Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, I put my hand up at the last minute. I figured I would get one more question in and hear from my colleague. Could he elaborate just a little further on how vital health and safety regulations are, and how seriously the industry at large takes it? Obviously, he has experience working in the prairie regions in the oil and gas sector, but not so much offshore. Could he elaborate just a l…
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Mr. Speaker, this is a Senate bill, not a government bill. It did not come through the Order Paper or through the government. What are the member's thoughts about how this speaks to the priorities of the government and why it had to come through the other place first, that it was not one of the first items on the government's agenda, knowing there was a deadline to get this done?
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Madam Speaker, the member's back must be sore, because he is patting himself pretty hard on the back. I want to highlight something. I spent 10 years working for an Internet company here in Saskatchewan. It was under the Harper government where funding came into the province to help set up Internet, broadband services and land line services on reserve for indigenous people to be able to have the s…
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Madam Speaker, I am glad to finally have an opportunity to speak on the federal budget. It has been long overdue, as the first one presented to this Parliament. While we are looking at what the budget offers to Canadians, as well as the late timing, it is important for all of us to remember that the theme of the Liberal government is that the key to happiness is low expectations. It is also worth …
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Madam Speaker, I thank the member for that rhetoric. To put it quite simply, let us look at the Trans Mountain pipeline. It was a private investment. It was fully funded privately and the government chased that investment away and ended up spending that money on its own. The private sector was investing in that with its own dollars; that is it. I will remind the member that he voted against our mo…
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Madam Speaker, we have the highest environmental standards in the world and our natural resources should be the ones we are exporting to meet the growing energy demands of the developing world. I will add something quickly about farming in the Prairies. When we look at the net carbon that it sequesters, we sequester 33 megatonnes more than we emit just through agriculture alone. When we talk about…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Madam Speaker, farmers back home are working long hours to get their crops in the ground. Many of them have reached out to report that StatsCan workers are going around farm to farm with the 2021 census and are needlessly holding up production. To make matters worse, they show up the day before the census is due, making it impossible for it to be filled out on time. This is no way to treat farmers…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Madam Speaker, last year, we saw what happened with rail blockades. There was a shortage of propane in Quebec because of it. If this pipeline is shut down, there is an obvious risk of that happening, once again, where there will be a massive shortage. If this pipeline shuts down, what is going to happen in the short term and medium term to the supplies and critical needs of people in Quebec?
Read full speech →Emergency Debate
Madam Speaker, it is always great to be able to respond to the member. I have an access to information request here for all briefing notes provided to, and directives by, the Prime Minister with regard to Enbridge Line 5 between November 1, 2019, and March 9, 2021. A thorough search of the records under the control of the Privy Council Office was carried out, however no records relevant to the req…
Read full speech →Emergency Debate
Madam Speaker, I think they are a key part of the equation. However, technology has improved over time. My uncle worked for TransCanada PipeLines for well over 35 years. I have talked to him about the improvements that have been made in pipeline monitoring and the way technology has advanced, and there is a greater hands-on approach taken by these companies. With Line 5, Enbridge is looking to bui…
Read full speech →Emergency Debate
Madam Speaker, I think that question is an important one, especially when we look at the last administration in the United States. I am sure there would have been a willingness there to get a strategy for North American energy security done, and I think that even with this new administration there is an opportunity, but the fact is that it has been six years of basically nothing. Again, we have to…
Read full speech →Emergency Debate
Madam Speaker, quite clearly that is what we are doing here tonight. We are fighting for Line 5. A lot of us have done everything we can to raise awareness around this issue to bring it to the government's attention, and when we see things like an ATIP that shows there is zero communication from the Prime Minister to the Privy Council Office, it shows there is a complete lack of interest to do wha…
Read full speech →Emergency Debate
Madam Speaker, I join tonight's energy debate wishing we did not need to have one, but the troubling situation with Enbridge Line 5 dictates that we need to. I also wish that the government would treat it with a lot more urgency than it has shown by its actions up to this point. It is actually a lot more accurate if we call it inaction. The Liberals lack of leadership has brought us near the brink…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, I wonder if the member shares my thoughts on this. For a year and a half we have not seen a real concrete plan from the Liberal government, and that is why we are here today, having this discussion and pushing for a real plan to get people vaccinated in a timely manner.
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, Enbridge Line 5 has two weeks left in Michigan. If oil stops flowing, Canadians, particularly in Ontario and Quebec, will face fuel shortages and job losses. A while ago, the Minister of Natural Resources said that he is “very confident” that this pipeline will keep running, but this week, reports are calling the government's diplomatic approach “frustrated”. With so much at stake and…
Read full speech →Statements by Members
Mr. Speaker, I am sure every Canadian has been looking forward to brighter days and warmer weather. In Cypress Hills—Grasslands, we are starting to see another welcome sign of spring: Farmers are heading out to begin seeding their crops. While driving in different parts of our rural riding, I am always happy to see their machinery out in the fields. It brings back fond memories of growing up and w…
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Mr. Speaker, my colleague kept referencing in his speech that it has been 850 days without a contract. A manufacturer in my riding twice now has been extremely affected by this and is talking about its losses being as high as 25%. Why does the member think that the Liberals always choose to delay and ignore the issue until it gets to the point we are at here today?
