if we want to get groceries, sometimes for long hours. In my riding, it sometimes takes 12 hours for me to drive to a single meeting. Can members imagine someone trying to get medical services for their pregnant wife or a sick child? They have to make painful and hard decisions as to what they are going to do. I remember when we had this debate in the last Parliament. When I was fighting for forestry and asking what I should tell the forestry worker who is now out of work, there was the audacity of the other side, saying to tell them to move and find another job. We do not have that luxury in rural and remote areas. My riding is resource-based and agriculture-based. Everything we produce in our riding is dependent on fuel and the cost of it. Who pays that price ultimately? It is my constituents. It is the consumer. The government wants to stand up and say that it is giving a rebate and that, guess what, in June there is going to be a little bit more money in Canadians' pockets. However, while they are giving that money with one hand, they are taking it away with the other hand. The Liberals have made life so unaffordable. The chief government whip said that he did not say this, but everybody heard him say it, or something like it: He will not vote for a motion that benefits the unbelievably rich. Here is the reality of what we are asking for in this motion. Let me remind the people who are in the gallery and others who are listening. The motion says: That, given that, (i) gas prices are 13% higher in Canada than in the United States, equating to 22 cents more on average per litre, (ii) gas now costs 50 cents more per litre today than when global oil prices were at the same level in 2014, (iii) the Minister of Finance and National Revenue told Canadians on May 19, “We have already acted”, (iv) Canadian families are still paying more to live due to a decade of Liberal credit card budgets, waste and mismanagement, the House call on the government to offer Canadians immediate relief by ending all federal taxes on gas and diesel for the rest of the year, including the GST, and permanently scrap the Clean Fuel Standard. If they were really for Canadians, they would just scrap it. It is a common-sense motion. However, they will not. They say that Conservatives are bad and that the government has done a lot for Canadians already. Man, the government is so out of touch. This is my first time back in a number of weeks, due to a surgery, and I cannot say how maddening this is. In my recovery, I sat screaming at the TV because we hear the Liberal gobbledygook every day. They spew it. What is funny is the hypocrisy of it all. When they had Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, they were all for the carbon tax, but now they have seen the error of their ways. Now all the people on the other side have found a new messiah whom they are following. It is just maddening. The Liberals are so out of touch. Many of them, not all, have constituencies they can drive across in literally minutes. They have the benefit of rapid transit, such as the O-Train or SkyTrain or other rapid transit, but this is not true for those of us in rural and remote areas, where the Liberals' policies are absolutely punishing us. Do not even get me started on their “jail, not bail” and their catch-and-release policies. That is coming a bit later. In rural and remote areas, we are facing the wrath of Liberal policies, and the Liberals just do not get it. It is so frustrating. I believe there are good people on all sides of the House, even though I am getting scorned and mean-mugged right now by somebody on the other side who is staring at me. I do not care. He can laugh all he wants. He is laughing at the hardship of Canadians, and that is disgusting. Canadians should be angry and frustrated at this. Right now, my staff are probably pulling their hair out because they created a beautiful speech for me, but as members can see, I have not opened even one page, because I am so infuriated by what the Liberals are saying and doing. The reality is this: After 11 years, a decade, of Liberal mismanagement, the Liberals say they are going to do one thing, but then they do another thing. They apologize and say they will do better. Today their hon. colleague stood up and said, “Oops, we made a mistake in rushing”, and they probably forced closure on it. In rushing the bill through, they made a mistake and want to amend the bill. Here is a simple amendment: When they are opening the bill back up, just eliminate the tax for the rest of the year.

Get 'er done. Mr. Speaker, it would benefit so many Canadians. I would stand up, and I think other colleagues would stand up, if the Liberals voted in favour of our motion, and applaud them. In the spirit of good faith and good nature, why does the government not do that? I know what the Liberals are going to say: “We cannot trust the Conservatives, those dirty Conservatives." This is what they are going to say, but it is not true. There is one side that has been fighting for Canadians, and it is us on this side. It is frustrating that the Liberals stand up time and again and spew these talking points that somebody, short pants in the back room, has come up with. The colleagues across the way stand up and bring forth this stuff, and it is just maddening. It is just untrue. The Liberals' policies have hurt Canadians, especially people such as those in my riding of Cariboo—Prince George, over 90,000 square kilometres where we do not have the benefit of O-Trains, the SkyTrain or other rapid transit. We actually have to drive for critical services. The Liberals have targeted rural and remote areas. They have actually forced rural and remote against urban in their policies, and that is unfair. They should support our motion, and I hope they will.

