Mr. Speaker, it is always a great honour and privilege to rise in the House and speak on behalf of the citizens of Calgary Signal Hill.
First, I want to recognize the hon. member and the comments he made in the House. While I did not know the hon. member on a personal level, the degree of emotion and genuine goodwill expressed today is a testimony to the depth of commitment, sacrifice and hard work undertaken by members of the House, and it should hearten all Canadians.
We have all been struck by the hard news that Canada is in a recession. Given the Prime Minister's background in economics, I suspect more than a few Canadians were surprised and dismayed at this news.
Earlier today, the government House leader told us here in the House that the government has a plan that is working, but the member for Nepean has been Prime Minister for over a year, and Canada is in a recession. It is clear to me and to Canadians that whatever the plan is, it is not working.
Now the Liberals seem to be leaning heavily on what they seem to think are a couple of bright economic statistics. As a Canadian, I would like to say that, thank goodness, there is at least a tiny bit of hope, but then again, let us have a closer look.
A collection of Liberal MPs, from cabinet ministers to further back in the ranks, have stated that Canada has “the second-fastest growing economy in the G7”. Quite frankly, I have no idea how the Liberals put that statement together with the fact that Canada is in a recession. Recession means economic contraction and shrinkage, not growth.
The second suggestion has been that Canada has foreign direct investment at twice the rate of our nearest G7 peer. That is an awfully strange statement from the Liberals, given that the report just last week by the Royal Bank of Canada stated that more than $1 trillion in investment left Canada between 2015 and 2024. That is two dollars leaving for every dollar that came in. In fact, just late last week, Stats Canada announced that, in the first quarter of 2026, more investment left Canada than came in.