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, I am wondering what the government's plans are to deal with Canadians who are at risk of slipping into energy poverty. The regulations on the clean fuel standards printed in the Gazette show a very clear picture that middle- and lower-income Canadians are at risk of slipping into energy poverty because of increases in transportation fuel and home heating expenses. How is this going …
Read full speech →Statements by Members
Mr. Speaker, I rise in the House today on behalf of the incredible people of southwest Saskatchewan, many of whom are continually asking for a plan to safely reopen the economy, get Canadians back to work and secure our future. I was disappointed that budget 2021 included none of the above. Instead, it is proposing a reimagined Canadian economy that dabbles in risky economic ideas such as abandoni…
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Madam Speaker, the member was right to say that this was a historic budget for a lot of reasons. One of those reasons is that it is the largest deficit in Canadian history and pushes our debt further into the abyss. With the large amount of spending commitments coming in years down the road, I wonder if the member is willing to use a medium or even a long-term outlook and decide when the governmen…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, I am always honoured to participate in parliamentary debates, especially when there is an important and pressing topic such as what we have in front of us today. Stronger legal protection for both consumer protection and data privacy needs to be improved, and this is impossible to deny. It might be tempting to say that Bill C-11 is timely, but instead, we should be clear with ourselve…
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Mr. Speaker, yes, it is important to ensure we have this debate and, yes, the timely passage of the bill would be great. However, the issue is that it has been five months, and this only the third day it has been up for debate. Only one party is in charge of the legislative calendar, and that is the Liberal government. If it wants to see a timely passage of the bill, I would hope that we would hav…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, we definitely want to see a process that makes it very transparent and up front. We are starting to see a little more effort. For example, when we go to a website, we will see an acknowledgement that it uses cookies and we have the opportunity to go through it. We have a little more control over what kind of information the website may or may not be taking from us. However, we need to…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, we continue to see a pattern over and over, where the government delays and decides to not take a principled approach or principled stand on these issues. The issue with Huawei goes much further than just simply whether it is the right company for 5G or not. Number two in the 10 principles of the charter is safety and security, and we are talking about the safety and security of our c…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Madam Speaker, Canada is behind with vaccines; that is a fact. It is now an embarrassing story reported on CNN. The lower supply of vaccines is getting rationed with off-label usage. Instead of three weeks, doses can be delayed by four months. We are the only country with a four-month interval. The Liberals make excuses and say they are following facts and science, but Canada's chief science advis…
Read full speech →Private Members' Business
Madam Speaker, I want to start by thanking the member for Cambridge for presenting this bill. As he alluded to quite nicely in his speech, it has a very far-reaching impact into rural Canada and to our farming communities. It is important because our Copyright Act, as he also mentioned, is very outdated. It was written long ago, and it needs to be updated. It needs to be more flexible, and it need…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, I have a petition today from constituents who are concerned about Bill C-6 and are calling on the House of Commons to take the following actions: ban coercive, degrading practices designed to change a person's sexual orientation or gender identity; amend Bill C-6 to fix the definition of “conversion therapy”, thus banning conversion therapy without banning voluntary counselling or cri…
Read full speech →Statements by Members
Mr. Speaker, we should always focus on national unity in the House. One of the biggest divides in Canada is between urban and rural areas. Rural Canadians are part of team Canada, but too often they are picked last and get sidelined. It is more than just slow Internet and cell service. The Liberal plan for a clean fuel standard is exactly the opposite of a team Canada approach. It is nothing but a…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Madam Speaker, the residents of Cypress Hills—Grasslands are very concerned about the rising rate of domestic violence here in Canada. As such, the petitioners are calling upon the federal government to amend subsection 8(2) of the Privacy Act to allow for disclosure of personal information to a third party for the purpose of implementing Clare's Law. The RCMP needs to have every tool at its dispo…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Madam Speaker, once again Canada could fall behind as a result of the Liberals' weaker version of NAFTA. After a three-year grace period, there will be tariffs if we do not regionally source the vast majority of lithium for electric vehicles. The government makes big plans and promises for a green transition, but there is a problem: Approval for new projects will take at least three to 10 years. T…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Madam Speaker, I have two petitions to present today. In the first one, the petitioners are concerned about the rise in domestic violence and are calling on the government to make the necessary changes to the Privacy Act to allow the RCMP to fully use Clare's law, which would allow the disclosure of information to an intimate partner who may be at risk. This is just one of the many tools needed to…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Madam Speaker, the second petition is from the great people in my riding who are concerned about the government's lack of support for the oil and gas that provides jobs, affordable and reliable energy and valuable investments to our community organizations, among other things. Therefore, the petitioners are calling upon the Government of Canada to take immediate action at every opportunity to supp…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, I will be sharing my time with the member for Yorkton—Melville. It is an honour to stand in the House today and give this speech on behalf of the constituents of Cypress Hills—Grasslands. This has been a very heavy issue for a lot of my constituents, and there has been a lot of engagement on it. The Liberal government, already with many other scandals and failures, has hit an all-ti…
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Madam Speaker, ultimately, all the sunset clause does is delay the inevitable. It is still signalling to these people, the people who are struggling with mental health and mental illness, that their life is not valuable. However, that is not true. Every single life matters and should be dignified. These amendments do not do that. They do not afford that, and that is wrong.
