Citizenship and Immigration Committee on June 12th, 2024

[The Chair, Liberal, Sukh Dhaliwal]

He's just giving a notice of motion. There will be no debate, and he's not moving it.

[Tom Kmiec, Conservative, Calgary Shepard, AB]

I'll pause so I can continue here.

—submitted to the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada, or IRB, concerning the January 2019 policy entitled “Claims that can be accepted without a hearing”, or the “January 2019 Policy”, which have exceeded statutory deadlines since February 2023—

[Alexis Brunelle-Duceppe, Bloc, Lac-Saint-Jean, QC]

I raise a point of order.

I do not hear the interpretation.

[The Chair, Liberal, Sukh Dhaliwal]

I'm sorry, Mr. Kmiec. Give us a few seconds.

Okay, please carry on.

[Tom Kmiec, Conservative, Calgary Shepard, AB]

—by over 20 months, including but not limited to:

all records related to the development, approvals process and implementation of the January 2019 Policy, and any amendments made to it, as referenced in ATIP A-2022-02100;

the list of countries and subnational groups eligible for claims under the January 2019 Policy, as well as any amendments to this list, all legal or policy-making authorities behind the publication of the list, and any records showing the process by which these countries and groups were added to or removed from the list, as referenced in ATIP A-2022-02101;

all communications between the IRB and other government departments, agencies, ministerial offices or the Prime Minister's Office, as well as third party stakeholders, regarding the development, finalization and implementation of the January 2019 Policy, as referenced in ATIP A-2022-02102;

any records related to pilot projects undertaken prior to the announcement of the January 2019 Policy that identified specific countries or subnational groups, including records about each pilot project, funding allocations and the roles of officials involved in the projects, as referenced in ATIP A-2022-02103; and

aggregate data regarding claims processed under the January 2019 Policy, including positive versus negative determinations, the number of claims versus the total number of persons, and records pertaining to how claims were grouped outside the regular processing order, as referenced in ATIP A-2022-02104;

and that these documents be produced within 30 days.

[The Chair, Liberal, Sukh Dhaliwal]

Thank you.

[Tom Kmiec, Conservative, Calgary Shepard, AB]

I have also included all the original text of the language, so the references are in the back. I'm happy to give it to the clerk so that he has the information. I thank the interpreters. I regret speaking a bit too fast and technically. That's my notice of motion, Chair.

My next article, which I found on CityNews, was referencing the premier of my province, with the headline “urges feds to scrap 'inhumane' carbon tax hike at House committee”. This is in reference to the committee appearance that my premier made when she was here in Ottawa around the April 1 announcement that the carbon tax, again, was going to go up to $15 a carbon tonne. This is what she said. These are direct quotes. She said:

This isn't just reckless, it's immoral and inhumane.

The premier continued:

I'm here on behalf of Albertans and Canadians who are struggling with severe financial pressures.

She went on to say:

The solution for the federal government is to increase the carbon tax on something that is life or death for Albertans in the extreme cold of weather.

Then she went on to remind the federal government that policies like these should be applied equally across all of Canada, and that when you create special exemptions for only one part of the country because they happen to use heating oil, as opposed to using clean-burning natural gas like they do back home in Calgary and Edmonton and all the smaller towns, it creates an unequal treatment of Canadians in confederation, and it's unfair. If committee members want to, they can go to the transcript of her appearance, where she raised many points like this during her time here.

The other one I wanted to reference as well was another article. Again, this backs up the need for my subamendment, because it's not just me saying it; it's premiers saying it publicly. It's the public, through their provincial officials, saying that they basically want a carbon tax election. They're all recognizing that it's a primary issue that's driving a lot of the commentary, the emails and the direct messages we get, and that people want to see a carbon tax election sooner than later. I'll remind all of us here that we're probably going to have a vote on that this Wednesday, and I hope that all opposition parties will join and vote yes to having that carbon tax election.

The next article I have here is “B.C. to scrap carbon tax if Ottawa drops its alternate tax”. That's Premier David Eby. What he means by the alternate tax is the federal backstop that is stopping any province from attempting to remove its consumer carbon tax, through the Greenhouse Gas Pollution Pricing Act, the GGPP Act. That basically prevents them from not having one. It forces it on every single province.

