Debates of May 22nd, 2024

Fall Economic Statement Implementation Act, 2023

[Blaine Calkins, Conservative, Red Deer—Lacombe, AB]

Mr. Speaker, today is the eighth birthday of my niece Ola, so I would like to wish her a happy birthday. Ola is going to inherit more debt than any other generation, as this young Canadian. I was wondering if my colleague across the way could tell Ola in what year the Liberal Party plans to balance the budget.

[Iqra Khalid, Liberal, Mississauga—Erin Mills, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I thank the Reform Party member for asking that question. As I said in my speech, and I am hoping that the member would have listened, it is about making investments into our future. It is not about cuts. It is not about austerity. It is not about axing and taxing or whatever those fancy slogans are that are coming out from that party. It is about believing in the ability, the talent, and the perseverance of our young people to ensure that they have what is needed for them to be successful today, for years to come and for generations to come.

[Alexandre Boulerice, NDP, Rosemont—La Petite-Patrie, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I always find it rather amusing when the Conservatives ask questions about balancing the budget. When Harper was prime minister, they ran deficits eight out of nine years. In the ninth year, they balanced the budget, but only because they urgently sold federal shares in General Motors.

However, I would remind my colleague, who was talking about young people and the future, that we are in the midst of a major housing crisis. A national strategy was created, but seven years on, it does not seem to have worked very well, despite the $40 billion spent. About $40 billion is left in this national housing strategy fund.

Does she not agree with us that we should invest in non-profit housing first, in social housing that is truly affordable for our young people?

[Iqra Khalid, Liberal, Mississauga—Erin Mills, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the member's raising this important issue, that we do need to build more homes. We are making those investments. In fact, we are on track to ensure that Canadians have the homes that they need in order to live in an affordable community. At the same time, we also need to make sure that Canadians, especially young people, have the living wage and the support systems to ensure that they can live in a safe and supportive community. We have made significant investments through our housing strategy. We are going to continue to build housing for our young people, and, at the same time, we are going to tackle issues of affordability for all Canadians and especially our young people.

[Corey Tochor, Conservative, Saskatoon—University, SK]

Mr. Speaker, I just want to let the member clarify a comment that she made. She actually said this is the best historical time ever in Canada, but by every indication, this is one of the toughest, hardest times ever. I think the member just misspoke. Can the member clarify if she actually thinks this is the best historical time ever for Canada, in 2024?

[Iqra Khalid, Liberal, Mississauga—Erin Mills, ON]

Mr. Speaker, this is a time for Canada to grow. We have established amazing international trade agreements. Whether it is with the Pacific nations, the CPTPP, CETA or the renegotiated NAFTA, we have laid the foundation. We have seen the biggest growth of direct investment into Canada, whether by Honda or by so many other organizations that are coming in, such as Volkswagen or Stellantis. Ultimately, there are businesses in my riding that have seen growth themselves, which they tell me anecdotally, and I can see the growth because we are making the investments in the right place.

I am not sure why the member and his party are so against investing in Canadians. Canadians matter.

[Francesco Sorbara, Liberal, Vaughan—Woodbridge, ON]

Mr. Speaker, it is always a pleasure and an honour to rise in the House. I want to give a shout-out to my family, including my daughters, back home in the city of Vaughan. My daughters should all be sleeping because they have school in the morning. I wish them a wonderful day tomorrow.

Before I get into my formal remarks, I will give an example that personifies how we are doing the right thing to grow our economy in this beautiful country and also invest confidently in Canadians and Canadian families, and that is the recent announcement by Honda to invest $15 billion into the Canadian auto sector and the development of electric vehicles, along with the manufacturing plants.

Last week, I was able to join the Premier of Ontario, the Prime Minister, ministers across the board and many of my hon. colleagues of the House for an announcement of $1.6 billion from a Japanese company, Asahi Kasei, to develop separators for electric vehicles. This will create thousands of jobs in the Port Colborne area of Ontario and provide bright futures for families there, something that we believe in. Confident governments and countries invest in their citizens.

