James Cumming

[Business of Supply, March 9th, 2020]

First, Mr. Speaker, we did hear at the finance committee that it is a fallacy of this subsidy that it is being considered for the oil and gas business. That was cleared up by the officials who presented.

Let me say this. I will not apologize for the contribution that the oil and gas sector has made to this country toward infrastructure and to fund all the programs we want, and it has my full support.

[Business of Supply, March 9th, 2020]

Mr. Speaker, the question is very pertinent to why I am here today. I stood for election five years ago, and was unsuccessful. I stood because I was concerned about the economy. I decided that I would give myself again for public service because of exactly that.

These business owners have talked to me and have suggested that they are very concerned about their livelihood. They are very concerned about their standard of living. They see that the direction the government is going is the absolute wrong thing for them. They want to see investment and they want to play. However, they need the government to get out of the way, and certainly that has not been the case.

[Business of Supply, March 9th, 2020]

Mr. Speaker, that is a very narrow look at what the current state is. I will acknowledge that prices have come off, but this is a longer-term play for most of these businesses. If the price is at $45 or $55, I can say that our companies have been driving their costs down to be competitive. The oil sands companies have done an outstanding job doing that. I believe the price will come back. These investors look at it as the long term; they do not look at it over a three-month period.

[Business of Supply, March 9th, 2020]

Mr. Speaker, absolutely I have a number. We currently contribute 1.6% to global emissions, so there is a number for him to realize. The balance that they always talk about on the other side is balancing the environment with resource development. Let us start talking about that balance.

The member can come to my province. I would be glad to entertain him and I would be able to show him what is going on in this province. We have businesses there that are world class, and we can bring those levels down if we allow them to do what they can do, by the export of LNG and displacing the market that is captured by those countries that do not have the standards that we have. We will have that ability to lower emissions globally if we get on the bandwagon.

[Business of Supply, March 9th, 2020]

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to speak to the motion put forward by my colleague, the member for Carleton. I will be splitting my time with my colleague, the member for St. Albert—Edmonton.

It is a very important debate that we are having today, particularly given the circumstances we find ourselves in with the coronavirus, the blockades and a general slowdown in the economy. One thing of note is that the Liberal government has always prided itself on its fiscal anchors. Let us talk a bit about those fiscal anchors that have now put us in a situation where we have limited flexibility to react to crises like these.

The first fiscal anchor the Liberals claimed was that they would balance the budget within five years. They said they would have very small deficits and then they would balance the budget. Of course, that anchor has now fallen off. Next they said they would try to find a balance with debt-to-GDP ratios and continue to see a decline. That fiscal anchor has fallen off the boat as well.

The one anchor they have left is when they talk about employment numbers. I would suggest there is a weakening in the employment numbers and, when we compare ourselves against some of the other G7 countries, Canada's unemployment rate does not look as favourable. Here is a government priding itself on fiscal anchors. I would say the anchor has fallen through the boat, the boat has a big hole, the boat is sinking and the Liberals do not even see it happening.

The Minister of Finance keeps saying that we are in good shape and we have this great reserve built up so that we can weather these storms. I am wondering if we will ever find out what that reserve is because, from the numbers Conservatives are looking at, we do not see that being the case.

The leadership of the government and the regulations that are stopping the growth of business have resulted in over 200,000 job losses in my province of Saskatchewan. There is $150 billion in capital that has gone elsewhere.

I always hear that it is because the commodity price is low. The fact is that the money went somewhere. Norway has now opened up another field and says it will pump oil for as long as it is needed. It put that investment in. The Russians have just put a big capital investment into the resource sector, and we know the Americans have been very successful growing their resource business and market share, which is something the Liberal government has not been able to recognize.

There is also the tax structure that has been put in place, burdening small businesses with increases in CPP, EI and particularly the carbon tax. The carbon tax is a tax on everything. These hard-working small businesses are trying to produce products, trying to be competitive in the global market and are restrained by the government continuing to increase taxes. By throwing in the TOSI rules and limiting the ability of husbands and wives to split income through those corporations, it strikes me that we are doing everything we can to try to slow down these hard-working individuals and great businesses that are the strength of Canada.

Under the Liberal government's weak leadership, the energy sector alone has lost over $150 billion in investment. I can name off the projects: $20 billion for Teck, $8 billion for northern gateway, $16 billion for energy east, $36 billion for Pacific NorthWest, $28 billion for Aurora and $25 billion for WCC LNG. The list goes on and on.

I can give the government a little help. There is a quick fix to send the right message that it supports resource development, that it supports these great Canadian companies getting to market. The government can support my bill, which would take away the tanker ban and allow companies to export their products through a deepwater port, be competitive and export our clean energy to other countries.

Last week, I was in Toronto at the mining conference. There again I heard great concern about the regulatory process in this country. Project after project talked about how the current government does not understand the importance of investments. I hope it is listening to the extraction sector, whether it be the oil and gas or mining businesses. If it wants to get this economy going, it is time it recognizes these businesses are its lifeblood. They are the ones that produce the revenue, can help this economy and will pay for all these programs I continually hear about. At the finance committee, submission after submission was about spending. At some point, we have to have an economy that is growing at a rate to be able to pay for all that spending.

