SoVote

Dec/2/21 11:47:41 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, I will be splitting my time today with my hon. colleague from Mississauga—Erin Mills. It is an absolute privilege to be back here in the House to bring the voice, perspective and views of the good people of Kings—Hants. Of course, this is the second time I have had the privilege of being elected as the member of Parliament for Kings—Hants, and although it is not my first time speaking in the 44th Parliament, I want to take the opportunity to thank the residents of Kings—Hants for placing their confidence in me to be their voice and their member of Parliament. All members of the House will certainly appreciate that when we get into public life, there has to be people in our corner. First and foremost is our family, so I would like to take the opportunity to thank my fiancée Kimberly. She is my rock. There are challenges when we need to be in Ottawa and are having busy nights on the road meeting constituents, so I thank her. To my mom, my grandmothers and my entire family, I have the best support system one could ask for. I could not be here without them. I also thank my campaign manager, Kristina Shannon. She and I went to high school together. She has had work experience with Premier McNeil in Nova Scotia. Dale Palmeter, before her, worked on my campaign in 2019. Without them, I would not be the member of Parliament standing here in the House. I also want to thank all the volunteers, and not only those on my team, whom of course I am very thankful for. Democracy relies upon volunteers getting behind candidates of all stripes to contribute to something bigger than themselves. To the volunteers for the candidates in Kings—Hants and indeed across the country, I give my thanks for their work and commitment to democracy. I want to quickly describe Kings—Hants to my colleagues and to Canadians who might be watching. It is largely a rural riding. The area of Kings—Hants, and East Hants particularly, includes communities that I would describe as suburban. They are about 40 minutes outside of Halifax. There are some large rural townships, but also areas that are extremely rural, where there could be a kilometre between houses. I call it a mini Canada. There are three indigenous communities: Sipekne'katik, Annapolis Valley First Nation and Glooscap First Nation. We are home to the highest tides in the world. We have a burgeoning wine sector too, so to members of Parliament and Canadians who enjoy a nice glass of wine, please consider supporting the Nova Scotia wine industry. It is very robust. We are also what I would call the agriculture heartland of Atlantic Canada. We have the most supply-managed farms east of Quebec, a number of horticulture-based businesses and are known for the Annapolis Valley apple. Of course, we have Acadia University, which has drawn significant alumni and people from across the world and indeed across the country. There is also the Michelin plant in the Annapolis Valley and of course Halifax Stanfield, which is just outside the perimeter of Kings—Hants but is indeed a major employer in the area. Finally, we are the birthplace of hockey, in Windsor, Nova Scotia. The Speech from the Throne is a document that, as my colleagues would know, is very broad in nature. It puts out the principles the government hopes to achieve in the days ahead. I want to take some time to highlight things I heard on doorsteps and that I hope parliamentarians in the House will work collaboratively to help advance in the days ahead. First and foremost is labour and immigration. Our government was there throughout the pandemic to make sure there were supports in place for small businesses and individuals. The fact that 101% of the jobs we lost during the pandemic have been returned is a marquee element that shows we have been successful in that domain, and especially successful given the pandemic and the challenges of immigration over the past two years. As we have heard in the House, across the country labour is a major issue, and I know the government will be focused on this in the days ahead. One area of particular interest to me is the seasonal agricultural worker program. Over 1,500 people from countries such as Jamaica and Mexico come to the Annapolis Valley, and particularly to Kings—Hants, to support the agriculture sector every day. In our platform, there was a commitment to an express entry program and the ability to reduce administrative red tape. This will not only help the employees coming from their countries of origin, but also help the employers in the farming community. As a member of Parliament, I will be working closely with the government to help implement this in the days ahead. Let us talk about housing. We know that housing is a major challenge in urban communities, but