House of Commons photoWon her last election, in 2021, with 50% of the vote.
Canada-Ukraine Free Trade Agreement Implementation Act, 2023 October 23rd, 2023
Mr. Speaker, if given the chance, trade with Ukraine will strengthen itself and perhaps prevent another invasion by Russia or another entity.
The real problem here is the Communists who run China. This Ukraine-Russia conflict is a wonderful and welcomed distraction for China. Our overarching concern is making sure that Canada is well defended and the world is well defended against greater aggressors yet to come.
Canada-Ukraine Free Trade Agreement Implementation Act, 2023 October 23rd, 2023
Mr. Speaker, during the leadership of Prime Minister Harper, more money was spent on defence than there had been since the decade of darkness. The country is stronger and envied by many because of what we have in our professional military and the women and men who make Canada look good on the world stage.
Canada-Ukraine Free Trade Agreement Implementation Act, 2023 October 23rd, 2023
Mr. Speaker, Ukraine is under an existential threat. If Ukraine does not defend itself and then does not exist, we will not have the basis for a free trade agreement because there would be no Ukraine. We have to do first things first and make sure it has what it needs to defend itself. We have to send good equipment and good ammunition, not junk to empty out our old garages. It is a good thing people are being strong here and getting that mission started.
Canada-Ukraine Free Trade Agreement Implementation Act, 2023 October 23rd, 2023
Mr. Speaker, I did mention trade in the last minute of my speech. In fact, I think I mentioned it twice.
During the time of Stephen Harper, our military was the best equipped it had been since the conflict in World War II. We got Globemasters. We got Chinooks. We got LAVs. We got other planes. We finally got our TAPVs. All those were initiated then. We also got the national shipbuilding strategy. We would not have any functioning vehicles or equipment for the military were it not for the days of Stephen Harper and our past defence ministers Gordon O'Connor and Peter MacKay.
I thank the member opposite for reminding us what a great military we had and how strong it was under the leadership of Prime Minister Stephen Harper.
Canada-Ukraine Free Trade Agreement Implementation Act, 2023 October 23rd, 2023
Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to rise on behalf of constituents in the democracy-loving riding of Renfrew—Nipissing—Pembroke to speak to the Canada-Ukraine free trade agreement.
I stand proudly alongside my Conservative colleagues in our unified support for both Ukraine and Israel's right to defend their democracies from attack. That is why I would like to take this opportunity to speak to Canadians about the importance of Canada's unwavering support for a free and democratic Ukraine.
First, I want to speak to Canadians who are skeptical about the dominant narrative surrounding Ukraine, Putin and NATO. I became involved in politics under Preston Manning's Reform Party because it was standing up for people, and it was doing it against two old parties dominated by the interests of the elite. I was first elected as a member of the Canadian Alliance in a seat that had been held by Liberals for 80 years. The previous MP had put the interests of his party above his constituents. That is why I have always put the interests of my constituents first. It is why I have always stood up against the globalists.
My constituents do not support enlarging unaccountable, international bureaucracy at the expense of national and individual sovereignty. I was speaking out against agenda 2030, while con artists like Maxime Bernier were sipping champagne in Davos. I voted against the Paris Agreement while Max was hiding behind these curtains. I opposed the dangerous amendments to the international health regulations, which seek to strip out language protecting individual freedom and human rights.
For over 20 years, I have stood up for common Canadians against the systemic elitism practised by groups such as the World Economic Forum. I know what it means to oppose the dominant narrative being pushed by the elites. The CBC ombudsman recently reported on how CBC had accused me of being part of a vast right-wing international conspiracy to destroy democracy using cricket memes. When I told a group of young Conservatives that Liberals supported making dangerous drugs legal, the Liberal member for Pickering—Uxbridge accused me of spreading an anti-Semitic conspiracy theory.
If people question the dominant narrative, the Liberals accuse them of being a conspiracy theorist. The Liberals will call them racist. The Liberals will refuse to listen to anything they say, simply screaming “misinformation” over and over again. I have been subjected to this progressive propaganda for 20 years, but I am still here. I am speaking up for what I believe to be the truth.
If people begin questioning the dominant narrative about COVID, climate or anything else on the Liberal agenda, I want them to know that I hear them. However, let me be clear. NATO is not the United Nations. NATO is not the World Economic Forum. NATO is not a threat to Russia. NATO is the greatest defence alliance in history. As the longest-serving member of the Canadian NATO Parliamentary Association, and a former chair, I have seen first-hand how Putin treats his neighbours.
I have heard directly from elected officials in Ukraine, Georgia and Moldova. I have heard their hopes and their dreams for their countries, dreams which could only be fulfilled through peace and security, yet their security is under constant threat from Vladimir Putin and the oligarchs who control Russia. They are under constant threats for the same reason Taiwan is under threat from the Communists who control China, for the same reason Israel is under threat from the ayatollahs who control Iran and the Hamas terrorists who occupy Gaza.
