- Member of Parliament
- Member of Parliament
- Conservative
- New Brunswick Southwest
- New Brunswick
- Voting Attendance: 65%
- Expenses Last Quarter: $123,506.39
- Government Page
- May/9/24 2:06:15 p.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, every year, Canadians pay more for less because of this Liberal government's inflationary deficits and bone-crushing taxes. The Liberal carbon tax is devastating pensioners, working families and small businesses.
Today in New Brunswick, we pay over 62¢ more per litre for gasoline than families do in the neighbouring state of Maine. That price difference is all due to Canadian taxes.
Next year, because of the Liberal carbon tax, the New Brunswick-Maine price difference will be almost 70¢ per litre. The Liberals plan to add an additional 50¢ per litre by 2030. This will cost Canadians thousands of dollars more each year. Families are forced to pay more to live in Canada by an uncaring and ideological Prime Minister.
Just like his carbon tax, the Liberals are not worth the cost. It is time for a carbon tax election. Let us go to the people. Let us hear from the people. Let us get rid of those Liberals.
165 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Jun/12/23 2:54:28 p.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, that is absurd. During the pandemic, $200 billion was spent that had nothing to do with helping Canadians. The current government just added another $60 billion to its inflationary bonfire, and it now has deficits for as far as the eye can see.
Canadians are struggling to put food on their tables. They are cancelling their summer vacations because of the Liberal-caused inflation. On our side of the House, we are willing to work all summer to fix and pass a budget that will bring down inflation, bring down deficits, and make home ownership and hard work affordable again.
Will the Prime Minister cancel his summer vacation? Will he get to work, or are surfboard—
119 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Jun/12/23 2:52:35 p.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, the Liberal government has run massive deficits for eight long years, and, as predicted, inflation has soared, leading to unaffordable mortgage rates for households across this country.
Canadians have the highest household debt in the G7, and today, we now have the highest risk of mortgage default in the OECD nations. The solution is obvious: It is to end deficit spending, stop inflation and help Canadian families.
Will the Prime Minister and his government commit to ending his inflationary spending to prevent a fiscal crisis?
87 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Feb/14/23 12:25:52 p.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, it is obviously not the latter, because the Prime Minister has told us he does not think about monetary policy.
We are not asking the Liberal government to be held accountable for inflation policies around the world. We are talking about this country. The Liberal government flooded our country with $400 billion in deficit spending, and we all know, or should know, that inflation is a monetary policy. The government devalued the value of Canadian currency and our savings, and we are paying for it now because of higher prices.
92 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Feb/14/23 12:14:27 p.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, I will be splitting my time with the member for South Shore—St. Margarets.
I am always honoured to rise in the House of Commons on behalf of my constituents to speak for individuals, families and communities in New Brunswick Southwest. New Brunswick is a place where people work hard, play by the rules and sacrifice for their kids and grandchildren. In this way, the Maritimes are really just like any other part of this great country.
Today, working hard is just not paying off like it once did. This is because the current federal Liberal government is not upholding its end of the bargain. It is not delivering on its promise to Canadians. Canada is at a difficult crossroads. The economic skies are very dark, and times are hard for Canadians. I remind the members opposite, the MPs who represent the Liberals and the NDP, that federal tax increases, sky-high deficits and out-of-control inflation are all results of deliberate policy choices made by the government, which they have supported for the last eight years.
What are the consequences of botched federal policies?
After eight years of the current Liberal Prime Minister, inflation is at a 40-year high. Since last year, the cost of groceries is up 11%. Half of Canadians are cutting back on groceries. Twenty per cent of Canadians, or one in five, are reducing or skipping meals to control costs and help make ends meet.
After eight years, the average rent for a two-bedroom apartment across Canada's 10 largest cities has doubled to over $2,200 a month, compared with less than $1,200 per month in 2015.
Nearly half of variable-rate mortgage holders are saying that rising interest rates could force them to sell or vacate their homes by the end of this year. Average monthly mortgage payments have more than doubled; they now cost typical Canadian family households over $3,000 per month.
Canadians are being squeezed by a vice grip of inflation and Bank of Canada mismanagement.
Liberal monetary policy has been a disaster, but this should not be a surprise. The Liberal leader informed Canadians in 2021 that he did not think about monetary policy. I actually thought the PM was boasting about not thinking, but look at the mess Canada is in. Liberal budgets are also moving in the wrong direction. The central philosophy is tax, spend and regulate. When that does not work, the Liberals hit repeat. They tax, spend and regulate.
Reckless Liberal spending, fuelled by easy debt, is the root cause of Canada's soaring inflation. The Government of Canada ballooned our national debt. It has doubled in the last eight years. The government has accumulated more debt than all previous prime ministers combined going back to 1867. This debt binge was encouraged by the Bank of Canada's policy of quantitative easing, and today, Canadians are paying for this entirely predictable effect of policy carelessness. The federal tax bite has worsened over the past eight years. Today, taxes on consumption and everyday living increase every year, while Canadians are falling further behind.
