Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, I want to start my speech with a single line: Mr. Speaker, I told you so. I mean no disrespect, but about a month ago, in mid-April, I said that I would not be surprised if Bill C-14 would not go through the other place by the time we got our hands on this 2021-22 budget. Obviously, I was right. To make it even better, Bill C-14 has not been returned to us and it has been a month sinc…
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Mr. Speaker, I focused a lot on the fiscal anchors. I focused on the government being responsible in order to be able to calculate and tell Canadians the true story. Where we are going? The budget that was introduced is a suicidal route toward a non-end. It is something somewhere that nobody understands, including Canadians, which is very scary. The fiscal anchors are the answer, and they do not e…
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Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for Edmonton Strathcona. Of course, it is good to see her. My speech was focused on the fiscal anchors and what we can do to make sure we do not pile on debt with unnecessary spending. I was not talking about necessary spending. That is very clear. I was talking about unnecessary spending and the crazy promises that keep piling up. Where is the answer? Where is th…
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Mr. Speaker, the hon. member has been around long enough to know that we are not changing our minds. The government is changing its promises. The Prime Minister promised to balance the budget before 2015. That is what the Liberals are changing. They are walking away from what they believe in. Remember the Paul Martin era? They are walking out of this. They do not believe in balancing the budget an…
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Madam Speaker, the government mentioned that its child care program was based on Quebec's model, but it seems that the member sees a huge difference between the two, one of them being the Ottawa-knows-best approach and how bureaucratic and costly that can be. I would ask the member to shed light on the significant difference between the two and how this can be enhanced to better serve Canadians.
Read full speech →Emergency Debate
Madam Speaker, I congratulate the hon. member whom I served with on the finance committee for three years from 2015 to 2017. Time is of the essence. We are racing against time. The economy of our southern neighbour is opening, as are Australia's, New Zealand's and part of Europe's, and time is of the essence because mental health stress is on the rise. As MPs, we all receive calls from constituent…
Read full speech →Private Members' Business
Madam Speaker, I congratulate my colleague. This is amazing. The first time I heard about this problem was in the last Parliament when I was serving on the finance committee. There is a fair bit of farmland in Edmonton Manning, and people there have concerns all the time about this issue. Why does the hon. member think it is important for the bill to pass? We must secure the continuation of family…
Read full speech →Emergency Debate
Madam Speaker, I am hoping the member who made the point of order will pay more attention to the vaccination of Canadians than to my jacket. Could the hon. member tell us what the anticipated timeline is for all Canadians to be vaccinated with the two vaccines necessary to make sure they are safe?
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Madam Speaker, I can put on a jacket. This is an interruption, more or less. Please excuse me while I put my jacket on, and I will continue.
Read full speech →Private Members' Business
moved: That: (a) in the opinion of the House, the government should recognize that, (i) replacing oil and gas with more environmentally sustainable options is not technologically or economically feasible, (ii) Canada’s energy needs require the use of oil and gas to heat Canadian homes, schools and hospitals, to propel vehicles, to bring food to Canadian tables, and to produce electricity, (iii) Ca…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, during our international trade committee meeting, I was appalled to hear from our life sciences industry about the lack of consultation and coordination by the Liberal government. As the pandemic began and worsened, contracts worth millions of dollars were signed outside Canada, while turning a blind eye to our local vaccine manufacturers. Will the government admit that it ignored our…
Read full speech →Private Members' Business
Madam Speaker, as I said in my speech and in some of the answers to questions, there is no way to think beyond this other than to support and give this industry what it deserves. For members who have not had a chance to visit and understand how the industry performs in Alberta, I would invite them to come by and check it out, without having to read reports from here and there. Members should come …
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Madam Speaker, we are celebrating the hundreds of billions of dollars this industry contributed to building Canada and Canada's economy over the last decades. This industry is still going to be a factor in rebuilding after COVID and dealing with climate change in the future. Economies are created to build economies. It would be unfair to ignore what the industry has done for Canada and for all the…
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Madam Speaker, I was expecting a question regarding the bill and the importance of this industry, but the member chose to ask me this question. Our leader has put forward a very comprehensive plan that is going to make a difference in dealing with climate change and the challenges that we are facing. As I said in my speech, the oil and gas industry in Alberta and across Canada is going to play a c…
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Mr. Speaker, I will be splitting my time with my colleague, the hon. member for Regina—Lewvan. I am not sure if any of our colleagues from either side of the chamber remember, but I spoke to Bill C-14 in February while the bill was still at second reading. I am not going to repeat my speech from second reading, but all of my remarks from back then still stand. The last time I spoke to the bill, I …