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Madam Speaker, the whole point is rather than rushing to include a sunset clause in legislation, let us have that conversation now. Why wait a year or two years? We need to have that now. That is the whole point of this debate. That is what we have been saying over and over. These amendments need to go to committee so that conversation can happen now. My other point is that suicidal thoughts are r…
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Madam Speaker, when we watch a movie and a person is standing on a bridge, people are coming to help that person, to reaffirm the value of his or her life. Those people are not taking the person by the hand and leading him or her up to the bridge. No, they are trying to take the person off of the bridge, to walk the individual back from the edge. I find it absolutely appalling that the government …
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, we all know that part of the Liberal plan to tackle climate change is the clean fuel standard. In the December 19, 2020, edition of the Canada Gazette, in the household and gender-based analysis impact study that was done, it states, “It is expected that increases in transportation fuel and home heating expenses would disproportionately impact lower and middle-income households.” It…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to present a petition today from concerned Canadians about domestic violence. As we all know, it is a growing issue in our country. The petitioners want the government to make changes to the Privacy Act to allow the RCMP to fully have all the tools it would need to combat the growing problem of domestic violence. They also want to the government to implement Clare's law.
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Madam Speaker, there is one thing Canadians can count on. When dealing with an embarrassing scandal, such as their failed vaccine procurement, the Liberals will use law-abiding gun owners as their punching bag to create a distraction. They wasted billions on their failed gun registry and now they are focused on buying back something the government never owned in the first place: firearms from peop…
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Madam Speaker, we have had quite the debate here today. One of the frustrations is we have been talking about the human rights abuses in China against the Uighurs for a very long time, and we are still waiting for the government to take action. All we have to do is look at the Liberals' track record on other issues. They are routinely the last ones in, or quite honestly are always using delay tact…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Madam Speaker, what do we need to do further to ensure that laws are actually enforced? We have heard other members say that we have laws that already exist in Canada, but they are not being enforced. What do we need to do to make sure these laws are actually being enforced, and the people perpetrating these crimes pay the full penalty?
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, it is great to hear that people from all parties are on the same page on this topic. However, tangibly speaking, what are the next steps we need to take in Parliament? The member alluded to this in his speech, but could he elaborate further on what the next steps need to be and on what we should focus?
Read full speech →Emergency Debate
Mr. Speaker, I will just take the opportunity to state that Scott Moe is the premier of the province where I am from. I know Jason Kenney was trying to invest in jobs for Albertans and Canadians, and also trying to champion the energy sector as it is because, again, we have the highest environmental standards here in Canada. We should be proud of that, not embarrassed by it.
Read full speech →Emergency Debate
My apologies, Mr. Speaker. I was reading a quote, and I guess I got lost within it. Here is another quote, on Kinder Morgan exiting the Canadian market: In August of 2019, the petroleum and natural gas company Kinder Morgan secured a $2.5 billion deal to sell off its Canadian arm and leave the market. In 2018, the Liberal government purchased the Trans Mountain pipeline from them for $4.5 billion.…
Read full speech →Emergency Debate
Mr. Speaker, I could not agree more with my colleague. Further to that point, if we want to find common ground among the opposition parties here, I would point out that even the Green Party members said that the government should not invest in the Trans Mountain pipeline. We Conservatives had that same position, that the government should not invest in that pipeline, but let the private sector inv…
Read full speech →Emergency Debate
Mr. Speaker, one of the overall themes that we have routinely been hearing throughout the night here is this: If not Canadian oil and gas, where else is it going to come from? We know it is going to be replaced by Saudi Arabian and Venezuelan oil. The global demand is not going down; it is going up. That is a real fact, so we need it to be Canadian oil. We can support Canadian jobs and it is being…
Read full speech →Emergency Debate
Mr. Speaker, I will be splitting my time with the member for Calgary Forest Lawn. On this first day of the House sitting in the new year, I am proud to speak up for something that is important to all Canadians. The importance of Keystone XL is something I want us all to focus on right now. It is obviously why the official opposition has requested an emergency debate on it tonight. The Liberals hav…
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With regard to the Minister of Middle Class Prosperity: (a) since the minister was sworn in on November 20, 2019, how many members of the middle class have seen their prosperity (i) increase, (ii) decrease; and (b) what metrics does the minister use to measure the level of middle class prosperity?
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With regard to the application process for Senate appointments since October 28, 2019: (a) how many applications were received for Senate appointments; (b) of the applications in (a), how many were unsolicited applications and how many were nominated; and (c) of the nominated candidates, how many were nominated by (i) government employees, (ii) parliamentary staff, (iii) ministers or members of Pa…
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