Government Orders
Madam Speaker, one thing we have fought for on this side is algorithmic accountability and looking through the dark curtain of big tech to see how it is throttling up and down certain social media accounts. Again, what this member fails to mention, and I have not heard him refer to it yet tonight, is proposed section 4.2. He may want to check it out, because it is the exemption that would allow a …
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Mr. Speaker, it is on this rare occasion that I agree with the member across the way from the Liberal Party. I am baffled that the Bloc would bring forward a motion to remove prayer from this chamber. Being the former chair of the National Prayer Breakfast, I understand the value of prayer. It means a lot to a lot of Canadians, to millions of us across Canada, yet the Bloc has brought forward a ve…
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Madam Speaker, it is a little perplexing that the Bloc sees this as a priority at a time like this. As someone who is Christian and was the chair of the National Prayer Breakfast for four years, I have deep respect for prayers in Canada, prayers in the House and the freedom to pray. The freedom of religion has been recognized in our charter. The first line in the charter says: Whereas Canada is fo…
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Madam Speaker, for those watching this important debate tonight, it really brings in some of our traditions that I previously spoke to, which started in 1877 in this place and were codified in 1927. It has been around in this place for a long time, and tradition matters to Canadians. I do not know if Canadians out there know that the Bloc does not come into the chamber until after the anthem is su…
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Mr. Speaker, on June 4, we will celebrate National Range Day. There are over 2.3 million licensed firearms owners in Canada. We enjoy our property, our culture and our passion safely without issue. That deserves to celebrated. National Range Day is an opportunity for all Canadians to learn and participate in any of the hundreds of events happening in almost every community across the country. Spor…
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Madam Speaker, we just heard the member ask a question of another opposition party. I do not know if she does not know the role of the NDP in this place—
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Mr. Speaker, the passport process has become a nightmare to thousands of Canadians. Tyler and Ira from Dawson Creek, through no fault of their own, had to travel 14 hours and spend hundreds of dollars to get their passports, just hours before their trip. What used to be a simple task of completing a passport form is now causing sleepless nights, unnecessary stress and huge expense to those who jus…
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Madam Speaker, I guess it is just a question to you. Is this a statement by a government member, or a question from the opposition?
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Mr. Speaker, the NDP-Liberal budget proves once again that the current government is all talk and no action. Instead of a plan to protect our Arctic sovereignty and security, all we got was a reannouncement of NORAD's existing infrastructure and that the government is considering its options. Millions are promised, while billions are needed. Our Arctic sovereignty and security cannot be protected …
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Madam Speaker, I really respect the member, but to say that we are siding with the other side is really rich when we have seen the terms of the NDP-Liberal marriage. It is clear for all to see. I will just bring up one example of when the government promised one thing. It said that carbon taxes were going to be neutral. Here again, the PBO said that just that one carbon tax exemption alone would s…
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Madam Speaker, I will be speaking to Bill C-8 for those in Canada who are watching today, and I will speak about how Bill C-8 fails our farmers. What I learned recently, when I was back in British Columbia and spoke to the grain growers in my neck of the woods in northeastern B.C., is how dramatic the costs have risen over the last 12 months. Bill C-8 would not help. It would just make things wors…
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Madam Speaker, I really look forward to opportunities to speak in the House, and this is the first time I am speaking to Bill C-8 in respect to farmers and the negative effects of the bill on their operations and their farm families. This is part of the debate. This is part of what the House of Commons is for. I wish the member across the way would recognize that. This is a part of democracy. We h…
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Madam Speaker, this is a great opportunity for me to talk once again about Bill C-234, being the measure we referred to that could potentially give a carbon tax exemption to farmers for propane and natural gas to dry and heat their shops, etc. It is a perfect opportunity. It is not finished yet; there are still votes. We still have an opportunity to support it. I would hope that the members across…
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Madam Speaker, there is an example of the Liberal-NDP marriage, the NDP in the corner, carrying the water for the government, when it should be debating and acting as the opposition, fighting the government. We are prepared to work, and we have been working. What the minister has set up as holding up debate on this is actually debating, doing our job as a democracy, speaking against bills when we …
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Madam Speaker, I am sorry to interrupt this important debate, but for clarity, are we to be asking our questions to the member from the Liberal Party or the member from the NDP?
