Routine Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 36, I also have a petition, certified and signed by 30 people, regarding recommendation 430 of the House of Commons finance committee's pre-budget report, which proposes removing the advancement of religion as a recognized charitable purpose under the Income Tax Act. Recommendation 429 proposes to revoke the charitable status of various organizations. Religi…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, 600 foreign nationals with criminal convictions are roaming around Canadian cities. More than half are on the CBSA's wanted list, and their whereabouts are unknown. Over 70% of these non-citizen criminals have been convicted of serious crimes, including sexual assault. The public safety minister has one job, which is to keep Canadians safe. On this and many other issues, he is failing…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, he cannot find them. He cannot find the 600 serious criminals who are non-citizens and should be deported but are roaming the streets of Canadian cities. The minister had the entire summer to come up with a plan to find these convicted non-citizen criminals, who have been convicted of crimes like sexual assault. He lost them and he cannot find them. My question is for the Prime Minist…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, I have the honour to present, in both official languages, the third report of the Standing Committee on Access to Information, Privacy and Ethics, entitled “Proposed Review of the Conflict of Interest Act”.
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, I too rise to pay tribute to a remarkable Canadian whose contributions have transcended the arenas of sport, public service and social advocacy, the Hon. Ken Dryden. I do so not just as a member of Parliament, but as a kid who grew up in Montreal watching Ken Dryden play for the Canadiens. I have a personal connection to the Dryden family by way of my wife's family, who lived not too …
Read full speech →Statements by Members
Mr. Speaker, it is a great time to connect with the people we represent, and there was no better way to do that than the eighth annual Community Barbecue, hosted by myself and my good friend, an MPP and minister, Andrea Khanjin. It took place on August 16 in Stroud. The event saw an incredible turnout, our biggest ever, with more than 1,500 people attending. On behalf of Andrea and myself, I want …
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
With regard to clothing allowances and expenditures on clothing, for use by the Prime Minister, the Governor General or other ministers, since January 1, 2023, and broken down by year: (a) which individuals have received a clothing allowance and, for each, how much was the allowance; and (b) what are the details of all expenditures by the government on clothing or outerwear which was provided to a…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
With regard to government travel, broken down by minister's office since January 1, 2021: (a) which ministers or exempt staff have rented vehicles, including, but not limited to, car and driver services, limousine services or car services, within Canada or elsewhere; (b) for each use identified in (a), what was the (i) date of the rental, (ii) pick-up location of the rental, (iii) drop-off locatio…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, I have the honour of rising for what will be a very busy ethics committee, I suspect, in the future. I have the honour to present, in both official languages, the following two reports of the Standing Committee on Access to Information, Privacy and Ethics. The first report is entitled “Federal Government's Use of Technological Tools Capable of Extracting Personal Data from Mobile Devi…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, I have to admit that I am tepid in supporting this bill, because I have seen, over the last 10 years, major announcements by this Liberal government, yet nothing gets done. I am old enough to remember, during the recent election campaign, when the Prime Minister made a promise, and he said that interprovincial trade barriers would be removed by Canada Day, yet we are dealing with a …
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, my first question to the hon. member is whether I can post his speech on my Facebook page. I would appreciate that. In all seriousness, the bill lacks a lot of things and is susceptible to many things, that is, court challenges as a result of the lack of indigenous consultation within the bill, and other parts as well. I wonder whether the hon. member can speak to the risks as they re…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, I love the hon. member's assertion that we need to be bold, we need to be ambitious and we need to be audacious. This is not the time for Canada to be timid. We talked about this during the election campaign because of the threats coming from the United States, but this bill is anything but bold. It is anything but ambitious and audacious. It is a very timid bill because it does not…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, if we listen to the hon. member speak about this bill, we could get the sense that there is universal acceptance of this bill, but, quite frankly, there is not. In fact, we heard a Liberal member of Parliament today talk about the concerns he has: the lack of consultation and the fact that this bill would trample on rights, including indigenous rights. In the little time the committ…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, does my colleague agree with me that, with what we saw today at the G7, “pucker up” has replaced “elbows up”? Throughout the campaign, the Prime Minister incited fear among many Canadians, and I assume many Quebeckers, that the greatest threat that existed was the United States. I would suggest the greatest threat we have seen has existed within this country over the last 10 years b…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, it is really rich when a member of the old government, purporting to be the new government, stands up and does not accept responsibility or accountability for what went on in the past. The Liberals want us to forget about the past. They want us to forget about all the corruption, all the cronyism and all the kleptocracy that went on, where government insiders and well-connected friend…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, as this is my first time rising in this place for a speech on a particular subject, I would like to thank the people of Barrie South—Innisfil for electing me for a fourth term. I take their support with great humility and responsibility as well. I certainly appreciate the support. I am going to be splitting my time with the member for Swift Current—Grasslands—Kindersley. It is almost …
