Government Orders
Mr. Chair, when we are talking about big issues at a national level that are affecting literally thousands upon thousands of people, and when we are talking about macroeconomics and international trade deals, what can often get lost and overlooked is the localized picture and the individual. This is near and dear to my heart, and the forestry sector is near and dear to my heart on a personal level…
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Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister once said that he was a master negotiator who could secure a deal with President Trump by July. He failed, and now he shrugs it off, saying, “Who cares?” and that he does not have a burning issue to speak with the President about. I can help the Prime Minister. New Brunswickers care, because 93% of our exports go to the U.S. The longer this issue goes unresolved, th…
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Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague from Quebec, who delivered a very good speech with a lot of very important messages for Canadians. Our country has a major affordability problem right now. We need to see more being done to address the issues of affordability for everyday Canadians, including our seniors. There was nothing in this budget that addressed the needs of seniors throughout this country.…
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Mr. Speaker, Food Banks Canada reports 2.2 million visits in a single month, double what it was just six years ago. Its CEO says that poverty and hunger have become “the new normal in Canada” and that working Canadians, from construction crews to office staff, “are needing to stop at the food bank on their way home from work”. In rural Canada, where food and fuel already cost more and jobs are oft…
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Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister promised a deal with President Trump by July 21, and he still has no deal. There have been lots of concessions on Canada's part, but there is still no deal. What about lumber? Mills back home in places like Florenceville and Plaster Rock are contending with the challenges these tariffs bring. When Prime Minister Harper faced this issue, he got it resolved in 80 days…
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Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister has said Canadians should judge him by grocery prices. Across Canada, rural families are feeling the pain at the checkout, including in New Brunswick, where groceries are up 23%, far outpacing inflation, yet yesterday the Liberals voted against the Conservative motion to make food more affordable. Instead, they doubled down on their hidden taxes, like the industrial…
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Mr. Speaker, it is so true; Canadians are facing some really tough choices. They are facing some unbelievably difficult scenarios in their own household as they make decisions pertaining to their budget, and that includes seniors and young people. I see in my own home area of Woodstock, New Brunswick, that the local food bank's usage has doubled since the same time last year, and a worker there sa…
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Mr. Speaker, one thing that is abundantly clear is that, in all the considerations of the current government, rural Canada is left out. Our agricultural and natural resource sectors are not top-of-mind considerations. What needs to happen is a reprioritization so the perspective of the people who are most affected by the government's policies and have been harmed by them the most, including our ag…
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Mr. Speaker, I will be splitting my time. It is an absolutely honour to once again rise in the people's House to address the important opposition motion we put forward today for consideration. It is clear that Canada is in the midst of a crisis. Canadians are struggling to afford food, and the cost of living is quickly rising. Many Canadians are finding it harder and harder to meet their everyday …
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Mr. Speaker, I respect my hon. colleague, but I want to say that it is, again, extremely misleading to the House. There is no way possible a government can double its deficits and continue to spend at the rate it is spending and expect inflation to go down. Inflation is continuing to go up, especially as we look at competitive and comparable nations across various jurisdictions. We talk to the fol…
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Mr. Speaker, after 10 years of the Liberal government, Canadians cannot afford groceries. Back home, the Valley Food Bank in Woodstock reports serving twice as many people this time of year compared to last. These increases span every age group, especially seniors. These are our neighbours. They are not just statistics. They are our family members and they are our friends. Can the Prime Minister t…
