Todd Doherty

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—