Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, under the current Liberal government, Canadians are paying record high taxes. Liberal inflation means Canadians are also paying record high prices for gas, groceries and home heating bills. Millions of Canadians are skipping meals or using food banks because they cannot afford to buy groceries, and millions more will have to choose between heating and eating this winter. Canadians are…
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Mr. Speaker, it is unbelievable for the government to brag about a system and policies that have 1.5 million Canadians using food banks every month and that have one in five Canadians skipping meals because they cannot buy groceries. We will take no lessons from a government whose policies are creating higher interest rates, higher inflation and out-of-control spending that is driving up the cost …
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Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister was warned about his reckless spending. He was told it would lead to interest rate hikes and inflation, and he laughed off those concerns. Now, because of Liberal inflation, millions of Canadians are using food banks every month, and millions more are skipping meals because they cannot afford to buy basic groceries. They lay awake at night knowing they do not have t…
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Mr. Speaker, what we are opposed to is the Liberal plan and Liberal policies that have led to millions of Canadians every month using food banks and cutting back on meals because they cannot afford groceries. Even the future Liberal leader, Mark Carney, has said that this inflationary crisis has principally been created in Canada. The Prime Minister cannot blame others for the crisis he has create…
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Mr. Speaker, it is a bit rich to hear the Liberals blaming foreign oligarchs for attacking the Canadian energy sector. Every day we hear heartbreaking stories of Canadians struggling with the cost of living crisis caused by the Prime Minister's policies. Liberal inflation is forcing people to cut back on groceries, with many having to turn to food banks for the first time ever. Canadians are stret…
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Mr. Speaker, thanks to Liberal policies, gas is up to nearly two dollars a litre and grocery bills are up 15%. It now takes about half of a Canadian's paycheque to pay their housing costs, and the cost to heat those homes during a Canadian winter is about to rise up to 300%, yet somehow the Prime Minister thinks this is the time to propose Liberal tax hikes that would make everything more expensiv…
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Madam Speaker, the member does not seem to care that the price of food has gone up for Canadians. He laughs when I bring up things about food banks. He simply cannot stand to hear the truth, and he wants to make it worse. The member for Kingston and the Islands wants to vote to make gas prices higher. He wants to vote for less money in the pockets of Canadians. He can defend that, and I will defen…
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Madam Speaker, I would suggest that the member from British Columbia is not listening to his constituents. They are struggling, just as my constituents are struggling. However, he says that we have never had is so good, that at $2.25 a litre, what is the big deal? To them it does not matter, and they are going to raise the price, which is what the Liberals are promising to do. They will triple the…
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Mr. Speaker, the B.C. price on pollution, as the minister calls it, has not reduced emissions, and the rebates do not go back to British Columbians. They go to the NDP government in Victoria. What he would see is the tripling of the carbon tax, which would result in the $2.25 going to $3 a litre. We will never accept that. Why will he not cancel the tripling of the carbon tax and stop gouging Brit…
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Mr. Speaker, Canadians are struggling to make ends meet under the Liberal government. In B.C., the cost of gas is now over $2.25 a litre. The cost of groceries has skyrocketed to a 40-year high. The Liberals are set to make things worse. On January 1, the government is planning to increase taxes on paycheques, ripping money from Canadians' pockets and stuffing government coffers instead. Why will …
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Madam Speaker, what would have helped in my region of the Fraser Valley would have been raising the dikes, not raising the carbon tax. We could have used multiple governments, including the NDP B.C. government, which had failed to invest in the infrastructure necessary to protect our communities. My constituents are tired of hearing about fancy conferences around the world where they discuss raisi…
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Madam Speaker, of course, my colleague is wrong about the issue with gas prices. When governments across the country cut sales taxes or gas taxes in places such as Alberta, the prices plummeted overnight. The price per litre plummeted for people in those regions. For people in regions like mine, we had another motion where we tried to get the GST cut on fuel and to suspend the carbon tax. Of cours…
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Madam Speaker, it is a pleasure to speak in the House today on behalf of my constituents in Chilliwack—Hope. I will remind everyone that today we are discussing a motion that states: That, given that the cost of government is driving up inflation, making the price of goods Canadians buy and the interest they pay unaffordable, this House call on the government to commit to no new taxes on gas, groc…
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Mr. Speaker, from 1896 to 1948 the British Home Child program saw over 100,000 boys and girls shipped from the United Kingdom to Canada to serve mainly as cheap labour for the families they were placed with here. While some of these children were treated well, many others were seen as no more than indentured servants and suffered horrible abuse at the hands of those who were supposed to care for t…