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Madam Speaker, sometimes, it is better to answer a question with a question. As my hon. colleagues feel that oil and gas and energy development are dirty, bad for the planet and not good for the environment, are they willing to turn down all future transfer payments coming from the oil and gas sector and say they do not want dirty oil and gas money anymore? Do they want all of it reallocated? We c…
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Madam Speaker, it is always good to see my hon. colleague. He is a workhorse here in the House, but I must say that I think he has been sorely misled on this matter. The only ideas the Liberals think make successful projects when it comes to oil and gas are ones they stretch out over 10 years, regulate and strangle to death, and pump billions of dollars of taxpayer funds into, without really incor…
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Madam Speaker, it is an absolute honour to rise in the people's House yet again and to have the opportunity to speak to this, our motion on eliminating the caps on oil and gas and energy emissions, which have been to the great detriment of Canada's unbelievable and incredible potential that has yet to be fully realized. Today I could not help, in preparation for these remarks, reflecting upon a fi…
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Madam Speaker, Canadians are demanding a whole lot less talk and a whole lot more action, and it is time we end the era of Canadian self-sabotage, get out of our way and start to unleash the potential. We have unlimited potential in this country. We just have to—
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Mr. Speaker, I just have a couple of simple questions. It really is quite perplexing. Who has been in power for the last 10 years? Who passed legislation that shut down pipeline expansion and development? Who put in the no tanker ban? Who brought in all these types of legislation that have constricted our economy, held back our economy and talked down our oil, gas, and natural resource and energy …
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Mr. Speaker, what a complete and totally comprehensive non-answer that was. Earlier this week, the Auditor General released their scathing audit, stating that GC Strategies was paid $64 million for the ArriveCAN app, with little to no evidence of any work having been completed. The Auditor General made note that this is just one example of what is likely a widespread issue. There may be a new prim…
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Mr. Speaker, absolutely, we need to get to the bottom of how much has been collected so far through the countertariff measures and make sure that what has been collected is getting to the businesses and families that have been most impacted by these tariffs. It is time we had accountability, and the best way to get that is to have a budget tabled in this House.
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Mr. Speaker, I have another C for the hon. member across the way, and that is called common sense. Common sense would tell someone that they do not talk down the life-giving sectors of this country, namely energy, oil, gas and natural resources, for 10 years, telling them how bad and how horrible it is, how we have to get off it and it is no good. They have provided transfer payments to the rest o…
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Mr. Speaker, my answer is simple. We need to acknowledge the fact that many of the fires in Canada are considered acts of arson committed by people who acted irresponsibly. It is because people are not taking responsibility. We can blame people and do all this other stuff, but primarily let us get our house in order and do the practical things, like good forest management practice. That is common …
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Mr. Speaker, what has become abundantly clear is that people are tired of the contradictions and they are tired of the verbal gymnastics. One thing is said in conversation and grandiose ideas are put forth, but in the reality of walking it out and taking the steps necessary to release the potential of our country, the Liberals do nothing. They talk a great talk, but let us see what they do when it…
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Mr. Speaker, it is an honour to once again rise in the people's House. I always count it a privilege, and it is the first time I am addressing the House with a speech since being re-elected by the great people of Tobique—Mactaquac. I want to express my appreciation and heartfelt thanks to them and to my family for all their love, support and care. It is truly the honour of my life to serve here in…
Read full speech →Statements by Members
Mr. Speaker, I rise to thank again the great people of Tobique—Mactaquac for the honour of serving them here in the people's House. I also want to express my deep gratitude to my wife Crystal, our family and the dedicated team of staff who do the important work every day so that we can be here. I could not do this without them. In the days ahead, we will continue to champion those who are too ofte…