A few days later, I was able to visit Vellore Corners Dentistry, Dr. Elena Panovski and her staff, to talk about the Canada dental care plan. This dentist sent out a flyer in my neighbourhood and many neighbourhoods in the city of Vaughan, telling patients that if they are eligible for the Canada dental care plan, they should go to her clinic. The dentist had also put up a billboard along a major regional road in the city. I visited the clinic and met Peter, an 80-year-old senior citizen in my riding, someone who came to this country and worked hard. He had his Sun Life Canadian dental care plan card with him and was at the dentist thanks to the program that we have implemented. That is awesome. That is progress.

We were sent here to do what is right for our citizens. In fact, as of today, over 90,000 seniors have gone to dental care providers across this country. If we do not all clap about that, I do not know what we are going to clap about. Members on the other side are not clapping. Over two million eligible seniors have signed up, have been approved and will receive their cards. Why is that important? It is important because the day I arrived here in 2015, one of the programs that I knew would make a difference in the lives of literally millions of Canadians was a dental care program, and that is what we have done.

We have done so much: the Canada child benefit, raising personal income tax rates on the wealthiest, cutting taxes for the middle class, raising the basic personal expenditure amount, signing free trade deals with countries around the world and being at the table, and we will continue to do so.

This bill will implement important and fiscally responsible measures from the 2023 fall economic statement that support our government's efforts to build more homes faster, make life more affordable and create more good jobs. Our government is working to create a better future for all generations, and Bill C‑59 is essential to making that goal a reality.

With Canada's housing plan and the 2024 budget, we are taking numerous steps to help increase the supply of housing with the goal of reducing the high costs Canadians face. Bill C‑59 promises to support those efforts by helping increase the supply of rental housing in Canada. About one-third of all Canadians rent their homes, but the number of available rental units has failed to keep pace with demand.

Bill C-56, the affordable housing and groceries act, which received royal assent on December 15, 2023, and the federal component of the HST on the cost of newly purpose-built rental housing introduced a 100% rebate on the GST. Bill C-59 would extend the eligibility for the GST rental rebate to co-operative housing corporations that provide long-term rental accommodation. Our objective, as a government, is to incentivize the construction of even more rental units, and that is what is happening in the Canadian housing market.

We know that our growing, vibrant communities also require critical infrastructure, like public transit, modern water systems and community centres, which is all infrastructure that Canadians depend on daily in their lives. That is why Bill C-59 would establish the Department of Housing, Infrastructure and Communities in the federal lead for improving housing outcomes and enhancing the public infrastructure.

The cost of living is weighing heavily on household budgets. Bill C‑59 would make life more affordable by strengthening competition to help stabilize prices in Canada. We have heard public concerns about increasing corporate concentration and the power of private sector giants.

Complementing the changes introduced in Bill C-56, which I mentioned a few moments ago, Bill C-59's suite of amendments to the Competition Act and the Competition Tribunal Act would provide Canadians with more modern and effective competition laws.

As everyone knows in this House, I love capitalism and wealth creation, which lead to higher standards of living, but what I do not like is corporate concentration and measures that are introduced that are anti-competitive by organizations and companies, and that is why we need guardrails. That is why it is smart for us to introduce amendments to the Competition Act and the Competition Tribunal Act, which the opposite party had ignored for the years that it was in power, and it can remain in opposition for many more years.

Together, these amendments would represent generational changes to Canada's competition regime. More competition means lower prices, more innovative products and services and more choices for Canadians in where they take their business. The amendments are designed to empower the Competition Bureau to better serve the public in its role as watchdog and advocate dynamic markets.

Bill C-59 would further modernize merger reviews and position the Competition Bureau to better detect and address killer acquisitions and other anti-competitive mergers. The legislation would also support Canadians' right to repair by preventing manufacturers from refusing to provide the means of repair of devices and products in an anti-competitive manner.

Our plan is also focused on Canadians' well-being. Therapy and counselling play a critical role in the lives and mental health of millions of people in Canada, but they can also be costly. To ensure that Canadians can get the help they need, our government is taking the necessary steps to make these essential services more accessible and affordable. Bill C‑59 would eliminate the GST and HST from psychotherapy and counselling therapy.

Our government is also taking care of young families. EI parental or maternity benefits provide essential support to new parents. The legislation would bring in a 15-week shareable EI benefit and amend the Canada Labour Code so that adoptive parents who work in federally regulated sectors have the job protection they need while receiving the new benefit. The legislation would go even further by creating new paid leave for federally regulated employees with a view to supporting families in the event of a miscarriage.

