Madam Speaker, it is an honour to rise in the House as the member of Parliament for Yellowhead to speak at report stage on the address in reply to the Speech from the Throne. Before I comment, I want to remind everyone of what transpired leading up to the throne speech.
On August 18, 2020, the Prime Minister asked then Governor General Julie Payette to prorogue Parliament until September 23, amid the WE Charity scandal. She agreed. The previous federal election was on October 21, 2019, and the 43rd Parliament lasted from December 5 to August 15, 2021. Is it not the intent of prorogation to signal the completion of the government's agenda, or was Parliament prorogued to cover up the Liberal scandal that was being brought to light?
On September 20, 2021, during the pandemic, Canadians were asked to go back to the polls. On November 23, Governor General Mary Simon presented the throne speech laying out the government's new priorities, but in my view, the speech did not do that. Instead, it repeated the Liberals' electoral promises. It was more of the same, with more deficits leading to higher taxes at a time when Canadians were, and still are, barely making ends meet.
In fact, inflation is now impacting families across Canada. Food is getting more expensive. Gas and home heating are costing more. The housing crisis continues to reach record high levels, yet there was no plan to fight inflation in the throne speech except to say the Liberals' solution to inflation was housing and child care.
In the throne speech it says:
Inflation is a challenge that countries around the world are facing.... [While] Canada's economic performance is better than many of our partners, we must keep tackling the rising cost of living.
If our economy is better than our partners', why are other countries launching ambitious plans focused on innovation, lowering taxes and cutting red tape to get their economies rolling again? We know that to build a better economic future we have to have objectives, such as removing interprovincial trade barriers, revamping the tax system, creating more jobs and much more.
There was no mention of what measures would be taken to address the cost of living, especially in my riding of Yellowhead, where people are struggling to make ends meet. Our seniors and those on fixed incomes are worried. Further, the speech touched on warning that the earth is in danger, but it did not come up with any major adjustments to make the climate plan functional. In fact, the Liberals made it worse by ignoring the plight of workers in the energy, auto and skilled industries.
There was no mention about helping Alberta. Instead, the document continued the Liberals' assault on energy workers. The only reference to energy workers was a promise to limit Canada's oil and gas emissions. As we all know, businesses are suffering, impacting our economy and our country. The throne speech did not mention the potential to create a plan for workers so that they could return to work.
Tourism is a very important industry in my riding, as are oil, gas and forestry. There was no mention of tourism and how it has been affected by the pandemic. Towns in my riding like Drayton Valley, Edson, Hinton and Rocky Mountain House are challenged to fill positions in local and small businesses. These small businesses are major contributors to our local employment, and they are hurting. Some businesses have even closed.
Millions of Canadians will continue to be left behind by the Liberal government. The throne speech only recycled many of the lofty promises we heard six years ago. The document only outlined the initiatives that began in the last Parliament, saying the Liberals would continue to enact what they promised in their election platform. It was the same old, same old.
Again I ask, why did the Liberals prorogue Parliament and call for an election only to reiterate the same initiatives and promises in their throne speech? After all, the purpose of a throne speech is to introduce the government's direction and goals and to outline how it will work to achieve them. It should not repeat previous promises.
It is ironic that even though the throne speech is entitled “Building a resilient economy” and the word “economy” was repeated 11 times, nowhere in the document were the words “productivity”, “investment” and “growth”. Was the word “economy” only a reminder for the Liberals not to forget to add it to their to-do list? If that was the reason, then the word “economy” was only meant to mean unfinished business, not a new economic idea.
British Columbia and Alberta are two of the largest exporting provinces of softwood lumber and northern bleached softwood. Softwood lumber tariffs only damage our economy by affecting many Canadians looking for employment. Our partnership with the United States is also not helping. There was no mention of a plan to deal with lumber tariffs to protect Canadian jobs. The softwood lumber industry is a significant contributor to the Canadian economy, especially in my riding, where a number of mills are located. The lumber industry provides thousands of jobs in communities across the country, and generates numerous positive overflows to industry and services in every community. The price of softwood lumber skyrocketed following the start of the pandemic, and the pandemic-induced lumber shortage is driving up the cost of homes, making it difficult for Canadians to buy and build their homes. The price of housing under the Liberal government has been skyrocketing, and Canadians need a government that can help them afford their first home.
There was also no mention in this throne speech of making our communities safe. Rural crime continues to be at crisis levels in many parts of the country. The government has failed to take any meaningful action to help. Instead, it has actually made matters worse by reducing penalties for crime, making the revolving door of the justice system spin even more quickly.
There was no mention of how the government will deal with threats from China, nor as to why Canada designated lithium as a critical mineral and then allowed China to buy one of our lithium mines. The Liberals even went one step further and chose not to conduct a national security review following the announced takeover of Canadian lithium mining company Neo Lithium. Under the provisions of the Investment Canada Act, the foreign takeover was not immediately subject to a review and proper due diligence. Critical minerals such as lithium are essential to the future prosperity of Canada's economy and our strategic interests. These minerals are used in the production of products like electric vehicles and could play a major role in meeting our climate challenges. It is imperative that Canada takes seriously the issue of critical minerals and the domestic supply chains of these minerals.
Priorities announced by the Liberal government do nothing for Canadians who are worried about the economy, the cost of living, the increasing cost of everyday essentials, crippling businesses from supply-chain constraints, labour shortages, investment, national unity, tourism, oil and gas, forestry, housing, safety in rural communities, workers whose wages are stagnating, the inflation that is steadily increasing and much more. What the government should have done was outline a game plan and a glimmer of hope for how the government would kick-start and strengthen our recovery from the pandemic. Unfortunately, that was obviously too much to ask.
I look forward to questions.