Parliamentary Speeches

Private Members' Business

Madam Speaker, it is indeed an honour and a privilege to rise today to speak to Bill S-202. I want to begin by acknowledging the importance of the arts and culture in Canadian life. While the motivation for this bill may be admirable, I do question, at a time when one in five Canadians is skipping meals, when we see record-high food bank usage, when we see Canadians struggling to make their rent a…

Oral Questions

Madam Speaker, as you know, it is a long-standing practice in this House that important government documents are tabled in this place. I would note that typically a minister of the Crown does table government reports in this House. It is a rubric in Routine Proceedings. I would note that the Right Hon. David Johnston's report on foreign interference was never tabled in this House, despite it being…

Madam Speaker, in response to the point of order from the member for Winnipeg North, I would just state that the intervention by the member for Calgary Forest Lawn is in anticipation of such a ruling. It would not be appropriate for an individual member to try to persuade a Speaker in a private forum beforehand, when a decision is about to be made. It might be inappropriate to try to go in that di…

Madam Speaker, on a point of order, I would just note for the member for Winnipeg North that you, Madam Speaker, made a decision to allow the member for Calgary Forest Lawn to conclude his remarks. That was the decision that the Chair made, and to see the member for Winnipeg North try to challenge the Chair on that matter is unfortunate.

Madam Speaker, quorum has been lost.

Statements by Members

Madam Speaker, on Monday, on a road northwest of Woodstock, a tragic traffic collision claimed the lives of Detective Constable Steven Tourangeau of the Perth County OPP and local school bus driver David James Stewart. Steven Tourangeau was a husband and a father of three. He dedicated his life to keeping our community safe. He had a bright future, both in serving the people of our community and w…

Oral Questions

Madam Speaker, if the parliamentary secretary wants to protect Canadian democracy, she would have her Prime Minister call a full, independent public inquiry. That is what this House has twice voted to do. The special rapporteur declined to do so, saying that he does not work for Parliament, that he is not accountable to Parliament and that he works only for the Prime Minister. Everyone agrees that…

Government Orders

Resuming debate, the hon. chief opposition whip.

Routine Proceedings

With regard to social media advertising by the Canada Infrastructure Bank, for each of the last three years: what was the total amount spent on advertising, broken down by social media company or platform?

Oral Questions

Mr. Speaker, the Battle of Vimy Ridge united Canada as a nation through the service and sacrifice of 3,598 Canadian soldiers. Terry Fox's Marathon of Hope leaves a legacy that lives to this very day for our nation. Nellie McClung pushed our nation forward with more equality and human rights as a suffragette leader. Instead of honouring the great moments in our country's history, these Liberals are…

Routine Proceedings

Madam Speaker, I do not know. I do not know why the Prime Minister is not choosing to do the right thing and launch a public inquiry. That is what he needs to do, but he is not doing it. We need a public inquiry to check the information and to ensure that Canadians and parliamentarians will not be targeted. This is where we need to go. We need to ensure there is a full public inquiry to get to the…

Routine Proceedings

Madam Speaker, I withdraw that.

Routine Proceedings

Madam Speaker, Mark Twain is rumoured to have said this: “History never repeats itself, but it does often rhyme.” With this Liberal government, it is no surprise that what we are hearing today is much more of the repetition that we have seen from a tired, out-of-touch Liberal government. However, talking of history, in 1970, former prime minister John Diefenbaker made some very prescient comments …

Routine Proceedings

Madam Speaker, despite not wanting to revert to my old days as a professor and lecturer in political science, I will explain to the member for Kingston and the Islands that the executive branch of government includes the bureaucratic arm of the government. It includes the national security adviser to—

Routine Proceedings

Madam Speaker, I have 10 minutes for questions and comments, and I look forward to a follow-up question from the member for Kingston and the Islands. The fact remains that the Privy Council Office, which is the most senior department in government, a central agency and the Prime Minister's own department, was provided this information. The national security and intelligence adviser to the Prime Mi…

Routine Proceedings

Madam Speaker, I will never apologize for the Conservative Party standing up for all Canadians. We will not apologize for the Conservatives standing up against the threats to our democracy from a foreign regime. Our leader and our party are standing up on behalf of thousands upon thousands of members of the diaspora community in Canada who are feeling threatened. We are standing up on behalf of fo…

Routine Proceedings

Madam Speaker, it is absolutely essential that we have an independent, non-partisan inquiry into foreign influence in Canadian elections. The member raised the Trudeau Foundation. The fact is that the Trudeau Foundation accepted a $140,000 gift from the Communist Party in Beijing. It accepted $140,000 in a contribution agreement signed by the Prime Minister's brother. We found out from testimony t…

Routine Proceedings

Madam Speaker, I would never use unparliamentary language. I would say that, on so many occasions, the Prime Minister has been a stranger to the truth.