Mr. Speaker, in the fall of 2024, a senior in Prince George returned home to find his house being ransacked and robbed. When he tried to stop the perpetrators, they ran over him, dragged him down the road and left him for dead. They were caught later that day and released just hours later. The victim's family has just been informed that the charges against the perpetrators have been dropped. They left him for dead, and they got off scot-free. When will the Liberal Prime Minister finally put victims before criminals?

Mr. Speaker, the victim was run over, dragged down a road and left for dead, and the perpetrators are off scot-free. The victim now lives in fear that they are going to finish the job. He suffered broken ribs, flail chest and brain damage. He needed facial reconstruction surgery, and the perpetrators are free to do this again. Under the Liberals, criminals face zero accountability. Canadians are fed up, and that is the government's legacy. Will the Prime Minister stand up today to commit to calling this senior, who is afraid for his life, and explain to him and his family why the perpetrators are off scot-free?

Mr. Speaker, I want to first thank our colleagues from all sides who spoke to Bill S-233. I specifically want to thank two members. I thank the member for Barrie South—Innisfil for his service. What many people may not know is that he served as a firefighter for, I believe, 22 years. He served our communities. He knows first-hand the challenges firefighters face. I also want to thank our colleague for Prince George—Peace River—Northern Rockies—

Mr. Speaker, I started off by saying I wanted to thank our colleagues who have all spoken on the bill, specifically the member for Barrie South—Innisfil, for his service, and the member for Prince George—Peace River—Northern Rockies. Through a tremendously hard time in our nation, his leadership on the ground within his community of Tumbler Ridge has been really remarkable. He has been there for the families. He has been there for the community. He has been there for the nation. I thank him. Why are we here? Why are we here if we cannot stand up for those who actually stand up for us and fight for us? We are here for the 500,000 nurses in our country, the 40,000 paramedics, the 100,000 firefighters, the 25,000 correctional officers and the hundreds of thousands of first responders who put on their uniforms every day, not knowing what they are going to endure in their service to our country, to members' families or to mine. They are all asking for one thing, to pass Bill S-233, to put protections in place so that they know that if they face violence when they respond to an incident, we have their backs. For 10 years, the IAFF has been asking for this. It has been their number one lobby ask. For seven years, we have been fighting to get a piece of legislation through. I am embarrassed that we are here at this point. We had a bill that passed unanimously in the House and that passed in the other House but, because of the dissolution of Parliament, it did not become law. I want to thank Senator Housakos and Senator Yussuff. Senators from both sides came together last fall, saw the importance of the bill and passed it on all sides in the Senate. I want to thank my friend Paul Hills, from the Saskatoon Paramedics Association and the IAFF, who has tirelessly worked to get a piece of legislation through, a piece of legislation that would protect his colleagues in the hospitals and on the front lines as first responders. They face unbelievable acts of violence. The bill has already been studied twice. It is born of the 2019 HESA report, entitled “Violence Facing Health Care Workers in Canada”. It was studied in the last Parliament at both levels, the Senate and the House. Amendments were made that are reflected in the bill that we have today, Bill S-233. It is so frustrating for me that we are here at this point. Last fall, the gallery was full of firefighters and health care workers. We thought that we had support from the House to pass this. Before I stood to ask for it, I was told it was not going to happen. I literally stood in front of the House leader, who is in the House right now and I begged and said that I do not care who asks. It could be from their side, our side or anybody's side. I do not care who asks for unanimous consent. All I care about is that the bill passes and that we can tell the firefighters, the first responders and the nurses that we have their backs. That is what we owe to the hundreds of thousands of first responders. I will just end with this. I carry a coin with me. It says that heroes are human, service before self and to never give up. I firmly believe and hope that when this comes to a vote in two days, all members will support the bill.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today with a petition signed by the residents of my riding and many British Columbians. Salmon is a critical resource for not only our province of British Columbia and our region, but also our first nations and non-first nations. The petition is signed by citizens and permanent residents of Canada who are calling upon the Government of Canada to keep the common property resource principle in the revised salmon allocation policy so that salmon remain a publicly managed resource, federal stewardship stays transparent and conservation-focused, and no single group is given exclusive control over access. It is important to note that we must have fish for today, fish for tomorrow and fish for the future.

