Debates of Dec. 12th, 2019

Resumption of debate on Address in Reply

[Salma Zahid, Liberal, Scarborough Centre, ON]

Madam Speaker, we have to make sure that our communities are safe. My own community has grieved a number of times at the loss of a loved one. It is really sad to see a mother grieving the loss of her child.

Our government invested a lot of money in our last mandate to make sure that we could provide alternatives to our youth. We invested money in the city of Toronto for youth activities so we could put an end to gang violence. We have invested in education for all indigenous people. We made significant progress in out last mandate on reconciliation, but more work still has to be done.

I look forward to working with all members of the House to make sure we continue working for our youth.

Royal Assent

[The Assistant Deputy Speaker, NDP, Carol Hughes]

Order. I have the honour to inform the House that a communication has been received as follows:

Government House

Ottawa

December 12, 2019

Mr. Speaker:

I have the honour to inform you that the Right Honourable Julie Payette, Governor General of Canada, will proceed to the Senate Chamber today, the 12th day of December, 2019, at 3:30 p.m., for the purpose of giving royal assent to a certain bill of law.

Yours sincerely,

Assunta Di Lorenzo

Secretary to the Governor General and Herald Chancellor

The House resumed consideration of the motion, and of the amendment.

Resumption of debate on Address in Reply

[Chris Lewis, Conservative, Essex, ON]

Madam Speaker, I will be sharing my time with the member for Cariboo—Prince George.

As I rise in the House of Commons for the first time, it is my honour, on behalf of the residents of Essex, to represent each corner of my riding, from Lakeshore to Amherstburg, from Essex to Kingsville, from LaSalle and everywhere in between. I am humbled to represent my great riding. I thank each and every person for putting their trust in me. I have been working and will continue to work hard for them in Essex, as well as in Ottawa.

First and foremost, I must give thanks to my Lord and saviour, Jesus Christ, for the opportunity to stand here as the member of Parliament for Essex.

On the eve of the writ being dropped, I had an unfortunate accident that was scary, to say the least, but many stitches later and amazing health care from the doctors and front-line nursing staff at the Erie Shores HealthCare hospital, along with prayers from many and a long phone call from Conservative leader Andrew Scheer while I was in the hospital that evening, I was discharged. It is not often that a candidate gets a call from his party leader on the eve of an election. This speaks directly to Mr. Scheer's caring character and concern for others.

Members of my Conservative family came out in full force and offered to help my campaign in whatever way they could. As I knew, my Conservative family is a caring, thoughtful and deep-rooted family, ready for the call to action when someone is in need. For this, I need to thank all of my colleagues for their support during this difficult time.

There are so many people I need to thank. I thank my wife Allison, the love of my life, my best friend and supporter, for her sacrifice, her smile, her dedication and trust. I love her dearly. My children Jagger, Cody and Faith should remember that they are only handcuffed by the boundaries that they place upon themselves. Each and every one of them is unique and I am proud to be their father and excited for their future. I thank my amazing parents, Kim and Helen Lewis, and my brothers, Jeff and Kim, for being positive influences in my life and helping me to be the person I am today.

I thank my most amazing volunteer election team, my campaign manager and those who helped spread the positive Conservative message at 43,000 doors across Essex, those who worked tirelessly and always with a positive attitude and great big smiles. From the bottom of my heart, I thank them. I also thank my staff members, the people who truly get things done.

I am honoured to have served alongside my brothers and sisters of the Kingsville Fire Department for seven and a half years. Serving my community is the very reason that I stand here today. To each and every one of them who had my back and looked over my shoulder in the face of danger, I thank them. To my dear friend, Captain Mark Rankin, I respect him enormously and thank him dearly for his friendship.

I would be remiss not to thank a few other folks, too many to name, but vital to recognize. To my hockey coaches, my baseball coaches, my teachers, my mentors and my friends, as well as those who have influenced my life and given me opportunities along the way, I thank them. Mrs. Robinet, my grade school teacher, and Mr. Robert Peterson, who took me under his wing during my term as Kingsville councillor, have both touched me deeply and I am better because of it.

