- Member of Parliament
- Member of Parliament
- Conservative
- Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan
- Alberta
- Voting Attendance: 67%
- Expenses Last Quarter: $170,231.20
- Government Page
- Apr/30/24 4:57:18 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I want to follow up on the member's comments on child care. We could have a debate about what would theoretically be a good child care system, but I think it is hard to deny that the current program from the government on child care is not delivering on the promise. We are hearing very clearly from child care providers across the country that the combination of price regulation with funding that does not match that price regulation is making it impossible for child care operators to maintain and meet the expectations. The result of this is government subsidies for some and less access for others.
Does the member acknowledge those failures, in terms of child care policy, and is she willing to hold the government accountable for them?
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- Apr/30/24 3:52:07 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I rise on a point of order. I would be loath to claim that the member was intentionally misleading the House. However, in the interest of informing him, I wonder if I could seek the unanimous consent of the House to table a statement made by the Leader of the Opposition, specifically, in extremely strong terms, denouncing the very organization that the member mentioned.
Do I have unanimous consent to table that statement?
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- Mar/20/24 10:25:58 p.m.
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Mr. Chair, I want to thank my colleague for his excellent speech and, certainly, for the wealth of wisdom and experience that he brings to the House.
I would like to ask him, based on his knowledge and expertise, what the best way to isolate the Russian regime is and to hold the Russian regime accountable for the crimes that they have perpetrated. We have seen crimes committed in terms of the abduction of children, systematic sexual violence and the crime of aggression in general. What steps does he see as necessary to hold the Russian regime accountable?
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- Mar/20/24 9:51:57 p.m.
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Mr. Chair, I hope if you seek it, you will find unanimous consent for me to table the motion I moved at the end of session in December that would have allowed us to move this trade agreement to a vote right away in December. It was a unanimous consent motion that was blocked by the Liberals. It would have actually allowed us to move to a vote faster. I wonder if there would be unanimous consent to table that unanimous consent motion I tried to move at that time but was blocked by the Liberals.
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- Mar/20/24 8:26:28 p.m.
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Madam Chair, I would like to request the unanimous consent of the House to table the editorial I wrote immediately after that interview, which actually outlined and responded directly to some of the claims in it. If there is agreement, would the House allow me to table it to show the member what I actually said?
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- Mar/18/24 5:06:42 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, as the Conservative shadow minister for international development, I want to reiterate that we are deeply concerned about the impact of this war on civilians, Palestinian and Israeli, and that we have been highlighting the critical importance of humanitarian access from the earliest days of the war. Conservatives also support a two-state solution, negotiated and agreed on by both Israelis and Palestinians, where each can exercise democratic self-determination in peace and security.
Unlike the NDP, though, we do not believe rewarding bad actors, specifically funding bad actors, is going to lead to peace. In particular, Palestinians do not want to be under the thumb of Hamas. Durable peace and democratic self-determination for Palestinians is only possible through the defeat of Hamas and the delivery of support through organizations that do not incite violence.
Does the member support calls for the complete disarmament of Hamas?
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- Mar/18/24 3:05:17 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, after eight years, the arrive scam scandal has made clear again that the NDP-Liberal government and the Prime Minister are not worth the cost or the corruption.
Liberals gave GC Strategies $20 million for arrive scam alone. Last week, Kristian Firth from GC Strategies revealed that he got at least $2,600 per hour for subcontracting. Canadians are struggling to put food on the table and Liberals are giving well-connected consultants multi-millions at $2,600 per hour.
I have a simple question: Do Liberals believe that $2,600 per hour was a reasonable rate?
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- Feb/12/24 4:10:29 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, the next petition that I am presenting raises a concern about a proposal from the government and the Liberal Party in its last election platform to effectively politicize charitable status determinations. The Liberals proposed to deny charitable status to organizations with convictions regarding abortion that the Liberal Party does not like. This, petitioners say, would jeopardize the charitable status of hospitals, houses of worship, schools, homeless shelters and other charitable organizations that do not agree with the Liberal Party on matters of conscience.
The government has previously used a values test to discriminate against worthy applicants to the Canada summer jobs program, denying funding to any organization for which the applicants are not willing to check a box endorsing political positions of the governing party. This proposal would amount to a second values test.
The petitioners say that charities and other non-profit organizations should not be discriminated against on the basis of political views or religious values and should not be subject to a politicized values test. Therefore, the petitioners call on the House and the government to protect and preserve the application of charitable status rules on a politically and ideologically neutral basis, without discrimination on the basis of political or religious values or the imposition of another values test, and to affirm the right of Canadians to freedom of expression.
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- Jan/30/24 10:52:05 a.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the Chair needs to clarify whether the hon. member for Battle River—Crowfoot will be able to speak prior to your further ruling. I appreciate you would like to take the time to—
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- Dec/14/23 11:15:01 a.m.
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Mr. Speaker, this is a good opportunity to talk about how we are getting to the end of the year, and we are well over the NDP's red line. Do members remember the NDP convention, where the New Democrats said that they would ensure their plan is supported by the government? Then they said, “Oh, it is actually flexible.” The New Democrats continually cave to their coalition partners, the Liberals. I would say that the member should first focus on trying to get his coalition partners onside for whatever the New Democrats are proposing. There is a long history of the NDP putting forward things that would allegedly save us money; to be charitable, I will say that it does not always—
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- Nov/28/23 3:19:08 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I am seeking unanimous consent to table the document.
Some hon. members: No.
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- Oct/16/23 7:50:00 p.m.
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Mr. Chair, I thank the minister for his comments this evening.
I want to underline our belief in the importance of humanitarian access. In the past, we have heard stories of humanitarian crossings being targeted by Hamas. Two years ago, we heard testimony on this at the foreign affairs committee, so no doubt access will be challenging, but it is certainly very important.
