- Member of Parliament
- Deputy House leader of the official opposition
- Conservative
- Mégantic—L'Érable
- Quebec
- Voting Attendance: 69%
- Expenses Last Quarter: $94,201.00
- Government Page
- Dec/1/23 11:23:23 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, we all did it. We voted for this bill at second reading. I have absolutely no idea where the minister is going with this.
What I do know, however, is that the Journal de Montréal reported yesterday that children are now forced to ask Santa Claus for snowsuits. One child even asked him for a gift card to pay for a good Christmas dinner. That is the reality.
Does the minister have enough clout in this cabinet to persuade the Prime Minister to end the inflationary policies that have forced children to trim down their Christmas wish lists?
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- Dec/1/23 11:22:10 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, after eight years, Canadians can no longer afford the excessive costs of this Prime Minister. Next year, Canadians will pay more in interest on the debt than is put towards health care. The government is putting bankers ahead of nurses and orderlies. Some two million Canadians are using food banks every month, including more and more middle-class families. Children are asking Santa for boots and snowsuits to keep them warm, rather than toys to play with.
Will the Prime Minister finally understand that it is time to put an end to his inflationary policies that increase the price of everything?
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- Oct/18/23 3:13:07 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the Liberals could have put the bill on the agenda for yesterday or today so we could discuss it, but they did not. They are the ones holding up the bill.
After eight years, the consequences of the Liberals' policies have been disastrous. Quebec has the highest inflation rate in the country. It is close to 5% for the fourth month in a row. Like all parents in Quebec, I am worried about the future of my children, who are facing the highest interest rates in 40 years. Food is too expensive, rents are unaffordable and interest rates are skyrocketing.
When will the Prime Minister stop mortgaging our children's future?
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- Oct/18/23 3:11:48 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, after eight years of inflationary spending, the Prime Minister has literally killed young Quebeckers' dreams of becoming homeowners.
Imagine. A young person in Montreal has to earn $116,000 a year if they want to buy a house, and that is not counting the down payment of 20%. How many years will it take a young person to earn that kind of salary and save enough money?
After eight years, do the Liberals realize that the Prime Minister is not worth the cost and that middle-class young people can no longer afford a Prime Minister who is mortgaging their future?
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- Jun/1/23 3:43:06 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, following the member's multiple requests today for unanimous consent to table the Conservatives' platform for two election campaigns, I am requesting unanimous consent to table the Liberal Party's fiscal plan from the 2015 campaign.
It says, “We will run modest deficits for three years so that we can invest in growth for the middle class and credibly offer a plan to balance the budget in 2019.”
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- May/16/23 2:40:07 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the minister talks about her responsible budget, but not a single Montreal-area MP rose to answer this question.
Inflation is still on the rise, causing prices to go up across the board, including food and basic necessities. The system safeguards, interest rates, have slashed housing starts by almost 50%. The housing crisis will get worse. More and more people will have trouble making ends meet, yet the 20-odd Montreal-area MPs have not said a word about the Prime Minister's inflationary policies.
When will the Prime Minister, the Montreal-area member for Papineau, clue in to common sense and stop sending more and more Montrealers to food banks?
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- May/16/23 2:38:49 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Finance herself said that spending too much would fuel inflation. There are more than 20 Liberals, including ministers and the Prime Minister, who represent the Montreal area.
After eight years in government, their record is appalling. There are 360,000 families in the greater Montreal area, or one in five households, who do not have enough money to pay their rent and meet their basic needs. The situation is so serious that Marie Leblanc told Le Devoir that “suicide is around the corner”. Ms. Leblanc has almost nothing left for food and clothing.
Why are the members from Montreal abandoning her?
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- Mar/27/23 2:55:21 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the truckers who transport the food we eat here will pay more in carbon tax starting April 1. That is not an April Fool's joke; it is the truth.
On April 1, the carbon tax is going up. On April 1, the tax on wine, alcohol and spirits is going up. People are going to pay more for everything when they are already stretched to the limit.
My question is simple: Tomorrow, will the Prime Minister cancel all new taxes on Canadians?
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- Mar/27/23 2:14:48 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, this Prime Minister has been leading the Liberal government for eight years and is now being propped up by a costly coalition with the NDP.
For an entire generation of young Canadians, the cost of living is at an all-time high, and the hope of building a life like their parents is fading little by little every day.
In Canada, home ownership was an attainable dream for young people prior to 2016. Now, the Liberal Prime Minister's inflationary spending is making that dream impossible to achieve.