I stand here today to represent the great folks of Essex. It is with them in mind that I must focus for a moment on the cultural, geographical and economic riches of my riding of Essex. Essex is famous for its farming and agricultural communities. The greenhouse industry is also a big part of its economy, growing a variety of produce and now expanding into the cannabis industry as well. There are wineries and microbreweries. I was proud to see our local wine being served here in Ottawa just last week. There is cutting-edge technology for development, as well as incredible training at St. Clair College, training our future generation of skilled trades workers. There are salt mines and dairy farms, commercial fishing and the most talented auto workers and steelworkers in the country. Geographically, Essex is among the warmest ridings in the country, attracting tourists from around the world to enjoy its climate, waterways and the many festivals the region has to offer.

I stand with confidence when I say that Essex is truly a microcosm of Canada. I would like to include in my speech two issues that are close to my heart and to the hearts of the good folks of Essex.

First, our nation and my riding are built upon the hard-working people and entrepreneurs of our small businesses. These are the people with great hopes and dreams. They are often willing to mortgage everything, short of their children, to ensure that they are serving their local communities, creating jobs and opportunities, feeding the mouths of families and donating to the many charities that, especially at this time of year, come knocking on their door for donations.

These individuals are freedom fighters. They take all the risk, invest the capital, are directly responsible for their success versus their failure and do not receive benefits like many of us do. They often have to borrow money from family members to get their businesses started, as banks are reluctant to lend money to set up a business. They spend long hours creating jobs for Canadian families. These businesses are the economic engines of Canada and when they fail, people lose the ability to feed their families. They pour their blood, sweat and tears into their companies as they are proud of what they do.

What is more, they drown in government regulation and tax. I spoke recently to a gentleman in my riding who was working on his day off. It happened to be a Sunday and he was working very long hours to fill out the tax forms as he could not afford to pay an accountant to do it for him.

Being a small business owner myself, I understand the struggles that these people face each day. I see nothing in the Speech from the Throne to address these issues or to support our small businesses. Conservatives understand what the issues are and we thank our small businesses for what they bring to Canada. We will certainly continue to stand up for them.

Second, I stand in the House as a proud hunter, angler and legal firearm owner. In fact, as an outfitter, firearms are one of the tools of my job. Like many Canadians, I enjoy sport shooting and target shooting. I am not a criminal nor have I ever had a criminal record. Like many Canadians, I have had many background checks and spent a lot money to enjoy my right as a legal firearm owner. Now the government is looking to penalize and persecute me for a crime I did not commit. I am both a legal handgun owner and a member of the House of Commons and I find it appalling that we are going down the same path that has cost taxpayers billions of dollars in the past with zero results. Criminals and gang members are not going to give up their guns. Mayors across Canada have said that this is simply not the answer.

The answer is giving our border guards and law enforcement officers the tools and funding they need to combat illegal smuggling, gang violence and criminals. Getting serious on crime and giving longer prison sentences is the answer. A buyback program and banning handguns will have absolutely no positive effect to reduce violent crime. When will the government stop penalizing the law-abiding gun owners? The nonsense needs to stop.

I was elected to represent the great people of Essex, to defend their rights as Canadians and help create an environment for families and businesses to flourish. Members of Parliament have been given a sacred trust to do all we can to serve the people who sent us to Ottawa to represent their hopes, dreams and aspirations for themselves, their loved ones and their communities. We have a great challenge and great opportunities ahead.

I look forward to the work I can do to make changes for Canada and my riding of Essex. It is my deepest desire to do all I can to leave this world a better place than I found it.

[The Assistant Deputy Speaker, NDP, Carol Hughes]

Before I go to questions and comments, I want to remind the member that he is not to use the names of individuals, whether his leader or any other member, in the House of Commons. I know that he mentioned it a couple of times a while ago and I did not want to interrupt him.

Questions and comments, the hon. member for Kingston and the Islands.

[Mark Gerretsen, Liberal, Kingston and the Islands, ON]

Madam Speaker, I congratulate my colleague across the way on his first speech in the House and welcome him here.

He spent a bit of time toward the end of his speech talking about the legislation the government is discussing with respect to guns. I think it is important to point out that we have made it very clear that this is not about hunters. It is not about people who are shooting for sport. What this is really about is getting rid of weapons that are out there that are designed to inflict the maximum amount of human damage as quickly as possible. As a hunter, and I have many hunters in my family as well, I know that the member most likely does not utilize any of those types of weapons.

