Andrew Scheer

[Member for Saint-Léonard—Saint-Michel, November 6th, 2018]

Mr. Speaker, the member for Saint-Léonard—Saint-Michel told a CBC journalist last Friday that he was busy working on specific duties on behalf of the Prime Minister.

Can the Prime Minister explain exactly what those specific duties are, as they are keeping him away from Ottawa, where he is supposed to be representing his constituents, while still pocketing a generous salary from a private firm?

[Privacy, November 6th, 2018]

Mr. Speaker, this is not about the government's ability to make decisions. This is about the rights of Canadians to have their financial data protected.

The Prime Minister would believe that the ends justify the means and that it is okay to violate fundamental rights when it comes to people's personal information. Conservatives reject that notion. The Prime Minister has the ability to do the right thing and cancel this practice. Will he do so?

[Privacy, November 6th, 2018]

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister wants to make an evidence-based decision. Exhibit A, Stats Can has acknowledged that it is going to seize financial data linked to social insurance numbers. Exhibit B, the government has had 56 violations of security in its time in office. Exhibit C, the government had to pay out $17.5 million in a class action lawsuit because of a data breach.

Will the Prime Minister make an evidence-based decision and cancel this practice?

[Privacy, November 6th, 2018]

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister has displayed an outstanding capacity to be out of touch with Canadians on the issue of Stats Canada seizing personal financial data. More and more experts are joining Canadians in their outrage at what the government is doing. A respected constitutional expert at the University of Waterloo said, “What a moral failure...The government has no more business looking at personal banking transactions than it has putting cameras in bedrooms”.

Will the Prime Minister do the right thing and stop this practice?

[Democratic Institutions, October 31st, 2018]

Mr. Speaker, there were more debates in the last election than in generations, and the rules of those debates were agreed to by all parties coming together with major broadcasters.

However, this is not the first time the Prime Minister has tried to rig the system to benefit himself. He tried to rig Canada's voting system. He tried to restrict the role that opposition parties play in parliamentary debate. He is ignoring the influence of foreign money in our elections, while attempting to silence the voices of opposition parties. Now he is trying to unilaterally impose a new set of rules and new bureaucracy on election debates.

Is it not clear that the only kind of reforms the Prime Minister is interested in are those reforms that benefit his party?

[Democratic Institutions, October 31st, 2018]

Mr. Speaker, apparently the Prime Minister cannot tell the difference between parliamentary work and general elections. There was no need to impose a leaders' debates commission, and there is even less need for the Prime Minister to try dictating the rules of the next election.

Why makes the Prime Minister think he has the right to impose the criteria for the next round of election debates?

[Carbon Pricing, October 31st, 2018]

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister has put forward a plan that gives massive exemptions to the country's largest emitters. He said to all those companies that had well-paid government lobbyists who could negotiate a special deal, no problem, 90% off on their carbon tax. Now we learn there is a special deal for Canada's largest emitters in the electrical generation field.

Why is it that when the Prime Minister brings forward a plan, it is individual Canadians and families that bear the brunt? Why is the Prime Minister giving a big break for polluters and a big tax for commuters?

[Carbon Pricing, October 31st, 2018]

Mr. Speaker, it is the Prime Minister's own plan that makes pollution free. He has given massive exemptions to big businesses that can afford well-paid government lobbyists. However, small and medium-size businesses that do not have that ability are left bearing the full brunt. Now we learn that he has exempted coal-fired power plants from his carbon tax.

Why is the Prime Minister making pollution free and taxing individual Canadians and families?

[Carbon Pricing, October 31st, 2018]

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister was on TV in Quebec where he said that nothing Canada could do would have an impact on climate change. Therefore, he put forward a plan that would have no impact on climate change, because he has given Canada's largest emitters a special deal. He recognizes that people who work in those companies will have their jobs threatened if they are forced to pay the full price of the carbon tax.

My question is simple. For all those employees who work in small and medium-size businesses, will they get the same deal?

[Carbon Pricing, October 31st, 2018]

Mr. Speaker, it was a long and arduous journey, but the Liberals are starting to finally reveal the truth about their carbon tax. Yesterday it was the environment minister and her parliamentary secretary who both admitted that the new Liberal carbon tax would kill jobs and make Canada less competitive. They said that it was bad for business. They admitted that it was the rationale for exempting large industrial emitters.

Will the Prime Minister recognize that it will also affect jobs in small and medium-size businesses and give those companies the exact same break?