Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, I will be splitting my time with my colleague for Calgary Shepard. It is an honour to rise today to discuss this extremely serious matter. The unprecedented use of the Emergencies Act requires the utmost scrutiny, and the committee that will be struck is obviously going to play an essential role. The government's attempt to strong-arm the opposition and rig the committee to deliver a …
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Mr. Speaker, this is a completely asinine argument. The job of the official opposition is to hold the government to account and to make sure through robust debate and robust challenging of their decisions and of the policies they implement that the best thing happens for Canadians. Suggesting that the opposition should not do its role and should align itself with an NDP chair who is complicit in i…
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Mr. Speaker, what do we have here? We have a Liberal government that through its members' rhetoric and tone and the way they talk to Canadians, does an amazing job of sticking up for, and rightly so, the rights and freedoms and the jobs of the people here in Ottawa who were impacted, but with no consideration for the jobs that were lost by everybody who came here to protest. The situation we end u…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, if you seek it at this time, I think you will find unanimous consent for the following motion. I move: That the membership of the Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs be amended as follows: Mrs. Block (Carlton Trail—Eagle Creek) for Mr. Duncan (Stormont—Dundas—South Glengarry), Mr. Scheer (Regina—Qu'Appelle) for Mr. Barrett (Leeds—Grenville—Thousand Islands and Rideau Lak…
Read full speech →Orders of the Day
Mr. Speaker, what is a good prime minister? A good prime minister cares about all of the people and all of the citizens he represents. A good prime minister takes every opportunity to bring people together and build consensus, thereby providing peace and harmony in the social fabric of the nation. A good prime minister will consider numerous factors in making decisions that are in the net best int…
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Mr. Speaker, how the Liberal government and Prime Minister have fallen. Twenty months ago, we went from, “wash our hands and stay home so we can flatten the curve” to vaccine procurement bungling. Then we went to, “get vaccinated or we can't travel”, to “get vaccinated and still spend two weeks in a hotel against our will when we return to our home country”, to “get vaccinated or lose our jobs”, t…
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Mr. Speaker, people who are scared do desperate things. The Prime Minister is scared of losing the vote in the House, because he is scared of his own backbenchers. He is not only quelling protests across the country, he is quelling protests within his own caucus. It is absolutely shameful that the Prime Minister grabs power wherever he can to cover up for his inability to properly govern this coun…
Read full speech →Orders of the Day
Mr. Speaker, today at a press conference the Prime Minister suggested, which he did not have the courtesy to do in the House but did so in front of the media, that a matter of this importance would of course be a matter of confidence before the House. This is again a threat to his own caucus to keep the members in line, and a threat to the NDP. How mightily it has fallen. It is no longer the party…
Read full speech →Orders of the Day
Madam Speaker, I rise on a point of order. In accordance with Standing Order 43(2)(a), I would like to indicate that the remaining Conservative Party of Canada caucus speaking slots are hereby divided by two.
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, two-thirds of Canadians want to see COVID restrictions and mandates lifted. We have among the highest vaccination rates in the world, but Canadians are still living under restrictions that many other less vaccinated countries have lifted. Canadians want a plan for ending restrictions, and they are incredibly disappointed that the NDP and Liberals blocked our Conservative motion asking…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, I rise on a point of order. There have been discussions among the parties, and I think that, if you seek it, you will find unanimous consent for the following motion that, in the opinion of the House, those who question existing government policies should not be demonized by their Prime Minister and used to wedge, to divide and stigmatize Canadians; and, that the Prime Minister should…
Read full speech →Adjournment Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, I am glad to be able to rise this evening to discuss the troubling changes that the Liberal government has been trying to make to the non-certified aerodromes of this country. These facilities are community airports like the one in Ponoka in my riding. The changes that are proposed regarding the instrument-approach procedures would make these vital facilities much less accessible, unl…
Read full speech →Adjournment Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, what I heard the parliamentary secretary say is that accidents are going down, so we need to increase the regulatory burden. If we are going to put lives at risk or force hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of dollars of structural changes to community airports, it must result in safer outcomes. There has to be a real-world problem we are fixing. According to the ICAO, people over…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
With regard to the costs associated with the Phoenix Pay System between February 2016 and October 2021, broken down by month: (a) what were the total costs incurred; and (b) what is the breakdown of (a) by type of expense and by Treasury Board Object Code?
