Routine Proceedings
With regard to March Madness expenditures where government managers make extra purchases in an attempt to spend their entire budget allotment before the end of the fiscal year: what specific measures, if any, are in place to prevent or discourage such spending ahead of the end of the 2023-2024 fiscal year, broken down by the measure that each department or agency is taking?
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Mr. Speaker, during debate today, there were multiple references to my great province of British Columbia. I would ask for unanimous consent to table this letter from the—
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Madam Speaker, I certainly appreciate the member's intervention on this important debate on Bill C-38. Obviously, a number of inequities existed after various governments brought forward legislation. That has, unfortunately, hit upon many of the individuals that this legislation tries to target. I know this particular member has worked very hard with indigenous leaders, community members and indiv…
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Mr. Speaker, I totally disagree with the categorization the member opposite made of when we had the president of PHAC here. I was here, as were other members, and it is untrue that it was not done in a proper format. Parliament is a place that needs to be respected as an institution. I believe we should be able to get answers. Does the member believe firmly we should get answers in the most direct…
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Mr. Speaker, on the topic of Bill C-38, the department estimates that around 3,500 individuals would be enfranchised. That ultimately means that any financial costs of integrating them would be put onto Indian bands. Section 10 bands have the autonomy to determine membership. Therefore, an individual would be able to obtain status from the Indian register after Bill C-38's passage. However, that l…
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Mr. Speaker, after eight years of the NDP-Liberal government, more and more British Columbians are lining up at food banks. That is not baloney. The fact that many cannot afford to drive with $1.99-a-litre gas is not baloney either. What is also not baloney is on page 75 of B.C.'s 2024 budget, where the provincial government blames the Prime Minister for forcing a 23% carbon tax hike on April 1. W…
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With regard to Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada, broken down by year since 2020: (a) how many newcomers came to Canada; (b) what is the breakdown of (a) by status (i.e. permanent or temporary); (c) what is the breakdown of (a) and (b) by industry and occupation; and (d) what is the breakdown of (c) by how many newcomers are currently working in that industry and occupation versus how m…
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Mr. Speaker, I certainly appreciate the member's intervention on this issue. This is from a B.C. CTV news story that reads, “Our initial study intended to only interview low-income women who were single moms accessing those $10-per-day spots,” said Dr. Lea Caragata, director of the school of social work at UBC and co-author of the study. “After six months of intensive recruitment, we could only fi…
Read full speech →Statements By Members
Mr. Speaker, I want to thank all Canadians who have helped take in Ukrainian families fleeing the illegal invasion of their homeland. This support comes from so many individuals, families, churches, community groups and local businesses that have put aside their own challenges in order to help out. The generosity we have seen has been amazing, with donations, housing and offers of work. People hav…
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Madam Speaker, the member in his speech today questioned the government's judgment on a lot of these issues. As a long-standing member of this place, I was hoping he would comment a bit further, because it seems to me that the Liberal government in particular somehow believes that if we create a law that changes the way institutions such as our health care system work, and there are not sufficient…
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Madam Speaker, I listened to our critic for justice. He has done yeoman service on committee and in this place on this subject, and I know it is very dear to him—
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Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the member for sharing his experiences. I am a big fan of the Yiddish proverbs that he says, so maybe he has one he can share in addition to the one he shared already. Getting back to the subject at hand, I worry most that there was an amendment put to the legislation that would basically allow for an expansion of medical assistance in dying to persons with mental diso…
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Mr. Speaker, I move that given, after eight years of the Prime Minister, housing costs have doubled, that the CMHC itself admits that housing starts have—
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Mr. Speaker, after eight years of the NDP-Liberal government, Kelowna is in housing hell. Rents have doubled and mortgage payments have tripled. Tent cities and long lineups at food banks are now commonplace. The housing minister touts investing millions in Kelowna through his housing accelerator fund, or HAF. Can the minister please share specifically how many homes in Kelowna, funded by last Oct…
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Mr. Speaker, they cannot give a number because they did not require it. Kelowna's HAF action plan only refers to “investments in affordable housing such as land acquisition, investments in housing-related infrastructure such as sewer and water, and investments in community-related infrastructure that supports housing such as sidewalks, bridges and bike lanes”. Does the parliamentary secretary unde…
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Madam Speaker, the only ones who are not acting here are us on this side, being responsible and saying what our constituents are feeling. The Prime Minister recognized the pain that his carbon tax caused and exempted home heating oil from it last fall, but this did not occur in my home province. The B.C. government said that it wanted an exemption for home heating oil from the NDP-Liberal governme…
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Madam Speaker, after eight years of this NDP-Liberal government, so many of my residents struggle to pay for gas and groceries, particularly seniors on fixed incomes, single parents and persons with disabilities. We can fight this made-in-Canada inflation by supporting the Conservative leader's motion to cancel the April 1 carbon tax increase. Will the Liberal and NDP caucus members vote to stop t…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
With regard to the amounts listed on page 143 of the Public Accounts of Canada 2023, Volume 3, related to fraudulent claims under Employment, Workforce Development and Disability Inclusion: (a) of the 100 cases listed as a fraudulent claims for the Canada Student Loan, how many were, and what dollar amount represented, fraudulent cases involving payments made to (i) non-Canadians or payments being…
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With regard to the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance's involvement in the World Economic Forum (WEF): (a) is the minister still a member of the WEF's board of trustees, and, if not, why is she no longer a board member and on what date did the minister cease to be a board member; and (b) if the minister resigned from the board, what was the reason for the resignation?
