Government Orders
Madam Speaker, this is one of the deepest debates in Canadian politics, between the rights and freedoms of citizens on one hand and the powers of government on the other hand. I wonder if my colleague could speculate on why the Liberals want to shut down debate like this, so pre-emptively.
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Mr. Speaker, my colleague spoke about the poison pill. First of all, mandatory sentences, obviously, as my other colleague pointed out much earlier, do in fact stop crime because it is very hard to commit a crime when in jail. As far as the poison pill goes, when I raised my kids and told them to clean their rooms, I did not say at the end of it, “Unless you don't feel like it.” This, I believe, i…
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Mr. Speaker, on the other hand, I cannot think of any artist who did have government support and who is great. I cannot think of a great Soviet artist. I wonder if my colleague could tell us this: Is it because the Liberals hate Canadian culture?
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Mr. Speaker, I was trying to think of great artists in history, such Shakespeare, Michelangelo, Cicero and Plato. Some of them had private benefactors, but none of them, to my knowledge, had government support behind them. I cannot think of any artist that had government support—
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Mr. Speaker, with regard to Norway's sovereign wealth fund, I decided to do the same thing as the Prime Minister, because he is a wise person. I decided that what I would do is take the bulk of the money out of my credit card, put it in my savings account and call it “Scott's retirement fund”. Then I went to my accountant, who said that I would never retire. I was wondering if the member could exp…
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Mr. Speaker, with regard to the sovereign wealth fund, I recently asked my colleague the same question. The other day, my neighbour showed me his bank account, and it was enormous. I thought, “This is a secret”, so I maxed out my credit cards and put the money in my savings account. For some reason, when I went to my accountant, he said I will never retire. I am wondering if the member can explain…
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Mr. Speaker, the member opposite has put a new face on what happened. In fact, the government has been trolling our benches, and some did slither over. The House is not reflective of Canadians' wishes. About 93% of the vote goes to the party now, by custom, and about 7% goes to the individual. By law, yes, we are elected as individuals. The Liberal Party's explanation is that it is “a big tent”, b…
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Mr. Speaker, Winston Churchill famously remarked that democracy is the worst form of government except for all the others. The parliamentary system is not a perfect system. It is only as good as the actors in it. When 93% of the electorate votes for the party and not for the candidate, and only 7% vote for the candidate, that is a distortion of democracy in the way parliamentary democracy is set u…
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Mr. Speaker, parliamentary democracy is a loose framework and is only as good as the actors in it. If the actors use good ethics, then it works well. For example, when 93% of the electorate votes for the party customarily rather than for the candidate and when a floor crossing happens in a case like that, we can see intent of parliamentary democracy. I wonder if my colleague could expand on whethe…
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Mr. Speaker, I apologize. However, if the member is acquainted with the military today, he knows very well that the culture has radically changed in a very short period of time.
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Mr. Speaker, the member, a veteran himself, knows very well that, in the military, with a top-down chain of command, culture can change very fast, because it is an order-based society. The Arbour report is several years old, and the culture did not stop to wait for the Arbour report. Right away, the military started the culture change, and you know that very well. You know that if you go back—
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Mr. Speaker, the Liberals have put to us that we should remove choice because victims are going to be too traumatized after an assault to actually make a choice. This reminds me of the 19th-century idea that women became hysterical and really had to be directed and taught by men, because when they became hysterical, they were not capable of making good choices. I find that this is paternalistic an…
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Mr. Speaker, this bill, in its original intent, and that is the reason the amendments were stripped off, is simply to help the government, because the government has to deal with these problems when they arise. If the Liberals get it off their plate and dump it into the municipal police force or into the civilian provincial courts, they will not have to deal with it anymore and it will now be some…
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Mr. Speaker, first, I would suggest that my colleagues not use “chain of command” until they understand what it means. People are removed from the chain of command today and put into the JAG system, or at least they were prior to this. I want to quote Dr. Karen Breeck, who is a former officer in the Canadian Armed Forces and is also a medical doctor. She testified that the military of 2025 has cha…
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Mr. Speaker, Bill C-11, when it first came to the national defence committee, was meant to transfer sexual assault cases from the military to the civilian justice system. It was not supposed to be a controversial bill. It arose because of the need to address sexual assault in the military. All of us in the House have, I believe, deep down, the best interests of Canadians at heart. As a former offi…
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Mr. Speaker, the parliamentary secretary said, quite rightly, that 15 years ago we did not have this problem, and that is absolutely true. Technology has advanced since then. He also said that his new government is laser-focused on crime. I would like to point out that the government is not a new government. It is 11 years old. While technology has advanced, criminality has galloped forward. I am …
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Mr. Speaker, I am wondering if my colleague across the aisle could explain whether he believes Bill C-22 is better than Bill C-2, given that Bill C-2 wanted to limit the use of cash for Canadians.
