Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, there have been discussions among the parties. In the spirit of Mental Health Week and the incredible work of organizations like the Do More Agriculture Foundation and my colleague from Cariboo—Prince George, I think that if you seek it, you will find unanimous consent for the following motion, that, in the opinion of the House, the government update the mandate of Farm Credit Canada …
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Mr. Speaker, Canadian farmers are drowning as costs on feed, fuel and fertilizer skyrocket, but instead of resolving the problems that its own bad policies actually caused, the Liberal government is doubling down. It has increased the carbon tax, it is telling farmers that it will not process their income tax returns and it has hiked fertilizer prices. For weeks we have been asking the Liberals if…
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Mr. Speaker, thanks to failed Liberal policies like the carbon tax and trucking mandates, Canadian farmers are facing skyrocketing input costs on fuel, feed and fertilizer. The Liberals could offer relief. Instead, they are making it worse. The NDP-Liberal carbon tax coalition increased the tax on April 1 and still refuses to clarify its position on a 35% tariff on Russian fertilizer. Canadian far…
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Mr. Speaker, the Liberals have failed on trade compensation for dairy, wine, spirits and beer producers and P.E.I. potato farmers. They continue to fail Canadian agriculture with a punishing carbon tax. Let us review. The Liberals said the carbon tax would reduce emissions. That is false as emissions have gone up. The Liberals said that the carbon tax would be revenue-neutral. It is shocking, but …
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Madam Speaker, let us talk realities, as my colleague likes to say. The Parliamentary Budget Officer was very clear. The carbon tax is not revenue-neutral, as the Liberals claimed it was going to be. This is going to cost farmers. Most importantly, let us talk reality. The Parliamentary Budget Officer also said the carbon tax put forward by the Liberals does not reduce emissions. If we are going t…
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Mr. Speaker, innovative practices such as zero tillage, precision farming and 4R nutrient stewardship ensure that Canadian farmers lead the world in environmental sustainability. These practices should be celebrated, but instead the NDP-Liberal carbon tax coalition is punishing Canadian farmers, and the agriculture minister is complicit. Not only did she vote against exempting farm fuels from the …
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Mr. Speaker, what helps them afford new technologies and innovations is not crippling them with the carbon tax. Let us be clear. The Parliamentary Budget Officer said that not only does the carbon tax not reduce emissions—surprise, surprise—it is not revenue-neutral either. What is happening is the Liberal rebate will give farmers pennies on the dollar compared to what they pay. This is devastatin…
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Madam Speaker, I want to thank my colleague for talking about the impact that the bill will have on his constituents. I really appreciate him talking about the impact it will have on young Canadians and their ability to access some of the things they feel are important, like their first home. I am wondering if my colleague can expand on what he is hearing from his constituents and on the impact th…
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Madam Speaker, it is an honour always to rise in the House to speak on behalf of my constituents in Foothills and, in my role as shadow minister for agriculture and agri-food, to speak on behalf of farmers and farm families across Canada. We are talking about Bill C-8. There is one key element of Bill C-8 that I want to address today and discuss. That is the sharp contrast between what the Liberal…
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Madam Speaker, I will not get into arguing with my colleague about which riding is nicer. He brings up a very good point. I always appreciate the opportunity to highlight that yes, in my riding, I am the heart of cattle country and Alberta beef. We also take a lot of pride in the fact that we are protecting one of the most endangered ecosystems on planet earth and that is Canada's grasslands. I kn…
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Madam Speaker, I do want to thank my colleagues from the NDP, the Bloc and the Green Party who are supporting our private member's bill in exempting the farm fuels from the carbon tax, because it is so important that farmers are able to keep that money in their pockets to reinvest in ways to be more efficient and more sustainable. I want to thank my colleagues around the House for supporting that …
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Madam Speaker, with Russia's invasion of Ukraine, a global food crisis is emerging. Canadian farmers want to help, but Liberal policies, like a farm-killing carbon tax and trucking mandates, are handcuffing Canadian farmers, who are already facing skyrocketing input costs on things like fertilizer. A 35% tariff on purchases of fertilizer from Russia is going to hurt. As we get ready for the spring…