Turning now to Canada's fiscal position, we do know that Canada's deficit-to-GDP ratio is number one in the G7 and G20: we have the lowest deficit-to-GDP ratio in the G7. Our net debt-to-GDP ratio is also in the mid-30s range, which is top-notch. We are one of the few countries in the world with an AAA credit rating. These ratings were affirmed and confirmed after the budget was delivered by the rating agencies, one of which I spent several years working for, and covered many sectors that we talked about in this wonderful House, which continue to employ hundreds of thousands of Canadians and continue to grow our economy.

It has been an honour to rise in this House and, again, I wish all the residents of Vaughan—Woodbridge a wonderful Thursday morning and wonderful and safe travels to work.

[Ed Fast, Conservative, Abbotsford, BC]

Mr. Speaker, in the hon. member's speech, he said that he loves capitalism. I believe those were his exact words. He loves capitalism, yet he knows that the Liberal Party has veered sharply to the left, so far to the left now that I think it can be accurately said that the Liberal Party is a party of socialists.

He knows, and he knows very well, that socialism and capitalism cannot coexist. When one looks at the Liberal government's record of allowing large companies to merge, of huge subsidies of billions, or tens of billions, of dollars, this guy asks us to believe that he is a capitalist.

If he is such a capitalist, why is he in a party like the Liberal Party, which has now gone socialist big time?

[Francesco Sorbara, Liberal, Vaughan—Woodbridge, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I thank the hon. member for his hyperbole. I do have a lot of respect for the member for Abbotsford. I have enjoyed many conversations with the hon. member, and I thank him for some of the contributions he has made, including on CETA and so forth. I would obviously disagree with the premise of his question. I do love wealth creation. I love job creation. I believe in forming and strengthening our social safety net, and that is what we have done as a government.

We made the choice to do the Canada child benefit, $10-a-day day care, the Canada workers benefit and a Canadian dental care plan. Those are choices I fully support. That is how one creates a strong economy and a strong social net, so that we lift all Canadians and we bring all Canadians forward, as we continue to make this country the best country in which to live, raise a family, invest and work.

[Taylor Bachrach, NDP, Skeena—Bulkley Valley, BC]

Mr. Speaker, continuing on this theme of talking about the economy, I was recently at committee, and one of my Conservative colleagues asked what I felt was a really good question of the competition commissioner. He asked if the government has ever blocked a corporate merger in Canadian history. The answer was no.

Despite having this competition commissioner and having these ideas around the importance of competition and the importance of stamping out anti-competitive behaviour, not a single corporate merger has been blocked or denied by the federal government.

I would ask him why that is, when we know that corporate concentration and anti-competitive behaviour are two of the driving factors behind the affordability crisis we are seeing. We are seeing these monopolies and oligopolies that are gouging Canadians every single day. The government can put a stop to that. Why does it not?

[Francesco Sorbara, Liberal, Vaughan—Woodbridge, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the first thing I would like to point out to the hon. member for Skeena—Bulkley Valley is that we did, as a government, make the more than $70-million investment into Prince Rupert, into the water system and the infrastructure there. I know that I advocated for that. I know that he represents that riding. That was the city that I was born and raised in. Again, this is our government investing in infrastructure and in Canadians.

With regard to corporate concentration in Canada, there are many reasons why there is such a high degree of corporate concentration, of course, and we could have a great discussion on that front, but we did make changes to the efficiencies defence within the Competition Act. Those are the technical terms, where the Competition Bureau and the Competition Act will have much more teeth to block mergers and acquisitions or consolidations within the sector when they are not in the best interest of Canadian consumers.

[Vance Badawey, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Transport]

Mr. Speaker, last week, it was a pleasure to be in my hometown of Port Colborne, Ontario, along with the Prime Minister and the Premier of Ontario, making a $1.6-billion announcement by Asahi Kasei, a company that is going to strengthen the Honda supply chain, not only in Ontario, but also across the country. This is a game-changer for the Niagara region. It is a game-changer economically. It is putting people to work, as well as strengthening the Niagara Port trade corridor.

My question to the member is with respect to supply chains. How does this announcement, and how do the actions by the government, strengthen our supply chains, as well as provide an integration of our supply chains, not only here domestically, but also binationally, and equally as important, internationally?

