SoVote

Decentralized Democracy

Michael Barrett

  • Member of Parliament
  • Conservative
  • Leeds—Grenville—Thousand Islands and Rideau Lakes
  • Ontario
  • Voting Attendance: 67%
  • Expenses Last Quarter: $133,355.09

  • Government Page
  • Oct/20/23 12:04:13 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, what Canadians expect is that whistle-blowers, when they bring to light corruption within the Liberal government, will be afforded protection, but we have seen before how the government treats the rule of law. The Prime Minister blocked the RCMP from pursuing a criminal investigation into Liberal corruption by hiding documents from them. If anyone else hid documents from the RCMP, they would end up in handcuffs, but with the Liberals, what we see is the continuation of that cover-up. After eight years, he is a Prime Minister who is not worth the cost to our democratic institutions. What evidence is the Prime Minister so desperate to hide from the RCMP, and why does he think he is above the law?
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  • Oct/18/23 3:34:28 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, Canadians would love for reports to come from the RCMP, but the Prime Minister is hiding behind cabinet confidences and the NDP-Liberal coalition to keep Canadians in the dark about wrongdoing. That is why they were not able to launch that criminal investigation into the government. If members can believe this, there is a $1-billion so-called green slush fund that, through misappropriation and conflicts of interest, the government has had to suspend because $150 million in taxpayers' money has been mismanaged. Now, whistle-blowers are looking for employment and reprisal protection, but we know that the government will do what it always does and throw a whistle-blower under the bus, just like it did with Jody Wilson-Raybould when she called out corrupt Liberals. Will they protect these whistle-blowers?
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  • Oct/21/22 11:41:33 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, what Canadians do not find helpful is that the Liberals have no intention of telling the truth, so here are some facts for them. They said the app would cost $80,000, and it ended up costing $54 million. Then CBSA and the Liberals, the ministers, signed off on payments, saying that companies like ThinkOn Inc. and Ernst & Young received payments from the government. These companies never received a dime, so money is missing. I have two questions for the Liberals: Who is lying, and who got rich?
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  • Feb/16/23 3:02:28 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, let us talk about action. Some 1.5 million Canadians are using food banks in a single month. Mortgages are going up to more than $3,000 per month. Rent is doubling to more than $2,000 per month. Twenty per cent of Canadians are skipping meals every day because they cannot afford them. No government has ever spent so much to achieve so little, unless someone is a well-connected Liberal insider. Then it is tens of thousands of dollars from the Liberal lawbreakers. Is today the day the Liberal Prime Minister will finally take responsibility for the law-breaking in his government?
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  • Feb/16/23 3:01:05 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, after eight years of the Liberal Prime Minister, it is hard for Canadians not to be disappointed when every day there is a news story about a Liberal breaking the law. While Canadians are struggling to feed their families and keep the heat on at home, the Liberals are lining the pockets of their friends, like the trade minister did, like the housing minister did, like the intergovernmental affairs minister did and like the Prime Minister did. It was tens of thousands of dollars sent to their well-connected friends. Will the Liberal Prime Minister take responsibility for the law-breaking in his Liberal government benches, or will he get out of the way so we can fix what they have broken?
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  • Feb/10/23 12:03:17 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, the government House leader would tell Canadians that they have never had it so good. His metric for how well the government is doing is that Canadians are not currently suffering a world war. His word salad will not fill their bellies, but what the actions of the government are doing is filling the pockets of Liberal insiders. If the minister will not do the right thing and pay Canadians back the tens of thousands she gave to Liberal insiders, then she needs to resign. That is what Canadians demand and deserve.
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  • Feb/10/23 11:58:43 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, after eight years of the Liberal Prime Minister, Canadians have never had it so bad, and Liberal insiders have never had it so good. We can take the Liberal trade minister as an example. She gave tens of thousands of dollars in contracts to her bestie while Canadians were lined up at food banks. She was at committee today and would not answer the question, when I asked her, if she would do the right thing, make restitution and pay Canadians back those ill-gotten gains. Here is another chance to answer the question. Will the minister repay Canadians the tens of thousands of dollars she gave to her friend?
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  • Feb/10/23 11:11:39 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, after eight years of the Prime Minister, Canadians are lined up at food banks and Liberal insiders are lining their pockets. We continue to see it time and time again, with the Prime Minister furthering the interests of his friends, just as the former finance minister, the intergovernmental affairs minister and now the trade minister have done. It is sweetheart deals and hundreds of thousands or tens of thousands of dollars, depending on the case, to Liberal insiders while Canadians struggle to keep the heat on. Canadians expect better from their government officials and they deserve accountability. Canada's Conservatives will continue to press the government to be accountable to Canadians. We are going to give Canadians that accountability and will continue to call on the minister to resign and repay the tens of thousands of dollars she gave to her insider friends.
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  • Feb/8/23 3:08:21 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, after eight years of the Prime Minister, Liberal insiders have been lining their pockets while Canadians have been lining up at food banks. McKinsey, one of those insiders, is the very same company that helped turbocharge opioid sales. It was involved in government corruption scandals the world over and, of course, helped the Government of Saudi Arabia track down and punish its opponents. That is the company that the Prime Minister gave $120 million of taxpayer money to. Will the Prime Minister finally take responsibility for giving Canadians' tax dollars to a corrupt company, or will he get out of the way so—
