Orders of the Day
Mr. Speaker, there are so many ways I could go in response. Let us start with trees. The government has addressed climate change by planting two billion trees. I would ask every member with a phone here to go to Google and ask, “How many trees does Canada have?” The government's plan to address climate change was to plant two billion trees. It is nowhere close to that, but it wants to add two bill…
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Mr. Speaker, it is always an honour and a pleasure to bring the voices of Chatham-Kent—Leamington to this chamber. My colleague before me lamented the fact that he had to speak twice on this. I will add to the lament, as this is my third time rising, because the government is not listening to ordinary Canadians as they are represented in this chamber. Before I get into the substance of my speech, …
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Mr. Speaker, there are several things I do support. I have spent time in food security, and I support food security for Canadians and indeed for all peoples of the world. I am trying to remember what the other question was. I support my colleagues who have done great work with the indigenous files as well, and the next government will actually have bold and innovative plans to deal with reconcilia…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
With regard to the former chair of the Windsor-Detroit Bridge Authority (WDBA) Board of Directors, Tim Murphy, leaving his post to become Executive Vice President and Chief Strategic Affairs Officer at Aecon: (a) was there a conflict-of-interest process put in place by the WDBA, and did it include a ban preventing Tim Murphy from engaging in further dealings with the WDBA; and (b) if so, what were…
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Mr. Speaker, he said, “borderline contempt”. Even Richard Nixon turned over the tapes, and then he resigned. Is that why we are not seeing the documents? Is that why the government is standing in contempt of Parliament and of the Speaker's office? The government needs to turn over the documents.
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
With regard to the Windsor-Detroit Bridge Authority: (a) what was the final contract value paid to CIMA+ for their work on the Gordie Howe International Bridge project; and (b) what was the date of each payment made to CIMA+?
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Mr. Speaker, yes, there were 186. I think the fear is that this is just the tip of the iceberg, once all of the documents have been provided. I have been fortunate in my life to be part of several different organizations. What really, truly, is a fact, is that the culture of an organization often comes from the leadership shown at the top. There are 186 conflicts of interest here. I did not have t…
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Mr. Speaker, when we talk about coal, we have to be very careful about whether we are talking about metallurgical coal or thermal coal. They are two different entities. Metallurgical coal goes into the production of steel. We need steel. Ideally, we would be making more Canadian steel. As I said in my speech, the progression of technologies through the densification of energy and their resultant l…
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Mr. Speaker, the member for Winnipeg North used the word “contempt”.
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, on this question of privilege, the Conservative Party would like to review the points raised, come back to the House and express our opinions on it in due course.
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Madam Speaker, Sun Qian has been imprisoned by the People's Republic of China. She is a practitioner of Falun Gong, which is the traditional Chinese spiritual discipline of meditation, exercise and moral teachings based on the principles of truthfulness, compassion and tolerance. Tens of thousands of such practitioners have been imprisoned, and Doctors Against Forced Organ Harvesting has sponsored…
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Mr. Speaker, I do not understand the party in fourth place in this Parliament. It wants to represent Canadians and says it is working for Canadians, yet it has missed so much time in this chamber. It has missed 24 shifts while we are doing this. I cannot understand why the New Democrats are propping up the government. They say they are not going to prop it up, but they prop it up and do not come t…
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Mr. Speaker, it is always a pleasure to bring to the House the voices of Chatham-Kent—Leamington, in particular those of your sister-in-law and your brother, whom I thank for his service to our country and to our community. Recently I spoke to the amended privilege motion regarding the SDTC scandal, or as it is better known as now, the green slush fund. Today we are speaking to the subamendment to…
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Mr. Speaker, “cornucopia” is another good one. I asked where the accountability is. Indeed, the witnesses should be compelled to come before the committee to provide Canadians with the documents and the answers they seek. Since my first intervention, I have not gotten a satisfactory response to the question I asked: Where is the accountability? I will therefore continue along in the similar line o…
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Mr. Speaker, I just checked through my notes and do not recall speaking about foreign interference. I thought I was talking about generalized corruption. However, I do not mind addressing the question. Will I take on some responsibility here? Absolutely. I am going to work very hard so the Leader of Opposition becomes the Prime Minister of Canada. Then he will receive these briefings without any c…
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Mr. Speaker, I was not here then. I am part of the proud 2019 cohort. I will head off a question from across the way. I do not need any help in the other legislation being debated that has come up in earlier interventions. I look forward to having an election now. To the question that was asked, let us put accountability back to the Canadian people. Anyone who has breached ethics, shown corruption…
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Mr. Speaker, that is why I tried to relate some of the terms in my intervention to what so many Canadians are struggling with, be they young or otherwise. What is the equivalent value in the form of groceries of the money being corrupted away? Absolutely, responsibility, especially responsibility to fiscal management of taxpayer resources, needs to come back to the House. Often in round tables at …
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Mr. Speaker, the member referenced that a game is being played. Let us end the game. There are two ways to do so. Power resides on that side of the House. If the Liberals hand over the documents, the game will be ended. If they do not want to do that and are afraid of foreign interference, let us go back to Canadians. Let us have an election. We are prepared to end the game and continue the work o…