Can share his insight and comments into whether he believes that weapons that are designed for combat use are weapons that should be left in society?

[An hon. member]

Oh, oh!

[The Assistant Deputy Speaker, NDP, Carol Hughes]

I do want to remind the member for Red Deer—Lacombe that if he has any comments or questions he should wait until it is time to do that, as opposed to interrupting someone in the House.

Again, I would like to remind the member of this, whether it is me speaking or whether it is somebody else.

The hon. member for Essex.

[Chris Lewis, Conservative, Essex, ON]

Madam Speaker, a Mini-14, which is the gun that was used at École Polytechnique, is a .223 calibre. The gun itself is not going to do any more harm than a typical Winchester or a Browning .223 calibre. It is about the actual number of shots that are in this gun. With a Mini-14, one can hunt predators, coyotes as an example, with a clip of five. People do it all day long. We could have the same case against all of our firearms, including shotguns, but, no, the Liberals want to talk about it being okay for hunters to have these guns, they just want to get rid of the most wicked ones.

The truth of the matter is that this could happen with any type of firearm. Banning handguns is absolutely not the answer, because the criminals will never give them back.

[Scott Reid, Conservative, Lanark—Frontenac—Kingston, ON]

Madam Speaker, I get the impression that the Liberal focus, when it comes to firearms, is on scary-looking weapons, weapons that look from the outside to have the same aesthetic presentation as an assault weapon. As a practical matter, it is also my understanding that the military, in particular the U.S. military, uses shotguns for close-range combat because they are just as effective, unfortunately, against humans as they are against animals. This suggests that if we are trying to deal responsibly with weapons that have the potential to harm humans, we have to look beyond aesthetic considerations and talk in terms of practicalities, as opposed to focusing on the fears of those who do not fully understand the issue.

I wonder if we could hear some comments on that.

[Chris Lewis, Conservative, Essex, ON]

Madam Speaker, you alluded to something as far as the U.S. military. The truth of the matter is our—

[The Assistant Deputy Speaker, NDP, Carol Hughes]

I just want to remind the member he is to address the question to the Chair and not to the individual members.

[Chris Lewis, Conservative, Essex, ON]

Madam Chair, the member alluded to the fact that our U.S. neighbours carry shotguns. As a matter of fact, our police officers carry shotguns, many of them right there in their vehicles. Why would they do that? Why would we take a shotgun to a riot as opposed to a Mini-14? It is because a lot more damage can be done at very close range, and one does not have to aim, just point.

If we are going to start creating lists of any gun that might look tactical, we are going to have a really long list and, quite frankly, it is going to do absolutely nothing to stop the gang violence and the criminals. The only way to stop this is to throw them in jail and throw away the key.

[Todd Doherty, Conservative, Cariboo—Prince George, BC]

Madam Speaker, I want to thank my hon. colleague from Essex for splitting his time with me.

If members will indulge me, as this is my first time rising in the House, I want to thank my team, which spanned thousands of kilometres, with hundreds of volunteers, and spent thousands of hours to get me re-elected. I want to give a heartfelt thanks to all of them back home in Cariboo—Prince George.

I also want to take a moment to thank my family, my wife Kelly, my daughters Kassi, Kaitlyn and Jordan, and my son Joshua. Without family, we could not do what we do here. All of us should be mindful of that. If I have one piece of advice for my new colleagues here, it is that while the work we do here is important, if they do not take care of themselves and do not work just as hard on their relationships with their family and friends, then what we do really has no meaning. It is so important.

Last but not least, and why I am here today, I want to talk about my riding of Cariboo—Prince George and its residents. I want to thank all of them for putting their heartfelt trust in me once again to be their member of Parliament. This responsibility is not lost on me. I will work tirelessly to represent them, to bring their voices to Ottawa and ensure they are represented in our nation's capital.

However, this election was probably one of the most divisive times I have faced in recent years. It was probably the ugliest six weeks in my four years of being elected. My family was personally attacked, which speaks to the divisiveness within our country. We did not talk about SNC. We did not talk about blackface. We did not talk about the ethics and the scandals that took place over the last four years. Why? Because that is not important. What is important are the residents who are losing their jobs, whether in forestry or agriculture. It now seems that even our LNG opportunities are in jeopardy.

