Routine Proceedings
With regard to stakeholders that were consulted by the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance about what to include in budget 2024: (a) what were the names and titles of all stakeholders consulted; and (b) what are the details, including the date, location, and manner in which each of the stakeholders in (a) were consulted?
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With regard to the Canada Revenue Agency's (CRA) response to the Privacy Commissioner of Canada's special report to Parliament on February 15, 2024, indicating that a major privacy breach at the CRA involved "vast amounts of sensitive personal information" and that the CRA needed stronger security safeguards: (a) does the CRA accept the conclusions of the Privacy Commissioner that the current proc…
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With regard to the government's participation in the sixth session of the United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA-6) in Nairobi, Kenya: (a) what are the total expenditures incurred by the government to date related to the assembly, broken down by type of expense; (b) what was the total number of attendees that the government paid for, including the (i) official title and department or organizati…
Read full speech →Private Members' Business
Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleagues in the House for this vigorous discussion around Bill C-293. It is an honour to rise on behalf of the good people of Tobique—Mactaquac and the broader concerned citizens across the country today in regards to Bill C-293 and the debate on it. Although some of the attempts of the bill may be laudable in regard to creating a framework for pandemic prevention and pre…
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Mr. Speaker, all the current federal Liberal government wants to do is blame and pass the buck. That non-answer will do absolutely nothing for the Hamilton family in Saint John who are in desperate need of alternatives for housing. Since the Prime Minister has no plan and the Liberals have no chance to build the homes tomorrow and all they want to do is continue to build bureaucracy, why do they n…
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Mr. Speaker, after nine years of the NDP-Liberal government, Canadians are hungry and homeless. Yesterday, it was confirmed at committee what Conservatives have been saying all along, that the housing minister will never meet his targets. In Saint John, New Brunswick, the lack of housing options is leaving a family in a leaky, mouldy apartment. Cory Hamilton, the father of four, is worried about t…
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Madam Speaker, I am glad to rise today in the House to raise a question regarding the bill. There is an expression that says, “Where there is uncertainty, there will be instability”. What we have heard from those who are going to be most affected by the implementation of the bill as it stands without the amendments, very helpful amendments that were proposed by the official opposition, means that …
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Mr. Speaker, after nine years of the NDP-Liberal government, more Canadians are hungry and homeless. We see it across the country with our own eyes, and it is now affirmed by Food Banks Canada's latest report. According to the report, nearly 50% of Canadians feel financially worse off compared to last year, and one in four people is going hungry. I have heard from several food banks that the faste…
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Mr. Speaker, what an incredibly all-encompassing and comprehensive non-answer that was from the member. Just a couple of months ago I visited the food bank in Oromocto, New Brunswick. Oromocto is home to Canadian Forces Base Gagetown, Canada's largest military base. We were shocked when we discovered from the director of the food bank there that it serves upward of 50 military service members and …
Read full speech →Statements By Members
Mr. Speaker, it is an absolute honour to rise in the people's House today and welcome to Ottawa guests from all over the country who are attending the 59th annual National Prayer Breakfast leadership dinner and the Young Christian Leaders Summit. We are excited that there will be record attendance this year, and we are so looking forward to the message of hope that will be shared with all of those…
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Mr. Speaker, I will tell members what we can do. We can do our jobs as His Majesty's loyal opposition to make sure that what gets passed through the House is actually reflective of those whose livelihoods are most dependant upon the very industries that are most affected by the impacts of this bill. We have heard overwhelmingly from those industry stakeholders that this is a flawed bill that needs…