indeed it is in rural as well. One of the silver linings of the pandemic is that, during the height of it, many individuals, who are working-class professionals, who have families, chose to move from urban locations to rural parts of our country. That is extremely beneficial for the long-term demographic outlook of rural communities across Canada, but it has put a pressure on our housing supply. I will give one example. I remember in the 2019 election, I was on the Hants shore. It is an area that largely has an older demographic. There were a number of houses that were for sale, and they had been for sale for quite some time. There is no real estate available on the Hants shore right now, and housing prices are up 40%. I know our government will be working hard on this issue, but I do want to highlight that this is not just a Government of Canada issue. This is going to require all three levels of government between the federal, provincial and municipal leaders. We know that indigenous communities have to be part of that conversation, the private sector and indeed non-profits in terms of the work that we have to do. Let us talk about climate change. I just mentioned that Kings—Hants is home to the highest tides in the world. What a constant, every day reminder of the important work that needs to be done. Over the past two elections this has been a predominant theme. I have heard from my constituents the need for the government to do more and to move hard in that direction. On the heels of COP26, we know that there has to be more work to be done to be able to protect 1.5°C of global warming. The forest fires in western Canada combined with the flooding that we have seen in British Columbia, but not just British Columbia, as they are also in my province of Nova Scotia and indeed in Newfoundland and Labrador, I think is a reminder for all Canadians, indeed all parliamentarians, that we need to be collectively working in this regard. Our government has promised and has mentioned in the Speech from the Throne caps on the oil and gas production and the emissions associated with such, the elimination of fossil fuel subsidies and the development of EV vehicles. These are going to be crucial in the days ahead for us to be able to meet our target. As a member of Parliament, what I intend to focus on is the way we can work with the agriculture community to help reduce their emissions. Farmers are doing incredible work, but at the same time, we need to be able to do more. That is where I will put my focus. I also think we need to be mindful of how we can draw private sector investment in and how the government can make that happen because government investment in subsidy can only go so far. I mentioned I have three indigenous communities. We just had the Speech from the Throne delivered from the first indigenous Governor General in Canada's history. I want to particularly focus on indigenous housing, infrastructure and investment in social programming. I look forward to building relationships with chiefs and council that are there and to be able to move that forward. In my view as a parliamentarian, the two biggest challenges we will all face in the 44th Parliament, those that will be on the heels as we work our way out of this pandemic, will be twofold: One, growing our economy to make sure that the expenses we took on during the pandemic are sustainable when coupled with the investments the government is planning in the days ahead; and, two, addressing climate change and reducing emissions. Both of those require real attention to investments on how to grow the economy. I want to mention agriculture. As I said, it is the backbone of the economy in Kings—Hants, and I would argue it is the backbone of the economy in Canada. One in eight jobs in Canada are tied to the agriculture sector. It is a $130-billion industry. We have tremendous opportunity to be able to expand that to not only feed Canada but the world. I look at things like the Barton Report and the ways that government can move ahead. That is where I will be putting my attention. I am pleased to see that there was a commitment around business risk management. To help drive the wine industry in Canada, we have put $101 million in that. That will matter in Kings—Hants and supply managed farms. We were there for farmers at the height of the negotiations of the new CUSMA. We will be there to make sure that they are protected in the days ahead. Two quick points I would say before I finish are, first, the importance of child care, and what that is going to mean to the people in Kings—Hants, and indeed to people across the country, to get parents back to work and help make sure that it is affordable. Finally, we need to work on ways that we can increase interprovincial trade and reduce barriers in light of global protectionism.