David Eby is quoted in the article, and these are some of the quotes I have here from the Premier of British Columbia. The article says:

“A lot of British Columbians are struggling with affordability,” Eby said.

“The political consensus we had in B.C. has been badly damaged by the approach of the federal government, so if it decides to remove the legal backstop requiring us to have a consumer carbon tax in B.C., we will end the consumer carbon tax in B.C.,” he said at an event in Vancouver alongside his wife, Cailey Lynch, and Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew.

The Premier of Manitoba is also quoted in this article further down:

[Premier] Kinew said Thursday that he is in alignment with Eby on the issue, having asked Ottawa for an exemption from carbon pricing in the spring.

He believes the tax is not the right way to fight climate change at a time when high inflation and high interest rates are making life unaffordable for many.

“I’m worried that the politicization of this issue is causing us to lose a generation of Canadians, causing us to lose so many people from the blue collar. And we can’t afford that,” he said.

It goes on and on like that. There are concerns by premiers of our great country, who are not of the same political affiliation I am but are saying the same things, which are that the carbon tax is either wrong, immoral or inhumane, or that we need a carbon tax election, or that it has an electoral impact, which is why I have this subamendment before the committee, that no action be taken until there's that carbon tax election. That's what we could report back to the House on the matter.

For now, I'm going to stop my commentary there, but I have more material. I have my binder with me all the time, and I'm happy to read more into the record from residents in my riding and my constituents, who have honoured me by sending me here to represent their views. I'm going to continue doing that, but I think that for now that's enough.

I've provided, Chair, the public school board's very important feedback. I think that what the president, Dennis MacNeil, said is incredibly important for the consideration of the subamendment. It comes from school boards where there are high costs, tens of millions of dollars, being imposed on schools in Alberta and literally taking money away from educating students for a “tax on tax”. Those are his words, not mine.

Thank you, Chair.

[The Chair, Liberal, Sukh Dhaliwal]

Thank you very much, Mr. Kmiec.

We will go to Mr. El-Khoury and then Mr. Arnold.

[Fayçal El-Khoury, Liberal, Laval—Les Îles, QC]

Thank you, Chair.

In response to my colleague Mr. Kmiec, first of all, as all the world knows, climate change is a serious problem. All humanity is facing this problem. If we don't stand bravely, face this problem and bring an adequate solution to it, it means we are not preparing this country for us, for our children and for the children of our children—for generations to come. We would like to prepare Canada for our children and other generations, so that they have cleaner air and cleaner drinking water, with no floods, no forest fires, no tornadoes and no hurricanes. This is the way, the only way, we can fight climate change. Besides that, we all know that the federal government gives every province in Canada a big amount of money collected from carbon tax to go into the pockets of citizens. That's number one.

Number two, Mr. Chair, my colleague Mr. Kmiec last time said, when I said that Conservatives voted against the food program for students in schools, that this may jeopardize many businesses, which would be obliged to close because of that. I wouldn't be surprised, because the policy of Conservatives is to make the rich richer and the poor poorer. That's exactly what we are hearing and what we are experiencing at the moment over here. I'm surprised that a party can pretend they're working for the citizens of Canada and vote against this program. For nine out of 10 families, with this program, the parents can go to work without having the trouble of thinking about child care. Plus, how about those parents who cannot pay the fees for a private day care?

For me, there is no explanation. There is no way to understand that behaviour from a political party pretending they are looking out for the interests of Canadians.

I will end here, but I have many comments to make, Mr. Speaker. I believe this is clear from my side.

Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Sukh Dhaliwal]

Thank you, Mr. El-Khoury.

We have Mr. McLean on the list as the next speaker, but Mr. Arnold is filling in for him.

Mr. Arnold, the floor is yours.

[Mel Arnold, Conservative, North Okanagan—Shuswap, BC]

Thank you, Mr. Chair. It's an honour to be here with this committee.

It's interesting to see Mr. McDonald. We've sat on the same committee for nine years now. We don't very often see each other in other committees, so it's a pleasure to be here with him.

Mr. Chair, I'm here to speak to Mr. Kmiec's subamendment that this bill not be dealt with until a carbon tax election is held, so that Canadians can vote out this “out of time” NDP-Liberal coalition government. I want to thank Mr. Kmiec for the quotes he provided from across party lines and across the country.

