Michael Chong

[Climate Change, November 9th, 2023]

Mr. Speaker, I campaigned on a revenue-negative carbon tax. The Liberal government's environmental plan is revenue-positive, with a mishmash of taxes and regulations that are dragging the Canadian economy down.

Emissions still have not risen to prepandemic highs. That is because the economy still has not recovered. Per capita GDP and productivity are lower this year than in 2017.

After eight years, will the Liberal government admit that its environmental plan is not working and that its economic plan is not working, with productivity and per capita GDP lower today than six years ago?

[Climate Change, November 9th, 2023]

Mr. Speaker, after eight years, the Liberal government's record on climate change is in. The opening sentence of the Environment Commissioner's report says it all: “The federal government is not on track to meet the 2030 target”.

It is now clear that the government's environment plan is a mishmash of regulations and taxes that are not working. It is clear not just to the commission; it was clear also to COP27, where Canada was ranked 58 out of 63 countries for climate change performance.

Change starts with acknowledging failure. Will the government?

[Russel William Woods, November 9th, 2023]

Mr. Speaker, as we head toward Remembrance Day, I rise to pay tribute to a great Canadian.

Russel William Woods died during the pandemic, on December 18, 2020, at the age of 96. Russel served in Bomber Command during the Second War War in the Royal Canadian Air Force as a Lancaster tail gunner. Of the 20,000 Canadian airmen in Bomber Command, half were killed in action.

After the war, Russel returned home to Belwood and to farming. He was a founding member of Chicken Farmers of Ontario. He was a devoted member of Royal Canadian Legion Branch 275 in Fergus. He was a loving husband, brother, father, grandfather and great-grandfather.

For all of us, he was a great friend and devoted community member, always with a smile and always with a sense of humour.

Russel William Woods was truly a great member of the greatest generation. We will remember him.

[Foreign Affairs, October 19th, 2023]

Mr. Speaker, Canada's closest intelligence allies have already clarified the record. The government has not, so I am going to give the government an opportunity to correct and clarify the record. Will the government clearly state that the Israel Defence Forces and the State of Israel were not responsible for the explosion at the hospital in Gaza on Tuesday?

[Foreign Affairs, October 18th, 2023]

Mr. Speaker, the government has been late. It was late in the fall of Kabul in August 2021.

Has the government not learned the lessons of 2006 and 2021 of Beirut and Kabul? Throughout the Middle East and North Africa, there has been an outbreak of protests and violence targeting western interests and western missions.

Will the government clearly communicate to Canadians the information necessary to ensure their safety and inform Canadians about security threats they are facing in the region in a timely manner?

[Foreign Affairs, October 18th, 2023]

Mr. Speaker, yesterday, the State Department updated their travel advisory to Lebanon to the highest level, advising all U.S. citizens of the following: “Do Not travel to Lebanon.”

However, the Liberal government's overall travel advisory for Lebanon advises Canadian citizens to “Avoid non-essential travel”, which is not the highest level.

Why is the Liberal government always a dollar short and a day late when it comes to protecting the safety and security of Canadians overseas?

[Situation in Israel, Gaza and the West Bank, October 16th, 2023]

Mr. Speaker, I keep raising this issue in the hope that the government will respond. We know, as the member mentioned in his remarks, that both the Jewish and Muslim communities in Canada are living in fear of an attack. The government's integrated threat assessment centre has assessed Canada's national terrorism threat level at medium, where it has been since October 2014. Does he think that it would be a good idea for the Government of Canada's integrated threat assessment centre to give Canadians, including those in the Jewish and Muslim communities, an update tomorrow about the threat level so that Canadians can be assured the government is assessing the situation and ensuring the protection and safety of Canadians?

[Situation in Israel, Gaza and the West Bank, October 16th, 2023]

Mr. Speaker, I want to ask the member, since he is part of the ministerial party, about a question I asked one of my colleagues earlier.

There is a lot of fear, as he has mentioned, in both the Jewish and Muslim communities across Canada, that they may be attacked individually or that their cultural, religious or educational institutions may be attacked. The government's integrated terrorism assessment centre has assessed Canada's national terrorism threat level at medium since October 2014. Does he not think it would be useful for the integrated terrorism assessment centre to indicate to the public if the level remains at medium or to assess it at a different level in order to reassure Canadians or better equip them to ensure their safety?

[Situation in Israel, Gaza and the West Bank, October 16th, 2023]

Mr. Speaker, my hon. colleague knows that the Integrated Terrorism Assessment Centre of the Government of Canada has a national terrorism threat level. When Parliament Hill was attacked In October 2014, which was the last terrorist attack here on Canadian soil, it was set to medium, which is that a terrorist attack could occur.

Does the hon. member not think it is a good idea for the Government of Canada to update Canadians about the threat level that communities like the Jewish community, like the Muslim community, might be facing and either to reaffirm the threat level at medium or to upgrade the threat level to high, a likely chance of an attack occurring, in order to either reassure Canadians or arm them with the information they need to protect their religious and cultural communities?

[Situation in Israel, Gaza and the West Bank, October 16th, 2023]

Mr. Chair, we agree that innocent civilian lives need to be protected, and that is why we have called for three things.

First, we have called for the establishment of a safe zone in the southern part of the Gaza Strip to allow Gazans who are fleeing from the north, where a lot of the IDF is targeting Hamas infrastructure, to get to the south of the Gaza Strip in safety.

Second, we are calling for a humanitarian corridor to allow for food, water and medical supplies from outside the Gaza Strip to enter the Gaza Strip.

Third, we are calling for a humanitarian corridor to evacuate foreign nationals who are in Gaza, particularly Canadian citizens, who are trapped there.