Routine Proceedings
With regard to the items listed in the Main Estimates, 2024-25, under Department of Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs: (a) of the $94,603,783 and the $4,151,000 respectively listed under "Contributions for promoting the safe use, development, conservation and protection of the North's natural resources, and promoting scientific development" and "Grants for promoting the safe use, dev…
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With regard to the Northern Responsible Energy Approach for Community Heat and Electricity program: (a) what is the government estimate of the total costs required to achieve the stated goal of reducing diesel consumption by 7 million litres; (b) how much has this program spent to date, and what amount and percentage of this were spent on administration expenses; (c) how many employees or Full Tim…
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With regard to the items listed in the Main Estimates, 2024-25, under Canadian Northern Economic Development Agency: (a) of the $7.5 million listed under "Grants for the Inclusive Diversification and Economic Advancement in the North initiative", what are the details of all funded grants, including, for each, the (i) name of the recipient, (ii) amount, (iii) purpose of the funding, (iv) project de…
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Mr. Speaker, the point made by my colleague was that the fifth graders were smarter with financial decisions than the government. That was the point.
Read full speech →Statements by Members
Mr. Speaker, after eight years, northern Canadians cannot afford the Prime Minister anymore. Housing starts are at historic lows, according to a recent RBC report, and the trend is only going to get worse under the NDP-Liberals. Nunavut is deep in this housing crisis, with over 3,000 homes desperately needed, and the number is climbing, with little being done by the Prime Minister. The NDP-Liberal…
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Mr. Chair, it would be funny if it were not so sad. Here is a member of a government that has done absolutely nothing, and I just proved it. The minister responsible did nothing for six years, even as evidenced by Katherine Tai, the U.S. trade secretary. It did nothing when we got it done within six months. Here is a government that has done absolutely nothing. It has been the government for almos…
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Mr. Chair, I cannot speak to what the Bloc's plan is for equity in the forest sector, but when I had my job as a 19-year-old working on a construction site where we were building a pulp mill, the company did not need the equity. It got it because there were good business cases for developing a lumber mill or using the residual fibres from a lumber mill for making paper and other products. It was n…
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Mr. Chair, I appreciate what the member has to say, but from my perspective, I just read many news articles talking about literally hundreds of jobs being lost in the current situation without a softwood lumber agreement. Again, when we came into government in 2006, it was done within six months. That is what we are proposing. We would get it done again, and we would bring it home.
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Madam Chair, I will be sharing my time with the member for Kenora. We come forward tonight talking about the softwood lumber issue. It has been an issue I have been very close to for most of my life. My first job out of high school was working at the local pulp mill in construction in Taylor, B.C. That is where I learned to work hard, building the mill that was going to cost $150 million but provi…
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Mr. Speaker, I will just say a few brief words. I would like to say to the member across the way that we got to know each other around the prayer breakfast when I chaired it, and he stepped up, being a representative of his party and a person of faith himself. I just want to say that we wish him well, from our party to him. I know that he is much too young to retire. He has a family. He is going b…
Read full speech →Statements by Members
Mr. Speaker, Nunavut, Northwest Territories and Yukon know the Prime Minister is not worth the cost. From his NDP-Liberal government's own 2023 northern housing report, after eight years housing starts in Yukon are down 19.3%. Housing starts are down 21.2% in Northwest Territories. Fewer than 20% of families can afford to purchase a home in Nunavut, and if someone is lucky enough to have a house i…
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Madam Speaker, I will bring facts to the table. BCBC is a very reputable industry representative and it has been very concerned about where CleanBC is going. I will get to my question, but this is from BCBC's article, entitled “BCBC warns CleanBC will lead to ‘serious job losses’ on path to 2030”. The article states, “That data suggested that B.C.’s economy would be $28.1 billion smaller in 2030 d…
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Mr. Speaker, a bit of the ruling yesterday was with respect to how long these were taking, and we were told that there are tight rules about how petitions should be presented in this House. We were not to mention members, and it was supposed to be a brief statement, which I had brought to you, Mr. Speaker. Where is the brief statement in this case? Again, we are seeking consistency. I wish you, Mr…
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Mr. Speaker, I rise on a point of order with respect to consistency. The member just did again what you asked him to withdraw about a minute before. This was a big deal this week with my colleague from Battle River—Crowfoot. Indeed, Mr. Speaker, you made me apologize for doing something similar; you are not being consistent. This has been the accusation all along. You pick your battles, and we los…
Read full speech →Statements by Members
Mr. Speaker, after eight years, northern Canadians have learned the hard way that the Prime Minister is not worth the cost. Northwest Territories Premier R. J. Simpson recently said, “The costs are already high—higher costs are not the solution up here.” Adam and Chris from Yellowknife handed me their monthly heating bills that were $1,400, $1,700 and $2,100 because of the Prime Minister's carbon …
