Statements by Members
Mr. Speaker, there used to be a formula that worked here in Canada. It was simple: Job plus hard work equals paycheque, minus mortgage or rent, bills, and taxes equals money to save and put towards the future. Under the Liberals, that formula has become fundamentally broken. Now, most people are barely getting by with the wages they earn. The prospect of owning a home, being able to raise a family…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Madam Speaker, my colleague touched on the lack of action on basic services. When I travel through York—Simcoe, people are talking about the lack of children's Tylenol. They are talking about lineups at airports. They are talking about passports. They are talking about a public service that has increased employees by 30% for worse outcomes. The government is failing us with basic services, and in …
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, I do not want to talk about the failures of the government on ports, airports, health care or the numerous other things I could go on and on about. We now have a federal government that seems to be going around the provinces with this bill, and I wonder if the member could comment further on that.
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, we are talking about global inflation and the reality is that Canada is the worst in the world. If we look at our ports, the Port of Vancouver is the worst in the world. Toronto Pearson International Airport is the worst airport in the world. People are waiting in line for passports for days. These are the failure of the Liberal-NDP government. I want my colleague to comment on health…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, I am happy to rise today to present this petition on behalf of the hundreds of York—Simcoe residents who have signed it. Whereas high inflation rates are driving up the cost of living for all Canadians, the price of gasoline and diesel is hitting record highs across Canada, making it more expensive for Canadians to get to work, transport goods and live their everyday lives. The Govern…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, small businesses are being buried under layers of red tape and tax hikes by the Liberals. Take onions: It is now cheaper and easier to import onions from Turkey than buy Canadian. First there is red tape, as Canadian onion exporters face inspection delays and costs, and then there is the carbon tax, which also drives up costs and makes Canadian onions more expensive than those shipped…
Read full speech →Statements by Members
Mr. Speaker, I rise today with a heavy heart, along with my colleagues from Barrie—Innisfil and Barrie—Springwater—Oro-Medonte, to honour Constable Devon Northrup and Constable Morgan Russell, members of the South Simcoe Police Service, who tragically fell in the line of duty last week. These brave men gave everything they had to protect their communities and ultimately sacrificed their lives doin…
Read full speech →Statements by Members
Mr. Speaker, the devastating impact the Liberals are having on our country will be deeply felt this Thanksgiving. At a time of record-high inflation and rampant unaffordability, many Canadians will struggle to afford their Thanksgiving meals. Others will find it difficult to pay for fuel or fare to visit loved ones, and those travelling by air will be faced with delays and cancellations. Some will…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, LaRue's Haulage in Keswick has served the community of York—Simcoe for over 75 years, but the future is looking bleak for small businesses like theirs because of the carbon tax. LaRue's has paid more than $65,000 in carbon taxes since May, and that is with just 20 trucks on the road. They are holding on by their fingernails, but with the carbon tax tripling, local businesses like LaRu…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
With regard to the National Capital Commission (NCC) and the O'Brien House on Meech Lake: (a) what specific measures, if any, were taken by the NCC to maintain the property and prevent it from falling into disrepair between November 1, 2019, and June 16, 2022; (b) on what dates, between November 1, 2019, and June 16, 2022, was the building without a tenant or occupant; (c) what measures, if any, a…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
With regard to the National Capital Commission (NCC) and the Mackenzie King Estate in Gatineau Park: (a) what is the detailed current state of the property; (b) what are the details, including the date, the project description and the cost, of every project the NCC has done since 2018 to improve, upgrade or maintain the property; and (c) what are the details of every project the NCC plans to do be…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
With regard to Environment and Climate Change Canada providing fines to companies that illegally shipped or transported waste overseas, since January 1, 2016, and broken down by year: (a) how many fines or other financial penalties were issued; and (b) what are the details of each fine or financial penalty, including for each the (i) date of the incident, (ii) date of the fine, (iii) amount of the…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
With regard to the consumption of alcohol on flights taken aboard government-owned Airbus and Challenger aircraft, since January 1, 2019, and broken down by each flight where alcohol was consumed: (a) what is the value of the alcohol consumed; (b) what was the origin and destination; (c) what was the flight date; (d) what is the breakdown of alcohol beverages consumed by specific beverage and quan…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, it is not just passports and airports; the government is dropping the ball everywhere. Canadian pilots have been waiting over a year for Transport Canada to approve their category 1 medical exams. Without these medicals, aspiring pilots cannot continue their training, existing pilots cannot get relicensed and pilots on leave cannot return to work. Delays and inaction under the Liberal…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
