Oral Questions
Madam Speaker, here is the fact: According to Global News, Canadian security officials gave officials in the Prime Minister's Office a classified and urgent briefing weeks before the 2019 election. This briefing was a stark warning to the Liberals that one of their candidates was compromised and allegedly part of Beijing's influence network. The Prime Minister did nothing. In fact, that candidate …
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Madam Speaker, the Prime Minister likes to say he takes foreign interference in our elections seriously, but in fact, he has embraced it. This started with a $200,000 donation to the Trudeau Foundation, and it has ballooned into a large clandestine transfer of funds from the dictatorship in Beijing to influence Canadian elections. The Prime Minister has known about Beijing's influence in two feder…
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Madam Speaker, let us stick to the facts. In 2019, Canadian security officials gave a briefing to the Prime Minister's Office that a Liberal candidate was implicated in Beijing's foreign interference network, yet the Prime Minister turned a blind eye to potential interference in the federal election. Even yesterday, Canadian security officials said that everyone plays a key role in protecting Cana…
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Madam Speaker, my colleague talked about how the Conservatives are only listening to our fringe base. However, I would argue that Margaret Atwood, one of the most famous authors in Canadian history, is certainly not a fringe base Conservative supporter. Her comments were, “This bill is a step towards dictatorship and authoritarianism”. Would my colleague agree that Margaret Atwood is a fringe Cons…
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Madam Speaker, modernizing the act does not mean modernizing it and putting all the power within the government and the CRTC. That is not what Canadian content providers want. To my colleague's question, nothing in the bill suppresses the power and influence of Facebook, YouTube, Bell or Rogers. None of what the Liberals are saying actually happens. The entire intent of Bill C-11 is to provide mor…
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Madam Speaker, I was actually involved in the radio business for quite a few years as a high school student doing the midnight to six in the morning shift at town and country radio GX94. I would use the radio voice, but it is a little scratchy. I know it exactly. Those things were meant as the local radio station. We had 25% or 35% Canadian content, but it has changed. Our Canadian YouTube content…
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Madam Speaker, I am very proud as the member of Parliament for Foothills to see the incredible growth of the film and television industry in Alberta, where The Last of Us, the largest production in the world, has just finished filming, much of it in my riding. What this has done is inspire a whole new generation of content creators, who are going out on their own once they have learned the craft a…
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Madam Speaker, I am a very proud Albertan, as I know my colleague is a very proud Quebecker. Therefore, I find it interesting that the Bloc is so supportive of the legislation. He is very intent about protecting Quebec artists and Quebec culture, which I would agree is a very admirable goal. Why he would be putting the authority to protect Quebec culture, Alberta culture and Canadian culture as a …
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Is Margaret Atwood our fringe base?
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Mr. Speaker, this is about understanding the size of the carbon tax compared to the impact it has on farmers.
