Routine Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, I am rising today to present a petition on behalf of residents in my riding of York—Durham, particularly those from the town of Georgina and the community of Keswick on the south shore of Lake Simcoe, with respect to a new invasive species called water soldier. It was discovered in Lake Simcoe only a short time ago and has been spreading across the lake. It is a physical threat to our…
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Mr. Speaker, I look forward to hearing what the government proposes in the fall. In the last minute I have, I would like to comment on the Speaker's ruling from yesterday. I appreciated the Speaker's ruling but I was deeply disappointed by it. First, on a factual basis, the Speaker indicated in the ruling that there was only supposition that certain members of the government may have had privilege…
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Mr. Speaker, I am rising to follow up on a question I asked the Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food about the troubling implications for family farms and the ability to pass family farms on to the next generation. For generations, family farms have fed Canadians and the world, and those farms are passed on, with great pride, from one generation to the next. Generally, if a farm is passed from a …
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Mr. Speaker, I am rising this afternoon on a point of order concerning the admissibility of Government Business No. 13, which appeared on this morning's Notice Paper. Government Business No. 13 proposes to lay out a program for the remaining consideration of Bill C-22, the Liberal government's legislation concerning so-called lawful access. While programming motions are, of course, not unheard of …
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Mr. Speaker, it was all fake, all an illusion. Liberal promises to work together on Bill C-22 were hollow from the start. The Liberals will ram through the largest government surveillance operation in a generation. The Minister of Public Safety promised better. He promised he would work collaboratively, promised he would listen and promised he would take amendments. He is breaking those promises. …
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Mr. Speaker, what a ridiculous comment. I would invite the member to actually listen and go back to the transcript, which we can review together. I would be happy to educate him. I said of course the noose could be used as a hate symbol. I simply pointed out that Canada and America have a very different history when it comes to this symbol and that fact should be recognized.
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Mr. Speaker, being involved in this debate has actually been an amazing experience for me personally because it has allowed me to reach and speak with other faith communities, which I would not otherwise have had the chance to do. I met with Muslim groups in Toronto and Jewish groups in my own riding. I had a different faith and a different view of the world, but we were in complete alignment on B…
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Mr. Speaker, I accept that there are strong differences of opinion on the bill. I have tried and other members have tried to always present our opinion factually. We can have a disagreement about what the interpretation is, but we are not engaging in anything that they suggest. Their only criticism is misinformation.
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Mr. Speaker, the government's props and slogans are cold comfort to the young generation of Canadians, who are feeling its failures most acutely. The United Way's report last week confirmed that food insecurity concerns are highest among young Canadians, income declines are most acute among young Canadians and fully 91% of the next generation feel personal financial anxiety. Add on top of that the…
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Mr. Speaker, I have been troubled by the Bloc's position, and I am hoping my hon. colleague can help me a little. One of the examples that Bloc members have continually used to defend the removal of the good-faith exemption is the example of Mr. Charkaoui, who quite rightly was condemned for inciting hatred against Jews in Quebec. My colleague spoke about reading the law carefully, and if he were …
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Mr. Speaker, while the hour is late, it is always a privilege to get up and speak in the House, especially on an issue that is so important. I rise with a bit of a heavy heart, though, because I realize this will likely be the last time I can speak at substantive length to this bill and express my concern with, first, the government's heavy-handedness in dealing with this debate. It is unfortunate…
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Mr. Speaker, one of the most concerning things about the bill is how it has been described by members of the cabinet across the way, including the Minister of Canadian Identity and Culture, who suggested that passages of the Bible and the Torah are inherently hateful and are worthy of prosecution. I wonder if the secretary of state for thought crime would get up and say whether or not she agrees w…
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Mr. Speaker, I would invite the secretary of state to do her job and ensure that those people are prosecuted under existing laws rather than bringing in new laws to censor Canadians. As I clearly said in my speech, a noose can be used as a hate symbol. I stand by those comments. It can be. I simply pointed out that there is a different cultural and factual context here.