Madam Speaker, nowhere is this felt more impactfully than in our rural and remote communities. Over six million Canadians are without doctors. In our province of British Columbia, we have emergency room closures. We have OB/GYN teams that are absolutely abandoning our communities, and pregnant women are forced to go great distances to get help. Almost $1 billion has been spent on illegal immigrants and such. That money could be spent to do incredible work in our rural and remote communities, as well as on my file of recovery centres for those facing mental health issues and addictions. Could our colleague comment on that?

Madam Speaker, there is a lot to unpack there. We can feel the passion from our colleague across the way. I do not think anyone is dreaming in la-la land, as our colleague across the way projected this morning. Let us look at what the motion of the text says. It merely states that the cost of the interim federal health program has more than quadrupled, from $211 million to $896 million, in the last four years. It is projected to rise to $1.5 billion. We currently have non-Canadians who are receiving treatment when Canadians who have paid into it all their lives are not receiving it. In my province, there are wait times up to 18 months. As I mentioned earlier on, we have emergency room closures. We have pregnant women who are having to travel up to four to eight hours to see specialists because we do not have doctors who are available for them in rural, remote communities. Our health care system is broken. I think we can all agree on that. What we are asking is that the House call on the government to review federal health benefits provided to asylum claimants in order to find savings for taxpayers. The Liberals like to bring up the guy to the south whenever they want to strike fear into and divide Canadians. All we are saying through this motion is that a calmer, measured approach needs to be taken to fix our health care system, and our motion clearly states that.

Mr. Speaker, I have known our colleague for a long time, and I have a lot of respect for him. I expect him to do better. I expect him to not participate in the dog whistle politics that we are seeing from others down the way here. To sum it up, the motion simply says our health care system is broken. A considerable amount of money is being spent, yet we have Canadians who are without doctors. The hon. colleague and I live in the same province, and I know there are British Columbians who cannot get in to see a doctor in his own riding. What we are saying through this motion is that a sober second thought has to be given to our health care system. Would the hon. member not agree with that sentiment?

Mr. Speaker, an incredible point was just made, and for the first time today in all this debate. Those who are suffering are the immigrant communities, whether it is the six million Canadians who are without doctors or the incredible crime rates and extortion rates being perpetuated in our immigrant communities. I would like to ask our hon. colleague for the stories he has heard and why it is so important that we stand up for some of the most vulnerable communities.

Mr. Speaker, we are here today because over six million Canadians are without a doctor. Our health care system is broken, and I will add that the Liberals broke the system. It is those in our rural and remote and indigenous communities who are facing this. Do they know that between indigenous women and non-indigenous women in Canada, indigenous women are twice as likely to die from pregnancy-related deaths? Communities in British Columbia are missing OB/GYNs. They do not have access to them. Rural and remote communities are facing this. Our motion today is saying that the government needs to give it sober second thought and to rethink health care in our country. Will the member not agree that this needs to be done?

Mr. Speaker, I know that my hon. colleague has done incredible work on the health committee. In our province of British Columbia, and I know our colleague is experiencing this in her region as well, we are seeing maternity wards that are closed down. We are seeing emergency rooms that are closed down because we do not have enough doctors. The assertions from the other side are that we are anti-immigrant on this side, which is completely egregious to even say. What we are against are known fraudulent immigrant cases, applicants who are jumping in front of veterans, jumping in front of everyday Canadians, jumping in front of approved asylum seekers and getting the health care treatment that the rest of those groups cannot get. I want to ask my hon. colleague if she is hearing any more information and stories in her own riding that she could share.