moved for leave to introduce Bill C-280, An Act to amend the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act and the Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act (deemed trust – perishable fruits and vegetables). Mr. Speaker, I am very excited today and I am pleased to rise to introduce the financial protection for fresh fruit and vegetable farmers act, which proposes to amend the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act and the Comp…
Read full speech →Statements by Members
Mr. Speaker, with the cost of living spiralling out of control, many Canadians are struggling, worried about their ability to provide for their family's future and the direction that our country is headed in. Sadly, the out-of-control spending and divisive and regressive policies of our Liberal Prime Minister have turned Canada into “Can'tada”: “Can't” afford to buy or rent a home, “can't” afford …
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, last year, Canadian banks made record-breaking profits and paid out massive bonuses to their executives, but they then raised fees for Canadians already struggling to get by. Big banks are now shutting local branches in smaller communities all across the country, including CIBC branches in Pefferlaw and Brechin, the Scotiabank in Cannington, and many others. With these closures, rural…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, on a recent episode of The Fifth Estate, Canadians were horrified and shocked to see tonnes of plastic waste shipped overseas from Canada where it is being burned and dumped in developing countries. While other nations take action, the Liberals are doing nothing. They even blocked my Conservative bill to ban the export of plastic waste. Enough is enough. We need action. The world's oc…
Read full speech →Statements By Members
Mr. Speaker, the planting season is under way. I want to wish farmers in York—Simcoe and right across Canada the very best as they continue their hard work to feed Canadian families. Unfortunately, the Liberal government is maintaining a 35% tariff on fertilizer imported from Russia, even if the order was paid for well before the invasion of Ukraine. While Canadian farmers support the use of econo…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, this minister is so far behind, he thinks he is in first place, but these reports confirm that the Liberals are failing in every respect: protecting the environment, fail; respecting taxpayer dollars, fail; supporting Canadian workers, fail; standing up for small businesses and first nations, fail. The minister may try and greenwash over these failures, but Canadians know better. Afte…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, the environment commissioner's latest report confirms that the Liberals are all talk and no action on the environment. They talk about the importance of the carbon tax, but ignore the impact it is having on small businesses and first nations. They talk about a just transition from oil and gas, but provide no support to Canadian energy workers who are losing their jobs. They fly across…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Madam Speaker, I am looking for something to vote for. We have been waiting since 2019 in York—Simcoe for the Lake Simcoe clean-up fund. I know the members for Niagara Centre, Kingston and the Islands and Winnipeg North all know how badly that is needed. It was promised in 2019, and we are still waiting. I would also suggest to the member that I represent the Holland Marsh, again the soup and sala…
Read full speech →Statements by Members
Mr. Speaker, it has been five years to the day since the Liberals cancelled the Lake Simcoe cleanup fund. The finance minister stood on the shores of the lake in 2019 and promised to bring the fund back, but it has been 1,826 days and there is still no funding to clean up and restore the lake. It is unbelievable. Finally, municipalities and organizations from around the lake are joining me and my …
Read full speech →Government Orders
Lake Simcoe.
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, I appreciate my colleague's comments about agriculture. I represent Holland Marsh, the soup and salad bowl of Canada, and would like to say how important food security is now and moving forward. When we see the rising prices of fertilizer, can the member speak to how this will affect crop yield, with farmers not planting as much of their farm as they should be? How critical is this …
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, I wonder if my colleague could speak to the divide we are seeing between rural and urban Canada. The constituents in my riding note the carbon tax right now. We look at this bill and there is really no relief for people who are just getting by. In my riding people have to drive everywhere. We do not have the option of a subway or public transit. We have a great first nation in York—…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister likes to say that Canada is back, but last week I was in Poland at the Ukrainian border and Canada was nowhere to be found. Thousands of Ukrainian refugees are flooding through border towns like Medyka, where they are given humanitarian aid from around the world, including from countries as small as Uzbekistan. Other nations are doing their part, but Canada has almo…
Read full speech →Statements by Members
Mr. Speaker, many of my constituents in York—Simcoe are hearing from family in Ukraine who are suffering as the Russian invasion continues. A letter shared with me reads, “I write this with a heavy heart. We are experiencing more bombing and more communities are being levelled to the ground. Chaos is spreading and many people are dying. The beautiful Saint Sophia Cathedral here in Kyiv is older th…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, on April 1, the price of alcohol will go up yet again for Canadians due to the Liberals' ever-increasing escalator tax grab on beer, wine and spirits. Canadian restaurants and bars will continue to struggle due to the impacts of the pandemic. Another tax hike is the last thing they need. This automatic, permanent tax increase must be reviewed by Parliament every year so we can support…
