44th Parl. 1st Sess.
February 1, 2024 10:00AM
- Feb/1/24 2:11:43 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, this upcoming weekend, Prince Edward Island will be the proud host of the prestigious 35th annual Joe O'Brien Awards. Standardbred Canada is thrilled to be returning to P.E.I., where the famous Joe O'Brien had his start, just like many other Islanders who are finalists in several harness racing categories this year.
The harness racing industry has deep roots in P.E.I. as part of our culture and community fabric. For many, it is generational. It also provides employment and economic opportunities for Canadians and rural communities across this country.,
A huge thanks to organizers, volunteers and Standardbred Canada for hosting this event. I wish all finalists, particularly those with Island roots, good luck this weekend. I congratulate everyone for their contributions to this industry.
As the legendary harness racing announcer Vance Cameron has said, we will be at it and to it on P.E.I. this weekend. It is showtime.
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- Feb/1/24 2:12:43 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, after eight years of the Liberal-NDP government, everything in Canada feels broken. The costly coalition continues to raise the carbon tax every year, making it more difficult for Canadians to fill their cars up with gas or pay their home heating bills. Many Canadians cannot find a place to live, and those who can are struggling with rent and mortgage payments.
The debt goes up every year as the Liberals and NDP continue to mortgage our children's future by running deficits. Crime rates continue to rise because of the Liberal and NDP's catch-and-release policies toward criminals. Clearly, this Prime Minister is not worth the cost.
Whether the election comes this year or next year, a new Conservative government would axe the tax, build the homes, fix the budget and stop the crime. Those are the priorities of Canadians, and those are the priorities of our Conservative team. That is what we would do in government.
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- Feb/1/24 2:13:56 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, yesterday at the industry committee, the former CEO of the Liberals' billion-dollar green slush fund revealed that the Liberals were aware of corruption and self-dealing at the fund for years. As early as 2019, the then industry minister, Navdeep Bains, was informed that the company of the Liberal-appointed chair was receiving millions of dollars from the fund. Despite this outrageous conflict of interest, the Liberals allowed the chair to remain in charge.
This new evidence completely shreds the credibility of the current minister, who claims that the Liberals only recently learned of corruption at the fund, corruption involving the misappropriation of tens of millions of taxpayers' dollars. The minister knew about the corruption. He turned a blind eye to it, and when he got caught, he tried to cover it up. It speaks to the utter rot and corruption on the part of the Liberals. Canadians deserve so much better.
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- Feb/1/24 2:14:57 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I would like to pay tribute to Anne-Marie Philippe, a caring woman and outstanding volunteer who dedicated her life to her community here, in Ottawa-Vanier. She left us far too soon and too suddenly in early January.
Anne-Marie Philippe was not only a familiar face in our area, she was also known for her community involvement and dedication to volunteering. She was a fixture at every community event, and the yellow Optimist Club jacket that she wore with pride made her easy to pick out of a crowd. For more than 30 years, she worked alongside her second family, generously giving her time to the Optimist Club's many community activities and contributing to Perspectives Vanier. To top it off, she channelled her contagious energy into her work with children affected by cancer through her involvement with the Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario Foundation.
It has been a true honour and a gift to have known her all these years. I thank her for her volunteer work and for the tremendous difference she has made in our community.
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- Feb/1/24 2:16:04 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, as we celebrate Black History Month, let us honour the legacy of our recently departed brother, Klyde Broox, who ascended to our ancestors on January 20, 2024. Klyde Broox, a.k.a. Durm-1, was a beacon of literary brilliance and activism. Born in Jamaica and making Hamilton his home, Broox's journey from an award-winning dub poet to an international literary figure is a testament to the power of words to inspire change.
His accolades, including the Nathan Brissett Poetry Prize, the James Michener Fellowship and the Hamilton Arts Award, barely scratch the surface of his impact. Through works like Poemstorm and My Best Friend Is White, he challenged us to confront complex racial dynamics with honesty and empathy, and he did so by bridging divides and celebrating our shared humanity. In fact, more laudable than all of his formal accolades in life, Klyde's contribution was capturing contemporary oral Black history.
