Statements by Members
Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to Robert Sopuck, a former member of Parliament for Dauphin—Swan River—Neepawa, but more importantly, my friend and mentor. I had already been here four years when Bob showed up. He caught my attention immediately with his keen interest in all matters of hunting, fishing, trapping and the outdoor way of life, and we became fast friends. It was not long befo…
Read full speech →Orders of the Day
Madam Speaker, here we are again discussing this privilege motion dealing with Liberal corruption at Sustainable Development Technology Canada, or SDTC. For those watching at home who are asking why we are here, the answer is simple: The Liberal government simply refuses to comply with an order from the House to produce unredacted documents in regard to the $400-million green slush fund scandal at…
Read full speech →Orders of the Day
Madam Speaker, let me rephrase. We agree with the Speaker when he said, “The House has the undoubted right to order the production of any and all documents from any entity or individual it deems necessary to carry out its duties.” As such, I ask this again: Why are we here? We are here to hold this government accountable for its mess, corruption and wrongdoings. What would this motion do? The Hous…
Read full speech →Orders of the Day
Madam Speaker, I was here with the Right Hon. Stephen Harper when he was prime minister of Canada, and I can tell Canadians unequivocally that the Government of Canada has never been run more cleanly and more efficiently. I am proud of the track record of the previous Conservative government. I am going to be even more proud of the track record of a future Conservative government once we end the e…
Read full speech →Orders of the Day
Madam Speaker, there were numerous protections that we brought forward in the previous Conservative administration, starting with the Federal Accountability Act, which created opportunities for various officers of Parliament. We would not even know some of these things if it were not for the hard work done through the Federal Accountability Act. It was the first piece of legislation that Stephen H…
Read full speech →Orders of the Day
Mr. Speaker, what is funny is that, even though I am an Alberta MP who has been here for quite some time, two of my best friends have been Bob Sopuck and Candice Bergen, the MP my colleague just replaced. People back home might be questioning my Alberta credentials right now, but they do not need to worry about that; they are still intact. Of course, I express my condolences to Caroline and the en…
Read full speech →Orders of the Day
Mr. Speaker, if we all agreed in the House, then the document would have been produced as requested. To suggest that we all agree is to say something that is simply not true. The government does not agree, which is why it is failing to fulfill the order passed in the House, which is to provide, unredacted, all the documents requested. I will say to my colleague from the Bloc Québécois that, if he …
Read full speech →Orders of the Day
Mr. Speaker, I said in my remarks that, if this were a private sector company and if over $400 million of suspected fraudulent activity had gone on in the company, that company would have a responsibility to take that information to the police for an investigation as soon as possible. The responsibility would be to its shareholders, if it was publicly traded, or to its board and ownership, if it w…
Read full speech →Orders of the Day
Mr. Speaker, my colleague has tried to put on a brave face, but a basic civics course would let them know who the actual government is. The government is across the way, both from me and my colleague who just asked the question. At least, that used to be the way it was, until he and his leader signed on to a supply and confidence agreement; by the way, that agreement enabled this kind of behaviour…
Read full speech →Orders of the Day
Mr. Speaker, I will remind my colleague that, even though this debate has been going on for quite some time, this has been my first opportunity to speak on behalf of my constituents on this particular issue. I was very much looking forward to that. As I also said in my remarks, although I do not know if my friend who asked the question was here, the Speaker tabled more documents in reference to th…
Read full speech →Orders of the Day
Mr. Speaker, that is just a red herring that the parliamentary secretary continues to bring up in the House. Members of Parliament from all political parties have security clearances. The leader of the Conservative Party has said quite clearly that, if the Prime Minister and his cabinet and caucus are so sure of themselves, they can simply release the names. I urge my colleague who asked the quest…