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Mr. Speaker, I have spoken in support of our students. We have great universities in Edmonton, in Alberta in general, and the support has to be there. The problem is that the government speaks loudly but does nothing. It never walks the talk. It just wants to get the votes of the youth and students but does not want to provide anything. I have spoken in support of our students the last month and t…
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Mr. Speaker, what is fascinating is that the Bloc Québécois cannot pull out any magic with the government, as it has been doing here and there to pass and serve the Liberal government on bills and other legislation. To see a bill that is incomplete is something I spoke about in my speech. This legislation has dragged on and on for months and months. The elephant in the room is the government. If i…
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Mr. Speaker, it is very funny expecting the opposition to offer this to the government. Imagine this, a reverse action of legislation and of doing the job. I said at the end of my speech that the government needed to take responsibility. It needs to stand like proper managers, like proper responsible CEOs of the country. Regarding delays, the Liberals have been filibustering committees for the las…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Madam Speaker, I have two petitions signed by Edmonton Manning residents as well as many other Canadians. One petition has 59 signatures and one has 47 signatures. They both state that whereas extensive evidence points to 14 key officials and former officials of the Chinese Communist regime who demonstrate criminal culpability in the human rights atrocities committed against Falun Gong practitione…
Read full speech →Statements by Members
Mr. Speaker, if by chance the Liberals intend to have us continue business here, in a few weeks I will be presenting a motion to support Canada's energy workers, my constituents and all Canadians. When we support our oil and gas industry, it generates billions of dollars in tax revenue. We support thousands of direct and indirect jobs that support business, our communities and the families that th…
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Mr. Speaker, I have said this before in this place, but I seriously doubt that the government has a plan to get Canada out of the pandemic. I listened to the question that came from my colleague earlier, and the question is legitimate: Does the government have a plan, or has it been reactive rather than proactive? I believe there is a serious problem, and I believe the government does not have a p…
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Mr. Speaker, again, we are facing the same symptoms. All these announcements are in place, but there is really no timeline for any of them to be me. This is just another sign of virtue signalling by the government. The Liberals are preparing for an election and they are not going to implement any of those ideas or bills. They are going to let the bills die through time. Unfortunately this is the n…
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Mr. Speaker, of course, the University of Alberta campus is in her riding, and there are many students there. The member is absolutely right. We have seen virtue signalling from day one by the government. The Liberals make those big announcements, but, again, there is no substance. They are empty promises. If we cannot provide help and support to students now, when will we do it? If we cannot prov…
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Mr. Speaker, when there is no substance in what the government is doing and how the government has been handling this whole thing, how can the Liberals expect anyone to talk about it? There is no substance there for us to talk about. That is what has happened right now. The Liberals are leaving everything to the last minute. They have been dragging their feet on everything. In business, they just …
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Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague from Oshawa. Indeed, I will be splitting my time with my colleague. As I said, if we were playing baseball, the umpire would have called the government “out” by now. That is not all. Even CERB, EI, had multiple changes, which is the main part of this bill after all. Canadians have been relying on those programs over the course of the pandemic. It is no surprise th…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Madam Speaker, I stand today to table a petition by my constituents of Edmonton Manning and concerned citizens across Canada pertaining to the ongoing crisis in Tigray. Just like many Canadians, I was shocked and heartbroken to read about the systemic killings of hundreds of civilians, including women and children, by the Ethiopian government's forces. I call on the government to do the right thin…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Madam Speaker, it has been over a year since the first COVID-19 case was confirmed in Canada. Despite the government's messaging at the time that it was not a threat or a reason for worry, the virus spread across the country. The government finally decided to shut down our borders, a little too late. A year later, our unemployment rate is at historic highs, our economy is stalled and Canada is now…
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Madam Speaker, I happen to serve with the member on the Standing Committee on Government Operations and Estimates. The answer is very simple. I came from the business world where accountability, productivity and results are important. There have to be results. The government is only good at how much it spends on a credit card. That is its strategy. However, with results, it does not want anyone to…
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Madam Speaker, the hon. member needs to probably find some market where he can sell the nonsense he is saying. There is no market for what he is saying because there is no credibility in what he is saying. The government controls the agenda of the House, and it was very good at blaming others when it screwed up on that specific agenda. It is time for the member and his party to act with transparen…