Rest in power, my brother.
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- Feb/1/24 2:17:07 p.m.
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Happy Black History Month.
The hon. member for Manicouagan.
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- Feb/1/24 2:17:16 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the former director of Le Devoir, Bernard Descôteaux, passed away on January 13, and people's reactions to this sad news say a lot about the kind of man he was.
Mr. Descôteaux, who worked in just about every job there is at Le Devoir, including that of parliamentary correspondent here in Ottawa, was a boss who was well-loved by everyone. He deserves much of the credit for the survival of this veritable Quebec media institution, which he successfully guided through the print media crisis.
This soft-spoken man was a powerful force who always stood up for the independence of his journalists. At a time when the winds of polarization had already begun to blow on our social debates, he remained moderate and objective. Honest, caring, calm and inclusive, this quiet nationalist's intellectual rigour and kindness made a lasting impression on everyone he met.
Our thoughts are with his family and friends, as well as his entire extended Le Devoir family, who just lost a great man.
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Mr. Speaker, the government remains in denial that its punitive carbon tax causes inflation. Who says the carbon tax is inflationary? It is the Parliamentary Budget Officer; the Governor of the Bank of Canada; every farmer, manufacturer, producer, distributor and retailer in Canada; and Canadians who buy food. Maybe Canadians are just experiencing this differently. The Prime Minister is just not worth the cost.
After eight years of the Liberal-NDP government, food inflation is out of control. When we tax the farmer, food gets more expensive, yet the costly coalition keeps its head in the sand. Inflation will get worse when the Prime Minister increases the carbon tax on April Fool's.
In contrast, common-sense Conservatives brought forward a solution to address high food costs with Bill C-234, exempting farmers from the carbon tax, but Liberal-appointed senators were whipped to gut the bill.
A Conservative government would axe the tax, fix the budget, build homes and stop the crime.
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- Feb/1/24 2:19:32 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I rise today to congratulate the top eight Academic All-Canadian student athletes, who were recognized last night by U Sports and the Governor General for their outstanding achievements: Madisson Lawrence, Jordan Canham, Hannah Blair, Ashton Miller-Melançon, Yoan David, Haley McDonald and Aiden Goslett.
Finally, I give a special shout-out to Emmy Fecteau, captain of the Concordia Stingers women's varsity hockey team, who call NDG's Ed Meagher Arena home. In addition to stellar grades and many athletic accolades, Emmy is active in our community, coaching girls' hockey and as the lead instructor at the Stinger hockey school.
I thank Emmy for having such a positive impact on our community and for inspiring future generations of young girls to play field hockey. I congratulate her and all the student athletes. I encourage them to continue their exceptional work.
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- Feb/1/24 2:20:43 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, after eight years, this Prime Minister is not worth the chaos.
His Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship admits that Quebec's housing and services are under intense pressure as a result of the refugee crisis. This crisis followed the Prime Minister's decision to remove visa requirements for Mexicans, increasing the number of refugee applicants from 250 to 17,000. Only 11% of them are accepted as genuine refugees.
Will the Prime Minister reverse his decision, do an about-face and restore order to our system?
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- Feb/1/24 2:21:25 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, as you well know, this kind of decision must be taken seriously. We must first take very important diplomatic steps with Mexico. We will not be making any rushed statements in the House of Commons.
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- Feb/1/24 2:21:40 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister is not worth the chaos, nor is he worth the crime.
Auto theft is a federal crisis. The decision to amend the Criminal Code to release car thieves was a federal one. Mismanagement of federal ports makes it possible for thieves to send our vehicles off to terrorists and organized crime. The RCMP, which is responsible for fighting organized crime, is federal, too.
Will the Prime Minister reverse course on his mismanagement and his changes to the federal Criminal Code in order to fight the crisis he caused?