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With regard to the awarding of the $8.9 million ArriveCAN sole-sourced contract to GC Strategies: who (i) signed, (ii) authorized, the contract?
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Madam Speaker, I certainly appreciate the member for Regina—Qu'Appelle's interventions because this is an area he knows well, having served both as the House leader for the opposition and as a Speaker. When I heard of these unfortunate instances with respect to the fundraising and appearances at a provincial Liberal convention, I phoned someone who used to work for a Speaker at the provincial leve…
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Madam Speaker, I like how you think. I would simply say to my fellow member from British Columbia, first of all, I understand he is not going to be running for re-election. I have always respected his contributions to this place, and I just want to put that on the record and wish him a merry Christmas when we go. On the inflationary deficits, the carbon tax, the addition of things where we have pl…
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Madam Speaker, when I start talking about the very real concerns of federally regulated, provincially regulated and average, non-unionized workers, the member somehow tries to make it some sort of conspiracy theory. When the member starts spouting what seem to be conspiracy theories about how this is connected to this group and this group is connected to this group in the south, it sounds a little…
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Madam Speaker, when it comes to the mushroom farm, we know that the bill simply gets handed down to customers and makes those Ontario-grown mushrooms that much more expensive, which is causing the issue that we see today in Canada's labour market where, right now, when there are open negotiations, unions are rightfully saying that the cost of living has gone up. Of course, there is pressure for th…
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Madam Speaker, it is certainly a great honour to join in this debate in the chamber. Before I get into the meat of the issue with Bill C-58, I would like to extend, to all the people who work in this chamber and also those who will be working in the other place after, a very merry Christmas. It is that time of year. While there does not seem to be a lot of charity in this room right now towards on…
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Madam Speaker, I would ask the member to talk a little more about inflation and how it is affecting people, particularly working men and women right across this country, unionized or not. Maybe there is a message that he would like to share, especially in relation to the message from the member for Carleton, to let working people know there is some hope around the corner.
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Madam Speaker, my command of the French language is not the best, but I will try to answer the Bloc Québécois member's question. With regard to Bill C-58, what is important for me, as a western MP, is to fully understand how this works in Quebec. That is a question I will be asking Conservative Party members from Quebec. I hope I will have a clear answer for the member.
Read full speech →Statements by Members
Mr. Speaker, back in 2015, it was the Liberal Prime Minister who told Canadians that better was always possible. However, after eight years, when it comes to housing, literally everything is worse. Many cannot find homes they can afford. Worse, there are now many in homes they can no longer afford. It is small wonder that millions of Canadians have tuned in to watch the Conservative leader's “hous…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, it is well known in this place that we do not refer to hon. members as snake oil salesmen or other negative things. All members here, if they are going to debate, should debate and use either a member's title or the name of their riding. I just do not think it is parliamentary language, and the member should maybe dwell upon our rules a bit more.
Read full speech →Private Members' Business
Madam Speaker, asking to make sure we have interpretation is the right of every member of Parliament. I take offence to what that member said.
