Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, after eight years of the Prime Minister, we have billions of dollars of waste. The Canada Infrastructure Bank was created on the recommendation of former McKinsey CEO Dominic Barton. The current CEO of the bank was a partner at McKinsey. It is no surprise that McKinsey has received consulting contracts of $1.5 million. This taxpayer-funded bank lacks integrity and transparency. Will t…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, the individual who took the life of Officer Pierzchala was out on bail. He had a lifetime prohibition on having a firearm, yet that was not a deterrent. The family of Officer Pierzchala is listening and watching. When we say there is no hope of keeping someone behind bars and attempting to rehabilitate that person, and that the only thing we can do is put them back on the street to co…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, I have worked in the Jane and Finch community, where many programs were funded by the Harper government for community policing, so I beg to differ on that. I acknowledge that our bail system needs to be reformed both for those people who may be overrepresented in it and for the victims of crime.
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, the Conservatives do not oppose meaningful investments in communities. In fact, we believe in the compassionate way of reducing recidivism. I remind my friend that it was this side of the House that passed a recidivism bill last year. Our main issue is waste. Our main issue is the fact that we have diverted millions of dollars away from dealing with violent crimes and into focusing on…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, it is my honour to rise today to speak to this motion, sponsored by the member for Fundy Royal. It is an important debate we are having today, and I appreciate listening to the members and their various perspectives on this issue. It is clear that Canada's justice system and, more specifically our bail system, is indeed broken. Canadians do not need to take my word or the word of my c…
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Mr. Speaker, eight years of the Prime Minister's overspending has led to the current inflationary crisis. Canadians have never struggled more with paying for food, fuel and shelter. Former finance minister Bill Morneau, former Bank of Canada governor Mark Carney and current Bank of Canada Governor Tiff Macklem all agree that the Liberals have overspent and Canadians are suffering as a result. When…
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Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister should learn the lesson that he has not acted in the best interests of Canadians, with eight years of wasteful inflationary spending. Now the government wants Canadians to just trust it and give it a blank cheque for $2 billion to invest in a company that does not even exist. Well, we heard that before when the government wasted $35 billion on an infrastructure bank…
Read full speech →Private Members' Business
Madam Speaker, it is truly an honour to rise this evening to speak to and express my support for this very important bill. This bill was brought forward by the member for North Okanagan—Shuswap. Bill C-291 is an act to amend the Criminal Code and to make consequential amendments to other acts, namely child sex abuse material. I will underscore the fact that words do, indeed, matter. Definitions ma…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
With regard to the Public Accounts of Canada for 2021 and 2022: (a) what are the details and identified program objectives of the transfer payments made to the World Economic Forum (WEF) by (i) Environment and Climate Change Canada, (ii) Fisheries and Oceans Canada, (iii) Global Affairs Canada; (b) for each transfer payment to the WEF, what (i) is the summary of the terms of the agreement in place…
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With regard to the Canada Infrastructure Bank (CIB), since January 1, 2021: (a) what were the costs incurred during the due diligence period for the Lake Erie Connector Project, broken down by category and type of expenditure; (b) what is the summary of the terms of the project agreement with ITC Holdings Corporation; (c) what were the justifications provided to the CIB for the suspension of the L…
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With regard to the Canada Infrastructure Bank (CIB) and the five-year review of the Canada Infrastructure Bank Act: (a) what is the status of the government’s five-year review; (b) what are the details of the review plan, including the (i) plan summary, (ii) stakeholders consulted to date and to be consulted, (iii) consultants or experts engaged and to be engaged, (iv) metrics by which the governm…
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With regard to the Canada Infrastructure Bank (CIB), since December 1, 2021: (a) what is the total amount of federal funding given to the CIB; (b) what are the details of all infrastructure commitments and investments made by the bank, including, for each project, the (i) name, (ii) location, (iii) description, (iv) date the agreement was signed, (v) total agreed expenditure by the CIB, (vi) total…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Madam Speaker, today I rise to present a petition on behalf of 565 constituents, many of whom are members of churches, volunteers for charities and staff in social services organizations in the riding of Haldimand—Norfolk. These constituents have expressed their concern about the pledge made by the Liberal Party in its 2021 platform to deny charitable status to organizations that it labels as prov…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Madam Speaker, these 565 constituents call on the House of Commons to protect the application of charitable status as so ruled.
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, I believe that my friend is misapprehending the nature of the test. It is clearly set out in the rules. The test is to the reputation. Everything that I highlighted fundamentally dealt with the member's reputation, and the statements were made officially on the record. The statements are unequivocal, that she said she specifically heard me say that, which is impossible because it was …
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, I rise today on a question of privilege pursuant to Standing Order 48. I would like to speak on that matter at this time. In order for a question of privilege to be accorded precedence over the orders of the day, two conditions must be met. First, the matter must be brought at the earliest opportunity. Second, the Speaker must be convinced that a prima facie breach of privilege has oc…
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Mr. Speaker, I do require an apology. If this did not happen, and I know unequivocally that it did not happen, I require an apology.