Some of what he provided was about British Columbia. Being from British Columbia, from North Okanagan—Shuswap, I know that B.C. was one of the first provinces to implement a carbon tax. The B.C. Liberal government did that a number of years ago. That B.C. Liberal government has now had to change its party name. Its members no longer want to be affiliated with the federal Liberal government.

Just short weeks ago, the leader of that party, Mr. Kevin Falcon, was noted as saying he's “not going to leave B.C. in a disadvantaged position”, when he announced that the party would scrap the carbon tax should they become elected. Since that point in time, he's pulled his party out of the election for reasons only he knows.

The debate in B.C. has now become very interesting. Mr. David Eby, the Premier of British Columbia, had called out our leader of the Conservative Party of Canada, saying that he was basically working from a “baloney factory” when he talked about the carbon tax. Now there's been a flip-flop. I would note that the B.C. NDP party is famous for flip-flops in election cycles. Mr. Eby has stated that he would end the B.C. carbon tax if the federal backstop was removed. That's an incredible flip-flop from a party that has supported carbon pricing for a long time.

I will give him credit for listening to Canadians and British Columbians who have spoken up. I've heard them all through the summer, speaking about how fed up they are with the carbon tax and how it increases the cost of everything. It's just becoming more and more frequently exposed that the Liberal-NDP carbon tax is impacting Canadians and the Canadian economy in devastating ways. More and more Canadians are pushing back against it.

This government has had to find ways of carving out carbon tax exemptions for certain Canadians in order to protect their votes. We've seen the carve-out deals for home heating that started in Atlantic Canada when the Prime Minister's Atlantic caucus revolted and demanded a carve-out. Then it had to be extended elsewhere to avoid discrimination by region over the carbon tax carve-outs.

Further, provincial premiers, such as David Eby and more, have opposed the Prime Minister's plans to tax Canadians into submission. It's happening across the country. Mr. Kmiec mentioned Premier Furey in Newfoundland. That's across the country from coast to coast. Even our northern territories are being punished by the carbon tax.

This announcement by Premier Eby was only days before calling the B.C. provincial election. Many British Columbians—being from there, I'm hearing it—are asking questions: Is this simply an election ploy similar to the federal NDP leader's pre-by-election announcement that he was tearing up the supply agreement with the Liberals?

Yes, Mr. Chair.

[The Chair, Liberal, Sukh Dhaliwal]

Mr. Arnold, you're welcome to say anything, but out of courtesy, because the provincial government is not here to defend itself, instead of just focusing on this, I think it would be wise not to focus on the B.C. election through this committee. Those are my feelings.

I will let you continue speaking.

[Mel Arnold, Conservative, North Okanagan—Shuswap, BC]

Thank you, Mr. Chair, but I believe that what is taking place in the B.C. election is very relevant to this debate today, because we're seeing how British Columbia has now shifted away from supporting the carbon tax. That is what this subamendment is about.

The leader of the federal NDP, prior to that by-election, stated that the Liberals have let people down and, “The Liberals are too weak, too selfish and too beholden to corporate interests to fight for people.” Immediately after the by-election in Winnipeg, that leader had another change of heart and announced that he's going to continue to support the out of time Prime Minister, potentially just long enough to secure his own pension.

Mr. Chair, the carbon tax increases the cost of everything for everyone. Over the summer, I met with and heard from the good people of the Okanagan, of the Shuswap and from across B.C. They are hard-working and they love their country, but what I heard them say was that taxes are up, costs are up and crime is up, and they are saying that time is up.

At a grand opening of larger premises for a local food bank, we heard that one in five Canadians skipped or reduced the size of at least one meal because they can't afford groceries. One in five parents ate less so that their children or other family members could eat. In Vernon, where this announcement took place, one in 23 families relied on the food bank in the last 12 months, and one in 13 kids in Vernon depended on the food bank last year. Thirty per cent of food bank users in Vernon are children.

Many of those food bank users are hard-working middle-class families struggling to put food on the table. Some are already working two or more jobs. After nine years of this Liberal-NDP government, those people have no confidence in this government, and they want to see a carbon tax election.