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Mr. Speaker, my colleague from Davenport mentioned that this is a better bill than before. In fact, this is the third attempt the Liberals have made to introduce a bill that is similar to this, each one a little less intrusive than the last one. My concern, if we let the bill go to committee, is around whether the Liberals would actually respect the amendments we make in it, because I have just co…
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Mr. Speaker, I see a great deal of potential in the bill. I have been talking to people overseas as well. There is absolutely no recourse in our laws, and I certainly think we need that, but we have to draw a balance between, on one hand, the anarchy of pure freedom, and on the other hand, really heavy-handed authoritarianism. I think the bill has the potential to hit the middle ground there, but …
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Mr. Speaker, I do not think we should trust the Liberals at all. We just heard that over 10 years, crime has galloped ahead, and it is being blamed on technology creep. Crime has galloped. Technology has moved. The reason for that is fairly obvious: The Liberals are now playing catch-up to a decade of ignoring crime and hoping that it would go away. Now they are dealing with the actuality. They ar…
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Mr. Speaker, there was not a question there. There was a statement, so I am going to make a statement. Potentialities are not the same thing as actualities. We have MOUs worth whatever amount of money. What we actually have is very little. I could talk about the great mineral exploration we are going to be doing on Saturn, but that does not mean we are going to have it today, tomorrow or ever. I a…
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Mr. Speaker, Bill C-22 is like so many other bills that show good promise and strong potential to be shaped into good policy in committee. It is right here in second reading that the problems with Bill C-22 are initially identified, and that is what my colleagues on this side of the chamber have been doing: probing, asking questions and identifying weak spots that could be eliminated or good point…
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Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague from Riding Mountain. I originally hail from Manitoba as well. One thing I can say about it is it is cold and flat and has many mosquitoes. I love it too. We live in a technological society that is so advanced most of us here do not understand some of the capabilities that are out there, and I do not pretend to know what technologies are employed by criminals arou…
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Mr. Speaker, I notice the Liberals are tending to characterize this as obstructionism. We are here in Parliament to do a job, and that job is to question the other side and improve any bill that comes through committee. I wonder if my hon. colleague could speak to whether he thinks Conservatives are obstructing or improving this bill.
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Mr. Speaker, we have heard much from the Liberals about how we are obstructing their bills and whatnot, even though they are filibustering their own bills in committee. Usually that means that they are trying to create a narrative that we are obstructing. Do you feel that we are obstructing or debating this bill?
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Mr. Speaker, Liberal catch-and-release policies have actually caused this crime. Before Trudeau came along 10 years ago, we did not have a crime wave; now we do. We also did not have Bill C-22. The difference here is actually the catch-and-release problems, the catch-and-release policies we are suffering under. Would it not make more sense to stop shooting down Conservative bills, anti-crime bills…
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Mr. Speaker, the minister is telling us half the story about the pay raises. What he is forgetting is that overseas, reductions of over $1,500 a month are being taken back from living allowances. These are real families putting their lives on the line abroad who were given just six days' notice and are now scrambling to adjust. The Liberal government increases pay only to claw it back. The headlin…
Read full speech →Statements by Members
Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize Henry Ly for his leadership in the Father's Knowledge Circle, a weekly meeting run by the North Okanagan Friendship Center Society in Vernon, British Columbia. The circle creates a respectful, supportive space for fathers to come together and share knowledge and stories. Speaking at the knowledge circle took me back 20 years, to the day I suddenly found mysel…
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Mr. Speaker, I have been called a religious maniac and all the usual terms that come from across the floor many times, despite the fact that I think I have gone to church three or four times in the last 10 years and always on Christmas eve. I am not a religious maniac. I am very concerned about the curbs on free speech that the bill contains. It is crucial to democracy that we hear all opinions. W…
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Mr. Speaker, I want to begin by saying that I believe in a free, democratic Canada. I believe in a country where people can speak their minds, practise their faith and engage in open debate without fear of punishment from their government. That is why I am deeply concerned about Bill C-9. I recently held a town hall in my city, with the help of my colleague from Elgin—St. Thomas—London South. Usua…
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Mr. Speaker, on a point of order, the member across the aisle said there were anti-LGBQ things in the speech. I did not hear any such thing at all. I would like him to retract that.
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I think the Conservatives have been very clear about this. We are opposed to the removal of the religious exemption, which was never a campaign promise made by the Liberals at any point. At no point in the campaign were we told they were going to remove religious exemptions from Canadians. The laws already exist. I cannot think of an offence that this particular bill covers that is not already cov…
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Mr. Speaker, when somebody uses religion as a pretext to commit a crime, they go to jail. They would go to jail now, before the bill is passed. We do not need the bill to make them go to jail. There is no precedent for doing this at all. I reject the question.
