Government Orders
Madam Speaker, we are debating Bill C-21, and I do not think the member really understands the impact this bill has on rural Canada and the way of life in Canada. This afternoon, they just thought of a new bill, and he asks what I think of the idea. Judging by past representation of the government, I have absolute apprehension when it comes to commenting on anything that I have not even had a chan…
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Mr. Speaker, in 1985, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled that the requirements of section 133 of the Constitution Act, 1867, and of section 23 of the Manitoba Act, 1870, respecting the use of both the English and French languages in the records and Journals of the House of Parliament of Canada, are mandatory and must be obeyed. Accordingly, the House can no longer depart from its own code of proced…
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Mr. Speaker, in 1985, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled that the requirements of section 133 of the Constitution Act, 1867, and section 23 of the Manitoba Act, 1870—
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Mr. Speaker, I am aware of the special order. I just want the record to show that we are considering Bill C-21 at report stage without the constitutional requirement of quorum. I point out that the special order under which we are operating also provides for third reading to be—
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Mr. Speaker, I rise today to speak to Bill C-21. It has never been more clear how disconnected the current Liberal government is from rural Canadians. Firearms are tools for millions of Canadians, especially those who call rural Canada their home. I am a law-abiding firearms owner myself, just like millions of other Canadians across this country. I represent a region in this House of Commons that …
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Mr. Speaker, debate at second reading also took place without quorum on June 9, June 21 and June 22, 2022. That means that Bill C-21 will have been considered without the constitutional requirement of quorum for every stage of the legislative process in this House. The Supreme Court of Canada ruled in 1985—
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, I rise again on behalf of the people of Swan River, Manitoba to present a petition on the rising rate of crime. The common people of Swan River are demanding a common-sense solution to repeal the Liberal government's soft-on-crime policies that have fuelled a surge in crime throughout their community. Since 2015, crime has increased 32%, and gang-related homicides have increased 92% i…
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Mr. Speaker, in the event that Bill C-21 receives royal assent, I trust that these facts will serve opponents of Bill C-21 in their legal battles in court. Bill C-21 was a disaster from the day it was introduced, but the defining moment for Bill C-21 was when the Liberals introduced amendments at the committee stage that would have effectively banned thousands of firearms used by hunters across Ca…
Read full speech →Adjournment Proceedings
Madam Speaker, the government again did not answer my question. I find it interesting that the Liberal platform was to tax hospitals in the form of a carbon tax to heat themselves. That is an outstanding type of platform. Maybe the member should run on it again and call this the actual carbon tax that it is, but I digress. I guess Canadian hospitals, municipalities and universities will never know…
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Madam Speaker, my question to the Liberals is regarding their failed, ineffective and ever-increasing carbon tax. The Liberals have misled Canadians on their carbon tax, not once, not twice, but many times. Government members must be held accountable for their misleading carbon tax claims, and they must answer to the Canadians they are supposed to represent. Let us take a walk down memory lane. Fi…
Read full speech →Private Members' Business
Madam Speaker, the member mentioned the suggestion of arm's length and, in developing this committee around legislation, appointing someone who is at arm's length. In the member's opinion, what is the definition of arm's length in developing the bill? Would that include someone from the Trudeau Foundation? Would it include some sister-in-law from somewhere? What is the actual definition of arm's l…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, Canadians are struggling. The carbon tax is going up, which means the cost of gas is going up, the cost of groceries is going up and the cost of home heating is going up. One in five Canadians are now skipping meals and Canadians cannot afford a place to live because rent has doubled under the current Prime Minister. The Prime Minister does not care. Private jets and expensive hotel r…
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Mr. Speaker, I do not know specifically about that group, but I know rural Canadians, especially in places that are sparsely populated and have a lack of connectivity services, will be severely impacted by this. They have very little opportunity to speak, and they should be able to speak as freely and as often as they want to. These regulations will complicate that whole process, so I would encour…
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Mr. Speaker, can one imagine any more government, especially when the Liberals are in power? As was commented earlier tonight, we have a passport system that is backed up and not working. We have an immigration system that has two million people waiting to get approved. This is just a mess. They have basically broken everything, so why not break the Internet as well?
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Mr. Speaker, that is the fundamental flaw with this whole legislation and the attitude of the government to the Internet and its approach to the Internet. It has a complete disregard for what Canadians are telling it. Experts, industry people and content developers are all telling it to at least look at the amendments and fix the legislation. Will it? No, it will not, and that is why we are here.
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Mr. Speaker, if the people across the way want to listen, here is the quote from Michael Geist. He said, “To be clear, the risk with these rules is not that the government will restrict the ability for Canadians to speak, but rather that the bill could impact their ability to be heard.” That is the fundamental problem with this. He then continues: In other words, the CRTC will not be positioned to…
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You can listen to this if you want to.
