Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, it is time once again. All of the G7 leaders are gathering together, and our Prime Minister has lots to talk about. He can brag that he is the only one of them to lead his country into a recession in the time he has been in office. In fact, he is the only leader in the G20 to do that. The fact that Canada is in a recession is just one measure of the way things are not going well for s…
Read full speech →Private Members' Business
Mr. Speaker, it is a great privilege, as always, to rise and speak on behalf of the people of Elgin—St. Thomas—London South. It is a particular privilege to speak to a bill such as this one, which speaks directly to one of the most persistent concerns I hear from people in the rural communities in my riding, scattered across Elgin County from Rodney to West Lorne, Straffordville, Vienna and Port B…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, I have two petitions to present today. It is with great pride and pleasure that I present a petition on behalf of representatives of the Elgin County Drowning Prevention Coalition, including Briar McCaw, Linda King and Nathan MacIntyre of the RIP Current Information Project. The signatories of this petition point out that there are an average of 485 drowning fatalities in Canada every…
Read full speech →Private Members' Business
Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the whip drawing attention to the entire Liberal caucus rejecting efforts to remove Bill C-9 from the orders of the House.
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, my second petition urges the transport minister to do the work of making CN reconnect the tracks between St. Thomas and London, which CTA order 1990-R-673 said it did not have the right to remove. The London and Port Stanley Railway was one of the first railway lines built in Ontario. It has historical and cultural significance to Elgin County and, specifically, to the communities of …
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, we have heard the Prime Minister's announcements before. What we have not seen is real action. Again, the Prime Minister has travelled around the world and failed to deliver a single new free trade agreement, while Canadians suffer. Even the Liberals' so-called surveillance pricing announcement yesterday will not even be in effect until at least 2028, meaning it is yet another announc…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, what a mess this is. I actually feel bad for the Prime Minister that this is the cabinet he has to deal with. The fisheries minister shrugged because she did not even know what a question was about, before winging it anyway with a non-answer. The foreign affairs minister just said she is consulting to cover up three years of inaction. The public safety minister is refusing to listen t…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, I cannot thank my colleague from York—Durham enough, not just for his speech tonight but for his tremendous leadership on Bill C‑9, meeting with faith communities, members of the Jewish community, the Muslim community, the Christian community, all across the country, people who have raised concerns, people whom the government says it is protecting but who feel the opposite is true. On…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, if we took the tax off all used goods, their talking points would be tax-free. We asked the question four times, and got zero answers. We came with a solution: a Conservative bill to save Canadians thousands of dollars by taking the GST off used cars, which are taxed two, three and even four times, as many times as the Liberals avoided answering the question. It is a very simple quest…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague for his speech. We disagree on many things, but he was right to point out that the Liberals have a tendency to impose their own solutions on the provinces and on Canadians. As for Bill C‑30, the Liberals cut the debate short. They refused to give important witnesses the opportunity to appear before the committee and they tried to push through ideas that they did…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, I was hoping to claim the rightful spot on speaking to this.
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, on a point of order, Standing Order 57 says that: Immediately before the order of the day for resuming an adjourned debate is called, or if the House be in committee of the whole, any minister of the Crown who shall have given notice at a previous sitting of his or her intention so to do, may move that the debate shall not be further adjourned, or that the further consideration of any…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, on a point of order, it is getting a little late, but I do not believe we have quorum in the chamber right now. And the count having been taken:
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 57, under closure, no member may speak more than once. I believe that the recognition of the member is out of order.
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, I am grateful that the secretary of state just admitted that the government is thinking of this bill as a limit on freedom of expression. That means we are actually just debating whether it is reasonable. That is a very important concession, and it is the first time we have heard section 1 of the charter from the government in the context of Bill C‑9. I will note that the secretary of…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, this point of order pertains to footnote 23 of section 22 of the green book, regarding presenting petitions. I think if you seek it, you will find unanimous consent to return to Routine Proceedings for the sole purpose of allowing the presentation of petitions.
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, I am grateful the minister is here. He and I worked at the same time in Canadian media, and I have a good relationship with him. However, his government's record on civil liberties and freedom of expression could not be worse. He talks about the horrors that have been inflicted upon the Jewish community, in particular, and I share those concerns. I have been sounding the alarm about t…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, I am going to request a recorded division, please.