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Madam Speaker, the member said he has not heard anything from Conservatives. I would suggest he has not been listening. I commend to him the speech of the leader of His Majesty's loyal opposition this morning, in which he talked very clearly about alternatives to simply tripling the carbon tax. I want to talk about my own home province of British Columbia, which has had a carbon tax for a number o…
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Mr. Speaker, every day I hear heartbreaking stories from my constituents struggling to put food on their tables and keep a roof over their heads. People are at their breaking point. They have nothing left to give, but the government wants to take more. It is set to raise taxes on paycheques, home heating, groceries and gas. Why will the government not stop making things worse and cancel its punish…
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Mr. Speaker, we certainly do not support the Liberals' plan to raise taxes on the paycheques of Canadians, raise taxes on their gas, raise taxes on their groceries and raise taxes on their home heating. We will never support that plan. Grocery prices are up 10%. Gas now costs over two bucks a litre in the Lower Mainland of B.C., and housing now eats up 50% of Canadians' paycheques. Why will the Li…
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Mr. Speaker, I have listened with interest to the debate today and would like the parliamentary secretary to comment on something my colleague from the NDP in British Columbia brought up about people with disabilities experiencing such despair with respect to not being able to find adequate housing, adequate supports or, in many cases, a family doctor in British Columbia. They are turning to MAID,…
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Mr. Speaker, in an interview with Reuters last year, the Prime Minister said that his government had no plans to implement vaccine mandates because they could have knock-on, undesirable effects in our communities. He also said that bringing in vaccine passports could have real, divisive impacts on Canada. Even though he knew the harms they would cause to our country, the Prime Minister went ahead …
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Mr. Speaker, there are currently two groups of people prevented from getting on commercial flights in Canada. The first group are those on the no-fly list, an air security program that prevents individuals who may commit a terrorist act from getting on a plane. The second group banned from flights in Canada are Canadians who have not been vaccinated against COVID-19. Why are the Liberals treating …
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Mr. Speaker, at well over $2 a litre, British Columbians are paying the highest gas prices in North America. It now costs over $150 to fill up a minivan: more than a day's wages for many Canadians. They are worried and struggling to make ends meet. Other jurisdictions have responded by cutting fuel taxes, but the Liberal-NDP coalition voted against a Conservative motion to cut gas taxes and then m…
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Mr. Speaker, when Russia invaded Ukraine, Chilliwack-based Hungry For Life International sprang into action, using their local knowledge, network and team in Ukraine to provide humanitarian aid to those directly impacted by the war. The Hungry For Life team, led by Chilliwack's own Chad Martz and his wife Mary, a Ukrainian national, has already provided food and shelter to thousands of people ther…
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Mr. Speaker, while the provinces have all signalled an end to their vaccine mandates, the Liberals are continuing to punish Canadians who are not vaccinated. Unvaccinated Canadian citizens cannot get on an airplane to fly inside of their own country to attend weddings and funerals or visit ailing relatives. They are unable to travel for work, which impacts their ability to provide for their famili…
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Mr. Speaker, we are here today because the Prime Minister has already invoked the Emergencies Act. What we are debating in the House is whether or not we believe that his invocation of the act should be endorsed or revoked. In order for the House to endorse the invocation of the Emergencies Act, two very high thresholds need to be met. The government, at the time that this legislation was introduc…
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Mr. Speaker, who I have aligned myself with are the Canadian people who have rights under our Constitution and who do not deserve to have those rights trampled upon because there is a protest taking place in a few city blocks of Ottawa. This does not meet the threshold of the Emergencies Act. As much as the Liberals want to say it does, the only emergency is a political emergency for the Prime Min…
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Mr. Speaker, I am surprised the hon, member, being so terrified of what he sees outside, found his way into the House of Commons. It must have been very difficult for him to walk past the bouncy castles and the kids' play area to get inside. This is a ridiculous argument. The idea that somehow a manifesto by a few people on the Internet is a threat to the national security of the country, is a cle…
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Mr. Speaker, I said that it was the predecessor to the Emergencies Act, which is demonstrably true. I think it is quite simply ridiculous. I heard another Liberal member say just before that the government has done an impeccable job of managing this situation. I think Canadians would disagree. It has been a catastrophe. However, the government's catastrophe and the failure of the Prime Minister do…
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Madam Speaker, I rise on a point of order. I would ask for the unanimous consent of the House to change my vote in the vote that took place after question period. I had technical difficulties that prevented me from changing my vote to yea and from joining Zoom, so I would ask for the indulgence of the House to have my vote recorded as having voted in favour of Bill C-10 in that vote.