Routine Proceedings

Madam Speaker, not to put too fine a point on it, but the member's privileges were violated by the Communist dictatorship in China. This is a privilege motion that is focused on the member for Wellington—Halton Hills and his rights and privileges as a parliamentarian being impacted by the Communist regime in Beijing. That is why we are debating this today. That is why we are here today and that is…

Routine Proceedings

Madam Speaker, it goes back to the fact that this has been a breakdown of the entire executive branch of government. The Minister of Public Safety is just one aspect of the Liberal government, after eight years, not putting measures in place to keep Canadians safe, not being able to get the information to where it needs to go and sitting on information for up to two years when members of this Hous…

Private Members' Business

Madam Speaker, I think you will find it is the will of this House to pass the bill unanimously.

Private Members' Business

Madam Speaker, it is indeed with great satisfaction that we finally reach the end of debate before passing Bill S-227, an act to establish Food Day in Canada. I would like to begin by thanking the member for Northumberland—Peterborough South for his assistance in helping me to accelerate the process, so we could pass this bill today. I would also like to thank all hon. members from all parties, se…

Private Members' Business

Madam Speaker, I heard a riveting comment from a colleague behind me, but I will not go that far. It is indeed an honour and a privilege to rise in the House this evening to contribute to the debate on Bill C-316, an act to amend the Department of Canadian Heritage Act, court challenges program. Indeed, as has been mentioned in this House, this program has an off-and-on history in this place and i…

Government Orders

Madam Speaker, perhaps that hon. member would like to tell her constituents why her government's actions are driving up the cost of living by astronomical proportion. Why will she not tell her constituents why the cost of groceries for an average family of four is increasing by nearly $1,100 per year? She talked about health care heroes. My wife is a nurse who works in long-term care. Why does the…

Government Orders

Madam Speaker, I would like to thank the member for Shefford for her question. This is an opportunity for me to talk about the farmers and families in Perth—Wellington, where we have the largest number of dairy farmers and chicken farmers in the country. Supply management is very important for me and for the people of Perth—Wellington. I was very pleased to vote for Bill C-282, which is very impor…

Government Orders

Madam Speaker, as always, it is a pleasure and a privilege to rise in the House today to contribute to the debate at second reading on Bill C-47, the budget implementation act, 2023, No. 1. I said it is a pleasure and a privilege to rise because it is always a pleasure and a privilege to rise to express the concerns of the people of Perth—Wellington. While it is a pleasure and a privilege to rise,…

Government Orders

Madam Speaker, first of all, we would cut the carbon tax. What is more, we will incentivize municipalities. We will incentivize municipalities to remove the gatekeepers to get permits approved quickly. We will densify the population, building around major transit hubs in larger urban centres and, in smaller communities, such as mine and other rural communities, we will incentivize municipalities t…

Routine Proceedings

With regard to the Prime Minister's comments on February 23, 2023, that "there are so many inaccuracies in those leaks" in reference to recent media stories about election interference: (a) what specific information reported in the stories is inaccurate; and (b) what proof, if any, does the Prime Minister have that the information cited in (a) is inaccurate?

Routine Proceedings

Mr. Speaker, I believe quorum has been lost.

Private Members' Business

moved that the bill be read the third time and passed. Mr. Speaker, it is indeed a pleasure and a privilege to rise in the House this morning, on a wonderful Monday morning, to start the week on a positive note and begin debate at third reading of Bill S-227, the food day in Canada act. I would like to begin by thanking the members of the Standing Committee on Agriculture and Agri-Food for quickly…

Private Members' Business

Mr. Speaker, I would ask that this carry on division.

Private Members' Business

Madam Speaker, I would like to thank the hon. member for Mississauga—Streetsville for supporting this bill at committee. She hits an important note. There are many great agricultural ridings across Canada where primary production takes place, but in larger urban centres, there is also the importance of the food industry, whether through farmers' markets, local grocers or food production by restaur…

Private Members' Business

Madam Speaker, I am very worried about the state of agriculture in Canada. I often hear farmers and their families in my riding talk about their concerns. There are many concerns I hear regularly from folks in my riding and across the country about the growing costs associated with production, whether it be the carbon tax, inflation or fertilizer tariffs. These are real concerns. The member mentio…

Private Members' Business

Madam Speaker, food insecurity is a real concern I hear about in my riding. In a country as economically rich as Canada, where we have, quite literally, some of the most productive land in the world and where we produce high-quality Canadian food, the fact that there are still Canadians living food-insecure is an exceptionally unfortunate situation. I would like to draw attention to groups in my r…

Routine Proceedings

With regard to information services (IS) employees (Treasury Board code 305) within the civil service, broken down by department, agency, or other government entity: (a) how many IS workers are currently employed by the government, in total; and (b) how many executives or workers, at the EX level or higher, do the IS workers report to, in total?