Fully nine out of 10 young people believe they will never be able to afford a home because mortgage payments have doubled in the eight years since this Prime Minister was elected.
More and more people, from the very poor to middle-class families, are turning to food banks because their paycheques no longer cover rising food prices.
The 2023 budget must put an end to inflationary spending. The 2023 budget must make it possible for Canadians to take home more money with each paycheque. The 2023 budget must lower prices by cancelling tax increases. The 2023 budget must remove government barriers to housing construction. The 2023 budget must bring common sense back into this House.
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- Feb/15/23 2:29:57 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, does this Prime Minister understand, after eight years of not answering questions in the House, that blaming the Conservatives is not the way to help Canadians? Inflation is at an all-time high. Food is so expensive that some Canadians are going without meals. Middle-class workers are being forced to turn to food banks because they cannot afford to pay their bills. That is all to say nothing of the rising cost of gas and housing, including rent and mortgage rates.
Will the government assume its responsibilities rather than spending its time blaming everyone else?
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- Feb/15/23 2:28:51 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, let us look at the facts. After eight years of this Liberal Prime Minister, Canadians have never been in worse financial shape. After eight years of this Liberal government, 44% of Canadians say they could not afford an unexpected $500 expense. After eight years of Liberal promises, nearly half of 35- to 44-year-olds are worried and struggling to pay their bills.
Will the Prime Minister understand that he and his inflationary policies are responsible for this crisis? When will he stop hurting Canadians?
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- Feb/8/23 3:04:22 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, after eight years with this Prime Minister at the helm, Canadians are realizing that all his talk about helping the middle class was just grandstanding. As a result of his policies, ordinary Canadians are finding it increasingly difficult to pay their bills. After eight years of this Prime Minister, his inflationary spending has driven up interest rates, depriving young families of their right to dream of home ownership.
After eight years, will the Prime Minister finally take responsibility for the rising cost of groceries, rent and gas so we can finally fix what is broken?
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- Feb/3/23 11:24:06 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, we need to listen to the minister.
After eight years of listening to this government toot its own horn, we see just how out of touch it is with the lives of families.
Middle-class families are increasingly turning to food banks. We saw in the newspapers this morning that more and more Quebeckers are taking on second jobs to put food on the table. After working hard all their lives, seniors no longer have enough food to eat. Meanwhile, the minister keeps talking about everything this government has done to help.
The real question she should be asking is this: Why are so many people suffering after eight years under this Prime Minister?
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- Feb/3/23 11:22:56 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, it is quite ironic to hear the Liberals claim, day after day, that everything is fine thanks to their astronomical spending, because of which we are facing the worst inflation in 40 years.
The cost of food has skyrocketed, but it is not their fault. The cost of rent has doubled, but it is not their fault. Interest rates are keeping families from achieving their dream of a first home, but it is not their fault.
Why, after eight years, does this Prime Minister have such a reckless attitude towards people who have needs?
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- Nov/4/22 11:26:08 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, the reality is that there is a cheque in the mail, but also a credit card bill that is higher than it has been in years in Canada because this government's inflationary spending has caused the price of absolutely everything to go up. It costs more to get groceries, fill up on gas and heat our homes in the winter. We had two demands, to help all Canadians by not introducing any new tax increases effective January 1, and by not tripling the carbon tax.
Why are the Liberals refusing to help all Canadians? Why are they moving forward with their inflationary taxes?
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- Nov/4/22 11:25:00 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, the major PR campaign undertaken by the Minister of Finance has proven once again just how disconnected the Liberals are from the daily lives of Canadians. They have completely failed to present a solution to the cost of living crisis caused by out-of-control Liberal inflationary spending.
The Conservatives had two requests: no new taxes and no new spending without matching it dollar for dollar in savings. The government is proposing even more spending, which will make the cost of living crisis worse. There is $21 billion in new spending.
Why did the Liberals refuse to cancel the tax hikes?
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- Nov/1/22 4:19:49 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I have the pleasure of rising today to speak to the motion moved by the hon. member for Carleton and leader of the official opposition on the important issue of the Liberal government's wasteful spending. Rather than helping to combat the inflation crisis Canadians are experiencing, this government is fuelling inflation and making everyone's life more difficult. I would like to share some aspects of this motion with my colleagues.