Every free and democratic country is a shining beacon of hope, exposing the corruption and the cruelty that is autocracy. Democracy is an existential threat to tyranny. Individual liberty is an existential threat to authoritarian socialism. It does not matter if it is the national, ethnic socialism of Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping, or the religious socialism of Hamas and Hezbollah.
As long as free and democratic countries exist, we undermine the power of tyrants. Canadians, Ukrainians, Taiwanese and Israelis, along with most people, in most of the world, just want to live a simple life. The same is true for the common people of Russia, China, Iran and Gaza.
As long as those people can look abroad and see what it is like to live freely, what it is like to vote out tired and corrupt leaders, then the survival of the tyrants is threatened. That is why they censor foreign news, culture and entertainment. That is why they lash out and attack their neighbours.
Since the people of Ukraine threw off the Communist tyrants, they have struggled to build a free and democratic country. Since the collapse of the Soviet empire, former KGB goon Vladimir Putin has meddled, interfered and invaded Ukraine, Moldova, Georgia and Azerbaijan. Is it any wonder they seek to join NATO?
The people of Russia have nothing to fear from an expanded NATO. NATO is a defence alliance. The reason NATO exists is not to provoke war or threaten the people of Russia. NATO is not an aggressor. It exists to deter aggression.
Unfortunately, since Pierre Trudeau began to demilitarize Canada, the Liberal Party has forgotten the logic of deterrence. The reason we should be spending at least 2% of GDP on defence is so that we do not have to spend 20% on defence. Right now, 21% of Ukraine’s entire gross national product is being spent to defend its free and democratic country. Either we spend enough to deter the tyrants from attacking, or else we will spend 10 times as much fending off attacks.
While Canada must support and defend all our free and democratic allies, when it comes to Ukraine Canada has a special interest. It should be among the highest goals of any Canadian foreign policy to prevent a powerful, nuclear-armed country from dominating its smaller neighbours. We must be steadfast in shoring up international support for Ukraine.
Canada's sense of security is buttressed by three oceans and a reliable ally to the south, but just across those oceans are powerful states hungry for the resources we have in abundance. That is why it has always been our policy to fight our enemies on their ground instead of ours.
Ukraine is at the front line of the 21st century’s battle for freedom and democracy. It is our highest national interest to prevent the powerful from dominating the weak. It is our highest moral interest to prevent a fledging democracy from failing and falling to tyranny.
I ask those who may remain skeptical of Canada’s support for Ukraine to listen carefully to how Putin lies. Putin says he is fighting far right Nazis in Ukraine, Hamas says it is fighting far right Nazis in Israel, and the Prime Minister funds left-wing groups that labelled a podcast fan club as far right Nazis.
Putin accused the Jewish President of Ukraine of standing with Nazis, and the Prime Minister accused the member for Thornhill of standing with Nazis. I am not suggesting the Prime Minister is the same as Vladimir Putin. I just want Canadians who have been unfairly labelled by the Prime Minister as racist or sexist to ask themselves if it is possible Putin is doing the same thing to Ukrainians.
My colleagues across the aisle need to ask themselves if calling everyone they disagree with a far right conspiracy theorist is the most effective way to counter Russian propaganda. The most effective propaganda takes a true fact and wraps it in deceptions, which is why calling everything the government disagrees with misinformation and disinformation is so corrosive.
Free and democratic countries do not resort to censorship. We should never seek to silence dissent or freeze the bank accounts of people we disagree with. The best defence against foreign propaganda is openness and transparency, and Canada must strive to be an example to fledgling democracies such as Ukraine.
Keeping ministers in cabinet who give contracts to their friends is not the kind of example Canada should be setting. Obstructing RCMP investigations is not the kind of example Canada should be setting. Regulating foreign cultural content on the Internet is not the kind of example Canada should be setting.
It is time for Canada to return to the values of individual liberty and democracy that guided Canada through two world wars. It is time for Canada to be an example to our NATO allies and to those aspiring to join. It is time we exceeded our commitments and increased defence spending. It is time to equip Ukraine with the best resources we can build or buy.
The enemies of democracy see our very existence as a threat to their power, and they can only defeat us with weapons, but we can destroy them with words. Free trade and free markets give us the wealth we need to defend against any threat, while corruption and socialism under tyranny weakens them.
Today, the front lines in the war to preserve democracy are in Ukraine and Israel. Tomorrow it could be Taiwan. Canada must stand ready. We must fight tyranny overseas so we can bring home peace and security.