Read full speech →Statements by Members
Mr. Speaker, I rise today to shed a public spotlight on what Canadians are already feeling in their wallets. The “food professor”, Sylvain Charlebois of Dalhousie University, has forecast that inflationary pressures, including the carbon tax, on the growing, processing and transporting of food will increase the cost of wholesale food for Canadians by 34% by 2025. Food affordability is becoming out…
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Mr. Speaker, I was not complete and I acknowledge that. I forgot Frank Baylis and the respirators. My colleague mentioned carbon tax Carney. I also did not mention carbon tax Carney. I must give my hon. colleague credit. For a week, he has been responding with the same arguments that have been disproven over and over again. He mentioned former prime minister Stephen Harper and the Senate scandal, …
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Mr. Speaker, I do so retract. As The Economic Times reported at the time, “[So-and-so's] time in India was criticised for its lack of official business, not to mention the excessive photo-ops and insensitive overuse of Indian clothing.” Canadians were once again on the hook for what appeared to be more of a lavish family vacation than a diplomatic bilateral meeting. The fiasco included having his …
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Mr. Speaker, first of all, I do want to acknowledge that we on this side of the House do want to govern. We do want to bring fiscal accountability and common sense and trust back into the stewardship of our government finances. I will take the member at his word that he also will support efforts to bring back trusted stewardship to public finances and to get to the bottom of all of these scandals.…
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Mr. Speaker, if my memory serves me correctly, and this is going back a week or more, the Speaker's ruling was to turn over all the documents. We are here because the government has not turned over all the documents. That is the business of the House and the business of the loyal opposition. We do want justice for Canadian taxpayers. We are not directing the RCMP what to do with those documents; t…
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Mr. Speaker, the question is in a similar vein as the one the member's colleague asked. What the member is asking for are proper processes with proper oversight and proper accountability. Absent in the government has been any sort of government ministerial accountability. Should there be proper processes in place so funds are not misappropriated? I absolutely, fully agree with that. I can count on…
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Mr. Speaker, it is always an honour and a pleasure to bring your sister-in-law's voice to the chamber, along with the voices of all the other constituents from Chatham-Kent—Leamington. The Speaker has made a ruling that House business must be suspended until the government hands over all documents related to the SDTC scandal to the RCMP. The Auditor General of Canada found that the Prime Minister …
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Mr. Speaker, I have been admonished by the Speaker for being too long-winded, so let me just say yes, but—
Read full speech →Orders of the Day
Mr. Speaker, I am going to crawl into the DeLorean for a moment. There have been a number of references to the sponsorship scandal as a marker or a comparator. If I recall that era, a former Liberal cabinet minister, David Dingwall, stated, “I'm entitled to my entitlements.” Is that what is going on here? Has this now been extended to government appointees, not just to cabinet ministers and prime …
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
With regard to the delays of the Gordie Howe International Bridge project: (a) were there any official memos sent between the Chief Communications Stakeholder Officer, Heather Grondin, the Chairman Dwight Duncan, the Chief Financial Officer, Linda Hurley, and the Chief Executive Officer, Mike Cutillo, of the Windsor-Detroit Bridge Authority regarding the error made by CIMA+ regarding the installat…
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With regard to the awarding of the contract to CIMA+ for the site pre-engineering contract, of which one project included the bury of the transmission and distribution lines on the construction of the Gordie Howe International Bridge project: (a) why was CIMA+ chosen to replace the original design consultant Stantec for the Gordie Howe International Bridge pre-engineering contract; (b) if CIMA+ wa…
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With regard to the tendering process and announcement that CIMA+ was to be awarded the pre-engineering contract for the Gordie Howe International Bridge project: (a) were there any official memos between the Chairman, Dwight Duncan, the Chief Financial Officer, Linda Hurley, and the Chief Executive Officer, Mike Cutillo, of the Windsor-Detroit Bridge Authority regarding the tendering process and C…
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With regard to the failure of the Schedule 40 pipe used on the Gordie Howe International Bridge project: (a) why did the Windsor-Detroit Bridge Authority (WDBA) ignore the independent engineering evidence of Kinectrics, Geotherm and Brierley, who all confirmed that the Schedule 40 pipe was the wrong pipe specified for this project; (b) why did the WDBA accept the opinion of CIMA+ private consultin…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Madam Speaker, how many times have the Liberals falsely stated, even today, that eight out of 10 Canadians get more back than they pay? I guess they figure that if they say something often enough, people will start to believe it. However, Canadians know because their pocketbooks tell them so. Conservatives have forced the end of the carbon tax cover-up, and now the public budget watchdog's report …
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, in his intervention, the member referenced the spending of people's money. I understand that to the extent of present Canadian taxpayers. We can talk about the amounts, but my question is about the present federal debt of $1.255 million and the ongoing deficits. Who are the people whose money is being spent? My four children are all taxpaying citizens right now. Is he referring to my …
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Madam Speaker, my colleague bookended his speech with a truism quote from Margaret Thatcher. I have been wrestling with another quote, one that comes from Napoleon Bonaparte, who said we should never ascribe to conspiracy that which can be attributed to incompetence. I wrestle with this. On the one hand, we have all of the spending scandals, the corruption and the crime that the government has inf…
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Mr. Speaker, in the beginning few moments of the member's interventions, he lauded the history of provincial NDP governments when it came to fiscal responsibility. I have a simple question for him. Would that history include the record of the 1990-95 Bob Rae government in Ontario, as I lived through that period?