I also heard from business owners over the summer, one of whom showed me his carbon tax bills. His farm operation paid $100,000—in carbon tax alone—in 2023, and all of that cost had to be passed on to the consumer or the taxpayer, who pays the carbon tax accumulated on every food item they buy. That farmer told me that under the current regime it was not worth running his full operation, so he laid off 55 employees and set 30 million dollars' worth of equipment into idle mode because he can't operate effectively and economically under the current carbon tax regime. Thus, by shutting down that food supply chain, he probably drove up consumer costs, adding to the overall debt because of unemployment and employment insurance costs and borrowing.

Mr. Chair, I've heard about many cases like this, and cases of seniors who received an announcement that their pension cheques would be increasing, only to find out that their GIS payments would be decreased by a larger amount, leaving them with less to buy groceries, to get to medical appointments or to heat their homes. Many of those who called were in tears. They didn't know if they were going to be forced out onto the streets because of the increased carbon tax costs and the rising costs of basic living. I hear from assistance workers who are having to seek mental health guidance because they've heard so many of these difficult-to-hear cases of seniors not being able to survive because of increased costs.

Mr. Chair, I could go on much more because of what's happened in British Columbia. You urged me not to bring the B.C. election into this, but it's the time of a B.C. election that has become very much a carbon tax election, as we've seen leader after leader speak out against the carbon tax.

Canadians have had enough of the carbon tax, and they want to get to a carbon tax election now. I would encourage all members of this committee to grasp the severity of the situation for Canadians and give them a chance immediately to participate in a carbon tax election.

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

[The Chair, Liberal, Sukh Dhaliwal]

Thank you, Mr. Arnold.

We will go to Mr. Maguire.

My dear friend Larry, go ahead, please.

[Larry Maguire, Conservative, Brandon—Souris, MB]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

I appreciate the opportunity as well to speak to Mr. Kmiec's subamendment on this particular topic that has come before us, brought by the Liberals, in the discussion. I think it's very relevant that we move towards a carbon tax election, and, as well, I have some thoughts that I wish to share on that with the committee at this time.

Mr. Kmiec's subamendment says that after “temporary foreign workers”, we should add the following words: “and after a carbon tax election is held so that Canadians and Québécois can vote out this tired, out-of-time NDP-Liberal coalition government”.

There have been lots of relevant comments made by my colleagues here today already, but I find it unfortunate that this coalition, which was existing for the last two and a half years or more, has found.... Well, it's a bit encouraging that they decided they wouldn't have that, and maybe the NDP walked away from that, but every day since then it has been very obvious that the coalition is still alive and well.

Mr. Chair, I want to thank you for the discussion that we're able to have here today in this committee, and I appreciate the opportunity to discuss the subamendment before us, which specifically adds those lines, as I've said. The fact of the matter is that Canadians should be given that opportunity to decide whether or not they still have faith in the Liberals and the NDP after their disastrous coalition and failed positions and policies, which have left many individuals and families—young couples, workers, seniors and so on—struggling to make ends meet. Even in some of the words that the Liberals put forward in this motion themselves, they've alerted us to the concerns of many different sectors, but they haven't done a thing to really meet the struggles of the people who are having trouble making ends meet.

I had a flat tire the other day, Mr. Chair, and actually had the opportunity of getting into a fellow's cab to go back to get my car when it got fixed. He had given me a ride in Brandon. It's not that big a city, but he recognized me and said, “You're Mr. Maguire, member of Parliament.” “Yes,” I said. He said, “Well, I just want you to take the message back that I've been here for 12 years in Canada. There were lots of jobs and good-paying jobs when I was there, but I'm having a struggle to find a job now, other than driving this cab, and I know that many of my colleagues that have come from other parts of the world are having that trouble now as well.” He said that it's a struggle to make ends meet. I couldn't believe what came out of his mouth next. He said, “You know, my rent's gone up, my cost of food's gone up, and I'm having a struggle to make ends meet for my family.”

This is a prime example, Mr. Chair, I believe, of what's happening across Canada. That's why we've been so insistent as a Conservative Party in calling for a carbon tax election: to leave the money in people's pockets to start with, rather than taking it out of their pockets and trying to redistribute it. I'll get into that more in my discussion here in time.