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, I already said that in my speech. The government is the same. Nothing has changed but the leader. It is like the example I gave of an old car: Even with a coat of wax, an old car is still an old car. If the government is truly willing to change, it will vote in support of this motion. It would not vote for covering up all of its indiscretions in the past. This is a systemic problem wi…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, not one has accepted responsibility for what went on with GC Strategies. Not one minister has accepted any of the responsibility for all the scandals, all of the corruption and all of the cronyism that has gone on over the last 10 years. In fact, as I said in my speech, several have been promoted into new positions. It is unacceptable that Canadians would accept this. Canadians did ac…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, it will have been 18 months since this country saw a federal budget. We all recall the fiasco when the fall economic statement was dropped in this Parliament. Would the hon. member not agree that this is the time to have a budget so that Canadians can openly and transparently see what the numbers are? Of course, in the fall, we knew that the Liberals had blown through their fiscal gua…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, it has been 18 months since we had a budget. Just a couple of weeks ago, Parliament voted, with a majority, for the government to present a budget. We have seen, over the last 10 years, a decline in our democracy, which happened long before Donald Trump became President of the United States. Would the hon. member not agree with me that this constitutes a contempt of Parliament in a wa…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, “food prices up” has replaced “elbows up” at grocery stores lately as food inflation has tripled in the past two months. It is so bad now that even sale items are too expensive for Canadian families, and we are lucky if we walk out of a grocery store with two bags for less than $80. Inflationary spending must be reversed so Canadians can afford to put food on the table. Will the Liber…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, as the hon. member knows, today we are dealing with an opposition motion that speaks specifically to the heart of affordability. There are many Canadian families, single moms and seniors who cannot afford groceries. We have actually seen inflation on grocery prices increase by three times in the last couple months; by comparison, in the United States they have dropped by 2%. Would the…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister said that he should be judged by the prices at the grocery store, so let us do that. Food inflation has tripled in the past two months, and Canadian families will pay $800 more on food this year than last year, so there goes their tax cut. That is about $17,000 on food alone this year. Families, single moms and seniors are at a breaking point, and this cannot go on.…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, I request a recorded division.
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, I always find it comical, if not sad, when the Liberals are questioning data that comes from Statistics Canada or Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Limited, like they did with my hon. colleague. I do want to talk about the $800 tax decrease that was announced. I want to counter that by saying that the average food costs are going to go up, per family, this year by $800. The average family in t…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, the hon. member just said something very interesting, which is that the Liberals are going to table a budget in the fall so they have the right figures. Do they not have the right figures to table a budget now? Does that make any sense?
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, with respect to not having a budget, there have been rumours that the Liberals may separate operational and capital budgets so that we do not get a full reading of the state of finances in this country as they relate to revenue, debt and deficit. Does the member think that is a possibility with the government?
Read full speech →Speech from the Throne
Mr. Speaker, a lot of the things that the hon. member was relaying are things that I heard throughout the campaign, particularly from those who grew up in eastern European countries, where they saw the rise of socialism, the incremental loss of rights and freedoms, media propaganda, Internet controls, what we can see and say online, and then, eventually, the confiscation of firearms from law-abidi…
Read full speech →Speech from the Throne
Mr. Speaker, if I am not mistaken, the hon. member was at one point the President of the Treasury Board, who is responsible for overall government spending and fiscal accountability. One of the areas of concern that I have and many of my colleagues and Canadians have is that the Prime Minister has announced he is not going to have a budget until the fall. This is in the backdrop of him saying duri…
Read full speech →Speech from the Throne
Mr. Speaker, on the issue of housing affordability and attainability, I think we can all agree there is a crisis in this country. One area in which we need to address that is obviously in the case of a federal budget. We have not had a federal budget in the last 18 months. Members will recall the fiasco that went on with the fall economic statement being tabled by the then House leader, not even b…
Read full speech →Speech from the Throne
Mr. Speaker, in the absence of a budget, the main estimates came out last week, and they said there would be a 37% increase, to $26 billion a year. That will cost the average family about $1,400 in consultant fees. This is on top of the fact that the bureaucracy has grown almost 50% under the government. Does the hon. member not think there is a disconnect there, that we basically have a tax cut t…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, for seven months, parliamentary committees have sat idle while, according to the Prime Minister, the country is facing an existential threat. It appears that he is in no rush to have them constituted. The committees are an important function of our democracy. Committees are where bills are scrutinized; where witnesses tell MPs about the impacts these bills and threats are having on th…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, the opposition would love the ability to vote twice, especially on matters of confidence. I want to point out to the Chair that the member for Aurora—Oak Ridges—Richmond Hill was not in her seat but was counted on the standing vote and also voted on the app. I am seeking clarity from the Chair on that and on whether in fact her vote would count.