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  • Feb/3/23 11:33:32 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, the question is this: Who is lying? The Prime Minister said that Dominic Barton was his friend. Dominic Barton said that he is not the Prime Minister's friend, and I do not blame him. I would not admit that was a friendship either. McKinsey is a company that helped track down and punish Saudi dissidents, people who were critical of their government there. McKinsey is a company that helped supercharge the opioid crisis and that paid bonuses to pharmacists who were responsible for overdose deaths.
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  • Feb/3/23 11:32:41 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, the government is very unsure and we get new numbers often. I expect that we will get a new higher number on Monday. However, we will be unsure if we can take the government at its word, because it continues to shovel money out the door to its insider friends at McKinsey. Public servants said that they have been treated to some colourful presentations, but not much else. After eight years of the Liberals, they are more than happy to keep shovelling that money, with no value to Canadians. The question still stands, and we did not get the final and full answer: Can the parliamentary secretary tell us how much money they gave their insider friends at McKinsey?
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  • Feb/1/23 3:08:47 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, now it is time to respect taxpayers and Canadians and have some ministerial accountability across the aisle. That means resignations of ministers who break Canadian laws. It is not a surprise from the Prime Minister because he has twice been found to have broken the ethics laws of this country to help out his buddies and Liberal insiders. After eight years of this Prime Minister, people can bet that, if they are a Liberal insider, things are looking pretty great, but this is not so for the rest of Canadians. Therefore, when will the Prime Minister and the Liberals finally put Canadians first and put the corruption and law-breaking aside?
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  • Feb/1/23 3:07:58 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, after eight years of this Prime Minister, Canadians have never had it so bad, but Liberal insiders and high-priced consultants and friends of the Prime Minister have never had it so good. We can just look at the Minister of International Trade. While Canadians were lined up at food banks, she had her BFF lined up to receive lucrative contracts that turned out to be illegal. That is a record fifth ethics violation for the Prime Minister and members of his cabinet. Canadians want accountability. When will the Prime Minister ask for that minister's resignation?
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  • Jan/31/23 2:54:55 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, throughout history and up until this point, governments were there for their people when they were facing hard times, but not those Liberals. They are there for insiders. The Prime Minister helped his buddies get off criminal charges. The Prime Minister took an illegal vacation. The intergovernmental affairs minister gave lucrative contracts to family members. The Prime Minister's hand-picked finance minister tried to give a half-billion dollars to WE. The trade minister just gave tens of thousands of dollars to her bestie. Canadians are lined up at food banks; Liberal insiders are lined up to get rich. What is it going to take for one of those corrupt ministers to resign?
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  • Jan/31/23 2:53:37 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, time and time again we see Liberal cabinet ministers breaking ethics laws to help their friends and Liberal insiders. The Liberals will funnel money and lucrative contracts to them. They will take illegal vacations. They will even interfere in criminal prosecution to help their friends. After eight years under the Prime Minister, Canadians have never had it so bad and Liberal insiders, friends and high-priced consultants have never had it so good. When will the Liberals stop the corruption and start putting the needs of Canadians first?
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  • Jan/30/23 2:56:06 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, it is unfortunate but not surprising that the minister will not make it right after serving under the Prime Minister who has twice himself been found guilty of breaking Canada's ethics laws. Those Liberals exist solely for the purpose to hold on to power. They divide Canadians, pit neighbour against neighbour and line the pockets of Liberal insiders while they are at it. Therefore, will the Prime Minister today ask for the minister's resignation?
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  • Jan/30/23 2:54:53 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, after eight years, breaking ethics laws has become as synonymous with those Liberals as higher taxes. Now, for a record fifth time, a Liberal minister has been caught breaking ethics laws. At a time when Canadians are struggling to afford to heat their homes and put food on their table for their families, the trade minister was finding the time and taxpayer money to line the pockets of her insider friend: another day, another lawless Liberal under the lawless Prime Minister. Will the minister do the right thing and cut a cheque to make restitution for her corruption?
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  • Dec/14/22 3:05:11 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, “full responsibility” is not a forced apology and crocodile tears. It is a resignation, and that is what Canadians expect from members of the King's Privy Council. It was fine for Art Eggleton. When he gave tens of thousands of dollars to an old girlfriend, he knew he had to resign. What we do not know is why there is a different set of rules for the Prime Minister and for the minister. Will the Prime Minister finally do the right thing, show Canadians there are actions they need to be held accountable for, and fire the minister today?
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  • Dec/14/22 3:04:23 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, it is another day, and another Liberal minister is found guilty of breaking ethics laws. This time, it is the international trade minister who, through a shady deal, gave tens of thousands of dollars to her BFF, CBC pundit Amanda Alvaro. The history of this pair goes back to when they worked for the corrupt Ontario McGuinty Liberals. Old habits might die hard for these two, but Canadians deserve better. Is the reason the Prime Minister will not fire his minister that he would be holding her to a higher standard than he holds himself?
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  • Dec/13/22 3:01:44 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, during a Liberal-made inflationary crisis, Canadians are having a hard time choosing between heating their homes and feeding their families. We found out today that, instead of having the backs of Canadians, they are helping Liberal insiders get rich. The Liberal international trade minister was caught red-handed and found guilty of breaking ethics laws by giving a sweetheart contract to her friend, the CBC pundit Amanda Alvaro. Will the minister resign?
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