As you know, poll after poll, as I've been referring to, make it very clear that Canadians demand change. This gentleman I was speaking to, who I was riding with the other day, is one of those. The 62% rule, I guess, is what I was going to say there. One of the things that I learned very early in my political career from pollsters and others when I was a provincial MLA is that when 62% of any particular group of Canadians, 62% of those people, don't like your leader, you're not going to win the election. Well, we're well ahead of that in regard to where we are with just the Liberals alone. If you put them together with the NDP, we're well over 75% to 80%.

My colleagues here have just reminded me that it was Mr. Trudeau alone who decided to call an early election in 2021, right in the middle of COVID, which was very unnecessary to call at that time, and it's Canadians' turn to have the election they want called at this time.

I've had my ear to the ground, the same as my colleague to my left and my colleagues to the right here, and you as well, Mr. Chair, along with the vice-chair. I think it's incumbent upon the government of the day to pay specific attention to these Canadians.

Those were the best economic times when that happened in Manitoba. The government of the day in Manitoba had 10 of the best years of economic activity ever in the province. The NDP did go on to win that election. But this isn't the case here now. We have the biggest debt we've ever had in this country. The case is being made by individuals that they cannot be taxed any more in this country. They know there was overspending during COVID. I only use that word because it's backed up by the Parliamentary Budget Officer, who said that 40% of the $500 billion they spent to adjust to the COVID crisis had nothing to do with COVID. That's why I refer to that.

After nine years of the Prime Minister, taxes are up, costs are up and crime is up. It's easy to say that the time is up too, because time is up for these Canadians. They just can't make ends meet. Taxes are up because we have the biggest debt. Costs are up because of the inflationary spending of the government. Crime is up because they're too soft on things like bail. There's been a record number of people let out on bail. There's been a record number of murders by people let out on bail in Canada, at 256, which is up over 100 in the last four years alone.

These are things that Canadians see every day of their lives. To be blunt, they're sick and tired of it. There are really a lot of reasons why the Prime Minister should be listening to Canadians and why opposition parties—other than ourselves, who have been listening—should be calling for this carbon tax election as well.

It's a tired and out-of-touch NDP-Liberal coalition government. They must give the people the chance to vote and show Canadians whose interests they're saying they're trying to defend. Over nine long years of this coalition, the Prime Minister has imposed policies that have made life unaffordable for Canadians. I'm not just talking about things like Bill C-69. There are many others as well that I've referred to in the areas of crime and costs. They promised that the carbon tax would somehow make us richer. Instead, it's contributed to the rising costs of every Canadian family. It's become more difficult, not less, for folks to feed their families, heat their homes and drive to work, or even to get their kids to events and school.

Mr. Chair, it is time for Canadians to be heard. I'm saying that the numbers tell a story. The reality of the carbon tax is that it's a financial burden on working Canadians. According to the Fraser Institute, by 2030 the first carbon tax will cost the average worker $6,700. That's only six years away. Today the premiers are rebelling, as my colleague from British Columbia referred to. The same thing is happening with the election that's been called in New Brunswick. I know that it's the same thing in Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta and other provinces. The premiers have all indicated that they are concerned that the carbon tax has helped increase this cost of living.

Mr. Chair, it's definitely important that the government pay attention, but now, instead of doing anything about that, they've caused a second carbon tax. It's set to cost our economy another $9 billion by that same year of 2030. That's billions of dollars drained from our economy. More importantly, 164,000 jobs are projected to be lost. The last thing hard-working Canadians need during a cost of living crisis is to be losing their jobs, but that's what's happening across the country. This tax isn't just about abstract numbers. It's affecting all of us every single day.

The Canadian Trucking Alliance tells us that by 2030, trucking costs will rise by $4 billion due to the carbon tax. That's atrocious. That's money that truckers can't absorb, which means higher prices for all the goods they transport, everything from food to clothing to essentials. This is paid for by Canadians, nearly 50% of whom, according to studies, are within $200 of insolvency at the end of every paycheque.

Now, who could be heartless enough to not pay attention to what's going on with those kinds of numbers? We dealt with it during COVID, but it wasn't dealt with well, as I have previously explained, since 40% of the money was wasted. We don't know where it went. I'm only quoting the Parliamentary Budget Officer. If he doesn't know where it went, how should we?

Is it right that Canadian families are now paying $700 more for food—something that the taxi driver in Brandon mentioned to me the other day—this year and every year to follow? That's $700 more than last year. This is a considerable increase in our ability to not only feed our families but also make sure our kids don't go to school hungry and make sure they can have the best opportunity to learn that they possibly can.