Mr. Speaker, this past Tuesday, innocence was lost. Not expecting the unimaginable horrific events that would take place that day, parents packed lunches and sent their children to school. Precious lives were taken, and many other people were injured in an act of devastating, brutal and senseless violence. Long after the political statements are made, the flags are raised and the cameras are gone, this day must forever be etched in our hearts and minds because the families in Tumbler Ridge are forever changed. They are now facing the unimaginable grief of silent classrooms, of empty seats around the dinner table, and of parents replaying the last goodbye and wishing they had held on to their child just a little bit longer or told them they loved them. The sorrow we feel is almost too heavy to bear. On behalf of the families in my riding of Cariboo—Prince George, many of whom, like mine, have friends and relatives in Tumbler Ridge, I extend our deepest condolences. To the students whose sense of safety has forever been shaken and lives forever changed, we are here for them. To the teachers whose courage and selflessness saved lives, to the first responders who ran towards danger to protect others, and to the nurses and other health care workers who treated the wounded, I say that they are truly heroes and that we owe them a debt of gratitude forever. It is on us as a nation to wrap the community of Tumbler Ridge in our collective arms, to lift it up, to hold it in our hearts and to never forget. I say to my colleagues to hold their loved ones a little tighter today and never miss an opportunity to tell them they love them.

Mr. Speaker, on November 25, 2021, a lone gunman circled the Vanderhoof RCMP detachment, spraying dozens of rounds into the particle board walls, narrowly missing the RCMP members working inside. They thought they were going to die that day. It is a miracle no one was killed. The Liberal government promised it would stand with these members. It promised it would partner with the province and the District of Vanderhoof to build a new detachment, but five years later, the memories are still raw. The bullet holes remain, serving as a constant reminder of that horrific day. The province is on board, and the District of Vanderhoof is on board, but the government is missing in action. Why is that?

Mr. Speaker, it is interesting. The Liberals always stand up and say that Conservatives are obstructing. I will remind our colleagues, as they heckle me, that the House does not belong to them. It belongs to the constituents of the 343 members of Parliament, those who voted us in to be their voices in the House. Regardless of what they want to say, we will ask the questions that we need to. We will do the due diligence. I am hearing on the ground in Cariboo—Prince George that this benefit would essentially be just a coupon. The cost of groceries has gone through the roof. The Liberals are blind to this fact as they live in whatever fairy tale land they live in, but it is impacting our constituents immeasurably. What are some of the things that my hon. colleague's constituents are saying on the doorsteps when she is back in her riding of Haldimand—Norfolk?