Read full speech →Statements By Members
Mr. Speaker, we now know that, before the last election, the Prime Minister made a very purposeful political decision to divide Canadians based on their vaccine status, deliberately tearing at the fabric that unites Canadians in order to hold on to his own privileges and power. The Prime Minister continues to purposely stoke anger and division, hoping that Canadians will turn on each other rather …
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Mr. Speaker, a year ago, the Prime Minister rejected vaccine mandates, calling them “extreme measures that could have real divisive impacts on [our] community and country”. Since then, no one has created more division than the Prime Minister, pitting Canadian against Canadian and using vaccine status as a dangerous political weapon. In the words of a senior Liberal today, “Now that we have one of …
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Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister is double-vaccinated, had his booster and just contracted COVID-19, so using mandates to discriminate against Canadians based on their vaccine status is absolutely punitive and discriminatory. A senior Liberal called on the Prime Minister to stop dividing Canadians on the issue of vaccine status. When will the Prime Minister start listening to science, start listeni…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, I rise to present a petition in support of Bill S-223, which seeks to combat forced organ harvesting and trafficking. It would make it a criminal offence for a person to go abroad and receive an organ taken without the consent of the person giving the organ. This bill passed unanimously in the House of Commons in 2019 in exactly the same form, and the petitioners are hoping that this …
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Mr. Speaker, today I pay tribute to the people in my riding of Chilliwack—Hope for their selfless and heroic actions during the B.C. storm last month. Farmers rushed into rising flood waters with their trucks and trailers to help their fellow farmers rescue thousands of animals in the Sumas Prairie. Hundreds of people sandbagged in the middle of the night to prevent a catastrophic failure of the B…
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Madam Speaker, it was a Conservative government that first recognized the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples as an aspirational document. We do have some concerns with how the free, prior and informed consent provisions of UNDRIP mesh with, quite frankly, the Canadian Constitution, section 35, and the duty to consult and accommodate, which has been honed over years in t…
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Mr. Speaker, I have been thinking about that over the last number of days as well. What we tried to do when we were in government was to give first nations the opportunity to opt out of large sections of the Indian Act. It is very difficult at this time without recognizing the different sizes, regions and opportunities that exist for over 600 first nations to simply eliminate the Indian Act. It ne…
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Mr. Speaker, I will begin today by acknowledging that I am speaking from the traditional Stó:lo territory. On behalf of the people of Chilliwack—Hope, I want to acknowledge the suffering and trauma that the discovery of the remains of 215 children at the residential school in Kamloops has brought to residential school survivors in our community. We stand with them during this difficult time and ar…
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With regard to amendments to the Canada Labour Code that expand the application of the Code to cover ministerial staff and their employer, adopted in Bill C-65, An Act to amend the Canada Labour Code (harassment and violence), the Parliamentary Employment and Staff Relations Act and the Budget Implementation Act, 2017, No. 1, and broken down by minister’s office, including the Office of the Prime …
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With regard to government statistics on telecommunications, including Statistics Canada: (a) what is the total and mean GDP impact arising from rural communities and remote indigenous communities’ broadband connectivity, broken down by per capita and per community; and (b) what percentage of the spectrum from the (i) AWS-1, (ii) AWS-3, (iii) 600 MHz bands, that have been auctioned off to telecommu…
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With regard to the implementation of amendments to the Canada Labour Code adopted by the adoption of Bill C-65, An Act to amend the Canada Labour Code (harassment and violence), the Parliamentary Employment and Staff Relations Act and the Budget Implementation Act, 2017, No. 1, and broken down by department, agency, Crown corporation, or other government entity: (a) has an harassment policy compli…