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Mr. Jeremy Patzer (Cypress Hills—Grasslands, CPC)

Dec/2/21 11:57:39 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, in my colleague's riding, much like mine, agriculture is the main driver of the economy. Over the last 20 years, farmers have been making changes to their farming practices to make farming more sustainable. In fact, in a worldwide index, Canada has the most sustainable farming in the world. Prior to the election, the government said it was going to have a 30% emissions reduction on fertilizer, but it has not said anything about how it is going to do that. Farmers in my riding are extremely concerned about this because, without the use of fertilizer, the amount of crops they can grow will go down, our exports will go down and food insecurity will become a problem. Also, as we pursue biofuels as the next wave, we will need more canola to meet that demand, but we are going to see less canola grown because of a 30% emissions reduction in fertilizer. I wonder if the member has any information he would like to share with the House about how this might be accomplished by the government, so we can get some certainty for our producers.

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Mr. Kody Blois

Dec/2/21 11:58:40 a.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I am glad that the member and I share an understanding of the importance of the agricultural sector to the entire country. On the question on fertilizer reduction, I have had conversations with Fertilizer Canada about ways we could move that forward. We know that the work being done by Environment and Climate Change Canada right now, as it relates to carbon offsets, is going to be an important part of that. We have to work as a government to bridge that gap between recognizing the work farmers are already doing, while at the same time, asking them to be a part of the solution and do even more. I certainly want to highlight that there was $130 million in the last budget for this, whether it was in business risk management, being there for our dairy farmers or some of the initiatives around climate and agriculture. Those are all important measures, and I look forward to working with the member to advance them in the days ahead.

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Mr. Mario Simard (Jonquière, BQ)

Dec/2/21 11:59:36 a.m.
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Mr. Speaker, in his speech, our colleague spoke about how important it is to reduce greenhouse gases and about what his government has done. I genuinely wonder if he has read the report from the commissioner of the environment and sustainable development. This report was damning for his government, especially when it comes to the emissions reduction fund, which goes entirely to the oil and gas industry. The Liberal government is trying to convince us that we will be able to increase production if we reduce emissions from the oil and gas sector. I have seen this kind of cynical behaviour before, back in the 1990s, when cigarette companies were claiming that there was a light cigarette that was healthy. I wonder if this is something the average Liberal can understand: Focusing on oil is not the way to combat climate change. I would like to hear my colleague's thoughts on that.

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Mr. Kody Blois

Dec/2/21 12:00:31 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, Canada is the fourth-largest producer of oil and gas in the world. Although the Bloc member, whose goal is to create sovereignty for Quebec in this country, may not recognize its importance, oil and gas are 25% of Canada's exports. Our government is focused on ways we could reduce emissions associated with production in the oil and gas sector. We do not have the ability to control production elements. That is a provincial domain. He should respect that as a member of the Bloc. They certainly call for it a lot in the House. We are focused on reducing emissions, and we recognize that a transition will happen, but it is not going to happen overnight. We are committed to Canadians workers and to being able to move both climate and our economy forward together.

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Ms. Leah Gazan (Winnipeg Centre, NDP)

Dec/2/21 12:01:17 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, my hon. colleague spoke a little about small businesses. The heart of Winnipeg Centre is absolutely made up of small businesses, and they are barely making ends meet because they did what needed to be done to keep our communities safe. Currently, the CEBA loan repayment is set to be due December 2022. We are still in a pandemic. This will gut businesses. Is my hon. colleague open to expanding the repayment date for the CEBA loans until at least 2024?

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Mr. Kody Blois

Dec/2/21 12:02:12 p.m.
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Re: Bill C-2

Mr. Speaker, the member hit has it right on the head. Our government was there throughout the pandemic and continues to be there with the introduction of Bill C-2, which would support the hardest-hit businesses across the country. We did put the program in place to end on December 31, 2022. The fact of the matter is, that is something we could look at. Our fiscal framework will be challenged because we have just gone through the pandemic. We do have to focus on supporting small businesses, but I will leave that for the Minister of Finance to ultimately make her decision.

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Mr. Mark Gerretsen

Dec/2/21 12:02:49 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I rise on a point of order. During his intervention today, the member for Kings—Hants said that the birthplace of hockey was in Nova Scotia. I would direct him to a CBC article from January 6, 2016, which disputes that. It states the birthplace is actually Kingston, Ontario.

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The Deputy Speaker

Dec/2/21 12:03:02 p.m.
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That is not a point of order. Nor do I agree with the statement of the member.

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Mr. Kody Blois

Dec/2/21 12:03:13 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I rise on a point of order. While I certainly respect the point of order just raised by the member for Kingston and the Islands, I would have to fundamentally disagree. I would point him to the historians who have seen that it was based in Nova Scotia. He and I can take this outside the House. I certainly appreciate him raising it for the Hansard.

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The Deputy Speaker

Dec/2/21 12:03:28 p.m.
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While I appreciate the points of order, they are not points order. They are debate. Resuming debate, the hon. member for Mississauga—Erin Mills.

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Ms. Iqra Khalid (Mississauga—Erin Mills, Lib.)

