- Member of Parliament
- Member of Parliament
- Conservative
- Kelowna—Lake Country
- British Columbia
- Voting Attendance: 68%
- Expenses Last Quarter: $131,412.70
- Government Page
- Nov/20/23 2:19:20 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the Canada we have after eight years of the NDP-Liberal government is tent cities across the country, violent crime up 39%, more than two million people visiting a food bank in one month, over 50% of Canadians saying they are $200 away from being broke, middle-class working people living in their cars and nine in 10 young Canadians feeling they will never own a home. People are losing hope and the Prime Minister is just not worth the cost.
The Liberal $600 billion of inflationary debt and countless tax hikes are increasing the cost of all we buy. We need to reverse this course of misery.
In order to consider supporting this mini-budget, the common-sense Conservatives demand that the fall economic statement cancel Liberal plans to quadruple the carbon tax; announce a plan and date to balance the budget to bring down inflation and interest rates; and build homes, not bureaucracy. Only our common-sense Conservative plan will bring home lower prices for Canadians.
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- Oct/19/23 2:35:52 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, it has been eight years. What the Liberal member opposite is saying does not match the facts. The Liberal deficit spending has increased inflation, which has increased interest rates.
A resident from my community said that food prices had risen so quickly that she had been left to pray that her garden would be enough to supplement her household of four teenagers.
I used to hear from residents saying that they were hoping they could save for a home one day. Now I am hearing from residents saying that they are praying for a bountiful harvest to feed their family.
The Prime Minister is just not worth the cost. When will the NDP-Liberal government end its inflationary spending so people can feed their families?
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- Oct/19/23 2:34:31 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, a survey released this morning by the financial firm Edward Jones Canada states that Canadians are stuck in a “chaotic whirlwind of personal finance stress”. It also states, “The poll clearly shows that Canadians are so preoccupied with just getting through the day, that the idea of paying debt feels like a distant dream.” It found that 88% of Canadians are saying that their personal financial situation is affecting their well-being.
The Prime Minister is just not worth the cost. When will he stop his inflationary spending so people can take back control of their lives?
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- Oct/16/23 2:49:57 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, this is from the same government that declared victory on inflation only to see it skyrocket.
James from Langley, B.C. told Global News that he and his husband were selling his home as a result of their mortgage payments and were returning to the rental market.
Mortgage defaults are climbing, with forced sales events up 10%, as just reported by the Toronto real estate board.
After eight years with this NDP-Liberal government, people are being forced to sell their homes. The Prime Minister is just not worth the cost.
Will the Prime Minister finally stop his inflationary spending so Canadians can keep a roof over their head?
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- Oct/16/23 2:48:31 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, after eight years, the NDP-Liberal government's wasteful inflationary spending is keeping inflation high and causing interest rates to be the highest in a generation.
Canadians are facing tough choices, including whether they have no option other than to sell the family home. A Credit Canada representative told Bloomberg, “selling the house might end up being the only option for some homeowners.” Last week, I heard of a nurse living in her car in the Okanagan.
The Prime Minister is just not worth the cost. When will the Prime Minister finally stop his inflationary spending so Canadians can keep a roof over their head?
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- May/15/23 2:53:22 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the finance minister is not answering questions. The OECD calculates that, on her watch, Canada will be the worst-performing advanced economy over 2020 to 2030, and it is on this path until 2060. This means that Canadians' living standards and quality of life relative to other countries have declined and will continue to do so. This is due to the finance minister's high-tax, high-debt, high-spend budgets. The Liberal budget right now would add $4,200 to every Canadian family. When will the finance minister reverse course on her made-in-Canada path to decline for Canadian families?
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- Feb/9/23 2:37:21 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, do members know what Conservatives will do? We will axe the carbon tax, which makes the price of everything go up in this country and is affecting inflation.
The government likes to say it will take no lessons from the Conservatives, and that is obvious because things keep getting worse. A resident of mine, Chris, says it is hard to keep up with his bills because of inflation. He says he is “a little hungry, and a little cold and his clothes now hang loosely”. We teach our kids to take responsibility for their actions, yet the Prime Minister blames everyone else.