While I am on spending, there is spending that can work toward growing the economy and then there is outright waste. The government seems to be the expert on waste. We can talk about the $50 million to Mastercard, the $12 million to Loblaws or the $40 million to BlackBerry. It goes on and on. Those types of investments are not what we need; we need the government to invest in less regulation, to empower the private sector and let these people get back to work.

We have an infrastructure program. I will acknowledge that the Conservatives also had an infrastructure program. Here is the difference. When the Liberals put out their infrastructure program, they talked about the three anchors they wanted to have within that program: investments in productivity; a reduction in greenhouse gases; and an increase in GDP. When we had a discussion with the PBO about this program, we asked if they were hitting the mark on any of those measures. There is no evidence they are hitting the mark on the measures, particularly in the area of productivity, which is the way we can get this economy going. Putting an infrastructure program together that has a lack of accountability, focus and measurables makes it really difficult to see if it is working. I hope the government will reverse its course on the infrastructure program and recognize that it should be focusing on allowing companies to be more productive, giving them better access to markets and making sure we have the most competitive regime of any country out there.

This program is full of flaws. Now is the time to push the reset button and start to deliver on programs that would be effective, allow us to grow the economy and help industry grow, rather than grow the government's budget.

With respect to the future outlook, beyond anything else we need to see a plan that gets us back to a balanced budget. It is not unreasonable to ask government when it will finally get back to balance, and I think there is an opportunity for it to do that. We need the government to get out of the way of the private sector. The private sector offered to build the pipeline and government ended up having to buy the pipeline because of the regulatory burden the government put on that company. The private sector wants to invest in Canada and believes in Canada, but it needs the government to send the right message to say we are open for business again.

Our energy sector and the province I come from are proud of what they do. They do it well, they do it clean and they have an opportunity to gain market share if we let them. We need to expand our ability to ship. I ask the government to seriously consider making revisions to Bill C-69 to make sure there is confidence in the markets here, as well as eliminate the tanker ban off the west coast. It is certainly not there.

A pay-as-we-go principle would bring some discipline back to government. If government is going to add something new, it has to be able to pay for it, so it should be able to balance those things, which would ensure discipline in the government and make sure it gets back on a path of balancing the budget.

On the tax front for small businesses, we have to eliminate the input taxes, lower the burdens on these businesses and allow them to succeed.

[Transport, February 27th, 2020]

Mr. Speaker, yesterday I introduced my private member's bill, Bill C-229, which asks the government to repeal its west coast shipping ban. This bill sends a clear message to investors that Canada is open for business, and that my Conservative colleagues and I continue to advocate for increased access to markets for our oil and gas sector.

Will the Prime Minister commit today to support Bill C-229, and show that he is finally listening to Alberta and the rest of the western provinces?

[Oil Tanker Moratorium Act, February 26th, 2020]

moved for leave to introduce Bill C-229, an act to repeal certain restrictions on shipping.

Mr. Speaker, it is an honour for me to rise in the House to introduce my private member's bill today, an act to repeal certain restrictions on shipping. I want to acknowledge my luck drawing six in the lottery for the consideration of private member's business. I want to put that luck to good use through this bill.

I also want to thank the member for Edmonton West for seconding the motion to introduce the bill today, and to thank my constituents for their suggestions and input on possible topics for this bill. I want to recognize that today is my son's 34th birthday. He has overcome many challenges in his life, but never did I think he would be faced with a government that would limit his opportunities.

The topic of this bill is to right a wrong that happened before I was elected, namely the passing of former Bill C-48 in the previous Parliament by the Liberal majority in this chamber. This discriminatory bill has stalled economic development for a part of our country that desperately needs it, and it has contributed to the rise in unemployment in my home province of Alberta.

Investors need to understand they have access to markets. Alberta should have the right to access, just like every other industry. If the Liberals are serious about listening to Alberta, I hope they will support this important bill.

To wrap up, I look forward to the debate on this bill in the coming weeks and to see the updated thoughts from my colleagues on both sides of the aisle on this very important issue for all of Canada.

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

[Royal Canadian Mounted Police Act, February 7th, 2020]

Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague for the depth of his understanding of the RCMP, the stories of the RCMP, the importance of that organization and all the great work it does in our country.

As the member knows, I am new to this place. It strikes me that this is a piece of legislation that was introduced last sitting, and I fail to understand why it has taken so long for what is a relatively straightforward piece of legislation to come back into the House.

[Public Services and Procurement, February 6th, 2020]

Mr. Speaker, a new report shows that under the current Liberal government, Canada has dropped to its lowest level in at least a decade in a global index of corruption. This must be part of what the Prime Minister means when he claims that Canada is back.

Can the Minister of Public Services and Procurement tell Canadians how many companies are listed as suppliers with administrative agreements under the federal government's integrity regime, and which ones are they?

[Business of Supply, January 28th, 2020]

Mr. Speaker, certainly I have had an opportunity to speak to them. The balance that they are struggling with, particularly in Alberta, is large-scale deficits, mostly because of the issues that we have in trying to get our resources to market. The government's program of bills has not allowed us to get our resources to market.

What I hear from the government is that certainly it would like to invest more into infrastructure. However, there is a problem doing it when we have a government that is completely against trying to get Alberta resources to market.