Parliamentary Speeches

Routine Proceedings

Mr. Speaker, I am hoping the government House leader can update the House as to the business of the House for the rest of this week and into next week, and if she can let the opposition know the degree of certainty for the calendar. We have recently had a few changes after the Thursday statement, and we do have a constituency week coming up, along with some supply days that we are expecting. There…

Statements by Members

Mr. Speaker, I would just like to remind the Chair of Standing Order 30(5) under “Time for Statements by Members, Oral Questions and orders of the day”. It states, “Not later than 2:15 p.m...as the case may be, Oral Questions shall be taken up.” It does not say, “may be taken up”; it says, “shall be taken up”. It is well past 2:15 p.m.

Statements by Members

Mr. Speaker, you ought to know that when rules are not followed or when there is a derogation from a rule, and when that is pointed out to the Speaker, the Speaker then enforces the rules. The Standing Orders are the property of the House. It is up to the House to decide when we are not going to follow a rule or when we are going to change a rule. This is a standing order that the House has adopte…

Routine Proceedings

Mr. Speaker, I just want to add my voice in support of the comments made and the point raised by my colleague in the official opposition. I will endeavour to not repeat what she has so eloquently put before the House, but I want to stress a couple of points. The first is that there is definitely precedence on things, such as legislation being leaked, constituting a breach of privilege. That has be…

Oral Questions

Mr. Speaker, thank you for recognizing that it has been a difficult few days. While your tenure will not be long, I hope it will be smooth. As such, I will make my intervention today as simple as possible for the chair occupant. I am sure you will do a great job over the next few days. I am not sure a five-day tenure will qualify you for a portrait in the hallway, but I will leave that to you to n…

Government Orders

Mr. Speaker, I encountered technical difficulties in trying to use the app and I would like my vote recorded as a nay.

Government Orders

Mr. Speaker, given all that has transpired, I will seek unanimous consent of the House to have my vote recorded as a “nay”, out of respect to you.

Government Orders

Mr. Speaker, I did try to vote by the app. It did not work, so I came in. I endeavoured to try to save the House time by not getting up after to register my vote so I just did it while the roll call was being done. Thanks to the parliamentary secretary, I see that my effort was wasted, but I did have technical difficulties so I came into the chamber to register my vote.

Oral Questions

Mr. Speaker, this is a very important issue, one that the House did not ask to debate. The reason these points of order are going back and forth is due to decisions made last week. I think it is incredibly important that all of us understand the context in which this occurs. I genuinely hope my colleagues will grant unanimous consent for my request to table the reporting structure of the Parliamen…

Oral Questions

Mr. Speaker, I was Speaker when the government changed the law to ensure that the House of Commons security reported to the government. That was done for very specific reasons, one of which was the fact that the House of Commons itself does not have the resources to do comprehensive vetting and background checks. That is why the change was made. Nobody believes that it is up to your office to do c…

Oral Questions

Mr. Speaker, it is the government that is politicizing this issue by refusing to accept its responsibility. There is only one group of individuals with control over who has access to a foreign head of state. This is a head of state who is fighting for his country's life against an illegal invasion by Russia. The Prime Minister has a duty of care for that entire visit. Now the government House lead…

Mr. Speaker, this is a very grave incident, on the day when the Government of Canada was welcoming the head of state of Ukraine, a country that is undergoing an unjust and illegal invasion, that there was a guest in the gallery whose presence fed into the Russian propaganda and narrative about the bogus justification for Putin's illegal invasion. State visits are organized by the government. Every…

Mr. Speaker, I just want to underscore the point my colleague just raised. Is it the government's position that when we have a foreign head of state visiting, the government does zero security vetting for who will be in the same room as that head of state? Is that the message we are sending to our allies, so that when they come here, they will not know who is going to be in the gallery? What kind …

Mr. Speaker, we are getting completely mixed messages today. Today is Yom Kippur, which our Jewish fellow citizens will be celebrating. It comes hot on the heels of this atrocious international incident that the government allowed to happen, and we need clarity. Just a few moments ago, the government House leader said the government had no idea that this individual had been invited. Now, the gover…

Oral Questions

Mr. Speaker, the problem is that their inflationary spending is evaporating any benefit that Canadians might hope for. The Prime Minister admitted in this House that any benefit their programs might have provided Canadians was completely wiped out by higher inflation and higher interest rates. The former Liberal finance minister knows this. John Manley said, “This is a bit like driving your car wi…

Oral Questions

Mr. Speaker, after eight years of the Prime Minister, it is crystal clear that he is not worth the cost. His deficits are driving up inflation. Even his finance minister knows this. Just one year ago, she said that her goal was to “not pour fuel on the fire of inflation”. Then what did she do? She grabbed the jerry can and poured $60 billion of new spending on that dumpster fire. The result was hi…