Will the Prime Minister take responsibility for the cost-of-living crisis and fix what he broke?
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Madam Speaker, it is an honour to rise on behalf of my community in Kelowna—Lake Country.
This fall economic statement leaves people concerned about how out of touch the Liberal government is here in Ottawa. People do not understand how common sense never seems to be able to enter the thinking of the costly Liberal-NDP coalition. It insists on continuing to mismanage Canada’s finances and to make it harder for Canadians and small businesses to manage their own finances.
Less than a month ago, in Windsor, the Liberal finance minister spoke with shocking clarity about the stewardship of the economy she is managing. I will quote her exact words: “Our economy will slow. There will be people whose mortgage rates will rise. Businesses will no longer be booming.”
Where has the Liberal finance minister been? Did she just wake up from a seven-year Liberal fairy-tale slumber? Does she not see how crushed businesses are and how dire people’s finances are? Does she not read any reports on how small businesses have incurred, on average, $150,000 in debt over the last two years, or reports on how restaurants are barely hanging on and food bank usage has seen an all-time high?
It was reported this week that Kelowna has the fifth-highest rent prices in all of Canada, only behind Vancouver, Toronto, Burnaby and Victoria. Four out of the top five are in British Columbia. B.C. also consistently has among the highest gas prices in the country; just look around my community of Kelowna—Lake Country.
During the last constituency week, I met with residents and small businesses all week. People were crying. People are desperate. They are considering medical assistance in dying because they cannot afford to live. People cannot heat their homes and are at the breaking point.
After the dire warning from the Liberal finance minister, Canadians were hoping to see the Liberals reining in their spending and cutting taxes. However, now residents in my community are forced to make tough decisions. I was talking with a senior from my community last week who was devastated. He was forced make the tough decision to sell his home because he could not afford to live in it anymore. He does not know what he is going to do.
People in Kelowna—Lake Country are concerned with the possibility of a recession in 2023, yet the Liberal Party continues to spin fairy tales like this fall economic statement. This statement contains no intention of turning back years of out-of-control Liberal spending that has driven up an inflationary deficit of almost half a trillion dollars. It leaves us with the highest federal debt ever.
The fall economic statement contains no tax relief for young people, families, seniors and persons with disabilities while they struggle to afford painful increases in the price of food, gas and home heating. Instead, the Liberals are squeezing more taxes out of them. So far this year, the Liberals will be taking an extra $40.1 billion out of people’s bank accounts and putting it into the government's bank account. It has no plans to turn off the taps and end the money printing that has driven our generational-high inflation crisis.
The Liberals have a laundry list of benefits they have created that give people a little of their own money back. There are no solutions to help businesses remove the help wanted ads in their windows. There is no plan to refill shelves with essentials like children's fever and pain medication, which is a problem that has been known since July. As usual, the Liberals did nothing on important issues like this for families.
The Liberals are not focusing on what is actually important to families like reducing taxes, getting inflation under control and having basic necessities like medical supplies on store shelves.
Multiple tax increases are still coming in the New Year, such as a drastic rise in excise taxes for Kelowna—Lake Country's local wineries, cideries, breweries and distilleries, along with others across the country. The Liberals call it an escalator tax, which is really a fancy, bureaucratic word for an automatic tax hike. The worst part is that it is tied to inflation, so it will be a bigger increase than ever before, and it will trickle down to retailers, restaurants and consumers.
Conservatives were transparent with our recommendations for this fall economic statement. There is nothing different from what my constituents have been asking for every day. First, cancel all planned tax hikes, including the tripling of the carbon tax. People are already choosing between heating their homes and putting food in fridges. They do not need more tax grabs.
Second is to ensure that there are equivalent savings to match any new spending. Canadians see no benefit from a half-trillion dollar deficit caused by wasteful purchases like the multi-million dollar ArriveCAN app.