Dec/2/21 12:03:37 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, it is an honour and a privilege to rise in the House today to speak in response to the Speech from the Throne. Last week our government outlined a comprehensive plan to move our country forward and finish the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic. Over the last 20 months, our federal government has remained focused on doing whatever it takes to support Canadians. In an unprecedented crisis, we took unprecedented action, and through our federal programs, we have kept food on the table for nearly nine million Canadians through CERB and the CRB, helped more than 700,000 small businesses stay afloat and protected over 3.9 million Canadian jobs. There are local businesses in my riding of Mississauga—Erin Mills that had a very successful Black Friday weekend, only because they had our support to survive. Now, as we move forward, we must focus on economic recovery. That means focusing on jobs, affordability, taking stronger action against climate change, moving forward toward a path of reconciliation and ensuring everyone has access to health care. Last week's Speech from the Throne highlighted just that. It is no secret that housing prices have risen drastically across the country over the years, and we are feeling the impact in my riding of Mississauga—Erin Mills. Since I was first elected in 2015, hundred of constituents in Erin Mills have written to me to share their concerns about the rising cost of living, and our efforts for Canada's economic recovery must continue to focus on affordability. From day one, our government has made housing a clear priority. We launched Canada's first national housing strategy and invested more than $72 billion over 10 years, starting in 2017, to ensure Canadians have a safe and affordable place to call home. To date, our housing strategy has supported the creation of over 100,000 new units and repaired over 300,000 more. As we continue to address supply issues, our government has helped put home ownership back in reach for Canadians with a more flexible first-time home buyer incentive, a new rent-to-own program and a reduction in closing costs for first-time buyers. In the term ahead, I look forward to working with our new Minister of Housing and Diversity and Inclusion to push ahead on the home buyers' bill of rights, which would help ensure that the process of purchasing and selling one's home is fair and transparent. We are taking action because each and every Canadian deserves a safe and affordable place to call home. As I was knocking on doors over this summer, I met Janet. She is a nurse and a working mother in my riding with two young children. While she has worked on the front lines of this pandemic, she has relied on child care programs to ensure that her children are taken care of. Between the long hours at work and the costs of these services, she has been struggling to get by. For parents like Janet, our government's plan to build a Canada-wide early learning and child care system is a game changer. We have backed this plan with $30 billion and earned acclaim from stakeholders across Canada. Our government has always prioritized investing in early learning and child care because it is the right and smart thing to do, not only for parents, but also for our economy. We have signed agreements with Quebec, Prince Edward Island, Newfoundland and Labrador, Yukon, Nova Scotia, British Columbia and, most recently, Alberta. For parents in these jurisdictions, it means that their child care fees will be cut in half by the end of the coming year and reduced to just $10 a day by 2026. Suffice to say, we in Erin Mills are all waiting for Ontario and other remaining provinces to come to the table. Our government will remain focused on making life better and more affordable for all Canadians. This summer we were shocked, horrified and heart-broken by the discovery of unmarked graves and burial sites located near former residential schools. These graves, and countless more waiting to be found, confirm the stories that survivors have been telling for generations. As Canadians, we still have a lot to learn about this undertold part of our country and a lot of work ahead of us. To move forward on the path of reconciliation, we need to ensure that the truths and history of these tragedies are never forgotten. Our government is committed to continuing to support indigenous peoples in these communities by investing in a distinction-based mental health and wellness strategy, accelerating work on missing and murdered indigenous women and girls and 2SLGBTQ people, and appointing a special interlocutor to advance justice for those impacted by residential schools. We must push forward to complete the remaining Truth and Reconciliation Commission calls to action under federal responsibility, and continue pushing the other named parties and levels of government to do their part. I would like to turn my attention to the climate crisis. On that, our government's position has never wavered. Climate change is real, and it is among the greatest challenges of our generation and future generations. That is why we are taking action by increasing the price on pollution and putting more money into the pockets of Canadians. We are investing in public transit, developing alternative energies such as hydrogen, and making zero-emission vehicles more affordable and accessible for everyone. Building something new takes time, and it takes investment. Canadians want us to make the investments today to build a cleaner economy, and that is what we are doing to reach that goal of a clean energy grid from coast to coast to coast, and net zero by 2050. Residents in Erin Mills are done debating the legitimacy of the climate crisis and so am I. Canadians want all parties, at all levels of government including provinces and municipalities, to get on board and take this seriously. If we work together and continue to push our ambitions higher, we can make Canada the proof that a clean future is possible. Our children are watching. Earlier this month, I heard from Ms. Chen's grade 10 class at Meadowvale Secondary School, asking our government to take action on mental health. I could not agree more. At the onset of the pandemic, we created the Wellness Together portal to provide free, confidential support to Canadians of all ages. Within the first two weeks that portal had received over 1.2 million calls. That tells us we need to continue to make mental health more accessible for all. We have invested $100 million to support mental health projects across Canada, and over the next five years we intend to invest $4.5 billion to expand access to mental health services. To oversee these investments, our Prime Minister has appointed the first ever federal Minister of Mental Health and Addictions. This is the same person who not long ago helped build the Public Health Agency of Canada. For our youth, seniors, frontline workers, BIPOC communities and Canadians of all walks of life, we must ensure that mental health supports are ready and available when they need them. I have only scratched the surface of what our plan will deliver for Canadians. When I look to the future, we are building a cleaner, more affordable and more resilient Canada for everyone. I am optimistic. I am optimistic because, yesterday, we saw what the House is capable of when we put partisanship aside for the sake of Canadians. If we can move forward in that spirit of unity and co-operation, we can get this done. It is an honour to be back in this chamber representing my wonderful riding of Mississauga—Erin Mills, and I look forward to working on this progressive agenda with members across the chamber to ensure we move forward together toward a better and more prosperous Canada for everyone. It all starts with this throne speech.

