Government Orders
Madam Speaker, I do not know, it probably is. We did not ask the federal government to borrow public money to build that pipeline. We asked it to get out of the way, so that a private business would invest its money without a hit to the public treasury and allow the thing to get built on its own. I do not know why the Bloc seems keen to call on Conservatives to defend that decision. We never defen…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, the member brings up the Trans Mountain pipeline and, again, Conservatives were not calling upon the government to buy the Trans Mountain pipeline and build it themselves. They were calling upon the government to stop moving the goalposts on their approval process so that Kinder Morgan would commit and build it at its own expense. Conservatives do not believe in the public sector ta…
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Madam Speaker, here we go again. Another Liberal, who would tell Canadians they have never had it so good and will deny that they are in recession, deny that the PBO and private sector economists have downgraded their growth projections and deny that they are misleading the House in their budgets.
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Madam Speaker, Canada is in a recession, but the Liberals, and even some of their apologists among the punditry, say that it is only a technical recession. Allow me to get technical for a few moments. Technically, economic growth is shrinking, and that is how we measure the strength of a national economy. Technically, 40,000 more Canadians are out of work so far this year. Technically, the cost of…
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Madam Speaker, the member spoke earlier in the debate on Alto, and I know how sensitive the people in his riding are about expropriation. Going beyond the expropriation issue, just some cocktail-napkin math here, if it costs $90 billion and, as the McGill study said, there are only going to be 12 million annual passengers, and they borrow the money at, let us say, 4%, that is about $300 a ticket. …
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Madam Speaker, the Liberal government simply seems oblivious to the struggle of real Canadians, whether they are seniors, young people or really anybody. The Liberal government seems more focused on these large bureaucratic structures, giving itself more power to use public money to interfere in what would normally be private investment decisions. I can only imagine where its sovereign wealth fund…
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Madam Speaker, in his speech, the member called upon the government to turn down the arrogance a bit. The Liberals have a majority and they can win any vote they want. They could start being just a little more humble about their performance. I would note that the Minister of Finance recently appeared at the finance committee. He did not answer any of the member's questions. He did not answer any o…
Read full speech →Statements by Members
Madam Speaker, under the Liberal Prime Minister, Canada is the only G20 country in a recession. This was reported last Friday, based on Statistics Canada's negative growth data. Then, yesterday, the Parliamentary Budget Officer reported that there is only a 1% chance that the Liberal government's fiscal anchor will hold. The PBO also said that the Liberals are borrowing $72 billion this year, not …
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to rise to table a petition on behalf of 556 people, mostly from Calgary, who have signed a petition calling on the government for the restoration of diplomatic relations with Venezuela. The petitioners acknowledge that there are tremendous human rights abuses that are ongoing in Venezuela and that Venezuela does not yet have free and fair elections. The lack, the absence…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Madam Speaker, of course we believe in Canada. We believe in Canadians. We do not believe in the Liberal government, because it is the only government in the G20 to lead its economy into a recession. This week, we also learned that the government is borrowing $72 billion this year, not $65 billion as stated in the budget. The Montreal Economic Institute said that the deficit is on track to exceed …
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Madam Speaker, last Friday, we learned that under the Liberal Prime Minister, Canada is the only G20 country in a recession. Yesterday, we learned that there is only a 1% chance that their latest fiscal anchor will hold. The Liberals have, so far, refused to acknowledge their own government's reports. Will they admit today that they caused the only recession in the G20 and that they are already br…
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Mr. Speaker, it is possible because there was a change of government in 2015, and the new government blew it. It really is that simple. I mentioned some of the other advantages, from a government point of view, that the Liberals inherited from the previous government, in fact from previous governments. There was a decades-long running consensus around fiscal discipline in the House, and the Libera…
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Mr. Speaker, if the member meant that we have called upon the federal government to eliminate all the federal taxes on fuel, he is correct that we have called upon it to do so. We are disappointed that the government has not done it. As for subsidies, we are the party of free enterprise, and if the government would simply eliminate all the regulations and laws it has passed since 2015 that prevent…
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Mr. Speaker, it is always a pleasure to speak to opposition motions. Today Conservatives call on the House to recognize that the Liberal Prime Minister has given Canada the only recession in the G7. It is so sad that it has come to this and that we have to call on the House to recognize the sad fact that Canada is in a recession and is the only country in the G7 for which that is the case. Why is …
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Mr. Speaker, there we have it again: another Liberal saying that Canadians have never had it so good. I really wonder whom the member talks to. The member raised the issue of the net worth of Canadians. I wonder if he has bothered to determine just how that average number might work out. Is it that there is an extraordinarily small number of people who have seen their assets inflate in value while…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, we believe in Canadians. They can talk to CEOs. We are talking to Canadians. This Canada-only recession means that there are three unemployed Canadians for every vacant job. It means that taxes, food, housing and other essentials now account for more than 100% of an average family's income. Will this Liberal government admit today that its long-term, ongoing failure to build up Canada…
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Madam Speaker, members cannot mislead the House. The Conservatives never shut down Parliament. We do not have the ability to shut down Parliament. The only party that shut down Parliament was the Liberal Party when it prorogued Parliament.
