Government Orders
Madam Speaker, I will be splitting my time with the member for South Surrey—White Rock this evening. It is an honour to rise in Parliament today to speak on behalf of the residents of Barrie—Springwater—Oro-Medonte. I am pleased that the government has finally brought up Bill C-20 for debate. The bill seeks to create the independent public complaints review commission to review complaints against …
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Madam Speaker, I believe in deterrence. As I mentioned earlier in my speech, we had someone from our rail institution saying one one-millionth of all cargo that comes across is checked. I think that is just atrocious. That is a ridiculous number. I cannot even fathom what that is. It is next to nothing. There is a common saying in law enforcement that we want voluntary compliance of the law, and I…
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Madam Speaker, I do have to apologize, but I had a very tough time hearing the question. I think the question was about the commission overall, and yes the Conservatives are in favour of it. We are looking forward to it being in place. It has been a long time overdue. It was a promise in 2015, and it is time to bring it in now.
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, Canadians are struggling to pay their bills. They are lying in bed at night wondering how they are going to survive the devastating effects of the Liberal government's inflationary spending. Canadians simply cannot afford anymore of this costly coalition. Today, the Liberal government is presenting its economic update. The Conservatives have a very clear demand. Will the Liberals comm…
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Mr. Speaker, the new Conservative leader will put people first: their paycheques, their savings, their homes and their country. Canadians are struggling to make ends meet. The residents of Barrie—Springwater—Oro-Medonte are no exception to this crisis. A recent article in Barrie Today quotes Sharon Palmer, the executive director of the Barrie Food Bank. The article says that the rising cost of fue…
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Mr. Speaker, it is just inflation. Just this week, the executive director of Barrie Food Bank stated, “Everything we...buy is more expensive” She also noted that people who have historically donated to the Barrie Food Bank are now using it to feed their families. The number of households who have accessed the food bank in August was up 60% compared to last year. Would the Prime Minister please ack…
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Mr. Speaker, “Justinflation” is really hurting the residents of Barrie—Springwater—Oro-Medonte—
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Mr. Speaker, I have a question for the member opposite. Just this week, in our local newspaper in Barrie, the executive director of the Barrie Food Bank was talking about how much more use there is right now. She is even seeing that some people who have historically donated to the food bank are now coming in and using it. She lists some of the reasons. Obviously number one was the inflation rate, …
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Mr. Speaker, today I am especially proud to rise in recognition of two outstanding leaders in Barrie—Springwater—Oro-Medonte who will be starting their much-deserved retirement soon. Janice Skot led the Royal Victoria Regional Health Centre for 17 years as president and CEO. She had an oversized role in making the RVH a regional leader in health care in Simcoe County and led an exceptional team th…
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Mr. Speaker, today I am rising in Parliament to commemorate the loss of a Barrie fundraising hero, William Dwyer, who passed away this week at the age of 96. My condolences go to his family, friends and the organizing team he was part of. Will was the epitome of selflessness and perseverance. He struggled with cancer, was hit by a car, was a World War II veteran and had several other health condit…
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Madam Speaker, I have a very straightforward question. Where I come from, Barrie—Springwood—Oro-Medonte, the average price of a home is over $900,000. It is getting very tough for young people to buy their first home. In the recent budget 2022, there was a tax-free savings account set up to a maximum of $40,000. If someone hits that $40,000 in my area, they are still nowhere near being able to buy…
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Mr. Speaker, a February 2022 report by the Barrie and District Association of Realtors indicated that the average selling price of a home in Barrie was over $950,000. This is a 36% increase compared with the same time just one year ago. The report also stated that prices have risen 86% over the past two years in Barrie and the surrounding area. This astronomical increase in home prices has now mad…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
With regard to the National Shipbuilding Strategy: (a) what is the total cost, including working hours, of the first delivered Arctic and Offshore Patrol Ship (AOPS) (Harry DeWolf), broken down by amount spent on (i) engineering, (ii) design, (iii) construction, (iv) commissioning, (v) total hours it took to construct, (vi) overhead under the contract, (vii) the project office; (b) what is the tot…