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Mr. Speaker, it is an absolute honour to rise again in the people's House and to address this important bill that is before our consideration here today. Bill C-49 shows a continued lack of true consultation by the current government with stakeholders and on-the-ground industry workers, who have continuously come out to speak out against this bill with fervour. This is the furthest thing from bott…
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Mr. Speaker, the answer is very clear. I find it intriguing that the hon. member from the Bloc Québécois is raising a concern about how we are standing up to reflect the concerns that stakeholders and provinces have raised. These concerns are regarding way too much power being granted to a federal minister. They could come in to stamp out some provincial industries and the areas that impact provin…
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Mr. Speaker, I must say that my concern, as it relates to the federal government's jurisdiction and the role we can play as a federal government, is this: I believe that the federal government should become the biggest cheerleader for Canadian energy on the planet. Canada's energy is the best-sourced energy in the world, and it has the strictest environmental regulations in the world for developme…
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Mr. Speaker, I share the absolute belief in all-of-the-above approach when it comes to energy. Any country that is going to be secure going forward in the geopolitical climate we are in internationally better have solid energy security, reliable energy resources and solid food security. If we do not get those three things right, we are in a lot of trouble. Part of that is all of the above. A big p…
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Mr. Speaker, kind greetings to the hon. member for Saanich—Gulf Islands. On this, I simply would say that it is important that we do an all-the-above approach and not be locked in to just renewables or just one avenue, whether it is solar, wind or nuclear. We need all of the above and move with everyone together. A rising tide will lift all boats. An absolutely all-encompassing energy policy will …
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Madam Chair, I thank my colleague from Kootenay—Columbia for the tremendous work he does on behalf of those in the forestry industry and for standing up for those who work in that sector, like I do in my region of the country, in eastern Canada and in Atlantic Canada as well as in western New Brunswick. What is going to be so needed is that this becomes a priority, instead of just another talking …
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Madam Chair, once again, they love to play this game, but the role of the official opposition is to hold the government to account and to make sure that it comes up with better answers for Canadians' problems and with solutions to the challenges that Canadians are facing. However, that vote was not a vote on a particular line item within a big, huge budget or a spending bill; that was a vote of no…
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Madam Chair, it is an honour to rise once again in the people's House to share about a very important subject that is near and dear to my heart. This dispute has been ongoing for now over eight years without resolution. Quite frankly, for all of the rhetoric saying that this is a top priority of the government, that it needs to be resolved and that the government is seized with the issue, we are n…
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Madam Chair, I thank my hon. colleague from the west coast. We share a passion for getting to solutions on this issue, and engaging with our indigenous friends and indigenous partners on this is critical. It is a huge piece to the puzzle, but it must go beyond just one particular group of individuals or Canadians. It must take on all those who are affected by this across sectors and include what t…
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Madam Speaker, I am glad to rise and answer that question. It is quite something for the current federal Liberal government to take credit for the hard sacrifices and tough choices that provincial governments are making right now to make ends meet, like in my home province, where Premier Higgs is making the sacrifices and the necessary decisions to balance the budget and get us in a place where we…
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Madam Speaker, I rise in the people's House to address my colleagues here on a subject of great importance that we have discussed many times. There is a good reason for it being discussed, which is that it is on the minds of Canadians every day when they fill up their cars, every day when they pay their heat bills and every day they go get groceries. They are looking at the soaring cost of living …
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Madam Speaker, as my hon. colleagues and friends across the way, and in particular the great member for Avalon, would recognize this expression. What is good for the goose is good for the gander. What is good for Gander, Newfoundland, is good for all of Canada, and we need a carbon tax relief for all of Canada.
