- 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
- Mar/19/24 2:58:12 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, more and more Quebec families and workers may no longer be able to make ends meet because food is too expensive. Why is food too expensive? Quebec imports food from the rest of Canada. The farmers who grow that food are paying the carbon tax. Food processors are paying the carbon tax. The truckers hauling that food are paying the carbon tax. Guess who ends up paying the bill? Quebec families do. The carbon tax the “Liberal Bloc” wants to drastically increase is also costing Quebeckers dearly.
When will they put an end to this madness?
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- Feb/27/24 3:56:14 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I will be sharing my time with my colleague from Brantford—Brant.
Before I begin my speech, I would like to acknowledge the great French spoken by my colleague from Vaughan—Woodbridge, who gave his entire speech in French. I wanted to point that out because it is greatly appreciated by all francophones in the House when our colleagues give speeches in the language of Molière.
The common-sense plan of the Conservative Party, the official opposition, is to axe the tax, build the homes, fix the budget and stop the crime. Why, after eight years of this NDP-Liberal government, which we now know is increasingly supported by the Bloc Québécois, do we need a plan that seems so simple? It is because this government has failed at every turn.
The government has failed to stand up for Canadians and the much-vaunted middle class, while Canadians are turning to food banks. There are two million Canadians a month going to food banks. It is so serious that food banks in the regions do not have enough food to feed the people lining up outside their doors.
Worse still, today we learned from a report by Second Harvest that one million more people are expected to use food banks in the coming months. This situation is unacceptable. This is where eight years of this Liberal government has gotten us, with the help of the NDP and, as we have heard before and as I will discuss again later on, with the help of the Bloc Québécois.
Today's opposition motion is an example of what we would rather not be doing. We would like to talk more about Canadians who are unable to afford a home, about young Canadians who cannot imagine a day when they could afford a home, about Canadians who are using food banks or families forced to make hard choices at the grocery store.
Nevertheless, here we are again, forced to talk about a Liberal scandal. This time, the Liberal scandal stems from a report by the Auditor General of Canada. The report was requested by the opposition parties in November 2022, over a year ago. This damning and disastrous report focuses on the government's failure to properly manage public finances.
I have the report in my hands. Honestly, I think I am going to ask for the permission and unanimous consent of the House to table it, along with my notes. I have included so many notes about what went wrong with the ArriveCAN app that the Liberals would do well to take a look.
I can see that my colleague from Winnipeg North is quite anxious to see my notes. At the end of my speech, I will probably ask for the report to be tabled so he can read it and maybe change his position. Maybe the member for Winnipeg North will tell his Prime Minister to be transparent for once. When the RCMP calls the Prime Minister's office, which it has not yet done, to ask if it would be possible to get access to all the documents in his possession regarding the ArriveCAN app, he should not hide behind cabinet confidence and refuse to hand over these documents.
Today, during question period, we heard the ministers answer our questions about the arrive scam app, saying that they would collaborate and that they have always been co-operative in all the investigations. That is the problem: the RCMP's numerous investigations into the Prime Minister's actions.
This morning, the RCMP commissioner appeared before the Standing Committee on Access to Information, Privacy and Ethics. I sit on that committee with my colleague from Brantford—Brant. We were not really surprised to learn that the Prime Minister's Office was not very co-operative when it came time to release the documents. It did not want to waive cabinet confidence in the Aga Khan island case or in the SNC‑Lavalin case. As a result, the RCMP commissioner and the investigator who was accompanying him told us that they could not definitively absolve the Prime Minister of having committed a crime because they did not get access to all the information.
The commissioner made it very clear that the RCMP could not say whether a crime was committed in the SNC‑Lavalin case because it did not have access to all the information. He was asked another question: Are we to understand that the Prime Minister did not commit a crime?
The commissioner was quick to say that the RCMP could not say that either, because it did not have access to the information that would have enabled it to do so. That is unbelievable. Today, the ministers were quick to tell us that they would pass on the information about ArriveCAN.