Read full speech →Orders of the Day
Madam Speaker, I wish I could answer in the member's first language, but I am unable to; maybe some day. I think we have become incredibly divided in this country. I like the way he worded the olive branch that I mentioned. We have to come together. The last two years have been very hard on everybody. This has frayed everybody's ability to get along and to be patient. We are all afraid. All of us,…
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Mr. Speaker, I am rising here today, not to talk about the technicalities of the Emergencies Act but to discuss how we got here. How did we possibly get to the point where, after 34 years of governments not invoking the Emergencies Act, the current Liberal government feels it necessary to enact it now. Unfortunately, our country has experienced many dire situations in the past, yet those situation…
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Madam Speaker, this is a classic case of egregious government overreach. Every day, my constituency office receives hundreds of calls and emails from constituents who are concerned. They are concerned about the future of our country. They are concerned that the government is overstepping by giving itself the power to freeze the bank accounts and assets of Canadians without a judge's involvement or…
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Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague for that question. I have always been for law and order. I grew up in a household where my father was a police officer. I do not know how we got to where we are today. Some people this morning asked for an inquiry. I think that is necessary to find out how we got here. I believe these trucks were parked on the road and once they got there, they were very tough t…
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Madam Speaker, I thank the member for his kind words and for acknowledging my father's service. Obviously, everybody's safety is the most important thing. We have talked a couple of times now about an inquiry and I really think it could be important to get down to the root cause. Over the past week or two, I have had a chance to speak to two very high-ranking retired OPP commissioners. Both have t…
Read full speech →Statements by Members
Madam Speaker, I am rising today to celebrate the accomplishment of a local hero in Barrie, Alex “Ali” Massie. Ali, at the age of 16, and in the prime of his athletics, was in a horrific wakeboarding accident that left his left leg amputated from the knee down. Ali was in the hospital for 13 weeks. During this recovery time, he was informed that he would no longer be able to pursue his much-loved …
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With regard to government analysis on the impact of the Bank of Canada's low inflation target on the Ontario economy: (a) has the government done any projections on the impact of maintaining the low inflation target on Ontario's economy, and, if so, what are the results of such projections, broken down by economic indicator; and (b) has the government done any projections on the impact of abandoni…
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Mr. Speaker, I am rising to speak about an unfortunate incident that occurred in Barrie last week. A well-known community advocate and entrepreneur, Shanicka Edwards, also known as Shak, was verbally harassed and physically assaulted. Ms. Edwards founded Shak's World, which addresses the issues of addiction, homelessness and mental health challenges for youth in downtown Barrie. While the verbal h…
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Mr. Speaker, I will go one step further: We do not feel there should have been an election called in the first place. We should have remained here working throughout all of that, so yes, we should have been here working over the summer and much earlier in the fall. I agree that we could have been here dealing with this over many weeks prior to this.
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Mr. Speaker, we sometimes have to deal with what we have been given, and they are together in this one so we will do our best to come together and deal with them. Hopefully, if and when they go to committee, they will be able to be dealt with properly. We do have to look at what we have been given, and I concentrated more on the health care portion today. I am looking forward to getting that imple…
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Mr. Speaker, it is an honour to rise here today for my first speech in the 44th Parliament as the member for Barrie—Springwater—Oro-Medonte. As this is my first time rising to speak during this new session of Parliament, I would like to use this opportunity to share my sincere thanks to my wife, Lisa, and my sons, Wyatt and Luke, for their unwavering support. I would also like to thank my campaign…
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Mr. Speaker, hindsight is 20/20 on a lot of issues. We can look back and say we failed on many things, but as long as we are trying to do our best, that is very important. Speaking of the opioid pandemic, Barrie—Springwater—Oro-Medonte has been devastated by this. Right now, the City of Barrie is looking at opening up a supervised consumption site. I will take all information into account regardin…
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