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Madam Speaker, I do not think any of my colleagues, from either side of the aisle, would disagree with me when I say that this bill is incredibly important to Canadians. We are now over a year into this pandemic. I know that the first case in Canada was confirmed in January 2020, and the first recorded case of COVID-19 in Alberta was in March of last year. However, I do not know when the first pla…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, the government has been preoccupied with trying to find someone to blame for everything, specifically the opposition parties. We now have in front of us a very important discussion about a very important industry. I am concerned with the hospitality industry in general, and of course tourism on top of that. Would the hon. member agree the government should be looking for solutions rat…
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Madam Speaker, I thank my hon. colleague for his very straightforward point. We know the government has dragged its feet on everything since the start of the 42nd Parliament. It drags its feet on every piece of legislation in the House in order to give less time to opposition parties to question. Unfortunately, government members get very upset and disappointed when we take our time to ask questio…
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Madam Speaker, to open the economy and save the industries we need two things: vaccination and rapid testing. Those are two important elements to be able to put things into perspective. For the future, internal tourism is a big industry also and we have to pay attention to it as well. Therefore, in the opinion of my colleague, what can be done, what were the government's failures and how can we re…
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Madam Speaker, I thank the minister for his detailed speech. However, one thing I was trying to get sense of from his speech was whether he supports today's motion presented by our party. Does the minister support today's motion?
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Madam Speaker, I congratulate my colleague for her wonderful speech. It speaks to her experience working and serving in the United States for Canada. The question I have is this. We lack clarity on Line 5. It is as important to the United States as it is to Canada. When can we, as representatives of Canadians and the Canadian public, expect the government to clarify this situation? Why do we not k…
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Madam Speaker, I appreciate my colleague's display of the importance of Canada-U.S. relations. In light of the discussions, the oil and gas industry comes to mind for Alberta and the rest of Canada. Today, there is a report about Democrat Senator Manchin, saying that he has split with President Biden on the XL pipeline decision. He states that he would rather buy Canadian oil than Venezuelan oil. …
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Madam Speaker, my colleague touched on all aspects of this motion, and I hope that at the end of the day we form a committee. In this motion, there is a lot of interest for, I hope, all political parties and the regions of Canada having such a very important partner, the United States. Why is it very critical at this specific time to have this study, to have this motion and to have this committee?
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, I am also presenting a petition on the Uighur community genocide. The Chinese Communist Party is subjecting the Uighur Muslims to atrocities, which meet most, if not all, the criteria for genocide as outlined in the UN Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide. Both the Trump and Biden administrations, along with members of Canada's committee on internationa…
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Madam Speaker, I will be splitting my time with the hon. member for Langley—Aldergrove. Just before Christmas, we finally saw the text of the Canada-U.K. transitional trade agreement. This deal has the goal of implementing a copy and paste of CETA until a comprehensive agreement can be implemented. This is happening as the government said it needs more time to negotiate a full deal that reflects o…
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Madam Speaker, as much as I would like to answer the question from my colleague and neighbour for Edmonton Strathcona, we still do not have the text in front of us. In order to answer that question, we at least need that text. This brings us back to what we were asking for, which is to have transparency and clarity in front of us so parliamentarians are able to examine what went into the document …
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Madam Speaker, that is a very good question. We talked about that. I personally asked the minister how many pages were in the agreement. It is a simple question that anyone would ask at the beginning, but she was not able to answer it. Throughout the committee hearings and in the House of Commons, we were faced with these uncertainties, with no direct answers. Usually in the House of Commons, we p…
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Madam Speaker, the member mentioned dancing. If anyone is dancing, endless dancing, it is the government. This is not the first time the government is dancing around without coming up with a better deal. We always have to aim for perfection. We have to aim for better. If we try to say that we are not going to aim for that perfection or for getting a better deal, then we are not doing our job. If t…
Read full speech →Emergency Debate
Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank the parliamentary secretary and government House leader for talking about Alberta's contribution to the federation through the billions of dollars that came from Alberta to feed the rest of Canada when Alberta was truly the economic engine over the past decades for the whole country. The hon. member ended up listing evidence to explain to us how water was named w…
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