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
With regard to the changes outlined in Transport Canada’s Advisory Circular No. 301-001 issue no. 3 respecting the rules regarding Instrument Approach Procedures at non-certified aerodromes: (a) what is the policy objective for this change; (b) how many additional days a year on average, broken down by province, will non-certified aerodromes be inaccessible due to the new instrument approach proce…
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With regard to the October 6, 2021, announcement by the Prime Minister mandating vaccination for the federal work force and the federally-regulated transportation sectors: (a) what is the policy objective of the vaccine mandate; (b) did the government seek advice as to whether any of these policies infringe on the rights and freedoms of Canadians guaranteed in the Canadian Charter of Rights and Fr…
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With regard to federal contracts awarded to former public servants as defined in the Financial Administration Act, since January 1, 2020, and broken down by department or agency: (a) how many such contracts were awarded; (b) what is the total value of such contracts; and (c) what are the details of each contract, including (i) the date, (ii) the description of the goods or services, (iii) the amou…
Read full speech →Statements By Members
Mr. Speaker, the cost of everyday essentials is rising, and, thanks to the Liberal government, we can expect it to get worse. The government has driven up demand by pumping extra money into the economy, and now it is preparing to slash supply by bringing in vaccine mandates for truckers. There is already a shortage of truckers. The Canadian Trucking Alliance expects to be short 18,000 jobs by Marc…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, I want to thank my good friend, neighbour and colleague for Red Deer—Mountain View for his excellent speech. As this is my first opportunity to deliver a speech on behalf of the constituents of Red Deer—Lacombe in the new Parliament, I want to thank all of my volunteers and my family. Of course, I thank the voters of Red Deer—Lacombe for sending me here for a sixth term. My commitment…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Madam Speaker, I am rising today to present a petition in support of Bill S-223. This bill has been before the Senate and it has passed three times. It has been before the House before and was passed unanimously by the House. It would make it a criminal offence for a person to go abroad and receive an organ taken without consent of the person giving that organ. Petitioners are rightly disappointed…
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Mr. Speaker, I will gladly respond to that question. My colleague is missing the point altogether. If my colleague would actually read polling information that Canadians are responding to when they are asked the question about confidence in police and their justice system, he would see that the numbers have not looked good for the last six years. Crime is on the rise. Dangerous crime and violent c…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, I think my colleague is asking about whether people should be going to jail for simple possession. I would ask her if she shares my interpretation of the legislation. Here is what the minimum penalties with respect to drugs are in Bill C-5: with respect to drug dealers, trafficking or possession for the purpose of trafficking, which does not sound like simple possession to me; importi…
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Mr. Speaker, my colleague missed the opportunity to not get into a coalition with the government of the day, but that is fine. The diversion measures that are in the legislation are certainly something that can be considered. As a former law enforcement officer, I had the ability to decide to pursue something or not. A Crown prosecutor has the ability to decide to pursue something or not. That is …
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Madam Speaker, I have heard the hon. minister speak about this, and the only argument he has actually made to justify the 10 days of paid sick leave is that of COVID, so my question for him is this: Why is there no sunset clause in the bill, so that once COVID is over, the 10 days are reversed and we let the private sector take care of it, as it has done all along?
