44th Parl. 1st Sess.
December 14, 2023 10:00AM
- Dec/14/23 12:56:35 p.m.
- Watch
As I have indicated, there is some leeway. I want to remind members who are speaking to bills to make sure they reference the bill from time to time and relate their speech to it.
The hon. member for Parry Sound—Muskoka.
43 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
Madam Speaker, I will explain to the member, because he clearly does not quite get it. Part of the reason we have more labour strife in this country is, in fact, the inflationary spending of the current government. The excessive borrowing is causing everything to go up in price, and people in organized labour, like everybody else, are struggling to put food on the table. That is why I am referring to these issues. It is why I am referring it back to an issue that is completely connected to organized labour, and that is housing, which is the foundation of society: a warm, safe bed to sleep in at night. There are people working all across this country, whether they are in a union or not, who are struggling to make ends meet. That is causing labour strife.
My point about Bill C-58 is that it is the government's attempt, along with its coalition partners, to deflect from the real issues and from its failures as a government, including the massive borrowing and spending it has done for the last eight years, that is causing everything to go up in price and causing labour strife. If the Liberals understood the impact of their inflationary policies, things like Bill C-58 really should not be the top priority. It is an important discussion to have, but what we really need to do is get the cost of living down in this country. We need to make life more affordable for Canadians. Whether or not it is their inflationary borrowing and excessive spending, I know that the Liberals believe that the best way to solve any problem is to hire more bureaucrats and make the government bigger. However, in fact, the best way to make life more affordable for Canadians is to get out of their pockets and give them a break.
Bill C-58 is—
Some hon. members: Oh, oh!
323 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Dec/14/23 12:58:46 p.m.
- Watch
I want to remind members that there is no opportunity for cross-debate at this point. There is just an opportunity for questions and comments after the speech.
The hon. member for Parry Sound—Muskoka.
36 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
Madam Speaker, I am not sure whether the two members are familiar with The Muppet Show, but they remind me a bit of Waldorf and Statler right now. That is okay.
Bill C-58—
35 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Dec/14/23 12:59:10 p.m.
- Watch
I do want to remind members that when they are describing members of the House, they should be respectful.
The hon. member for Parry Sound—Muskoka.
27 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Dec/14/23 12:59:20 p.m.
- Watch
Honestly, Madam Speaker, that was respectful. It was meant in jest, and I think it was a very positive thing. Only one of them is offended, so they are actually playing the role very well, which is great.
38 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Dec/14/23 12:59:38 p.m.
- Watch
If the hon. member for Parry Sound—Muskoka could get back to his speech and the debate that is before the House, that would be great.
27 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
Madam Speaker, absolutely I will.
I would like to point out that the cost of living issue that I have been talking about is directly related to Bill C-58 and the fact that there is more labour strife in this country. We have seen a lot more of it. Obviously, I am just trying to make the point, tie in the point and help them understand, across the aisle, that, in fact, the Liberals' inflationary borrowing and spending and their big-government solutions to everything are part of the reason we are having more labour strife in this country. If the Liberals understood the implications of their disastrous policies, they would understand why it is important to point that out when discussing things like Bill C-58.
It is also interesting to note that Bill C-58 would ban the use of replacement workers in federally regulated workspaces, such as banks, airlines and rail, which are all very important. Of course, the government is making sure that this would not apply to federal workers, just federally regulated workspaces, so it is one of the classic double standards of the Liberal Party where it wants to make sure that it looks to be doing the right thing, but we are not sure that it really is. It is just one more example of a government that is good on talking points and long on photo ops, but not really great at delivering results.
I am sure there will be some really insightful questions from across the aisle.
I would just say, in reference to the cost of living and the issues that Canadians are facing today, that, as this will be the last time I speak in the House before the Christmas break, I would like to wish everyone a happy Christmas and a happy holiday, and remind them to be thinking about their neighbour this holiday season. Lots of people are struggling. If people can support their local food bank, I ask them to please do that. Our neighbours need our help, this year more than ever.
348 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Dec/14/23 1:02:00 p.m.
- Watch
Madam Speaker, I actually feel sorry for the member. I genuinely believe that he is one of the more progressive ones in his party, yet somehow he seems to have been sucked down the rabbit hole of the member for Carleton and his talking points.
I genuinely do not believe that the member thinks that the inflationary impact has to do with government spending. He must know that it has more to do with global issues such as the war in Ukraine and the fact that every other country in the developed world is also experiencing inflation. Can he not, perhaps, at least agree that there are other factors that contribute to inflation?
113 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Dec/14/23 1:02:54 p.m.