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Mr. Speaker, as the G7 gets under way, the Prime Minister remains the only leader of a G7 or G20 economy that is in recession. The Prime Minister should travel, but Canadians expect results from that. When he was back home in Ireland this weekend, investment was leaving Canada. On Saturday, Open Text's Waterloo-based AI company announced a $140-million investment in Ireland. That is 400 new jobs f…
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Mr. Speaker, the issue is not the law, whether that is the current law or any subsequent law the government may introduce. The issue is the Liberal government's complete and utter negligence in enforcing the current law. Now the Liberals have been caught, and that failure is threatening our entire economy with new tariffs. The U.S. regularly blocks shipments. Last year, they blocked shipments from…
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Mr. Speaker, I am rising today to present a petition on behalf of concerned Canadians about the plight of Christians in Africa, specifically in Nigeria, Congo and Mozambique, who are being attacked and murdered by groups such as Boko Haram, Islamic State and other terrorist groups for the simple reason that they are Christians. According to reports such as those from the Observatory for Religious …
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Mr. Speaker, so far in 2026, the U.S. Customs authority has blocked 1,198 shipments worth about $75 million on concerns with forced labour. I know this because the U.S. authorities make their data publicly available. I checked it this morning. In contrast, the Liberal government does not. When I asked for this information at the Standing Committee on International Trade, I received a written respo…
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Mr. Speaker, my hon. colleague has spoken so eloquently on Bill C-9 from the beginning, and I want to commend him for seeing Bill C-9 for what it is. It is the government's attempt to censor what people say and do in this country. Does he see a pattern in the behaviour of the government? With whatever social problems seem to exist in this country, the Liberals' response is not to let Canadians mak…
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Mr. Speaker, every day they play the same game, claiming success for any small ray of sunlight but shirking responsibility for everything else. Canadians do not believe them. The United Way said today that 57% of Canadians, in all age and gender groups, believe the public finances are being poorly managed. Two-thirds of Canadians are anxious about the future. They do not believe in the job the Pri…
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Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister calls it just a little economic weakness, just a settling-in period. Well, I am a little more simple. I will just call it what it is, a recession. Today the United Way quantified for us that feeling that things are just not very good right now. Nine in 10 Canadians are experiencing financial anxiety, and CTV reported that fully employed Canadians are sleeping in cam…
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Madam Speaker, that is a good question. There are certain carve-outs in the bill that are attempting to address this issue, on medical records and solicitor-client privilege, I believe. The problem is that this is very vague, in part 1 especially, and the Privacy Commissioner makes this point. The list of entities that could be requested to provide information is very broad, so it would include mo…
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Madam Speaker, everything we do on this side of the House is for the benefit of Canadians, and that includes striking a balance between their privacy and the needs of law enforcement. I have tried to make very reasonable and sensible arguments here, not hyperbole. To clarify to the member, it is the strength of the Supreme Court's reasons that is important. It does not matter that the court sits o…
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Madam Speaker, it is a pleasure to speak to Bill C‑22 again. I spoke about it at second reading, raising my significant concerns with the Liberals' latest attempt at lawful access legislation here in Canada. In that speech, I focused on part 2, but I want to focus this morning on part 1 and, in particular, our motion to split the bill between part 1 and part 2. Part 1 has largely been referred to …
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Madam Speaker, I would describe Bill C-22 right now as a big, fat dumpster fire. This is the government's dumpster fire, which this motion is trying to fix. What the member quite rightly points out is that in part 2, there is a metadata retention requirement, and that includes one's location services. That means that law enforcement, or any other part of government, can choose to get this informat…
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Madam Speaker, I have only been here a year, but I have never heard so much bad news be cheered by the government. Fewer Canadians are working today than at the beginning of the year. Fewer youth are working today than at the beginning of the year. Business investment continues to lag. In fact, it is below the replacement rate. That means we have lower labour productivity. As Krugman said, “Produc…
Read full speech →Statements by Members