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Mr. Speaker, just for clarity, in my previous statement, I said that if I had said something wrong, I apologize. It was never made to clear to me by the Table after that point that I had made an error. Bosc and Gagnon say, “The Member may then give a brief statement to inform the House of the petition’s content”, which is exactly what the member did. It does not say that a member cannot be mention…
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Mr. Speaker, just for clarity, this precedent was supposedly set because of what I apologized for. I said at the time that if I did something wrong, then I will apologize, I guess. It still was not clear whether I had broken any rules. However, I said I will never apologize for representing the people of Skeena—Bulkley Valley. That is exactly what I said. There is no clear ruling on this saying th…
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With regard to government support for the lnuvik Wind Project: (a) how much funding has been (i) allocated, (ii) delivered to date, to the project, by the government; (b) how much funding has been (i) allocated, (ii) delivered to date, by other sources, broken down by source (private sector, territorial government, etc.); (c) what is the government estimate on the total costs required to complete …
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Madam Speaker, the Prime Minister's government has attempted to ban and seize hunting rifles and shotguns of millions of Canadians. The targeting of farmers and hunters does not fight crime. The Prime Minister's government has failed those who participate in the Canadian traditions of sport shooting. Therefore, the undersigned petitioners call on the Government of Canada to stop any and all curren…
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Madam Speaker, I guess if it is in the rules of the House of Commons then I will apologize, but I certainly will not apologize for speaking on behalf of residents of Skeena—Bulkley Valley. I will speak to the petition but they are trying to interrupt—
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Madam Speaker, I think the point being made is that they have tried to get their local member of Parliament to do this and they will not do it—
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Madam Speaker, the second petition is from residents of Skeena—Bulkley Valley. Sadly, their own MP would not present this petition on behalf of residents of Smithers—
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Madam Speaker, I have two petitions to present today. After eight years, this Prime Minister has made life unaffordable for Canadians with his carbon tax. Mackenzie residents are simply asking for some relief from this Liberal Prime Minister in this petition. We, the undersigned residents of Mackenzie, B.C., call upon the House of Commons to reconsider the northern living allowance classification …
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Madam Speaker, I will get to the petition finally. We, the undersigned citizens and residents of Canada draw the attention of the House of Commons to the following: Whereas the Trudeau government has attempted to ban and seize the—
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Madam Speaker, I guess the truth hurt over there. The Liberals do not like us reading a pro law-abiding firearms petition into the record in the House of Commons.
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Madam Speaker, we, the undersigned citizens and residents of Canada draw the attention of the House of Commons to the following: Whereas the Prime Minister's government has attempted to ban—
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Madam Speaker, we, the undersigned citizens and residents of Canada draw the attention of the House of Commons to the following petition—
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Madam Speaker, can I actually get this done? The truth hurts, I guess.
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Madam Speaker, one more time. The Prime Minister—
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, that answer throws the current Premier of the Northwest Territories completely under the bus. The Prime Minister unfairly gives a tax exemption to certain Canadians and not others. His environment minister has doubled down recently and said he is going to give that exemption to some, but not others. Liberal hot air will not keep Northwest Territories residents warm this Christmas. Wil…
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Mr. Speaker, in one of his first comments as Premier of the Northwest Territories, R.J. Simpson simply said yesterday that a carbon tax “doesn't work” for Northwest Territories. He said, “a complete exemption for the territory is what we would hope for because, like I said before, the costs are already high—higher costs are not the solution up here.” Will the Prime Minister do the right thing this…
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Madam Speaker, to finish my point of order, if we were able to reflect on who was or was not here, we could easily reflect on that party, the NDP, whose members were not here either, or members of the Liberal Party as well.
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Madam Speaker, the member well knows we are not supposed to point out absence or presence in the House of Commons.
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Mr. Speaker, sadly, empty words from those Liberals will not fill empty stomachs in Nunavut. Kyra Kilabuk, an Inuit woman, shares photos of current food prices in Nunavut on her social media. A can of Campbell's potato soup is $11. A medium box of Cheerios is $17. A small package of ham is $18. After eight years, Nunavut knows the Prime Minister is not worth the cost. When will the Prime Minister …
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Mr. Speaker, the member for Kingston and the Islands just threatened this side. I do not know if that is common practice to do that or allowed in the House, but I wish he would retract it and apologize.
