Parliamentary Speeches

Government Orders

Mr. Speaker, I am going to split my time with the hon. colleague from Edmonton Manning, a great parliamentarian to work with, a thoughtful guy and a friend. Today, we are debating trade, if members have been paying attention. There are few issues that are closer in the minds of Canadians at the moment. Across the country, Canadians are worried about their families and their savings and whether the…

Government Orders

Mr. Speaker, I know this is supposed to be a gotcha question, but this is the party of free trade. This is a party that signed more free trade agreements and had the richest middle class before the Liberals took over more than 10 years ago. We support expanding trade, but the matter here is that free trade has to be fair for all of the participants. We also cherish our values of freedom, democracy…

Government Orders

Mr. Speaker, last week, the Leader of the Opposition went to the U.K. and Germany, and that visit was received very well. The Leader of the Opposition spoke to the Prime Minister about his visit to the U.S. and stands ready to help. He is going to go to Michigan to speak about auto and to Texas to speak about our resources, to ensure that jobs are kept in Canada. We look forward to that visit. I k…

Oral Questions

Mr. Speaker, for years the Liberals have known that there are hundreds of Iranian regime officials here in Canada. Two hundred and thirty-nine had their visas cancelled, yet we just learned that the government managed to remove exactly one of those. Its excuse is that they might claim asylum, there are no flights to Iran and we must protect their privacy. Meanwhile, an Iranian Canadian critic of t…

Oral Questions

Mr. Speaker, the minister knows there are 700 IRGC agents in this country, and those are just the ones we know about. The minister knows that dissidents are being threatened. He knows that activist businesses are being shot out, and he knows that intimidation is happening under his watch, yet, after three and a half years, the Liberals have deported exactly one of those terrorists. Will the minist…

Government Orders

Mr. Speaker, I will be splitting my time with the member for Sarnia—Lambton—Bkejwanong. I want to start my speech by taking a moment to address the horrific events that took place in Toronto and in Thornhill last weekend. The doors of houses of worship were pierced by a gunman's bullets in the middle of the night. There is nothing more cowardly, more shameful and more un-Canadian than targeting a …

Government Orders

Mr. Speaker, first and foremost, the government needs to recognize this as a national security threat. It needs to recognize this as domestic terror, and that is exactly where the government plays a role, with an integrated capacity from law enforcement. Starting with the RCMP, with partnerships with, in my own province, the OPP and local police, it should start enforcing the law. I almost cannot …

Government Orders

Mr. Speaker, just to make it clear, and I am sure others have made it clear to the hon. member, the prosecution was very clear that that is not why it did not charge him, and this defence is not for calling for violence. That is already illegal, and this bill would change none of that.

Government Orders

Mr. Speaker, it is very clear that the government's motion is not about protecting places of worship. It is about shutting down debate to force through something that was introduced late in the committee stage, not in the original bill. We very clearly offered to the Liberals to take this out and to debate the things that would actually protect religious institutions. Again, after two and a half y…

Government Orders

Mr. Speaker, claiming that a community supports the bill without speaking to clergy is political and government malpractice. The Liberals need to listen to what clergy say right across the country, right through every community.

Government Orders

Mr. Speaker, the member opposite raises an interesting point. There are a lot of these shadow bureaucracies being set up right outside of the bureaucracy, which has grown, by the way, in a disproportionate way. The member opposite should be interested to know that the government is actually looking to set up another $1.5-billion office to buy excess condo stock off the market. The Liberals have no…

Government Orders

Madam Chair, for 47 years, the Iranian regime has ruled in the shadow of repression, crushing its own people, jailing and murdering dissidents, massacring tens of thousands and acquiring a nuclear arsenal. This we have made clear in the debate tonight. For a lot of people, the dream of that regime actually crumbling is closer than it has ever been in their lifetime. There is going to be lots said …

Government Orders

Mr. Speaker, I am not sure that is the burden she thinks it is. We stand on the side of young people who want to afford a house in this country, and she is part of a government that has doubled housing prices, doubled rent and doubled mortgage payments. The Liberals have sat comfortably here while they have done it. Builders have asked them to lower development charges. Builders have asked them fo…

Government Orders

Mr. Speaker, it is nice that the member is actually allowed to get up outside of question period. He is not yelling from the peanut gallery. This program is supposed to deliver 500,000 homes. It is going to deliver 5,000. It has delivered about five so far.