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, Canada is now the only G7 country in a recession. The Prime Minister spent the last year creating new bureaucracies, racking up debt and refusing to repeal job-killing regulations. Food insecurity is up. Job losses are up. Income insecurity is up. Insolvencies are up, and housing remains unaffordable. The rest of the world faces the same outside factors that this government is blaming…
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Madam Speaker, the bill covers a lot of ground and has been debated for only about three hours. If the member thinks that is sufficient, does he believe that the House is a debating chamber where legislators debate relevant legislation with an aim to improve it, or does he believe that the chamber is merely an audience for people to clap and cheer for those things that are put before it by the cur…
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Madam Speaker, if there is only a minute left, I wanted the member to have the time, if she has something further to add to the previous intervention or anything that was missed so far.
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Chair, for clarity, I am speaking for five minutes and then sharing my time with the member for Louis-Saint-Laurent—Akiawenhrahk and the member for Calgary East, for five minutes each, after I have concluded. In 2015, the minister's government promised to run modest deficits that would fund unprecedented infrastructure spending and would allow the budget to balance itself, as they put it. In…
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Madam Chair, the minister has not answered the question. He has just repeated the same promise that they have been breaking since 2015. Canada's current interest costs for this year are $54 billion. Is that amount more or less than the current federal health transfer?
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Madam Chair, that is another non-answer. The per family debt charge is about $3,400 right now, this year. How much does he think a Canadian family can afford to spend on interest on the federal debt?
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Madam Chair, Canadians are not going to learn anything tonight if the minister will not answer any questions. The interest on Canada's debt is projected to rise by 50%, from $54 billion to $81 billion, in 2030-31. Is that more than future health transfers are budgeted for?
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Madam Chair, the answer is that the debt-to-GDP ratio went up, even though that is the fiscal anchor that they have been claiming for most of the last 10 years. They have broken their fiscal anchor. How much interest per household does he think Canadian families can afford for his debt?
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Madam Chair, they have been claiming for years that there would be a declining debt-to-GDP ratio, but there is not. The debt-to-GDP ratio is rising. Is the debt-to-GDP ratio higher this year than last year, yes or no?
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Chair, those are new ones. He has discharged and cut loose every anchor that they have assigned for themselves. What is going to be their new fiscal anchor they make up next year when this fiscal anchor is cut loose like so many before it?
Read full speech →Statements by Members
Mr. Speaker, I am a fifth-generation Albertan, and I believe in the future for a strong Alberta within a united Canada. I will vote for Alberta to remain a province of Canada. However, members of the House must understand that many Albertans are angry, and I am one of them. We are angry that, since 2015, this Liberal government has made decisions and introduced laws that harm Alberta right up to t…
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Mr. Speaker, we now see the character of this new majority government. Liberals are going to use their numbers to stifle debate and prevent scrutiny of their bills. Since they tabled Bill C-30, there have been maybe three hours of debate. Does the minister think that is parliamentary accountability and a sufficient opportunity for members on all sides to question the minister on his horrific sprin…
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Mr. Speaker, we are debating a motion to cut off debate on a budget bill after only three hours. The minister has been asked repeatedly but has not answered the question. Does he think that three hours is a sufficient debate for the bill?
Read full speech →Private Members' Business
Mr. Speaker, I thank the member for his kind words when he identified me under my former riding name. I am very pleased that the member has been able to move this legislation. It is important. The reason it is important is that we have actually seen a deterioration in the information available to parliamentarians over the last number of years. The Liberals disclose even less information than they …
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, the member's speech covered many key points. One of the most important federal ties to this issue is the Liberals' failure to make the argument in court when they could the first time around, making the appeal of the decision they say they oppose so much more difficult. Could the member maybe comment on that?