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With regard to the estimated $1,235.4 millions in overpayments of income benefit payments by the government listed on page 147 of the 2021 Public Accounts of Canada, Volume I: (a) what is the breakdown of the estimated overpayments by income support program, including, for each program, the (i) dollar value of overpayments, (ii) number of Canadians who received overpayments; and (b) what are the c…
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With regard to the Treasury Board's Guide to Delegating and Applying Spending and Financial Authorities: (a) which departments and agencies maintain a log (or similar type of record) of violations or noncompliance related to the requirements set out in the guide; (b) for each department or agency in (a), how many entries have been entered in the log since January 1, 2021; and (c) what are the det…
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Madam Speaker, it is important that I thank the member for Moose Jaw—Lake Centre—Lanigan, and it is also important to read out what the motion is about. It states: That, given that the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) alliance has made an immeasurable contribution to peace, security, and prosperity for all its members, the House call on the government to increase spending on national defe…
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Madam Speaker, it is that whole “fail to plan, plan to fail” analogy. However, I would say, even going back to former president Kennedy, there was not the infrastructure to go to the moon at the time when he made the call to say that they were going to get there, but he made the call to say that they were going to get there. I think we need to have the leadership, from the entire House, say that w…
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Madam Speaker, money does not grow on trees in Quebec, nor does it anywhere else in our country, or anywhere for that matter. We know it is a very expensive endeavour to do this, but it is an accurate response. Indeed, the government is spending a lot of money, but is it spending it in the right direction? That is a huge question mark. We would disagree on how the government is spending money. It …
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Madam Speaker, I have read that report. It is 28 recommendations, and it is a great report and a place to start and really build our defences. I will go back. The NDP premise today has been all about priorities for money and other things that are important. I do agree with the member that things are important, but if we cannot defend our own borders and our own country and our own people and, wher…
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Mr. Speaker, over the last year Nunavut has experienced a record high number of water advisories. Iqaluit residents have not known if their water is safe to drink for over six months. The government has long promised to make infrastructure funding for the north a priority, but has failed. Why do moms in Iqaluit still have to bathe their babies in bottled water?
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Mr. Speaker, I apologize for interrupting my colleague in his speech. We actually have Liberals across the way laughing while this speech is going on, laughing at what the member is speaking about. Frankly, it is hardly funny and hardly funny for Canadians. I hope they would respect the House and actually listen to the member.
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Mr. Speaker, Putin's invasion of Ukraine has taught us all that we cannot take our Canadian Arctic sovereignty for granted. Russia recently filed a claim that adds 705,000 square kilometres to Russia's current Arctic claims. U of C Professor Robert Huebert said, “We haven’t seen a country before that’s extended over its neighbours. Here’s a situation where they’re claiming the entire Canadian and …
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Mr. Speaker, Putin's invasion of Ukraine should be a wake-up call to all of us that we cannot take our Arctic sovereignty for granted. NORAD commander General Glen VanHerck recently warned that delaying the updating of our outdated northern defences leaves us all at risk. Canada, like Ukraine, shares a border with Russia, a border that is poorly defined and today is in dispute. University of Calga…
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Madam Speaker, I appreciate the member's comments. There is an old phrase from the Bible that says a calm answer turns away wrath. I think in this place we do need to bring the calmness, so we do not encourage things to get worse. I absolutely take that. I feel it is all of our responsibility to be that way. That is where I think this act is fanning the flames. We need to do our very best to bring…
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Madam Speaker, that was a great question. This place is often a place of contention, but it needs to be a place of forgiveness too. We have given the Prime Minister that opportunity. I even called on him to just apologize. I think a lot of people feel like that. They would accept a simple apology, but we have not heard that yet. We are calling on him—
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Madam Speaker, I just wanted to say, first of all, I appreciate all Canadians' prayers right now. I have been getting messages that they are praying for us in this place to make good decisions. I covet them and we are thankful for them, especially at this very trying time for our country. Today, we are debating the Prime Minister's Emergencies Act. We have already heard about the thresholds and wh…
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I will try not to do it again, Madam Speaker. I will go back to the article entitled “Goldstein: [The Prime Minister] can't unite us because his strategy is to divide us”, which states, “This because [the Liberals] divided Canadians up into little slices of political support and opposition across the country, in order to extract the maximum number of seats from the minimum number of votes cast.” T…
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Madam Speaker, I was reading the quote. I apologize once more. With astonishing speed, opponents of government action could quickly be labelled racist, misogynist, homophobic or any other of a litany of insults intended to personally scar opponents and discredit them as the worst society has to offer, without addressing the substance of their argument. We are debating the Emergencies Act today and…
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Madam Speaker, I am shocked by what the member asked me. She is basically justifying the Prime Minister's comments. The reference was to people who had vaccine hesitancy, as we call it. She is saying that it is okay that the Prime Minister called them extremists who don’t believe in science, often misogynists, also often racists, with a small group that muscles in, and that he said, “We have to ma…
Read full speech →Statements by Members
Mr. Speaker, today, I congratulate a very dedicated member of northern B.C., Judy Desjarlais. Last month, Judy was elected chief of the Blueberry River First Nation and just yesterday served her very first day as chief. Judy said she is dedicated to “bringing unity back” and “building a prosperous future for her nation”. For almost two decades, Judy and her husband Boomer have owned Top Notch Oilf…
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Mr. Speaker, on a point of order, the member is supposed to be speaking to this particular motion. He has called out different members for talking about something other than what he thinks they should be talking about. In this case, all he can talk about is what we Conservatives are saying.
