Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, I want to build on a theme that just came out of the last question from the Liberal side. My colleague spoke about it in her speech. The fact is, this was not part of the federal budget. The budget was just tabled a few months ago, and now all of a sudden the Liberals are finding another $12 billion to give this sort of short-term relief, or band-aid solution, to an underlying issue a…
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Mr. Speaker, I ask for a little indulgence first. I want to inform the House and all Canadians that Canada's most famous weather prognosticator for 70 years, Wiarton Willie, predicted an early spring this morning. I want to thank my colleague for sharing the personal stories of victims across Canada, but also in his riding, who have been victimized as a result of the Liberal soft-on-bail regime ov…
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Mr. Speaker, as the Prime Minister and cabinet are responsible for the National Security and Intelligence Committee of Parliamentarians, in accordance with the NSICOP act, could the government House leader please provide the date the Prime Minister intends to initiate this long overdue review of the act? I would note that the law states the act and the review were to commence no later than October…
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Mr. Speaker, I commend my hon. colleague for identifying some of the strengths and weaknesses of the bill. In particular, our hon. colleague, the shadow minister on this file, proposed a solution, which was for the government to split the bill in two: take the part where we have consensus across all parties to actually get public safety as a priority for victims here in Canada, and move those aspe…
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Mr. Speaker, that was a phenomenally informative speech. I learned a ton just listening to it, especially on the good parts of the bill about needed reforms within our justice system to ensure that victims have public safety. Our shadow minister has made a recommendation to split the bill into two. Let us take the good parts that we have consensus on across all parties so the bill can get to the j…
Read full speech →Statements by Members
Mr. Speaker, I want to pay tribute to the victims of a tragic vehicle accident. On November 11, three high school students, Tyson Varley, Damon Davis and Haley Keffer, from John Diefenbaker Senior School in Hanover, aged 16 to 17, lost their lives in a devastating crash on the rural road between Hanover and Durham. A fourth student, Landon Preiss-Hillier, was critically injured and airlifted to th…
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Madam Speaker, I want to acknowledge that the member in his speech talked about support for the Canadian Armed Forces. I support that 100%. I voted against it because I do not have confidence in the government. However, what the member did not talk about was that there are clawbacks in the budget to Veterans Affairs Canada, particularly around the indexing of pensions and the way things are calcul…
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Mr. Speaker, I was talking to a financial adviser, and he pointed out to me two of the best-performing stocks in the last year, especially since the Prime Minister took office. Number one is Dollarama. I think that speaks to the challenges Canadians are having. It had a 55% return. Number two is Brookfield, with a 54% return in the last year alone. Could the member expand on the struggles Canadian…
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Mr. Speaker, would my hon. colleague weigh in on what he is hearing from his constituents with respect to the size of this year's deficit of more than $78 billion? I believe the debt is now at over $1.3 trillion. We are paying $55 billion a year in interest on the national debt alone, more money than we are giving to the provinces and territories for health care transfers. I am hearing this from m…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, I rise today on behalf of petitioners who are concerned about the persecution of the Falun Gong in China. Specifically, they are calling upon the Government of Canada to proactively deploy all possible avenues to publicly call on the Chinese regime to end its persecution of the Falun Gong in China and end transnational repression abroad; to continue to impose sanctions on and pursue a…
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Mr. Speaker, I want to partly address the comment made by the parliamentary secretary. I do not think anybody is obstructing anything. I just think every member in this House should have the same amount of time to participate in debate and speak to a bill as the member for Winnipeg North, the parliamentary secretary. That is fair to all members of Parliament. I appreciate the feedback from the Blo…
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Madam Speaker, I thank my hon. colleague for highlighting a concern that I think lots of Canadians have, and that is accountability measures and increasing bureaucracy. The Liberals, over the last decade, have demonstrated that, when they increase bureaucrats, there is actually poorer service delivery. In this case, I really believe in what the member spoke about in her speech. There is a lack of …
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Madam Speaker, I am presenting a petition that is very similar to the one my hon. colleague from Edmonton Manning presented. It is from Canadians who are calling upon the Government of Canada to proactively deploy all possible avenues to publicly call out the Chinese regime to end its persecution of Falun Gong in China and end transnational repression abroad; to continue to impose sanctions on and…