Read full speech →Adjournment Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, is he talking about maintaining their fiscal anchors? Is this parliamentary secretary serious? He was not here, I guess. Maybe he has not been here to see how many fiscal anchors have been declared and discarded since 2015, even the one he cited in his remarks. He possibly misspoke, but he said that they have a declining debt-to-GDP ratio. They do not. If we look at the budget, it is …
Read full speech →Adjournment Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, it is a pleasure to rise on adjournment business to seek a little more accountability from the government for its response to a question that I asked in question period a couple of weeks ago. I questioned the government about the deficit, which had not yet been tabled. I simply asked whether or not the government could give assurance to the House that it would not be higher than the p…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, I completely disagree with what the government is doing, and I thank the member for the way he put it. That is exactly what we have seen and what is happening today. The government is undoing the work of a parliamentary committee that did good work on behalf of Canadians. MPs from different parties co-operated with each other and produced sound, principled amendments to deal with a re…
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Mr. Speaker, I have no idea why. The member is asking why the Liberals are choosing to ignore all the testimony and the substance of all three reports. Nobody is saying that sexual assault and misconduct cases must stay within the military justice system. Nobody is recommending that. I have no idea why they are ignoring all the witness testimony they heard and why they spent 11 years not dealing w…
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Mr. Speaker, sexual misconduct in the armed forces is a known long-standing problem. It was known during the previous Conservative government. The previous Conservative government received the Deschamps report, which recommended changes, some of which required legislation, in March of 2015. The report was tabled and its recommendations were accepted just before the 2015 election. If Conservatives …
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Mr. Speaker, I think the member completely missed the point. I was not speaking of the Prime Minister's use of French or English. I was talking about his use of the English word “deputy” when clearly characterizing his MPs as his deputies. The Prime Minister thinks that the MPs of his party are his deputies, just there to do his work. However, they are elected by the people of Canada. All MPs are …
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Madam Speaker, the member spent a fair bit of time in his speech on the excise section. He said the government is halving the rate of excise. I am pretty sure what he meant is that the government is halving the increase on the excise. I would like him to clarify this, so that we do not leave Canadians with the impression that the government is actually reducing the tax on excise. The government is…
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Madam Speaker, with regard to the debt-to-GDP, I did not even have time to get to that slippery bit of accounting that these guys talk about. I heard, yesterday in debate, when they talked about a 10% debt-to-GDP ratio. That is if we are pretending that we have the ability, if we wish, to use the entire assets of the Canada pension plan to pay off Canada's debts. That is accounting trickery. He ta…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Madam Speaker, remember when Justin Trudeau's projected deficit was so bad, Chrystia Freeland refused to table it and resigned, and then Trudeau resigned? They had to get another random Liberal to table it. The update is so bad. It is another credit card budget, with double the deficit that forced the then-finance minister and, eventually, the prime minister to resign. Will the Prime Minister admi…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, let us make no mistake, this is another Liberal costly credit card budget. This budget has record debt, record debt service charges and record spending. This is just more of the same failed approach we have seen for the last 10 and a half years since the government came into power and inherited a balanced budget. This is a failed approach that is continuing to fail. We have a defici…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
[For text of questions and responses, see Written Questions website]
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, I only had 10 minutes. I am glad I got that question. The hon. member raised the tariffs. This is a terrible moment in which we find ourselves with respect to the tariffs. Again, this is the government that said it had the answers. It promised and ran in an election campaign promising a deal by last July. The deal has not happened. There is no visible evidence of progress toward a d…
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Madam Speaker, that is a credit to past prime ministers, who bequeathed this government a balanced budget in 2015. He may note that it gives me no joy to point out that we are at the bottom of the OECD for per capita GDP and that the standard of living in the country has not improved over the tenure of the government. Yes, they are clinging to that one, but we have seen how they discharge all of t…
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Madam Speaker, that is the natural, expected outcome of an economic management system based on rent-seeking and favour-seeking from government.
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We need time for a response. The hon. member for Madawaska—Restigouche has 10 seconds.
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Does the member have unanimous consent to split his time?
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I thank the member. The Chair will take that under advisement and come back to the House as necessary.
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Yes, I did. If the member has a private member's bill to present, the Table was not notified.
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