Read full speech →Orders of the Day
Madam Speaker, I, like my colleague from Whitby, saw thousands of Canadians standing on the overpasses as the convoys moved through. I thank him for mentioning that we should not be looking at those who are struggling as our adversaries; rather, we should be looking at them with mutual respect and sometimes a little compromise. We know it was the flip-flop on the mandates for the truckers that spa…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, the Liberals' made-in-Canada housing crisis has gotten out of control. It is the same situation across the country, including in my community of York—Simcoe. Working Canadians have been priced out of the housing market with no hope in sight. Home builders are stopping the construction of new homes. Liberal inflation has caused prices for materials to skyrocket. There is no way for bui…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, the hon. health minister suggests that rapid tests have been important to his government. Two summers ago my colleagues and I in the Ontario Conservative caucus tested a rapid test that was widely available in the U.S. and Europe, but had not received approval by Health Canada after months of delays. We were condemned by the Prime Minister and state media. The article is there. Inst…
Read full speech →Statements By Members
Mr. Speaker, it is time to get York—Simcoe moving. After decades, the Bradford bypass is finally being built, ensuring that residents can get from Highway 400 to the 404 faster and safer than ever. This connecting link will ease gridlock and traffic congestion, bring economic benefit and ensure that our growing region is ready for the future as new immigrants move into the area. The bypass has the…
Read full speech →Emergency Debate
Mr. Speaker, he is pointing out the provincial lockdowns. I am trying to show the government that the people who are outside right now are hurting. This is what has all led to this. This is the frustration that people have. People are crying in their businesses right now. They are literally crying. The gym owner I talked about, who the member alluded to, owes $40,000. She showed me that her paymen…
Read full speech →Emergency Debate
Mr. Speaker, it is my understanding that this is being studied at this time and being looked at.
Read full speech →Emergency Debate
Mr. Speaker, no one should be making political games of this. Again, and I spoke to it in my speech, we are in a minority Parliament. Canadians have sent us here to work together and come up with a solution for this. Today, our leader put forth a suggestion to the Prime Minister that we should go out and meet with these people. Canadians do not want to see these convoys anymore. These are the conv…
Read full speech →Emergency Debate
Mr. Speaker, I will be sharing my time with the hon. member for Brandon—Souris. I am glad we are having this debate this evening. It is a very important issue, and it is necessary to address the growing sentiment that exists right here across this great country. Canadians are frustrated. They are sick and tired. Constant shutdowns, lockdowns, restrictions and mandates are having a terrible toll on…
Read full speech →Adjournment Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, in December I raised my question in the House of Commons about a proposed aerodrome in Georgina, in my riding of York—Simcoe. In other communities there have been high-profile incidents where corporations use the false pretense of building or expanding an aerodrome or an airport to cash crop dirt. Because aerodromes fall exclusively under the federal jurisdiction through the Canadian …
Read full speech →Adjournment Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the parliamentary secretary's response and the minister's willingness to engage me and my office on this very important issue for my constituents in York—Simcoe. I am not against building airports or aerodromes, and I am a private pilot myself, but it is clear that this process needs to be looked at. Dumping fill now is a lucrative business, and certain individuals have i…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
With regard to the impact of inflation on the Market Basket Measure (MBM) and the poverty line: (a) what is the current, or latest, MBM for the reference family and various poverty lines in each of the MBM geographic areas in Ontario; (b) what was the 2018-base MBM for the reference family and various poverty lines in each geographic area in (a); (c) what percentage of individuals living in each a…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Madam Speaker, I am proud to rise today, like my colleague for Leeds—Grenville—Thousand Islands and Rideau Lakes, in support of Bill S-223. Bill S-223 seeks to combat forced organ harvesting and trafficking and would make it a criminal offence for a person to go abroad and receive an organ without the consent of the person giving the organ. The bill has passed the Senate an unbelievable three time…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, residents of York—Simcoe have many concerns about a proposed aerodrome in the town of Georgina. In Greenbank, Burlington, Tottenham and elsewhere, corporations have used a loophole in the federal aerodrome regulations to exploit municipal soil laws. They use the pretense of building or expanding an aerodrome to dump tonnes of contaminated fill at significant cost to the environment an…
Read full speech →Speech from the Throne
Madam Speaker, I thank the member for his speech. Clearly, for people in York—Simcoe, the throne speech just did not live up to the moment. I say that because we were looking for a vision in the speech, especially for our farmers. I have always said that we can move a General Motors plant but we cannot move a farm. We in York—Simcoe were looking for some vision for farmers. There was no mention of…
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