Read full speech →Adjournment Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, I was actually a little surprised by a few of those comments from the parliamentary secretary. It was not where I expected it to go, but I did not get an answer to my question. I did not need a synopsis of Bill C-14. We are tracking that. The minister indicated in debate today that he is open to amendments to the bill. The debate today did not shy away from the fact that these are muc…
Read full speech →Adjournment Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, I am here tonight to follow up on a question I asked the justice minister in June on when we could expect the much-needed bail changes to reverse the Liberal bail system we have in place. As I noted when I followed this up last month during Adjournment Proceedings and could not get an answer from the parliamentary secretary at that time on the specifics of it, this is not actually a n…
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Madam Speaker, I want to follow up with my hon. colleague in the same vein of questioning. The member had the opportunity to ask the justice minister, and he very correctly stated that he is not worried about who gets credit. In his speech, the member brought up the concerns about getting this through all stages quickly, not only because it would to send the message for next week but also because …
Read full speech →Statements by Members
Mr. Speaker, this weekend the Billy Bishop Museum hosted the 25th annual Honouring Our Local Veterans ceremony. To date, 230 local veterans have been honoured. This year, 11 brave men and women were recognized for their service and their sacrifice. The following are from World War I: Private Percy James Barber, wounded at Vimy Ridge, and Lance Corporal Arthur Simpson Martin, MM, with the RCD. The …
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Mr. Speaker, I want to thank my colleague for bringing up just what the Liberal government has done to our immigration system. It was globally recognized as likely one of the best economic and immigration systems around the globe for decades. There is one thing I was not really surprised by, but I would be interested in getting the member's feedback on it. Has he heard from first-generation Canadi…
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Mr. Speaker, I really do not have a clue. Ultimately, I am sure the member's party follows a similar process that we do. The bill has just been tabled. We will discuss it as a caucus. I know that one of the key jobs of our shadow minister for defence is to determine who wants to speak to the bill. The unique challenge, after a federal election, is that almost 50% of the MPs are brand new in the Ho…
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Mr. Speaker, I appreciate this member's commitment to our veterans and our military, and appreciate her the sacrifices her family has made to serve this country. The member brought up in her speech that the bill would make permanent something that was already brought into effect, I believe in 2021, with respect to the civilian prosecution of sexual misconduct cases. I do not know whether the membe…
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Mr. Speaker, that is one of the good things in the bill: It makes reference to certain allegations and complaints having to be dealt with by the minister of national defence. As for the case the member brought up about the appointment, I cannot speak to that. I was serving in uniform in 2015, when the former chief of the defence staff was appointed, so I cannot speak to what was and what was not k…
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Mr. Speaker, I do not want to say this is a tough bill or a tough speech for me to give, but I do have my own unique military background, which includes having spent 25 years in the Canadian Armed Forces, and I spent a lot of that time as a presiding officer. Fortunately, as a presiding officer, I did not have to oversee sexual misconduct cases. Those would go to court martial and were never in my…
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Mr. Speaker, I want to thank my colleague for his service in uniform. I know that he, as a former commanding officer, was responsible for discipline and for maintaining the code of service discipline and the National Defence Act within his unit. One of the concerns he addressed in his speech is the fact that these cases have already started going over to civilian courts, but we are seeing such a b…
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Mr. Speaker, that is a tough question for me to answer. Again, I do not profess to know every paragraph or clause of the legislation yet. Political interference is something we all have to watch out for at all times. I think that in this case, our leadership needs to be reviewed, but at the same time, we cannot make decisions hastily on false accusations either. Whether the bill would fully solve …
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, as I am speaking, there is a ceremony going on in Owen Sound paying tribute to Corporal Robert Thomas James Mitchell, who made the supreme sacrifice in Afghanistan 19 years ago today. Over 100,000 Canadians have made the supreme sacrifice in service to Canada. On Remembrance Day in my hometown of Tara, 200 names will be read out. Many ridings have dozens of cenotaphs that request wrea…
