Private Members' Business
Mr. Speaker, it is an honour for me to rise in the House today to speak to this legislation, Bill C-244. This is a good day. It is not a super common day in the House that all parties come together and, for the most part, agree on the generality or principles of a bill, but I think this happens to be one of those days. That is where Canadians are, and we are here to serve Canadians and to be their…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, on a point of order, there is a matter arising out of question period. Today the member for Glengarry—Prescott—Russell, who is also the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food, falsely stated that all on-farm fuel is carbon tax exempt. He knows that is blatantly false—
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
With regard to the government's ArriveCAN appliation: (a) since January 1, 2022, how many travellers have presented themselves at the border for entry into Canada without having submitted their information through the application prior to arrival; and (b) what is the breakdown of (a) by month and point of entry?
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With regard to the federal carbon tax or price on carbon: (a) what is the total amount collected from the tax, broken down by province in the 2021-22 fiscal year; (b) what was the total amount dispersed in rebates, or Climate Action Incentive payments, broken down by province for the 2021-22 fiscal year; and (c) what is the itemized breakdown of how the government is spending the difference in the…
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With regard to the government's decision to suspend the COVID-19 vaccination requirement for the federal public service as of June 20, 2022, broken down by department, agency, or other government entity: (a) how many public servants impacted by the requirement were eligible to return to work on June 20, 2022; (b) how many of the public servants in (a)(i) actually returned to work on June 20, 2022,…
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With regard to the government's Vaccine Injury Support Program (VISP): (a) how many injuries related to COVID-19 vaccines is the government aware of; (b) what is the breakdown of (a) by type of (i) vaccine received (Pfizer, Moderna, etc.), (ii) injury; (c) how many and what percentage of the injuries qualified for compensation from the VISP; (d) how many applications for compensation under the VIS…
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Mr. Speaker, the second petition is from a group of petitioners saying that they are recognizing the convoys and protest rallies across Canada opposing COVID-19 restrictions and mandates. In particular, they want to recognize the truckers who, through COVID-19, served Canadians so faithfully and were the heroes of our economy. Truckers are still subject to vaccine mandates when crossing the intern…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, I have several petitions I would like to present today. The first one is signed by many petitioners. They are recognizing the Liberal government's commitment to revoking charitable status for pro-life organizations, such as crisis pregnancy centres. They are concerned that this is only the first step toward more tyrannical measures that would eradicate the values and principles of Chr…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, the hon. parliamentary secretary to the government House leader indicated in his speech that he did not believe this bill would negatively impact law-abiding gun owners. I would take a little exception to that. As a licence-holder for restricted firearms, I know this would very negatively affect law-abiding gun owners. I am wondering why the member cannot see how the bill would do t…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, the final petition is signed by numerous Canadians who ask the House of Commons to conduct a review by the National Advisory Committee on Immunization regarding the transmission of COVID-19 on airplanes. They take note that WestJet's first chief medical officer, Dr. Tammy McKnight, stated that there have been no known cases of COVID-19 transmission aboard Canadian aircraft. An Interna…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, the third petition I want to present to the House is signed by petitioners who recognize that the Liberal Party has views about values tests, which it ascribed to the Canada summer jobs program. They are also concerned that this may be applied to other institutions as well in order to receive federal funding. They also want to make sure that we protect the charter rights and freedoms …
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, I know it is at the discretion of the Chair, but it seems to me there are a lot of members who would like their opinions expressed here during this debate, and you keep deferring to the same member of the NDP. I think it is time to spread out the questions.
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, too many Canadians are unable to afford basic essentials like gas and groceries, and the Liberal government keeps passing the buck. The Liberals refuse to admit that it is their own policies that are creating higher prices and exacerbating the situation. Will the government finally do the right thing, suspend the GST on fuels and help lower the cost of groceries for Canadian families?