Read full speech →Orders of the Day
Mr. Speaker, if someone ever wanted to hear a rhetorical question, that was one. This speaks to the broader issue of the profligacy of the government. It will spend money on anything it wants to put in a window to showcase. The government is all about virtue signalling, messaging, appearances and optics. It is not about good governance or making responsible decisions. We see what the government ha…
Read full speech →Orders of the Day
Mr. Speaker, I do not mean to be pre-empting anybody in this place, but because I do not know if I will be on my feet in this place tomorrow, I do want to say something quickly. Tomorrow is October 22. It was 10 years ago tomorrow that I and a handful of people, who still remain in this place, had the unfortunate scenario of being locked down in the House of Commons. I was in the reading room of t…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, four years ago, Parks Canada put out a tweet that said it would be installing a sprinkler system to protect the Jasper townsite. Even the minister's own officials seem to know that water is better at stopping fires than his carbon tax, and yet there is no indication these sprinklers were ever installed, despite a tender notice being posted in 2021, three years before the devastating f…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, after nine years of the NDP-Liberal government, taxes are up, costs are up, crime is up and time is up. The latest revelation is that 50 firefighters and 20 fire trucks were turned away from Jasper National Park just before the town burned. These brave firefighters were ready, willing and able to fight these fires but were ordered to stand down. Now the only question that remains is t…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Madam Speaker, after nine years of this NDP-Liberal government, taxes are up, costs are up, crime is up, time is up and incompetence is up. The Minister of the Environment ignored the science, and as a result, Jasper burned. The proof is that his own executives were caught discussing cancelling prescribed burns for political optic reasons, yet prescribed burns are an essential tool for preventing …
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Madam Speaker, the Minister of Environment claims to be proud of his preparations for the catastrophic Jasper wildfire, yet one-third of Jasper was destroyed, there was $1 billion in damages and 2,000 people were left homeless. It can hardly be described as a success. Everyone knew Jasper was a tinderbox. My former colleague Jim Eglinski even tried to warn the government in this house as far back …
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, I want to thank my colleague for the work he does on the ethics file. He is doing yeoman's service on behalf of all Canadians. Everybody who pays taxes in this country owes a debt of gratitude to the Conservative Party of Canada for the hard work we are doing to protect the interests of taxpayers from this particular government. I think the burning question everybody wants to know the…
Read full speech →Statements by Members
Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honour the life of Hugh Michael Greene. Hugh immigrated to Alberta with his family in 1928. A centenarian, he was 101 years old at the time of his passing. A living definition of a gentleman, Hugh loved his family, community and country, and he brought honour to all his deeds. After graduating from Wetaskiwin high school, he joined the RCAF, where he served in England …
Read full speech →Statements By Members
Mr. Speaker, the third Saturday in September is National Hunting, Trapping and Fishing Heritage Day across Canada, but the NDP-Liberal government has turned its back on hunters and anglers. Hunting, trapping and fishing are synonymous with Canadian identity and heritage. Canada is blessed to have vast amounts of public land, forests, rivers, lakes and oceans. As the shadow minister for hunting, an…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
With regard to the Department of Fisheries and Oceans' (DFO) recreational fishing survey in Canada, released every five years from 1990 to 2015: (a) why has the 2020 survey not yet been released on the DFO's website; (b) was the 2020 survey conducted, and, if not, why not; and (c) when will the next recreational fishing survey be conducted and when will those results be released to the public?