Read full speech →Speech from the Throne
Mr. Speaker, it is an absolute joy to welcome my hon. colleague from Terra Nova to the House, and there is no doubt he is going to be a tremendous addition and complement to the people's House. We heard a lot of recent and happy talk from the other side of the House, the government, about oil and gas. However, it is kind of coded. It is shrouded in talk such as “maybe they are going to do it” and …
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Mr. Speaker, congratulations on your role. I want to commend my colleague from Edmonton Riverbend on the amazing, incredible work that he does for men who have been struggling with their mental health and all those who have been battling with their mental health. It is a very commendable field of work and is much-needed in these times. I wonder if the member wants to comment further in regard to t…
Read full speech →Orders of the Day
Madam Speaker, my hon. colleague is truly a workhorse in the House. He is here and puts in more hours than anyone. A close second, maybe, if he is not first, would be the member for Lakeland, who is here almost as much as he is. They are workhorses. With respect to the question, what Canadians are clear about is that they do not want, at this time of economic crisis, what little relief is being pr…
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Mr. Speaker, yes, I had the better part. I will agree. I remember that when she was with child, I had no way of totally understanding that or relating to it. Members should picture this and go with me now on this journey. Can they imagine what this couple would have been feeling as they started out and a very pregnant lady is on the back of a donkey going down a bumpy road, very much with child, w…
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Madam Speaker, it is always an honour to rise in the people's House. Once again today, sadly and unfortunately, we are continuing to have to hold this government to account as it relates to producing documents that have been repeatedly requested by a clear majority in the House and backed by the Speaker's ruling. Once again, it would behoove this government to act upon on that, and then we can mov…
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Mr. Speaker, it is not smooth on the back of a donkey. It is not comfortable. They are making this journey to a place called Bethlehem. Members can imagine the thoughts they were thinking: “This is not how I imagined it would be, Joseph”; “This is not exactly what I had in mind when we started courting”; and “This is not really what I had hoped for, that I would be stuck on a donkey going to a tow…
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Madam Speaker, I thank my hon. colleague. I always enjoy our time on the fisheries committee as well, and it is always a pleasure to work with her. What Canadians are saying more than anything is that they are seeing a piecemeal approach with gimmicks, tax tricks, and all kinds of fun and cute stuff to pretend that we are doing something. What I hear, over and over again, from folks back home is t…
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Madam Speaker, I always enjoy conversations with my colleague. We had a brief stint on the fisheries committee together. What is glaringly and absolutely obvious is that, every time, the New Democrats go back and talk about what happened under Harper; however, it is nine years later, and they and their party have been propping up a government that has produced no results on the environment and has…
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Madam Speaker, I thank my hon. colleague for his question. I do wish him and his family a very merry Christmas, and a happy and blessed new year. Obviously, I believe all of us are entrusted and are called upon to be good stewards of the land and the earth. I have young children. I have one in grade 7, and a couple in college and university. I want to hand on to my children a better, cleaner and g…
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Madam Speaker, my hon. colleague for Calgary Centre is really and truly a bright mind in the House; he understands finances, financial structures and how they work, and taxation more than most. He is exactly right: So much of this is virtue signalling without any real results that are tangible for Canadians. The carbon tax has cost every sector, because every time someone is taxed, for example whe…
Read full speech →Statements by Members
Mr. Speaker, the NDP-Liberal government can be summed up by two principles: pensions and power. The leader of the NDP will continue to vote confidence in the government so he can receive his pension. It is the perfect partnership. The Prime Minister gets the power and New Democrats get their pensions. It is more hypocrisy from the Maserati Marxist, champagne socialist, jet-setting, high-carbon coa…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Madam Speaker, I rise on the same point of order. It was because of the Liberals and the NDP bringing a bill that led to the murder of women and children.