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Madam Speaker, I never cease to be amazed by the grand eloquence of speech from the hon. member across the way, but I will say this. What we need to recognize is that this party and this leader have stood on the side of hard-working taxpayers, Canadians, from day one, while the member's party have abandoned their principles, walked over and formed a coalition that has only heightened the cost of l…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, I will be glad to tell them that I was voting non-confidence in the government that needs to be replaced. The government has caused the inflationary crisis through reckless spending, and now it is hiking the carbon tax by 23% on gas, heat and food on April 1. If Liberals really cared about Canadians, especially those who sacrifice so much in service to our country, they would listen t…
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Mr. Speaker, I will tell you where Albertan MPs are; they are standing up for their constituents and voting non-confidence in the government, which needs to be replaced. After eight years of the Liberal-NDP government, upwards of 50 active military families are using the food bank I just visited in Oromocto, New Brunswick. Those 50 families are serving at the Gagetown base, Canada's largest milita…
Read full speech →Statements by Members
Mr. Speaker, seven out of 10 premiers around the country have stood against the Liberal carbon tax. Now even the Liberal Premier of Newfoundland has come out and said that it is not working and that it is not worth the cost. The Prime Minister responded by saying, “I think Mr. Furey is continuing to bow to political pressure.” This is not just political pressure; this is the overwhelming consensus…
Read full speech →Statements By Members
Mr. Speaker, after eight long years of the Liberal government, Canadians from coast to coast have had enough, especially those in rural Canada, like those from back home in New Brunswick. The urban-rural divide in Canada has only deepened under the current government. When the Minister of Environment states that it will not be investing in any new roads, rural Canadians feel unheard, overlooked an…
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Mr. Speaker, after eight long years of the Liberal-NDP government, Canadians are tired, ticked and overtaxed. The Liberals continue to fight to keep this punitive and ineffective carbon tax, which goes up again on April 1. In reality, they are fighting to keep grocery prices high and biting the hands that feed us. When we tax the farmer who grows the food and we tax the trucker who ships the food,…
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Mr. Speaker, we request a recorded division.
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Mr. Speaker, I quoted the CEO, Krista Carr of Inclusion Canada. They are raising alarm bells on this matter and this issue at this point. If we do not get this right, we will never get to the other access points. It is absolutely critical that what we do in the House is the most fundamental basic thing, which is to make sure they have access to recovery and to hope. If we do not start there, we wi…
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Mr. Speaker, I thank the hon. member for sharing his thoughts. However, I will take exception to where he is taking that thought. We cannot expect any parliamentarian who enters the House to separate what informs their decision-making process and the values they hold dear when it comes to debates in the House. If this is indeed the people's House, the House of Commons that represents the voices of…
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Mr. Speaker, my colleague is from a neighbouring riding of Fredericton, and it is always good to have good debate and discussion with her. I want to assure her that the concerns we are hearing are that this pathway is being opened up and people do perceive that when someone is struggling in a season of difficulty, they may want to access, through the avenue of MAID, medical assistance in dying, fo…
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Mr. Speaker, I always consider it an honour to rise in the people's House to speak in regard to matters of great importance and consequence for the nation of Canada. I rise with mixed emotions today as, obviously, many Canadians have been grappling and dealing with this issue and have been considering and discussing the issue for years and months. Even more recently, with the expansion of MAID, wh…
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Mr. Speaker, it has been said that the character of a nation is revealed in how it treats its most vulnerable. I cannot think of a higher obligation for the House that houses the representatives of the people to take up than this very discussion. It is a matter of debate that should not be rushed. It should not be shut down and should not be in any way pushed through in expeditious fashion. We sho…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
With regard to the October 26, 2023 announcement temporarily pausing the carbon tax on deliveries of heating oil: when the three year pause is completed in November 2026, does the government plan to tax home heating oil at the current carbon tax rate of $65 per tonne of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e), or will it be taxed at a higher rate, and, if so, what will that rate be?
