Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, I find it very concerning that I am up here speaking to a bill to keep Canadians safe, a bill I have said is very positive in a sense but that has a release valve in it that would allow judges to not enact mandatory minimums, and the member does not even want to talk about it. He just wants to deflect. Let us get serious here for a second. Canadians want a safer Canada, and the sooner…
Read full speech →Private Members' Business
Mr. Speaker, it is an honour to rise in this House today to speak to legislation that would help restore Canadians' confidence in our criminal justice system and the institutions responsible for keeping our communities safe. My colleague from Niagara Falls—Niagara-on-the-Lake introduced Bill C-232 after hearing directly from the loved ones of victims who were stunned and outraged by a phone call t…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, what a theatrical performance and what a great piece of gaslighting by the Liberals, but I do have some facts here. It is because of that actual member's voting on Bill C-75 that Daniel Senecal was out on bail in Welland for a horrific crime. Most of those members voted for that. That is the actual result of bad Liberal policy that they voted on with Bill C-75 and Bill C-5. Now he is …
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for the question, but I want to be clear. Conservatives want mandatory minimums for heinous crimes. For criminals who attack women and children, we do not want a “get out of jail free” card. We are tough on crime. That is what I believe in. It is why I was elected and why I wanted to become a politician. I wanted to make change. I also want to make sure that when …
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, the fact of the matter is that we can all come into the House, talk about it and feel good about ourselves, but unless we get strict on mandatory minimums, it is all for nothing. That is the real truth. If we leave a loophole in there where a judge can let criminals go, like the Supreme Court did in a child-sensitive material or child pornography case, all is lost. Mandatory minimums …
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank my colleague for sharing her time. Before I get into Bill C-16, I would like to acknowledge that last weekend the great people of Hamilton East—Stoney Creek commemorated the 213th anniversary of the Battle of Stoney Creek, one of the most important victories in Canadian history. In June 1813, a determined force of British soldiers, local militia and loyal settler…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, what a weird day of events. Today we celebrated an astronaut who represents the pinnacle of the Canadian space program, and all members of the House were applauding that, as we should. However, Liberals are now trying to defend a tax boondoggle whereby a piece of land leased for $13,500 a year is being re-leased to the government for $20 million a year. My question for my colleague is…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, I ask for a recorded division.
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, two of the five men accused of murdering a teenager in a terrifying Stoney Creek shooting linked to the GTA tow truck wars are refugee claimants. A source from the CBSA told the Toronto Sun that although they want to remove these individuals from Canada, they keep facing countless roadblocks. The minister does not do anything to make sure that government departments will deport non-ci…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, let me repeat to that out-of-touch Liberal, Canada is the only G7 country in a recession. That member has failed Canada. The Liberals have failed Canada. Parents in Hamilton want job security, a tariff deal and paycheques that can afford groceries. The Stoney Creek Community Food Bank is serving over 120 families per week. The Food Banks Canada report card came out yesterday, and the …
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, I do not know if I am in the House of Commons or the twilight zone. Last Thursday, the Liberal Prime Minister went around telling everyone that we have the second-fastest growing economy in the G7, but on Friday, Statistics Canada reported that our economy shrank in two consecutive quarters. We are in a recession. Canada is the only G7 country in a recession. Today, Liberals are blami…
Read full speech →Statements by Members
Mr. Speaker, just the other day, while I was filling up on gas in Stoney Creek, a member of my community commented on how ridiculous these gas prices are, and I could not agree more. Gas prices are 10% higher in Canada than they are in the United States, which is costing Canadians an average of 16¢ more per litre. Canadians want relief. The Liberal finance minister says they have already acted, bu…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, it is more cost, more taxes, more debt, more on the national credit card, more of the same. The Prime Minister is just another costly Liberal with nothing to show for his waste. Gas prices surged 28.6% in April, grocery prices were up 3.8% in April and energy prices rose 19.2%. My community is being squeezed, and they cannot pay more. Conservatives have a real plan to give Canadians r…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, I would like to touch a little on theory and reality. We heard my colleague across the way talk about launch capability and how it is going to create jobs and all this good stuff, but then we actually have reality. The reality is that Maritime Launch Services leased to Canada for $20 million a year a concrete pad, which is being leased for $13,000 a year. Our Canadian taxpayers are on…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister wants to talk about our country's weakness. The only weakness I see is his broken promise to Canadians in not getting a tariff deal. A new 25% tariff was put on the entire value of goods made with steel, aluminum and copper. This is devastating news for the thousands of workers in Stoney Creek's industrial corridor and the 2.6 million Canadians who rely on U.S. trad…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, I sit on the public accounts committee with my colleague, and that committee is ultimately there to make an account of the taxpayer dollars. What are his thoughts on spending $10.6 million over the next four years of taxpayer money to do the job that a parliamentary secretary, minister and six other agencies currently do, or should be doing?