moved that Bill S-233, An Act to amend the Criminal Code (assault against persons who provide health services and first responders), be read the second time and referred to a committee. Madam Speaker, before we get going, my granddaughter is at home watching as we speak. If you will indulge me, I would love to say hello to my granddaughter, Ren, and to tell her that I love her and will see her soon. I know she is watching. At five years old, she is already watching CPAC. I stand before my colleagues frustrated. I am frustrated that we are here, once again, talking about an issue that is non-partisan. I rise today to speak on behalf of the hundreds of thousands of brave men and women who protect and serve our communities each and every day. They run into burning buildings. They run towards gunfire. They heal our broken bones. They hold our hands as we take our final breath. They are our silent sentinels: nurses, health care workers, firefighters, paramedics, EMTs and correctional officers. These are the Canadians who hold our country together. When we dial 911, they pick up. They respond with no questions asked, yet for at least the decade that I have been here on the Hill, they have been asking for a single thing. It is that we protect them, just as they protect us. They put their safety, their comfort and their lives on the line each and every day when they go to work, and they do so knowing and expecting that they are going to face rising incidents of violence, assault and harassment. That is not part of their job description, and it is unacceptable. Nowhere in their job description does it say that they should sign on to a life of violence, abuse and harassment. If colleagues can sense the frustration and the emotion in my voice, it is because I have sat with nurses. I have sat with paramedics who have had their lives threatened. I have sat with the families of first responders who have been killed on the job. All they are asking for is a simple thing, that we stand with them. If some of this speech sounds familiar, it is because we have all been here before. My bill, Bill C-321, passed at all stages in the last Parliament. We studied it again because Bill C-321 was born out of a study from the first session of the 42nd Parliament, “Violence Facing Health Care Workers in Canada”. All parliamentarians came together to say, with recommendations, that this bill, which was Bill C-321 in the previous Parliament and is now Bill S-233, should be passed, that we should be doing something and standing up for those who stand for us. I get frustrated. The message I got, which originally asked me to please refer to this document and put forth a piece of legislation, hangs heavy on my shoulders. It was a message from a paramedic who had responded to a call at a residence. The family of the victim proceeded to throw the paramedic down a set of stairs, break her ankles and beat her to the point where she gave up. If that sounds shocking to members, it is but one of, if not hundreds, thousands of messages and stories that I have heard over the last five years of pushing for this bill. We have nurses who are running a campaign called “Code Black and Blue”. The nurses launched a campaign against violence in the workplace. That was last fall. The Canadian Federation of Nurses Unions said that it cannot stand for this any longer. During its lobby days over the last decade, the International Association of Fire Fighters' number one ask was to do something against the rising acts of violence against them. Last Parliament, this bill passed at all stages, but what happened? Parliament was prorogued, so it fell off the Order Paper. This could be law today. When passed, Bill S-233, or Bill C-321, would act as a strong deterrent, a powerful deterrent, to those who would seek to commit violence against our frontline heroes. It would signal to first responders and health care workers that their Parliament values them, that we as leaders in our country value them, that we are looking out for them and that the justice system will protect them. Now, as it stands, a high percentage of those incidents go unreported because they know that they will not be followed through on. What would Bill S-233 do? It would amend the Criminal Code concerning assaults against persons who provide health services and first responders. It would amend the Criminal Code to make an offence against a health care professional or a first responder an aggravating factor upon sentencing. There is always a time for partisanship in the House, but over my tenure, I have proven, I think, that when it comes to mental health, when it comes to standing up for those who stand up for us and who protect us, I will work collegially across party lines to get something done. I did that with Bill C-321. The NDP brought forth amendments. The Bloc brought forth amendments, and so did the Liberals. We agreed to them. That is why Bill C-321 passed. When we got back after the last election, Senator Housakos in the other House and his Liberal colleagues, Liberal senators or the independent senators, the former prime minister Justin Trudeau-appointed senators, got together and out of the ashes, they rose and supported Bill S-233 because they knew how important it was that we as a House send this message, that we as a House stand with those who put their lives on the line every day. I had hope, when it passed unanimously last fall, that we would be able to do something swiftly here in the House. I had hope because I believed in all of us, in the power of the 343 members of Parliament who were here. I believed the Liberals when they said that they wanted to work together to get things done for Canadians. However, every step of the way for the last three or four months, I have been disappointed. As a matter of fact, I have had somebody on the other side in leadership tell me that they guess we are just going to have to wait. My friend, Paul Hills, a paramedic from Saskatoon, dedicated the last decade to trying to get something like this bill passed. I cannot tell members how heartbroken and disappointed he was when he worked across party lines to try to get something done, and then was told it was not going to get done. We could have passed Bill S-233 in the waning days just before Christmas break, and it would be law today. The nurses, firefighters and paramedics, those who put their uniforms on every day in protection of all of us, would have that protection and would know that we stand with them, but no. Once again, partisan politics takes place. I have begged and I have pleaded. If any members in the House have watched question period before, I am almost down on both knees talking with the government House leader, pleading with him over this. I understand that there is precedence and so on, but the bill has been agreed upon and has been studied. We are going on six years. Ten years it has been asked for. When we talk about violence against our first responders and health care professionals, we are talking about real people in real communities: our families, my family. My youngest daughter is a psychiatric nurse. I get choked up talking about it because of the stories I hear. There is no protection. They go to work every day simply trying to help others, yet they are increasingly being met with fists, knives, threats and abuse in return. Last fall a nurse in British Columbia was punched and kicked, knocked unconscious, simply trying to take somebody's blood pressure. In Ontario a nurse was attacked with a knife and a machete. Across Canada the incidents of violence against frontline workers have surged. Nurses report being punched, kicked, spat on and threatened. Paramedics are assaulted while they are trying to save lives. Firefighters are attacked at emergency scenes. Correctional officers face daily threats, and institutions are already stretched beyond capacity. I do not even want to get into the nightmare they work in, because it is staggering. I would never want to do that. I think I can handle myself, but I would never want to work in that situation. In many hospitals across the country, nurses will tell us that violence is now considered part of the job. That is shameful. Imagine if we had to deal with that each and every day. Would we come to work if we knew we were going to get punched, spat on or kicked, or have our life threatened? In emergency departments, staff are trained not only in trauma care but also in how to de-escalate physical threats. Paramedics now routinely wait for police backup before responding to calls that once would have been considered routine. Firefighters cannot not respond to dangerous situations. Regardless of what is presented before them, they have to respond, yet there is nothing backing them up, nothing that is protecting them in the eyes of the law if they are beat up, kicked, punched and so on. They are told very often that it is part of the job and to just move on. This is not normal, and it should not be accepted as normal, yet there are games that are going on in the House. I think if I can leave the House with any request for members, it is to please work with their party, with their side. I do not care if it has my name on it. I do not care if it has a Conservative name on it. I really do not. My request is for us to stand together and pass the bill. No Canadian should go to work wondering whether they will come home safe at the end of their shift. No nurse should have to fear being attacked while caring for a patient. No paramedics should be assaulted while providing life-saving treatment. No firefighters should be threatened while responding to an emergency. No correctional officers should be injured simply for doing their job, yet that is exactly what is happening each and every day. This is why Bill S-233 is so important and matters. The legislation, if passed, would send a clear and unambiguous message that when someone assaults a person who is providing health care or emergency services, that offence will be treated with the seriousness it deserves. With the last bit of time I have left with the bill, I will remind the House why we are here: our nurses, our paramedics, our firefighters, our first responders. They lay it on the line every day for us. They get up every morning knowing they are going to experience life-changing events, but no one is there to stand up for them. I urge all members to please take it upon themselves to get Bill S-233 passed at all stages. We can work together on this. Lives depend on it.