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Mr. Eric Melillo (Kenora, CPC)

Dec/2/21 12:12:57 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, one issue that is very important to the people of the riding of Kenora and right across northern Ontario, and that I do not believe was mentioned once in the throne speech, is access to affordable, reliable, high-speed Internet. We know that this is no longer a luxury. It is essential, especially as more Canadians attend school or work or even access government services from home. In the last campaign, our party put forward a comprehensive plan to connect all households in Canada by 2025 to high-speed Internet. Is the member able to commit, on behalf of her government, to meeting that deadline?

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Ms. Iqra Khalid

Dec/2/21 12:13:39 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I could not agree more with the member opposite on his call to action on connectivity across the country. I had the privilege to travel to Newfoundland and Labrador earlier this year and really got to see first-hand the issues rural communities face with respect to connectivity. This government has made significant investments in ensuring that Canada is connected. We saw just how important that connection was as we moved to a more virtual workspace. I know that the party opposite may have plans and may have promises, but the government has been delivering on this issue for the past number of years.

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Mrs. Caroline Desbiens (Beauport—Côte-de-Beaupré—Île d'Orléans—Charlevoix, BQ)

Dec/2/21 12:14:36 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I appreciate my colleague opposite's speech. However, when we heard the Speech from the Throne, we were concerned about how the government wanted to address the issues that we had with health care during the pandemic. It is once again forcing its way into a Quebec jurisdiction. However, all the provinces and Quebec have been asking for a very long time for health transfers to be increased to around 35% of costs. We in the Bloc Québécois have proposed to the government that a major health care summit be held. I would like to hear my colleague's thoughts on that.

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Ms. Iqra Khalid

Dec/2/21 12:15:25 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, over the past 20 months, we saw just how critical investments in health care really are. We have to work together with provinces and territories to ensure that Canadians have access to that health care. In our campaign, we made the commitment that we would continue to invest in health care, not only creating new hospital beds but also ensuring that we fill the labour shortage and hire more doctors and health care professionals. We look forward to working with the member opposite to ensure that this is implemented.