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Mr. Speaker, on Tuesday, when I asked a question to the Minister of Agriculture about the impact of the carbon tax on farms, she accused me of spreading misinformation and misquoting. She did the same thing to my colleague for Battle River—Crowfoot. I know that the Speaker has been asked to rule on a point of order from my colleague for Calgary Shepard, but I would like unanimous consent to table …
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Mr. Speaker, that just shows how out of touch the Liberal government is if it is defending farmers by using them as ATMs to pay for its out-of-control spending. Most farms and ranch families have multi-generational homes on their properties. This tax will cost them tens of thousands of dollars. Even if the tax does not apply to them, the Liberals are threatening fines up to $10,000 if they do not …
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Mr. Speaker, after eight years of the Liberal Prime Minister, farmers across Canada are just taking hit after hit: increases in a punishing carbon tax, tariffs on fertilizer and removal of vital crop protection products. Farmers cannot take much more, but wait, there is more. Farmers got notices last week that they are facing another Liberal tax, this time on underutilized homes. This tax could co…
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Mr. Speaker, I guess the minister did not understand I was asking a question about agriculture, not about oil prices. What the Liberals have to understand is their carbon tax has very real consequences. What it is doing is suffocating Canadian farm families and giving Canadian families sticker shock when they go to the grocery store. It is only going to get worse. When the Liberal-NDP carbon tax c…
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Mr. Speaker, after eight years of the Prime Minister, it has never been more expensive to grow or buy food. A Saskatchewan farmer told me yesterday that his carbon tax bill just to dry his grain was $2,000 in one month. The Liberal tariff on fertilizer costs eastern Canadian farmers more than $34 million. Under the Prime Minister's watch, we have lost hundreds of farms to bankruptcy, and food pric…
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Mr. Speaker, I want to wish our farmers, our ranchers, our processors and our producers a happy Canada's Agriculture Day. It is so important that we understand the role Canadian agribusinesses and agriculture play in bringing together farmers and consumers as “agvocates” in this important industry. We all have a role to play in educating Canadians about where their food comes from, why we do it, h…
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Madam Speaker, I think my hon. colleague touched on the crux of the issue. That review should have occurred. We would have had better insight into what we are dealing with right now. The issue he is talking about, that balance, is when someone is suffering with mental illness or a disability and how difficult it is to understand if they are making that decision in the right state of mind, let us s…
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Madam Speaker, I would agree that it is inappropriate for a case worker from Veterans Affairs to offer a veteran access to medical assistance in dying rather than the mental health resources that they need. However, Veterans Affairs, under the current government, did exactly that. For that member to just try to say that this never happened is a complete fallacy. It did not happen just once; it hap…
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Madam Speaker, as we have heard this evening and throughout the day, there is no question that this is a personal issue for many of the representatives in this chamber. I can speak to that as well. When the legislation for MAID first came up two parliaments ago, I held a number of open houses and town halls in my riding, and I have never had a larger turnout than I did for doctor-assisted dying. I…
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Madam Speaker, I agree with my colleague. When those numbers went from 1,000 per year to 37,000 Canadians accessing MAID, that was a severe red flag that this has gone much too far. All of us have loved ones who are impacted by mental illness or disability. This certainly hits home for all of us. I would say that my suggestion would be not to put a timeline on this. We are putting this off for one…
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Mr. Speaker, I want to thank my colleague from St. Albert—Edmonton for the incredible work he did on the committee. I was able to sub in a couple of times and was certainly impressed with his advocacy. One thing that has arisen lately is the government's officials offering MAID to our veterans. I have a constituent who is one of those veterans and is an advocate. This was very upsetting. I want to…
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Mr. Speaker, the number one concern of Canadian farmers, the number one threat to their livelihood, is Liberal government policy. The Liberals have to understand there are consequences. Taxing Canadian food production is taxing Canadian families out of being able to put food on the table. The consequences are that grocery prices are up 11%, the highest in 40 years. Let us put that specifically. Ve…
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Mr. Speaker, after eight years of the Liberal Prime Minister, it has never been more expensive to grow or to buy food, and it is going to get worse. When the Liberal-NDP carbon tax coalition triples its tax, the typical farmer will pay $150,000 a year in the carbon tax alone. There are consequences. Not only will this bankrupt farms; it will drive record-high food prices even higher. Will the Prim…
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Mr. Speaker, I am proud to rise to speak to our opposition motion today because the carbon tax is asking all Canadians to pay more. It is asking seniors to pay more, young people to pay more, small business owners to pay more and certainly farmers to pay more, and I can say that farmers have paid more. In fact, according to Statistics Canada, the 2022 crop year was the most expensive in Canadian h…