Is it right that millions of people are lining up outside food banks and relying on them to survive? I have raised the particular case that we have in Brandon many times in the House of Commons over the last while. I know that it's happening across Canada. Tragically, people across the country are finding themselves in this situation, including many in my riding of Brandon—Souris.

This is an excerpt from an article published on DiscoverWestman earlier this year:

Samaritan House Ministries saw an alarming increase in the number of food hampers they gave out last year.

The downtown Brandon food bank averages 24,000 food hampers in any given year. The pandemic created fluctuations in those numbers, however in 2022 they were back to their normal average of 24,000 hampers.

What's astonishing is in 2023 Samaritan House saw an astounding increase of just under 12,000 food hampers, and this was from just their food bank. Food banks across the country have seen this trend and it's not slowing down any time soon.

“2023 was an amazing year in a lot of ways, but also startling,” shares Executive Director, Barbara McNish.

“We had 1,052 new people use the food bank last year who have never used it before, or were returning after years of not using it,” she says. “Before 2019 we were serving about 24,000 hampers in a year. And then of course, Covid hit, and we were down, and then the province helped with the nutrition, so our numbers went up if we include the hampers dealing with nutrition. So that went anywhere from 25,000-28,000 if you include the nutrition hampers.”

“In 2022 it went back down to 24,000 which would be our normal,” states McNish. “Last year, for 2023 we served 35,967 hampers to people. That was a great increase and that is alarming!”

“And when you see the staggering numbers that are coming new or renewed, plus those who are already existing,” she adds, “you can see that people are in need.”

I have a couple more things here, Mr. Chair, and then I'll let my colleague have the floor.

This isn't the Canada we believe in. The carbon tax has contributed to these troubling trends. Meanwhile, the Liberal government continues to insist that this tax is the solution despite all evidence to the contrary. The tax does nothing for the environment while punishing families, workers and small businesses. It's merely a tax grab disguised as environmental policy.

Yes, this measure has been supported by the NDP in Parliament dozens of times, even as 80% of Canadians are worse off due to the current system.

The Parliamentary Budget Officer has stated that most families pay more in carbon tax than they receive in rebates. This year alone, Manitoba families—those born in the Prairies and those who have chosen our province as their new home—will face an additional $1,750 in costs due to the carbon tax.

On top of that, Canadian taxpayers will also be paying an extra $486 million in GST as a result of it. This has placed an unnecessary financial burden on families and businesses, all while failing to deliver the promised environmental benefits. In fact, Canada's ranking in the Climate Change Performance Index recently fell to 62nd out of 67 countries, highlighting the ineffectiveness of this policy.

There's lots more I could say, Mr. Chair, but I'll leave it at that for now and pass the floor to my colleague.

[The Chair, Liberal, Sukh Dhaliwal]

Thank you, Mr. Maguire.

Mr. McLean, you were not here earlier, but Mr. Arnold was filling in for you, so we gave your spot to him and we put you back on the list.

Now, Mr. Redekopp is on the list, but Mr. Hallan is filling in for him, then Mr. Kmiec, Madam Kayabaga and then MP McLean.

[Jasraj Singh Hallan, Conservative, Calgary Forest Lawn, AB]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

It's great to be back at the committee after a while. A lot has changed in this committee, but I guess the only thing that hasn't changed is that the Liberal-NDP costly coalition is still together.

I find it—

[Jenny Kwan, NDP, Vancouver East, BC]

You haven't been around for a while. You haven't seen the way I have voted for the last while.

[Jasraj Singh Hallan, Conservative, Calgary Forest Lawn, AB]

—quite shameful that....

Since Ms. Kwan wants to speak up, I guess we'll start with the original motion on Bill C-71. I'll just say it's quite shameful that we had a common-sense Conservative bill, Bill S-245—

[Arielle Kayabaga, Liberal, London West, ON]

There's no such thing.

[Jasraj Singh Hallan, Conservative, Calgary Forest Lawn, AB]

—in front of us. That was a very common-sense Conservative bill that should have given lost Canadians citizenship. It was a very straightforward bill.

[The Chair, Liberal, Sukh Dhaliwal]

Let's have one person at a time, please. Thank you.