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Mr. Gord Johns (Courtenay—Alberni, NDP)

Dec/2/21 12:16:07 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, congratulations on being in the chair. My colleague talked about reconciliation. She is well aware of the shootings of Chantel Moore, who died last year on a wellness check; Julian Jones, who was shot in Opitsaht earlier this year; and another woman in Hitacu. These are three people from the Tla-o-qui-aht nation in my riding. The Speech from the Throne says: The Government will also continue to reform the criminal justice system and policing. It has not even started, so I do not know where the “continue” comes from. It has been very clear. The report, “Systemic Racism in Policing in Canada”, was done at the public safety committee. None of those recommendations has been put into place, and I am hoping my colleague will champion bringing that report back and actually implementing the calls to action. The Tla-o-qui-aht need answers, and the mothers of those victims need answers. People need change. They do not trust the police anymore where I live. They need accountability, they need reform, and they need oversight and transparency. The recommendations from the report are critical to earn the trust of indigenous people in this country, and to save lives and prevent further unnecessary deaths.

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Ms. Iqra Khalid

Dec/2/21 12:17:22 p.m.
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Re: Bill C-3

Mr. Speaker, I have been on the justice committee for the past six years, and we have done significant work on access to justice. We know that there is institutionalized racism. That is exactly why we introduced Bill C-3: to ensure that judges had that training. It is why we continue to make those investments within the police force and within our justice system to ensure that access is there. The work is being done. The damage was done over 150 years, and we need to make sure that we take it seriously and continue to chip away and push that needle further towards progress.

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The Deputy Speaker

Dec/2/21 12:18:02 p.m.
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Before we continue debate, I would note that we know members are very passionate about the questions they are asking and the answers they are giving, but if they go on too long, the problem is that other members do not have the opportunity to ask questions. Let us try to keep our comments and questions as short as possible so that we can get as many members in as we possibly can. Continuing debate, the hon. member for Edmonton Mill Woods.

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Order and decorum

Hon. Tim Uppal (Edmonton Mill Woods, CPC)