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Madam Speaker, when asked about the farm-killing carbon tax, the agriculture minister suggested practices that farmers have adopted for decades, like crop rotation. Is she serious? Clearly, the NDP-Liberal government does not understand Canada's role in food security and sustainability. Farmers do not need the agriculture minister robbing their bank accounts to be sustainable. They have been proud…
Read full speech →Private Members' Business
Madam Speaker, I am certainly thankful for this opportunity to speak up for Canadian farmers. I want to thank my colleague, the member for Huron—Bruce, for carrying this private member's bill, Bill C-234, which I am hoping we all will support today and moving forward. I want to build on what my colleague was speaking about in his presentation, but I want to change it a bit and focus my interventio…
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With regard to the ongoing consultations by the Canada Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) about the regulations surrounding the maximum size of canned white potatoes: (a) what are the total resources, including labour, involved in the consultation; (b) what is the overall budget for the consultation; (c) what is the timeline for the consultation and subsequent decision; (d) how many CFIA inspectors are…
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Mr. Speaker, the NDP-Liberal government will continue to fail Canadian farmers. They have lost markets and trade agreements, and they will continue to treat producers like a piggy bank with the farm-killing carbon tax that is devastating Canadian farmers. According to CFIB, Canadian farmers paid $14,000 a year in the first year of the carbon tax and $45,000 last year. It is devastating to Canadian…
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Mr. Speaker, I have the honour to present, in both official languages, the third report of the Standing Committee on Agriculture and Agri-Food, entitled “Supplementary Estimates (C), 2021-22”.
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With regard to the Federal Ministerial Coordinating Committee on PEI Potatoes: (a) what is the exact mandate of the committee; (b) what specific goals or assignments have been issued to each minister on the committee, broken down by minister; (c) what is the time period provided related to each goal or assignment in (b); and (d) what are the (i) dates, (ii) locations, (iii) ministers in attendance…
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Mr. Speaker, Europe, Asia and Africa all rely on corn and wheat from Ukraine, the region's breadbasket. With Russia's invasion, a global food crisis is emerging. The United Nations has already warned of catastrophic hunger and hundreds of millions are facing famine. Canada can help. We have a crippled supply chain, punishing carbon taxes, a looming rail strike and PEI farmers are being forced to d…
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Mr. Speaker, the Emergencies Act is intended to be a last resort to deal with a clear, imminent threat. It is not a sledgehammer to deal with some future unknown crisis. There is no security threat. The streets are empty and the blockades are gone. There is no threat to our democracy. We are here in the House of Commons, with the world watching, about to have a critical vote. If there is no threat…
Read full speech →Orders of the Day
Mr. Speaker, my heart aches to be in the House speaking on this today, and I want to echo some words from my constituents. I know many of us in this room have had thousands of emails and phone calls from constituents. Here are just a couple of quotes from some of those emails and phone calls: “Never did I think I would see this in my country” and “I do not recognize our Canada right now. Our anthe…
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Mr. Speaker, I am glad the hon. member raised that. I know the Liberals want to paint every single Canadian with the same brush, or every single person who was a part of that. I will tell you that I was on the phone for hours on Monday, as were many of my colleagues, with the organizers of the Coutts protest. When they found out that a different group, a militant group, had made their way into the…
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Mr. Speaker, my hon. colleague is exactly right, which I think is the impetus of many of the speeches over this weekend and probably going into tomorrow. There are other tools that law enforcement has in their tool box that would have addressed all of this. It addressed the illegal blockades at the borders previous to the Emergencies Act, but certainly to that specific case two years ago. That was…
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Mr. Speaker, I love the fact that the NDP is trying to paint itself out of the corner it put itself in by supporting the Emergencies Act, when their party was founded on protecting the civil liberties of Canadians. Its members are going against the very foundation of their party by trying to make this whole issue about white supremacy. My constituents who live around Coutts and were down there are…
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Mr. Speaker, I am really happy with how the member asked that question. Does she think a few bad apples in a group speak for everyone? Is the constituent she met, which is her constituent, a racist, a misogynist, the fringe, unacceptable or taking up space? I would like to know what her perspective on her own constituent is.