Government Orders

Mr. Speaker, listening to the debate, as I have been, we would not know it, but there is a quiet but growing anxiety in the country. We can feel it in conversations around the community, with those who work in our offices, with the people one potentially goes to school with, with people on the pickleball court. We hear a pause before a young couple answers the question of when they are buying. We …

Oral Questions

Mr. Speaker, Canada now leads the world in shootings against Jewish institutions. We have heard countless condemnations and been offered endless thoughts and prayers from the Liberal government. It has failed to address the fact that terrorists live in Canada, that institutions cannot access security funding and that there is zero enforcement of the laws that are already on the books. I am going t…

Government Orders

Mr. Speaker, in terms of what would improve the organization, there is no question that the federal government has a role to play in housing, but the role is not one of an organization or role that picks winners and losers in a market. It is one that does not distort market conditions to allow these things to be built. It is one where GST can be taken off new homes. It is one where we can incentiv…

Government Orders

Madam Chair, I think it is a concerted strategy. It is a concerted strategy of saying one thing to one group of people at a certain time and an entirely different thing to another group of people. We have seen that strategy play out, where the Prime Minister divides the Canadian population on an issue of foreign affairs without ever taking a position. The only problem now is that everybody sees th…

Government Orders

Madam Chair, we have always advocated the same position: that the freedom of Iran belongs to the people of Iran, that the future of Iran belongs to the people of Iran and that the decision of how they are led in the future only belongs to the Iranian people. We will continue to take that position. By any means necessary, if this regime is one step closer to being toppled, I think that is a good da…

Government Orders

Madam Chair, when members in the House line up with Iranian Canadians, chanting “Woman, Life, Freedom”, supporting the rights of the LGBT community not to be thrown off a roof or supporting women's rights in Iran, what did they think that meant? What did they think the hundreds of thousands of people in the crowd were chanting for? Did they think it was just going to be a magical democracy that ca…

Government Orders

Madam Chair, the path only starts when the current regime is toppled, and we are a step closer to that today than we ever have been in my lifetime and in the 47 years of this brutal dictatorship. The member opposite has a long illustrious career in this place, and I hope she is not suggesting that we just give up when we do not see the outcome we want. That is not what she has done in this place, …

Government Orders

Mr. Chair, I have a comment and a question. First of all, nothing in the combatting hate act would have stopped what is happening in the streets of Toronto. Would the member opposite agree that what is happening in our streets right now is domestic terror? Will he advocate for his government to call it just that?

Oral Questions

Mr. Speaker, the minister still has not said a thing. The community does not need the empty condemnations. They need action from a government that has let this spiral out of control for more than two years. They have taken every side of the issue except for the side that protects Canadians. Fund the security programs, hunt down and lock up the people who perpetrate the violence, enforce the law an…

Government Orders

Madam Chair, I will thank my colleague for his comment.

Oral Questions

Mr. Speaker, yesterday, the immigration minister could not get up in her chair and defend her record. She cannot tell us how many rejected asylum seekers remain in Canada or how many thousands of people came here without a proper security screening, or even give the most basic answers about her job. Her signature bill, Bill C-3, could give citizenship to millions of people abroad with the click of…

Oral Questions

Mr. Speaker, the minister still will not get up in her chair and answer basic questions about her job. Nearly three million temporary visas are nearing expiry without the department having a clear plan, and potentially millions more people are going to become citizens, but nobody over there can stand up and answer a single detailed question about legislation in the House. The only response the Lib…