In another scandal, a committee mainly made up of Liberal MPs and external people that was working on the much-talked-about case of the Winnipeg lab concluded that all of the documents should be made public, because this situation affected all Canadians and because the subjects did not really impact national security. This decision was made a few days ago. Where are the documents? They are not even capable of releasing and disclosing documents that a committee determined would not jeopardize national security. Members will have to forgive me if I am a little skeptical about the Prime Minister's willingness to get to the bottom of what happened with ArriveCAN.
There is a reason we moved this motion today. The government should have paid $60,000 for an app that ended up costing Canadian taxpayers at least $60 million—maybe more; we do not know yet. Meanwhile, Canadians are struggling to put food on the table, keep a roof over their heads and make ends meet, so we cannot let this slide. I think the Liberals need to be transparent for once.
Today, the RCMP confirmed that it is investigating the entire ArriveCAN affair, not just the allegations that public servants reported. The RCMP is investigating everything in the Auditor General's report. The Auditor General was very critical of the government. I will quote a couple of sentences from the report. There is so much in the report that 10 minutes is not enough time to cover it all.
The “At a Glance” section states:
The Canada Border Services Agency's documentation, financial records, and controls were so poor that we were unable to determine the precise cost of the ArriveCAN application.
It goes on to say:
...we are concerned that essential information, such as clear deliverables...was missing. We found that details about the work performed were often missing on invoices and supporting time sheets submitted by contractors that the agency approved.
So far, I am still in the “At a Glance” section. To continue:
We found no evidence to show that some Canada Border Services Agency employees complied with the agency's Code of Conduct by disclosing that they had been invited to dinners and other activities by contractors.
It also says:
There was no formal agreement between the Public Health Agency of Canada and the Canada Border Services Agency from April 2020 to July 2021...
It also states:
We estimated that the average per diem cost for the ArriveCAN external resources was $1,090, whereas the average daily cost for equivalent IT positions in the Government of Canada was $675.
This continues on every page of the report:
Canada Border Services Agency officials have expressed concerns that $12.2 million of the $[60]‑million estimate could be unrelated to ArriveCAN.
They managed to spend money on an app, but that money did not even go to ArriveCAN, and no one can say where the money went. That is what eight years of Liberal management looks like.
I could go on and on. This quote is really telling. In the section entitled “Missing documentation for non‑competitive contracts”, it states, “We found that documentation was missing on the initial discussions and interactions between the Canada Border Services Agency and GC Strategies”. GC Strategies is a two-person company that operates out of a basement and gets IT contracts, but has no IT expertise.
This is just a glimpse of the Auditor General's scathing, damning report on ArriveCAN.
I think that the government needs to show more respect for Canadians. It must disclose the costs related to the app by March 18. That is the goal of our motion today.
If the Liberals have any respect for Canadians, then they will vote in favour of our motion.
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- Feb/13/24 2:45:41 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister said earlier that he welcomed the Auditor General's recommendations with open arms; meanwhile, contractors were treated to an open bar. The Prime Minister's ArriveCAN app forced 10,000 Canadians to quarantine because of an error. It was supposed to cost $80,000. The bill is now $60 million. Families waiting in line at food banks deserve better answers.
Will the Prime Minister, who is not worth the cost, commit to paying back the money he wasted on his ArriveCAN app? He should be giving it to families who paid for the work that was never done.
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- Feb/13/24 2:44:32 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I will try to keep this simple.
Imagine for a moment that an emergency contract is awarded to repair the roof of an official residence, the Farm, because it is leaking. The contractor who is hired says that the repair will cost $20,000. The contractor begins the work and sends an initial bill for $500,000 without any explanation.
Would anyone pay the bill without asking any questions, even though the roof is still leaking?