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With regard to the export of Canada’s plastic waste under the Basel Convention: (a) what measures are in place to ensure that plastic waste exported without a permit is clean, sorted, and intended for recycling; (b) how many times since January 1, 2021, has the government imposed punitive measures on companies for failing to comply with these requirements; (c) does the government monitor the final…
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With regard to government expenditures related to the Prime Minister’s trip to New York in September 2023, to attend the United Nations General Assembly: (a) what are the expenditures incurred to date, in total and broken down by type of expense; (b) how many members were part of the Canadian delegation; (c) what are the names and titles of the delegation members; (d) what was the total amount spe…
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With regard to the Canadian Transportation Agency (CTA): (a) what is the current backlog of air traffic complaints, including the number of complaints and the length of time before new complaints are adjudicated; (b) what is the government’s plan to reduce the backlog; (c) does the government have a target date for when the backlog will be reduced to less than six months, and, if so, what is the t…
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With regard to the Rental Construction Financing Initiative: (a) how much funding has been provided under the initiative since the creation of the program; (b) what are the details of all projects approved to date, including, for each, the (i) location, (ii) number of units, (iii) value of the project, (iv) amount of financing, (v) type of financing, (vi) financing recipient, if known, (vii) date …
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Madam Speaker, first of all, the member opposite talked about academic studies. I would challenge that member to actually table academic studies showing that there is no correlation. In fact, Sylvain Charlebois of The Food Professor Podcast has actually specifically said there has not been that. He says, “It is imperative that we conduct a rigorous evaluation of how carbon pricing affects food aff…
Read full speech →Statements by Members
Mr. Speaker, what do grocery prices, tax, rents and mortgage costs all have in common? They are all up, up and away after eight years of this NDP-Liberal government. This week, in his mini budget, the Prime Minister has shown that he is not worth the cost. Our estimated public debt costs have skyrocketed to over $52 billion next year, which essentially equals the budget for the entire health trans…
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Madam Speaker, I actually wrote in my MP report to my constituents this week exactly that: All levels of government have been overspending. However, let us not forget what I called the Prime Minister earlier this week: “our deficit-maker-in-chief”. No one has the fiscal power like the current federal government. No one has the tax power like the current federal government. What were the members of…
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Madam Speaker, the member is one hundred per cent right. We are going through a housing crisis, and it is because municipal gatekeepers, right across the country, have held tight to old ideas such as zoning that basically keeps municipalities as they are. As our immigration grows, and as our population grows, we see there are just not enough places for everyone. In Bill C-56, the government's solu…
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Madam Speaker, it is always an honour to rise in this place to join the debate. I will be sharing my time with the excellent member of Parliament for Prince Albert. Bill C-56 is an interesting bill, and I must give the Liberal government some credit for taking a page directly from the leader of the official opposition's affordability plan and proposing to remove the GST from purpose-built rental h…
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Madam Speaker, I am going to ask for your patience with me because I am going to describe that particular question, not the questioner but the question, as political loser talk. If he wants to come to this place to talk about affordability, with doing things like increasing competition, which the member for Bay of Quinte originally proposed and is now incorporated in this bill, we could have that …
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, after eight years of the NDP-Liberal government, grocery and home heating bills continue to rise, as do rent and mortgage payments. Scotiabank has said that inflationary government deficits are to blame. If our deficit-maker-in-chief was to show fiscal responsibility, it would drop interest rates by 2% and save the average family $700 a month off their mortgage. Does the Prime Ministe…
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Mr. Speaker, if we all quiet down, we can already hear the fiscal engines in the background starting to rev up, as the only solution for inflationary spending for the Prime Minister is more inflationary spending. The Conservative leader has challenged the Prime Minister to stop his carbon tax hikes, reduce his deficits and build homes, not bureaucracy. Will the government address these issues in t…
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Mr. Speaker, by rejecting Conservative amendments to create bright-line rules, such as those regarding investments from companies headquartered in hostile states being immediately referred to a review, and by not exempting our Five Eyes partners, which all clearly show not just democratic values but also market values, we are competing on taxes, environmental processes and investment rules for tim…
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Mr. Speaker, I certainly appreciate the words of the member of Parliament for North Okanagan—Shuswap, as well as his leadership, particularly when it comes to the fight against aquatic invasive species. Conservatives know that, if Canada is going to compete for foreign direct investment, we need to have three things right: We need proper investment rules, a competitive tax environment and environm…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, I know that the parliamentary secretary is so full of criticism of us because she cannot point to any real results of her own government. However, I have not heard her even talk about what we are here to do, which is on the concurrence—
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Mr. Speaker, Highway 97 between Peachland and Summerland has become four lanes, and the Hope-Princeton Highway has been widened. These investments were not made by a federal government for 30 years but were done by the Harper government. There were changes in the 2014 gas tax agreement that allowed gas taxes to be used for a whole range of things, and we saw advanced waste-water treatment all thro…
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Madam Speaker, I am glad that speech is finally over. That particular member made reference to a Homer Simpson award. Homer Simpson would at least admit he has made a mistake by saying “D'oh!” This particular Prime Minister and that member who supports him go rake-walking almost every day, whether it be on foreign policy or on the economy. They smack into a rake and instead of saying “D'oh!” and a…
Read full speech →Statements by Members
Mr. Speaker, Canadian radio lost a good one this month. Ted Farr began his radio career 54 years ago, in 1969. Many remember “Tall Ted” on CKLG's Doc Harris Show. Ted's colleagues have remembered him for being an outstanding coach and mentor. I met Ted at Kelowna's AM 1150, where he led the news team. Ted was dedicated in all that he did. Ted Farr's interviews always got to the heart of the issue;…
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Madam Speaker, I too am concerned about many of the panels, committees, subcommittees, working groups, expert groups and other bodies, because here in Canada we have a bureaucracy of highly technical issues that sometimes can be an irritant for another country, such as Ukraine. We also know that the government has been terrible in its record on the Canada-Europe free trade agreement, the CETA, for…
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Madam Speaker, I asked this question of a member who spoke earlier. I would like to ask this member specifically, given the Liberal government's track record on trade when it comes to setting up panels and committees for technical working groups. As we have seen on CETA, the Canada-European free trade agreement, many of those industry panels have not even met. That means Canadians have not been ab…
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