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- Feb/1/24 2:22:25 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I know the opposition leader likes coming up with reasons to blame everyone.
I would like to set the record straight by saying that we are working with provincial partners in both Ontario and Quebec on this very important issue. We have invited provincial ministers, police forces, the manufacturing industry and insurance companies to meet with us next week. I myself had an excellent meeting with the Conservative Premier of Ontario, and we are going to do even more to tackle this problem.
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- Feb/1/24 2:23:05 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, lots of meetings, lots of photo ops, lots of spending and lots of car theft, after eight years, the Prime Minister is not worth the car theft crime, which is up 300% in Toronto and 100% in Montreal. This is a federal problem. It is his mismanagement of federal ports that allows our cars to be stolen and sent abroad. His quick release of criminals on catch-and-release who steal our cars is a federal matter and it is mismanagement of our federal police force, which is responsible for organized crime.
Will the Prime Minister reverse his failures, so we can stop the car theft?
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- Feb/1/24 2:23:46 p.m.
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Again, Mr. Speaker, the Leader of the Opposition forgets one important thing that this government did in collaboration with the provinces from coast to coast. We strengthened bail conditions to ensure that precisely the circumstance that my hon. friend continues to repeat, inaccurately, is not the case.
I was very pleased that Premier Ford thanked our government at the event yesterday for working with them constructively to put these auto thieves behind bars and do everything we can to bring an end to this unacceptable practice.
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- Feb/1/24 2:24:25 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, here are the facts. The Liberals brought in catch-and-release bail. They reversed part of it, but guess where catch-and-release remains in place, even after their most recent bill, car theft. Therefore, car thieves can still get catch-and-release, same day bail because of the Prime Minister's amendment to the federal Criminal Code.
Ports are federal; he mismanaged them. The RCMP is federal; he mismanaged that. The Criminal Code is federal; he brought in catch-and-release. Will he not own up to his failures and reverse these decisions so we can keep our cars?
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- Feb/1/24 2:25:08 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, yesterday, when the Minister of Public Safety and I were with the Premier of Ontario, we announced $121 million of funding to help with attacking crime in places like Ontario. That will help to stop this flow of what we see in terms of auto theft.
The other thing we heard from the premier, and what we have heard from the law enforcement officials who were there, is that if we want to tackle this we have to tackle organized crime. Interestingly, the Leader of the Opposition is directing his caucus to vote against anti-money laundering initiatives that are contained in the fall economic statement to address exactly that.
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- Feb/1/24 2:25:50 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister has accomplished something only he could do. Our central bank, which can create cash, is actually losing money. How did this happen? He forced the central bank to create $600 billion in cash to fund his overspending over the last three years. To pay for it, the bank makes deposits into the accounts of large financial institutions. Interest rates on those deposits, of course, have gone through the roof, meaning that taxpayers are now forced to bail out those losses.
Will he admit that his incompetence now forces Canadians to pay twice: once for the inflation the money printing caused and twice to bail out the bank, which is failing?
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- Feb/1/24 2:26:32 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I am not sure if the Leader of the Opposition is aware, but Canada has the lowest debt-to-GDP ratio and the lowest deficit in the G7. What we do on this side of the House is maintain prudent fiscal responsibility, while investing in Canadians, especially vulnerable Canadians.
Let us look at the Canada child benefit, let us look at $10-a-day child care and let us look at the Canada dental benefit. On this side of the House, we actually have compassion for Canada.
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- Feb/1/24 2:27:14 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the CMHC report confirms that the housing crisis is worse than ever. The vacancy rate is the lowest it has been in 20 years. Rents are up 8%, and finding a new home in Quebec is 17% more expensive.
Why is this happening? It is because the population is growing too quickly. To be clear, immigrants are not responsible for the housing crisis. The Liberals are to blame, thanks to their out-of-touch immigration policy. They got everyone into trouble, starting with immigrants.
Will they amend their immigration policy and bring it in line with our integration capacity?
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