Bob Zimmer

[Petitions, December 12th, 2023]

Madam Speaker, I have two petitions to present today.

After eight years, this Prime Minister has made life unaffordable for Canadians with his carbon tax. Mackenzie residents are simply asking for some relief from this Liberal Prime Minister in this petition.

We, the undersigned residents of Mackenzie, B.C., call upon the House of Commons to reconsider the northern living allowance classification for Mackenzie and change from its current prescribed immediate zone of 50% deduction to full prescribed northern zone of 100% deduction.

[Carbon Pricing, December 11th, 2023]

Mr. Speaker, that answer throws the current Premier of the Northwest Territories completely under the bus. The Prime Minister unfairly gives a tax exemption to certain Canadians and not others. His environment minister has doubled down recently and said he is going to give that exemption to some, but not others. Liberal hot air will not keep Northwest Territories residents warm this Christmas.

Will the minister come to the Northwest Territories, sit across from families in Northwest Territories and tell them why the government will not exempt them from the carbon tax?

[Carbon Pricing, December 11th, 2023]

Mr. Speaker, in one of his first comments as Premier of the Northwest Territories, R.J. Simpson simply said yesterday that a carbon tax “doesn't work” for Northwest Territories. He said, “a complete exemption for the territory is what we would hope for because, like I said before, the costs are already high—higher costs are not the solution up here.”

Will the Prime Minister do the right thing this Christmas, fire the environment minister and axe the carbon tax?

[Affordable Housing and Groceries Act, December 11th, 2023]

Madam Speaker, to finish my point of order, if we were able to reflect on who was or was not here, we could easily reflect on that party, the NDP, whose members were not here either, or members of the Liberal Party as well.

[Affordable Housing and Groceries Act, December 11th, 2023]

Madam Speaker, the member well knows we are not supposed to point out absence or presence in the House of Commons.

[Carbon Pricing, December 7th, 2023]

Mr. Speaker, sadly, empty words from those Liberals will not fill empty stomachs in Nunavut.

Kyra Kilabuk, an Inuit woman, shares photos of current food prices in Nunavut on her social media. A can of Campbell's potato soup is $11. A medium box of Cheerios is $17. A small package of ham is $18. After eight years, Nunavut knows the Prime Minister is not worth the cost.

When will the Prime Minister finally listen to Canadians and scrap the carbon tax on farmers, first nations and families?

[Business of Supply, December 7th, 2023]

Mr. Speaker, the member for Kingston and the Islands just threatened this side. I do not know if that is common practice to do that or allowed in the House, but I wish he would retract it and apologize.

[Committees of the House, November 27th, 2023]

Madam Speaker, the article I quoted before was “CSIS warning Inuit leaders about covert foreign investment in Arctic, documents show". What can we do about it? There is a lot we can do about it.

Again, the example I think about is one of those sad things I had to announce when I was up in Yellowknife speaking. A company the Prime Minister was at, the one rare earth minerals project he cut the ribbon at, was going into bankruptcy. Why? It is because we have a regulatory regime that is so burdensome it pushes those local investors out. Guess who has a way in? Foreign investment then comes in because of that desperation, as Natan Obed said in this article. We are just inviting this foreign investment in. We are in a sad state. Meanwhile, we have elements and materials we could be bringing to the world. We are one of the most green countries on the planet. Canada could be offering solutions around the globe, but yet here we are.

[Committees of the House, November 27th, 2023]

Madam Speaker, I must say I do not know. We talked to Canadian Rangers who go out with their own snowmobile equipment and their own gear, which gets damaged and takes months to get repaired. These are snowmobiles they use for their sustenance to go get caribou and the like. It is a sad story we have heard many times. I have been up there many times and spoken directly with Rangers, as well as some service members.

Again, it is not something we like to bring up. I am sure my colleague from Bruce—Grey—Owen Sound would be pleased if he would not have had to ask that question. All we want to see is members in uniforms, our Canadian Rangers, given the resources they desperately need to keep us safe. I wish the government would just simply do what it promised.

[Committees of the House, November 27th, 2023]

Madam Speaker, I have made my views very clear about NATO and NORAD tonight. The member has heard our views from this side about NORAD and the need to modernize in order to protect our northern front. It is unequivocal that it needs to happen.

The former defence minister made the announcement of modernizing NORAD. I think it was $4.95 billion at the time. I applauded her for making that announcement. The sad part is what I referred to in my speech, which is that with that big promise made, only $45 million has been spent to date. Again, actions speak louder than words. Let us see some action.