Routine Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, I rise to table a petition brought forward by a passionate group of residents in my community who remain deeply concerned that our laws continue to fail to safeguard the victims of intimate partner violence. Most situations of intimate partner violence begin with patterns of behaviour that involve severe mental, emotional and psychological abuse, yet our justice system and our police …
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, we need to hear from the chair of the health committee as to why he cancelled tomorrow's meeting. Hundreds of millions of health care dollars remain unaccounted for in the $300‑million PrescribeIT scandal. Why? It is because Liberal MPs keep turning off the cameras at the health committee. They turned off the cameras again yesterday. Canadians will not know what was said there for 30 …
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, that is an excellent question. It is obvious. Anyone who runs a business knows that, if something costs more, they are going to have to charge more. It is not even advanced economics. People all over who have small businesses know that it is common sense. Yes, we need to take away the red tape. We need to lower taxes. We need to take away taxes such as the industrial carbon tax. Espec…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, we are the only G7 country in a recession. Two years ago, we had a $40-billion deficit that was considered outrageous by the Canadian people, and now we have an almost $100-billion deficit. In what way does the Liberal government think that is okay?
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, I largely share my colleague's view. I would like to know what he thinks about the fact that the Liberals refuse to acknowledge the economic situation in Canada, that they do not believe Canadians are going through a difficult time, and that they believe everything is fine for the average Canadian.
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, as my colleague may know, health spending is extremely important to me. I sit on the Standing Committee on Health right now. I agree that there are certain places where we need an increase in health spending, but we have to make sure that it is spent properly. We cannot spend any more on infrastructure or buildings for which we need to hire more and more bureaucracy. We need to spend …
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, any time that anybody is supporting the military in the House, it is extremely important to do so. Unfortunately, the Liberals have not supported it in the past. It is the Conservatives who have stood up for the people who fight for this country.
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, I rise to speak to the motion as it relates to the Liberal government's spring economic statement. It may be the spring season that prompted the Liberals to use this update to paint a rosy picture of our economy, but the reality on the ground is that the real and non-partisan numbers show a stark picture for residents in my community, especially among working families and struggling s…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, I would take that member more seriously if she did not keep turning the cameras off and voting to seal committee records for 30 years when we call for an audit. Conservatives have been clear that we will work through the summer to get a full accounting on $300 million wasted on PrescribeIT, but they must leave the cameras on. Canadians want to know: Will they hear about PrescribeIT on…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, I am tabling a couple of petitions from Similkameen—South Okanagan—West Kootenay, which I am honoured to represent. The first petition has to do with rural transit, which is vital in our communities. The petitioners are concerned that the Government of Canada's rural transit solutions fund has invested in bus transit feasibility studies in rural Ontario and Alberta, but Similkameen—So…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, the second petition relates to the Government of Canada's gun buyback plan. The Liberals call it a gun buyback plan, but it is obviously not working. It should be focused on gun violence and illegal guns being smuggled, from the United States in particular. We have six border crossings in our riding, so one can imagine that residents are very concerned about smuggled guns, as everyone…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, 300 million tax dollars were wasted on PrescribeIT. Liberal members of the health committee have refused every request to answer why or how. The Minister of Health and the CEO must testify. Canadians want to know how their tax dollars were wasted on this boondoggle. Will the Liberal minister agree it is time to stop the secrets, keep the cameras on and investigate PrescribeIT in publi…
Read full speech →Private Members' Business
Mr. Speaker, before I begin, I want to give a quick shout-out and congratulations to the kids at Penticton Secondary School, who recently raised, if members can believe it, $80,000 for the Canadian Cancer Society's Relay for Life with the help of Princess Margaret Secondary, Summerland Secondary and many other local organizations, businesses and community members. I congratulate these great kids, …
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, housing is so important right now in Canada. We cannot waste the moment by building more bureaucracy, more talking and not doing. For example, Build Canada Homes is another bureaucracy. In Penticton, housing is getting so expensive. In Similkameen—South Okanagan—West Kootenay, multiple communities in my huge riding have applied for the housing accelerator fund in the last few years. N…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, I always learn so much whenever my colleague stands in the House. I am hearing constantly from the people in my riding that they are struggling with basic needs, like putting food on the table. I know I am not the only one. I am sure every MP in this room right now, every MP who was elected in the last year, feels the same thing. We know from the data that there is a recession. We kno…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, despite handing 300 million tax dollars over to Canada Health Infoway for the government's failed PrescribeIT project, we can see that the Liberals have no interest in finding out why or how this money was wasted. The Liberals have voted down every attempt to get the answers. The Conservatives have been clear. We will work through the summer to get to the bottom of this. Canadians wan…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, my colleague's speech really hit home for me, coming from rural B.C. Not many people would call Kelowna rural, but it is just north of me, and it has the highest unemployment rate now in the country, at over 9%. Then that filters down to all the areas around it, including my riding. I am hearing from constituents constantly about exactly what the member talked about. They are having t…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, the Liberals are denying Canadians transparency on the $300 million that was wasted on PrescribeIT. At the health committee, they turned off the cameras, shut down meetings and blocked the minister from testifying. Conservatives are prepared to work through the summer to get to the bottom of this scandal. Why are the Liberals blocking the health committee from investigating this $300-…