Read full speech →Private Members' Business
Mr. Speaker, it is an honour and a privilege again to rise in this place on behalf of the people of Chatham-Kent—Leamington to speak to the gutting of Bill C-234, arguably one of the most contentious amendments introduced into the House this session. Why is it so contentious? I opened my remarks as I usually do. It truly is an honour and a privilege to bring the voices of our constituents to this …
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, the budget watchdog has released a report stating what Canadians already know, that they pay more in carbon tax than what they get back. They pay more for groceries, more for food, more for home heating, more for transportation and more for everything. The Liberal la-la math is just not adding up. When will the minister quit using made-up talking points, remove the gag order on the bu…
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Madam Speaker, my Bloc colleague gave an excellent speech. Certainly I agree with the member when he talked about the comparison of the solution being taxation or more competition. Obviously I would support more competition. However, would he not also agree that a percentage of a higher number results in a higher number? For example, the retailers claim that they have maintained their margins thro…
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Madam Speaker, I want to pick up on the comments made by my colleague from Langley—Aldergrove. Supply chain costs are what is really impacting the price of food here. The government is maintaining a 34% tariff on Russian fertilizer. Do not get me wrong. I am in no way in favour of any measures that support Putin. However, the government is exempting Russian titanium for our aerospace industry. Why…
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Mr. Speaker, I have a very simple question. If all of the corporate profits were eliminated, set at zero, voluntarily or by legislation, if the grocery CEOs received zero compensation and both of those factors were removed from the price of food, would the hon. member across the way deem food to be affordable and priced appropriately?
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Mr. Speaker, I rise on a point of order. I believe we do not have quorum in the House.
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
With regard to the final contract awarded by the government to the CIMA engineering firm by Windsor-Detroit Bridge Authority (WDBA) for the construction of the Gordie Howe International Bridge: (a) what is the total value of the contract; (b) what were the determining factors of CIMA's submission being chosen over that of the Stanley Consultants engineering firm; (c) what are the details of all do…
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Madam Speaker, I fully agree with the opinion expressed by my colleague. Cynicism is something we should be addressing, and we should not be trying to drape an elections bill over, as he correctly characterized, an MP pension bill. We can talk about improvements to our elections, absolutely, but not when we are trying to slip something through and pull the wool over the eyes of the Canadian electo…
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Madam Speaker, I want to acknowledge the preparation that goes into the work that all members in this chamber do. I also want to acknowledge the hard work of our municipal politicians. As I said in my speech, moving the election date ahead, or even calling it anytime, would avoid exactly those conflicts regarding the date. I appreciate the member's and everyone else's hard work in this chamber.
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Madam Speaker, I am very relieved that I can assure the member that he does not have to defend the interests of our Conservative members, of the Bloc members or of the NDP members. We will put that question to Canadians. We are very willing to put the question to the Canadian electorate, and they can decide. That is how the government works. That is how our institutional democracy should work. The…
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Madam Speaker, I often begin my interventions in the chamber with the following statement: “It is an honour for me to bring the voices of the residents of Chatham-Kent—Leamington to this place.” I have and retain that privilege only by a process. It is the election process, and that is what Bill C-65 purportedly seeks to amend. Running in and the timing of an election should always be about mainta…
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Madam Speaker, I rise in the House today to speak to Bill C-65, and I will use the official title for the moment: an act to amend the Canada Elections Act. I would first ask for unanimous consent to split my time with my hon. colleague from St. Albert—Edmonton.
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Mr. Speaker, I want to congratulate my colleague from the Bloc for a very well-prepared and articulated speech, with its constitutional elements. Obviously, this bill is another example of federal intrusion into provincial jurisdiction, and I agree with her on the points in her speech. Does she find the federal intrusion into provincial jurisdiction a unifying factor in this country? I hear that i…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, after nine years, the NDP-Liberal Prime Minister is not worth the hunger and/or homelessness. Food Banks Canada gives Canada failing grades, as nearly half of Canadians are financially feeling the cost of living increases. Housing costs have doubled. One in four experiences food insecurity. Food bank usage is up 11% in Windsor—Essex; 61% of Canadians are using food banks, and they are…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
With regard to the completion date on the Gordie Howe International Bridge project being delayed until September 2025: (a) was the delay related to disputes with Valard Construction; (b) to which of the four major associated construction projects are the additional $700 million assigned, and which of these projects is expected to result in more claims; (c) will the $700 million cover the overrun c…
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