Adjournment Proceedings
Madam Speaker, I appreciate the opportunity to come back tonight and question the Minister of National Defence or the parliamentary secretary and follow up on a question that I asked on March 22, a number of months ago, about the fact that the people of Ukraine are fighting for their freedom, their democracy and even their lives. They have asked for more help from Canada. The Canadian Armed Forces…
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Madam Speaker, first off, I offer my congratulations to the member for Milton for his promotion, in my view, to become the parliamentary secretary of defence, as I guess that is why he is answering the question tonight. The parliamentary secretary failed to answer the question. It is the same question I asked the minister three months ago, and it is almost the same response. I do not need a histor…
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Madam Speaker, first, I would like to acknowledge the member's speech. He spent a lot of time talking about the root causes and the need to address those. To me, the key thing is to sort out the poverty, the drugs, the gangs and the crime in the country if we really want to get down to reducing gun crime. I would like the member to clarify something. He mentioned that he thought it would be statis…
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Madam Speaker, the minister talked about statistics and data, so I have a simple question about the facts and the data that I am sure the minister had before he brought this legislation forward. Considering that all legal handguns in Canada are restricted and registered, and we know statistically that law-abiding firearms owners are the most law-abiding demographic in Canada, I would like the mini…
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Madam Speaker, my hon. colleague's speech was really fascinating and it triggered a memory of mine of Michael Sheehan's book, Crush the Cell: How to Defeat Terrorism Without Terrorizing Ourselves. That book talks about an aspect of cleaning up crime in New York. When they went after the subways and cleaned up the graffiti and cleaned up those lower crimes, that lowered crime writ large. Could the …
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Mr. Speaker, that was a very passionate speech that really hit home for me, as I have a young daughter. I just want the member to expand a bit. I could not agree more that we should be focused in the House on going after the root causes of issues such as gang crime and drugs, and helping our youth deal with addiction and mental health, etc. The member alluded to a program that lost funding under t…
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Madam Speaker, I have a two-part question for the member. The first part is that I agree with him that we need to do more for mental health and addictions, especially within our criminal system, so I would just like the member to explain where in Bill C-5 the Liberals address the needed resources for mental health and addictions. Where in the bill does it state that? The second part is that the me…
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Madam Speaker, I rise on a point of order. In reference to the last Liberal speaker, I just want to point out and clarify that in the House she referred to assault rifles—
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Madam Speaker, I want to build off the question from my Conservative colleague and ask the minister to explain how businesses are supposed to take over this role of owning handguns for new enthusiasts. In my riding, I belong to the Owen Sound Revolver Club. It is out in the boonies. It does not have any ability to store a large number of handguns. It would have to leave a building unsecured or spe…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, I am presenting a petition on behalf of my constituents with respect to the Liberal government's introduction on April 29 of, in their words, a “shadow registry” on licensed firearms owners in Canada. The petitioners are pointing out that this is unfairly going to target businesses and cost countless jobs and wages, and that it is unfairly targeting Canadian firearms owners, who are a…
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Mr. Speaker, I thank the parliamentary secretary for recognizing my service. I do think a lot of the information we found at the Special Committee on Afghanistan was beneficial. I will not thank him for the history lesson, although I think maybe it was beneficial to some for learning what we studied over the last number of months at the committee. Why would the government not release the reports t…
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Mr. Speaker, first off, I want to express my disappointment for having to be here tonight to re-address a simple question. It is a question of transparency and openness from the government on lessons learned from the fall of Kabul last year. The first thing I want to do is read into the record the mandate of the Special Committee on Afghanistan. It reads: to conduct hearings to examine and review …
Read full speech →Statements by Members