That is what happened with the Prime Minister's ArriveCAN app. The Auditor General and the ombudsman both saw it, but no one in the government saw it? That is hard to believe.
Will the government agree to our request for an investigation and let the RCMP do its job?
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- Dec/14/23 3:11:18 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, after eight years, friends of the Liberal Party keep getting richer at the expense of Canadians. Shocking whistle-blower testimony has revealed that $150 million of taxpayers' money was diverted from the Liberal green fund. The Ethics Commissioner has launched two investigations. The Auditor General is also investigating. It does not take an ethicist to see the ethical breach here. Surprisingly, however, the Bloc Québécois voted against an investigation by the Standing Committee on Access to Information, Privacy and Ethics to shed light on the green fund corruption.
Canadians want to know which Liberal friends got rich off their money.
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- Nov/27/23 3:08:27 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, nearly $50 billion of taxpayers' money is subsidizing three battery plants. That is nearly $3,000 for every Canadian family. We have learned that hundreds of workers who will receive this money will be foreign replacement workers. We expected Canadians' money to be used to fund unionized, well-paying jobs for Canadians and Quebeckers. Instead, this money will be used to hire 900 foreign replacement workers in Windsor and hundreds more in Saint‑Basile‑le‑Grand and McMasterville.
After eight years, why has the Prime Minister failed to secure Quebec jobs in Montérégie?
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- May/11/23 2:38:07 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, what we saw is that the president of the Trudeau Foundation, a long-time Liberal and good friend of the Trudeau family, Edward Johnson, was a good student. Like the Prime Minister, he wilfully chose to turn a blind eye to Beijing's attempted interference in the foundation to influence the current Prime Minister. The foundation manages $125 million in taxpayer money and Mr. Johnson, a good soldier, put a freeze on all internal investigations into this $140,000 donation from the regime in Beijing.
Why will the Prime Minister not acknowledge that he too wilfully turned a blind eye because his party benefited?
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- Feb/7/23 2:37:25 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the government has been in office for eight years. However, after those eight years, it seems that the Prime Minister has learned nothing.
Interest rates are driving up the cost of mortgages. Young families are paying up to $600 more a month for housing. The cost of groceries is going up every week. Everything costs more: heating, eating and housing. After eight years in government, the only solution the Prime Minister has come up with is to triple the carbon tax. Why does the Prime Minister want to line his own pockets at taxpayers' expense?
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- Jan/31/23 2:37:15 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, Metro's president confirmed that food prices will continue to rise in 2023. Even more families and seniors will be forced to rely on food banks to feed themselves.
After eight years under this Prime Minister, people are so desperate that some have even resorted to shoplifting. News outlet 24 heures asked people why they stole. Marlène said, “After I pay rent and bills, all I have left is $80 to make it through two weeks”.
How can the Prime Minister pay firms $1,000 an hour when Marlène has to break the law to feed herself?
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- Nov/1/22 4:29:33 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I could give many examples to show how, when the government keeps racking up debt, it loses some the flexibility it has to offer real services to citizens. More importantly, it affects the ability of future generations to access government services because the price of that debt is going to keep growing. Our children and the children of all Canadians are the ones who are going to have to pay that debt. That is the big problem.
I just want to say one thing. According to the Canadian Taxpayers Federation, we are adding $6 million a day to the debt. That does not include the Prime Minister's $7,000-a-night hotel bill. It cost at least $14,000 for those two days.
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- Oct/25/22 2:54:32 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister is acting like a child who has been handed a credit card with no limit, who makes only the minimum payments and who knows full well his children will be on the hook for what he spent. Want to go to London and stay in a luxurious $400,000 suite? Put it on the card. Want to send money to friends? Why pay $250,000 when you can spend $54 million on ArriveCAN? Put it on the card. There is no limit. Need to toss $680 million worth of vaccines in the trash? No problem. Just put it on the card.
Is there an adult among the Liberals who will step up and take the Prime Minister's credit card away?