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Mr. Speaker, I rise today to speak to Bill C-11. Nearly one year ago, I spoke to Bill C-11 in the House of Commons, and I expressed my opposition to the bill, a bill that would regulate the Internet. I have said it before and I will say it again: The Internet is supposed to be open and free. It is supposed to be open and free to create one's content and choose what one reads, free from government …
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Mr. Speaker, this is the frustrating thing about this bill: No one is listening to the witnesses who gave testimony. If there were 80 of them, how many said that this is a rock-solid bill and we should approve it? Why would the government not then bring it forward for unanimous consent? This bill doing is dividing Canada, not bringing us together.
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Can I answer the question, Mr. Speaker?
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Mr. Speaker, again, this is the problem, which is that they are not listening to those witnesses. How many of those—
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Madam Speaker, if we want to talk about the bill in particular, let us get to what we are supposed to be debating tonight. On Bill C-10, there was a portion in there that had an exemption for programs and that users could upload on social media. In other words, there was an exemption for user-generated content. I do not know if the member is actually familiar with that term. In Bill C-11, they put…
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Mr. Speaker, it is very important. The key takeaway is that this type of legislation is long overdue. That is why it is so important to get the amendments right and get this bill to committee as quickly as possible so we can all work on it. Let the experts review it and let the members get at it, but also let the industry get at it so we can come up with really good legislation to benefit all Cana…
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Mr. Speaker, I rise today to speak on Bill C-26, an act respecting cybersecurity, amending the Telecommunications Act and making consequential amendments to other acts. Cybersecurity is of the utmost importance to Canadians, and I am glad to see the topic debated in the House today. Bill C-26 would amend the Telecommunications Act. I should note that any time the Telecommunications Act is changed,…
Read full speech →Statements by Members
Mr. Speaker, on April 1, the Liberal government will raise the tax on beer, wine and spirits once again. It is the biggest tax hike on alcohol in 40 years, and that means Canadian breweries, vineyards and distilleries will pay the price. It also proves that the Prime Minister has no shame in fuelling the affordability crisis he created. Thankfully, Conservatives are fighting to turn hurt into hope…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
With regard to the statement in the government response to Order Paper question Q-965 that “93.5% of Canadians have access to high-speed Internet, or are targeted to receive access through program commitments”: (a) what is the breakdown of the percentage of Canadians who (i) currently have access to high-speed internet, (ii) do not currently have access, but are targeted to received access through…
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With regard to the connectivity (i.e. internet, cellular, broadband, etc.) funding announced by the government since November 2015, broken down by year: (a) how much money has been announced for connectivity under the (i) CRTC Broadband Fund, (ii) Strategic Innovation Fund, (iii) Universal Broadband Fund, (iv) Connect to Innovate program, (v) First Nation Infrastructure Fund, (vi) Canada Infrastru…
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Mr. Speaker, I rise today on behalf of Canadian citizens to call on the House of Commons to pass Bill C-288. Many Canadians purchase costly Internet services only to realize that they do not actually receive the quality and speed they expected. Advertised theoretical speeds and performance metrics for Internet services do not always reflect the actual Internet quality delivered to consumers. Bill …
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Mr. Speaker, it is quite troubling to hear that when the U.S. identifies national security risks, it shuts them down, and our Liberal government does absolutely nothing about it. I wonder if the member can comment on what kind of signal this Liberal dithering sends to investors and to our allies, as far as addressing national security risks goes.
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Mr. Speaker, I am just looking for a comment from the member. Why should we believe the Liberals would even use these new powers, after eight years of inability to recognize national security risks?
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Madam Speaker, I rise to present a petition on behalf of the good people of Winnipegosis, who are forced to drive 40 minutes to pick up their mail after Canada Post closed its local post office multiple times. These rural residents are feeling punished for simply living in rural Canada. These valid concerns are amplified for seniors, persons with disabilities and those who do not have the ability …
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Madam Speaker, can the member expand on what the government's delays in taking action mean to our trading partners? What signal does this send to our partners in fighting these type of regimes?
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With regard to the government’s spectrum licensing, broken down by designated tier: (a) how many spectrum licenses are currently unused; (b) how many license holders have (i) failed to meet the deployment requirement, (ii) deployed less than 50 percent of their spectrum license; (iii) deployed less than 75 percent of their spectrum license, (iv) deployed less than 100 percent of their spectrum lic…
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With regard to the government’s $2.75 billion Universal Broadband Fund: (a) how much of the $2.75 billion has actually been delivered to date; (b) what is the breakdown of (a) by Rapid Response Stream fundings versus core fund; (c) of the Rapid Response Stream funding delivered to date, what is the breakdown by province or territory; (d) of the core funding delivered to date, what is the breakdown…
Read full speech →Statements by Members
Mr. Speaker, it is an honour for me to stand in Canada’s Parliament and congratulate Dr. Bittoo Malik on being named one of Canada’s top 100 most powerful women by the Women’s Executive Network. Dr. Malik specializes in diagnostic radiology at Manitoba’s Dauphin Regional Health Centre and has dedicated her professional career to helping those in her community and across Canada. She has worked to a…
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With regard to the Climate Action Incentive Fund (CAIF), broken down by province: how much money was returned through the CAIF’s Municipalities, Universities, Schools and Hospitals Retrofit stream, in (i) 2019, (ii) 2020, (iii) 2021, (iv) 2022?
