Government Orders
Madam Speaker, yes, there are many stakeholders who are in favour of seeing this bill pass, but there are at least as many, if not more, who are very concerned about the speed at which this piece of legislation is going through, the secrecy and the lack of accountability. Honestly, we were debating amendments with no content until after midnight. Not even a phrase could be said about why we were v…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
With regard to Service Canada Centres: (a) what is the current processing time for each service provided to Canadians (Social Insurance Number, Employment Insurance, Apprenticeship Completion Grant applications, etc.); (b) for each service in (a), what was the processing time as of January 1, 2020; (c) how many Service Canada employees are currently (i) on leave in relation to the vaccine attestat…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, after more than two years, the pandemic is no longer an acceptable excuse for poor service. Canadians are being forced to line up for hours outside Service Canada centres in order to simply get a passport on time. Meanwhile, it has been reported that 70% of Service Canada employees are working from home. When will the minister show leadership and bring these employees back to work?
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, I rise on a point of order. There is clearly an issue with quorum.
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, what Canadians just witnessed was spin-doctoring and political science, not medical science. It has been reported that a massive majority of the Liberal caucus want to see an end to these mandates. This week the member for Milton asked my colleague, a medical doctor who ran a COVID‑19 ward in Nova Scotia, to stop asking and talking about mandates. On this side of the House, the Conser…
Read full speech →Statements By Members
Mr. Speaker, the Cold Lake Air Show is a not-to-be-missed event of the summer. It brings together the best of civilian aviation, a spectacular show of the Royal Canadian Air Force and of course our warm northeastern Alberta hospitality. Over the weekend, people will have the chance to watch the Canadian Forces Snowbirds dance across the sky and the Canadian Armed Forces SkyHawks parachute team per…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, the Liberal member for Thunder Bay—Rainy River recently said, “I would suggest that the vaccine requirements for being on planes and at workplaces at the moment, I don’t think the benefits of that mandate warrant the cost.” He is also a medical doctor and a member of our health committee. In fact, it has been reported that a “massive majority” of the Liberal caucus wants to see an end…
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Mr. Speaker, Passport Canada's website was recently updated, doubling the normal processing times for passports to over two months, plus time for mail. My question for the minister is very simple: Is nine weeks-plus an acceptable timeline for this most basic of government services?
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Mr. Speaker, unfortunately, Canadians need answers, not talking points. People in my riding and in northern and rural communities all across Canada have to drive just about everywhere. Fuel prices are at record highs, which is making life harder for all Canadians. When will the government drop the talking points, do the right thing, drop the GST on fuel and make life more affordable for Canadians?
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
With regard to Service Canada centres located in flood plains or flood zones: (a) how many Service Canada centres are located in a flood plain or flood zone; (b) what is the location of all such centres, including the street address; (c) for each location in (b), is there a contingency plan to be used during a flood, and, if so, what is the plan; and (d) for each location in (b), has an alternate …
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, my question is quite simple. Does the member believe that the most qualified people should be the ones receiving grants, or does he believe that positive discrimination is the best way forward?
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Mr. Speaker, military personnel sacrifice to serve our country. They knew they would be moved, but they did not expect that they would not be able to afford to live because the government would let them down. There should be some expectation of a similar cost of living when military personnel are posted from base to base. However, that is not the case with the rates of military housing varying wid…
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Mr. Speaker, Fort City Church is working to bring a family of Ukrainians to Fort McMurray. There is good news: The parents and grandma have now received their travel documents from immigration, but the family still cannot come to Canada because six-month-old Joseph's paperwork is still being processed. My question is simple. What is it about a six-month-old baby that scares the minister?
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
With regard to the Royal Canadian Air Force's CF-188 Hornet or CF-18 aircraft: (a) what have been the total costs related to aircraft maintenance on the CF-18 since 2016, broken down by (i) year, (ii) type of expense; (b) what are the projected costs to maintain the CF-18 aircraft, broken down by fiscal year from present until 2032-33; (c) how much has been spent on improvements, either directly f…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, we have all heard the Liberal talking points about hiring additional employees, but clearly, this has not come anywhere close to resolving the never-ending wait times at Service Canada. Time is ticking and Canadians' stress and frustration continues to grow. This is a process that the government is fully responsible for and a problem only a minister can fix. The process is clearly bro…
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Mr. Speaker, Jonathan applied for his daughter Victoria's passport at the Service Canada centre in Fort McMurray in March. The passport still has not been processed, and he does not have the luxury to drive five hours each way to the passport office in Edmonton and camp out overnight to hopefully get a walk-in appointment. They want to travel to see Victoria's dying great-grandmother. This is hurt…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
With regard to action by the current Minister of Environment and Climate Change to prevent eco-terrorism in Canada, since being sworn in as minister: (a) what specific measures, if any, has the minister done to prevent eco-terrorism in Canada; (b) has the minister publicly called for individuals and organizations to refrain from participating in such activity, and, (i) if not, why not, (ii) if so,…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, in listening to the debate from the member opposite, I did not hear a lot of clarity when it comes to actually understanding that some of these issues clearly are in provincial jurisdiction, as well as supporting the provinces and working in partnership and in consultation with the provinces. There was a lot of word salad in that last answer and not a lot of concrete understanding t…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Madam Speaker, the lines are around the block at Service Canada centres across the country, and budding entrepreneurs are charging upwards of $50 an hour to stand in line to help people get that golden walk-in appointment. If we call the Service Canada passport line, we get a generic message saying “long processing time” and then it hangs up. However, when we go to the website, there is no mention…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Madam Speaker, unfortunately, Canadians deserve more than talking points. Gordon applied for his son's passport by mail in February. After a month, he made request after request, online and by fax, simply for a status update. Then he called and was number 543, and after an hour he gave up. He appealed to his local MP, the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans, but even then he could not get a status up…
Read full speech →Private Members' Business
Madam Speaker, I was wondering if you could look at who is participating online. I believe that someone might be participating in a washroom, the member for Brampton Centre.