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, I will start with a quote: “[Bill C-9] has the potential to criminalize peaceful protesters and legitimate dissent. This bill, in its current form, gives too much discretionary power to law enforcement, allowing for subjectivity.” That was from the Liberal member for Nunavut a couple of months ago. I have a question for the Secretary of State for Combatting Crime. Her colleague, the M…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, we know how bad inflation has gotten in Canada. We know grocery prices are through the roof. Fuel prices are skyrocketing, and even the cars that Canadians need to fuel up are becoming more and more unaffordable for the middle class. The prices of used cars have doubled in the last seven years in this country, and the government is still putting the federal sales tax on them each and …
Read full speech →Statements by Members
Mr. Speaker, Canadian food banks continue to see record increases. Back home, the St. Thomas Elgin Food Bank's demand has tripled in just five years. Canadians do not need Liberal talking heads on TV or members across the aisle to tell them that we are in a recession. They feel it every day when trying to feed their families. We have two out of five Canadians struggling to put food on the table, 6…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
moved for leave to introduce Bill C-285, An Act to amend the Excise Tax Act (used motor vehicles). Mr. Speaker, it is a great honour to rise for the first time as a member of Parliament to present a private member's bill. I will give a little bit of context. Since 2019, the price of a used car in Canada has doubled. Even though new automobiles are taxed at the full rate, when cars are resold, Cana…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, I am so grateful to be able to work alongside my colleague from Yorkton-Melville. I believe I said it in my remarks today, but it bears repeating: Religious freedom for one is religious freedom for all. It includes the right of people of all faiths to live out their values. It also includes the right of people of no faith to criticize religion. Sometimes I may find that hurtful, but I…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, my Conservative colleagues and I have zero issue with putting in the work and putting in the hours. We will work on weekends. We will work during the summer. We will do whatever we can to support Canadians. The problem we have is that the bill is about elections. All 343 members of the chamber would be affected. All the millions of people whom we collectively represent would be affect…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague very much for his support on this and for the work he has done in standing up for freedoms. I will say two things on this. The first is that where the problematic parts of the bill are coming from is itself a signal. It shows that the Liberal government does not fundamentally respect the role that faith plays in society, and religious freedom. When that is the fra…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, do any of the ministers over there know their files? Telecom coverage maps rely on industry claims, but in Elgin County and across southwestern Ontario, these maps do not reflect actual service, with persistent dead zones in areas where companies claim full coverage. What precisely is the industry minister doing to ensure that rural Canadians are getting the cell service they are payi…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for his important work on this. I actually had the opportunity to meet with people in his riding in Newfoundland, including faith leaders, back in January who were very concerned about what the Liberals are doing. One of the questions that at least one person asked me was very much in line with what he just said there and was from a place of fear: “If we have Libe…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, it is a great honour, as always, to rise on behalf of the people of Elgin—St. Thomas—London South. It is in the same vein, with a heavy heart, that I have to rise once again on one of the most dangerous pieces of legislation the government has ever introduced. Bill C-9 is a bill that has been litigated in the media, across kitchen tables and in town halls across the country. It has be…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, I hope she will remember and actually respect the core fundamental freedoms and values that led her to giving such an impassioned speech previously. Many Liberals probably wanted Bill C-9 to skate through. Several Liberals are probably quite unhappy that it has come back to the House and that once again they have to address it. However, they have the opportunity to do the right thing.…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, I will just say to my colleagues and constituents that there is one saving grace in all of this, which is that any law that can be passed by the House of Commons can be repealed by the House of Commons. A Conservative government will repeal every single Liberal censorship law at the first opportunity.
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, I recall that in one of my earlier interventions in this House, I wanted to do a history of Liberal censorship, but I had only 20 minutes and I knew I would run out of time. We have now seen four iterations of the online harms act: Bill C-8, Bill C-22, Bill C-11 and Bill C-18. It may sound like I am rhyming off numbers in a bingo game, but all of these bills would restrict the rights …
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, I rise on a point of order. During Oral Questions, the President of the Treasury Board was asked a question. Now that he has had a chance to find the page, would he like to provide an answer?
