Andrew Scheer

[The Economy, February 3rd, 2020]

Mr. Speaker, the facts are exactly the opposite. Under our government, we saw growth in the private sector. Under the current government, we see growth in wasteful government spending. We look at our partners around the world and growth is higher in over half the G7 countries than it is here at home in Canada. The Parliamentary Budget Officer has confirmed that the billions booked in infrastructure spending did not have a single bit of impact on the GDP.

When will the Prime Minister realize that a high-tax, wasteful-spending agenda will hurt Canada's economy?

[The Economy, February 3rd, 2020]

Mr. Speaker, it is understandable why the Liberals would want to control the news because the news is getting increasingly bleak about the government's economic performance. Forecasts are consistently being downgraded and the Prime Minister keeps moving the yardstick on how to measure his own mismanagement. First, the promise was to have a small, temporary deficit. When that did not work out, then it was going to be that the debt-to-GDP ratio never changed. Now, his new justification is that the country's credit rating is still okay. That is like saying that the credit card company keeps increasing the limit.

When will the Prime Minister realize that this is a recipe for disaster?

[News Media Industry, February 3rd, 2020]

Mr. Speaker, George Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four was supposed to be a cautionary tale about the evils of big government, not an instruction manual for the Prime Minister.

It is no wonder that Canadians are suspicious about this. This is the same Prime Minister who has admiration for China's basic dictatorship; the same Prime Minister who heaped praise on Fidel Castro, a man who was responsible for the deaths of millions; and of course, he put Jerry Dias on a panel to decide which news organizations will get cash.

In today's press conference, the minister actually said that media organizations—

[News Media Industry, February 3rd, 2020]

Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Canadian Heritage proposed the creation of new regulations for the media and the way news is disseminated online. He went as far as to say that the government was going to define what sources of information are trustworthy and issue licences to the media. When faced with the public's outrage, the minister only created more confusion.

Can the Prime Minister confirm that these ideas will never see the light of day on his watch?

[Public Safety, January 29th, 2020]

Mr. Speaker, the fact of the matter is this individual was convicted of the violent murder of his wife. The Prime Minister has opposed mandatory prison sentences for convicted murderers in the past. However, the individual should never have been released or encouraged to seek the services of a sex worker by government officials. Marylène Levesque deserved better than this failure. Public Safety sets guidelines for parole officers and people involved in parole decisions. Will the Prime Minister confirm that this is not the type of encouragement that is standard practice for individuals released on parole?

[Public Safety, January 29th, 2020]

Mr. Speaker, Marylène Levesque was murdered by a convicted killer on day parole. Her death was both shocking and avoidable.

According to the media, parole officers encouraged this murderer to meet a woman for sexual services, and he killed her. That is unacceptable, and an internal investigation is not good enough.

What is the Prime Minister going to do about this horrible case?

Are Canadians to conclude that this is standard practice on the part of parole officers?

[Natural Resources, January 29th, 2020]

Mr. Speaker, having a wasteful government that believes in corporate welfare may not be priceless. It turns out it is worth $50 million.

If the Prime Minister really wanted to worry about the feelings of Canadians, he could make out-of-work Canadians in the energy sector happy by approving the Teck Frontier mine. This project has gone through all the approvals and now there are signals that the Prime Minister is waffling on it.

Will he show Canadians that he believes in Canada's energy sector and side with those who have lost their jobs, not with the activists and celebrities?

[Finance, January 29th, 2020]

Mr. Speaker, I understand that the Prime Minister is having trouble defining who qualifies to be in the middle class. I can assure him that the CEO and wealthy executives of Mastercard do not fall into that category.

The government's press release says that the company that got this money is a wholly owned subsidiary of Mastercard Incorporated. Mastercard is a credit card company that makes money off of people who cannot afford to pay their full balances.

Why did the Prime Minister think that they needed a handout?

[Finance, January 29th, 2020]

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister has said that his government is not going to worry about economic data points like GDP. Instead, it is going to focus on people's feelings.

The Prime Minister has a track record of making wealthy CEOs of profitable companies very happy. We remember when he gave BlackBerry a grant that its CEO said it did not even need. There was $12 million for Loblaws, and now we find out that he has given $50 million of taxpayers' money to Mastercard.

Why did the Prime Minister make taxpayers so sad by giving $50 million to a company that made $16 billion off the backs of hard-working Canadians who cannot afford to pay their full balances?

[Health, January 28th, 2020]

Mr. Speaker, that was a very simple question. There has been a request made by the government in Taiwan to be an observer at the WHO, especially during this time. This is a decision that the Prime Minister can make, whether or not to support Taiwan's request.

It is a yes-or-no question. Will the Prime Minister support observer status for Taiwan at the WHO?