Andrew Scheer

[Business of the House, December 14th, 2022]

Madam Speaker, I do not want to sound too repetitive, but we are going to be thanking many of the same people. I, too, want to add my voice, on behalf of my colleagues, to wish everyone a merry Christmas around the parliamentary precinct.

It has been a tumultuous few years. The House has seen a lot and has had to grapple with a lot of challenges over the last few years. We are always served with such a high degree of professionalism and excellence by everyone around the precinct. This includes the procedural team at the table and the many people who work for them, like the Journals branch, Hansard, translation and security.

It takes a lot to allow the chamber to function and allow members of Parliament to represent their constituents and go about doing the people's work on their behalf.

I would like to add a special thanks to all the staff who work for members of Parliament. Our names and faces go on television, on campaign signs and on ballots, but we have a lot of people behind us helping us do our jobs. They are often the unsung heroes who are here late at night going through briefing materials and Auditor General reports, or translating things into one of the two official languages.

I know they will welcome the early adjournment this week and take a little time to recuperate. This has been a fairly lengthy stretch that is coming to a close now.

I would also like to thank my counterparts from the other parties. This is my second time serving as House leader for my party and the second time I have worked with the hon. member for New Westminster—Burnaby.

It is my first time working with the hon. member for La Prairie.

Regardless of our party in the House, we all have the same motivation.

Regardless of which party members were elected as and regardless of our political philosophies, I have gotten to know over the years that members of Parliament are all motivated by the same thing. Even though we may disagree, and I may feel that some of my colleagues are misguided in their approaches, their motivation is to do what is right by their constituents and what is good for the country. This time of the season, it is a good opportunity for us to reflect on that and on the common bonds of humanity we all share.

Tragically, in the wake of a colleague's passing, and as we celebrate the birth of Christ and all the hope that brings to the world, it is a constant reminder that our time on this planet is short, so we should appreciate the best of each other.

As we enter into the Christmas break, we will all be attending events and visiting all corners of our constituencies. I hope it is a safe and happy holiday season. I know there will be a lot of travel back and forth. I hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas break and a very happy new year, and we will see everyone back here in January.

[Financial Institutions, December 8th, 2022]

Mr. Speaker, what the parliamentary secretary is not telling us is that 40% of all that new spending had nothing to do with the pandemic. The Auditor General has now told us that over $30 billion was wasted. That is what is causing inflation.

The government's answer is to pour more inflationary gasoline on the raging fire. It is already taking a big bite out of Canadian households. As interest rates rise to fight inflation, Canadians have to pay more in interest payments to the banks, but so too does the Bank of Canada. The Bank of Canada has one shareholder, the Minister of Finance.

How much money will taxpayers be on the hook for to pay off the Bank of Canada's losses?

[Financial Institutions, December 8th, 2022]

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister spent so much money that he actually ran out of people to borrow it from, so he had the Bank of Canada create a complex scheme to pour billions of dollars into the accounts of wealthy financial institutions. As the bank raises interest rates to fight the inflation the government caused, the Bank of Canada is actually losing money.

For the first time in Canadian history, as the bank loses money, how much taxpayer money will have to go to bail out the Bank of Canada?

[Questions on the Order Paper, December 7th, 2022]

With regard to the government's plan to reduce emissions arising from fertilizer application by 30 percent and its impact on Farm Credit Canada (FCC): (a) will FCC be lowering the amount of credit available to farmers whose projected yields will decrease as a result of using less fertilizer; (b) which crop yields does FCC predict will drop the most as a result of the government's plan; (c) broken down by type of crop, what are FCC's projections related to how much loss of yield that farmers will incur as a result of the government's plan; (d) broken down by type of crop, what are FCC's projections regarding the loss of income as a result of the government's plan; (e) is FCC planning to advise farmers not to plant certain types of crops as a result of not being able to use as much fertilizer, and, if so, which crops; and (f) has FCC received any communication from the government on not publicly discussing the negative impacts of the government's plan on farmers, and, if so, what are the details, including (i) the individuals involved in the communication, (ii) the type of communication, (iii) the date, (iv) a summary?

[Protests in China, December 7th, 2022]

Mr. Speaker, there have been consultations among the House leaders, and I hope you will find unanimous consent for the following motion:

Whereas, protesters in China who are fighting for basic human rights and freedoms have been using an Airdrop feature on iPhones to avoid government censors, and

Whereas, Apple has announced its decision to disable that feature solely for phones in China, and

Whereas, such a move will make it more difficult for the protesters to avoid the authoritarian restrictions on communications, and

Whereas, other tech giants like Google have long collaborated with the Chinese regime in its policies to control online content and communication,

Therefore, this house condemn the decision by Apple and other tech giants for their complicity in the crackdown against peaceful protesters in China.

[Murdered Indigenous Women, December 5th, 2022]

Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Rural Economic Development invited any member or any Canadian to give her information about the firearms that would be banned thanks to the government's amendment to Bill C-21. She must not realize the long list of hunting rifles and shotguns that are contained in the amendment. I am taking her up on her invitation.

I seek unanimous consent to table the list of hunting rifles and shotguns that will be banned if the amendment to Bill C-21 is passed. She invited me to do so.

[Business of the House, December 1st, 2022]

Mr. Speaker, I am rising on a point of order.

Hope springs eternal, and maybe while the government House leader was answering my question, he reflected on the benefit of all members having this information right now, because oftentimes the answers to questions indicate some confusion on the government side as to the hunting rifles that would be banned in the bill.

Do I have unanimous consent—

[Business of the House, December 1st, 2022]

Mr. Speaker, I shudder to think what would happen if the Thursday question was not asked.

I have taken the advice the Speaker has given me and the government House leader over the past couple of weeks, so I have a more focused Thursday question. I wonder if the government House leader can inform the House as to the business of the House for this week and next week?

While I am on my feet, I was wondering if the House would give me unanimous consent to table in the chamber the list of firearms used for hunting, because there seems to be some confusion on the government side as to which firearms it would actually be banning in its new amendment to Bill C-21.

[National Council for Reconciliation Act, December 1st, 2022]

Mr. Speaker, a colleague voted by the app, encountered some technical difficulties and could not log on in time to switch his vote. I am wondering if the House would allow, as we have done in the past for other members, for the hon. member for Foothills to change his vote. His intention was to vote in favour. If the House would grant consent for that change, this would be a unanimous vote in favour of the bill.

[Business of the House, November 24th, 2022]

Yes, Mr. Speaker, it is the best part of Thursday. It is the Thursday question. I just want to ask the government House leader if he can inform the members as to the business for the rest of this week and for next week as well.

I would like to take the opportunity to make a couple of suggestions for government business. We had the Bank of Canada governor admit at committee that deficits fuel inflation, so I was wondering if there would be an opportunity for the government to introduce another fall economic update where it would lower its deficits.

Also, I was wondering if the government might schedule a take-note debate at some point next week so that the House can really study the Parliamentary Budget Officer's report that concludes, based on numbers that the government has provided, that the vast majority of Canadians pay far more in the carbon tax than anything they hope to receive in the form of a rebate.