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Mr. Speaker, this is the frustration that I think many Canadian farmers are feeling. We have an elected member saying that he is finding this discussion on the carbon tax tiresome. I would ask him to talk to farmers across Canada who are doing everything they can to be green. They are using zero till and they are using precision agriculture and nutrient stewardship programs to be as efficient and …
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Mr. Speaker, I do not know any parliamentarian who would say that getting rid of tax is not a tax break. If we get rid of the carbon tax, then, yes, it is a tax break, because Canadians would not be paying the tax. However, the numbers I quoted from Finance Canada, their own numbers from the Liberals own government department, said that the average Canadian farmer would get back about $800 a year …
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Mr. Speaker, as Conservatives, we would want everyone to pay their fair share when it comes to taxes, but, again, it shows how no one wants to talk about this important issue. The member is talking about the cost of living and child care. She has mentioned that her constituents are having trouble putting food on the table. This goes directly to that. The carbon tax trickles down through the entire…
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Mr. Speaker, Liberal government members are misleading Canadians when they say eight out of 10 Canadians are going to get more in the carbon tax rebate than they get back. The reality is that Canadian farmers get pennies on the dollar in return for the Liberals' farcical carbon tax rebate program. Canadian farmers cannot afford fuel, fertilizer or feed, and when we lose Canadian farms, that impact…
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Mr. Speaker, what is challenging for Canadians, and especially Canadian farmers, is the Liberals tripling their crippling carbon tax, which is fuelling the food affordability crisis in Canada. Now the Liberal-NDP carbon tax coalition wants to triple that tax. The result of that is that a typical Canadian farmer will pay $150,000 a year in carbon taxes alone. What Canadian farmer can absorb those t…
Read full speech →Statements by Members
Mr. Speaker, a national survey on mental health showed the stark reality facing Canadian farmers. When asked about the biggest source of stress and anxiety, for the first time it was not commodity prices, and it was not the weather. The biggest threat to the family farm operations of Canadian farmers is Liberal government policy. More than eight years of Liberal tax hikes and cumbersome red tape h…
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Mr. Speaker, these are not allegations. The Liberals are covering up their inflation record by erasing 25 years of vital food inflation data from the StatsCan website. The Prime Minister cannot hide from those facts. The facts are that the tripling of the carbon tax will cost a typical Canadian farmer $150,000 a year. The facts are that researchers have already said that eliminating this data is m…
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Mr. Speaker, the Liberals have found a solution to record-high food inflation. It is to wipe the stats away from existence. We have record, 40-year high inflation, food prices are up 11%, and more than half of Canadian families are worried about their ability to put food on the table. What is the Liberals' solution? It is to erase more than 25 years of historical food inflation data from the Stats…
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Madam Speaker, as a proud journalist for almost 25 years and having worked for Charles Clark newspaper in High River, I would say that journalists face, much like politicians nowadays, a lack of public trust. We saw that with the Liberal bailout of the media several years ago, and I know many of my constituents are questioning the integrity of journalists. When there are government subsidies or go…
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Mr. Speaker, at committee there are pushes to increase these carbon taxes to reach our climate change goals, but we will not have any farms left. There will be no farms and no food. If we tax them into bankruptcy, then what? The most frustrating part is that the Liberals continue to ignore the accomplishments of Canadian farming, in terms of our standings with emissions, carbon sequestration, stew…
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Mr. Speaker, I should have been prepared that this question was coming. Obviously, speaking as an Albertan, those energy companies are critical to our economy. They pay for those middle-class jobs and they ensure our economies, not only across Alberta but across Canada, are operating. I am not endorsing taking the carbon tax off large emitters. In fact Alberta was the first province in Canada that…
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Mr. Speaker, I like the revisionist history in my colleague's speech and the colleague across the way. Positions change. It was only in 2009 when the NDP leader in B.C. was going to scrap the carbon tax. She felt that it was going to be punishing for B.C. residents. It is ironic that there is this massive change in position now. The New Democrats position on this upsets me a bit. They are going su…
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Madam Speaker, the member talked about the carbon tax not being paid in Quebec, but I know his producers buy fertilizer and fuel and transport their goods to other parts of the country. We heard the other day at committee that 44% of produce growers are selling their goods at a loss. The government always talks about sustainability. With $150,000 carbon tax bills on Canadian farmers, is that susta…
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Madam Speaker, we would like a recorded division.