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Mr. Speaker, we face a situation similar to the one we faced after the Second World War, with millions of people looking for homes. The solution then was quite different and quite a bit more effective. By 1947, Canada was building 80,000, 90,000 or as many as 100,000 homes per year. Not one Crown corporation was involved, though I should say there was only one, CMHC, and that was explicitly for ve…
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Mr. Speaker, I rise today to present a petition on behalf of the hundreds of thousands of Canadians who would like to see Bill C-9 withdrawn. Given the atrocious record of this Liberal government in overstepping its bounds, given the Emergency Act and freezing bank accounts, these Canadians are asking what exactly is preventing this government from expanding its powers under the bill, just to squa…
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Mr. Speaker, not one person has emailed me or contacted me to ask me to support this bill. In fact, I have more Liberal members emailing me asking me to cross the floor than to support this bill. On the other hand, many have phoned me to oppose it. This does not sound like a bill anybody wants. The member across the aisle claims that this is all a plot by the Conservative Party to raise funds. He …
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Madam Speaker, recently a Canadian journalist was fined three-quarters of a million dollars for observing that there are only two genders. The reason I mention this is that it is an example of how well-meant but subjective ideas can slide sideways into something that is completely against free speech. Could my colleague elaborate on why it is so important that any changes to the system fully respe…
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Mr. Speaker, given the Liberal track record of flagrantly misusing government power, and I cite the misuse of the Emergencies Act, the freezing of citizen bank accounts, the intrusion on provincial jurisdiction numerous times, the arbitrary firearm confiscation by executive order and the elements of the Impact Assessment Act that were ruled unconstitutional by the Supreme Court of Canada, if the g…
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Mr. Speaker, the Liberals are trying to build a narrative of obstructionism by saying we are obstructing their efforts to combat the problems that they themselves have created over the last 11 years. The irony here is that they are actually opposing a bill that would fix some of the problems they have created, which they claim they want to fix. My question for the member is why.
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Mr. Speaker, the Liberals are trying to build a narrative that the Conservatives are obstructing them at every turn, despite the irony of actually doing this on a bill that we are presenting. I watched the Liberals obstruct it. Every single speech has the word “obstructionism” in it. I think even a new word was created today, “obstructionality”, by one of the speakers. I am wondering if the member…
Read full speech →Private Members' Business
Mr. Speaker, I am sure the member is aware that the Department of National Defence is expanding rapidly right now and that the unused properties are generally World War II heritage leftovers. What would the member say about the coming expansion and how that may conflict with her bill?
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Mr. Speaker, the Liberals are telling us that soaring grocery bills are caused by external factors, as if the cost of living is going up everywhere. It is not. We have higher food costs than almost anywhere else in the G7. Meanwhile, the government piles on carbon taxes and red tape that make it more expensive to grow, transport and sell food. Let us be honest. These handouts are an admission of f…
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Mr. Speaker, we have heard from the Liberals numerous times that somehow the problems we find ourselves with today are Stephen Harper's fault. I wonder if my colleague could tell us if we should blame these problems on, let us say, Mackenzie King, or is this a newer problem?
Read full speech →Statements by Members
Mr. Speaker, today I rise to honour a family in my riding, in Lumby, British Columbia, who have endured a devastating loss. Tatjana Stefanski's loved ones carry not only the grief of her murder but also the painful knowledge that she died almost a full year before Bailey McCourt, and that nothing was done. Tatjana's husband, Jason, has worked tirelessly to bring attention to the need for real, mea…
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Mr. Speaker, Canadians have been getting less and less buying power over the last 10 years. Food prices have doubled, but wages have not, which indicates an inflationary environment. We all understand this, but my colleagues across the aisle boast about the handouts that their poverty-inspiring policies have created in the first place. Does my colleague believe this is an intentional strategy alon…
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Madam Speaker, we hear that the B.C. Liberal caucus is “seething,” “anxious” and “angry” about a possible pipeline, so the Prime Minister is appeasing them by hiding behind the provincial NDP, just like Brookfield hides behind Caribbean tax laws. After nine years of Liberal energy mismanagement, Canadians want a pipeline. Will the Prime Minister do his job, stop the political games and immediately…
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Madam Speaker, nestled deep in the mountains of my riding lies the historic town of Sandon, British Columbia. It was once a thriving silver mining hub and was the first community in our province where every citizen had access to electricity. At its heart stands the Silversmith Power and Light plant, commissioned in 1897, which is still humming along today using equipment made when horses were stil…
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Madam Chair, when the Liberals were elected, they were elected to save us from Donald Trump and his tariffs. Apparently, lately that does not matter; it is who cares whether he wants to talk about it or not. We have now heard that it is a long-term problem. Can my colleague say whether it is a problem of Donald Trump and his tariffs or of long-term Liberal neglect?
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Mr. Chair, we keep hearing about Donald Trump. Donald Trump has been in power for five years; the Liberal government has been in power for 10 years. Somehow, five years just slipped through the cracks, but I think my colleague already addressed that. When we heard earlier from the Liberals, I could barely believe it when it came out that the food price problem was a matter of climate change. I am …
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Mr. Speaker, do members remember when the Liberal government told us the budget would balance itself? For 10 years, the government has promised to spend less, while throwing money in every direction. Having finally blown up the economy, the Liberals' brilliant solution is to spend twice as much but change the name of spending to “investment”. Even the PBO, the budget watchdog and Fitch Ratings are…
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