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- Oct/19/22 2:40:40 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, it is because no one believes this Prime Minister anymore. That is the reality. He has lost all credibility with regard to public finances. Mario Dumont reminded us this morning that the Prime Minister promised in his inaugural speech that interest rates would remain low forever.
Today, there are young families that could lose everything because of the Prime Minister's inability to manage Canada's public finances. That is the reality.
Will he cancel the January 1 tax increase on Canadians' paycheque, yes or no?
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- Sep/28/22 2:39:11 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the employment insurance tax hike means Canadians will have to give up another $2.5 billion from their paycheques. That will not help the unemployed; it will only pad government coffers.
That money should stay in Canadians' pockets to help pay for gas, groceries, heating, and everything else that costs more because of this government's unjust inflationary policies. We can no longer afford this unjust inflation.
Canadians have done their part since 2015. Will the government cancel its plan to raise taxes?
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- Sep/27/22 12:19:34 p.m.
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Madame Speaker, I would like my colleague, who comes from a large family, to tell me what his parents' reaction would be tomorrow morning if they were told their gas bill was going up by 40¢ a litre.
Right now, British Columbia is one of the places where people pay the most for the gas they need to get to work or drive their kids to school. The price of a litre of gas in British Columbia is up to $2.33, according to what I hear lately from people in that province. They are bracing for a further increase of about 40¢, which would bring the price up to nearly $3 a litre.
Is that really what the member wants for the people of British Columbia? I, for one, do not want that.
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- Sep/23/22 11:32:25 a.m.
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Mr. Speaker, allow me to share Mike's story.
Mike makes $22 an hour, and governments take 30% of his salary from every paycheque. He wrote to me saying that he could not afford to feed himself properly and that his local food bank made him feel like he should not need their help. That is the reality for many folks today, with food prices up by more than 10%.
Instead of making things worse for Mike by taking even more from his paycheque, will the Prime Minister cancel next year's tax hikes, yes or no?
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- Jun/7/22 10:48:49 a.m.
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Mr. Speaker, there is much in what my hon. colleague said. I must mention that she works very hard for seniors. That is her file and she often speaks about seniors' needs. We are currently facing a crisis.
All consumers who are seniors will get a break with the measures we outlined. Seniors, youth and workers will immediately get a break. That is the goal. We are the official opposition, and therefore I personally cannot say that we will increase all seniors' pensions. Even though we may believe that is a good solution, it is up to the government to implement that measure, but it is not doing so. It is not lowering taxes. Instead it is going to look for more money from taxpayers. Who is paying for all that? It is the entire population, Canadians of all ages. We want immediate measures put in place to provide some financial relief and allow them to buy the food they need every month.
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- May/19/22 9:20:39 p.m.
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Madam Chair, in his statement, Mr. Kendrick said that, broadly speaking, Canada is paying between three and five times the world price for ships and taking two to four times longer to get them. Is the minister also proud of those results?
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- May/10/22 2:25:57 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister continues to spread misinformation.
Could the Prime Minister come with me to a grocery store so he can see how much Canadians are paying every day for the various things that they buy? For example, the cost of bacon and pasta has gone up 18%; cereal, 12%; oranges, 24%. We can both try to find something on the shelves that has not gone up in price. It is not true that he has helped Canadians. Canadians are having a harder time.
When will he realize this? When is he going to give Canadians a break?
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- Mar/31/22 10:47:01 a.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I am still a reasonable man, and I thank my colleague for his comments.
Why am I reasonable? What we are asking the government to do is to give Canadian taxpayers some relief today, because now is when they are having to make tough choices in the grocery aisles, wondering whether to buy a piece of meat this week or do without and feed their children baloney. That is what we are asking for.
All of the price hikes happening right now due to inflation are taking a toll on Canadian families and our economy. The government can act now to help families a little. I am therefore asking it to do that, and I think that is very reasonable.
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