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Mr. Speaker, my hon. colleague should remember the NDP has already put in a motion, which was passed in the House several weeks ago and is being studied at committee.
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Mr. Speaker, I want to thank my colleague from Mégantic—L'Érable for tabling this opposition motion today as it shows our farmers, producers and ranchers, as well as consumers across Canada, that the Conservative Party certainly understands food security and their economic viability. In my opinion, the Liberals have a stark decision to make in the next few months. The decision is either to continu…
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Mr. Speaker, I will tell you what the Liberals are doing. They are forcing Canadians to the food bank. According to the Food Price Report, by 2030 a 5,000-acre farm will pay more than $150,000 in carbon taxes. Let me be clear: That will destroy the economic viability of the family farm. Dr. Sylvain Charlebois already said we are losing family farms because of the carbon tax. This is putting our fo…
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Madam Speaker, my colleague, the minister, was unable to or did not want to answer the question from my colleague from Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan, but the Auditor General's report today is quite clear that more than 10% of the $200 billion the Liberal government put out as COVID relief programs is unaccounted for and very likely went to people who were ineligible for those programs. I find it…
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With regard to the trip by the Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food and her entourage to participate in the G20 Agriculture Ministers’ Meeting, held in Indonesia in September 2022: (a) what was the size of the Canadian delegation; (b) who were the members of the delegation; (c) what was the total travel and hospitality expenditures related to the trip; (d) what is the breakdown of (c) by amounts …
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Mr. Speaker, the Parliamentary Budget Officer said tripling the carbon tax will do little to reduce emissions in agriculture. Why? It is because we are already among the most efficient in the world. What the carbon tax will do is punish farmers with more than $1 billion in additional costs. Now the NDP-Liberal carbon tax coalition wants to expand that punishing tax to include Atlantic Canadian far…
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Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister should read his own legislation. The farm tax rebate, through Bill C-8, gives farmers pennies on the dollar back on what they spend on the carbon tax. The result of that is Saskatchewan farmers just had the most expensive harvest in their history. Their on-farm costs exceeded $11 billion, the highest year-over-year increase since 2012. On-farm fuel has more than dou…
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Madam Speaker, it is an honour to rise and represent my constituents of Foothills on this important discussion today on the fall economic statement. We have heard from the government since this statement was released, and we have certainly heard in many of the speeches over the last few days, that the Liberals are bragging about being fiscally responsible and having fiscal discipline when it comes…
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Madam Speaker, that seems to be the answer for every Liberal problem that they create themselves. They just want to throw more money at it to solve the problem. They have not solved any problems. In fact, despite record levels of spending, the problems have gotten worse. The Liberals have broken Canada. This is a government, as any Canadian can tell you, that cannot offer the most basic services, …
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Madam Speaker, I would agree. I do not believe the fall economic statement added any new measures to try to curb inflation and end higher interest rates. In fact, I think the fall economic statement is doing everything it possibly can to accelerate inflation and raise interest rates by continuing inflationary spending, by continuing to go further and further in debt, and by tripling the carbon tax…
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Madam Speaker, my colleague is right. I do care about my constituents, and all Albertans, passionately. It is frustrating to see what is happening, not only in Alberta but across the country, in terms of the condition of our health care system. Over the last few weeks, we saw the inability to purchase children's Tylenol, acetaminophen products, for example, and how it took the Liberal government w…
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Mr. Speaker, food inflation is at a 40-year high. Canadians are struggling to feed their families. The Liberals' response: “Let them eat cake.” If they cannot afford food, they can cancel the Disney subscription. I cannot even buy a pack of bacon for $13. When fruit and vegetable prices are up 12%, bread 13% and pasta 30%, the Liberals are out of touch, and it is only going to get worse. If we thi…
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