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With regard to the Climate Action Incentive Fund (CAIF), broken down by province: how much money was returned through the CAIF’s Municipalities, Universities, Schools and Hospitals Retrofit stream, broken down by (i) municipality, (ii) university, (iii) school, (iv) hospital?
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Madam Speaker, I rise today to speak to Bill C-18. The Internet is supposed to be a place where anyone, regardless of their wealth, status or background, can express themselves in a place free from excessive restrictions and regulations. The Internet was designed to be open and free. It was supposed to be a place where one could contribute on one’s terms, where a business can grow on its terms, wh…
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Madam Speaker, I am looking at Bill C-18, which is what we are reviewing today. One of the more shocking and troubling things about the bill is the government knows full well that this is not going to the people who need the money the most. In doing research for this speech, it came up over and over again that it was not going to my local news media. It was not targeted to them at all. Here we hav…
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Madam Speaker, I want to bring attention to something from Michael Geist's testimony in front of the House of Commons Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage on September 23. I would encourage the member to go back and review this testimony. He talked about government overreach. He talked about several troubling aspects of this bill when it comes to constitutional obligations and CUSMA challenges …
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Madam Speaker, the bill really was intended for those rural papers and helping them out. However, this bill is really disingenuous. It does not reflect it at all and it would not help out rural Canada at all, so we are in real trouble if this bill passes.
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, I rise to present a petition on behalf of the good people of Winnipegosis who were forced to drive over 40 minutes to pick up their mail after Canada Post closed their local post office multiple times. These rural residents are feeling punished for simply living in rural Canada. These are valid concerns that are amplified by seniors, persons with disabilities and those who do not have…
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Madam Speaker, it is an honour to speak to Bill C-32, the government's fall economic statement. With inflation at record highs, interest rates rising and tax hikes on the way, Canadians are paying more attention to the government's spending now more than ever. They expect their government to be fiscally responsible with their tax dollars, and Canadians expect their government to make outcome-based…
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Mr. Speaker, one thing the member talked about was spending. I will point to the Auditor General's report. The Auditor General found, “Employment and Social Development Canada established performance standards by focusing solely on the speed of payment”, and identified at least $32 billion in overpayments and suspicious payments that required further investigation. We are focused on that kind of s…
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Madam Speaker, when it comes to taxes, it was one of our asks in this fall economic statement. We were looking for the Liberals to stop increasing taxes, in particular the carbon tax. Eliminating the carbon tax on home heating immediately would at least cut the costs for people to heat their homes, not sometime when we pass a bill, not sometime when we happen to get the House in order and not when…
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Madam Speaker, the one thing that really stood out to me was that it did not address Canada's needs at all, especially when it comes to rural crime. Today we talked about things that happened a long time ago and we said it should never happen again. In rural Canada, crime is 30% higher. There was not even a breath spent on that, not even on how we would address it or how we would take those sacred…
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Madam Speaker, I am sorry that I did not answer the question about health care. Health care squarely belongs in the realm of the provinces especially, but the key for the federal government to keep our country together is to work with the provinces, respect their power and work as a team. as a country, and not to divide us and take us in different directions. It needs to work as a true leader. A C…
Read full speech →Statements by Members
Mr. Speaker, the Liberal government has launched the largest attack on law-abiding hunters in Canadian history. The government's proposed amendments to Bill C-21 would effectively ban hundreds of thousands of firearms used for hunting. Hunting is a Canadian tradition. It is a way of life for millions of rural, remote and indigenous Canadians. However, the Liberal government has attacked these Cana…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, I rise to present a petition on behalf of the good people of Winnipegosis, who are forced to drive over 40 minutes to pick up their mail after Canada Post closed their local post office multiple times. These rural residents are feeling punished for simply living in rural Canada. These valid concerns are amplified by seniors, persons with disabilities and those who do not have the abil…
Read full speech →Statements by Members
Mr. Speaker, rural Canadians are at a breaking point under the Liberal government's carbon tax. They are the Canadians who are lining up at food banks because grocery prices are too high. They are the Canadians who cannot afford to drive to the city because gas prices are too expensive. They are the Canadians who are wearing winter jackets inside because home heating has emptied their savings acco…
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