Third is to get rid of red tape so our businesses and people can thrive. Red tape is affecting businesses' ability to bring skilled workers in to fill their labour needs. Our natural resources, farmers and manufacturers are all affected. It is like everything is on hold, while the Liberals live in a fairyland.
It is not just the Conservatives that the Liberals are choosing to ignore. The arm's-length, non-partisan Parliamentary Budget Officer's report must disappear like pixie dust as soon as it comes across a Liberal office door. The PBO's latest report proves that there are clear warnings for the country.
First, the PBO estimates that the unemployment rate will increase in 2023, to 5.8%, with a significant factor being people retiring. If the predicted recession hits next year at levels that some economists are projecting, the unemployment rate could undoubtedly increase further, and we will see a move away from “help wanted” signs to companies having to downsize in some sectors, while others will still struggle to get the skilled workers they need.
Food bank usage is already at an all-time high. Food Banks Canada recorded 1.5 million visits to food banks in just one month, which is a 35% increase compared to last year. I fear what increase in usage it will see next year.
Second, the PBO lays out the estimated federal government revenue and debt levels, and states:
Despite the projected decline in the budgetary deficit, public debt charges are projected to more than double from their 2020-21 level (of $20.4 billion), reaching $47.6 billion in 2027-28 due to higher interest rates and the additional accumulation of federal debt.
The finance minister talks about how the federal debt should be lower. However, although it is the highest ever in Canada, the PBO reports that the public debt charges will be more than double. What does that mean? It means we are paying more for that debt. A comparison is like doubling the interest we would be charged on our monthly credit card bill. As we make our payments, our bill total could slowly decrease, but every dollar we put in would be worth less. As it will take much longer to pay the debt off, we will end up paying a lot more.
Third is the record-high inflation. The PBO's estimates show federal government revenues increasing yearly until 2028, and the estimated increase is more than $40 billion from 2022 to 2024. We all know inflation has been as high as 8.1% this year, with food costs being even higher, and the government's revenue increase is primarily due to higher inflation adding tax revenue. In addition, the government's increases in payroll tax, excise tax and carbon tax will all bring in more revenue.
Those increased tax dollars to the government's coffers based on inflation and tax increases do not reflect a robust economy. I spoke with a small business owner from my community last week who said that she is making the tough decision to raise her rates, as she just cannot keep absorbing the higher costs. She feels bad for her clients, but she held off as long as she could.
I spoke with a resident from Joe Rich. I attended a fundraiser last weekend for residents. These are people in our community who cannot afford food, fuel or medicine. She said people do not have money to buy wood pellets to heat their homes; they cannot afford to eat and cannot afford to buy gas to drive the half hour back and forth to buy medicine and food. She has never seen things so bad in her lifetime.
I spoke with a man in his twenties who is now helping his parents with their mortgage payment because, with the high interest rates, his parents cannot afford to pay everything on their own. This young man is now putting his own future on hold.
This is Canada. What is wrong with the Liberals? Why can they not see how serious this is?
Our Conservative team will continue to stand up for real tax relief to help Canadian seniors, families, young adults, small businesses and non-profits. People are looking for hope, and I will stand up for the people and small businesses of Kelowna—Lake Country in voting against the government's continued disregard for our cost of living crisis.
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- Oct/31/22 3:04:13 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, when this government gave millions of dollars to Loblaws for new fridges, I had convenience store owners, florists and small independent food store owners calling me asking how they could also apply for a fridge. I had to explain that they did not qualify. They were not a billion-dollar corporation. We do not know who got rich off the ArriveCAN app, the app with glitches that forced people into quarantine by mistake. Canadians cannot afford this costly coalition.
Will the Liberals end their wasteful and inflationary spending?
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- Apr/4/22 2:49:31 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the NDP-Liberal minister can try to sidestep the economic woes the government's high-tax, high-inflation policies are placing on new Canadians, but they know the truth. It is why, when asked why they would not recommend Canada to future immigrants, the top two reasons were current government leadership and cost of living.
We are in a labour crisis, and the government's fiscal policies are not helping. Will the NDP-Liberal minister fix the fiscal policy mess so that Canadians and new Canadians are not driven out?
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