B.C. is the largest producer of softwood lumber in our country. Over 140 communities are forestry-dependent. Over 140,000 jobs within our province of British Columbia are tied to forestry. One in four manufacturing jobs are tied to forestry. One in 16 jobs in British Columbia are forestry-dependent.

The Prime Minister has said time and again that it is his job to stand up for Canadian jobs. However, what we have seen time and time again is that he will stand up for his own job, he will stand up for those on the other side, or he will stand up for his corporate friends or Liberal friends. When it comes to western jobs, he is absent.

I looked for some words, some promises in the Speech from the Throne for our agrifood sector. I looked to see what the government would do for our forestry sector. There was nothing there. All we got were platitudes. Empty words is really what they were.

We got a mixed message about a space-time continuum. Wikipedia's definition for space-time continuum is that different people can experience things differently depending on where they are and who they are. Does that sound familiar? I found that odd. I thought maybe the Governor General was taking a quick shot at the Prime Minister or maybe she was on the same space-time continuum as him.

Just two weeks ago, in one 24-hour period, Mosaic Forest Management shut its doors. That was a loss 2,000 jobs. That is 2,000 forestry workers out of work just weeks before Christmas. The very next day, Canfor Forest Products, our largest forest products company in Canada, announced curtailment at all its mills throughout British Columbia. Over the course of 2019, there were 130 curtailments across Canada. Tens of thousands of jobs have been lost, yet it does not even warrant one mention by the Prime Minister in the Speech from the Throne.

It was mentioned today by our colleague from Prince George—Peace River—Northern Rockies that our province's industry is on fire. We are burning up because our industry is flat.

Over 50% of Canadians report that they are $200 away from insolvency at the end of every month. In my riding, our constituency office sees constituents every day. They talk about being close to losing their homes, or their cars or their businesses. They want to know what their government will do for them. I do not know if the Prime Minister has that same experience. I can guarantee he does not.

Just last month alone, 18,000 jobs were lost in British Columbia and 71,000 across the country. Eighteen thousand jobs were lost in the province of Alberta last month, yet all we get from the Prime Minister and his merry band of bandits are talking points. They must be double-jointed, because they are so good at patting themselves on the back. It is shocking when we stand in the House and offer this information and they just keep patting themselves on the back.

I have had constituents here. An RCMP officer, who serves our country every day, sat in the House and listened to question period. He was shocked at the non-answers by the Prime Minister. He asked if it was always that way and told him pretty much, when the Prime Minister showed up. He was disappointed and shocked. Canadians are seeing the same thing.

The Prime Minister said right after the election that he heard Canadians, that he needed to be better, that we needed to work across the lines and that he needed to take a bit collaborative and collegial approach. However, in Speech from the Throne, in subsequent meetings and in his talking points, it is more of the same as what we saw over the last four years. He had such a huge majority that he figured he could bank bank on another four years.

The Prime Minister says “better is always possible”. I do not think that better is always possible with the current Prime Minister and government.

I will probably get some boos from my side of the House when I say this, but there are good people on that side of the House, Sadly, however, they are not on the front bench. The Speech from the Throne was nothing more than a disappointment. However, much more than that, it was more of the same thing we saw over the last four years: nothing for western Canada, nothing for my province and nothing for Cariboo—Prince George, and that is shameful.

[Kevin Lamoureux, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons]

Madam Speaker, the member talked about individuals patting themselves on the back. I would encourage members opposite to read some of those members' statements. When I was in opposition, they were one of two things. It was either character assassination of the leader of the third party, now Prime Minister, and nothing has changed as they have continued with that, or it was solid praise and worship of Stephen Harper and how wonderful that government was. The Conservatives need to reflect on that.

Things have changed a lot. We finally have a government that is more focused on Canada's middle class, working day in and day out, than on self-reflection in the Harper bubble of the 10 years of his administration.

Will the member opposite not recognize that one of the biggest changes, among others, is the advertising? Do the Conservatives remember the hundreds of millions of public tax dollars they spent on their propaganda? We can contrast that to a much smaller budget, maybe tens of millions of dollars versus hundreds of millions of dollars under the Stephen Harper era.

[Todd Doherty, Conservative, Cariboo—Prince George, BC]

Madam Speaker, what about the $600 million the Liberals gave the media just before the election, then appointed Jerry Dias as the godfather over those funds, the guy who posed for Maclean's and said that he was the opposition, or whatever it was, in stopping the Conservatives from gaining power.