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, here is a list of what we currently have: the modern treaty implementation office, the assessment of modern treaty implications office, the performance measurement framework, the modern treaties management environment office, the deputy minister's oversight committee and the reconciliation secretariat. We also have the Auditor General reports. How would the new commissioner solve any …
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, I would like to ask my colleague her thoughts on spending $10.6 million over the next four years when, as we have heard many colleagues on our side outline, this is probably what the parliamentary secretary and the minister of this portfolio should be doing anyway.
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, before I start, I would like to recognize all the volunteers across Canada for National Volunteer Week. In my home riding of Hamilton East—Stoney Creek, there are many members of my community who give hours and hours every week to make our city flow. They are the oil between the gears. Without them, kids would not play soccer. Honestly, without volunteers, I would not be here represen…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, this bill would require core providers to retain categories of metadata, including transmission data, for up to one year, covering all users, regardless of whether anyone is a suspect of anything or not. This is a surveillance database built on every Canadian. Why is the Liberal government treating everyday citizens as suspects in this bill?
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, my colleague just mentioned protecting democracy. I would like to hear what her views are on a member's crossing the floor and abandoning 53% of the vote in her riding.
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, after years of Conservative pressure, the Liberals have announced a watered-down version of our Conservative plan. The Liberals are only removing a third of the fuel tax for a third of the year, all while still collecting up to $10 billion more from taxpayers. I have heard from the community I represent in Hamilton, and that is not enough. Conservatives would remove the whole tax for …
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister confirmed that Conservatives have the solution for Canadians, but he is delivering only a third of our plan. Liberals are keeping the GST and the clean fuel standard. It is time to cut all the tax for a full year. Our plan will cut an extra 25¢ per litre, which will save families $1,200 per year. This is what Hamilton wants. Let us make it a great day for Canadians.…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, today the Prime Minister succumbed to Conservative pressure. I would like to congratulate my colleague for all of his hard work. Today, because of him, Canadians are saving money at the pumps. The Prime Minister has cut half of the taxes until Labour Day. How important is it that the Prime Minister cut all fuel taxes for the rest of the year?
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, it is clear that the Prime Minister caved to Conservative pressure today and announced that he will make some cuts at the pumps. That could not have happened without the hard work on this side of the aisle, but it has fallen short. Can my very good friend and colleague explain why voting tomorrow for this motion to save Canadians even more money is essential for the folks in his ridin…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, the Liberals came out today, but I do not think they were prepared for the Prime Minister to announce that he was going to adopt Conservative policy, and so most of their debate has been on everything but cutting the gas tax. The Liberals and the Prime Minister have come halfway: half the taxes until Labour Day. My question to the member is: Why not cut all the taxes for the rest of t…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, I find it concerning that the member called our motion “unserious” when clearly it is serious enough that the Prime Minister just had a press conference on it. What I find unserious is that he took his time and, instead of talking about gas taxes and how to save Canadians money at the pumps, he just talked about housing most of the time. Does he believe that Canadians should get relie…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, the Conservatives on this side have been listening to Canadians, and that is why we have brought forth the cutting of gas taxes. Today we have seen that the Prime Minister has caved to Conservatives, because we are actually listening to Canadians, but again it is not all the way. It is halfway. I would like my colleague to enlighten us on why this is so important to his riding, becaus…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, I hope my colleague on the other side can advise his colleagues to stop calling us obstructionists, because today we have witnessed what a healthy opposition can do. We have held their feet to the fire. We have been calling for zero tax on gas and now the Prime Minister has actually made an announcement that he is going halfway until Labour Day. We want zero taxes for the whole year. …
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, the member's colleague, the parliamentary secretary, just said part of the plan and strategy was to wait it out. I would like to know if the member supports that ideology and thinks that workers who are out of work in the auto sector should go along with the strategy to just simply wait it out.
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, we heard a lot of things in the House today in this debate, and we did not actually hear too much of what the Liberals' plan is. I have a quote, since we are speaking of quotes. The parliamentary secretary said he will continue to “wait it out”. That is a part of their plan and strategy. That does not go very well for the Hamilton auto parts sector. I would like to ask my hon. colleag…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, what we have just heard from the other side is that there is a need for more research and more time to consult, but they have had one year to get a deal done, and they have produced zero. In that year, there have been closures and job losses. We are now stalled in talks with America. We, the Conservatives, have put forth a clear plan that calls for a tariff-free auto pact. That member…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister has been caught misleading Canadians. After his trip to Beijing, he claimed human rights violations and foreign interference were discussed in meetings with CCP leaders. However, the government documents I requested revealed that neither of these topics were discussed in any of the bilateral meetings. Today, the Prime Minister is trying to change his story yet again…
Read full speech →Statements by Members
Mr. Speaker, there are heroes among us today, and if it were not for them, a life would have been lost. Two days ago, a member of my office suffered a sudden medical emergency, and in those critical moments, parliamentary assistant Ellena Yazdani, Constable Maxime Patry-Lavigne, Constable Matthew Sargeson and many other members of the Parliamentary Protective Service acted immediately. Because of …
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, I would like to ask my colleague this: Do you agree with or denounce what the Minister of Canadian Identity and Culture said when he stated that prosecutors should have the discretion to press charges on some passages from Leviticus and Romans?