Private Members' Business

moved that Bill S-227, An Act to establish Food Day in Canada, be concurred in.

Routine Proceedings

With regard to the government's executive vehicle fleet and travel expenses incurred by chauffeurs or drivers of those vehicles for travel outside of the National Capital Region (NCR): what are the details of all trips where travel expenses were claimed, including the (i) name and title of the minister, deputy minister, or high-ranking government official driven on the trip, (ii) date of departure…

Routine Proceedings

Madam Speaker, I wish to inform you that I will be sharing my time with the hon. member for Mégantic—L'Érable. Let us be very clear: The confidence of Canadians is shaken, and the only way that we as parliamentarians can help to restore the confidence of Canadians in our democratic system is through an open and public independent inquiry. We in the Conservative Party have called for this very clea…

Routine Proceedings

Madam Speaker, how can the parliamentary secretary stand in this place after filibustering with her Liberal colleagues for 24 hours to prevent the Prime Minister's chief of staff from testifying before the committee? My question is very simple. What is the government hiding from Canadians?

Routine Proceedings

Madam Speaker, I seem to have hit a nerve with certain NDP members in this House, but the truth hurts sometimes. That is what we have seen for weeks on end at the procedure and House affairs committee. In fact, over a period of three weeks, we listened to filibuster speech after filibuster speech by Liberal parliamentarians. One Liberal MP even went so far as to say the OC Transpo light rail inqui…

Routine Proceedings

Madam Speaker, the experts in the public sector and in the private sector are warning against the impact of foreign interference in Canadian elections. The member can try to deny it. The member can try to downplay it. However, Canadians are worried. Canadians are concerned. Leading experts who have dealt in diaspora communities, who have seen the undue influence, who have seen the foreign police s…

Routine Proceedings

Madam Speaker, it is indeed very sad and depressing to hear the Liberals with their accusations, saying that this is not a big challenge, that this is not something that Canadians should be concerned about. Canadians know very well that it is a problem if the Communist Party in Beijing has had any influence. Even if only one Canadian was affected, that is one too many. One impact on a single Canad…

Routine Proceedings

Madam Speaker, let us talk about the facts. Three times the members of the NDP voted against hearing from Katie Telford. Three times they blocked the Prime Minister's chief of staff from coming to committee to say what the Prime Minister knew, when he knew it, and why he covered it up.

Government Orders

Mr. Speaker, I would request a recorded division.

Routine Proceedings

Madam Speaker, I thank my friends from the far corner of this chamber. There is a reason they are so far in the corner, and frankly, in the next election they will not even be in this chamber, because Canadians are losing faith in them to fulfill their role as opposition parliamentarians. It is our role as Canadians—

Statements by Members

Mr. Speaker, Canadians are concerned about foreign interference into Canadian elections. However, instead of accepting the proposal from all opposition MPs for a public inquiry, the Liberals are offering a secret process at a secret committee, with secret hearings, secret evidence and secret conclusions all controlled by the Prime Minister. He is focused on protecting himself and not our democrati…

Oral Questions

Mr. Speaker, as vice-chair of the committee, I can confirm that, after three hours of Liberal filibustering this morning, when we called on the committee to have Katie Telford answer as to what the Prime Minister knew of Beijing's interference, the chair arbitrarily suspended the meeting. I am pleased to report that the three opposition parties have agreed to provide the resources necessary to res…

Oral Questions

Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Chair of the Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs. The committee has charged the chair to table before the House a report calling on the government to launch an inquiry into foreign interference in Canadian elections, while also maintaining the committee's agenda and scheduled meetings into these serious allegations. Will the chair of the procedure …

Government Orders

Mr. Speaker, I would refer you to Beauchesne's, sixth edition, which is one of this House's great authorities. It makes note of the importance of seeking information from the committee, in which case the chair or the vice-chair is certainly the appropriate person. I would seek the guidance of the Chair, however, for situations in which the chair of the committee may be available online but nonethe…

Government Orders

Mr. Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 43(2)(a), I would like to inform the House that the remaining Conservative Party speaking slots will be divided in two.