Madam Speaker, I am rising today to recognize Caroline Mulroney, member of provincial Parliament for York—Simcoe, who retires from politics today. Locally, Caroline's legacy is historic. She pushed through the Bradford bypass connecting Highways 400 and 404, she championed the new Southlake hospital in Queensville, she was responsible for the creation of the North Gwillimbury Forest, preserving ne…
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Madam Speaker, let us imagine I was pulled over by police on the way here this morning, and I said to the officer, “Officer, I know I was technically speeding but it was just a couple kilometres over the speed limit.” I do not think that would work, because a recession is a recession is a recession, and Canada is the only G20 country in a recession. Under the hood of that recession is even more ba…
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Mr. Speaker, there is Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, Germany, France, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Korea, Russia, Mexico, South Africa, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, the EU, the U.S. and the U.K. As Big Bird would say, “One of these things is not like the others. One of these things just doesn't belong.” Can the Prime Minister tell us which one of these G20 economies is not like the other…
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Mr. Speaker, that is an easy answer: a Canada led by a strong Conservative government. Under the Liberal government, poor economic management leads to more bad news, the only G20 country in a recession. Today, the parliamentary budget watchdog said that the Prime Minister has a 1% chance of keeping his promise of a declining debt-to-GDP ratio. Growth is downcast for 2026 and 2027. Is this a recess…
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Mr. Speaker, my hon. colleague takes such a dim view of culture in Canada, that it cannot stand on its own two feet. I am not afraid of American culture. I am not afraid of watching American sports. I am sure the member opposite watches U.S. films or TV and maybe even uses Netflix. It does not scare me because I have confidence in Canadian artists and Canadian cultural creators and confidence that…
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Mr. Speaker, I would like to welcome my hon. colleague to the House. She will no doubt be aware that recently the Muslim Association of Canada held a networking session, a conference, for Canadians in Toronto. In a word cloud that was presented at that conference was the phrase “Jew free”. I wonder if my hon. colleague would take this opportunity in her maiden speech during the questions and comme…
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Mr. Speaker, these companies already pay taxes in Canada, employ thousands of Canadians and invest in our country. The member talks about balance. This is not balance; this is government picking winners and losers, choosing which Canadian content gets funding and choosing and forcing tech companies to manipulate their algorithms to show Canadians content that the Liberal government says is good.
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Mr. Speaker, of course I believe that. I started my speech by reading from Lucy Maud Montgomery's Anne of Green Gables. I believe in Canadian content. I do not believe in the Liberal government choosing which Canadian content should succeed and which should fail, or in forcing tech companies to regurgitate only the content that it chooses as acceptable.
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Mr. Speaker, it is a very good question, and there is no good answer other than that I do not think anybody is awake at the steering wheel. This is the most important negotiation that our country will engage in this year. Why would the Liberals go and poke our friend right in the eye, squarely and firmly, during this negotiation? It makes no sense.
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Mr. Speaker, October was a beautiful month at Green Gables, when the birches in the hollow turned as golden as sunshine and the maples behind the orchard were royal crimson and the wild cherry-trees along the lane put on the loveliest shades of dark red and bronzy green, while the fields sunned themselves in aftermaths. Anne reveled in the world of color about her. “Oh, Marilla,” she exclaimed one…
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Mr. Speaker, to describe a gullible listener, we used to say, “I have some swampland in Florida for you.” Now, thanks to the Minister of Defence, we can say a Canadian version: “I have a gravel pit in Nova Scotia for you.” At the low cost of just $200 million, the Liberals are trying to build a spaceport. The problem is that the company that is leasing it is paying just $13,000, and construction w…
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Mr. Speaker, my colleague begged the Liberals to try to have some respect for this place and answer the questions, but that is the essence of the scam. It is just illusions. The Liberals have figured out how to turn a gravel pit into a money pit. It is more costs and more debt, all on the national credit card. If everything is above board and hunky-dory, as the minister claims, why does he not tab…
Read full speech →Adjournment Proceedings
Madam Speaker, I do not know what is going on here. I asked about the pension plans' being considered as an asset. Maybe the Minister of Finance will get up and do the rebuttal. Why is the Minister of Finance including the Canada pension plan and the Quebec pension plan as an asset against the Government of Canada's debt? Is he saying it is his government's policy that those assets will be availab…