Madam Speaker, today I rise to recognize World Cider Day, a day to celebrate the over 370 cideries across Canada, including four in my riding of Bruce-Grey-Owen Sound: Windswept Orchard Cider, Duxbury Cider Company, Beaver Valley Orchard & Cidery, and Coffin Ridge. Canadian cider is among the best in the world, with origins tracing back to the Hudson’s Bay Company. In fact, historically, cider was…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Madam Speaker, I do not have a question, as much as just a comment for the parliamentary secretary to get on the record here. Having served and been with the members of the armed forces of both Sweden and Finland, I can attest to their competency and professionalism and the asset they will be when they join NATO. It is just something that I warmly welcome. I know they will be a great addition to t…
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With regard to the press release dated April 4, 2022, “Government of Canada announces affordable high-speed Internet to help connect low-income families and seniors”: (a) which participating Internet service providers (ISP) will be providing services under Connecting Families 2.0 to rural areas as defined by Statistics Canada; (b) how many eligible households whom received a letter from the govern…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Madam Speaker, when the Canadian wine industry was targeted by Australia at the World Trade Organization, the Liberal government said that it had the industry's back. Canada's 1,100-plus wineries and cideries need the level of government support that the European, Australian and American wine and cider industries receive, not a big Liberal tax grab in the form of an excise duty. Will the finance m…
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Madam Speaker, I will read a quote and then ask a quick question of the parliamentary secretary. “I can’t help but notice with regret that both the tone and the policies of my government changed drastically on the eve and during the last election campaign. From a positive and unifying approach, a decision was made to wedge, to divide and to stigmatize.” That was said by the Liberal member for Loui…
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Madam Speaker, I have a simple comment. I would like to thank the member for Longueuil—Saint‑Hubert for the bécosses story, because I have a “back-house” at home.
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Madam Speaker, what meaningful protection does this bill offer to fight the assimilation of francophones across Canada?
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Mr. Speaker, during testimony at the Afghanistan committee, both Global Affairs Canada and the Canadian Armed Forces confirmed that lessons learned reviews were conducted by their respective departments in regard to the evacuation of Afghans from Kabul. Further testimony confirmed there was an interdepartmental review, led by PCO, conducted. In this case, in the interests of transparency, will the…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, during testimony at the Afghanistan committee, both Global Affairs Canada and the Canadian Armed Forces confirmed that lessons learned reviews were conducted by their respective departments in regard to the evacuation of Afghans from Kabul. Further testimony confirmed that there was an interdepartmental review, led by PCO, conducted. Will the chair of the Afghanistan committee highlig…
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Madam Speaker, first off, I give my thanks to my colleague for the support of the NDP in this motion. I would like to give her the opportunity to expand a little bit more on one of the aspects that this committee should be looking at in detail, from my viewpoint, which is the economic impact of and our concerns about global supply chains and the supply chains between Canada and China. I would also…
Read full speech →Statements By Members
Madam Speaker, today I rise to thank my good friend, mentor and community leader, “Energizer Billy” Walker for his eleven years of service as the member of provincial parliament for Bruce—Grey—Owen Sound. First elected in 2011, Bill has been a strong advocate for our riding throughout his time at Queen's Park. Since becoming part of the provincial government in 2018, he has served as the chief gov…
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Mr. Speaker, early Friday morning, four cadets at the Royal Military College died in a tragic accident when the vehicle they were in entered the water off Point Frederick. Fourth-year officer cadets Jack Hogarth, Andrei Honciu, Broden Murphy and Andrés Salek all voluntarily joined the Canadian Armed Forces understanding that they may be required to make the ultimate sacrifice in service to Canada.…
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Madam Speaker, I want to thank my colleague on the other side for his interjection. For the most part it was really good, other than the partisan aspects of it, and I will not get into the personal side in the House. Based on the member's speech, I think he fully recognizes the capacity and requirement needed by our Canadian Armed Forces and by Canada, considering how volatile the world is and how…