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Madam Speaker, I will remind the government and all Canadians that assault rifles have been banned in Canada since January 1, 1978. The Liberals have since banned some semi-automatics, shotguns and twenty-twos based on the fact that they look scary, not on their functionality. The Liberal government would get unanimous support if it focused on criminals, repeat violent offenders and cracking down …
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Madam Speaker, I want to commend the Minister of Public Safety for accidentally telling the truth with respect to the Liberal gun confiscation program. I fully agree that taking legal firearms from trained, vetted and licenced hunters, farmers, sport shooters, military members, veterans and law enforcement is a waste of money. Out of the $742 million allocated for this gun grab, only $250 million …
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Madam Speaker, NSICOP did a study of this, before my time on it. Specifically, it had a number of findings. One of them was that there is inconsistency in the Treasury Board and Shared Services Canada with respect to cyber-defence across all government and federal departments and agencies, including Crown corporations. Can the deputy House leader confirm that Bill C-8, or that the government writ …
Read full speech →Adjournment Proceedings
Madam Speaker, I am here tonight to follow up on a question that I asked the Minister of Justice back in June: ...violent crime has risen 32% since the Liberals formed government in 2015. This is a fact across all of Canada, including in my riding where I am reading local headlines, titled “Arrested again” for “participation in a criminal organization”, “Failure to comply with a probation order”, …
Read full speech →Adjournment Proceedings
Madam Speaker, the parliamentary secretary failed to answer my question. In fact, he responded with a very similar reply to what I laid out in my earlier speech, which is that we need to work on this and talk about it. He did provide some greater clarity. He said that they are going to have a meeting with the FPT sometime in October. That tells me just that we are not likely to get an answer to th…
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Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the hon. Leader of the Opposition for raising the case of Emerson Sprung, somebody from my own riding who was murdered by an individual out on bail. I have been hearing for years now from the local law enforcement in my riding about the need for this bail reform and the fact that we have these repeat violent offenders. I know the Leader of the Opposition has been aroun…
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Mr. Speaker, my question for my hon. colleague actually builds on the question from the member for Winnipeg North, who keeps bringing up this promised bail reform. I just want to set the record straight, so my learned colleague, who is relatively new to the House, understands that these are the same promises we have been hearing here for years from the Liberal government. This is something we have…
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Mr. Speaker, I was a bit dismayed that the member for Winnipeg North did not talk about the mayor of Winnipeg's comments in the last couple of days, in which he talked about “an urgent need for federal bail and sentencing reform” and said that “the bail and sentencing system is not working.” The mayor of Winnipeg talked about a repeat offender who has committed 24 violent crimes over the last 11 y…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
With regard to the government’s "Canada Strong Pass" for national parks and monuments: (a) did the government consult with communities surrounding the national parks and monuments ahead of announcing this initiative; (b) if yes to (a), when did these consultations take place, who was consulted and what are the details, including (i) the date, (ii) who was consulted, (iii) the name of the park or m…
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With regard to the government’s decision to implement changes regarding the regulation of Natural Health Products through regulation enabled by Bill C-47 (Budget Implementation Act, 2023, 44th Parliament) through sections 500-504: (a) how many individual pieces of correspondence has the Minister of Health received in support of these regulations to date, broken down by (i) date, (ii) medium (i.e. …
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With regard to the December 5, 2024, and March 7, 2025, announcements that the government would extend the list of prohibited "assault-style" firearms to include 503 new makes and models: (a) how many of these new models have been used in crimes in Canada since 2015, broken down by (i) model, (ii) make, (iii) crime committed, (iv) whether the crime was committed with a legally-owned or illegally-o…
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With regard to the conditions set in place after R. v. Jordan (2016) or the “Jordan Decision”: (a) is there a plan to address the sharp rise in cases exceeding the Jordan Limit since 2019‑20; (b) if the answer to (a) is affirmative, what is the government’s plan to address the sharp rise in cases exceeding the Jordan Limit since 2019-20; (c) if the answer to (a) is affirmative, what is the governm…
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Mr. Speaker, I have a fairly tough question for my hon. colleague. After a decade of the Liberal government, and should Bill C-5 pass, does the member actually believe that a national energy corridor will get built so that we can replace the $2 billion a year of Saudi oil that is coming into eastern Canada with Canadian oil?