Oral Questions

Mr. Speaker, since this is the first Thursday sitting of the House of Commons with a new government House leader, I would like congratulate my counterpart on the appointment. I wish her all the best in this role on a personal level, but maybe not on a political level. I want to thank her for some of the fruitful conversations we have already had. I thought I would ease into the flow of the Thursda…

Government Orders

Madam Chair, that is just complete nonsense. I did nothing of the sort. I said that the Prime Minister had information. He had evidence that led him to make a very public statement and a very public determination yesterday. That is all we are saying. We are not in any way saying that something might rise to the level of an actual court proceeding. We are saying that the information that was provid…

Government Orders

Madam Chair, the hon. member for Saanich—Gulf Islands knows full well that this offer was made in relation to a different kind of foreign interference, the foreign interference by the Communist regime in Beijing, and that it was part of a multi-faceted attempt by the government to avoid transparency on that issue. Our position is that the Prime Minister made a very public statement yesterday. He r…

Government Orders

Madam Chair, I guess we could start with the government releasing some information. In all different areas the government has an aversion to transparency and accountability. It would be a great conversation to start. It can start by sharing what it believes it can at this moment. I think Canadians would welcome that.

Government Orders

Madam Chair, yesterday we learned from the Prime Minister that the Government of Canada had intelligence that linked the Indian government to the killing of Hardeep Singh Nijjar outside a Surrey gurdwara in June. First of all, I would like to take this opportunity to offer and convey my sincere condolences to the family of Mr. Nijjar for their loss. I know that it must be incredibly difficult, esp…

Government Orders

Madam Chair, of course, Conservatives have been calling for stronger measures to protect Canada against foreign interference. My hon. colleague is correct, people come to Canada from all around the world because of what Canada offers. We are a diverse country, because people come to Canada for our freedoms; for the ability to live their lives the way they choose; to raise their children the way th…

Government Orders

Madam Chair, I think it is premature to talk about what might happen should information come to light. I think we should focus on the need for that information to come to light, and that is why it is our position that the Prime Minister should disclose the information he has that led to his statement yesterday. I think only then can we start to talk about what might come after that.

Government Orders

Madam Chair, I thank my colleague for his questions. However, these great questions should be directed at the government. I am an official opposition member and I do not have the information that the Prime Minister has. I do not have access to the information from our intelligence agencies. I think that my colleague raised questions that many Canadians are asking. Only the Prime Minister or a memb…

Oral Questions

Mr. Speaker, I am hoping that there will be agreement on this one, because I would like to table a quote from the speech from the Minister of Finance from the fall economic update. She said that the government should not—

Oral Questions

Mr. Speaker, nobody likes an “I told you so”, except for everyone who told them so. It was not only Conservatives, but also our major security partners, such as Japan and the United States, and foreign affairs experts, who said the same thing, that the Communist regime would use the bank to bully developing countries and expand its power and influence. This bank built railways and ports with taxpa…

Oral Questions

Mr. Speaker, the Liberal-appointed board member on the Asian infrastructure bank just resigned, calling it a cesspool and saying that it was controlled by “the Communist Party crowd who operate like a secret police.” Who could have seen this coming? Who could have predicted that a bank structured to give Beijing effective control would use the bank to expand the power and influence of the Communis…

Routine Proceedings

Mr. Speaker, I just want to add a few brief comments to my colleague's intervention, because it is very important to underscore the way this message was transmitted to my colleague. We have all been in the House when people say things after emotions get the better of them, and we might chalk something like that up to a heat-of-the-moment exchange. However, what the Minister of Justice did was writ…

Government Orders

Mr. Speaker, first of all, I should point out that I was expecting a question from the chair of the procedure and House affairs committee because she had a lot to say while I was speaking. Now she did not rise to seek the floor for a question. However, I believe I covered that. I talked about how any time the Liberals are messing with the Standing Orders, we have to have our guard up because they …

Government Orders

Mr. Speaker, her main point is that this is a massive overhaul to the Standing Orders. The House of Commons has been operating pretty much the way it has been, in terms of members being physically present and how we conduct votes, through two world wars, the Great Depression, the turbulent sixties and seventies, and everything else, including a terrorist shooting here on the precinct itself. Our p…

Government Orders

Mr. Speaker, I am not sure exactly what caused so many members to have challenges with the voting app. I would point out to the hon. member that whatever concerns she may have about people clarifying their vote through a hybrid mechanism would not be required if we did not have hybrid. If members had to be here physically, then obviously that would not happen, so if she was vexed by the amount of …

Government Orders

Mr. Speaker, I can answer very simply no. I really appreciate my colleague's perspective on this. We have a lot of differences between our two parties and there is a lot we disagree on, but we both recognize that, when a government is going to come in to change the rules of the game, we really do need consensus. Members can imagine a scenario in a sports league where one team has an advantage and …