First, the member for Carleton believes that the cost of government is driving up the cost of living. That is a fact. The cost of groceries has gone up by 11.4% in a year. That is the largest increase in 40 years. That means that some items at the grocery store will cost up to 40% more. That also means that mothers and fathers will have difficult choices to make at the cash register. They may have to decide not to buy certain items that week even though the kids want them. They will have to tell their children that they can only afford to buy those things once a month because they have difficult choices to make. That is today's reality. The cost of living is sky-high.
After having dropped, the price of gas is on the rise again. It is now almost $2 a litre in Quebec. For workers in regions like mine, who have to commute and travel close to 60 kilometres every day to get to work, this money is coming directly from their pockets. They can no longer use it to feed their families. That is another really problematic situation. Now we learn that this government has decided to add new taxes. It wants to triple the carbon tax, which will have an even more damaging effect on consumers across Canada.
The Parliamentary Budget Officer told us that this government has torn through $500 billion in inflationary spending. That is half a trillion dollars. I never thought I would use that term in the House. Canada's debt is now $1 trillion. The government has spent half a trillion in the last two years. It claimed that this money was used to help people deal with COVID‑19, to send cheques to citizens, families and businesses.
Yes, Conservatives supported those measures. However, we did not support spending 40% of that $500 billion, or $200 billion, on things that had absolutely nothing to do with COVID‑19. The government created new programs and new spending that ended up boosting inflation in Canada. As a result, the family I was talking about earlier will have a harder time putting food on the table at the end of the month. That is the reality.
Members will recall the Prime Minister saying that interest rates would stay low for decades, that it was fine to borrow money, that the government would absorb those expenses on Canadians' behalf. Now Canadians are the ones who have to pay back their loans at interest rates that are higher than they have been in years.
What do the Liberals have to say to those Canadians? Will they pay their bills? No, they will not, contrary to what the Prime Minister said during his inaugural speech in 2015. That is the reality.
The third part of the motion says, “Canadians are now paying higher prices and higher interest rates as a result”.
Yes, Canadians are paying higher interest rates. The government is going to pay higher interest rates. That means that a larger portion of the money that Canadians send to the government will be used to make interest payments because this government spent an incredible amount of money, money that it should not have spent, spending that could be described as wasteful, as in the case of the ArriveCAN app. Paying off this debt is going to cost more for everyone. That is the reality.
The motion also says, “it is more important than ever for the government to respect taxpayer dollars and eliminate wasteful spending”.
Who can be against that? If there is one person here who is against that sentiment let him or her rise immediately and explain how they can be against using taxpayer money better and eliminating wasteful spending. One of the best ways to do that is to investigate the government's wastefulness.
If my colleagues support the motion, it would mean calling on the Auditor General of Canada to conduct a performance audit, including the payments, contracts and subcontracts for all aspects of the ArriveCAN app, and to prioritize this investigation.
This app cost $54 million, when it could have cost $250,000. Certain invoices led us to believe that some companies had been hired. We heard about a $1-million contract awarded to a firm that candidly admitted to the newspapers that it never worked on the app. That is to say nothing of how useless the ArriveCAN app is.
I will conclude my speech by saying that I urge all of my colleagues to support this motion.
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- Nov/1/22 2:45:50 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the future prime ministerial candidate says that the primary causes of inflation in Canada are domestic.
What we were against was sending cheques to inmates, sending CERB cheques to public servants, giving $500 million to Liberal friends at WE Charity, spending $54 million on an ArriveCAN app that did not work and spending $6,000, no, $7,200 a night on a room for the Prime Minister.
When will they stop wasting money?
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- Nov/1/22 2:44:31 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, what the government did not need to do was take $200 billion of the $500 billion and spend it on programs in no way related to COVID‑19. That is the reality. They hide, they deflect and they do all sorts of things to avoid telling Canadians the truth. Of the $500 billion, 40% was not for COVID‑19.
Meanwhile, 1.5 million Canadians had to use food banks for a month and 20% of Canadians said they had to skip meals because they could not afford groceries.
When will the Liberals stop wasting money?
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- Oct/28/22 11:25:25 a.m.
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Mr. Speaker, not once since the start of question period has the parliamentary secretary answered the question asked of her.
How many families will have to declare bankruptcy at the end of the month because of the NDP-Liberal coalition's inflationary policies? An average Montreal family servicing a $500,000 loan will not be able to pay the mortgage at the end of the month, because that loan will cost an extra $800 per month.
How many families will have to hand over the keys to their home because of the government's financial incompetence?
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