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moved for leave to introduce Bill C-297, An Act to amend the Fisheries Act (selective fishing programs). Madam Speaker, it is an honour to introduce my private member's bill, the selective fisheries bill, which would provide more opportunities for public selective fisheries in my riding of Chilliwack—Hope and across the country. Vulnerable salmon stocks need to be protected and conservation is the…
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Madam Speaker, everyone is interested in the safety of pipelines. Everyone is interested in the environmental protection of waters. It is why pipelines undergo the most rigorous environmental testing and constant monitoring. Everyone wants to see the environment protected and the safest way, the most environmentally friendly way, to transport petroleum products is through pipelines. It always has …
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Madam Speaker, the proof is in the pudding. Line 5 has operated safely without major incident for 68 years. Enbridge has proposed additional safety measures to improve the safety of an already safe pipeline. Yes, there are constant measures, world-leading measures. Any time there is a Canadian pipeline, we know it will be the safest in the world, built to the highest standard and have the highest …
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Madam Speaker, we did bring forward an opposition day motion on Line 5. It created the Special Committee on the Economic Relationship between Canada and the United States, which was specifically tasked with hearing from witnesses and delivering the report we are discussing today. I am sorry the parliamentary secretary to the government House leader has not been able to follow the parliamentary pro…
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Madam Speaker, it is a pleasure to share time with the member for Calgary Centre, who did an excellent of job laying out the Conservative Party's frustration with this situation. The potential shutdown of Line 5 has been on our radar since November of 2020 and, once again, the government has ignored a deadline or failed to manage to a deadline. We are now two days away from that deadline and we ha…
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Mr. Speaker, we have been very clear that this is truly unfortunate. I would say again that telegraphing that this was coming has prevented the negotiation from occurring under pressure. That is often when deals get done, when both sides realize that the time has run out and it is time to get down to brass tacks. The minister released the pressure valve, which is unfortunate. For a number of compa…
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Mr. Speaker, the government should have used all the tools in its toolbox before coming to back-to-work legislation. It is obviously the hammer in that toolbox, and it is a tool that governments should be very hesitant to use. As I have said numerous times, whether the government's intentions were good, whether it sat in on a number of meetings or not, the fact of the matter is that it did not get…
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Mr. Speaker, it has been a pleasure to work with the member on the special committee on the U.S.-Canadian economic relationship. He mentions that this issue is having an impact on our economic bottom line. The real danger here is that, with a couple of work stoppages in such a short period of time, questions about the long-term reliability of the port are obviously raised. We cannot make a decisio…
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Mr. Speaker, it is always an honour to speak to this House, this time from Chilliwack remotely. My hon. colleague, the opposition House leader, had excellent remarks. I am always pleased to share the virtual stage with him. He mentioned a few things that I want to build on. Primarily, government members like to pat themselves on the back for their intentions. They always have good intentions and t…
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Mr. Speaker, it is interesting that the minister is saying she is doing this with a heavy heart, but the fact is that she is doing it. In fact, from the discussions we have had, it is clear that she telegraphed that this was an option she was considering. Since she has done that, the negotiations have taken a real turn for the worse. Therefore, I would like to ask the minister a question. Often de…
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Mr. Speaker, it is my honour to recognize the 118th anniversary of the Laborers' International Union of North America. From its start in 1903 as a construction union, its members can now be found working in all sectors of the economy. In its proud history, LiUNA has played an important role in building strong communities. They help ensure working men and women enjoy the benefits of a growing econo…
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