Madam Speaker, as a matter of fact, we worked with the ministers of public safety and justice at that time on Bill C-3. In their own words, they said that Bill C-321 was complementary to Bill C-3, because Bill C-3 did not go far enough. The two bills, between them, covered exactly what we needed to do. It is not a single line; it is a stand-alone paragraph when it comes to assaults. Bill C-3 did not go far enough, but Bill C-321 took it to the next level, which is why we took amendments from the Liberals, the NDP and the Bloc to get Bill C-321 passed. At that time, the minister of justice and the minister of public safety and security were in support of Bill C-321.

Madam Speaker, why do we need to do this? It is because each and every day, nurses, doctors, paramedics and firefighters put their uniform on and go to work, but trust me when I say that there will be lives lost. Somebody will lose their life; it could be a nurse, or it could be a paramedic in the back of an ambulance. The challenge we have right now is that there is not enough meat in the Criminal Code to ensure that the attacker gets charged at the highest level and that the full weight of the law is behind the victims. Bill S-233 targets a specific part of the Criminal Code that deals with assaults. It does not talk about 25 duties and functions; it is specific to health care workers and first responders over the course of doing their job. It is about an aggravating circumstance for assault against persons who provide health services and against first responders. The bill needs to be passed now. Every day we delay is another life of a paramedic, a first responder or a nurse in jeopardy. We need to put teeth behind the Criminal Code and be able to stand with them.

Mr. Speaker, Conservatives are united for hope. After 10 years of Liberal failure, Canadians are struggling just to get by. Groceries cost more, housing is out of reach, energy bills are up and crime is out of control. The Canadian promise that if someone works hard and plays by the rules they can get ahead has been broken. Conservatives are united to restore that promise. While the Liberals offer slogans and photo ops, Canadians are demanding real results, but the Prime Minister's rhetoric does not match reality. Food inflation is higher than ever, housing is out of reach, dozens of mills have closed across British Columbia and no new resource projects have been approved or built. Conservatives are focused on delivering real solutions. We will lower taxes, fight inflation, cut red tape, build more homes and produce more Canadian energy, so we can stand on our own two feet. We are united for hope. We are focused on results, and we are ready to make life more affordable for the millions of Canadians who work hard and deserve better than what this guy is promising.

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister promised Canadians he would build now and move at unimaginable speeds, but eight months later, all we have is a questionable MOU that punts the pipeline proposal down the road. It does not create jobs and it does not boost the economy. All it does is give Premier Eby another excuse to keep saying, “over my dead body”. The Constitution is clear that B.C. has no veto, so why are the Liberals stalling? Will the Liberals admit they were wrong and vote for our motion to approve a pipeline like the Prime Minister said he would?

Mr. Speaker, we are hemorrhaging jobs at a staggering rate in B.C. Over the last two weeks, thousands of British Columbians have lost their jobs because of the Prime Minister. The pipeline will create jobs and make our economy self-reliant. We need this. Our nation needs this, but the Liberals cannot get their story straight. One MP says no pipeline without B.C.'s consent, and the member for Victoria says he is “decisively not in support.” They say one thing to one group and another to another group. How can Canadians take the government seriously when it cannot get its story straight and cannot get its caucus in line?

