House of Commons photo

Crucial Fact

  • His favourite word was colleague.

Last in Parliament October 2019, as Conservative MP for Kitchener—Conestoga (Ontario)

Lost his last election, in 2019, with 39% of the vote.

Statements in the House

Petitions June 19th, 2019

Madam Speaker, I have a petition to present signed by a number of residents from Cambridge, Ontario, pointing out the dangers of consumption and treatment services sites and safe injection sites.

The petitioners point to a notable escalation in overdose, drug trade, visible prostitution, damage to property and other activities. They state that these sites are also in conflict with children's charter of rights, particularly article 33, to protect children from the illicit use of narcotic drugs and so on. They also contribute to significant and dangerous conditions, causing environmental contamination and increasing public health hazards.

The petitioners call on the Government of Canada to decline any and all applications for exemptions to operate safe consumption sites or overdose prevention sites, permanent, temporary or mobile, under the section 56(1) of the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act, within the city of Cambridge, Ontario.

The Environment June 17th, 2019

Madam Speaker, at the beginning of my colleague's speech she talked about preserving our water. In my riding, we have great programs, a very small incentive, to help farmers and agricultural workers preserve our streams. By putting a buffer alongside the streams, keeping cattle and other livestock out of the streams, the streams are new being unbelievably renewed. We have trees starting to grow in the buffer stream, shading and cooling the water, and now we have fish stocks returning to streams that were empty for years. However, it is very discouraging when farmers in my area and other areas of Canada are taking these initiatives on their own to improve our water quality and at the same time to have the Liberal government authorize the dumping of billions of litres of raw sewage into the St. Lawrence River. In November 2015, just shortly after the government was elected, it authorized the dumping of eight billion litres of raw sewage into the St. Lawrence. That is very discouraging to individual Canadians who are trying to do their part.

Here we have what the Liberals are calling an environmental plan and all it is is a tax plan. It sounds great, a price on pollution, it is a catchy phrase, it is a great sound bite, but it is not doing anything to preserve the environment.

Does my colleague not agree—

Foreign Affairs June 14th, 2019

Mr. Speaker, Canadians are very concerned about the escalating violence against Christians in Nigeria and about the Liberal government's decision to close the office of religious freedom at a time when it was effectively working in Nigeria.

The former parliamentary secretary to the Minister of Foreign Affairs said that the office had “successfully developed a community-based mechanism to help defuse tensions between different religious and ethnic groups”, including Christians and Muslims.

Why did the Liberal government close an office that it knew was effectively reducing violence and deaths?

International Trade June 7th, 2019

Mr. Speaker, since the Liberals visited China, the situation has gotten even worse.

Farmers and processors in my riding are paying for the Liberal government's failures. China is continuing to unfairly target Canada and is now taking aim at our pork producers. Now the Prime Minister is saying that he might talk to the Chinese president in three weeks. This crisis has been going on for six months. When will the Prime Minister finally stand up for our ranchers and farmers and support our Canadian agricultural industry?

Budget Implementation Act, 2019, No. 1 June 4th, 2019

Mr. Speaker, I listened to my colleague's comments about the Canada summer jobs initiative and about increasing the number of students and so on. While we are grateful for that, what he did not say is where the money is coming from. We now have a $20-billion deficit added to the previous deficits. We are borrowing money, paying huge amounts in interest to pay for student summer jobs.

Does the member realize that the current debt is costing Canadians over $26 billion every year in interest payments alone? How can he justify using borrowed money to pay students who, when they graduate and when they have children, will have to pay back these huge debts and all of the accumulated interest as well?

Petitions May 29th, 2019

Madam Speaker, I would like to present a petition that is signed by a number of Ontario residents.

The petitioners point out that at one time Sikhs and Hindus in Afghanistan numbered in the hundreds of thousands, but today fewer than 5,000 remain. They point out that the Minister of Immigration is already empowered to create legislation to allow vulnerable minorities to come to Canada as privately sponsored refugees directly from the country where they face persecution. These groups are ready to sponsor Afghan minority refugees. Therefore, the petitioners call upon the Minister of Immigration to use his powers to grant special programs to help persecuted minorities in Afghanistan.

The Environment May 27th, 2019

Madam Speaker, during my colleague's speech today, we heard many times the little catchphrase “price on pollution”, and many of his colleagues are using this phrase over and over again.

How much was the price of pollution for the eight billion litres of raw sewage that was dumped in the St. Lawrence River in November of 2015, or the 160 million litres of raw sewage that went in from the city of Longueuil or for the 46 million litres of raw sewage that Quebec City released into the St. Lawrence River in February of 2018? I do not recall any price on pollution for those misdemeanours. Could my colleague enlighten us on that?

Sovereign's Medal for Volunteers Recipient May 17th, 2019

Mr. Speaker, recently I had the honour of presenting the Sovereign's Medal for Volunteers to local Scout captain, Brian Soehner of Elmira. The Sovereign's Medal for Volunteers is awarded by the Governor General to Canadians, in recognition of their extraordinary contributions to their communities. I can think of no one who deserved this award more than Brian.

On the occasion of Canada's 150th birthday, I was also honoured to award Brian one of Kitchener—Conestoga's Canada 150 awards. The medal was given to 150 constituents of Kitchener—Conestoga who have made a positive contribution to our community.

Since 1970, for almost 50 years, Brian Soehner has been involved in the 1st Elmira Scouts Group, and for the last 10 years he has served as commissioner. Working with young people, instilling important life lessons and sharing his love of the outdoors and the environment have motivated Brian's selfless service. Without Brian's influence, the Elmira Scouts would not be who they are today. It is people like Brian who make our community the very best in Canada. Let us thank Brian.

The Environment May 16th, 2019

Mr. Speaker, I want to thank my colleague from Guelph and his predecessor, the member for Hastings—Lennox and Addington, for their comments, especially as they related to rural areas. The member for Hastings—Lennox and Addington indicated that the maple syrup season in 2012 was a failure, but he failed to mention that this year was a record crop, not only in terms of quantity but also in terms of quality. I remember as a young person in the 1950s and 1960s that we would plant our spring grain in March, and this year it is barely being planted in May. Therefore, yes, climate does change.

If these issues are such an emergency, why has it taken so long, with barely five weeks left in the session, for the Liberal Party to bring this to our attention? We found out today that in 2016, the government was behind its targets by 44 megatonnes; in 2017, it was behind by 66 megatonnes, and by 2018, it was behind by 79 megatonnes of carbon emissions. We can see that it is going in the wrong direction, yet the Liberals have the temerity to stand and say they are meeting their targets, when clearly they are not.

Why did the government wait so long into its mandate, with 23 or 24 days left, to address this emergency situation?

Petitions May 15th, 2019

Mr. Speaker, my second petition is signed by hundreds of residents of the Waterloo region.

The petitioners point out that animal testing is unnecessary to prove the safety of cosmetic products, and alternative safety tests tend to be faster, more accurate and cheaper.

The petitioners are calling on the House of Commons to support Bill S-214 and to ban the sale and manufacture of animal-tested cosmetics and their ingredients in Canada.