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, it is such an honour to work alongside my colleague from Skeena—Bulkley Valley. I have been such an admirer of his work for a great many years. I look across the aisle, and the eye rolls I see and the giggles I hear make me think that perhaps we do not have a huge amount of faith that the motion will succeed, but I hope that the Liberals who are not perhaps listening to this right now…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, Canada is the only G20 country in a recession right now, and it is no surprise why, with the Liberal Prime Minister's record. The economy has shrunk in three of the last four quarters. Labour productivity is getting worse. Investment is leaving the country. Government spending and debt are up. Even the Prime Minister's own hand-picked economic watchdog has had to downgrade the forecas…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, I wish the minister were as interested in the jobs of Canadians as he is in his own. The Parliamentary Budget Officer said the Liberal government has a 1% chance of meeting its fiscal anchor, which is still better odds than getting a straight answer from the government in question period. Behind these numbers are people: people in food bank lines, people going on unemployment, young p…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to be working with my colleague on the Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights. During committee proceedings, he spoke with several witnesses about the issue of criminals recruiting young people. In Canada, we are seeing an increasing number of cases of youth crime, including serious offences such as murder. I would like to ask him why, in his view, the government …
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, my colleague is also on the justice committee, and I was hoping he could elaborate on the problems that emerged during our committee study, because we actually put forward a lot of amendments. It was shocking how many amendments the Liberal government put forward to its own bill, which I think reinforces the point that even the Liberals saw the flaws in this. We were prepared to work …
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, it is a great honour, as always, to rise on behalf of the people of Elgin—St. Thomas—London South. It is also a privilege to rise, as I always do on matters of justice and the Criminal Code, in support of victims. That is one thing that distinguishes the approach my Conservative colleagues and I take to crime and justice matters from that of the Liberals. We look out for the rights of…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, it was not that long ago that the Prime Minister got up and said he was the grand economist who would turn things around, the guy we could go to in a crisis. Well, here we are: Canada is the only G7 country in a recession, and where is he? He is nowhere to be found. He ran from a reporter who asked about it. He does not rise in the House of Commons to speak to it, while Canadians are …
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, we are never going to get to net zero with that level of gaslighting. My goodness, the London economic region, which includes Elgin and St. Thomas, has the highest unemployment rate in Canada, at 9.2%, with 1,800 jobs lost in April. Does he expect me to go to my constituents and say, “Don't worry. You can sell all that uranium you've been working on”? Families are struggling. Families…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, on a point of order, I believe the chief government whip just acknowledged taking a photo in the House while he was sitting there, which is against the rules. I hope you will urge him to delete that, Mr. Speaker.
Read full speech →Adjournment Proceedings
Madam Speaker, it is always my great pleasure and honour to rise on behalf of the people of Elgin—St. Thomas—London South, who, like all Canadians right now, are grappling with an affordability crisis. The cost of food has gone up. The cost of fuel has gone up. The cost of rent has gone up. The cost of housing has gone up, and yes, the cost of the Liberal government continues to go up. This is not…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, I shudder to ask this question after the very kind praise from my colleague toward the Conservatives, but I cannot help but recall, in light of her criticism of the budget implementation act, of which there is a great deal to criticize, that she actually supported the Liberal budget based on promises from the Prime Minister on what the government would do. I do not actually criticize …
Read full speech →Adjournment Proceedings
Madam Speaker, I certainly appreciate my colleague from the north's acknowledgement of the problem. I did find it a little odd that he touted the government's removal of the consumer carbon price, when in 2024 he actually devoted a member statement, a rare opportunity to rise in the House on any subject of our choosing, to defending the carbon tax. It is funny that he is now getting up to claim cr…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague, the member for Lethbridge, for her incredibly important work on this. I know the minister responsible for this is the Minister of Canadian Identity and Culture. This is the minister who thinks someone should be criminally charged if they quote a Bible verse that he does not like. This is the minister who stood behind the Canadian Museum for Human Rights' decisi…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, all of us in this chamber were elected. We went to Canadians and said, “We believe we have something for you. We can serve you.” Canadians chose to support us. Canadians elected us. This is what companies have to do every day in the private sector, and it is what cultural companies need to do as well. They need to say, “We are producing a product that you like. We are producing a pr…
Read full speech →Statements by Members
Mr. Speaker, to the Liberals, CRTC is their mission statement: control, regulate and tax Canadians. Now they are coming after Canadians with a streaming tax, tripling the levy that streaming platforms such as Netflix, Disney+ and Amazon have to pay. This is going to go directly to the bill the consumers pay. If the Liberals had their way, the only fiction we would see is the Prime Minister saying …
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, it literally says the Governor in Council has the authority to do this. I would also note that the CRTC is made up of Liberal appointees. The Online Streaming Act is Liberal legislation. All of this is a consequence of a Liberal bill, so what I would love to see is Liberal legislation repealing Bill C-11. That would be, I think, the first order of business. However, again, we also h…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, wanting Canadians not to be taxed more is about supporting Canadians and supporting Canadian interests. I would note that Quebec has produced some cultural gems. If every other country in the world did what the Liberal government has done through the Online Streaming Act, it would actually be harder for that content to find its way into, for example, other francophone countries. Whe…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, it is a great privilege, as always, to rise on behalf of the people of Elgin—St. Thomas—London South, especially because we have seen the benefits of film production in Canada in our part of the country. It is great that we have Canadian productions. It is great that we have American productions that choose to set up shop in Canada. The one thing that I think is often missing in thi…
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