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Mr. Speaker, my colleague mentioned at the end that she is worried that this may set the bar low and that the precedent has now been set for when the Emergencies Act can be invoked. The Canadian Civil Liberties Association is taking the federal government to court, stating, “the thresholds set out in the Emergencies Act, the legal requirements put in place to safeguard our democratic processes, ha…
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Madam Chair, I will be splitting my time with the member for Kelowna—Lake Country. It is unfortunate that I have to get up once again to speak about the opioid crisis in Canada. Unfortunately, it seems we are doing this on a fairly regular basis. My colleagues will know that I am not necessarily one to stand up here and talk about statistics and that I try and focus on real stories and anecdotes, …
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Mr. Speaker, Canada's Prime Minister is pandering to politics by division, stoking anger and fear. The rhetoric he used towards those Canadians who support lifting the mandate adds fuel to the fire. These are not the actions of a Prime Minister. A senior member of the Liberal caucus has publicly criticized his tone, his language and his approach to the pandemic. Will the Prime Minister act like a …
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Mr. Speaker, Canadians, including a senior member of the Liberal caucus, are speaking loud and clear—
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Canadians, including senior members of the Liberal caucus, are speaking loud and clear. Canadians are looking for pandemic leadership. Canadians are standing up right now, grabbing this moment in our history, because they know there is something fundamentally wrong when a Prime Minister refuses to listen. Countries around the world are changing direction, but here in Canada our Prime Minister reso…
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Madam Chair, I appreciate that we have had discussions on this, but one thing is missing. I also appreciate what the member is trying to say. Some colleagues have brought up the Portugal model, for example, but the thing they forget to mention about Portugal, where drugs were decriminalized, is that it has invested substantially in treatment and recovery. The number of beds it has for treatment an…
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Madam Chair, I appreciate the member's question, and I hope she listened to my speech when I said there is no silver bullet that resolves this problem. There has to be a suite of different programs, and harm reduction is one of them. The issue that bothers me with this position is that harm reduction and an increased safe supply is the one and only solution. However, it is not a solution at all. A…
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Madam Chair, the member brings up a very good point. The pharmaceutical companies that have been peddling these opioids have to be held accountable. They are saying there is a 90% chance a person will not get addicted, but it is a ridiculous stat and we know the consequences of it. Something I would like to propose is the establishment of a centre of excellence for mental health and addictions. Th…
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Madam Chair, I want to thank my colleague. As I have said, we have had lots of discussions about this, and I certainly appreciate his passion. However, many of the members in the House continue to mislead a bit on the comments by the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police, when they talk about their support for decriminalization. The one key to their statement was that they would support decrimi…
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Mr. Speaker, I want to thank my respected colleague for his speech, but I think it was actually the member for Winnipeg North who has really encapsulated the difference between what Conservatives are trying to put out and what the Liberal position has been. It was a typical Liberal answer. When my colleague was saying that groceries are unaffordable for Canadians right now, the member for Winnipeg…
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Mr. Speaker, the Liberal member for Malpeque could have asked the Prime Minister a question on the potato crisis in P.E.I. yesterday, but he did not do it. The Liberal member for Cardigan had the message for Prince Edward Island farmers that no matter what happens, the government can help, but farmers will lose. He is right. Under the Liberals, farmers always lose. The P.E.I. premier is questionin…
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Mr. Speaker, farmers are very thankful the Liberals will take no lessons from the Conservatives when it comes to Canadian agriculture. I spoke to P.E.I. farmers this morning and this is what one of them had to say: “With the stroke of a pen, the Liberals have destroyed everything I have worked for for six generations.” The agriculture minister is now saying this dispute will not be resolved until …
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Mr. Speaker, the Liberal agriculture minister recently said that it is not like the government can enact a law to lower the price of food. I have a message for the Prime Minister. Liberal policies have increased the prices of everything, including food. A new Liberal policy to put a cap on fertilizer use would do exactly that: It would increase the price of food, not to mention that the policy wou…
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Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister dismissed the concerns of Canadians and he belittled my province by not taking fuel prices seriously and comments such as “dig, baby, dig”. This is coming from a Prime Minister whose million-dollar trust fund came from a chain of gas stations. I ask the Prime Minister this. Will he sign a giving pledge and give away his energy wealth trust fund?