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, what we did was vote non-confidence in the government as it needs to be replaced. After eight years of the NDP-Liberal government, Canadians from coast to coast are desperate for relief. A potato farming couple from Grand-Sault have seen their freight costs of oil rise over $300,000 a year, due to the implementation of the carbon tax. Now, these Liberals plan to quadruple it, which wo…
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With regard to the Auditor General’s report entitled “Modernizing Information Technology Systems”, in section 7.50: (a) which departments or agencies have requested funding for “modernization needs” and how much has each one requested; and (b) which departments or agencies were represented by the 83% of Chief Technology Officers that expressed they were not satisfied with the available mechanisms …
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With regard to the Auditor General’s report entitled “Modernizing Information Technology Systems”, in section 7.44: (a) what are details of the 22 high-risk projects monitored by the Treasury Board Secretariat (TBS), including, for each, the (i) name of the department or agency overseeing the project, (ii) project name, (iii) description, (iv) action taken by the government to address the concerns…
Read full speech →Statements by Members
Madam Speaker, today, we remember the real reason for the season. C is for the Christ child who was born in Bethlehem that first Christmas night. H is for the hope for all humanity that came down to us. R is for the fact that there was no room in the inn for Him. The question remains: Is there room for Him in our world and hearts today? I is for Immanuel, which means “God is with us”, and He is in…
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Mr. Speaker, yesterday the Liberals voted with the Bloc to keep the tax on farmers. This bill would have saved farmers nearly $1 billion between now and 2030. This Christmas season, people are hurting. P.E.I. farmers are paying between $30,000 and $75,000 more a year due to the carbon tax. A farmer in western New Brunswick has had his cost increase by over 30% on freight alone. This is unbearable …
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Madam Speaker, if one talks to those who grow our food, produce our food, work in our fields and those who represent the farmers, the overwhelming majority of them want this bill passed. This bill is a priority for the Canadian people. This bill needs to be enacted sooner rather than later. Today, we are talking about something that matters to those who put food on Canadians' tables. The best way …
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Madam Speaker, I will remind my hon. colleague that it was the previous Conservative government that tried to pass meaningful Senate reform. The other side of the House fought that every step of the way. They tried to bring it about. Here is the issue. Are we going to listen to what our farmers are saying and enact what they want us to enact, or are we just going to acquiesce to an unelected body?…
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Madam Speaker, I will say to my hon. colleague that the real issue that is at stake is the fact that affordability across this country is a huge challenge for every Canadian. Farmers have been facing soaring input costs and competitive disadvantage for a long time here in Canada. That is not a small issue. Where I come from, they care about this. I hear about it. I receive far more calls on afford…
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Madam Speaker, it is always an honour to be able to rise in the people's House and share concerns and many reflections that we hear from back home. Today, I rise in the House to speak to our motion regarding Bill C-234 and its intention to remove the carbon tax from farm fuels, and to urge the government to take the pressure off its appointed senators to keep holding up this bill. Canadians are fr…
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Mr. Speaker, after eight long years of the NDP-Liberal government, everything is up. Taxes are up, fuel is up, food is up and Canadians are fed up, but they are still hungry. Now, in the midst of this affordability crisis, the Prime Minister has doubled down on his plan to quadruple the carbon tax. We, as common-sense Conservatives, have brought forward Bill C-234, which would create another carbo…
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With regard to the new passport design: (a) how much was spent on the graphic design of the new passport; (b) which vendors were contracted or sub-contracted to do the graphic design work; and (c) how much was each vendor in (b) paid for graphic design work associated with the new passport?
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Mr. Speaker, our desperate Prime Minister, while in total free fall, is now trying to fool Atlantic Canadians by pushing the quadrupling of the carbon tax until just after the next election. It is clear now, more then ever, that the Prime Minister is just not worth the cost. After eight years, everything is more expensive. The government should listen to Premier Higgs of New Brunswick, when he tol…
Read full speech →Statements by Members
Mr. Speaker, after eight long years, Canadians cannot afford any more of these NDP-Liberal fairy tales. The carbon tax, with no way of measuring its effectiveness, according to the commissioner of the environment, is the most expensive, punitive, ineffective and useless virtue signal in the history of Canada. Last week, the Prime Minister finally admitted that Canadians cannot afford it when he an…
Read full speech →Statements by Members
Madam Speaker, on October 10, Prince Edward Island, and indeed all of Canada, lost a distinguished citizen and public servant: the Hon. Jim Lee, who served as premier in Prince Edward Island from 1981 to 1986. He accomplished many things during his time, including playing an instrumental role in the establishment of the veterinary school at the University of Prince Edward Island. He was also instr…
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