Mr. Speaker, last week, the Drax pellet plant in Williams Lake announced it was shutting down. This week, Domtar pulp mill in Crofton announced a permanent closure. That is over 1,000 direct and indirect jobs lost and another 1,000 families that are facing financial uncertainty. It has been 10 years, and the Liberals have failed to negotiate a fair softwood lumber agreement with the U.S. The Prime Minister is now in Washington for a third photo op, this time for FIFA. Will he stand up for our devastated forestry families, or will he once again kneel before Donald Trump?

Mr. Speaker, they say they stand with the workers who have lost their jobs. Have they stood with them in the unemployment line? Have they stood with them in the food bank line? Have they stood with them when the bank forecloses on their home? Have they stood with them when they have lost their business? That is the reality our families are facing. I am not sure the member fully understands the dire situation we are in. Entire communities are drying up in the province of British Columbia. When will the Prime Minister get serious about forestry, protect our families, grow a spine and stop caving to Donald Trump?

Mr. Speaker, five years ago, in December 2020, the House came together to support my motion to bring a simple, life-saving idea to Canada: A three-digit suicide prevention crisis line, or 988. One thousand days later, 988 launched in November 2023. Since that time, over a million calls and texts have been made to 988. Every one of those calls or texts represents someone reaching out instead of giving up, but sadly, 12 Canadians die by suicide each day and a further 200 attempt suicide each day. That is 73,000 Canadians. This is why 988 must be the beginning, not the end. As we enter the Christmas season, we must remember that many Canadians suffer silently and fall through the gaps. If someone is struggling, I ask them to please reach out. Help is only a call or text away, regardless of where they are. They can dial or text 988 24-7. I ask them to remember they are needed, are loved and our world is a better place with them in it.

Mr. Speaker, I am going to start with a happy bit. It was five years ago on Sunday that I stood in the House and announced to the whole nation that my daughter's water broke and I was going to be a grandfather for the first time. This past weekend, we celebrated my granddaughter Ren's fifth birthday. She is the light of my life, and I never knew that someone's heart could grow so big. She is incredible. I know she watches when I am up speaking, so I just want to say happy birthday to my granddaughter Ren and that Papa loves her. I have an incredible team, and they prepared these speaking notes for me, but I am going to go off-script, as I often do, and I am just going to talk about home. The last couple of weeks have been absolutely devastating for my riding of Cariboo—Prince George, with the loss of West Fraser in 100 Mile and the loss of the Drax pellet plant in Williams Lake. Not only that, but I know there are more closures yet to come in our province of British Columbia. I know that a significant closure will be announced later today. I have been on the phone non-stop with mayors and councillors. I have been on the phone non-stop with British Columbians who have lost their jobs, and they are facing uncertain times. It is really frustrating for me. For 10 years, I have been in this House and worked collaboratively across party lines. For 10 years, we have been hearing that forestry matters from members on the other side and that they would get a softwood lumber agreement in place, yet they have not. In the last three weeks, I have raised the issue again. For the first time since I have been a member of Parliament, and perhaps ever, we had an emergency take-note debate on forestry. It was the first time ever. While I applaud the Speaker for allowing us to do that, it is shameful, because these are real jobs. This impacts Canadians from across our country at a time when we cannot afford to lose more jobs. We can never afford to lose more jobs, but the Prime Minister campaigned on being the man with the plan who could get a job done, which is what Trudeau did in 2015. He then told us all, Canadians and the families and communities that depend on forestry, that he could get a job done within 100 days of the new U.S. administration, and here we sit 10 years later. It is hard for me, because I want to think that everybody has the best interests. I want to see the good in people. It is really hard when I stand up and raise the issue, and we have colleagues across the way who heckle us and tell us that we are making it up, or who laugh and say that it is feigned anger or feigned outrage. It is real. It is real disappointment, because Canadians put their trust in these guys across the way. The calls I have taken have been absolutely heartbreaking. There are communities such as 100 Mile, where the loss of West Fraser is $1 million out of its tax base. Its budget is $3 million, so 30% of its municipal tax base is gone. What happens when those families leave? They do not come back, so we have communities all across our province that are drying up. That is no BS; it is the truth. The budget does nothing for that. We have a Prime Minister who shrugged his shoulders two weeks ago and said, “Who cares?” when asked when he last spoke with Trump. He said, “Who cares?” To him, it is not a “burning issue”, and it really does not matter. That was a flippant, arrogant answer, but it should not surprise any of us. We see that every day when he is here. It so frustrating, to hear families on the other end who are crying and emotional, with mayors and councils who are wondering what is going to happen when the other shoe drops. Members should believe me; that is going to happen. Today, Algoma Steel announced 1,000 job layoffs. We have more to come in the forestry industry. At this time of year, it is hard to hear. It is hard to sit here and listen to the garbage being spewed from across the way at us. Members know the budget was 500 pages long, yet mental health was mentioned once. We have an opioid crisis; over 50,000 Canadians have died since 2016, which is more than in World War II, yet there was not one mention of that in the budget. The Liberals have spent $1 billion in the last 10 years on their safe supply, perpetuating addiction, killing people and killing Canadians. Can members imagine how many beds that $1 billion could have created? How many recovery centres could it have funded? I know the one guy they allow to stand up, out of the 171 members they have on that side, is going to talk about this being a generational budget and talk about bail reform. We can look at the violence against nurses, health care workers and first responders that is being perpetuated every day. We had a bill that passed in the last Parliament; it should have been law by now. It would have given protection to those who protect us, yet at the dissolution of the past Parliament, it fell off the Order Paper because of these guys' playing silly buggers, because of the games that they are playing. The Senate unanimously passed Bill S-233. We brought it back here three weeks ago to try to do the same, to give assurances to those who stand for us, our silent sentinels, those who run into burning buildings, those who hold our hand as we take our last breath. We tried to tell them that we are fighting for them just as they fight for us, that violence is unacceptable and it is not part of their job description. However, the other side is playing political hot potato with them as well. I cannot imagine anyone who would want to be part of that team. I cannot imagine being on the doorsteps in their ridings, trying to defend their record. For 10 years, we have listened to the promises and listened to the garbage being spewed from the other side. They have failed every step of the way. That is being witnessed and experienced in our ridings today. Last week, it was 300 jobs in my riding. That brought the total to over 3,000 jobs lost. Today, there were 1,000 layoffs at Algoma Steel. I am sure that, by the end of the day, we are going to see more jobs lost. That blame falls squarely at the foot of this front bench and the Prime Minister. The Liberals campaigned by saying they had a plan. They sold a bill of goods to Canadians once again. Today is not a day for celebration at all. I know they are going to stand up and say Canadians have never had it so good. We now spend more servicing our debt than we do in health care transfers. It is shameful how far we have fallen. I wish I had 20 minutes because I could go on and on about the failures of the government. It is absolutely shameful. I will cede the floor for questions.