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Mr. Speaker, Canadian farm families bear the responsibility of feeding the world. It is a responsibility and a burden they carry with pride, but the Liberal policy to put a cap on fertilizer use would set farming back decades. If Canadians think the price of food at the grocery store is high now, they should just wait. When Canadian farmers cannot use innovative, sustainable and environmentally fr…
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Mr. Speaker, I rise on a point of order. In the House, one of the most important aspects is that we are being honest and not telling falsehoods. What the member is leaning toward in her question is completely false. The legislation was brought in by a Liberal government under former prime minister—
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Mr. Speaker, while I appreciated my colleague's speech, I find it interesting that the one element she forgot to mention was that many of these mandatory minimum sentences the Liberals are taking away were actually implemented by former Prime Minister Chrétien. That was a Liberal government, not a Conservative movement. I have a quick question on comments the member made. She said the government w…
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Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister has just admitted that the government self-inflicted a wound before the United States did anything. He has admitted that this decision was based on politics, not science. In fact, the agriculture minister has said the same thing. The Liberal member for Cardigan said that absolutely there is no doubt politics is involved in this dispute with the United States. Will t…
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Mr. Speaker, what did the Prime Minister's Office say when Bud the Spud from the bright red mud rolled into Ottawa looking for help? They sent him to city hall. It was the Conservatives who brought the spuds back to Parliament Hill so they could not be ignored. However, potato growers in Prince Edward Island are frustrated that they are hearing nothing from their Liberal MPs. Three hundred million…
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Mr. Speaker, I wish the Prime Minister would show that kind of fight with the United States when some of our commodities are at risk. He has failed when it comes to our trade relationship with the United States. He has failed on energy. He has failed on softwood lumber. He has failed on dairy and potatoes. Now the United States is threatening to instigate mandatory country-of-origin labelling, whi…
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Here is the problem, Mr. Speaker. The United States has already taken action and now shipping lanes are being rerouted from Canada to the United States, bottlenecking agriculture commodities and manufactured products in Canada not having access to international markets. Will the Liberal government take similar action, as the United States has done, impose fines and name a shipping czar to try to r…
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Mr. Speaker, will the Liberal government open an investigation under the Canada Transportation Act to resolve the shipping container crisis in Canada?
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Mr. Speaker, as part of our agreement, we have a trigger for a billion-dollar retaliation if the United States, as it is looking to do, has put a bill in place to bring back COOL. Will the Liberal government impose that retaliation if the United States goes ahead with country-of-origin labelling, yes or no?
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Mr. Speaker, the Liberals have not done so with P.E.I. potatoes. Is there a retaliation if the United States were to impose country-of-origin labelling on our beef and pork industries? Will the government retaliate, yes or no?
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Mr. Speaker, the government failed on potatoes, energy and softwood lumber. What is the next shoe to drop? Has the government spoken with its counterparts in the United States? Has the foreign affairs minister talked to the United States about COOL?
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