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Mr. Speaker, I am rising to follow up on a question I asked in question period on the topic of the economy and, in particular, the spring economic update, which we have been debating these last few weeks. In the spring economic update, the government's charts show that Canada has one of the lowest net debt-to-GDP ratios. In fact, the government brags that Canada's net debt-to-GDP ratio is far belo…
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Mr. Speaker, for weeks now the Liberals have blamed external events for homegrown problems. For higher gasoline, they blame Iran. For higher diesel, they blame Iran. However, yesterday the CEO of Cenovus said it was not external events but Liberal policies that were making resource development and investment in Canada uncompetitive. He said the industrial carbon tax incents industry to invest outs…
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Mr. Speaker, CBC is reporting that the Liberals will change the rules for resource development and pipeline approvals to allegedly try to speed them up, but we have been here before. Last year they promised big projects at speeds never seen before. If the minister were right, we would have projects coming out of everywhere, but in that year, no project has been approved in the national interest an…
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Mr. Speaker, these top-line numbers sound good, but just pull back the curtain and it is a bit of a different story. We can take the debt-to-GDP ratio. That does not include massive provincial debts, and on the asset side, it includes the CPP and the Quebec pension plan. Is the Minister of Finance telling Canadians today that he will allow foreign creditors to raid the pension plan and shortchange…
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Mr. Speaker, last week, Parliament's budget watchdog said the Liberals are engaging in a trade-off with the spring economic update. She called it potentially a spend now, pay later situation. We have all seen this scheme: just five easy payments, $19.95, and someone can have the newest thing. They just put it on their credit card, and they pay for it later. It sounds like spend less, invest more i…
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Mr. Speaker, for generations, family farms have fed Canadians and the world. For generations, those farms have been passed from one family member to the next. The Liberals should not be making that harder, but that is where we are. If a farm is passed to a child, it is tax-deferred. If a farm is passed to another family member, it is fully taxed. The result is that over 57,000 farms have been lost…
Read full speech →Statements by Members
Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister was elected on the promise that he alone could handle the United States. He went further. He told Canadians, “we will get an even better deal”, so Canadians have every right to judge him by the promises he made. On top of that broken promise, we now have contradictions and confusion. This week, the Prime Minister said our relationship with the United States is a wea…
Read full speech →Adjournment Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, “It takes too long and costs too much”. That was the message this week from the Ontario Home Builders' Association, which met with many of us. Of course, when it was saying, “It takes too long and costs too much”, it was talking about the government. Just yesterday, Ratehub's affordability report came out, and it confirms the consequences of what the home builders told us. The consequ…
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Mr. Speaker, I have heard the sales pitch before. We have all heard it, but what we are looking for are goalposts, accountability and KPIs. How will we measure this success? I did not hear any explanation of that. My follow-up question is about accountability. The government's promise was 500,000 new homes each year. I wonder if the parliamentary secretary could give us an update this evening on h…
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Mr. Speaker, as I clearly said in my remarks, the goal here is to strike the right balance between the interests of protecting public safety and suppressing crime and the protection of Canadians' right to privacy, the right to not be intruded on by the government or its agents. Contrary to what the hon. member said, the purpose of this place is to debate those issues. We are here, once again, beca…
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Mr. Speaker, the short answer is no. I do not see that as being a robust portion of part 2 of the bill, in part because much of what the minister would do and the regulations that would be made would be done in secret. Moreover, the provision of sending ministerial orders to the Information Commissioner is, in my view, somewhat misguided. The Information Commissioner deals with national security i…
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Mr. Speaker, of course, the opposition is always open to considering all reasonable amendments to the bill. At the very least, I would like to hear what the Privacy Commissioner's view is on the bill. Whether the Privacy Commissioner could provide that via testimony in committee or via a public letter to members of the House of Commons, I would welcome those comments.
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