Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, the airline sector feels completely left behind. There is not a day that goes by that I do not get a message from an airline worker who says, “I have supported the Liberals my entire life, but I am never voting Liberal again after their tossing aside of the airline sector.” I get messages from mothers who are worried about their sons and daughters who have lost their jobs in the airli…
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Mr. Speaker, the member and I both agree that the government is keeping Canadians in perpetual poverty. It is literally taxing them to death and then throwing out breadcrumbs while not creating jobs, not creating prosperity and not creating a future. Do Canadians ever look in the mirror and wonder what they are going to do when the CERB runs out? What jobs will there be for them when the CEWS is n…
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Mr. Speaker, unfortunately, we have seen the Liberals repeatedly putting the entire opposition in a very difficult position. Because of their lack of capacity and competence, they come up with last-minute legislation to try to help Canadians, but the result is that, first, there are many gaps for the opposition to address and second, the opposition is forced to support legislation because we reall…
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Mr. Speaker, I apologize. The Prime Minister said that this was because Canada no longer had any domestic production capacity for vaccines. Seven months prior, in May, the government announced tens of millions of dollars to increase domestic production capacity and said that two Canadian production facilities would have the capacity to produce 70,000 to 100,000 doses per month by summer 2020, with…
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Mr. Speaker, I was very moved by the member's comments about small businesses and the struggles they have faced during this pandemic. As we see the government struggle with the procurement and distribution of vaccines, we are all very much concerned about the economy. If the Liberals have failed so badly in procuring and distributing these vaccines, how can we possibly rely on them to restore our …
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Madam Speaker, we saw it again in The Globe and Mail on Monday. The government is finally ready to release a plan for the airline sector, but we have been disappointed before. We saw the same story in Reuters in December. Negotiations only started in November. Why should tens of thousands of airline workers who have had no jobs for the past year believe the government this time?
Read full speech →Private Members' Business
Madam Speaker, I guess we have changed our speaking times. My apologies for the confusion for the Chair, and for the table as well. I am sincerely sorry. They started a warehouse format. As I said, I have had a lot of time to reflect on wicker and rattan throughout the years. We are very fortunate. My younger brother made the decision to accept the business from my parents after several years. Upo…
Read full speech →Private Members' Business
I will take 10 minutes. Excuse me.
Read full speech →Private Members' Business
Madam Speaker, I will be splitting my time with the member for Carleton. He is a tough act to follow, so I am very grateful that I am here first. With a little luck as well, I will also catch my flight back to Calgary. Of course, as my colleague from the other side of the House just mentioned, this has to do with the labelling of products for environmental indicators and perhaps health indicators.…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Madam Speaker, during question period, the Minister of Transport implied that my facts were incorrect regarding the ability to purchase a single ticket to a sun destination. I was just on Expedia and had the ability to purchase a—
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Madam Speaker, the minister is correct. He did appear yesterday at committee. Unfortunately, he got his facts wrong again about purchasing tickets to sun destinations. The minister said that it takes multiple tickets for an American carrier to take a Canadian to a sun destination, when in fact it only takes a single ticket. When will the minister get his facts straight, and when will he fix this p…
Read full speech →Adjournment Proceedings
Madam Speaker, last month I asked the incoming Minister of Transport why the Canadian aviation sector had already lost significant market share as a result of this government's incompetence and inaction while foreign carriers had received billions of dollars in sector-specific aid, and when the Prime Minister would put Canadian jobs first and deliver a plan for the airline sector. Well, there has …
Read full speech →Adjournment Proceedings
Madam Speaker, it was the parliamentary secretary himself who said, on October 5, 2020, “We are going to work with our airlines...We are going to work across the board to find solutions.” Yet, none have arrived. The new transport minister indicated on January 25, “We are very much supportive of our airline industry and sector. Discussions are ongoing with the airline sector to prepare a support pa…
Read full speech →Statements By Members
Mr. Speaker, we have been demanding for a year that the government keep its promise to deliver a sector-specific plan for the airline industry. Its failure to do so has caused the sector irreversible damage. As a result, Canadians are still waiting for refunds for cancelled flights, regional routes are gone and visiting loved ones across Canada is difficult and unaffordable. Aviation workers are u…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, it goes without saying that the airline sector in Canada has been treated the worst by far among all G7 and G20 nations. The U.S. has been far more flexible and has made better use of tools in an effort to allow its economy, including the airline sector, to remain open. The result is that we are seeing the Canadian economy suffer greatly. Frankly, the Prime Minister is not contribut…
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Madam Speaker, before I begin, I want to inform you that I will be sharing my time with the good member for Mégantic—L'Érable. While Canada has a long history with the United States of America, I also have a long relationship with the United States of America. I grew up in Alberta, and have been very fortunate to vacation in the U.S. many times, like so many other Canadians, although not recently,…
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Madam Speaker, my sincere apologies. Looking at the approach of the current Prime Minister's administration, we see a foreign policy approach that is based in selfies and tweets, like the current Deputy Prime Minister's tweet regarding Saudi Arabia. We do not see it based on a set of core values, as we saw with the previous administration. As Canadians, we have suffered for this, with terrorists e…
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Madam Speaker, our current official leader of the opposition has a proud history with this nation, putting his life before others with respect to serving this great country. I know with certainty that he said this morning at his press conference that he would continue to put himself before Canadians, leading this nation forward as we come out of this pandemic. He is the only individual, the only l…
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Madam Speaker, I hope that as the Unites States considers its decision on Line 5, it will remember the rich history we have, and as the current government fights for Line 5, will remember the high price Canadians will pay for not being successful in maintaining it.