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Mr. Speaker, my office has been flooded with meetings, calls and emails about Immigration Canada and the buildup of almost two million applications that have not been processed. This has led to processing times of more than two years, and the applicants are running out of time. These delays are costly and highly stressful not only for the people applying but for many workplaces too. We had a great…
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Mr. Speaker, I was the former chair of the access to information, privacy and ethics committee. One thing we learned there is that privacy is a big deal. Most of us in Canada believe that. However, apparently the member across the way does not think it is a big deal. He is saying it is no big deal and telling folks not to worry about it. With the new quantum computing capacity, de-identified infor…
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Mr. Speaker, I thank our opposition members who are very concerned about privacy. Again, as a former member of that committee, we did a lot of work around the world. Somebody mentioned Shoshana Zuboff and many of our other colleagues globally who care about this issue. This simple, nonchalant approach the government has with people's privacy and data is illustrated in the decisions it is making an…
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Mr. Speaker, tonight we are debating Bill C-8 and another tax-and-spend bill by the current Liberal government, which does not seem to understand a lot of things. The Liberals do not seem to care about people's privacy. They do not seem to care that there is record inflation in our country. We hear the Deputy Prime Minister go on about it not being a big deal, and that it is not the government's f…
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Mr. Speaker, I bring forward today a petition from people who are concerned about the Liberal Party of Canada, as promised in its 2021 platform, denying charitable status to organizations that have convictions about abortion and that the Liberal Party views as dishonest. Further, this may jeopardize the charitable status of hospitals, houses of worship, schools, homeless shelters and other charita…
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With regard to the impact of border closure and border restrictions related to COVID-19 on the hunting and outfitter tourism industry: (a) what are the government's estimates on the loss of revenue for the hunting and outfitter tourism industry during the COVID-19 pandemic; (b) what specific measures will Destination Canada take to promote hunting and outfitter tourism to an international audience…
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Madam Speaker, like many of my colleagues, I am bringing forward a petition brought to the House by Canadians across Canada that deals with international trafficking in human organs. Specifically, as mentioned by my colleague for Bruce—Grey—Owen Sound, it would amend the Criminal Code and the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act to prohibit Canadians from travelling abroad to acquire human organ…
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Mr. Speaker, I am presenting a petition from many Canadians today on the issue of organ harvesting, especially as it relates to Canadians travelling abroad to participate in it. It is terrible, and we need to stop it.
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Madam Speaker, I really did not want to get up to speak, but after those comments from the NDP I would point out that petitions are not just from us as parliamentarians. We are representing our constituents, who are bringing their petitions to us to present to the House. It is their way to connect themselves to the House. I would just reiterate that and commend our member who brought that voice fo…
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Mr. Speaker, in recent years, Russia has refurbished and built over 30 Arctic bases, 14 operational airfields, 16 deepwater ports and over 50 military icebreakers. Further, the Russian foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, also recently warned Canada that all the resources beneath the melting ice in the Arctic sea belong to the Russian government. When is the Liberal government going to stand up to thi…
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Madam Chair, to which countries specifically has the minister reached out to assert our claims?
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Madam Chair, frankly, talk is cheap. My colleague from Selkirk—Interlake—Eastman stated in a recent article: “The Russian government is opening military bases in the Arctic and the Chinese Communist regime is expanding its Arctic naval fleet beyond the capabilities of Canada and the United States combined,”.... The article continues: [The member] slammed the federal government’s “naïve and dangero…
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Madam Chair, one thing I will say about our previous Conservative government is that we showed up. Our previous Conservative prime minister went to the Arctic many times to assert our presence physically in the Arctic. What is the Minister of Foreign Affairs doing to assert Canadian sovereignty in the Arctic diplomatically?
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Madam Chair, what is the Minister of Foreign Affairs doing to assert Canadian sovereignty in the Arctic physically?
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Madam Chair, I will be splitting my time tonight with the member for Calgary Nose Hill. It is about priorities, and Arctic sovereignty is a priority for our party. We talked about a recent buildup of Russian presence in eastern Europe tonight, as was mentioned by my colleagues from Wellington—Halton Hills and Selkirk—Interlake—Eastman, but we have also seen a rise in Russian ambitions in the Arcti…
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Madam Chair, we have heard a lot of words from the minister. We have not heard once about whether she has actually shown up in the Arctic and asserted our sovereignty as a minister. When will she do that? I think all Canadians are expecting her to do it soon.
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