Government Orders
Mr. Chair, how does the minister not believe that the contract should go to Canadian shipbuilders? There is a Seaspan shipbuilding yard in Vancouver. How can the minister ship the jobs of the people he represents to Beijing?
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Chair, does the minister consider an order for four ferries to be a big project?
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Mr. Chair, after 10 years of Liberal governments, their housing record boils down to double trouble: doubled rents, doubled down payments and doubled mortgage costs. Who does the Prime Minister then appoint as housing minister? It is the former mayor of Vancouver, who doubled housing prices and broke promises to end homelessness. I have a few questions for the minister. Does the minister know the …
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Mr. Chair, let me help the minister: It was $859,292 to buy a home in Nanaimo as of May 2025, up from $362,000 in 2015. Does the minister know the current median household income in Nanaimo?
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Mr. Chair, let me help the minister with that again. The median income now is $87,987. That is up from $62,349 in 2015. While incomes are up just 41% in the last decade, home prices in Nanaimo have more than doubled. Can the minister explain how that is affordable?
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Mr. Chair, let me help the minister again. It would take that couple 35 years to save for a 20% down payment or 17 years for a 10% down payment, which would add an extra $700 a month to their mortgage. Does the minister think that is a good outcome, yes or no?
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Mr. Chair, talking about affordable homes, when the minister was the mayor of Vancouver, homelessness went up by 38%. Is that the same model he is bringing to the rest of Canada?
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Mr. Chair, housing starts in Vancouver fell 25% while the minister was in office as the mayor. Why should Canadians trust him now?
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Mr. Chair, if we are talking about signals, a typical home in Nanaimo now costs nearly 10 times the median income. Does that strike the minister as sustainable housing policy, yes or no?
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Mr. Chair, Vancouver's price-to-income ratio doubled, going from 6:1 to 13:1, when the minister was the mayor of Vancouver. Does he think that record is going to earn him the respect of Canada's mayors?
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Mr. Chair, it is the minister's record as a mayor that is an insult to this country. There we have it. This is the guy whom the Liberals have chosen to solve the housing crisis. He did not know the facts; he did not answer my questions, and he certainly does not understand the hardship of either a 23-year-old with six roommates or a senior living in their car. What does the minister have to say?
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Mr. Chair, if excuses were bricks, the minister would build a whole community overnight. When is the government going to stop talking and start building?
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Mr. Chair, the Prime Minister said he wants to build big projects. Does the minister agree?
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Mr. Chair, does the minister think that a couple making $90,000 and paying rent can realistically save up for a down payment for a home in Nanaimo, yes or no?
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Mr. Chair, does the minister know how much the federal Liberal government has sent to BC Ferries so far this year?
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, on Vancouver Island, high prices are pushing thousands of families and seniors out of the housing market. Meanwhile, the Auditor General says that the government is sitting on empty office buildings and surplus land. The Liberals promised 4,000 homes through their signature housing initiative. After seven years, they have delivered a measly 309. For this failure, the former housing mi…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, last night, Canada's national Holocaust memorial was vandalized. The Ottawa police are now investigating the matter. The CEO of the Jewish Federation of Ottawa said, “This is not just vandalism, it is an act of desecration against the memory of six million Jews and millions of other victims murdered in the Holocaust.” The House must unequivocally condemn this vile, anti-Semitic act. T…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Madam Speaker, the minister engages in finger-pointing, while a third of the people who are using food banks are children. How are parents supposed to provide healthy lunches for their kids when the cost of apples is up 19%, the cost of cheese is up 5% and the cost of oranges is up 26%, not since 2015 but since January? Two days of groceries cost more than $100 in my community. The Liberal governm…
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Madam Speaker, last year, 15,000 Islanders relied on Loaves & Fishes, the food bank in my community. While there were 225,000 visits to food banks across B.C., one-third of those were for children. The Prime Minister promised affordable groceries. Instead, the cost of infant formula is up 9% and the cost of beef is up a whopping 33% since January. Liberals keep spending; Canadians keep hurting. Wi…
Read full speech →Speech from the Throne
Madam Speaker, I thank the member for his passionate remarks. When I hear the member speak about his riding, I cannot help but think that he understands my riding of Nanaimo—Ladysmith very well. We, too, are concerned about our jobs. We feel very far away from Ottawa, and we wonder how the government is going to put meat on its slogan of creating one government out of 13. Canadians want us to work…
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Mr. Speaker, the Liberal government has presented the Prime Minister as being a finance whiz, someone with considerable expertise in the world of finance, in the world of business and in government. He should be in a position to be well aware that the finance department stands ready to produce a budget on short notice. I respectfully request again that the government inform Canadians of where the …
Read full speech →Speech from the Throne
Mr. Speaker, I too am very interested in the legislation that will be passed in the House. I also want to focus on some things that maybe were not covered to the depth they needed to be covered in the throne speech. I really look forward to seeing the government produce a bill that leads us toward real treatment, real recovery and real enforcement with respect to the addictions crisis. Harm reduct…
Read full speech →Speech from the Throne
Mr. Speaker, I could not agree more that it is critically important for us to work together in the House across the aisle. That is why I respectfully ask the Prime Minister and cabinet to produce a budget. Canadians should be able to understand where the money is coming from and where it is going.
Read full speech →Speech from the Throne
Mr. Speaker, it is with humility, pride and a profound sense of responsibility that I rise in the House as the member of Parliament for Nanaimo—Ladysmith. Let me begin by offering my heartfelt thanks to the people of my community. I thank them for placing their trust in me. From the shores of Saltair to Ladysmith harbour; from the vibrant arts communities on Gabe to the farms of Yellow Point, Ceda…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister said he wants to spend less and invest more, but this week his government tabled a half-trillion-dollar spending bill with no budget. While 15,000 people are using Loaves & Fishes, the food bank in my riding, the government has increased spending on consultants by a jaw-dropping $6 billion, a massive increase of 36%. Consultants will get a $26.1-billion gift that ma…
Read full speech →Speech from the Throne
Mr. Speaker, this morning the government introduced a bill with half a trillion dollars of spending, but without a budget to back it up. There are people in my riding who simply do not know how to find another dime for government. I really hope the government will introduce a budget that will tell us where the savings will come from that are going to allow us to deliver for Canadians.
Read full speech →Statements by Members
Mr. Speaker, I wish my first intervention in the House on behalf of the people of Nanaimo—Ladysmith were under better circumstances, but our community is in crisis. In 2024, Nanaimo lost 94 people to overdoses, more than three times the number in 2016, when the B.C. government declared the opioid crisis a public health emergency. Families are grieving. Neighbourhoods feel the weight of this traged…
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