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister has said that he knows Canadians are looking forward to travelling again, but at this rate there will not even be an airline sector. Yesterday, the Minister of Transport stated that airlines voluntarily gave up their routes to sun destinations when they have been suffering for months without any assistance from the government. Airline workers and unions have been go…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, what a pleasure it is to be in the House once again. When the fall economic statement was delivered some months ago, I made very clear my expectations for the airline sector, on which the government has yet to deliver. The pain and desperation across this sector continue. I will start with a letter from a childhood friend of mine in Calgary Midnapore, who is now in the aviation sector…
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Mr. Speaker, I really believe that at the root of all this is the economy and that it is necessity that has brought Canadians to these positions my colleague speaks of. It is the economy. It is the loss of good-paying jobs. Now we have added billions of dollars to the debt. We are at $1.1 trillion, with a $400-billion deficit projected for this year, and looking forward, we see no way out of it, a…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, it is great to see the member for Yukon after serving with him for some time on the House procedures committee. The member for Yukon is actually, in my opinion, very fortunate, because the north is possibly the only specific region that has received any attention from the government as far as airlines are concerned. However, he raises an excellent point on interline agreements. I have…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, to begin, I will conclude the letter from my childhood friend. I grew up with him in Calgary Midnapore, and he is now in the aviation sector. “Does the Liberal Party really want to have the legacy of leading Canada to the demise of our aviation industry with proud, innovative roots in history? For the sake of half a million aviation employees right now out of work and the future of ou…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, while American carriers continue to carry Canadians to sun destinations, Canadian carriers are parked right here at home. The Canadian aviation sector has already lost significant market share as a result of the government's incompetence and inaction, while foreign carriers have received billions of dollars in sector-specific aid. When will the Prime Minister put Canadian jobs first a…
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Mr. Speaker, I know my colleague shares the same sunny disposition as I do, and we should be positive, because there is so much opportunity for us as Canadians, families and workers coming out of this pandemic. I believe my colleague is right when he says a change is needed. Canadians have to ask themselves who will best lead this nation forward for the best economy possible and the most jobs poss…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, the government asked Canadian carriers to suspend flights to both Mexico and the Caribbean, yet American carriers are still carrying Canadians to these sun destinations. The airline sector in Canada has already been put through the wringer. Why is the Prime Minister putting American jobs first when he should be standing up for Canadian airline workers?
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, while speaking of the United States, for 10 months the airline sector in Canada has been struggling to survive, with no help from the government, yet it was FedEx, an American company, that was awarded the contract to distribute the Moderna vaccines. Why did the government give a sole-source contract to FedEx, an American company, when so many Canadian airlines are just struggling to …
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, three weeks ago we found out that foreign airlines were receiving Canadian funds, funds from Canadian taxpayers. Today we are hearing that two of these foreign airlines will actually be pulling out of the Canadian market after having received our funding. Does the minister still think that it was a good idea to help foreign airlines before helping the airlines right here at home?
Read full speech →Statements by Members
Mr. Speaker, for months we have been begging the government to step forward to help the aviation sector. We have pushed to exhaustion the ideas of rapid testing, pilot projects and a well-thought-out plan, but it is evident that the effects of the government's inaction go well beyond this sector, as we see the chaos and fear surrounding us today. The implementation of further travel requirements, …
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
With regard to air travel complaints sent to the Canadian Transportation Agency (CTA) since February 1, 2020, and broken down by month and subject: (a) how many air travel complaints were received; (b) what is the status of the complaints in (a) (e.g. resolved, investigation ongoing, no action taken yet, etc.); (c) what is the CTA service standard relating to resolving air travel complaints; and (…
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