[Jasraj Singh Hallan, Conservative, Calgary Forest Lawn, AB]

It's shameful that—

[The Chair, Liberal, Sukh Dhaliwal]

Honourable members, this is hard for interpreters and other technical staff. If you want the floor, please raise your hand, and I will be happy to give you the floor.

The floor is only with Mr. Hallan, and Mr. Hallan should be the only one making remarks at this time.

[Jasraj Singh Hallan, Conservative, Calgary Forest Lawn, AB]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

As I was saying, I find it quite shameful that Ms. Kwan, who also came here as an immigrant, like me, would hold hostage a bill—Bill S-245—that could have given lost Canadians citizenship immediately. Once again, she teamed up with the corrupt Liberal government, and we completely lost hope for all of the lost Canadians who were looking forward to that bill—I had many people reach out to me about that—much like this Liberal-NDP government has held hostage an election that Canadians desperately want, a carbon tax election at that.

I look around the room, even on the Liberal side, and, Chair, at you, and our great immigration shadow minister, the greatest shadow immigration minister that the Conservative Party has had, in my opinion. We all came here as immigrants. We had the chance to work hard, play by the rules and become citizens, and now we get to have the honour and responsibility of sitting here in Parliament. I find it very shameful that Ms. Kwan would take that hope away from those lost Canadians.

Now, like I said, they've held hostage this Parliament and a carbon tax election that Canadians desperately want. This carbon tax scam was sold by this Liberal-NDP government as lies that are clear to see, now more than ever.

First, they lied and said that this carbon tax scam somehow would fix the environment and that all of the floods and all of the fires would somehow miraculously be fixed. We know that's not true, and it's not just us saying that. It's the government's own department, which says they don't measure the carbon tax scam and what it does compared to emissions, because they know—it's like the Prime Minister—it's not worth the cost. There's nothing that directly says that by raising the carbon tax scam, somehow the environment will get fixed. That was lie number one that they sold about the carbon tax scam—proven wrong once again.

The second lie was how somehow Canadians are supposed to get back more than what they pay into the scam. Again, that was proven wrong over and over again by the government's own Parliamentary Budget Officer. I had the chance to question him as well. He said it on multiple occasions: that when you factor in the fiscal and economic impact of the carbon tax, most households are at a net loss. That goes for all of the provinces where this applies.

That was lie number two that was proven wrong, and now this costly Liberal-NDP coalition wants to quadruple the carbon tax scam. They want to make already expensive gas, groceries and home heating more expensive by quadrupling the scam. They already know that two million Canadians are going to a food bank in a single month because of their failed policies. They know that another million are going there this year. They know that families are going to pay another $700 in the cost of groceries this year. They know all of this. They know that they've doubled the housing costs with the failed policies, but again, because of their radical ideology, they refuse to listen to the 70%, a majority of Canadians, who have said, “Do not raise the carbon tax scam.” They refuse to listen to them. It's because of their radical ideology.

Why are Ms. Kwan and the NDP doing this? It's clear to see: Their leader is up for a $2.2-million pension. That's why, in fact, they voted in favour of the carbon tax scam 24 times, all for the greed of their leader being able to get his pension, and that is why they're holding this Parliament hostage now. They refuse to give Canadians the election they want and the one they deserve—the carbon tax election.

On Bill S-245, I want to take some time to thank my brilliant Senate colleague, Senator Yonah Martin, for putting in the work she did for that bill and for getting it to where it was.

Again, it's sad to see that this NDP-Liberal government totally let down the lost Canadians who had hope in that. When we talk about newcomers, after nine years of this government, newcomers are some of the most hit by the failed economic policies of this costly coalition. As I said before, most of us who are sitting on this committee as members came here as immigrants. Why did we come here? There was something before Justin Trudeau that was called the Canadian dream. That dream meant you were able to work hard and put in effort and you would be able to afford a home, groceries and live in safe communities.

Now, because of wacko and radical policies by this costly coalition, none of that is true anymore, so much so that a lot of newcomers question why they came here. What was the point of moving here? They left everything behind and were promised that they would be able to have an affordable home, groceries and safe communities, but when they got here it was a nightmare. This government has doubled housing costs. They gave Canadians 40-year highs in inflation because of their out-of-control spending. That gave Canadians also the most rapid interest rate hikes in Canadian history. Violent crime, auto theft, extortions—everything is on the rise.