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Madam Speaker, the hon. member was doing so well with that question to start with, until she started criticizing and spouting off information about cuts to the CBSA. The public accounts show that this is actually not the case and that those cuts were not made. I do share the member's concern with properly funding the CBSA. It does a tremendous job. We expect a lot from it and we want to make sure …
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, the hon. member from the Bloc actually goes to the root of the whole issue here, which is what the Liberals and the NDP are failing to do. She is addressing the actual problem that is the heart of the issue. Certainly, as I said in my speech, there need to be proper controls but reasonable controls, controls that will actually be effective and that will actually work—not controls th…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, I will be sharing my time with the member for Peace River—Westlock. It is always a pleasure to rise in this House to speak to legislation, even bad legislation. I will be frank. I think Bill C-21 has about as much chance of stopping gun violence as there is of me crossing the floor to join the Liberals. It is just not going to happen. The bill will not work because it is the wrong a…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, if the hon. member was listening carefully, she knows that I was actually trying to talk about Bill C-21. That is the gun control issue, the control that the government is seeking to have over law-abiding Canadians who enjoy the sport of sport shooting, who are hunters or farmers who need firearms to conduct their business. This bill directly attacks individuals like that and makes …
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Madam Speaker, I think I said something very similar to what the member quoted from Martin Luther King in my speech. I thank her for reiterating that laws cannot regulate the heart, but certainly the actions that proceed from what is in an individual's heart can be regulated.
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, yes, I said during my speech that I absolutely agree that people with addictions should be treated more from a health concern perspective than from a criminal justice perspective. I also made it very clear that of the folks who are being incarcerated right now under various drug charges, 89% of them are in there for trafficking. They are the ones providing this poison to individuals w…
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Mr. Speaker, it is always a privilege to rise in the House and to speak to legislation. I will start by making the point that I find the intent behind this bill, at least expressed by the Prime Minister, to be troubling. I will admit it is rare that I find merit in any legislation put forward by the Liberal government. However, in this case, as we get into the conversation about drugs, rather than…
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Mr. Speaker, I wish the parliamentary secretary had listened a little more carefully. He is usually a great listener and I am surprised he was not this time. I was clearly saying that the racism that comes through this bill is actually perpetuating the thought that people of colour, people from the indigenous community cannot make a decision between right and wrong. As I also clearly said, while t…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, that is a great question. I think that is a question we ask ourselves over and over again: Why do they always mix the good in with the bad? It was something that I talked about in my speech earlier. It is just like with Bill C-21. There are aspects of that bill that we as Conservatives strongly believe are good and we would like to have further discussion on. I think we can see oursel…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, I listened to the member's speech carefully, and one of the things he said is that the CPP and the OAS were increased based on inflation. Is that an accurate statement? I know the OAS had a 10% increase for individuals who were 75 years of age and older, but does he really believe that seniors between the age of 60 and 75 did not have the same increase in costs as someone over the age…
Read full speech →Statements by Members
Mr. Speaker, the goal of the Liberal government is the redistribution of wealth. It is not just me saying that. That is directly from former Liberal finance minister Bill Morneau, who said he was forced to spend way too much energy finding ways to redistribute wealth. The redistribution of wealth is the goal of the Prime Minister and his Liberal cronies. Now it all makes sense. That is why he want…
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Madam Speaker, I am perplexed by the NDP-Liberal government placing ideology and political correctness above competency and ability. I am wondering if the member could expand a little further on his thoughts on that.