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
With regard to Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) housing refugees in hotels, motels, dorms, or similar types of facilities in Alberta: (a) how many have been housed, broken down by year for the last two fiscal years; (b) what is the total number of refugees housed, per month, broken down by year for the last two fiscal years; (c) which hotels are being used; (d) how many hotel ro…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, the irony of the question is that I have been here for 18 years and remember a time when the NDP used to actually keep count of how many times time allocation had been used, and they said they would never, ever do it. However, here we are; the NDP is just going along with every time allocation motion moved by the government across the way. We would have plenty of time to have the de…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, the question from my colleague is sadly preposterous and hilarious in its own right. If we take a look at the wealthiest Canadians, we see that their wealth has actually doubled under the leadership of the Prime Minister. It is the middle class and those who are desperately trying to cling to it who are just hanging on, which is why the government continues to raise taxes to provide…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, I am from Alberta, and like a Quebecker, I have very similar thoughts about how much control Ottawa should have on our daily lives. I do believe, as my colleague is from Quebec, that he was trying to say thanks for the millions of dollars that his province receives in equalization and transfers. My province does not receive any of that. However, we do not need to belabour those part…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, it is my pleasure to rise today to debate Bill C-69. Here we are again. Another year, another NDP-Liberal budget, and every budget it seems is worse than the one before. This year's iteration of the budget is falsely titled “Fairness for Every Generation”. The title is ironic because, after nine years of the government, virtually every generation in the country is worse off. In fact…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, Budget Implementation Act, 2023, No. 1, Bill C-47, made numerous changes to the Food and Drugs Act, redefining what a therapeutic product is. We now see, in Bill C-69, that there are again further amendments to the Food and Drugs Act. There do not appear to be any appropriations in the budget whatsoever that actually require more spending for Health Canada or for the natural health …
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister's dirty $30-billion secret has been exposed. His carbon tax will cost Canadian families far more than they pay into it. That is money out of the pockets of people trying to feed their kids, heat their homes, pay their rent and fill up their cars. Why are the Liberals so afraid of releasing the full report? Why is the budget officer muzzled? If the NDP-Liberals will …
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, while Canadians are struggling to make ends meet, the Prime Minister put a gag order on the Parliamentary Budget Officer to prevent the PBO from releasing the full report exposing the true cost of the NDP-Liberal carbon tax. We now know that the carbon tax will cost Canadians $30 billion in economic activity. That is over $1,800 for every family. Why do they continue to muzzle the PBO…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, sunlight and transparency are what Canadians were promised and yet, after nine years, here we are at the heart of another Liberal cover-up. This time, the government has been caught red-handed putting a gag order on the Parliamentary Budget Officer. The Liberals do not want Canadians to see the secret report that proves that Canadians pay more for the carbon tax than they get back. Wi…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, sunny days have given way to a cover-up craze, but Canadians instinctively know the true cost of the carbon tax. They feel it when they fill up at the pump. They feel it when they go get groceries. Our farmers know it when they get their energy bill. The Parliamentary Budget Officer sure knows it, and that is why the Prime Minister put a gag order on him. If the government will not ad…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Madam Speaker, I have in my hands a petition signed by numerous Canadians who are bringing attention to the closure of the Chinook salmon fishery off the coast of Vancouver Island, notably in the Port Renfrew area. Petitioners point out in this petition that all of the scientific evidence seems to suggest there is no reason for the closure, as well as that significant economic damage will be done,…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Madam Speaker, I have another petition to present, which is signed by, again, a number of Canadians calling for an end to the prison needle exchange program. Prison guards will be affected by the fact that inmates who request a needle kit will be able to take a needle kit back to their cell, and these will be potentially used as currency and to further exacerbate the addiction problem of inmates i…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
With regard to agreements signed by Parks Canada to allow hunting or trapping within national parks or on Parks Canada land, since 2016: what are the details of each agreement, including, for each, the (i) date it was signed, (ii) names of the parties with whom the agreement was signed, (iii) summary of the terms of the agreement, (iv) start and end dates, (v) website where the agreement is made a…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, it just goes to show that if it is not climate change, they do not know anything about it. In 2015, the Prime Minister told Canadians that one did not need an AR-15 to bring down a deer, yet he has hired foreign mercenaries with semi-automatic rifles and large-capacity magazines to do just that. The NDP-Liberals are spending $12 million to cull a few hundred deer on Sidney Island. The…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, I know. I am sorry. We all have EDAs, we all have riding associations and we all have care and control of these things. How hard is it as a politician not to do something, like not be partisan? How hard is that?