[Francesco Sorbara, Liberal, Vaughan—Woodbridge, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the member for Niagara Centre not only is a colleague and a dear friend, but also is a great advocate for the wine industry for the Great Lakes, which is an economic driver of his area. He was a huge advocate in attracting this multi-billion dollar investment to Port Colborne. The hon. member actually served as the mayor in that area as well, so congratulations to that member.

With regard to the supply chain, it was our government that put in place a supply chain task force. It is our government, through the Minister of Labour, that is working with the railways to ensure we continue to have a smooth transportation sector and that is continuing to make those critical investments, including in the national trade and corridors fund, which the member is well versed in as well.

[Corey Tochor, Conservative, Saskatoon—University, SK]

Mr. Speaker, I will be splitting my time tonight.

What we heard from the last few speakers blows my mind. It is unbelievable the mental gymnastics one has to do to figure out the current NDP-Liberal government. We have a member who stated that, right now, in 2024, it is the best historic time ever. Do members believe that?

The people watching at home should ask themselves if they are better off today or if they were better off in 2015. The vast majority of Canadians are feeling the disastrous impacts of the current federal government. There are countless examples of incompetency and outright fraud, and to have members proclaim that this is the best time ever is bizarre. It is wacko. What part of our country believes this is the best time ever? It is an unbelievable statement when we look at all the suffering and hurt that is unfortunately in our country because of the Liberal-NDP policies.

Think of the inflation the NDP-Liberal government has caused with its reckless overspending. The Prime Minister has added more debt to our federal government than all other prime ministers combined. This is the best time ever for the Liberals.

Then, we hear from another member who, in answering a question from another member, brags about the nepotism of helping to get funding for a water treatment plant. The government brags about this corporate welfare that goes on to every corner of Canada, with billions of dollars here and there, and somehow, the Liberal Party still believes this is the best historic time ever.

I have to correct the record. I did bring the receipts, and I brought some emails from real Canadians in my riding who do not believe this is the best historic time ever, as the Liberal-NDP government proclaims. It is one of the darkest times in our country's history. There is suffering. We just read in the Food Banks annual report that 25% of adults are needing to access the food bank. Tell them that this is the best historic time ever.

Tell that to a family who has just renewed their mortgage. Maybe they took the Prime Minister at his word that interest rates would stay low. Now, their mortgage has doubled. Why did that mortgage double? It was the interest rates. Why did the interest rates go up? The NDP-Liberal government has been printing money and has been spending at a pace that is chasing up the price of everything. We warned the government over three years ago that this reckless path would lead to a dead end, and I am fearful of that dead end coming too soon.

This is a government that does not live within its means. A household has to manage its finances in a way that it is not going further in debt with every paycheque. Unfortunately, for nine long years, the federal government has added more debt and more spending that has ballooned the government. There are 40% more bureaucrats working in Canada. For the Canadians who are relying on services from the government, do they think this is the best historic time ever for our country? I doubt it.

There is more pain out there. Unfortunately, this is a track record we have seen over and over again around the world when governments get in trouble and start printing money. When Ottawa prints an extra dollar of money, the result is that the dollar in one's pants is worth less. The quantitative easing the government has done has driven up the price. Also, when one sprays money in every corner of the country, chasing fewer goods, it is math and economics that prices will rise. That is what we are experiencing today in Canada, unfortunately.

In a moment, in the best time ever, historically in Canada, we have an NDP-Liberal government that has a majority. It has enough seats in the House that it can carry on in whatever fashion it would like within the rules. It has found itself in some trouble.

This is the fall economic statement. Typically, we have October, November and December in fall. Then we are into winter: December, January, February, March. No, that is spring: March, April, May. We are almost in the summer, and the mismanagement of Parliament is at the feet of the incompetent government. The bill is about the fall economic statement, and we are almost in the fall. The mismanagement of the House is what is most embarrassing for the government.

Let us get back to Canadians, and let us hear from them. We have a few more weeks of this session, and once we wrap up, I would encourage members to go out, knock on some doors and talk to real Canadians. They can talk to people, pick up the phone. I am sure there are callbacks waiting in members' offices or emails from regular Canadians who do not feel that this is the most historic, best time in Canada. I am going to share some of the emails I have received.