Oral Questions

Mr. Speaker, they just put up a third failed immigration minister to answer the question. This is actually a really serious issue. They can talk down members of the House. They can call them bad people all they want, but Canada's immigration consensus is crumbling. Stakeholders are not getting their calls returned. Controls are gone, putting pressure on housing, on health care and on jobs, while t…

Oral Questions

Mr. Speaker, it is that minister who left the immigration minister with the mess that she has to clean up. He knows that even Liberal MPs who have been passed over for a decade can see that she is out of her depth because of the mess that he left. These are direct quotes from them: “[She] has no idea how to respond”, “It doesn't make sense” and “she'll put her foot in her mouth.” At what point wil…

Oral Questions

Mr. Speaker, the Liberal immigration minister is out of her depth and the numbers prove it. Eighty-six per cent of rejected asylum seekers remain in Canada, while 25,000 people were admitted without a proper security screening and nearly three million temporary visa holders are nearing expiry with no clear plan in place. Yesterday, the Prime Minister claimed that the system is “under control”, but…

Oral Questions

Mr. Speaker, we need to restore order and fairness in Canada's immigration system. Conservatives have a clear proposal to end the two-tiered health care system, where failed asylum claimants get access to premium health care while Canadians who have paid into the system wait in overcrowded emergency rooms. There is no reasonable justification to oppose fairness for Canadian taxpayers. Why are the …

Private Members' Business

Mr. Speaker, on the anniversary of Russia's brutal invasion in Ukraine, we are reminded of something that should never be controversial in the House: Unchecked tyranny anywhere threatens freedom everywhere. We have seen it in Kyiv. We have seen it in Tehran, and increasingly, we see it reaching into our own communities here at home. Tyranny does not start with tanks. It starts with corruption, wit…

Oral Questions

Mr. Speaker, here they go again, calling anybody who questions anything about them names. In just 10 years, the cost of health care for asylum seekers has skyrocketed from $60 million to over $1 billion. That is a 1,500% increase. They cannot run away from that. Legitimate refugees deserve protection. That is not the issue here. Failed asylum claimants should not be receiving premium coverage whil…

Government Orders

Mr. Speaker, Bill C-14 is going through committee. In fact, it was 19 times that the committee asked for Bill C-14 to be studied. It has been clear in terms of what we have brought forward to the House. While Bill C-14, I think, is a step in the right direction for the victims of crime, and for the criminals who should be in jail, it certainly does not go far enough. We are not going to stand in t…

Government Orders

Mr. Speaker, I will make it very simple for everybody watching at home. It was 19 times that the committee asked for the piece of legislation to be studied. I want to make one thing clear on what Conservatives are doing in this place. We are going to work with the government to bring forward the very pieces of legislation that we have been advocating for, for almost 10 years, in the House. We are …

Government Orders

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to rise today on a motion addressing an issue that is deeply affecting communities across the country, which is extortion. We are debating extortion today in the House for one simple reason: It is a crisis. In just a decade, extortion has increased by 330% nationwide, and in British Columbia alone, it is up more than 500%. These are not abstract statistics; they represent…

Government Orders

Mr. Speaker, the definition of hypocrisy and shame is standing up in this place after 10 years of passing soft-on-crime legislation, creating the crime crisis that we have in Canada, the crime crisis that puts victims at the centre of it. That is the definition of shame and hypocrisy, along with the Liberals' standing in the way every single time we have brought forward legislation or a solution i…

Government Orders

Madam Speaker, I appreciate that the member might not realize that we are speaking to Bill C-10, but I will never apologize for demanding accountability from the government, from the House, from the officers of Parliament and from the bureaucracy, which have promised things in this country and have failed to deliver on outcomes. That is not something that Conservatives will ever apologize for.

