Madam Speaker, as this is my first opportunity to speak and to rise on a bill before the House in the 45th Parliament, I would like to take the opportunity to express my deepest appreciation for the people of Haldimand—Norfolk for putting their trust in me as their representative for a second term. I am truly inspired by the people of Haldimand—Norfolk, and I am truly honoured to be their voice in Parliament.
It is important for Canadians at home to understand the broader context of this bill, Bill C-5, the one Canadian economy act, which is before the House.
Before U.S. President Donald Trump took office, the Liberal government was asleep at the wheel. The sweeping tariffs imposed by Trump and his America first policy and his post-Bretton Woods quest, which seeks to upend the international order, while challenging for Canada, are not the sole cause of the current trade problems we now face.
Rather, this disorder has simply uncovered a deep fissure within our nation, which has been caused by a decade of Liberal policies that have left Canada weak and vulnerable. Far from being the maple leaf elbows-up patriots they presented themselves to be, the Liberals have questioned Canada's ethos and have undermined its national sovereignty over the last 10 years. They undermined Canada's sovereignty by diverting billions of taxpayer dollars to green revolution projects through the green slush fund that has been proven to benefit Liberal insiders.
They bet against the oil and gas sector by shutting down pipeline projects while favouring the green investments from foreign, autocratic countries with worse environmental records than Canada. The social fabric of our nation and our society was also eroded during the last 10 years of Liberal leadership, creating disunity and making us vulnerable to external threats.
It is surprising to see the same Liberal Party that attacked our national identity by changing the names of streets, by tearing down statues of national leaders and by removing national heroes like Terry Fox from our passport turn around and put their elbows up and become the flag-bearers of national pride.
We have the third-largest accessible oil reserves on the planet, which we leave untapped. Once it is extracted, it goes almost exclusively to the Americans, who refine it and sell it back to us at a profit. This reality exists because the Liberal government failed to have a vision for future generations of Canadians and instead prioritized its own ideological goals for its own political survival.
The Liberal government has blocked the production of ethical oil in Canada and blocked LNG and oil development from going to international markets. We have failed to build our export capacity, and we have nearly become dependent on the U.S. market. As the G7 meets today on Canadian soil, in the beautiful, resource-rich province of Alberta, we, sadly, have the unfortunate status of being the economy with the worst economic growth.
The world's economic watchdog, the OECD, forecasts that Canada will experience the slowest growth in real GDP per capita among its member countries between now and 2060.
Because of the Trump tariffs and the government's incompetence, workers are losing their jobs. Canadian families are anxious. Communities are shaken. In Haldimand—Norfolk, where I live and in the community I represent, there are thousands of residents who work at the Stelco mill. Stelco is a vital part of our community in terms of jobs, economic activities and business partnerships. Right now, our community is hearing rumours of layoffs, and they are deeply concerned.
The Liberal government had 10 years of power. The current Prime Minister was the economic adviser for a large portion of that time. Liberals wasted the opportunity and resources, and they have left Canada vulnerable as a result.
Conservatives want nation-building projects. We want to see projects accelerated. That is why Conservatives support the intent of this bill. However, the bill takes only baby steps.
I am concerned, and many Canadians are concerned, that the Prime Minister is speaking out of both sides of his mouth. He told premiers that they will have a veto on resource project development and pipelines. The government's environment minister has also been directly questioned on the commitment to build pipelines but could not even utter the word “pipelines”. During the election, we had the Prime Minister engaging in doublespeak, saying one thing to one audience in Alberta and saying something completely different in Quebec, so please forgive us Conservatives if we are a bit skeptical that the government's business is not in pipelines. Actually, the bill is an indictment of the Liberals' own anti-resource law.
If we are serious about removing barriers for workers, we need to also give professionals the ability to work across provinces, stop waste and allow international doctors who are qualified to practise rather than driving Ubers. We need access to health care. That is essential, especially in rural communities like Haldimand—Norfolk. We are hearing stories of Canadians waiting for hours in emergency rooms, who are in desperate need of urgent care. More and more we are seeing people dying on wait-lists, unable to get the critical surgeries and treatment they need. Many residents still do not have a family doctor, which means they are not getting timely access to care.
I personally had to intervene in one of these situations and speak to the former immigration minister to help a doctor in Caledonia get paperwork sorted out so that thousands of residents would not be without a family doctor, and so that Dr. Marilyn Robertson in Caledonia could be replaced with a competent doctor from abroad. If this had not happened, many residents would have been left without a family doctor.
There are an extraordinary number of bureaucratic hurdles that people have to go through in order to practise medicine in Canada. The government has missed the opportunity to introduce the Blue Seal standard and get thousands of qualified doctors and nurses working in Canada through passing a sound and rigorous national test.
In conclusion, we, as a nation, have a great and historical opportunity before us. I am full of hope for Canada. We have the potential to be the most prosperous nation on this planet, the freest, the most advanced and the most just nation in the world. That is why Conservatives will always be committed to holding this Liberal government to account and calling for higher standards in service to Canadians. We will support even the small steps to strengthen this nation. Conservatives will keep fighting for a prosperous and sovereign Canada, and we hope the government will do the same.