- Watch
Madam Speaker, I would note that my Liberal friends like me a lot more when I agree with them, but the member is patently wrong in this particular circumstance. We have heard from the Governor of the Bank of Canada that inflationary borrowing and spending are exacerbating inflation. They are not the only reason; I will grant the member that. We have also heard from a former Liberal finance minister on the same topic, that excessive borrowing and inflationary spending are making things more expensive. We have heard from Scotiabank economists.
I am not making it up. I know that the member despises the member for Carleton, but the member for Carleton is absolutely correct, and he is not quoting his own numbers; he is quoting numbers we are hearing from the experts. I do not know why the Liberals do not agree with the experts, but the facts are there. I wish they would listen to them as opposed to their own Liberal talking points from the PMO.
169 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Dec/14/23 1:03:45 p.m.
- Watch
Madam Speaker, I have great respect for my colleague, who is almost from the north, but not quite.
The problem is that the Conservatives pretend that inflation just happened. I am looking at inflationary jumps that have happened for some time. For example, when the member for Regina—Qu'Appelle was Speaker, he held fundraisers for $125 a plate, including cigars, but four years on, it was $175 a plate with cigars. This is a huge inflationary jump—
80 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Dec/14/23 1:04:22 p.m.
- Watch
Madam Speaker, on a point of order, the member's comments are neither on the member's speech nor on the bill. I question the relevance.
26 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Dec/14/23 1:04:27 p.m.
- Watch
I would again remind members that speeches and comments should be related to the matter before the House. If the hon. member for Timmins—James Bay could make the link, that would be great.
35 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Dec/14/23 1:04:41 p.m.
- Watch
Madam Speaker, I am trying to raise questions about the Conservatives' use of inflation to jump up prices for tickets when the member for Regina—Qu'Appelle was Speaker and holding fundraisers. There was a dramatic increase, and that needs to be explained. Were those global figures? Was it the Liberals, or was it the member for Regina—Qu'Appelle who—
64 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Dec/14/23 1:05:00 p.m.
- Watch
I do not see the relationship to the bill before the House.
I do not know whether the hon. member for Parry Sound—Muskoka wishes to weigh in on this, and whether he is able to relate it to the bill.
The hon. member for Parry Sound—Muskoka.
50 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Dec/14/23 1:05:16 p.m.
- Watch
Madam Speaker, it was a little jumbled; I will grant you that, and I think you are quite justified in being confused by what the member was talking about.
The fact of the matter is that inflation has definitely been far worse over the last few years of the government. It has spiked because of exactly what I have been talking about. While inflation has always existed, it is certainly a lot worse now and has been exacerbated by the government.
81 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Dec/14/23 1:05:51 p.m.
- Watch
Madam Speaker, I would ask the member to talk a little more about inflation and how it is affecting people, particularly working men and women right across this country, unionized or not. Maybe there is a message that he would like to share, especially in relation to the message from the member for Carleton, to let working people know there is some hope around the corner.
66 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Dec/14/23 1:06:21 p.m.
- Watch
Madam Speaker, the labour strife that exists in this country is, in large part, because life is too expensive. While the rights of workers to bargain collectively are important, it is also important for workers to be able to afford to put food on the table, heat their homes and drive to work if they need to do that, and the government is making these things more expensive with its inflationary spending and its carbon tax on everything.
78 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
Madam Speaker, it is always an honour to rise in the House. I am certainly very proud to rise on Bill C-58, an act to amend the Canada Labour Code and the Canada Industrial Relations Board Regulations, to end the practice in federally regulated workplaces of being able to bring in scab labour. This is something that New Democrats and the labour movement have fought many years for, and we are determined to make this a reality.
At the outset, I want to thank the member for South Okanagan—West Kootenay who spoke about the history, because history is important. He mentioned the history of the Rossland miners and the Western Federation of Miners, and the transformation they brought across this country.
I am proud to be from Cobalt where the 17th district of the Western Federation of Miners was formed under Big Jim McGuire. The fact that the fight for the eight-hour day began in the mines of Cobalt on April 28, the international day of mourning for workers killed on the job, relates directly to the Cobalt Miners Union winning the right to workers' compensation in 1914.
My grandfather, Charlie Angus, died at the Hollinger Mine, and my other grandfather, Joe MacNeil, broke his back underground at the McIntyre Mine. Both were members of Mine Mill and then the Steelworkers. When I was growing up, anybody who came from a mining town had a relative who had been injured or killed on the job. However, organized labour fundamentally changed that.
The right of labour to organize, the right of labour to fight for a better future, is the history of our country and of the United States. They talk about the birth of the middle class in the United States as being the 1938 sit-down strike in Flint, Michigan where the auto workers were not going to put up with precarious work—
319 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Dec/14/23 1:08:49 p.m.
- Watch
Madam Speaker, I rise on a point of order. The member is mentioning the United States. We are dealing with Canadian legislation here. Why is he bringing up U.S. situations?
31 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