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, that unequivocally did not happen. I would like the recording replayed. It did not happen. I do not speak like that. I do not speak to my colleagues like that. I respect my colleagues across the floor equally. I do not do that. That did not happen.
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, everybody in the House agrees that COVID supports were necessary. We are talking about wasteful spending. This is about the abject failure of the government to manage COVID supports and ensure that the people who needed them received them. Instead, the Liberals sent cheques to dead people and to people in prison. The government has wasted and mismanaged billions of dollars. Now Canadi…
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Mr. Speaker, the wasteful spending of the Liberal government knows no bounds. Yesterday we found out that the Liberals paid out billions of dollars in COVID payments to people who were ineligible. Rather than accepting their mistake, they implied that the Auditor General cannot be trusted. However, it is Liberal waste that is causing the cost of living crisis in this country. When will the Prime M…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
With regard to the government’s participation in the Agile Nations network: (a) what was Canada’s role in the initiation and development of the Agile Nations concept and its charter, signed in November 2020; (b) what were the policy imperatives and rationale to sign the charter; (c) with which stakeholders did consultations on a proposed Agile Nations Charter take place; (d) how was each stakehold…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Madam Speaker, I am presenting a petition this morning on behalf of concerned Canadians. I would like to draw the attention of the House to the fact that Louis Roy of the Quebec College of Physicians has recommended expanding euthanasia to babies, from birth to one year of age, who come into the world with severe deformities and very serious syndromes. Recently, the college also sent another witne…
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Mr. Speaker, the Liberal carbon tax has driven up the cost of home heating, fuel and groceries. Canadians are suffering. People are wearing their winter coats inside of their homes to keep down heating costs. Mothers are diluting their babies' milk to stretch it. However, Canada pitifully ranks 58 out of 63 countries on climate action. Will the Liberal government stop forcing their failed climate …
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Mr. Speaker, I remind the Liberal government that it is in government. It needs to present a plan. The government lacks credibility when it has not met a single climate target. A tax on the backs of average Canadians does nothing to drive down emissions. It drives up poverty. More Canadians are relying on food banks than ever before. The food banks fear that they are going to run out of food. The …
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Mr. Speaker, CSIS has confirmed it is currently investigating lethal threats to Canadians from Iran. Iranian Canadians have begged the Liberal government to list the IRGC as a terrorist organization. How can the Liberal government say it is using all of the tools at its disposal, yet fail to take the basic step against a regime that has killed and is threatening to kill more Canadians? When will t…
Read full speech →Adjournment Proceedings
Madam Speaker, I am here tonight to ask the government for transparency on one of its signature policies, the Canada Infrastructure Bank. The bank was celebrated with much fanfare by the government in 2016. The Liberals claimed that every dollar invested would yield a return of four private-sector dollars. They even anticipated that with investments from the municipalities and provinces, it would …
Read full speech →Adjournment Proceedings
Madam Speaker, I thank my friend for that informative answer, and I am glad that we are finally getting some answers, even if we had to extract them from the Liberals. The bank keeps failing Canadians and it is missing the mark. During these economic times, Canadians cannot afford to be on the hook for bad investments. Conservatives warned from the beginning that the Infrastructure Bank was not ca…
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Mr. Speaker, the snow is here, and calls are coming in across the country from families who are wearing their winter coats inside their homes just to keep warm and save money on heating costs. The temperatures are dropping across the country, and home energy bills are rising. Many Canadians are faced with the horrible choice of having to cut back on meals or turn down the heat in their homes just …
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Mr. Speaker, at least a million Canadians will go without heating their homes this winter. The Liberals do not have an environmental plan; they have a tax plan. They have not met one single environmental target. The Liberals' irresponsible and reckless spending is the cause of this inflationary nightmare. Now they plan to tax their way out of this mess on the backs of Canadians. The people who are…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, on a point of order, are we debating a Conservative fall economic statement or are we debating the Liberals' fall economic statement?