Our hon. colleague stands time and again. He is the only one who is defending the Speech from the Throne. Of all the Liberal members on the benches, many more could stand and ask questions. However, it is only that member of Parliament. He is such a good soldier that he is still relegated to the third row. He has not made his way to the front bench yet, but I wish him better luck the next time.

[Richard Cannings, NDP, South Okanagan—West Kootenay, BC]

Madam Speaker, my colleague from Cariboo—Prince George mentioned forestry in his speech. Of course, it is a serious problem in British Columbia. The industry is in dire straits.

Could he comment further on what the federal government could do to help that industry?

[Todd Doherty, Conservative, Cariboo—Prince George, BC]

Madam Speaker, securing a softwood lumber agreement in the last four years would have been a big start, but that will not help us right now.

We need an infusion of funds to help our workers who are close to retirement so they can bridge that retirement gap. We need an infusion of funds to help our communities and contractors diversify themselves economically so they can retool their equipment and maybe take advantage of some of the oil, gas and energy opportunities, if the Liberals have not shuttered that as well.

We need to ensure we do whatever we can. All we need to see from the government is action, but all we have had is inaction and platitudes.

Our hon. colleague is a stalwart and stands up for our forestry workers. We have not yet recovered from the 2017 wildfires in B.C. and now we see this economic downturn in our forestry industry. Communities are declaring an economic state of emergency.

We need action from our federal government. We need to ensure it is pressing our provincial government to act, and we have not seen that for forestry workers and contractors. The industry is failing in our province and it is all because of the policies and the inaction by the Liberal government. That is absolutely terrible.

We need to see action. I had hoped to see at least some statements to that fact in the Speech from the Throne, but we saw nothing. We just saw more backslapping, platitudes and space-time continuum, which do nothing for our ridings and our province of British Columbia.

[Colin Carrie, Conservative, Oshawa, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the words put into the Speech from the Throne are very important. They send messages.

The member mentioned that in the Speech from the Throne were the space-time continuum words. He can just imagine that being at the top of the minds of many auto workers in Oshawa who will lose their jobs this week.

There was not even a mention of manufacturing or auto in the Speech from the Throne. I know softwood lumber is a huge issue for him. By having a Speech from the Throne that does not pay any attention to those issues, what message does that send to industries and their workers?

[Todd Doherty, Conservative, Cariboo—Prince George, BC]

Mr. Speaker, it is clear that the message is still the same as it has been over the four years. If one is not a Liberal donor or Liberal-connected corporation, then one does not count. The Liberals will stand up for the jobs that matter most to them and that is it.

The Liberals had a real opportunity after October 21 to send that message to Canadians, to stop the division and really extend an olive branch to all opposition parties. They failed to do that. All they did was pat themselves on the back.

Leader of the Conservative Party of Canada

[Andrew Scheer, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, I was elected to this House in 2004, at the ripe old age of 25. In many ways, I grew up in this chamber, but some might say I have not yet grown up. I was barely out of university, newly married and with our first child on the way. Since then, I have had five beautiful children. My first-born is now 14. He is all arms and legs. I think he is going to be taller than me very soon.

I have logged many hours flying back and forth from Regina to Ottawa and all across this wonderful country. Alongside my friends in the Conservative caucus, we have accomplished a lot on both the government and opposition sides of the benches. Most importantly, we have kept our party united and strong.

That is why I felt it was appropriate to speak to my friends and colleagues today in the House of Commons about one of the most difficult decisions I have ever made. I have just informed my colleagues in the Conservative caucus that I will be resigning as the leader of the Conservative Party of Canada.

I will be asking the Conservative Party national council to immediately begin the process of organizing a leadership election. As our party embarks on this exciting opportunity of electing a new Conservative leader and Canada's next prime minister, I intend to stay on as leader of the party and the official opposition.

Serving as the leader of the party that I love so much has been the opportunity and challenge of a lifetime. This was not a decision I came to lightly. It was one I came to after many long, hard conversations with friends and family over the past two months since the election campaign.

It has been an incredible challenge for our family to keep up with the pace that is required to lead a caucus and a party into a general election, and my wife Jill has been absolutely heroic. However, in order to chart the course ahead, this party and this movement need someone who can give 100% to the effort. After some conversations with my kids and loved ones, I felt it was time to put my family first.

