Blaine Calkins

[Criminal Code, November 9th, 2023]

moved for leave to introduce Bill C-364, An Act to amend the Criminal Code (sentencing).

Madam Speaker, I want to thank my colleague for Peterborough—Kawartha for seconding this bill.

I want to thank all my colleagues who are a part of the rural crime caucus that we have in the Conservative Party. During the first term of the current government, we struck the rural crime task force. We consulted with Albertans and Canadians from coast to coast. We put together a report called “Toward a Safer Alberta”. That report had numerous recommendations in it, including legislative changes that could be made. Even though we have been through the pandemic, the rural crime statistics still apply today. The police have done what they can. They have reorganized themselves.

Governments that are not in charge of the Criminal Code have done everything they can to take this seriously, and there seems to be a new-found interest across the way in the plight of rural Canadians. We can just imagine someone setting up a chop shop or a meth lab in a rural area, far away from the various police stations and communities, which is done purposefully to avoid detection. They cause absolute hell for people in rural communities, because the crime from organized crime elements is absorbed by just a small number of residents. That is why this bill is so important.

I encourage my colleagues across the way to give consideration to it. It would change the Criminal Code at the time of sentencing and make it an aggravating factor if somebody is purposefully targeting somebody in a rural area, where proximity to emergency services and police services is a very difficult thing.

It does a number of other things, including strengthening provisions for sentencing, when it comes to using or carrying a weapon to a crime scene. It also changes the term “dwelling” to “place”, because lots of break and enters happen to barns and Quonset huts. Lots of other valuables are kept in storage in rural areas.

I really encourage all my colleagues in the House to take a look at the bill. Let us get this bill adopted post-haste.

(Motions deemed adopted, bill read the first time and printed)

[Carbon Tax, November 6th, 2023]

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister's plan to quadruple taxes on essentials is a heavy blow to Canadians, but the government has chosen to spare only 3% of Canadians, in a crass, calculated move. The Liberal temporary pause on the tax for home heating oil is a mere gimmick that will not provide relief to 97% of Canadians. Even the top-up for rural Canadians will not cover the cost of a Big Mac value meal each month. It is time to call these measures what they are: empty gestures that will not truly assist struggling families.

Let us not forget that just a year ago, Liberal MPs voted to keep the tax on home heating. The rural affairs minister's response was heartless, implying that the only way to get relief from Liberal taxes is to somehow elect more Liberals.

The common-sense Conservative promise is straightforward: no gimmicks and no temporary measures. Conservatives pledge to axe the inflationary carbon taxes for good and bring lower prices home to Canadians. It is time for real relief. It is time to axe the tax.

[Health of Animals Act, October 31st, 2023]

Mr. Speaker, I thank my friend from Foothills for bringing forward this piece of legislation. He touched on virtually everything that has happened in my life growing up on a farm in Alberta. We lost the cattle component of our farm because of BSE, which resulted in my family's having to change what we did. We moved to a different type of agriculture, which actually, in some strange way, invited the same activists. I remember my father calling me and playing a recording for me on the phone, in which an animal activist actually said, “If the public knew what kind of farming you were doing, do you think your son would get re-elected as a member of Parliament?”, thereby actually trying to intimidate me into intimidating my father into stopping farming.

Can my colleague from Foothills speak to how drastic, how dramatic and how intimidating these folks are? I know they stop by the farms, stay on the highway and take pictures. They intimidate, they block, they cut gates and they let animals out. They do all kinds of atrocious things that are actually very detrimental and unsafe not only for the public but also for the farm and the farm animals.

[Petitions, October 24th, 2023]

Mr. Speaker, I hope you will grant me some grace, given the gravity of the petition I am presenting today.

The petition arises from events that happened on September 16, 2021, with the horrific and preventable murders of Mchale Erica Busch, age 24, and her baby son, Noah Lee McConnell, age 16 months. The murders occurred in the victims' apartment building in Hinton, Alberta, perpetrated by a known registered sex offender. The family had no idea that this individual was living there, and the offences happened a short 10 days after they moved in.