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, it is quite a scenario when not just on this issue, but on numerous other issues that have been before the House the Bloc Québécois is doing more to support Canada and the institutions of our British parliamentary system than the NDP and the Liberals are. This is quite a situation we find ourselves in. I do not know what my colleague's true intentions are. Perhaps she wants her coll…
Read full speech →Private Members' Business
Madam Speaker, I want to thank all my colleagues for their support and for speaking to Bill C-368, but I want to remind people how we arrived here. There seem to be some forgetful folks. Even though I am thanking the NDP for its position, I would like to remind people how we arrived at this place. We are at this point with natural health products because of a budget implementation act, Bill C-47, …
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, today is the eighth birthday of my niece Ola, so I would like to wish her a happy birthday. Ola is going to inherit more debt than any other generation, as this young Canadian. I was wondering if my colleague across the way could tell Ola in what year the Liberal Party plans to balance the budget.
Read full speech →Private Members' Business
Madam Speaker, I request a recorded division.
Read full speech →Private Members' Business
Madam Speaker, I rise today to speak to the motion to create a national strategy to reduce food waste and combat food insecurity. I do believe that this motion put forward by the Liberal member is presented with good intentions, but like most of the things that the Liberals have done for the last nine years, the unintended consequences of good intentions would cause more problems than it would sol…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Madam Speaker, after nine years of reckless spending, Canadians are at a breaking point. With record demand at our food banks, we have now learned that 60% of Canadians have resorted to eating expired food, yet the NDP-Liberal government cannot help itself. It has hiked the carbon tax another 23% on April 1 as part of its plan to quadruple it by 2030. Why does the Prime Minister hate Canadians who…
Read full speech →Private Members' Business
Madam Speaker, today I rise in the House to speak on an important issue and raise attention to the grave harms that Bill C-355 would have for our hard-working Canadian producers, farm families and countless industries. Bill C-355 intends to prohibit the export by air of horses for slaughter and would restrict trade with some of our closest international allies. This bill has been tabled by the Lib…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, there is a joke going around that says, “It's not knowing that a politician can be bought; it's knowing how little they'll let themselves go for.” For a member of the NDP caucus right now thinking that this is the misery they are suffering in the polls, the misery they are suffering nationwide, which is the same misery Canadians are suffering, this is all they managed to get out of …
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, it is a pleasure for me today to speak to Bill C-64. Before I go any further, I would like to let the Speaker know I will be splitting my time with my good friend and colleague from Souris—Moose Mountain. The debate today is about Bill C-64, an act regarding pharmacare. At least everybody is being told that is what it is about. I would rather call it, I guess, the so-called pharmaca…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, health care delivery is provincial jurisdiction. The private insurance companies out there are already talking about how their systems and programs, which deliver tremendous results for Canadians, are going to be undercut. This is going to lead to a public system that does not offer the same value and benefits that the private system already does. Conservatives are going to respect …
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, the individual who just asked me the question had her answer in the question itself: support for big pharma. Who is supporting big pharma with this piece of legislation? The NDP and the Liberals are. A national pharmacare program will do more to help the pharmaceutical industry. Let us examine that for a second. Everything New Democrats say they are for, they are also against. This …
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, we oppose this particular plan simply because we know it is nothing more than the cost of the agreement between the NDP and the current federal government. It is not a serious agreement in the sense that we are actually getting a national pharmacare program; as I said in my previous comments, which would have already answered my colleague's question, this is much better delivered th…
Read full speech →Statements by Members
Mr. Speaker, with more Canadians using food banks than ever before and many on the brink of financial ruin, the next election cannot come soon enough, yet this Prime Minister has insisted on pushing policies that Canadians know are wacko. Handing out needles to prisoners while they are in jail is wacko. Insisting that the budget will balance itself is wacko. Thinking that vitamins and supplements …
Read full speech →Statements by Members
Mr. Speaker, after nine years of the NDP-Liberal government, Canadians are struggling to make ends meet. This year, Canadians will spend over $46 billion to service the Prime Minister's debt, but the Prime Minister's costly coalition does not stop there. On April 1, the NDP-Liberals increased the federal carbon tax by 23%. This increase affects the cost of living for all Canadians, including by a …
Read full speech →