Evidence of meeting #143 for Finance in the 44th Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was inflation.
A recording is available from Parliament.
11:05 a.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Peter Fonseca
Okay. It will go from MP Morantz to MP Davidson.
I have MP Lawrence.
11:05 a.m.
Conservative
Philip Lawrence Conservative Northumberland—Peterborough South, ON
Just before Mr. Davidson, I have a brief point of order.
11:05 a.m.
Conservative
Philip Lawrence Conservative Northumberland—Peterborough South, ON
Mr. Chair, today, of course, is Thursday, May 23. Earlier today—granted, much earlier, at 12:06 a.m.—you said that we would be meeting “tomorrow”, which would be Friday, so I was somewhat surprised that we had a meeting scheduled today.
I certainly won't be raising a question of privilege, out of courtesy to the chair, but perhaps you could clarify your remarks there.
11:05 a.m.
Voices
Oh, oh!
11:05 a.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Peter Fonseca
Thank you, MP Lawrence. You struck yourself from the list, so now we'll go to MP Hallan.
11:05 a.m.
Conservative
11:05 a.m.
Liberal
11:05 a.m.
Conservative
Jasraj Singh Hallan Conservative Calgary Forest Lawn, AB
While I have the floor, maybe I'll just point out that we got an email from the translation bureau public service today. They were apologizing for not being able to accommodate until 11:30 p.m.
I just wanted to say that they have nothing to apologize for. We appreciate all the incredible work the interpreters do in this place in putting up with many of us. On behalf of all of us, I just want to say thank you and to keep up the great work.
11:05 a.m.
Some hon. members
Hear, hear!
11:05 a.m.
Conservative
11:05 a.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Peter Fonseca
Thank you, MP Hallan.
I think that does deserve applause. We can all get behind our interpreters and do the best we can to make their job easier and protect their health and safety.
With that, we're going to MP Davidson.
Welcome to our committee.
11:05 a.m.
Conservative
Scot Davidson Conservative York—Simcoe, ON
Well, thank you, Mr. Chair.
Good morning, colleagues. I'm happy to be here at finance.
I think members of this committee will find the story that I have to tell quite shocking. It is a shocking story about the rural top-up for my residents. I represent the riding of York—Simcoe, which is known as the soup and salad bowl of Canada and the ice fishing capital of Canada. It is home to the Chippewas of Georgina Island, out in the middle of Lake Simcoe. We classify ourselves and always have as rural. Believe it or not, I was travelling to Georgina Island and breaking through the ice. Because we're so rural, we actually have to take a ferry over to Georgina Island. I stood atop that ferry and took powerful binoculars—it was almost like having a telescope, believe it or not—and I could not see the CN Tower.
Why does that matter?
11:10 a.m.
Liberal
Ryan Turnbull Liberal Whitby, ON
I have a point of order, Chair.
I'm riveted by this intervention. Mr. Davidson is someone I have a great deal of respect for. I love the soup and salad bowl of Canada. The Holland Marsh is something I love to see on my way up to Wasaga Beach. With a great deal of respect, I would just say perhaps the member should take note of a new feature on most automobiles, which is called lane assist. It kind of bumps you back into your lane. Maybe the chair could bump Mr. Davidson back into his lane, and based on relevance, maybe he could stick to the subamendment that's under discussion.
11:10 a.m.
Conservative
Jasraj Singh Hallan Conservative Calgary Forest Lawn, AB
Mr. Chair, on that point of order, I know you're very gracious with how much latitude you give to everybody. I believe this is Mr. Davidson's first time, and of course, everyone starts off with a preamble. Let's give him a bit of time and accommodate him with just a bit more latitude. I know he'll get to his point.
11:10 a.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Peter Fonseca
Thank you, MP Hallan, PS Turnbull.
MP Davidson, we're on the subamendment. Just try to stick to that.
11:10 a.m.
Conservative
Scot Davidson Conservative York—Simcoe, ON
I appreciate the points, and I appreciate lane assist technology. The greatest thing about that is that we have Google. You should google going from Georgina Island to our closest hospital. If you walked—you can google it, much like lane assist—it would take you 23 hours.
I'm trying to set the stage for how rural we are. If you can imagine it, to walk to the closest hospital would take 23 hours. This is all relevant because York—Simcoe has been classified as Toronto. Let's think about this for a second. It is why it's important that we set the stage for members here and especially for people who are watching. We have a first nation that's currently still on a boil water advisory in the middle of Lake Simcoe, and anytime—
11:10 a.m.
Conservative
Philip Lawrence Conservative Northumberland—Peterborough South, ON
On a point of order, the Liberals promised in 2015 that all boil water advisories would be finished in five years, so clearly that boil water advisory must be finished.
11:10 a.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Peter Fonseca
MP Lawrence, that is not a point of order.
MP Davidson, go ahead, please.
May 23rd, 2024 / 11:10 a.m.
Conservative
Scot Davidson Conservative York—Simcoe, ON
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Why is this important? Think about this: Anytime the Chippewas of Georgina Island have any interaction with the federal government, they are classified as rural and remote. Now we have first nations being classified as Toronto, and they do not receive the 20% rural top-up.
I'll go back to my colleague's comment about how impressed he is with the Holland Marsh and the soup and salad bowl of Canada. This is a farming community in Bradford West Gwillimbury. I currently have a private member's bill, Bill C-280, on financial protection for fresh fruit and vegetable growers across Canada. I brought fresh fruits and vegetables to the agriculture committee to showcase my riding. The mascot of Bradford West Gwillimbury is a carrot called Gwilly. That's how rural York—Simcoe is, but this Liberal government has classified York—Simcoe as Toronto.
Again, it's so important to set the stage. Going back to the CN Tower, I drove down to Toronto. With my powerful binoculars, which I would almost classify as a telescope, I was up in the CN Tower with perfect visibility and I could still not see the Chippewas of Georgina Island, the town of Pefferlaw or the town of Sutton. How does this make sense?
In the northern part of the riding, in the town of Pefferlaw, we don't receive the rural top-up. Let's have a look at that. I'll go back to my colleague for Whitby on technology. If you were to pull your phone out and try to order an Uber, you'll see we have no Uber.
11:10 a.m.
Conservative
Philip Lawrence Conservative Northumberland—Peterborough South, ON
Wow. That doesn't sound very urban.
11:10 a.m.
Conservative
Scot Davidson Conservative York—Simcoe, ON
No, it's not at all.
We don't have a streetcar. We don't have a subway. People have limited alternatives. This is so important for people to understand. The people in the riding I represent sit down, watch TV and see the Deputy Prime Minister say, “I live in Toronto. I don't even need a car. My dad says I don't need a car. I can just walk out of my condo and get on the subway.” We do not have those options in York—Simcoe.
I'm trying to make this committee understand the disconnect the Liberal government has between rural and urban. People want to do the right thing with the environment. People want to do the right thing in my riding. We talk about choices people can make. One thing about the Holland Marsh.... I know my colleague from Vaughan—Woodbridge knows this. He gets so excited about the Holland Marsh that I'm sure he wants to speak about it. If you think about it, half the northern part of the riding is on propane.