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, the government's failure to plan has prevented Canadians from being able to access basic government services. People cannot get through by phone or in person to Service Canada. In fact, the delays in passport processing have effectively ground Service Canada locations all across the country to a halt. It has become so dire that some people are charging upwards of $15 an hour to stand …
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Chair, I will be sharing my time with the member for Louis-Saint‑Laurent. I am humbled to rise in this place to participate in this take-note debate on murdered and missing indigenous women and girls and two-spirit people, especially given that tomorrow, May 5, is Red Dress Day. Red Dress Day is not only a day of honouring missing and murdered indigenous people, but a day that we stand, in t…
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Madam Chair, it took two years for the government to come up with an action plan, and there does not seem to be any urgency on the part of the government when it comes to implementing the plan. That can be seen in the fact that there really is not anything in the budget. Does the member have any concerns that the delayed duration will have short-term and long-term impacts on this plan?
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Chair, one truly important thing that we can all do is engage with indigenous communities and listen. We need to hear what they have to say and approach the solution understanding that they have the answers in their communities. It is incumbent on each and every one of us to have those conversations, carry that message forward and allow indigenous-led organizations to really shine through, e…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Chair, I think my colleague raised an issue that is a real problem in rural and isolated communities. I have housing problems in my riding and I believe many rural MPs have the same problem. I think the government really has to act on the recommendations from the inquiry because they were very clear, but the government has not done so.
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Chair, I want to thank the member for that incredibly important question. It really highlights the fact that it should not be incumbent on the communities to raise awareness. Government has to take a big step in this. In my own community, just a kilometre from my house we had a tragic situation. It was the community that had to rally. I was so grateful that leaders from all levels of governm…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, MPs continued to work from right here in Parliament throughout the winter protest. In fact, I would walk across Wellington Street at least once a day, with my infant son in a stroller, to come to work. If the threat was as serious as the government is now making it out to be, did the Minister of Public Safety knowingly put my life and those of my infant son and every single person who…
Read full speech →Statements By Members
Mr. Speaker, April is Cancer Awareness Month. Janice Goodridge was a loving wife and mother, a successful small business owner and a fiercely loyal friend. She was loved by nearly all. She made it clear that women could do anything they worked for, and she modelled work-life balance and service to others. Next week would have been my mother's 62nd birthday, but it is the 13th that we have spent wi…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, I too am going to rise to table a petition in support of the Senate bill, Bill S-223, which seeks to combat forced organ harvesting and trafficking, and make it a criminal offence for a person to go abroad to receive an organ taken without the consent of the person giving the organ. I too would like to take this opportunity to recognize the amazing work that was done by the late membe…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, I did not really hear a question, so I will take this opportunity to share some facts about Alberta's francophonie. Alberta has over 268,000 French-speaking Albertans. Since 1996, enrolment in French schools has risen by more than 270%. That is a significant increase and significant growth. We need a modernized act that will support francophones in minority settings, but this bill d…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, to continue the tradition, it is with great pleasure that I address the House in French today to speak to Bill C-13, which seeks to modernize the Official Languages Act. I think it is important to explain how an anglophone like me is now able to deliver her speech in French in the House of Commons. I was really lucky. When I was young, my parents, who do not speak a word of French, de…
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Mr. Speaker, the fact is, we have francophones outside Quebec who have been francophones for centuries. The first European language spoken in Alberta was French. It is not only people like me who choose to speak French; our francophone heritage is very strong. My colleague emphasized that education and immersion schools are important. That being the case, why does Bill C‑13 not include support for…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, most parents want to leave a legacy for their children. I know so many parents who save and go without luxuries so they can pass something on to their kids. However, under the current government runaway inflation is making saving nearly impossible, and out-of-control spending is saddling our children, like my seven-month-old son Eoghan, with debt they will never be able to pay off. Wi…
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Madam Speaker, I mentioned in my speech how Alberta attracts immigrants. I believe it is very important that we do more to encourage francophone immigration. It could be a solution to the French teacher shortage in our country. I do not believe that the federal government is doing enough to support francophone immigration and to encourage francophone immigrants to move to Canada.