Oral Questions

Mr. Speaker, everywhere we look, life is getting harder for young people after a decade of the government. Finding a place to live is harder because home prices, rents and mortgages have doubled. Getting a job is harder because youth unemployment is still double the national average. Even buying groceries is harder, because food inflation is up 100% under the Prime Minister's watch. After paying f…

Oral Questions

Mr. Speaker, the minister can pretend everything is fine, but she is clearly not listening to anything anybody says in the House. Maybe she will listen to Miriam from Toronto, who is 26 years old. She works 12-hour shifts as a nurse. She told CTV News, “Saving for a home [is] completely out of reach right now.” She said that she is barely making ends meet, even after going to school, getting a goo…

Government Orders

Mr. Speaker, as I mentioned in my remarks, it was eight years ago that many of the nations asked that this be housed under the Auditor General. The reason for that is that the Auditor General has the capacity within the office to make recommendations, to find where departments have been coming up short and to provide an avenue to fix that. Just because it has not been done, it does not mean that w…

Government Orders

Madam Speaker, I am pleased to rise today in consideration of Bill C-10, legislation that would create a new officer of Parliament to oversee how the federal government implements modern treaties. At its core, I think it is important to note that this bill proposes yet another office and another bureaucracy to monitor the very departments that already struggle to live up to the agreements Canada h…

Government Orders

Madam Speaker, I would like to just put on the record that the government has been anything but clear regarding its plans on building a pipeline in this country or on getting a pipeline to tidewater. In fact, it is the House who has given the—

Government Orders

Madam Speaker, I thank the hon. colleague for all the work he has done on this file and so many others. I have to agree with him. Reconciliation in this country cannot be achieved by expanding Ottawa's footprint and Ottawa's bureaucracy. That is an important point that resonates right across the country because the government has failed so miserably. Reconciliation is achieved when commitments are…

Oral Questions

Mr. Speaker, my colleague knows that I am talking about a grocery plan, but it does not actually lower the price of groceries. It is a $10 coupon on a $300 grocery bill, and that is insulting. The rebate will not lower a single price. Of course, this comes after the Liberals put forward a budget, which this plan was not even in. Meanwhile, they keep hiking the fuel taxes and the packaging taxes, d…

Oral Questions

Mr. Speaker, three years ago, the finance minister promised to stabilize food prices, and he did so, but at record highs. Canada now has the worst food inflation in the G7. It is twice as high as when the Prime Minister took office and twice as high as that of the U.S. Now the minister is offering another temporary rebate that will not lower the price of a single item, while admitting that his so-…

Statements by Members

Mr. Speaker, the voice of freedom is rising as the brave warriors roar like lions and shine like the sun, determined to reclaim their country and topple the murderous regime in Iran. Sometimes that voice is loud, as it was when 150,000 people filled the streets of Toronto demanding justice, accountability and human rights in the birthplace of modern civilization. Sometimes it is quieter, whispered…

Mr. Speaker, if you seek it, you will find unanimous consent for the following motion: That, notwithstanding any standing order or usual practice of the House, at the conclusion of the time provided for Government Orders later this day, Bill C-19, An Act to amend the Income Tax Act, be deemed read a second time on division and referred to the Standing Committee on Finance, the committee shall meet…

Oral Questions

Mr. Speaker, today is Groundhog Day and, right on cue, the government is back with the same recycled ideas on grocery prices. The Liberals promised a grocery rebate years ago, and food bank lines got longer. They spent years talking about affordability, and prices kept climbing. The Liberals promised action, but after all of that bluster, groceries will cost a family of four more than $1,000 extra…

Oral Questions

Mr. Speaker, I do not think the minister grasps the irony of today. In 2023, that same finance minister promised that he would bring price stability to Canadians. He summoned the grocery CEOs to Ottawa, promised competition and affordability, and then delivered two more years of whatever that was. Now in Canada, we have the highest food inflation in the G7 and over two million people are lined up …

Government Orders

Madam Speaker, it is good to be back in this place after some time away, at home in the community, time made longer by the government that took an extended break from doing what Canadians expected, which is what we are here to talk about. I do wish you a happy new year, Madam Speaker, but I cannot say the same for all Canadians, who over the past number of weeks have watched what is becoming known…