This petition has been signed by almost 22,000 Canadians, who are asking for the Government of Canada to do the following: require mandatory reporting by convicted sexual offenders to the nearest police station upon any change of residence; clarify that failure to report as required is an offence for which an arrest warrant shall be issued; and create a specifically designated offender classification for persons convicted of sexual assault offences against children where a sentence of more than two years is imposed, for offenders convicted of two or more violent sexual offences, or for offences involving the abduction of women and/or children.

We have a responsibility to this family and all victims of sexual violence in this country. I look forward to the government responding to this petition.

[Criminal Code, October 4th, 2023]

Mr. Speaker, I am wondering if my friend and colleague from Calgary Nose Hill has also thought about this notion. We all know that a lie can spread around the world before the truth has a chance to put its pants on in the morning.

What I am getting at here is that it is not just the potential victimization of women and children, which is a horrible thing, but each and every one of us in this room has been seized with the conversation of foreign interference, especially in our electoral process.

Can members imagine a foreign state actor doing something like this during an election campaign to discredit or humiliate us in our democratic process? Does she have any thoughts on that?

[Criminal Code, October 4th, 2023]

Mr. Speaker, after eight years of the current Liberal government, sex crime has nearly doubled to 82.5%. I would like to remind my colleague of an incident that happened in Alberta on September 16, 2021. Michale Busch and her toddler son Noah McConnell were murdered by a sex offender who was in some strange way permitted, even though he was on the registry, to live anonymously and unknown in the apartment right next door in an apartment complex. They were killed on September 16, 2021 by that sex offender.

I would also like to remind him not only what the risk would be from the government's getting it wrong when it comes to the implementation of the sex offender registry, but also how important it is to get the legislation and the implementation right. This is about lives and about protecting people who are otherwise revictimized all the time. If we do not get it right, there are serious consequences.

Does my colleague have any suggestions for the government regarding what it should change when it comes to this legislation, or should the changes actually be in how it is implemented?

[Affordable Housing and Groceries Act, October 3rd, 2023]

Madam Speaker, I listened intently to my colleague's speech. He talked about the Nostradamus prediction that would equate to what the leader of the Conservative Party said. I am wondering if he would like to reflect more on comments we have made.

As Conservatives, we have known all the time that living within our means is the responsible way to do government. The previous prime minister, Stephen Harper, said that the deficits this current administration would run would not be small but would in fact be out of control. I think the words were “He has no idea what he is talking about”, in reference to the current Prime Minister.

I wonder if my colleague could reflect on those comments and how true they are.

[Guests in the House of Commons, September 25th, 2023]

Mr. Speaker, last Friday, a member of the 14th Waffen Grenadier Division of the Nazi SS was celebrated in the presence of President Zelenskyy.

No one believes that the government would not see the list of attendees when a foreign leader attends this chamber. Canada's reputation is damaged. This chamber's reputation is damaged. Our valiant Canadian World War II veterans are shocked and humiliated. Jewish Canadians are horrified. Russia could not be happier.

Does the Liberal government really expect Canadians to believe that it did not know a Nazi was in this House?

[Petitions, September 20th, 2023]

Mr. Speaker, it is an honour for me to rise today to present a petition on behalf of Canadians from coast to coast asking the government to use all the tools it has at its disposal to respond to R v. Bissonnette, including invoking the notwithstanding clause.

The Bissonnette case overruled section 745.51 of the Criminal Code, making it easier for those who commit murder to get parole. This flies in the face of the will of the House and, of course, the common sense of the common people, the Canadians who signed this petition. They ask the government to correct this injustice.

[National Hunting, Trapping and Fishing Heritage Day, September 20th, 2023]

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to mark the ninth National Hunting, Trapping and Fishing Heritage Day, which is celebrated on the third Saturday in September every year.

For generations, our people have harnessed the resources of Canada's outdoors, building resilient communities, embracing the principles of conservation and fostering economic prosperity through sustainable practices. Hunters and anglers have devoted their lives to preserving our natural habitats, advocating for ethical practices and ensuring the continuity of these cherished traditions for future generations.

Unfortunately, after eight years, the Liberals have undermined our cherished heritage through attempts to ban hunting rifles and blaming hunters for the Liberals' rise in gun crime.

Conservatives understand the important role hunters, trappers and anglers play in both our economy and in conservation of our fish and wildlife. Conservatives, and only Conservatives, will always protect the ability of Canadians to hunt, fish and trap for generations to come.