Our Conservative team is always stronger when we are united. When fiscal conservatives, red Tories, social conservatives, libertarians, Quebec nationalists and Conservatives in rural and urban Canada in the east and west come together, great things happen. We elect strong Conservative governments that deliver lower taxes, smaller governments, more freedom and stronger human rights. The party we have all built together is far more important than one individual.

Our party is not a cult of personality. It is not shaped by whoever's name is on the masthead, but by the hundreds of thousands of Conservatives who pound in lawn signs, sit on their riding associations and donate a few dollars every month.

As our party begins to embark on this exciting opportunity of electing a new leader, my only ask to my fellow Conservatives is this. Let us stay united. Let us stay focused on our one shared goal and one shared priority, which is to deliver a strong Conservative government that can unite our country and make life better for all Canadians, for the oil worker out of a job, for the senior who is choosing between heating and eating and for Canada's position on the world stage.

I believe in this party, I believe in our movement and I believe that we will be the government after the next election. I became involved as a teen because I love this party. I ran because I love this party, and I ran for leader because I wanted to help this party.

I will continue to serve my Conservative caucus, and I will continue to serve the great people in the fantastic riding of Regina—Qu'Appelle.

I am proud of what we have accomplished during my time as leader. We kept our party united and strong, we knocked the Liberals down to a minority and we increased seats all over this country. Whoever the hundreds of thousands of Conservatives across the country choose to lead our party into the next election will have my 100% support.

My message to the Prime Minister and the Liberals in the House is this. During this leadership election, there will be no free rides in the House of Commons. We have already hit the ground running. We had a 1,000% batting average for a brief period of time on Tuesday evening. We might see if we can increase that batting average.

We are going to continue to be here every single day to represent our constituents, to perform our duties as parliamentarians and to put Canadians and Canada first.

I want to thank you, Mr. Speaker, for indulging me in this statement. I want to thank my colleagues in the Conservative Party.

Being the Leader of the Conservative Party was the greatest honour of my professional life. I thank all my colleagues for their support and trust over the past three years.

I made this decision because it is the best thing for our party.

Our party needs someone who can give everything he or she has. I have always been honest with my colleagues. I have always been honest with everybody. I know that the road ahead and the stress it would put on my family would mean I could not give them that 100% assurance.

I know the next person will, and I know I can speak on behalf of all our team that the next leader of this party will have the support required from these benches to make sure we are successful in the next election.

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, I know there will be many more moments for us to reflect and celebrate the dedication and service that the member opposite has offered and continues to offer to Canadians in his work as an MP for Regina—Qu'Appelle, in his work as the former Speaker of the House and in his work as the leader of the Conservative Party of Canada

I know thoughts, first and foremost, are for family. I want to salute Jill and recognize his kids who, I know better than most, have made significant sacrifices to see their father take on a leadership position like this. We deeply appreciate it.

I know from the many conversations I have had over the years with the hon. leader that he sees his responsibility as a parent very much the way I, and so many others, see our responsibility of being good parents to our kids.

In a similar way, we are politicians. We are in the House not in spite of having kids, but because we have kids and are dedicated to building a better world for them with everything we have. I respect that deeply and thank him for that focus on a better future for his kids.

I would also like to point out that few people know the challenges and possibilities, but also the roadblocks and barriers that exist for the leader of a diverse and national party like the Conservative Party or the Liberal Party.

We have a collection of MPs who are focused on representing their constituents and on serving their constituents. It is always a challenge and an incredibly rewarding experience to work with them as a leader.

I know that for all the challenges, it is an extraordinary privilege that is enriching and wonderful. I know that the member opposite has shown tremendous strength and compassion, as he has done through tragedies, difficulties, victories and more challenging moments.

I very much wish him all the very best in his next and exciting steps, whatever they be, be they here in the House or beyond. I want to thank him deeply for his service to Canada on behalf of all Canadians and on behalf of all Liberals. I know there are many more conversations to have.

Thank you, Andrew, for the work you are doing.

[Yves-François Blanchet, Bloc, Beloeil—Chambly, QC]

Mr. Speaker, we are all parliamentarians regardless of ideology or party affiliation. I am sure that everyone who goes into politics does it for the right reasons.