Read full speech →Private Members' Business
Excuse me, Mr. Speaker. I thank the MP for bringing forward this bill, and I want to quote her. She said Bill C-240 “would empower courts to prescribe structured rehabilitation measures, including education, skills training and treatment programs, to be undertaken during custody. These are not soft-on-crime measures. They are smart-on-recovery interventions.” We have to give people the opportunity…
Read full speech →Private Members' Business
Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the ability to speak today on Bill C-240. This touches my heart, because I would imagine that for all MPs sitting in this room, no matter where they are sitting today, their lives have changed and their communities have changed. I know all Canadian cities have changed, including all communities in the Similkameen—South Okanagan—West Kootenay riding. I want to speak a bit …
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, my colleague mentioned that he is knocking on doors and that his constituents are talking about lower grocery costs, making our streets safer, lower taxes and more affordable housing. I am hearing that at the doors also. I am sure all of us are hearing some of the same things, at least. Why does the member think the Liberals would create this bill that is basically ignoring what Canad…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, that is a really good question. Liberals have shut down all communication. Everything we have tried to bring forward to committee has been shut down. I know it is not a good idea to keep pretending the issue is minor, or that somehow Conservatives are stirring the pot and making people scared. Again, how is it that the government does not realize people are scared about the future of …
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, it is exactly what my colleague said. The government members are burying their head in the sand, pretending this is not something that could grow into something we will not be able to address farther down the road. We need to get together, as I mentioned in my speech. There are a lot of people on all sides of the House who have great experience, legal experience and indigenous experie…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, the member's question just confirms the fact that we all need to sit together. This is what the motion says. We need to sit together and talk about what our next steps are. This is a very complicated issue, and we cannot continue to pretend that it is not serious.
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, as I said, first nation leaders, the Crown and everyday Canadians all need to sit at a table in order to proceed. What I do not understand is how the member can say there is not a problem. I know that I am getting calls and emails, and I am getting people knocking on our door wondering if they are still going to own their property in the next little while. I know that the member who j…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, I rise to speak to an issue of great concern to every British Columbian, which is the impact of the B.C. Supreme Court decision in Cowichan Tribes v. Canada and its effect on private property rights across British Columbia. It is the first time in Canada's history that a court has declared aboriginal title over non-Crown lands, privately owned lands. There are 150 private landowners, …
Read full speech →Statements by Members
Mr. Speaker, gas prices across Canada remain higher than they need to be, not just because of the war in Iran but because of unnecessary federal taxes. The last time a barrel of oil cost $100 was in 2014 under a Conservative government, and gas prices never reached their current levels. In Penticton and Oliver, gas prices are now two dollars a litre, with communities like Castlegar, Grand Forks, O…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, a very real and local example of this growing uncertainty is occurring in my riding in the community of Okanagan Falls, whose narrow vote last year to incorporate as a municipality is now being re-evaluated as a whole community. From the decision-making powers of the town council to the municipality's actual name, uncertainty persists because of the title changes brought about by the …
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, Canadians need answers on how the Liberals burned $300 million on their failed PrescribeIT program, money that could have been spent on other health care needs. Just last week, the Liberals moved to shut off the cameras at the health committee, sealing the records of that meeting for 30 years. Yesterday, the Liberals shut down the health committee to prevent the minister from testifyi…
Read full speech →Adjournment Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, what Canadians deserve is transparency. Conservatives want to get to the bottom of how $300 million of taxpayer money was wasted on this project, PrescribeIT. When Conservatives demanded that Mr. Green return to the committee to account for the millions of tax dollars that he had been paid for no results, the Liberals voted us down. When the Bloc moved to have the Liberal health minis…
Read full speech →Adjournment Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, I rise tonight to speak about a scandal that is only growing in size, complexity and cost to taxpayers. The Liberals' PrescribeIT was launched in 2016, promising to put every prescription in Canada into a digital system, allowing our pharmacies to move off their reliance on fax machines. At least $300 million in taxpayer dollars was spent in the following decade in pursuit of this goa…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the member's comments, but what does he think about the forestry sector? Thousands of jobs have been lost and businesses are closing. What is the status of the negotiations for the forestry sector?