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, the Liberals are changing the instrument approach procedures for many small aerodromes across the country, including the Ponoka airport in my riding. This change is purely bureaucratic to align with international standards that do not reflect the reality of how these facilities are used in Canada, but the impacts are very real. In Central Alberta, it would double the number of days me…
Read full speech →Statements by Members
Mr. Speaker, Canada is facing an economic crisis and a unity crisis. It is time for government to stop dividing, stop picking winners and losers and be a unifying force. Canada has a wealth of oil and gas. Our energy sector contributes over 10% of our nominal GDP. We should all be proud that we provide clean, environmentally responsible energy that respects human rights. We should strive for Canad…
Read full speech →Statements By Members
Mr. Speaker, Ponoka lost a legend earlier this year when Mr. Henry Fleck passed away on January 22. A cowboy to the core, Henry had a love for all things horse-drawn and was best known as a stagecoach driver in the grand entry of the Ponoka Stampede, a role he held for more than 15 years. No doubt about it, Henry was a cowboy through and through and shared his passion with everyone. If he was not …
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to rise today to present three petitions to the House on behalf of more than 24,000 independent travel advisers, 12,000 of whom are sole proprietors and the majority of whom are women who were most impacted by the COVID-19 restrictions. They lost incomes that they earned the year prior to COVID. They have lost their incomes for the year during COVID, and they will likely …
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Mr. Speaker, provinces have been setting out measurable goals and benchmarks for when they are lifting public health measures. This gives businesses the ability to plan for reopening. Groups like the Canadian Chamber of Commerce and the Tourism Industry Association of Canada are urging the government for a federal plan, yet when it comes to the Liberal government's restrictions, there is only unce…
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With regard to the RCMP's Auxiliary Program for the K Division: (a) has a decision been made related to the resumption of allowing (i) tier two volunteers, (ii) tier three volunteers; (b) if the answer to (a)(i) or (ii) is affirmative, (i) what was the decision, (ii) when was the decision made, (iii) who was informed of the decision, (iv) was the decision communicated to the public, and, if so, ho…
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Mr. Speaker, the Red Deer Indian Industrial School was one of the first iterations of what would become the residential school system. Like residential schools, terrible things occurred there. According to records, 20% of the students who were sent there never made it home. The school was closed in 1919, and it is not included in the list of 139 residential schools in the Truth and Reconciliation …
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Madam Speaker, the Prime Minister has announced that next week he will be travelling to Europe for in-person meetings. He has been able to attend these types of meetings virtually for the last several months. I do not doubt that he is itching to travel abroad and put himself an ocean away from parliamentary scrutiny, but there are countless businesses that rely on customers crossing the border tha…
Read full speech →Private Members' Business
Madam Speaker, I disagree very much with the previous three speakers, so much so that I am not even sure I am going to refer to the notes that I have in front of me, but let me see if I can make some sense out of the nonsense that I have heard and the falseness of the arguments that have been presented about this very important Private Members' Bill. In recent years, we have seen crime rates rise …
Read full speech →Adjournment Proceedings
Madam Speaker, it is a pleasure to join the proceedings virtually to seek clarification from the Liberal government on the response from the Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness to my question regarding the government's firearms buyback program. Unfortunately, when asking this minister a question, one almost never gets an answer or gets an answer to a completely different question.…
Read full speech →Adjournment Proceedings
Madam Speaker, the notion that the government respects law-abiding firearms owners like hunters and sport shooters is laughable. The member opposite has helped the minister and the Prime Minister scapegoat law-abiding firearms owners and demonize anyone or any organization who stands up for law-abiding citizens. The proof is on the Public Safety website. On the landing page for its anti-firearms c…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, I think my colleagues in the Bloc Québécois need to understand that for federal transfers to the provinces to work and pay for the things she is asking for, the Government of Canada needs to grow the Canadian economy. The Alberta economy has contributed disproportionately, in a positive way, to the overall budget and to the federal government's balancing of the books, to the tune of s…
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Mr. Speaker, I would simply suggest that Canadians should not believe that the Liberals' expensive ideas in budget 2021 are needed to fix the previous Liberals' bad ideas. What we need is a budget that gets our Canadian economy back on track, gets people back to work and gets us through the pandemic, rather than one that relies on support programs. The best solution for this is a free market econo…
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Mr. Speaker, it is a pleasure to be in the chamber today to speak to Bill C-30, the Liberals' budget implementation act. It has been more than two years since the government has tabled a budget, and the expectations of Canadians were high. With all the platitudes, like “build back better”, the government had increased expectation and set the stage for something that we were led to believe would be…
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Mr. Speaker, my colleague should know that over 98% of Canadians currently have access to a pharmaceutical plan, either through their employers or through provincial programs offered to seniors and those living with disabilities. If my colleague wants to work constructively on a plan that would help the other 2% of Canadians who do not have access, he would find me to be a willing partner.
