Blake Richards

[Finance, June 5th, 2019]

Mr. Speaker, under the Liberals, the national debt is growing by over $2 million an hour, yet it is not stopping them from finding new ways to squander Canadians' hard-earned tax dollars.

First, the Liberals gave Loblaws $12 million for fridges. Now it is giving $50 million to an investment fund that when asked if it needed the money, said “No, but it's great to have it”. Those are words that most Canadian small businesses would only dream of being able to say.

Why are the Liberals handing out money to giant companies that literally do not need it, instead of helping small businesses by reducing taxes and cutting red tape?

[Accessible Canada Act, May 28th, 2019]

Madam Speaker, I want to address what I just heard happen here. You did get up and indicate what you had heard from the government House leader. I was here and I heard it too. Many other members heard her refer to you as biased, and when you questioned whether she actually had referred to you as being biased, she indicated yes. I heard it and I know many others did. I do not really believe that what you got was an apology. If you heard it differently than I did, or if you experienced it differently than I did, I apologize. You might want to ask the member again to apologize properly for calling you biased, because I did hear it very clearly.

[Tourism, May 27th, 2019]

Mr. Speaker, whether it is dining out at Timmy Tom's Pizzeria in Winnipeg, which won this year's World Pizza Championship, planning a round of golf at the Indigenous Tourism Association of Canada's Cultural Tourism Award winner Quaaout Lodge and Talking Rock Golf resort, in Chase, B.C., visiting Condé Nast Traveler award winner Quebec City to stroll the old world beauty of Quartier Petit Champlain, browsing Toronto's Lonely Planet hotspot, Kensington Market, or enjoying the Eat the Castle culinary excursion tour at the Fairmont Banff Springs in my own riding of Banff—Airdrie, Canada offers a unique and special tourist experience in each region of the country from one coast to another.

May 26 to June 2 is tourism week, a time for us all to celebrate the contributions and experiences of Canada's tourism industry.

I urge all Canadians to celebrate by visiting Canada's magnificent sites and taking advantage of all the experiences our wonderful country has to offer.

[Small Business, May 13th, 2019]

Mr. Speaker, a tax system that is fair, efficient and modern is one of seven requests of over 200,000 Canadian businesses that just want the government to stop throwing up barriers and allow them to thrive and succeed. Instead, the Liberals have given Canadian businesses tax increases, like a job-killing carbon tax and higher payroll taxes, and complicated red tape that will hurt many small businesses. Will the Liberals accept the recommendations of the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, or are they just going to keep calling Canadian small business owners tax cheats?

[Petitions, April 10th, 2019]

Mr. Speaker, I rise with a petition on behalf of tourism operators in our national parks. They provide renowned experiences for visitors from around the world. They require fair lease renewal practices so they can continue to provide those quality visitor experiences in our national parks. Unfortunately, Parks Canada has forced one-sided leases upon tourism operators that will compromise the quality of visitor experiences to our national parks.

The petitioners call on the government to revisit the renewal provisions for leaseholders in our national parks to provide greater certainty for tourism operators so they can continue to provide those unique and dynamic visitor experiences.

[Justice, April 9th, 2019]

Mr. Speaker, although I find the actions of that side completely wrong and reprehensible, I will apologize for the fact that I did show disrespect for the Chair.

[Questions Passed as Orders for Returns, March 18th, 2019]