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, I am going to focus a bit here on the forestry industry, which is not talked about a lot. Obviously, we have lost thousands of jobs in that sector. The government talked about expanding opportunities in trade as something we definitely need to do. The Similkameen—South Okanagan—West Kootenay riding that I represent has six border crossings we depend on and have used historically for t…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, the Cowichan decision has left many residents across our communities concerned about their private property rights. The Liberals are now talking about how they will defend property rights in court, but they never made this argument in Cowichan before. Appeals are not do overs. They cannot raise new arguments they never argued before. How will government lawyers argue what Liberals MPs…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Madam Speaker, at a recent health committee, Conservatives moved a motion calling for a full investigation into the Liberals' wasteful, $300-million PrescribeIT boondoggle. The Liberals immediately responded by moving that meeting behind closed doors. As a result, under House rules, I am forbidden from telling Canadians what happened in that meeting for the next 30 years. Does silencing MPs on com…
Read full speech →Adjournment Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, I rise tonight to address the taxes that residents in my community pay every single day, specifically gas taxes. I have requested this opportunity to speak in light of the Minister of Veteran Affairs' recent response to my question on April 14. Her response to my question on these gas taxes was as follows: British Columbians are happy to hear that...we are making a reduction in fuel c…
Read full speech →Adjournment Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, we agree that recent gas price hikes were helped by the war in Iran, but will that be over by Labour Day, as the Liberals' policy suggests? Even if the U.S. and Iran ended the war tomorrow, the Pentagon has said it would take up to six months to fully clear sea mines from the Strait of Hormuz to restore shipping. That is not to mention the damage to oil and gas infrastructure hammered…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, Canadians deserve accountability, as $300 million was spent on PrescribeIT to replace pharmacy fax machines, with nothing to show for it. Liberal obstruction at committee has prevented Canadians from finding out where the money went. That is enough. We need a full investigation. Will the Minister of Health agree to our call for the non-partisan Auditor General of Canada to investigate…
Read full speech →Private Members' Business
Mr. Speaker, I rise on a point of order. During question period today, in response to my question on the $300 million the government spent on PrescribeIT, the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Health stated, “our new government has decided to end the program.” However, just three days ago, Canada Health Infoway's CEO was asked directly in—
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, if a private sector staff employee wasted $300 million, they would be fired, but the Liberals have fired no one for their PrescribeIT disaster. I questioned the CEO responsible. He would not say where things went wrong. He even refused to say how much taxpayers paid him. Why is the minister hiding the truth on this $300-million boondoggle?
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, I think quite a bit needs to be discussed at the committee level, and I look forward to our party collaborating with all parties on this. I think there should be a discussion, and not everyone agrees with me on this, of course, on whether someone needs to be a citizen to vote in the nomination process. I think it is a really interesting and important issue that should be discussed, an…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, I think there are a lot of issues we need to talk about in committee concerning elections and making sure they are safe, and donations. There are ridings like mine that are massive. I am given a certain amount to service my communities and the residents, and also for the election, and in donations, but I will say that smaller ridings have it a lot easier. We have to remember that ther…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, this is a really important subject. One thing the member touched on, and I just wanted to ask his opinion on this further, is that we are considering changes so that during an election a financial agent could only work for one party at a time. I want to know what he thought about that. It is getting tougher to find financial agents because of the red tape and the complications. It is …
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, I am so glad that my colleague and the rest of the cohort here are going to be working on this collaboratively. It is very important. Canadians are watching right now. On virtual voting, we would need to make sure that it is fail-safe and that Canadians feel it could not be tampered with. Are we at that point, where they would feel secure with virtual voting? I do not think we are at …
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, I rise to speak to Bill C-25, an act to amend the Canada Elections Act. Our Elections Act is among the most important laws we have as a nation, as it sets out the rules and procedures for our democracy to function. All members of the House believe in democracy, of course. It is how we all ended up here. However, any time measures are brought forward that would change our laws, this co…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, the Liberal government spent almost $300 million on a national prescribing software that filled less than 5% of all prescriptions. Now it has cancelled it entirely, yet 85% of the technology used is in the private hands of Telus Health. That is the definition of wasteful spending of tax dollars. Will the health minister explain to Canadians how she wasted $300 million on PrescribeIT?
Read full speech →Adjournment Proceedings
Unfortunately, Mr. Speaker, the member did not listen to my question. It is about entrepreneurs leaving Canada because they cannot seem to make it here. All members of the House find the behaviour of the President of the United States insulting. Our sovereignty is non-negotiable, and we will not be held to ransom. At the same time, though, our reliance on the United States is imperative at this po…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, we are so lucky in the House to have my colleague's expertise. There are a lot of people watching from across the country who may not quite understand, because the bill is very complicated. If he were to choose one thing in the bill that we should be focusing on that concerns him, could he mention what it is and what needs to change before we would be supportive of the bill?
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, it is very concerning when a bill such as this one comes forward and there is so much dissent against it, yet government representatives, MPs, are wondering why we are bringing forward concerns. That is definitely why we are here. Again, there have been first nations and Métis governments raising concerns, including the Dakota nation, arguing that a failure to consult violates constit…
Read full speech →Adjournment Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, I rise tonight to speak about the state of our Canadian economy. Let me first state that the entrepreneurial spirit of Canadians will never dim. As someone who came to Canada to help build businesses, I know how thriving an economy this country can have. In 2014, newspapers around the world declared that the middle class in Canada had surpassed that of the United States. Fast-forward …
Read full speech →