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Madam Speaker, the member from London West made the comment that most Canadian families are getting a bigger carbon tax credit than the carbon tax they would incur throughout the year. I would suggest that a lot of the carbon tax that families are going to be incurring throughout the year is now hidden in the cost of goods and services and we can see that, whether it is on the grocery shelves, in …
Read full speech →Statements by Members
Mr. Speaker, it was the great Winston Churchill who said this: Never does a man portray his character more vividly than when proclaiming the character of another. I am deeply troubled by the rhetoric the Prime Minister has used to describe Canadians who have chosen not to be vaccinated. According to the Prime Minister, the unvaccinated are racist, misogynist and dangerous extremists who do not lov…
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Madam Speaker, the NDP always used to be a party of principle, standing up for Canadians' rights, freedoms and civil liberties. However, since its new common-law relationship with the Liberals, it seems as though it has abandoned some of those principles and is willfully choosing to overlook the aspects of this bill that would provide undue censorship and give the CRTC power that we are not used t…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, I present a petition this morning from 263 Canadians who are calling on Parliamentarians to do everything that they can to prevent the Liberals from fulfilling one of their objectives, that of revoking the charitable status of crisis pregnancy centres. The petitioners point out so adequately that crisis pregnancy centres do so much more than just counsel women who find themselves in a…
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Madam Speaker, I anticipated the member for Winnipeg North would be here with a question. I would be really eager to provide him with an answer, but there is $600 billion that the Liberal government has spent in the last two years that is unaccounted for. I cannot tell him where he should have spent less money because he will not tell us where he spent the money in the first place. It is time for …
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Madam Speaker, it is always a privilege to rise in the House and to have the opportunity to speak. I want to start this morning by talking a bit about my family. My wife, Irene, and I have three amazing kids, a son and two daughters, and 10 grandchildren. We have more than tripled our investment, if one does the math, and that is what good Conservative policies can do. I love those kids. One of th…
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Madam Speaker, I want to thank the parliamentary secretary for his speech and for the work he is doing in providing support and assistance to the people of Ukraine. As Conservatives, we have stood in solidarity with the government in providing short-term and immediate help to the people of Ukraine, and I want to acknowledge that. However, I also want to encourage him to look at expediting the move…
Read full speech →Orders Of The Day
Madam Speaker, that was an excellent speech. The member has clearly made the case that the threshold for invoking the Emergencies Act has not been met. Due process is required to happen under the rule of law. Could the member speak a little about the fact that due process did not happen, that there was a complete lack of process, and that the government moved from A to Z unmerited?
Read full speech →Orders Of The Day
Madam Speaker, I thank my friend for Edmonton Manning for an excellent speech. I took note particularly of a comment the member made about following the science and this Prime Minister's refusal to follow the science when it does not fit his narrative. I am wondering what message my colleague would give to NDP members who have always been champions of civil liberties and who are now seeing the lib…
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Mr. Speaker, I do not really know what the question was from the member for Timmins—James Bay. I think he was trying to stand on his political soapbox again and make some kind of statement. However, I will say that as Conservatives, we have deep respect and admiration for all of our health—
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Mr. Speaker, this is a letter sent by one of my constituents who is a young businessman trying to eke out a living and provide a living for his family and for the people he employs. This is his letter. This is not some abstract person who does not have an identity. This is a real constituent with real issues, and I am so disappointed that the member for Timmins—James Bay has been so disrespectful.…
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Mr. Speaker, this is my first opportunity to make a speech in this session of Parliament, and I want to thank the constituents of Provencher for once again giving me the privilege to be their voice in Parliament. I also want to take this time to thank the member for Durham for his service to our country and the Conservative Party, and to welcome the member for Portage—Lisgar as the new interim lea…
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Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the member for Calgary Skyview for his appreciation and concern for members in the trucking community. We need to take a look at the whole picture here and see how our trucking industry is being so negatively affected by these mandates. Our statistics show that well over one-third of Canadians support these truckers, who are saying they need an end to these discriminat…
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Mr. Speaker, I think what we have here with Bill C-8 is a bill that is going to, again, inject unnecessary money into the economy. It is going to further exacerbate the situation that we have with inflation, and make it very difficult for everyday Canadians to keep up with the cost of living.
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
With regard to federal government statistics on labour shortages in Manitoba: (a) what are the government's estimates on the percentage and number of businesses in Manitoba that encountered a labour shortage in (i) 2019, (ii) 2020, (iii) 2021; (b) what is the breakdown of (a) by sector and industry; (c) what is the projected labour shortage in Manitoba for (i) 2022, (ii) 2023; and (d) what is the …
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Madam Speaker, this afternoon and even this morning, I heard several members of Parliament make reference to the fact that our criminal justice system disadvantages people who are indigenous, people of colour and people who are racially marginalized. I have read parts of the Criminal Code, although certainly not all of it, and I do not see where inside it there is any disadvantage to being indigen…
Read full speech →Statements by Members
Madam Speaker, Nicholas, a Christian bishop in Turkey, heard of a distressed family in his community, a father who had lost everything and his three daughters who now, unable to marry, might be forced into prostitution. Filled with compassion, Nicholas slipped out under the cover of darkness and through an open window, he dropped a bag of money, enough for the first daughter to get married. Two mo…
Read full speech →Speech from the Throne
Mr. Speaker, I too rise on a point of order. I have been having technical difficulties. It will not change the end result, but I would like my vote to be recorded as a nay.
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