Read full speech →Orders of the Day
Mr. Speaker, I rise on a point of order. I would like you to consider this as a matter of contempt of Parliament. The finance minister resigned this morning at 8 a.m. The economic statement was to be delivered at 4 p.m. this afternoon. The Prime Minister had ample opportunity to appoint another finance minister and deputy prime minister and have them sworn in to issue the fall economic statement. …
Read full speech →Orders of the Day
Mr. Speaker, we are really in a unique position today. As parliamentarians, we have a front row seat to what many Canadians are seeing today as a government that is spiralling out of control, that is literally collapsing before us at a very important time in our nation's history. The NDP has an opportunity here to make the right decision for once, and not support the government, not show any confi…
Read full speech →Orders of the Day
Mr. Speaker, I know that the hon. member is a big Buffalo Bills fan, and yesterday there was a big win against Detroit, so I say, “Go Bills.”
Read full speech →Orders of the Day
Mr. Speaker, where did that huff and puff come from? Oh, it was obviously from a New England fan. I know that the hon. member represents a border community, and the border has become an issue since President-elect Trump's election. There are issues surrounding drugs and immigration. It is an important part of the member's riding because of the safety and security of the border, but tourism is also…
Read full speech →Orders of the Day
Mr. Speaker, in the spirit of Christmas, I hope the hon. member will join me in wishing the Liberal Party well tomorrow night at its Christmas party, which is being held somewhere close to the Hill. I wish the Liberals all the best for tomorrow night's Christmas party. We have a government that is literally collapsing in front of us right now. The only confidence that is being shown in the governm…
Read full speech →Orders of the Day
Mr. Speaker, frankly, it pains me to see, in what is supposed to be a functioning democracy, a government that is in complete and utter collapse today. It is no secret that many in the House have lost confidence in the government. In fact, Canadians have lost confidence in the government. The only ones who seem to have not lost confidence in the government are its NDP coalition partners. The leade…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, I agree with the Bloc member. A lot has changed in Canada over the years. That pension rule may have been acceptable in the first part of the last century, but a lot has changed now. People live longer and marry for love. People do not simply get married because someone has come back from the war. Things have changed a lot in this country, which is more modern.
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, I do not have an answer for that. If I did, I would tell the member. What I can say now, and as I started my speech with, is that with one fell swoop of a pen, the Minister of Veterans Affairs can do anything she wants. Future ministers, with that same pen, can make amends and correct the wrongs of the past. That can be done. The minister has that power; I do not have that power as an…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, I will note that, in the committee's report, many of the recommendations were vague. I would classify the government's response to it as more vague. There is a clause that dates back to early military history when, in fact, perhaps there was some abuse; however, any society evolves, as ours has here in Canada. I believe that there is a fundamental right of people who marry military me…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, I am very pleased to rise to speak about the veterans affairs committee report that is before us. The reality is that the Minister of Veterans Affairs has great power, and literally with one fell swoop of a pen she could make this happen if she wanted to. The situation has been going on far too long. The committee report, as I said, was somewhat vague in its recommendations. There was…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, first of all, I did not make those cuts. I think I acknowledged the difficulties coming out of the 2015 election that I had to face as critic for veterans affairs. I had to answer many of the questions that were given to me, which I did it honestly and forthrightly, not in a manner that would allow veterans to be told otherwise. It is the only way I can say it. Veterans can smell it f…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, the NDP leader continues to hold the country hostage, playing political hokey-pokey to secure his pension by February. First, he put himself in a coalition agreement with the Liberals, and then he took himself out, ripping up the agreement while shaking his fist all about. Now he has put himself back in, taping the agreement together and turning himself around after saying he would vo…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, the Leader of the Opposition's proposal to remove the GST on home sales has been universally accepted as a good plan, a plan that puts money back in the pockets of potential homeowners. Does the hon. member not agree that this would be a good plan to put money back in the pockets of people who are buying homes, so they can afford them?
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, words matter. The leader of the NDP said he ripped up his supply and confidence agreement with the Liberals, saying the Liberals are “too weak, too selfish and too beholden to corporate interests to fight for people”. Speaking to poor workers, before the Liberals violated their right to strike, he said, “If there is any vote in Parliament that in any way impacts your rights...I can te…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Madam Speaker, the hon. member was airing a lot of grievances, apparently, about the Conservatives. I am wondering if he can comment on the threats that were made by the member for Surrey—Newton to a member of his caucus, the member for Nepean.
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, I have the honour to present, in both official languages, the 16th report of the Standing Committee on Access to Information, Privacy and Ethics, entitled “Oversight of Social Media Platforms: Ensuring Privacy and Safety Online”. Pursuant to Standing Order 109, the committee requests that the government table a comprehensive response to the report. On behalf of the committee, I would …
Read full speech →Statements by Members
Mr. Speaker, the opposition leader offered the finance minister two hours to present the fall economic statement on Monday. The minister's response was to reject the offer to provide an update that would take no more than a minute. It is absurd that Canadians are in the dark about how dire the fiscal situation is in this country. The NDP-Liberal costly coalition has created inflationary deficits t…
Read full speech →