With regard to the Sunshine Village Ski Area site guidelines: (a) what was the process and result of the consultative process to develop the guidelines, including, but not limited to, (i) the dates of all Parks Canada consultations, formal and informal, on draft site guidelines, (ii) how many responses were received, (iii) the details of each of the responses received, (iv) what conversations took place, written, online, spoken or otherwise, regarding the submissions or process of the consultation, (v) how were Sunshine Village and its staff included in the consultation, including all correspondence and notes relating to the staff of Sunshine Village, (vi) how were stakeholder groups consulted on the development of the site guidelines, including but not limited to environmental organisations, tourism organisations, consumer organisations, and sport organisations, (vii) what briefings were produced for the Privy Council Office, the Office of the Minister of Environment and Climate Change, the Office of the Prime Minister or any other government department, (viii) whether the Minister of Tourism, her staff, or her department were contacted on the consultation process and, if so, what was discussed; (b) how were the guidelines related to ecological considerations developed, including but not limited to (i) what conversations took place around changing the boundaries of Sunshine Village, including, but not limited to written, online, or spoken conversations, (ii) which stakeholder groups were consulted in the drafting of the guidelines related to the Upper Healy Wildlife—Gondola Base Corridor, Sunshine Meadow, Lower Bye Bye Bowl, and Eagle Crest, (iii) what reports, documents, opinions, or research were commissioned regarding the Healy Creek Wildlife—Gondola Base Corridor, the Sunshine Meadows, the Lower Bye Bye Bowl, the Eagle Crest and the ecological effects of the Sunshine Village, (iv) what recommendations were taken under consideration in preparing the site guidelines, with reference to ecological considerations, (v) what conversations, written, online, spoken or otherwise, took place to develop the final site guidelines, with reference to ecological considerations, (vi) what were the considered implications, positive and negative, of changing the boundaries of the Sunshine Village site, (vii) were the Minister of Tourism, her staff, or her department contacted on the ecological considerations and, if so, what was discussed; (c) what are the maximum future growth limits of Sunshine Village and how were they calculated, including, but not limited to, (i) which “third-party industry expert” prepared and calculated the maximum future growth limits, as alluded to on page 21 of the Site Guidelines For Development and Use, Sunshine Village Ski Resort, December 14, 2018, (ii) what were the details of the analysis, (iii) what were the recommendations of the analysis, (iv) how did Parks Canada consider the analysis, as demonstrated through written, online, spoken or other forms of communication, (v) were the Minister of Tourism, her staff, or her department contacted on the maximum future growth limits of Sunshine Village Ski Resort and, if so, what was discussed; (d) how were the guidelines surrounding parking developed, including, but not limited to, (i) what reports, documents, opinions or research were consulted in drafting the parking recommendations in site guidelines, (ii) what conversations, online, written, spoken or otherwise, took place between Parks Canada and Sunshine Village in discussing and drafting the guidelines, (iii) what conversations, online, written, spoken, or otherwise, took place amongst Parks Canada officials in determining the parking recommendations, (iv) what consideration, as documented through emails, notes, minutes of meetings, telephone calls or video chat, or other forms of communication, was given to the express wishes and proposals of Sunshine Village with reference to the parking proposals, (v) who approved the parking proposals as indicated to Sunshine Village, (vi) what briefings were produced for the Privy Council Office, the Office of the Minister of Environment and Climate Change, the Office of the Prime Minister or any other government department regarding the parking proposals, (vii) were the Minister of Tourism, her staff or her department contacted on the guidelines surrounding parking and, if so, what was discussed; and (e) how was the decision to require Sunshine Village to accept the draft site guidelines by January 21, 2019, made, including, but not limited to, (i) what conversations, online, written, spoken, or otherwise, took place to decide how to respond to CEO Ralph Scurfield’s letter of November 30, 2018, (ii) what conversations, online, written, spoken, or otherwise took place in determining the January 21, 2019, deadline to accept the draft guidelines, (iii) what conversations, online, written, spoken, or otherwise, took place to prepare for a public request for proposals should Sunshine Village have not agreed to the site guidelines, (iv) what briefings were produced for the Privy Council Office, the Office of the Minister of Environment and Climate Change, the Office of the Prime Minister or any other government departments regarding the January 21, 2019, deadline and potential public request for proposals, (v) were the Minister of Tourism, her staff, or her department contacted on the January 21, 2019, deadline or on the preparation on a public request for proposals and, if so, what was discussed?

[The Economy, March 18th, 2019]

Mr. Speaker, the current Liberal government and Prime Minister continually put themselves and their cronies ahead of Canadian families. Canadians are struggling, and Liberal failures are making it increasingly difficult for them to be able to succeed. Half of Canadians are only $200 away from not being able to pay their bills, and all Canadians are now afraid of what is ahead. While Canadians struggle, the government is making life harder and more expensive.

If Liberals cared about or respected Canadians, they would put in place policies for Canadians to be able to succeed. They would build pipelines. They would cut red tape instead of increasing it. They would cut taxes instead of raising them. They would create the opportunity for the private sector be able to create jobs, and they would cancel the carbon tax.

Canadians know that the current Liberal government is doing nothing to make life more affordable and everything to make life harder. Times are tough and are getting tougher. One in three Canadians feels that his or her current standard of living has gotten worse. That is the sign of a Liberal government that puts its political interests ahead of Canadians. It is time for the Prime Minister to show Canadians some respect and start putting them first.

[Petitions, February 7th, 2019]

Mr. Speaker, I table this petition today on behalf of parents from across Canada who have suffered pregnancy or infant loss. There are thousands of signatures on this petition. Those parents, in their most difficult time, have seen government programming often cease to exist, causing more unnecessary and emotional financial hardship for them.

Today, as we just heard, the human resources committee's study on the impact of pregnancy and infant loss on parents was tabled, and it recommends that EI accommodate a bereavement leave, so on behalf of all bereaved parents in Canada, I table this petition today. It calls on the government to act immediately on these committee recommendations and introduce changes to show more compassion and sympathy toward grieving parents.

[Tourism, February 4th, 2019]

Mr. Speaker, the government says one thing and does another. It promises a balanced budget by 2019, and then deficits for decades to come. It promises to make life more affordable for Canadians, and then increases the cost of everything with an unfair carbon tax. It says that the environment and the economy go hand in hand, and then refuses to negotiate fairly and honestly with the Sunshine Village ski area.

Can the Minister of Tourism explain how threatening to kick a family business off the land it has used for 38 years protects our environment or grows tourism for our economy?