Read full speech →Orders of the Day
Madam Speaker, I must say I do not know. We talked to Canadian Rangers who go out with their own snowmobile equipment and their own gear, which gets damaged and takes months to get repaired. These are snowmobiles they use for their sustenance to go get caribou and the like. It is a sad story we have heard many times. I have been up there many times and spoken directly with Rangers, as well as some…
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Madam Speaker, the article I quoted before was “CSIS warning Inuit leaders about covert foreign investment in Arctic, documents show". What can we do about it? There is a lot we can do about it. Again, the example I think about is one of those sad things I had to announce when I was up in Yellowknife speaking. A company the Prime Minister was at, the one rare earth minerals project he cut the ribb…
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Madam Speaker, I have made my views very clear about NATO and NORAD tonight. The member has heard our views from this side about NORAD and the need to modernize in order to protect our northern front. It is unequivocal that it needs to happen. The former defence minister made the announcement of modernizing NORAD. I think it was $4.95 billion at the time. I applauded her for making that announceme…
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Madam Speaker, the question I have to ask tonight, based on the report, and we are going to talk about the defence report in a few moments, is: has the Prime Minister compromised Canada in the Arctic? How bad is it? We have heard from my colleague, the critic for defence. He did a great job going through some of the shortfalls of what really is not in the north and what needs to be in the north. T…
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Madam Speaker, there has been a lot of conjecture back and forth this afternoon about things that were said on that side, and he straying into that territory again of getting into conspiracy theories and tinfoil hat commentary. This is about Arctic sovereignty and security. There are some in this place who actually want to get to that conversation and that debate. I wish the member would get back …
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Mr. Speaker, I am grateful for the opportunity to bring forward to the House a petition from the many citizens of the riding of Skeena—Bulkley Valley, including the communities of Smithers, Terrace and Kitimat. Sadly, their member of Parliament was not interested in bringing forward the petition, which supports law-abiding firearm owners. Petitioners draw to the attention of the House Commons that…
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With regard to government subsidies for diesel-based electricity generation in the North: how much does the government pay annually to (i) Nunavut, (iii) the Northwest Territories, (iii) Yukon, to subsidize the cost of diesel and the purchase or rental and maintenance of diesel generators?
Read full speech →Private Members' Business
Mr. Speaker, I really appreciate the opportunity to talk about a bill from a senator who has become a great friend. The senator is from Nunavut, with a lot of deep history in Nunavut and Northwest Territories even before the boundaries had been reformed. Many call this the “use it or lose it bill”, but I think it should be called the “connecting Nunavut, Northwest Territories, Yukon and northern C…
Read full speech →Statements by Members
Madam Speaker, Sarah, a mother of four from Whitehorse, told me yesterday how expensive life has gotten because of the carbon tax. Sarah spent $240 to fill up her truck last Friday. That tank of gas will only last her one week of going back and forth to work, along with some kids' activities. That is $1,000 a month. Sarah also said that her food bill is up 30%, and she is now being forced to spend…
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Mr. Speaker, after eight years, that desperate Prime Minister, in total free fall, finally admitted that his carbon tax is punishing Canadians. The Prime Minister also announced in his re-election platform that to vote Liberal in Yukon would mean quadrupling the carbon tax on home heating. This weekend, the minister from Newfoundland admitted the exemption did not apply to all Canadians across the…
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Madam Speaker, the answer to the member's question is that I am not sure. The NDP-Liberal government, after eight years, makes a lot of promises. To use NORAD as an example, we have seen billions of dollars promised, but the last count I have is that about $45 million has been spent. The government is great at photo ops and talking about getting things done, but delivery is a problem. Where has it…
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Madam Speaker, the economic development we hope to see with this bill is through the prevention of foreign interference from really taking hold. I have a quote with respect to another security issue, which states, “Russia is a persistent proximate threat to North America. And we know that China has growing capabilities and ambitions. I don't think the status quo is going to keep us safe”. I do not…
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Madam Speaker, I am thankful for the opportunity to speak about Bill C-34 today. It has been said before that weak leaders create hard times. The bill is meant to deal with foreign interference and the lack of infrastructure. I am going to speak specifically about that lack of infrastructure in the north. Point (b) in the summary says that the bill is meant to “authorize the Minister of Industry, …
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Madam Speaker, I would go back to what I started off with saying, which is that the NDP is really the no development party. I will quote an MLA from Nunavut, who said, “if adopted, [the member for Nunavut's] plan would impede the growth of mining in the territory and make it harder to increase Inuit employment in the mines.” What the member for Nunavut is doing is preventing this infrastructure in…
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