Read full speech →Statements by Members
Mr. Speaker, I have an announcement. The NDP-Liberal coalition is renewing its vows after a brief two-and-a-half-month breakup. The irreconcilable differences of the NDP and the Liberals have been reconciled by their shared love of pensions and power. We all may love the warm, happily ever after, Hallmark homecoming feel that a reconciled relationship can bring, but while the coalition's renewal o…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, it is always an honour to rise in the people's House and speak on behalf of the good people of Tobique—Mactaquac and New Brunswickers. It is absolutely an honour. Today, I rise to speak to the 13th report of the Standing Committee on Public Accounts regarding climate change, the environment and sustainable development. What is abundantly clear in this report is that the government has…
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Mr. Speaker, my hon. colleague's question is totally irrelevant. The issue at hand is that the commissioner of the environment for Canada was brought before committee, and my hon. colleague from Northumberland—Peterborough South asked a straightforward question. He asked, “In the last seven years, has this government achieved any of the international carbon reduction targets?”, to which the commis…
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Mr. Speaker, what I find interesting is that we had a comparison not that long ago with a neighbouring jurisdiction that basically, as a result of its approach, which was expanding in regard to natural gas development and energy development, became much more energy secure while its carbon footprint diminished. At the same time, we were signing accords and giving wonderful speeches with soaring rhe…
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Mr. Speaker, we certainly do have one. We have a practical environment plan that is much better than the alternative, which is a huge tax plan. Here is the issue: The hon. colleague represents the wonderful province of British Columbia, which has had in place now for over 15 years carbon pricing, or a carbon tax. On the carbon tax, I asked the commissioner of the environment at the natural resourc…
Read full speech →Orders of the Day
Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague for his great question. We have to work together to create a more transparent government that speaks with Canadians and, more importantly, that listens to them. Canadians have been very clear. They want a government that truly reflects their voices and their views. That is what they need. My French is not that great and I am sorry for that, but I am trying. What…
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Madam Speaker, it is a privilege as always to rise in this, the people's House, to bring forward the concerns of Canadians. I do that today with mixed emotions. I do that recognizing the weightiness of the matter that is before the House and what is being considered by the House, but also with hope about is coming in the future. The motion we are debating is on the fact that the privilege of this …
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Madam Speaker, when we reflect on a time when Canada was respected around the world, we were achieving possibilities, were not denigrating our workers and were not attacking the very sectors that provide much of the prosperity that this country has leaned upon. Many of the provinces and regions of the country do not have as much wealth to generate, and we are thankful that we had a prime minister,…
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Madam Speaker, I am glad to talk to this. Canada was respected around the world without question at that time. We were respected and when our prime minister spoke, he was heard at that time. I have come to understand, very much so, that many Canadians, when that question is put them, reflect back and say, “Wow, we were much better off nine short years ago when we were there.”
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Madam Speaker, I thank my hon. colleague from Barrie—Innisfil, for whom I have a lot of respect. There is nothing that unites a people like vision. As I referred to in my remarks, right here on our landmark Peace Tower in Centre Block, there is an inscription that says, “Where there is no vision, the people parish.” Nothing will unite this country faster than a vision for what Canada can be, and n…
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Madam Speaker, on this side of the House, we believe in all of the above when it comes to utilizing Canada's resources, and we want a comprehensive approach. Rather than throwing up roadblocks to the development of resources, we believe in getting out of the way. That is why we have committed to making sure that Bill C-69 gets repealed and that we see the development of energy resources and a rene…
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Madam Speaker, I thank the New Democrats and the Bloc for voting along with us to bring transparency to this matter. The one holding up the proceedings of the House is none other than the Prime Minister himself because of his refusal to listen to the edict of Parliament, the vote of Parliament and the decree of the Speaker of the House, who has said to release the documents. If he would co-operate…
Read full speech →Statements by Members
Mr. Speaker, after nine years of this NDP-Liberal government, taxes are up, costs are up, crime is up and time is up. This punitive and ineffective carbon tax is hurting New Brunswickers, whether it is our seniors trying to keep up with the ever-increasing cost of living while on a fixed income, young families trying to make ends meet, or those who keep our land, and grow and haul our food. They a…
Read full speech →Statements by Members
Mr. Speaker, recently, my sister and her boyfriend were in a serious motorcycle accident. Both sustained substantial injuries. Our family is so grateful that this did not end in total tragedy. We are so thankful to those who walk with others through the shadows of adversity: the concerned citizens, like Mark, Nancy, Steve and Wanda, who stayed and comforted them while help was on the way; the para…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Madam Speaker, it is always interesting to hear from the hon. colleague across the way, who truly is a workhorse in this House. He is here almost every day the doors are open. I commend him for that. I will say this. I find it quite humorous when he talks about disinformation and misinformation and starts to go on these wonderful tirades about these things. I always seem to find that whenever the …
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