Dec/2/21 12:18:25 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I would like to start by expressing my deep gratitude to my community of Edmonton Mill Woods for their continued trust in me to represent them here in the House of Commons. It is a privilege and a great honour to stand here on behalf of such an amazing and diverse community. They have shown incredible resilience during times of uncertainty and many challenges. I also want to thank my family for their unconditional support, and to personally thank my amazing campaign team and the dedicated group of volunteers who worked tirelessly during the last election campaign. I thank them for all of their outstanding efforts. I do not know if you, Mr. Speaker, have ever been to Edmonton Mill Woods, but if you went you would find a diverse community in every sense. It is an economically diverse group of mostly middle-class, hard-working Canadians. There are young families and seniors, and Mill Woods is really known for its cultural and faith diversity. That makes it the great place that it is. I am proud that I grew up in Mill Woods, and proud that the son of an immigrant cab driver can have a seat here in the House of Commons. My father is the hardest-working person I know. He is out there driving a cab right now because he just does not want to sit at home. I believe that says a lot about the people of Edmonton Mill Woods, and it says a great deal about this amazing country we live in and the opportunities that it provides. Nav Bhatia, the superfan and now Canadian icon, says that Canada is heaven on earth. I agree with him. In Mill Woods, we have tremendously generous organizations that have stepped up to help each other in the past couple of years. These include organizations such as the Edmonton Care Closet, which provides food and clothing based out of Calvary Community Church, and our Rotary Club of Edmonton Southeast. Fulton Meadows Community League provides food for the food bank and a clothing drive, Millhurst Community League created a coats for kids campaign, Leefield Community League provided Thanksgiving turkey dinner for hundreds of people, and Youth Rise provides great support for youth in our community. United Aid and Sikh Youth Edmonton recently teamed up with the All India Super Market and New Way Trucking to donate and send food free of cost to B.C., to help people during these devastating floods. Sangat Youth YEG has been doing a great job. Hope City Church has been providing support in our community. Our local mosque, Markaz-Ul-Islam mosque, has also been helping. Ahmadiyya Jama'at Edmonton, the Hindu temple Bhartiya Cultural Society, Philippine Business Society of Alberta-Edmonton and Guru Nanak's Free Kitchen are all organizations in our community that have been helping their neighbours. There are many more that I could list. My heartfelt thanks and gratitude go to them and to their supporters for all of their great work. The reason they have had to step up and help their neighbours now more than before is because from coast to coast to coast life is getting more expensive for Canadians. We see it everywhere we go: at the gas pumps, in the grocery stores and even when we try to buy Christmas gifts. Conservatives have repeatedly warned the government that its reckless spending would cost Canadian families. For more than a year, we warned that this flood of money would fuel inflation. Now, we are watching the consequences of the Prime Minister's reimagined economy in real time. Unfortunately, the Prime Minister's political priorities announced in the Speech from the Throne do nothing for middle-class working Canadians. The cost-of-living crisis that we are in right now is pricing families out of homes and driving up the costs of essential goods. It is clear that families in Alberta are not a priority for the current government. Instead of presenting an economic plan for families, seniors and small businesses that have been left behind by the government, the government's approach means more of the same: More deficits leading to higher taxes. One thing is clear. Middle-class Canadians cannot afford more of the current Liberal government's reckless spending. Being a middle-class Canadian no longer means living comfortably. Being a middle-class Canadian in Alberta, especially an energy worker, comes with an even greater set of challenges. The Prime Minister has waged a war on our energy sector. At a time when the world is facing an energy crisis and the President of the United States is calling on OPEC and other energy producers to increase the production of oil and gas to lower soaring energy prices, the Prime Minister and his new environment minister want to deny our energy sector the opportunity to supply the world with ethical, lower-emission Canadian energy at a time when it is desperately needed. Through the Speech from the Throne, the Prime Minister continues to attack our energy workers. The only time he mentions Alberta energy is when he talks about putting a cap on the work they do. He makes no mention of the world-class, ethically sourced energy that is using world-leading technology to reduce its environmental footprint. The demand for energy is not going away soon. What the Prime Minister does not understand is that our made-in-Canada energy will be replaced by unethically produced energy. His attack on our energy sector is not out of concern for the environment, but, instead, it is about furthering his own Liberal agenda. The Liberal government's short-sighted plan to limit made-in-Canada energy will only embolden foreign oil-producing dictatorships. Its plan will drive up the prices of oil and gas and make it more expensive for Canadian families to drive to work and heat their homes. The Conservatives know that it is possible to work with our energy sector, lower emissions and provide jobs and opportunity in Canada. We should be proud to supply the world with sustainable and ethical energy to developing countries, which want to source their energy from a country like Canada where our environmental and labour standards are world class. On top of inflation and the rising costs of food and gas, we are also in the midst of one of the worst housing crises the country has ever seen. The dream of home ownership is being pushed impossibly out of reach for first-time homebuyers. Home prices in Canada have shot up over 20% since 2020. We need to reduce inflation and increase supply, increasing housing availability. One of the ways we would do that through the Conservative plan would be to release at least 15% of federal surplus land holdings to allow for more housing. The rise in cost of affordable housing is a serious issue that requires a serious plan, which has not been provided by the government. Earlier I spoke about a number of the great organizations that were helping their fellow Canadians in Edmonton Mill Woods, and I know there are organizations like that right across the country. Many of these organizations are faith-based and cultural-based organizations and many of them may not have the same values as the Liberals do. However, that is just part of our diversity in Canada. In 2017, the Liberal government required organizations to sign a values test to receive funding to hire summer students. Because of this values test, many worthy organizations were excluded from the program just because their values did not line up with the Liberal Party. Thankfully, the federal government changed course after considerable outcry from across the country. Now I am hearing considerable concern from many people in my community about a Liberal campaign promise to take tax-exemption status away from organizations that do not align with Liberal values. Once again, the Liberals love diversity as long as we all agree with them. I hope the Liberals will listen to all voices across Canada and represent them all. Another issue is the rise in gun crime. This has been an issue in many major cities, including Edmonton, and we have to have serious solutions to this. Instead, the government relentlessly continues to go after law-abiding gun owners, hunters, farmers and sport shooters. It is simple. Every time the government spends $1 taking firearms away from a law-abiding Canadian, it is $1 not going to fight the core issue of firearm crime in Canada, which is illegally smuggled guns. Canadians across the country elected the Conservatives to hold the Liberal government to account, and we are doing just that.

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