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, just last week almost 300 people came out to a Bill C-9 religious freedoms town hall, and in the last half an hour, I have had a flood of emails. Shutting down debate in committee goes against everything that these people want from their members of Parliament. I would like to ask a question of my fellow member. We hear a lot of talk from the other side that we are obstructionists and …
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, in December, the Stoney Creek food bank saw a record 1,694 total visits, the largest number since 2022. Also in December, the Fare Share Food Bank in Oakville saw the largest number of people they have ever served, over 913 families. Canadians rely on food banks because food prices have skyrocketed by 7.3%. How many Canadians need to visit a food bank before the Liberals stop strangli…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, I rise today to speak to Bill C-20, legislation that would transform Build Canada Homes into a Crown corporation and expand yet another layer of federal bureaucracy in the housing file. At a time when Canadians are facing the worst housing affordability crisis in a generation, what they need is action that lowers costs and unleashes supply. What this bill offers instead is more bureau…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, yes it is. Conservatives believe that the only way to restore the dream of home ownership in stable rental markets is to unleash supply at scale. Our approach is clear. First, we would cut the GST on all new homes under $1.3 million. That would save families up to $65,000 and immediately stimulate construction activity across the country. Second, we would tie federal infrastructure do…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, simply put, Canadians want action. I knocked on 120,000 doors and I met a lot of young adults who lived in basements. While the government wants to do more research on what is happening, on this side of the aisle, we actually talk to young Canadians. We actually hear their wants and needs. We actually listen to Canadians. We formulate our thoughts and we try to execute. Some members o…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, there have been more examples of admissions of failure. We have heard them in the House. I have heard many 10-minute speeches that do not actually speak to Bill C-20. It is much like when I hold stakeholder meetings back in Hamilton, which I do regularly with the housing sector. I ask them whether they understand Build Canada Homes, and not one of our experts in the Hamilton-Wentworth…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, I would like to possibly explore it and we could talk about it. I have not seen anything cross my desk, but we on this side are open to many different decisions and collaborations. Maybe we could talk about that further.
Read full speech →Statements by Members
Mr. Speaker, I stand today to commemorate Serbian Statehood Day, also known as Sretenje. February 15 is a day that speaks of faith, humility and the encounter between the human and the divine. It is also the day in 1835 when Serbia adopted its first modern constitution, a symbol of liberty, dignity and the rule of law, values deeply shared with Canada. Our two nations stood together in the darkest…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, Canadian taxpayers should not be subsidizing American EVs when the U.S. trade conflict has already cost 5,000 Canadian auto manufacturing jobs, 37,000 since the Prime Minister took office. He needs to stop this insult to Hamilton auto workers and work with us to put Canadian auto jobs first. This is a time when the Canadian auto sector is looking for unity and action in standing up to…
Read full speech →Statements by Members
Mr. Speaker, I solemnly rise in the House today to offer my most sincere and heartfelt condolences to the family of Canadian Armed Forces gunner Sebastian Halmagean, or as we knew him, Sebi. A resident of Stoney Creek and someone I have been privileged to know and watch grow up since he was five years old, Sebastian was a gunner posted to the 4th Artillery Regiment of the Royal Canadian Artillery.…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, I rise today to table a petition on religious freedom on behalf of Canadians and, more specifically, the good folks of Hamilton East—Stoney Creek. Religious freedom is a serious issue, which Bill C-9 has overreached. Simply put, this petition is telling the government to stay out of places of worship and respect the religious freedoms of every Canadian citizen.
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, while Canadians cannot afford to put food on the table, the Liberal Prime Minister spent nearly 800,000 taxpayer dollars to charter a flight to Egypt. While he was jet-setting, the reality here at home is that grocery prices have skyrocketed, and “Canada's Food Price Report 2020” shows that it is expected to get even worse. The report confirms that, in 2026, Canadians will pay an extr…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, I would like to remind the member from Hamilton over there that, instead of chirping us and heckling us, he should visit a food bank in Hamilton. The Stoney Creek Community Food Bank is serving 60 people per day. That is up 400% in the last two years. Last week, youth visits were up double compared to this time last year. It is no wonder food is so expensive. The industrial carbon tax…
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