For the past eight years, the federal government has pursued a plan to make our affordable and abundant energy more expensive through regulation and ever-rising taxes. Home heating fuels, electricity and prices at the pump are all more heavily taxed, and the Liberals keep raising those taxes.
Canada can do better.
If we look back to eight years ago, taxes for families, businesses and individuals were lower in this country. If one earned a low income, one actually paid no federal income tax. The GST was cut to help low-income Canadians.
Our manufacturing and natural resources sectors were growing because Canada had a federal government that understood what fuels our economy and shared prosperity. Budgets were in surplus and taxes were cut. This allowed more households to save for the future, because federal government spending was focused on improving services and better outcomes for Canadians. Home ownership was growing, and people were able to afford the basics and save for tomorrow. Canadians, in short, were getting ahead.
Today, it is a completely different story. Inflation is at a 40-year high. Half of households earning less than $40,000 a year are worse off, because we know, should know or have learned that inflation is the price Canadians pay for all the government benefits the Liberals and their NDP coalition partners said would be free. We know that is just not true. Meanwhile, our allies across the globe are making desperate energy deals with dictators to buy oil and gas as Canada ignores requests for help. This is true in Asia and is true in Europe.
None of this happened by accident. It is the result of policy choices supported by the Liberal-NDP coalition. That is why today's motion is so important. It is a motion introduced by the Conservatives to get Canada back on track. It is a necessary course correction. We are calling on the Liberals to cap spending, cut waste, fire high-priced consultants who do not do much and eliminate inflationary deficits and taxes that have caused a cost of living crisis.
Unfortunately, I do not think members opposite will take advantage of this opportunity to fix their mistakes. They are committed to their belief that the federal government's primary role is wealth redistribution. In fact, the previous speaker said the government is about wealth redistribution, instead of what Conservatives believe in, which is expanding opportunity and creating wealth so we have the resources to fund our social programs and ensure Canadians get ahead. The Liberals are also preparing the next blow to our economy with a plan for a so-called just transition away from hydrocarbons.
I am a member of the public accounts committee, and we recently studied the government plan that seeks to shut down natural resource sectors to reduce carbon dioxide emissions. The government's planned transition will be so painful that it is being compared to the collapse of the northern cod fishery in Atlantic Canada in the 1990s, which was devastating. I note that the labour minister recently said Canada needs more oil and gas workers, not fewer, and cursed the misleading term “just transition”. That is because the member represents Newfoundland and Labrador and understands the danger the just transition poses to his economy and provincial economies across the country.
The members opposite are so desperate to hide this reality from the public that they are testing new buzzwords. How do they sell job losses? It is by mentioning “a fair economy, a green economy, a progressive economy, an economy that works for all Canadians, and an inclusive economy.” That is nonsense. What is so fair or inclusive about a federal government determined to put Canadians in the unemployment line? When someone is working two jobs just to make ends meet, pay their rent and buy food, as some of my constituents are, how can they possibly save enough to get ahead?
For years, the Conservatives said the carbon tax was a tax on everything. Members opposite scoffed, but today nobody is laughing as families struggle under punishing energy and consumer prices. The Liberals and NDP like to blame the Russians, but in my part of the world, over in the state of Maine next to New Brunswick, a litre of gasoline is 50¢ less after exchange than it is in New Brunswick. The Russians have nothing to do with it. That is tax policy and regulation policy driven by the Canadian government.
Members of the Liberal Party and the NDP are committed to a set of policies that are going to continue to push Canada down the wrong track. Government is about protecting and advancing the interests of Canadian families. The NDP-Liberal coalition has failed to do this. That is why it needs to be replaced so Canadians will not just get by but get ahead.
1343 words
All Topics
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Feb/1/23 2:14:26 p.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, the Liberals seem to have forgotten that taxes, deficits and inflation are all determined by policies set by the federal Liberal government. Eight years ago, the Liberals inherited a fiscal house in order. Conservatives delivered lower taxes to Canadians. We also eliminated a deficit while increasing health transfers to the provinces. Conservatives made sure those who are struggling to make ends would pay no federal income tax, and we cut the GST.
Today, in contrast, taxes are going up. Canadians across the country have energy bills they cannot pay and cannot afford because of the carbon tax. Rent and mortgage payments are excessive because of rising interest rates.
Canadian households are living through the worst cost-of-living crisis in 40 years because of the Liberal government. Canadians have a choice to continue on the ruinous path the Liberals have us on or to follow the Conservatives so that families will not just get by, but they will get ahead.
162 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- menumenu
- notificationsnotifications
- home
- mailmail
- searchsearch