Even small businesses, which are the backbone of our economy, have more insolvencies. There are fewer and fewer people who want to invest in Canada, because Canada is not somewhere you can succeed anymore under this government. It's clear to see in the numbers. I think there was a number last year that around 400,000 people left Canada. It's incredible. The number one reason that people are leaving Canada is the cost of living. Number two is that their credentials don't get recognized.

I'll put in a plug for a common-sense Conservative promise, which we'll put forward after we have a common-sense Conservative government under our leader. It's the national blue seal program, which will ensure that for our brilliant immigrants, including the 20,000 doctors and 30,000 nurses who live in Canada today and aren't licensed because of this red tape in bureaucracy, within 60 days, if they can prove their skill and take a test, they will be able to work in the field they're supposed to work in. We can get more doctors and nurses into our health care system.

We'll also make sure that we're building the homes and axing the tax in the carbon tax scam once we do form government so that people actually want to stay here. We will bring back that Canadian dream that we all got to realize. It's sad that the Liberal-NDP costly coalition doesn't want others to see that same Canadian opportunity or Canadian dream that we got to see, so much so that we have people leaving in record numbers.

Once again, it's really sad to see that all of this pain and suffering that Canadians are having to be put through is because the NDP is greedy for their leader's $2.2-million pension. That's it. That's all this is all about. Their leader put on this grand theatre two weeks ago, where he said he “ripped up” the agreement. He made a big deal out of it. He wouldn't stop saying that he ripped it up. We said we didn't think that was true. It only took a week after that where he said, no, he taped it right back up. He used the people in Winnipeg for the by-election that he almost lost.

Now that he doesn't need those votes in Winnipeg, he has taped up that agreement once again. He says he has full confidence in the most ethically corrupt Prime Minister in Canadian history, the one who has doubled housing costs and the one who has let crime, chaos, drugs and disorder run rampant in our communities. The leader of the NDP sold out and said once again that he has full confidence in that same Prime Minister and that same government.

Now Canadians have to suffer even more, because this radical ideology isn't going anywhere. They're promising that they will inflict even more pain by quadrupling the carbon tax scam.

Even this costly coalition knows how bad it is. That's why they hid a report—a secret report that their department hid—which proved that around $30 billion is the hole that this carbon tax scam puts into our national GDP. They hid that report. It took a lot for the PBO to come out about that. All of this for a $2.2-million pension....

Newcomers who we talk to all the time have lost hope. Some of them have to sleep in their cars, as we're hearing. Some students are living under bridges. It isn't their fault at all. They were promised one thing, and when they got here, reality was something completely different. It's not their fault that this costly coalition opened the doors and said, “come on in”, and then blamed them for the housing crisis. This is what incompetence looks like.

First, we had Sean Fraser, the incompetent immigration minister, the now incompetent housing minister, and he passed the torch down to someone who in my opinion is even more incompetent: Marc Miller, who doesn't even know his own file. All they did was blame the same immigrants who they said could come here. They opened the door for them, then blamed them. It's like inviting someone to your house and then blaming them for eating all the food and taking up all the beds.

This is the reality and that's why this Prime Minister is so unpopular today.

It's clear to see. Anyone you talk to is feeling the pain of failed policies by this Liberal-NDP government.

Again, this subamendment brought forward by my brilliant colleague, Tom Kmiec, highlights something that Canadians are asking for everywhere we go. Canadians are tired. Instead of getting approval from Canadians, this costly coalition will continue on their radical path to quadruple the carbon tax scam.

I say, and we say, let's give Canadians the opportunity. Let's put it before Canadians. Let's pause the carbon tax scam. I hope Ken will agree, because he has spoken out against it.

Let's put it before Canadians. Let Canadians decide. Do they want more of this costly coalition that will tax your food, your gas and your home heating and make it even more expensive with this carbon tax scam? Or do Canadians want a common-sense Conservative government under prime minister Pierre Poilievre that will axe the tax, build the homes, fix the budget, stop the crime and bring home that Canadian dream that we all once knew, that country that we all love and that we all knew before?

Let's put it before Canadians and call a carbon tax election now.

Thank you, Mr. Chair.