I want to ask the minister about the Iranian regime's role in supporting Hamas. What level of coordination does the minister see the Iranian regime being involved in with these recent horrific terrorist attacks? What additional steps should Canada take to hold the Iranian regime accountable?
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- Oct/16/23 4:11:35 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, the final petition I will table today raises concerns about the politicization of charitable status determination by the Liberal government, proposals around applying a values test to charitable status determination and having discrimination on the basis of values associated with charitable status determination. Petitioners note the Liberals signalled in their last election platform a plan to go down this road of politicizing charitable status.
Petitioners call on the House of Commons to protect and preserve the application of charitable status rules on a politically and ideologically neutral basis, without discrimination on the basis of political or religious values and without the imposition of another values test, and to affirm the right of all Canadians to freedom of expression.
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- Oct/5/23 10:20:35 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, the third petition I am presenting deals with proposals for the politicization of charitable status determinations. The petitioners note a past Liberal Party platform commitment aimed at politicizing charitable status and denying charitable status to organizations that happen to reflect a set of values that is different from that of the Liberal Party.
The petitioners note that this could jeopardize the charitable status and the ability to fundraise of organizations such as hospitals, houses of worship, schools, homeless shelters and other charitable organizations that are simply trying to serve the communities in which they find themselves but would not want to pass a Liberal values test.
If the member is suggesting that—
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- Sep/20/23 3:57:47 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the third petition deals, similarly, with an issue involving discrimination on the basis of political views. It references a 2021 platform commitment from the Liberal Party of Canada to politicize charitable status determination, that is, to deny charitable status for certain pro-life organizations. The petitioners note this would jeopardize the charitable status of hospitals, houses of worship, schools, homeless shelters and other charitable organizations that do not agree with the Liberal Party on matters of conscience.
The petitioners note this would apply a values test for charitable status, similar to what we saw with the Canada summer jobs program, and jeopardize the good work of organizations that are not doing anything controversial but simply wish to be sincere about the private convictions of those involved in the organization.
The petitioners call on the House to protect and preserve the application of charitable status rules on a politically and ideologically neutral basis, without discrimination on the basis of political or religious values and without the imposition of another values test, as well as to affirm the right of Canadians to freedom of expression.
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Madam Speaker, this program is not about choice. It gives money to certain people in certain situations who are not necessarily those who need the support the most.
The minister cherry-picked quotes that she had received. I would like to share and put on the record a quote from a child care operator in my riding, and I would like the minister's response to it. This person wrote to the HUMA committee, saying, “The child care industry in Canada is in crisis today as a result of the federal government's overreach through this program, and I fear that Bill C-35 does not sufficiently recognize that Canada's current child care system still depends on thousands of private operators, despite the directional preference for the not-for-profit business model.
“The on-the-ground experience of private operators reflects that this model is currently not meeting its promised intentions for affordable, equitable, accessible, high-quality child care for families as wait-lists soar around the country, creating inaccessible and inequitable access to the promised affordable child care, which is preventing parents from re-entering the workforce.”
Further on she stated, “While both levels of government made flashy announcements about how they were creating affordable child care for families, small businesses, often run by women and new Canadians, are being forced into bankruptcy and staff face extreme burnout, while frustrated parents are, in fact, unable to access the promised affordable, equitable and accessible child care the governments have announced.”
Why did the minister not read that quotation as part of her motivation for this bill?
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- Jun/13/23 1:17:30 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, the next petition deals with a proposal in the Liberal Party's platform in the last election to effectively politicize charitable status determinations, which is again dealing with an issue of political discrimination and discrimination on the basis of political views. The petitioners are opposed to the government applying values tests or political position-based determinations for making decisions about charitable status. They call on the House to protect and preserve the application of charitable status rules on a political and ideologically neutral basis without discrimination, and to affirm the right of all Canadians to freedom of expression.
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- May/15/23 4:35:02 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the next petition I would like to table today deals with another issue of political discrimination.
It notes that the Liberal Party of Canada, in its 2021 election platform, put forward a proposal to discriminate against organizations in the application of charitable status if those organizations have views that are different from those of the Liberal Party on the issue of abortion. Charitable status rules already prohibit dishonest conduct and do so on a neutral basis, but the Liberal Party proposal would be to apply another values test, effectively discriminating on the basis of opinions on other issues and preventing organizations such as hospitals, houses of worship, schools, homeless shelters and other charitable organizations from being able to access charitable status on an equal basis. This is opposed by the full charitable sector. A broad range of charitable organizations oppose this proposal from the Liberal Party.
The petitioners call upon the House of Commons to protect and preserve the application of charitable status rules on a politically and ideologically neutral basis without discrimination on the basis of political and religious values and without the imposition of another values test, and to affirm the right of all Canadians to freedom of expression.
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- Apr/25/23 10:55:53 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I want to ask if the government is considering using the tool of sanctions in the present context to hold accountable those who are involved in this violence and those who are involved in atrocities against civilians. Is the government contemplating the use of that tool at the present time to try to deter further violence against civilians?
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- Apr/25/23 10:24:26 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the member spoke about instability in many countries around the world. I agree; we are living through a time when the world feels, and in many ways is, more unstable. There is a proliferation of conflicts. There is also a proliferation of humanitarian crises. In the midst of those challenges, we need a strong and confident Canada on the world stage. We also need to have confidence in our system and in the universal aspiration for freedom and democracy. We need to recognize that Canada can be a voice for those principles, those core ideas, those universal ideas on the world stage, and we need to work with like-minded countries to try to expand the space for those values. The best security for our freedom is the expansion of freedom. We need a foreign policy that is rooted in commitment to fundamental principles.
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