Government Orders

Mr. Speaker, the point is that there is a lot of important work that gets done in the parliamentary precinct outside of the official proceedings of a committee or the House of Commons. This work is lost when ministers are able to literally phone in, when they are able to stay in their ridings and not be here. It is a lot easier for them to put up gatekeepers of staff and departmental officials to …

Government Orders

Mr. Speaker, I will continue, and I do appreciate the reminder from my colleague. Sometimes when I am reading a lengthy technical document I tend to speed up to get through it quickly, but I can appreciate that this would pose an extra challenge to the interpreters. As my colleague indicated, the text of this was prepared. The Table did have some changes at the last minute to make sure it was proc…

Government Orders

Madam Speaker, I just want to start off by setting a bit of context about how the Liberals treat Parliament in general. We all remember the 2015 election campaign when the Prime Minister pretended that he cared about things like accountability, transparency and the supremacy of Parliament, and the fact that we come to this place from all corners of this country to hold the government to account. T…

Government Orders

Mr. Speaker, I know my hon. colleague has chaired a committee that often has to hear about the strain on House resources. She would know that by no means is it the translators' fault; it is the government's fault when it does not properly allocate its resources or when it makes these decisions at the last minute, causing committees to be—

Government Orders

Madam Speaker, I just want to draw out a point the government House leader made and challenge him on it. He used a few times in his speech language about unanimity and consensus when it came to drastically overhauling and changing the Standing Orders of this House. It is a very important point, because historically and traditionally, major changes to the Standing Orders have come through consensus…

Government Orders

Mr. Speaker, in the British Parliament, members of Parliament are able to ask questions and make comments during a speech by asking if the member who has the floor would give way or yield, but we do not have that system here. When I am finished, the hon. member can ask me questions or provide comments and I will be happy to respond to her, but not during my speech itself. Of course, she may have a…

Government Orders

Madam Speaker, given the late hour and the special order we are operating under, we understand that you have to put the question, but I believe if you seek it, you will find unanimous consent to not see the clock at 11:45 p.m. and allow the hon. Leader of the Opposition to continue, because I think some Liberals remain unconvinced and he has some more—

Routine Proceedings

Mr. Speaker, no.

Statements by Members

Mr. Speaker, “Water, water everywhere, so let's all have a drink.” At least Homer Simpson thought so as he scooped up a mouthful of sea-water to quench his thirst. Of course, while it may have the illusion of relief, drinking ocean water will not cure thirst; it will only make it worse. That is a lot like the Liberal budget. It is full of salt water. Canadians are parched with inflation caused by …

Private Members' Business

Madam Speaker, this is on a different point, but it does relate to a decision by the Chair. I want to seek clarification on the use of the word “phony” in the House of Commons. You will recall that, last week, I referred to the special rapporteur, David Johnston, as the “phony rapporteur”, because the Conservatives simply believe it is a fake job. The job is fake. The idea that he is independent i…

Private Members' Business

Madam Speaker, as I was saying, it is our contention and belief, as more and more Canadians are realizing, that the position of the rapporteur is fake and the idea that there is independence around it is also fake. The government may believe something different, but it is certainly our right as opposition members of Parliament to make that assertion. On Thursday, my question was interrupted by the…

Private Members' Business

I will do my best, Madam Speaker. You are absolutely right that there is context and that it is the Speaker's job to judge many factors when considering whether or not a term or a word is unparliamentary. However, I put it to you that it is a tactic of the government to take offence at words or phrases that have been used before, and they caused the disorder—

Private Members' Business

Madam Speaker, I take the point. I anticipated that you were going to mention that ruling, so I have something that I would like you to consider. We do have question period later on today—

Oral Questions

Mr. Speaker, Canada is cursed by a Prime Minister who tarnished that man's reputation by involving him in this scandal. The Prime Minister cannot be the one to decide how to investigate this scandal, because he benefited from it. David Johnston cannot decide either, because he is a family friend and a long-time member of the Trudeau Foundation. Frank Iacobucci cannot be the one to sign off on Davi…

Oral Questions

Mr. Speaker, in response to yesterday's vote, in which members of Parliament, representing a clear majority of Canadian voters, demanded that he step down, phony rapporteur David Johnston said he is not going anywhere. In fact, he said—

Oral Questions

Mr. Speaker, in response to yesterday's vote, where MPs, representing a clear majority of Canadians, voted for him to step aside, rapporteur David Johnston said he is not going anywhere. In fact, he said he does not work for Parliament or Canadians; he said he works for the government. That is the problem. He works for the same Liberal government that benefited from Beijing's election interference…

Government Orders

Madam Speaker, that is a great point, and I want to congratulate my colleague, who has really quarterbacked the bill for the official opposition. She has done a phenomenal job doing research and getting witnesses together to tell the story about all the flaws that are in the bill. The member is absolutely right. There are many parts of the country where Canadians are forced to live because of low …

Government Orders

Madam Speaker, just to clarify, the invitation was to amend the flawed bill that contradicts what the minister just said. The minister has already had lots of time—