Gail wrote in and said, “Hi, thank you for voting for ordinary Canadians. I hope more representatives are added to your side in the next election. Please continue all that you can to halt this rampant government spending and to work towards a balanced budget for the sake of integrity and the benefits of all Canadians. Thank you.”

I thank Gail for emailing. Gail represents many Canadians who are watching in disbelief as the government continues to blow money and rack up debt that we all know has to be paid back. The future generations are going to have to pay that debt. Every dollar that we collect from GST across Canada goes to banks and bondholders, not services. It just services the debt. It does not even pay it down, and that is a disgrace.

Randy wrote in. He said, “Good morning. As you are my MP for the Saskatoon area, I would like to make my voice heard. I'm really opposed to our Prime Minister's new budget and the mounting debt to my grandchild. The idea that [the Prime Minister] thinks it's okay to raise taxes to accommodate his spending habits is an abomination and an affront to me personally. Please keep the pressure on the federal Liberals. I can't even imagine what it will take to fix this country once the Liberals are voted out. Good luck. I'm praying for change. Regards and blessings, Randy.”

I would tell Randy to not fear too much. The Conservatives do have a plan. We have a simple plan that would axe the tax, build the homes, fix the budget and stop the crime. That is what we would do as a government. I will walk through some of those plans. I know we are going to hear more about our plans in the platform, but this is a good indication of how we are going to dig ourselves out of this hole.

The Conservatives would axe the tax. The carbon tax is a tax on anything that moves, and we have seen the disastrous effect of tripling the carbon tax. Everything costs more, because everything needs to be trucked and hauled to us. When exporting goods from Canada, we pay that carbon tax as well. It drives up the cost. The carbon tax drives up the cost of the transportation, the food that the farmers are producing and even the retail operations.

The Conservatives would axe the tax and make everything more affordable. We would build the homes. We would get the bureaucrats out of the way. We would get rid of the gatekeepers and build those homes so Canadians have a chance of home ownership, not rental forever. We would fix the budget by bringing in a law that is pay-as-you-go; for every dollar of spending, we have to find a dollar of savings. That is just a common-sense Conservative solution.

We would stop the crime. There is too much crime in our streets. The repeat violent offenders who are out on bail are conducting many of the violent crimes in our communities. If we changed the bail system back to what we had before this disaster in government, we would be better off.

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

Mr. Speaker, it is interesting that the member talks about the passage of Bill C-59 and blames the government. What the member does not tell people who are listening is that the Conservative Party focused a great deal of attention on filibustering and preventing legislation from passing. This is one of those pieces of legislation, and their tactics were just demonstrated by yet another amendment to it. However, the member believes, or tries to give the false impression, that the government is not able to pass the bill, when it is allowing for opposition to continue in this fashion to prevent legislation from passing. Interestingly enough, this particular legislation would allow for the top-up of the rebate to be doubled for rural areas.

I am wondering why the Conservative Party chooses to filibuster all legislation and then tries to blame the government for not passing legislation, yet its members cry when we bring in time allocation.

[Corey Tochor, Conservative, Saskatoon—University, SK]

Mr. Speaker, I had a very low opinion before tonight of the member who asked me the question, and after tonight, I do not respect him at all.

[Kevin Lamoureux, Liberal, Winnipeg North, MB]

Mr. Speaker, it is really unfortunate that the member would have that kind of attitude. I think it is very low of the member, but it is up to him to decide whether he wants to answer questions. The Conservative Party continues to mislead Canadians consistently, and the best example of that is the price on pollution. The Conservative Party tries to tell Canadians that they are paying more, when the Parliamentary Budget Officer says that more than 80% are receiving more money back in the rebates than they are paying in the tax.

My question to the member is this: Why are the Conservative Party and the leader of the Conservative Party being so dishonest and misleading Canadians?

[The Deputy Speaker, Conservative, Chris d'Entremont]

With respect to the “dishonest” terminology, I would rather that members not use that kind of terminology.

[Corey Tochor, Conservative, Saskatoon—University, SK]

Mr. Speaker, that is okay. No one respects that man either.