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Madam Speaker, again, this is not an easy answer. It is justified, from my opinion, and we are obviously supporting putting 2% into our military, because as I explained in my speech, the world is a volatile place and people dying around the globe. I am not trying to take away from dental care or pharmacare, which are primarily provincial jurisdiction, but the point is that national defence is a fe…
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Madam Speaker, again, it is not an easy answer, but it is all of the above. We need to invest in our recruiting. Almost a decade ago, I tried to write a master's paper, and I failed miserably at that too, specifically about why we need to invest our best people within the Canadian Armed Forces into the recruiting system so we have that flexibility to recruit the best. As we all know, the huge labo…
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Madam Speaker, as always, it is an honour to rise here in the House, not only on behalf of my constituents of Bruce—Grey—Owen Sound but on an issue of such fundamental importance to all Canadians, that of supporting our Canadian Armed Forces and the need to meet our NATO commitment of 2% of our GDP. I plan on taking a slightly different tack in my speech than likely many of the previous speeches t…
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Madam Speaker, I have a brief response. I cannot even pretend to get into all the nuances and complexity of what the member is asking. I spent a year on an army defence procurement project. In my experience throughout my military career, the biggest challenge we had, and I think this probably exists in a lot of departments, was that we felt that if we did not spend it, we would lose it. The member…
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Madam Speaker, I appreciate the parliamentary secretary being up front in his support of our Canadian Armed Forces and this motion. My specific question for him is around his role as the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Public Services and Procurement. If we are going to get that 2% spending, a large proportion of it is going to be through procuring the right equipment in a timely fashio…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
With regard to Canadian travellers re-entering Canada, provisioned under Order In Council 2022-0042 (Minimizing the Risk of Exposure to COVID-19 in Canada Order (Quarantine, Isolation and Other Obligations)): (a) on what date (s) were the webpages “COVID-19 vaccinated travellers entering Canada”, “Find out if you can travel to Canada – Citizen with symptoms – By land or sea”, and “COVID-19 testing…
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With regard to Canadian travellers re-entering Canada, provisioned under current or previously issued Orders in Council (OICs) related to minimizing the risk of Exposure to COVID-19 in Canada (quarantine, isolation and other obligations): (a) how many Canadians have been denied entry, or were not able to enter into Canada due to arriving at a land border with a positive test result, broken down by…
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Madam Speaker, I rise tonight not really as the member for Bruce—Grey—Owen Sound representing my constituents, and not even really as a Conservative member of Parliament. That is the privilege I have to be able to rise. I rose and asked the Minister of Foreign Affairs a question last week in reference to a quote that she made, where she stated that Canada “is not a military power.” As I stated in …
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Madam Speaker, first off, my thanks to the parliamentary secretary. I take his words to heart. I know he is a strong advocate for our Canadian Armed Forces and our veterans, having sat on the veterans affairs committee with him in the last Parliament. However, I am actually disappointed. My question was directed to the Minister of Foreign Affairs. The whole question was directed at her actions. It…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Madam Speaker, I am presenting a petition today on behalf of constituents and Canadians right across the country with respect to diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma, or DIPG, an aggressive brain tumour found in the brain stem that slowly takes away all vital functions while cognitive functions remain intact, which makes a child a prisoner in their own body. It is inoperable and incurable, with a 0% s…
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Madam Speaker, my hon. colleague for Huron—Bruce will be up shortly to talk to his private member's bill, which is an important private member's bill, and I intend to highlight it through my speech. It is always an honour to rise in the House and address the concerns of my constituents of Bruce—Grey—Owen Sound. When I first spoke to Bill C-8 at second reading, I talked about the cost of living and…
Read full speech →Statements By Members
Mr. Speaker, today 30% of the seats in the House of Commons are held by women. March 24 is Agnes Macphail Day, in celebration of her birthday and honouring her as the first woman elected to this chamber just over 100 years ago. Agnes was first elected to federal politics to represent the riding of Grey Southeast and would later represent the Grey—Bruce riding, part of the riding I have the honour …
