44th Parl. 1st Sess.
November 28, 2023 10:00AM
- Nov/28/23 10:43:54 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, it is amazing to hear the hypocrisy of Conservatives talking about the Senate and democracy. They pick bums such as Larry Smith, who could not get elected, came in third, but got appointed to the Senate twice, as well as Leo Housakos, party bagman, who gets paid for life.
What is even more astounding is that this party had the gall to stand in this House and vote against a trade deal with Ukraine. Meanwhile, we see Tucker Carlson's pro-Putin propaganda, Republican pro-Putin propaganda, the Danube Institute and Stephen Harper pro-Putin propaganda. The Conservatives claimed it was on carbon pricing, which Ukraine has had for years.
The fact that the Conservatives would use carbon pricing to undermine Ukraine's war effort to support their right-wing hack friends in the United States is the height of hypocrisy for the Conservative Party.
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- Nov/28/23 11:09:56 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, people often say flamboyant and outrageous things in the House, but today I would like to make an apology. I would like to apologize to the leader of the Conservative Party because I have accused him of never having a job. Apparently, he has had a paper route.
However, that is not fair of me to say because he did have a job. When Stephen Harper needed someone to defend the secret bribery of $90,000 to Mike Duffy, of all the members of the Conservative caucus, nobody wanted to take the job, but the present leader of the Conservative Party did not mind defending Mike Duffy, who might be the worst choice for senator since Caligula appointed his horse. He could be on a list of all the other Conservative hacks, bums and friends of the party who were there to raise money for Stephen Harper.
With the Conservatives now being led by the leader of the Conservative Party, the man who defended a secret $90,000 payout to someone who was facing bribery and fraud charges, it shows what the Conservative Party is up to. I am amazed that he comes here with the gall to talk about democracy.
There is nothing democratic about appointing bagmen such as Leo Housakos or Larry Smith, who was so bad as a candidate that Conservatives appointed him to the Senate. He ran in the election and lost, coming in third, and then Stephen Harper put him in the Senate for life.
I would ask my hon. colleague what it is about the Conservatives and their use of the Senate for friends, cronies, bums and corrupt allies, who the leader of the Conservative Party will stand up to defend day after day after day.
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- Nov/28/23 11:35:57 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, on the same point of order, it felt like my colleague had verged well into the area of debate in order to defend the Conservative record.
The facts that have been raised here are very clear. The Conservatives are the only party that voted against the Canada-Ukraine free trade deal. That is—
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- Nov/28/23 12:24:04 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the issue of Conservative hypocrisy in the Senate is one of the reasons the Canadian people threw Brian Mulroney out. They gave him the bum's rush after he imposed eight senators to force through the most hated tax of all time, the GST. Canadians were stuck paying for these dudes until they were 75. They cannot be fired. The price of a Conservative sock puppet is enormous.
Stephen Harper came in and said he was going to reform the Senate. What did he do?
It is just one long list of pals and cronies. Let us talk about Larry Smith. Larry Smith gets appointed to the Senate, and he is outraged when he finds out how much money he is going to make. He says it is “a dramatic, catastrophic pay cut” that he had to serve the Canadian people. This is how out of touch the guy is. He then runs for office. Needless to say, the Canadian people want nothing to do with Larry Smith, so he comes in third. This man is unfit for public service. Stephen Harper puts him back in, a loyal sock puppet, and we are stuck with this guy until he is 75. He cannot be fired. He does not have to show up for work. All he has to do is be loyal to the Conservative Party.
When I see the member who is living in Stornoway, a 19-room mansion, talk about the common people and the Senate, I am amazed. Does he not meet with them every week and know exactly how entitled and how out of touch and what cronies of the Conservative Party they are?
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- Nov/28/23 12:26:03 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I appreciate that, and in that I do not actually deal with the unelected Senate on a regular basis, is it “crony” or “pal”? Is there a particular term that I should be aware of?
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- Nov/28/23 1:06:17 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, it is not that I am always opposed to the member for Winnipeg North, but I think it is inappropriate for him to claim to know what another colleague is going to speak of in the future. Maybe he has a Ouija board on his desk.
To contradict my Conservative colleague, it is not about the carbon tax. It is about the instruction to the unelected, unaccountable Senate, which is full of bagmen and friends.
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- Nov/28/23 1:25:18 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the concern I have with the Liberals is that they talk about this climate vision, but they have missed every single target they have ever promised. We see the Conservatives, who are dead set against investment in EV technology, ridiculing the investments in the battery plants. However, the Liberals are putting billions into it when they do not have a plan for the supply chain for critical minerals.
We have mineral deposits in Thompson, Manitoba, and in northern Ontario that could supply the EV technology that is needed, but without a coherent plan on tax credits, or a coherent plan from this government for an all-of-government approach, we are going to end up seeing the United States using our metals while we import metals from China, the Congo and Indonesia. This has been raised with the finance minister again and again, but we do not see any coherent strategy from the Liberals in comparison to Biden's IRA, which is creating billions in opportunities. Why is the government making promises without having the coherent plan to actually follow through?
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- Nov/28/23 1:59:46 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I rise on a point order. Earlier today, there was a discussion about the appropriateness of talking about senators and their corrupt practices. If you seek it, I think you will get unanimous consent for the notorious Senate playing cards, with Mac Harb, Patrick Brazeau, Raymond Lavigne—
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