[Taylor Bachrach, NDP, Skeena—Bulkley Valley, BC]

Mr. Speaker, it feels like perhaps it is the hour, but things are getting a bit testy, and I thought I would take this in a different direction, because bills like the one before us are always a mixed bag. There is stuff in them that some folks support, and there is stuff in them that some folks really oppose.

I am wondering whether my colleague can just pick one thing from Bill C-59, the bill that we are debating, that he supports and that he thinks would take our country in the right direction. Can he tell us what it is?

[Corey Tochor, Conservative, Saskatoon—University, SK]

Mr. Speaker, the best thing I can say about Bill C-59 is that it gets us a day closer to the election that will change the government and save Canada from the reckless NDP-Liberal coalition government that is wrecking our country. We have a plan that will axe the tax, build the homes, fix the budget, stop the crime and save Canada. We will make Canada the greatest country that we all love so much, the country that was so much better before the Prime Minister was elected.

[Kelly McCauley, Conservative, Edmonton West, AB]

Mr. Speaker, I wonder, if my colleague from Saskatoon—University looks back over the last nine years, what is the legacy of the current government: two million people visiting food banks, out-of-control debt; out-of-control crime, out-of-control spending, and out of control ethics violations? What does he think the legacy of the current government will be?

[Corey Tochor, Conservative, Saskatoon—University, SK]

Mr. Speaker, I think those are all terrible things that the government is going to be known for. I think it is the debt, though. One cannot pile on more debt than every other prime minister combined. What comes next? We have all experienced the nineties and the eighties. All political stripes overspent, then interest rates were jacked up, and it hurt ordinary Canadians. That is the legacy of the government. It is giving the next generation no hope for the future.

[Dan Muys, Conservative, Flamborough—Glanbrook, ON]

Mr. Speaker, if you will indulge me for a minute of my four minutes, I offer condolences to my Aunt Freddie and my cousins and their children on the passing of my Uncle Phil earlier this evening, and to my dad and his sisters, for whom he was their older brother. He was a very generous man. He worked very hard. He gave to his community and to his church community. He was loved by his family and he loved his family. He loved Canada and he will be missed.

In the short time I have, I am going to really focus on one aspect of what I was going to speak about as we look at Bill C-59, the fall economic statement from last November. Of course, we have had the federal budget since, and it has only compounded the cost of living issues and housing issues that we are seeing across Canada. Therefore, let me focus on something that I hear so often from constituents in my community and that weighs very heavy on their minds. It is the interest rate increases that have resulted as a consequence of the inflationary spending, the inflationary taxes and the inflationary deficits of the NDP-Liberal government.

Whether it is the $20 billion of inflationary spending that was piled on in the fall economic statement or the $50 billion that was piled on in the recent budget, that has an impact. We know from the report from Scotiabank that 2% of interest rate increases can be attributed to government overspending, and other banks have made the same comment. The CIBC made the same cautionary warning prior to the recent budget.

Flamborough—Glanbrook is on the western edge of the GTA, surrounding the city of Hamilton. It is made up of very fast-growing communities, where people have fled the GTA to buy a house for a more affordable amount than what they could get in Toronto or Mississauga. Communities like Waterdown, Binbrook, Elfrida and Hannon are where first-time homeowners, often young families, new Canadians or even seniors who are looking to retire on modest savings, have seen these alarming rate increases. I hear this from the mortgage brokers. I hear this from constituents. It is an absolute gut punch to see those interest rate increases that have resulted from the policies of the Liberal-NDP government.

We had the report earlier in May from the Bank of Canada, which predicted the very steep incline we are going to see in the next few years in mortgage payments. If it is a variable mortgage, the prediction is for a median monthly payment increase of up to 60%. If it is a fixed mortgage that someone is renewing, the median monthly payment could be increased by up to 20%. That has a devastating impact on household budgets, and that is, again, the consequence of these inflationary policies and the spending by the current government.

In my final few moments, I will just say that hope is on the way. The common-sense Conservative government would cap the spending, fix the budget and axe the tax so that these people in my communities and across Canada could actually afford their mortgage payments, or it is not impacting their rents, so hope is on the way.

[The Deputy Speaker, Conservative, Chris d'Entremont]

It being midnight, pursuant to the order made on Wednesday, February 28, this House stands adjourned until later this day at 10 a.m., pursuant to Standing Order 24(1).

(The House adjourned at 12 a.m.)