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, it is a pleasure to rise to speak to the fall economic statement implementation act, 2022. There is an adage that is found in the Book of Proverbs, written by one of the wisest men who ever lived. King Solomon wrote, thousands of years ago, “A good man leaves an inheritance to his children’s children.” It is a statement that reminds us that the decisions we make today impact on the fu…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, I remind the hon. member that I have a master's in environmental studies. I do not focus on slogans. The environment is something that I do not believe is a partisan issue. It is a very important issue that we should not be using to advance our political agenda. What I see from the Liberals is that they are making life more unaffordable by tripling the taxes on home heating, gas and f…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, indeed, Conservatives do share that concern about our failing health care system. One of the reasons the health care system is failing is that the government has spent more than all other previous governments in the history of this country combined. By next year, we will be paying more on our interest payments on our loans than we are paying in the health care transfer. This is the re…
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Mr. Speaker, yet again we have more Liberal waste. Fortis, a billion-dollar corporation, was promised $655 million for the Lake Erie connector project to get an electricity cable built. The Canada Infrastructure Bank, which is a taxpayer-funded bank, has never completed even one project. Now we discover, one and a half years later, that the Fortis deal has been cancelled due to financial volatilit…
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Mr. Speaker, it is not good enough. That is not a good enough answer. The project was cancelled because of inflation, which the Liberal Party caused. While Canadians are struggling to put food on the table, the government cannot account for $655 million. It is wasteful spending like this $35-billion Infrastructure Bank that is causing inflation, and the Liberals are financing it all on the backs o…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
With regard to the ArriveCAN application: (a) what are the details of all memoranda or other documents received by any minister, ministerial office or senior official related to the ArriveCAN application, including, for each, the (i) date, (ii) recipient, (iii) sender, (iv) title, (v) type of document, (vi) summary, (vii) subject matter, (viii) file number; (b) of the items in (a), which ones cont…
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With regard to the government’s participation at the World Economic Forum and the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance’s role as board trustee of the organization: (a) what are the details of all documents received by the minister, ministerial staff or government officials to support the minister’s role as board trustee, including, for each, the (i) date, (ii) recipient, (iii) sender, (iv…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
With regard to the Known Traveller Digital Identity (KTDI) prototype or pilot project announced by the government in January 2018: what are the details of all memoranda and briefing notes provided to the Minister of Transport or the minister’s office about the KTDI, including, for each, the (i) date, (ii) sender, (iii) recipient, (iv) title, (v) subject matter, (vi) summary of contents, (vii) file…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Madam Speaker, Canadians know that this tax-and-spend Liberal government is not giving them back more money than it is taking from them. The government's carbon tax scheme will force millions of Canadians across the country to choose between heating their homes and eating food this winter. The carbon tax has failed to reduce emissions, and it is not protecting the environment. It is not an environ…
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Madam Speaker, the fall economic statement gets a failing grade. The house is burning down and the Liberals, rather than pouring water on the fire, are pouring fuel on the flames. Spending is out of control, and it has led to inflation. One and a half million Canadians went to the food bank last month, yet the Liberals still plan to triple their tax on groceries, home heating and fuel. Will the Li…
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Mr. Speaker, once up a time, many Canadians trusted the Liberals that interest rates would stay low. Many purchased homes based on this promise. The Prime Minister then added more debt than all other prime ministers combined. Even Liberal Mark Carney has said that “inflation is principally a domestic story”. For many Canadians, inflation is not a story; it is a nightmare. Some mortgage payments ha…
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Mr. Speaker, those benefits will never reach the average Canadian. The Liberals can help Canadians today by getting their spending and taxes under control. People on fixed incomes, such as seniors, veterans and those on disability, are really suffering. Many have written to me saying they can barely afford food to eat. Twenty per cent of them are skipping meals to save money, and people are resort…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, it is my sincerest pleasure to be able to speak to Bill C-9, an act to amend the Judges Act. As someone who has dedicated my life before politics to upholding Canada's justice system and representing those who have been victimized, I will begin these remarks by expressing the necessity for our justice system to be transparent. This bill seeks to improve on the current judicial complai…
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Mr. Speaker, I thank my hon. colleague for that very pertinent question. There is a problem with the public trust. As I said, as a lawyer I appeared before judges and I always had the confidence of knowing that these judges were impartial. However, with some of the things that we have seen over the last few years, even with how the Emergencies Act was dispensed, there is a lot of concern among Can…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, I take deep exception to the comments of anybody who would think that I or my colleagues would slow down the process. I take my job very seriously as a legislator. As I said before, this is something that is very important to me. I believe the bill is very important to the judicial system. I have been an officer of the court as a lawyer. I think it is very important that we maintain i…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, it is very true that, when a judge is charged with improprieties, they should not be rewarded by having their salary or their pensions continue, especially such an egregious impropriety as alluded to by the hon. member. It is my position that a part of this bill has to be the strengthening of the clauses that would take away this privilege from judges and also take away the fact that …
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, I take my job as a legislator very seriously. It is imperative that the people who elect us know that we are not just pushing bills through, but that we are passing the best bills. For that to happen, it means that, when we have time allocation, we use that time to make sure we improve on the bill and we put the best bill forward. That is what I endeavour to do.
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, again that was a non-answer. I was speaking about wasteful spending during COVID. The government also wasted $54 million on a failed ArriveCAN app. One developer replicated this app in one weekend and said it should not have cost more than $250,000. In addition, several contractors said they never worked on the app and never received the millions of dollars the government said it paid…
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Mr. Speaker, while Canadians were distracted during the pandemic, the government engaged in hundreds of millions of dollars of wasteful spending, including $54 million on a dysfunctional ArriveCAN app that discriminated against seniors and sent thousands of vaccinated Canadians into quarantine. Wasteful spending is the cause of this current inflationary crisis. Canadians cannot afford this costly …
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Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister knows that the policies proposed by the Liberals will not reach the majority of Canadian families, yet Canadians are making immense sacrifices just to get by. People are even rationing food. Amy, a first-time mother in my riding, recently wrote to me in desperation. She was worried about not having the basic necessities to raise and care for her baby. The Prime Mini…
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