Canada—Newfoundland and Labrador Atlantic Accord Implementation Act October 16th, 2023
Madam Speaker, nuclear facilities and oil and gas properties and businesses must demonstrate that they have a 100% reclamation plan in place and have the funds to ensure this can happen. If the member endorses the same 100% reclamation laws for renewable energy, could he tell us how this bill would ensure that an entity will remove the remnants of wind turbines when they are done their lifespan, as well as solar panels and other renewable forms of energy, so that the toxic metals involved in the solar panels, for example, are not going to be a threat to future generations?
Canada—Newfoundland and Labrador Atlantic Accord Implementation Act October 16th, 2023
Madam Speaker, for the last couple of minutes the member spoke we were not getting translation and we did not hear what you were saying.
Online Censorship October 3rd, 2023
Mr. Speaker, the day the online streaming censorship act was introduced, I was free to produce a livestream video on Facebook warning Canadians about this threat to freedom of speech. The Internet gave each citizen the freedom, power and will to become a newscaster, podcaster or independent digital creator.
For nearly a century, the government and a few powerful media companies controlled the flow of information and money in Canada. A free and open Internet represented a threat to the rich and powerful, so on their behalf the Liberals took action to crack down on the free and open Internet.
The online streaming censorship act will force podcasters the Prime Minister does not agree with out of Canada. This urge to censor is rooted in a malignant narcissism that views any opposition as intolerable and deplorable. Only Conservatives will bring home a free and open Internet.
Agriculture and Agri-Food September 18th, 2023
Madam Speaker, the parliamentary secretary is living in denial, but Canadians know the truth. It is the Liberals who have been in power for the last eight years. Liberal policies are driving up prices and Liberal spending is fuelling inflation, yet the Liberals still try to gaslight Canadians. When the price of energy shot up in Atlantic Canada this summer, the radical Minister of Environment claimed this was all the fault of the companies and not his carbon tax and clean fuel regulations. It is another example of Liberal gaslighting. Here is what the Minister of Environment's own clean fuel regulations state: “it is estimated that provinces in Atlantic Canada will be more negatively affected by the Regulations.”
It is clear from the comments of the unnamed Liberal MPs recently published on CBC that the government has been gaslighting its own caucus. The environment minister has known for years that his energy regulations would hammer Atlantic Canadians and he pushed them through anyhow.
It is time for the Liberals to fire their leader and reverse their policies of making life more expensive for everyone.
Agriculture and Agri-Food September 18th, 2023
Madam Speaker, in June I asked the Prime Minister if he understood the connection between the cost of energy and the price of food. In response, the Minister of Agriculture bragged about how hard the government was working to spread manure. As a long-serving member, I have heard some cow pies for answers in the House before, but never literally.
It should worry Canadians that, when pressed on food prices, this tired government can only answer with accomplishments on bovine excrement. It is sad to see these ministers forced to utter bull dung responses on behalf of a distracted, petulant, pouty Prime Minister. Unfortunately, for Canadians, the carbon tax was just a first blow in the Liberal Party's war on affordable food.
Canadians understand that it is the official policy of the Liberal Party to make energy more expensive. Now, it is officially in favour of making food more expensive. New food packaging regulations are going to reduce competition and drive up prices even higher. New food labelling regulations will make food more expensive, and now the Prime Minister is threatening to impose a new tax on grocery stores. Are our Liberal colleagues getting high on their own safe supply? Was the air cut off in the Liberal caucus room last week? That might explain why Liberals think a new tax on grocery stores would reduce food prices.
These Liberals claim that by taxing carbon, we will get less carbon. After all, they have seen that putting a tax on news links shared on social media results in news links disappearing. Now the Prime Minister wants to put on NDP orange face and join the socialists in bullying grocery chain stores. This type of far left, radical populism was fashionable in places like Venezuela and Argentina, until the day the consequences became clear. For many Canadians, that day has already arrived.
After eight years under this radical, far-left gang, life has become unaffordable for millions. The price of a house has doubled. The cost to rent has doubled. Food bank usage is at an all-time high. Deaths of despair, whether from drug overdoses or state-sponsored suicide, are upsetting all-time records. This government's radical ideology is killing Canadians, and the Liberals' only solution is more of the same: more taxes, more bureaucrats, more regulations, more red tape and, if the Minister of Agriculture is to be believed, more cow manure.
Once upon a time, this country had powerful ministers of agriculture. They were often farmers with noses for BS. They would have seen it as their duty to stop radical environment ministers from pushing policies to make food more expensive. Instead, the last ag minister led the charge to make fertilizer more expensive. They just do not get it. It takes energy to manufacture fertilizer. It takes energy to ship fertilizer to the farmers. It takes energy to spread fertilizer. It takes energy to harvest crops. It takes energy to ship crops to processors. It takes energy to process crops into food. It takes energy to ship the food to stores.
The official policy of the Liberal Party is to increase the cost of energy. Now, it has an official policy to make food packaging more expensive. Yet these Liberals deny that their own policies are working exactly as intended. When will they come clean with Canadians about their policy to make life unaffordable?