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, crime has been rising in my riding since the Liberals formed government, and justice is too often delayed for victims. According to the latest Owen Sound Police Service's annual report, violent crimes are up 14.6%. My communities are worried. To make matters worse, more than 10% of the cases are now exceeding the Jordan limit, delaying justice further. When will the Liberal government…
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Mr. Speaker, this old cabinet minister has not answered the question. Premiers, police organizations and victims are pleading for tougher penalties for repeat violent offenders. Just last week, West Grey police rearrested a repeat violent offender for failing to comply with a release order and who was found in possession of fentanyl and prohibited weapons. The Prime Minister ran on a platform that…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, I am rising today on behalf of constituents in my riding who are petitioning the government about a common-sense idea. While the cellphone number known as *16 is used to contact the Canadian Coast Guard in the event of water-related emergencies, it is currently voluntary and only available in some regions of Canada. Therefore, the petitioners are calling upon the Government of Canada …
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Madam Speaker, considering this is my first speech of any length during this Parliament, I just want to thank all the constituents of Bruce—Grey—Owen Sound for giving me the privilege and honour of being re-elected for the third time to represent them. None of us get here without the incredible hard work of volunteers, supporters and family members, so I just want to thank all of them. Another thi…
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Madam Speaker, I am not going to disagree with the member that over its lifetime, for somebody who is able to buy the vehicle in the first place, it could save money. He is missing the whole point in my speech. The government is forcing people to make this decision, people who do not have the option to buy it in the first place. In ridings like my own, Bruce—Grey—Owen Sound, even if people buy the…
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Madam Speaker, as I said countless times in my speech and in my previous response, I have nothing against Canadians who want the choice and can afford to buy an electric vehicle. I will not disagree that over the lifetime of the vehicle it can potentially save people money. I do not disagree with the argument of the potential climate benefits that EVs have over a gas-powered vehicle. My point is t…
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Madam Speaker, I fully agree with my colleague's point. This is what I tried to highlight. For rural Canadians, it is just not an option. He specifically targeted farmers and those driving pickup trucks. I have been driving a pickup truck since 1997. I am never going to own a vehicle other than a pickup truck as my primary vehicle, because it is essential for living on a small farm and getting aro…
Read full speech →Orders of the Day
Mr. Speaker, I have more of a comment. I have knocked on doors and reached out to my constituents on this issue. To be frank, there is no other issue I have received this much correspondence on in such a short period of time. I asked my constituents if they thought the government should comply with the will of Parliament and turn these documents over, and whether they thought, if any organization …
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Madam Speaker, I have two quick questions and a brief commentary. First off, during the study, did the committee look at the fact that the prescribed age of retirement of 60 is really no longer relevant? Just recently, at Remembrance Day, I met two serving members in my own neck of the woods. One just completed basic training at 54. Another one is serving at 58 and still continues to serve and is …
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Mr. Speaker, I do not know what I want to put as a question, necessarily, to the House leader of the NDP. We are here to debate a concurrence motion that I think is very important on an issue the NDP brought forward that we need to address, which is how we take care of our veterans, and especially this concern of marriage after the age of 60. I do not understand. I liked what the Bloc member who s…
Read full speech →Orders of the Day
Mr. Speaker, the member has talked specifically about this program that we are debating today, SDTC, and about how it actually functioned for about 20 years with no issues. It is only in the last few years that some insider appointments by the current Liberal government have created this problem. Could he just elaborate on the damage the government has done to this program?
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, on a point of order, the NDP member fully understands that he cannot refer to a person's presence in the chamber.
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