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Mr. Speaker, Ukrainians are fighting for their freedom, their democracy and even their lives. They have asked for more help from Canada. The Canadian Armed Forces are in the process of divesting many armoured vehicle fleets, such as the Coyote, M113 and Bison armoured vehicles, as they are replaced by the armoured combat support vehicle project. Could these vehicles be donated to Ukraine? If so, w…
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Mr. Speaker, I and many other combat veterans were disappointed to hear the Minister of Foreign Affairs state that Canada “is not a military power.” I have led some of Canada's finest warriors in Bosnia, Afghanistan and Iraq. I would like to educate the minister that Canada's success in “making sure that diplomacy is happening” during global conflicts is predicated by our ability to back it up mil…
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Mr. Speaker, I want to thank my hon. colleague for putting forward some very reasonable amendments to the bill and for his advocacy on the housing file. I would like him to expand a little more on the excessive spending and where we will be going when the cost of this borrowing goes up. I note in particular his comment about the over $20 billion a year that we are currently spending just to servic…
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Mr. Speaker, I have a question for my colleague that I brought up during the initial debate on Bill C-8. I am trying to understand why the government chose September 21, 2021, as the start date for the refundable tax credit for improving air quality and ventilation in businesses. There is a business in my riding that owns an arena, and right from the get-go, it stood up as a field hospital to deal…
Read full speech →Orders Of The Day
Madam Speaker, has the member heard anything from the Liberal government to date that would justify the invocation of the act in the first place? More importantly, now that these illegal blockades have been dealt with, does it still require the act to be in existence?
Read full speech →Orders Of The Day
Madam Speaker, I thank the member for the tone of her speech. We are here to have debate and discourse, not necessarily to agree but to get to the root of the issues. The real point I want to get to is this. Does the member believe there is still justification for this act? She hinted at some of her concerns. The Emergencies Act is by far the most draconian and powerful piece of legislation the fe…
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Madam Speaker, my question for the minister is very simple. He talked about the still ongoing illegal blockades. Could he just provide one instance in Canada, ongoing right now, of a current illegal blockade and why the Emergencies Act is still required going forward?
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Madam Speaker, I appreciate the passionate speech of the member for Cariboo—Prince George. It is always hard to follow him in this House. First, I want to thank my constituents. I can honestly say, for all MPs in the House, that in the last two weeks we have likely received more correspondence than in any other two-week period in the last number of years on a number of these issues, and it has bee…
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Madam Speaker, every Canadian should have an opinion on this, and I fully respect their opinions. Maybe they are right that it was necessary. That is their opinion. However, I would push back and say that calling for the act when it was needed to get rid of the existing blockades here in Ottawa is not what we are voting on tonight. We are voting on whether it still needs to be in place, and I am n…
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Madam Speaker, I would correct my Liberal colleague. If he goes back and listens to my speech, I never actually made any allegations that there were no justifications or steps. There have been speeches that noted that, but it was not part of my speech. With respect to the member's comment, if only 206 accounts have been frozen so far and he is saying that is a good sign of restraint, I would agree…
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Madam Speaker, I completely agree with my colleague. It is a lack of leadership. The whole purpose of the Emergencies Act is to address a case of last resort. We should not be utilizing it without absolute concern and restraint. We need to have the oversight. In fact, that is why we have the Emergencies Act. It morphed and evolved from the War Measures Act because there was a recognition that we n…
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Mr. Speaker, here is some of the damning testimony this week from retired generals about the Liberal government's failure during the fall of Kabul and the government's continued lack of leadership. One said, “we were the first embassy to depart. That was very embarrassing”. Another said, “When this crisis was unfolding right in front of our eyes, we then urged the government, as we do now, to crea…
Read full speech →Adjournment Proceedings
Madam Speaker, I asked for this time in Adjournment Proceedings to give the minister another opportunity to answer a very simple question I asked him in the House in December with respect to Bill C-5: Is he willing to accept an amendment?
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