Pensions  Mr. Speaker, with inflation reaching a 30-year high, the government continues to hurt Canadians with its poor economic policies. Nearly 60% of people are finding it difficult to feed their families. If that is not bad enough, the government raised its CPP tax on Canadians, an extra $700 coming out of families' paycheques.

Retirement Congratulations  Mr. Speaker, I am grateful to rise in the House today to acknowledge the efforts of an incredibly dedicated and passionate woman who has been at the helm of a very special organization in my riding, known as the Crossing All Bridges Learning Centre, or CAB for short. For the past seven years, Paula Thomlison has been the executive director and the driving force behind the centre, which supports developmentally challenged adults.

Criminal Code  Madam Speaker, following up on my friend's latter comments, does he think that those convicted of sexual assault, criminal harassment, trafficking of minors or abduction of minors deserve to be punished by way of a denunciatory sentence, which could include jail?

Criminal Code and Controlled Drugs and Substances Act  Mr. Speaker, I would like to ask my hon. friend a couple of questions. First, does the Bloc Québécois stand for the proposition that all mandatory minimums under the Criminal Code and CDSA ought to be eliminated? If her response is yes, I would ask her this. Because she feels that judges are best equipped to render appropriate sentences, does she feel all judges across this great country all think alike and will all deliver sentencing to appropriately deal with all of the sentencing principles with respect to gun offences, such as denunciation and deterrence?

Criminal Code and Controlled Drugs and Substances Act  Mr. Speaker, I want to thank my hon. colleague personally for the elevation of my past career. I was not a judge of the Ontario provincial court or Superior Court. Rather, I was a Crown attorney. To address the important issue the member raised, there already exists a regime that vests federal prosecutors, as it does with provincial prosecutors, in exercising their discretion appropriately to deal with individuals struggling with substance abuse, and to be very creative in how they wish to prosecute or what sort of representations they make to a justice to deal with the rehabilitation issue.

Criminal Code and Controlled Drugs and Substances Act  Mr. Speaker, if the hon. member had actually listened to my speech, he would know that at no point in time did I indicate that we, as the Conservative caucus, have no faith in judicial discretion in levelling appropriate sentences. As a Crown attorney for the last 18 years, I was in front of judges every single day.

Criminal Code and Controlled Drugs and Substances Act  Mr. Speaker, that is a very important question. In my respectful opinion, everything in Bill C-5 concerned with removing those offences, which are currently delineated under section 742, the conditional sentence regime, all relate to serious violent offences. To the member's point, kidnapping, sexual assault, criminal harassment and abduction are all serious personal injury offences.

Criminal Code and Controlled Drugs and Substances Act  Madam Speaker, I welcome this opportunity to speak today on Bill C-5, a seriously flawed and dangerous piece of proposed legislation. My commentary and opinion on this are shaped by my experience as a lawyer for almost 30 years, the last 18 years as a Crown attorney for the Province of Ontario.

Criminal Code and Controlled Drugs and Substances Act  Madam Speaker, I would like the hon. member to inform me where in section 4 of the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act it speaks to mandatory minimum penalties.

Criminal Code and Controlled Drugs and Substances Act  Madam Speaker, with respect to the offences of possession of a controlled substance under the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act, where in section 4 of that act does it speak to any mandatory minimum penalties? You spoke about automatic jail sentences. I would like clarification—

The Economy  Mr. Speaker, Canada is facing devastating problems caused by the pandemic. Canadians are struggling to make ends meet. My friend says I do not pay much attention to day care costs and things of that nature. That could not be further from the truth. What I found rather shocking was that the Minister of Families, Children and Social Development today indicated to the House that the idea of a $10-a-day day care plan is five years down the road.

The Economy  Mr. Speaker, Global News recently reported that prices for food products would go up 5% to 7% in 2022. This means a family of four will be spending $1,000 more a year, not on restaurant meals but solely on groceries. This is in addition to the current rate of food inflation, which reached almost 4% this past October.

Criminal Code and Canada Labour Code  Madam Speaker, my question for the hon. minister is twofold. The first part is on the issue of urgency. Can he identify, given that we all recognize the horrors that happened during the election regarding the protests and the intimidation, that since the election this has been an ongoing trend?

The Economy  Mr. Speaker, the cost of living has been dramatically increasing since the Liberals formed government in 2015. It is much more challenging now to keep up with the rising prices on literally everything, but especially the essential items. Jennifer, a single mother from my riding, told me that she cannot afford the basic needs for her kids.

Employment  Mr. Speaker, the labour shortage in Brantford—Brant is devastating. Manufacturers, restaurants and many other businesses are not able to fill hundreds, if not thousands, of positions. As a result, fewer products and services are available to the constituents in my riding, and business owners are losing their income.