- Member of Parliament
- Conservative
- Selkirk—Interlake—Eastman
- Manitoba
- Voting Attendance: 68%
- Expenses Last Quarter: $140,796.07
- Government Page
- Feb/29/24 2:30:29 p.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister is not worth the cost, the crime, the corruption or the cover-ups. After the Liberals hid the Winnipeg lab documents from Canadians for over three years, we finally know why they blocked Parliament. We know Dr. Qiu had “close and clandestine relationships with...entities of the People's Republic of China” and collaborated with military scientists.
The People's Liberation Army is a known security threat to Canada, so why did the Prime Minister cover up the breach of national security instead of arresting the spies?
94 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
Madam Speaker, once again, I just want to thank the member for Abbotsford, who actually started the free trade talks with Ukraine when he was minister of trade. I was proud to accompany him on one of those trips before we lost government in 2015. He laid the groundwork. This bill, of course, has additional chapters.
One thing is, if it is going beyond trade, then I would recommend it. If we are talking about agriculture, for example, why do we not see a section in here on getting rid of the land mines? We have heard about some horrific accidents happening right now in the south of Ukraine, in the Kherson region. Farmers are out there trying to plant their winter wheat in land that has been taken back from the Russians by the Ukrainian military. The mine density in the fields is ridiculous. It is very dangerous out there.
We need to be putting more effort into helping Ukraine demine those areas. However, before they can even demine them, they actually have to push the Russian invaders back so they could have control of those lands without being fearful of being bombed while they are out there trying to remove those mines.
204 words
All Topics
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Sep/27/22 1:23:46 p.m.
- Watch
Madam Speaker, I will keep it short. I appreciate the question from my friend from the NDP. I can tell him that I agree with him. That should be a cost for corporations that originally mined the land. They are responsible for covering it.
44 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Jun/1/22 10:10:35 p.m.
- Watch
Madam Speaker, I believe I did mention that I was splitting my time. I am sorry about that.
One of the other things we have been asking the government to do is supply our Harpoon maritime and coastal missiles. They would really strengthen Ukraine's ability to protect Odessa and other coastal cities. We asked for that and Canada did not do it; the U.K. did. We asked to send over our LAVs, like our M113s. Canada did not send them, but the United States and Australia sent M113s.
We need to step up and do more, not less. I again want to reiterate that having Sweden and Finland join our NATO alliance speaks volumes, and I know we all welcome their applications.
124 words
All Topics
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Jun/1/22 10:00:36 p.m.
- Watch
Madam Speaker, it is indeed an honour to join everyone tonight virtually to talk about NATO and the application for membership to NATO by Finland and Sweden. It is something I hope we can strongly support unanimously in this chamber to send a strong message to all allies in the NATO alliance and hopefully convince those who are somewhat hesitant to accept the membership applications from Finland and Sweden.
We know that Sweden and Finland have been closely co-operating with NATO and the European Union's collective defence agreement for quite some time. They have modern militaries, modern economies and very progressive societies that we all appreciate and admire. There is no reason to reject their applications to NATO.
We know that both Finland and Sweden have been non-aligned, neutral nations since the end of World War II, but that has dramatically changed with Putin's illegal invasion, Russia's war, and the war crimes and atrocities being committed in Ukraine. Of course, our thoughts, prayers and efforts are to help Ukraine win this war. We know that the entire NATO alliance is doing everything it can and is nervous about how this is going to play out.
This means countries that do not have the ability to be part of the strong alliance we have through NATO want to join. Although there may be some naysayers out there who are going to say this is NATO enlargement pushing farther toward Russia's border, nothing could be further from the truth. These are independent countries that want to make sure they can take advantage of what we enjoy and take for granted here in Canada, which is deterrence through our collective defence.
Article 5 almost guarantees that no NATO member will ever be invaded by a foreign nation such as the Russian Federation. Vladimir Putin is at the helm of the Russian Federation and has control of the criminal organization within the Kremlin, the kleptocrats. He has been running a mafia-styled organization with a very disturbing philosophy and revisionist history that he is trying to force upon the world.
His demented reasoning for invading Ukraine cannot go unchecked, but that means the Baltic nations and Arctic nations that share space with Russia are increasingly concerned. That is why there has been a change of heart so quickly. In a matter of three months, we have seen Sweden and Finland make this historic application for membership 73 years after the beginning of the NATO alliance.
I want to thank the foreign affairs committee for doing this work, putting together this report and giving us this opportunity to express, as parliamentarians and ultimately as the Government of Canada, our support for their membership applications.
Let us look at why they are so nervous and why they made this decision to join with other Baltic nations that already enjoy this alliance, such at Latvia, Estonia, Lithuania and Poland. We know that these nations have all joined over the last 25 years. We also know that Canada has been playing a major role in Latvia as part of NATO's enhanced forward presence, and increasing military deterrence activities within Latvia, leading several other nations in a battle group there.
The more we can do to bolster the defences of eastern Europe, the safer we are here at home. We are an Arctic nation; we share territory with Russia. It is good to know the United States, Canada and Norway, which are already NATO members, will now be joined by two more Arctic nations, Finland and Sweden, in this alliance. We can hopefully bring Russia back into a reasonable conversation, after it leaves Ukrainian sovereign territory, about how best to move forward to protect the Arctic, do search and rescue and make other investments in the Arctic area.
Canada needs to do more for Ukraine. We are watching this war on a daily basis, and it continues to pull at all our heartstrings. We know this is more than a tragedy: An atrocity has been committed.
We have been talking about Bucha and what has happened in Mariupol. Hospitals, schools, seniors homes and maternity wards have been intentionally targeted. We know that Putin and his henchmen within the Russian army have been committing these crimes against humanity, and they have been ordered from the top down. Everyone who is responsible for those atrocities must be held to account. I am glad to see that Ukraine's public prosecutor is putting together all the evidence to take to the Hague in front of the International Criminal Court. Canada needs to assist in that every step of the way.
For quite a while, the Conservatives have been calling on the Liberal government to do more to help Ukraine. The humanitarian corridors need to be implemented by giving Ukraine anti-air and air defence systems so that it can ensure its airspace is protected and so that those fleeing war zones can get to safety and humanitarian assistance and relief can get into besieged cities such as Kharkiv.
We know that Ukraine has been asking for more armoured vehicles. We have asked many times in the House, and I asked it again just a couple of weeks ago, why Canada is not sending its about-to-be-retired light armoured vehicles: our Bisons, Coyotes, Kodiaks and M113 Tracked LAVs. All of those are going to be decommissioned over the next year, and the replacement vehicles are already built and sitting in London, Ontario, waiting to be accredited. In that tranche of light armoured vehicles, there are 32 armoured ambulances as part of the LAV II configuration that could be sent to Ukraine, which desperately needs them right now.
The government knows those light armoured vehicles would save lives, but for whatever reason, the Minister of National Defence and the Minister of Foreign Affairs have not moved on sending these LAVs, which could easily be donated by Canada as they are in good working order.
We have also asked the government to—
1007 words
All Topics
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- menumenu
- notificationsnotifications
- home
- mailmail
- searchsearch