Mr. Speaker, that is probably one of the most frustrating things that we see and hear. In our regions, our forestry workers are proud by nature. Canadians are proud by nature. They do not want handouts, EI or welfare; they want a job. It is really frustrating. Imagine being 55 or 56 years of age and having worked a lifetime in an industry only to wake up one day and be told that job is no longer there. In many cases in my riding, a lot of these people started right out of high school. It is the only job they know, so they may or may not be retrainable. What are they going to do? There is not another job coming behind to backfill that or a well-paying job available for them. While the handouts are appreciated, especially at this time, what they really want to see is jobs. I truly believe that if an agreement had been in place long ago, we would not be where we are right now, seeing the incredible numbers in job losses. That is a failure that falls squarely at the feet of the Liberals.

Madam Speaker, in 2006, our Conservative government negotiated an end to the longest softwood lumber war. We negotiated a 10-year agreement with a one-year grace period, which the government squandered. The Liberals have failed to do this in 10 years. This is thousands of jobs. Over 30 mills have closed in the province of British Columbia. The Prime Minister ran an entire election on the false premise that he was the man with the plan, that he could get the job done. Now he says, “Who cares?” as our lumber industry is crippled and communities are decimated.

Madam Speaker, if they want a flipping idea of what to do, the could get a flipping deal done. It has been 10 years. It is another week, and there has been another mill closure in my riding. That is 100 direct and indirect jobs lost. That is hundreds of thousands of dollars in taxes for our municipalities. That is $1 million of taxes from our community of 100 Mile House. Do the Liberals want to know who matters? It is the families that lost their jobs. They are the ones who matter. I ask the Liberals to get the job done and get an agreement. Will the Prime Minister come to our region to tell them? Will he look them in the eyes and tell them that they do not matter?