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, I think that is an excellent question. I would point out to my colleague from Central Okanagan—Similkameen—Nicola that, in the budget, the Liberal government is supporting carbon capture and sequestration but not carbon capture, utilization and sequestration. There is a major project in my constituency right now that produces net-zero oil, and it is creating jobs, wealth and economic …
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
With regard to government statistics on the effect of the pandemic on the workforce: what are the government's estimates related to how many Canadians, in total, have left the workforce since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic?
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
With regard to government contracts, since January 1, 2020, and broken down by department or agency: (a) how many tendered contracts were not awarded to the lowest bidder; and (b) what are the details of all such contracts, including the (i) vendor, (ii) value of the contract, (iii) date and duration of the contract, (iv) description of goods or services, (v) reason the contract was awarded to the…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, my colleague brought up tourism, and I want to talk to him about air travel. On page 74 of the budget, there is an announcement of $105 million over five years for something known as the “known traveller digital identity pilot project”. A Google search of known traveller digital identity takes us to a World Economic Forum document, where it is called the “known traveller digital ide…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, that is an answer to a question, but it was not an answer to my question. Many experts anticipate that this buyback is going to be a multi-billion dollar boondoggle that does not have any meaningful impact on public safety. We have seen this before from the Liberals. Unfortunately, for law-abiding firearms owners, the government cares about pushing its ideology and not about taking co…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness has suggested that his ill-conceived firearms buyback program will cost between $300 million and $400 million. He has suggested that they are expecting to buy back roughly 150,000 to 200,000 firearms. Many of the firearms that the Liberals arbitrarily selected for their ban were non-restricted, such as firearms typically used fo…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
moved for leave to introduce Bill C-289, An Act to amend the Criminal Code (sentencing). Mr. Speaker, it is a pleasure for me to table this important piece of legislation. For many rural communities across Canada, crime has reached a crisis point. Rural Canadians too often do not feel safe in their own homes, many are victimized, often they have given up reporting property crime altogether and the…
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Mr. Speaker, all I will say in reply is that it is the member and his colleagues who have cast judgment on all law-abiding firearms owners in this country by confiscating their lawfully obtained property. They have used misinformation campaigns to demonize and vilify those who simply own firearms for the purposes of hunting, sport shooting and recreation, or who use them on their farms as a tool. …
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, I will be splitting my time with the member for Desnethé—Missinippi—Churchill River. It is a privilege to rise and represent the constituents of Red Deer—Lacombe in this debate, who would be mortified, I believe, to know what the legislation is actually proposing to do to our criminal justice system, notwithstanding the words coming from government MPs. Let me start with a little bi…
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Mr. Speaker, we have vast experience as legislators in the House of Commons, and we know full well what our roles and responsibilities are. As the member of Parliament for Red Deer—Lacombe, I would be remiss in my duties if I did not take the government to task for its misleading ideas and information in its attempt to basically decriminalize all criminal activity in this country.
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, I would encourage my colleague to look at the changes being offered in Bill C-22. The mandatory minimum penalties are being reduced for trafficking or possession for the purpose of trafficking controlled drugs or substances, importing and exporting or possession for the purpose of exporting controlled drugs and substances, and production of a substance in schedule I or schedule II. Th…
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