It is not an easy career path. It requires many things, including an unwavering commitment, which everyone here in the House fully understands. It also takes courage.

We can all have different views. The more different they are, the more courage they require to uphold when it would be easier to compromise. The desire to amicably debate differing opinions in our democracy brings about what is best for Canadians and Quebeckers. I trust that these different opinions have given people food for thought. I am sure that the member has done excellent work in that regard.

In a spirit of friendship, I recognize that, on the rare occasions that we have met, he has always been unfailingly cordial. I am deeply convinced, despite other opinions, that everything that was done was done in people's best interests. Everything was done with absolute sincerity.

I do not have much experience as a political party leader, but I have just enough to know that there are good moments and bad. I sincerely hope that, the day after this decision, which was most likely a difficult one, and every day that follows, will bring peace and the certainty that it was the right one. In the meantime, I would like to reiterate my friendship.

[Jagmeet Singh, NDP, Burnaby South, BC]

Mr. Speaker, I also want to add my voice in acknowledging the cordiality in the chamber today. As well, I want to acknowledge the solidarity in recognizing the difficulty and the challenges that public life presents.

I want to thank the Leader of Her Majesty's official opposition for taking up that mantle, for being in public service not only as the Leader of the Opposition but also as Speaker and the representative of Regina—Qu'Appelle. It is a big sacrifice, and the member and his family know that very well.

I want to also acknowledge what the Prime Minister alluded to, that being the idea that we not only represent and work for the benefit of people in our ridings but for the benefit of Canadians around the country.

I really enjoyed the sentiment and the spirit behind the idea that the member is doing this for a better future for his kids. I know that is true for the member and true for the Prime Minister, and hopefully one day it will be true for me too.

I want to take a moment to touch on what the leader of the third party mentioned.

Of course we have our differences of opinion, but what unites us is the idea of working for the common good. We may take different approaches, but I think we share the same desire to help ordinary people, change policies and resolve issues to help everyone. I know that is something that unites all of us.

I think that is something that we all share in this chamber.

It is a very difficult decision to take, and I want to acknowledge the hard work that the Leader of the Opposition has put in during all of his roles and the years of service that he has provided. We speak as a united voice in acknowledging that. I thank the member for his service.

I thank all members in the chamber for taking up that mantle. Today is a day to acknowledge the Leader of the Opposition and thank him for his service and his contribution to political life in Canada.

[Andrew Scheer, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, I will not abuse the indulgence that you have given me today, but I do want to sincerely thank the other party leaders.

I want to thank the Prime Minister for his kind words. I believe our children are of the same age. If there is one person who knows the challenges and the difficult decisions that need to be made when balancing public and private life, it would be the Prime Minister. I have always appreciated our opportunities to chat briefly about how our respective families are holding up during the pressure and the grind that this life places on parliamentarians.

I also want to thank the Leader of the Bloc Québécois for his comments. We have not worked together for very long, but as he said, all of our conversations have been respectful.

Thanks very much to the leader of the NDP as well. We have crossed paths several times throughout the years at various events together. I have always found when we put partisan differences aside, there is a great deal of mutual respect for people of all different parties because when we come to this place, we might disagree on what it is that we think should be done for Canada, but we all agree on the motivation, and that is to make Canada better place.

I truly do believe that. Each one of us makes tremendous sacrifices to that.

I hope the Prime Minister will not mind a bit of good-natured ribbing. Obviously debates can be heated and fiery, but we do like to point out successes and we are very proud of what we accomplished in the last election. Although we fell short of our goal, someone pointed out something that I have not fact-checked yet, but I will: I am the first person in Canadian history to get more votes than a Trudeau. I could not resist saying that.

I do intend to serve the constituents of Regina—Qu'Appelle for the near future. When I was 25, the highest goal I set for myself was to be the best member of Parliament that I could be for the constituents of Regina—Qu'Appelle, and I look forward to devoting more time to doing that.

As for future positions in the House, those are discussions for another day. I doubt that I will become the Grover Cleveland of Speakers. That is probably not going to be in the cards.

I once again want to thank all my parliamentary colleagues.

Thank you so much for your kind words today. I know they are heartfelt.

We all go back to our homes and our ridings and deal with many of the same struggles, no matter where we are from or what party we represent.

I will see members at 2:15.