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, frankly, without bilingualism, I would not be here addressing the House in French. I believe that it is truly an asset for Alberta's francophonie to have francophones who are bilingual. It is an asset to have people like me who are anglophones who learned French at school. I believe that the Official Languages Act needs to recognize the fact that people who chose to learn French, do…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, effectively, on this side of the House, we believe that Canadians need to be able to afford to make ends meet. Right now, with inflation at a generational high, families are having a hard time making ends meet. We have asked, time and again, for simple solutions to help families make ends meet, whether reducing the GST on gasoline, removing the carbon tax increase or doing other sim…
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Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague for raising that issue. She highlights the fact that a huge disparity exists between rural and urban Canada, in this and so many other ways. One of the things we have not seen from the Liberal government to date is that recognition and understanding that rural Canadians have a host of different challenges. Rural Canadians need to be supported because rural Canad…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, it is an absolutely wonderful opportunity to be able to rise today and deliver some remarks on Bill C-8, the economic and fiscal update implementation act, 2021. It is kind of ironic, as I was reflecting on this over the weekend, that I am delivering remarks on the fall economic statement in the spring, but calendars are clearly difficult, and perhaps calendars are hard for the gove…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, I believe my colleague pointed out one of the problems that we have here in Canada, specifically the fact that we do not have enough affordable housing. However, we cannot build more affordable housing when it is more expensive to build. Inflation is having a real impact on people who are already struggling to make ends meet. We need to work together and really figure out what is im…
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Madam Speaker, my colleague pointed out that this bill really needs to be scrutinized from top to bottom in order to ensure that it promotes the French language. There are francophones outside Quebec, living in every part of Canada, including my riding of Fort McMurray—Cold Lake. Could my colleague give examples of improvements to the bill that would help promote French outside Quebec?
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
With regard to the federal government’s actions to increase hospital and intensive care unit (ICU) capacity across Canada since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic or March 2020: (a) what is the total amount of all federal government funding provided to provinces or territories meant to increase the permanent hospital and ICU capacity; (b) broken down by province or territory and by month, how …
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, Khrystyna was nine months pregnant when this war broke out and she had her baby in an underground bomb shelter. She now needs to make her way through a war zone to get biometrics in Poland, with a brand new baby and a toddler in tow. Liberal red tape is delaying people fleeing war. Liberal red tape is keeping people in conflict zones. When will the government show compassion and allow…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
With regard to the mandate letter of the Minister of Families, Children and Social Development and the commitment in the letter to create 3,300 new child care spaces for Indigenous children: (a) how many new child care spaces have been created for Indigenous children since the letter was received by the minister on December 16, 2021, broken down by province or territory; and (b) how many new space…
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Mr. Speaker, the last thing Canadians can afford right now is anything that will make life less affordable, yet the Liberal government wants to raise the carbon tax by $10 a tonne on April 1. Not only will this cost Canadians an extra 11¢ a litre at the pumps, but it will also have an inflationary impact on the cost of living by raising the prices of groceries, energy bills and everything else. Ho…
Read full speech →Statements by Members
Mr. Speaker, I have the privilege of representing the fine women and men of 4 Wing stationed in Cold Lake. The Prime Minister has delayed selecting future fighter jets for over six years, and Conservatives have been pushing to select the F-35s to replace the old F-18s. In fact, we need to increase our defence spending to 2% of the GDP to meet our NATO commitments and support our armed forces. We h…
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Mr. Speaker, unfortunately that was a complete non-answer. The risks have changed as this pandemic has evolved. Canada has the most restrictive domestic travel mandates in the world. This is having a very real impact on families. I have been contacted by families in my riding who want to visit relatives who are in palliative care and who want to attend funerals. Vaccine mandates on travel have lim…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, I just want to start by letting you know that I will be sharing my time with the member for Louis-Saint-Laurent. Vaccine mandates have had a very real impact on the lives of Canadians. As the situation has evolved, governments have had to change. We have seen that as the case for governments across Canada, as well as governments all across the world. Sadly, what we have seen from th…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, I am not a scientist. I am not a doctor, but I do follow the advice of doctors and I think that the countries around the world that have been dropping their mandates and restrictions when it comes to travel cannot all be wrong. I asked the Minister of Health today if he thought that all the chief medical officers of health across the country were wrong, as they have been ending mand…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, on Monday in the health committee, the Minister of Health said, “We want to apply the least disruptive measures in order to protect the health and safety of Canadians, and the conversation will evolve as the situation evolves.” The situation has evolved. We are asking the federal government to follow the science and remove federal mandates, as has been done throughout Canada in our pr…
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