Bev Shipley

[Questions Passed as Orders for Return, January 30th, 2017]

With regard to the hosting of foreign delegations since November 4, 2015: (a) which delegations were hosted; (b) what were the dates on which each delegation was hosted; (c) what was the size of each delegation; (d) what was the title of the highest ranking government official for each delegation; (e) which countries were represented by each delegation; (f) what were the total costs paid for by the Canadian government, broken down by delegation; and (g) what is the itemized breakdown of each cost referred to in (f)?

[Questions Passed as Orders for Return, January 30th, 2017]

With regard to the Prime Minister’s trip to Cuba and South America in November 2016: (a) who were the members of the delegation who visited Cuba and South America, excluding security and media; (b) what were the titles of each of the delegation members in (a); (c) what was the total cost to taxpayers of the trip, broken down by (i) accommodation, (ii) food, (iii) other expenses, including a description of each expense; (d) what were the details of the itineraries of the ministers who were on the trip, including the Prime Minister; and (e) what are the details of all meetings attended by ministers on the trip, including (i) date, (ii) summary or description, (iii) attendees, (iv) topics discussed?

[Questions Passed as Orders for Return, January 30th, 2017]

With regard to Bill C-28, An Act to amend the Criminal Code (victim surcharge): what are the details of all consultations conducted by the government with either victims’ rights groups or police associations prior to the introduction of the bill, including the (i) date, (ii) location, (iii) organization consulted?

[Budget Implementation Act, 2016, No. 2, December 6th, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, the Liberals always talk about the debt. We paid off $40 billion. We gave them a surplus of $3 billion, which they blew through, plus the slush fund of $6 billion. They have not created a single full-time job.

The other part of it is rural infrastructure. The Liberals just took money from the rural infrastructure fund to put into an infrastructure bank, which is actually an insurance program to protect foreign investors.

Could the member comment about the concerns in rural Canada about infrastructure, which we likely are not going to get money for?

[November 28th, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, what a great speech. It is actually one of the ones that makes a lot of sense.

My understanding is that this is a cost, not only to the employer but also to the employee, costing them somewhere up around $1,100, or maybe $800, each. Could he help us understand? For most people who are paying into it, particularly those who are just getting out of university, starting their family, buying a home, how long would it be before they actually get any benefit from it?

[November 28th, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, in terms of costing, my colleague touched on health care. I have to remind him that in terms of preventive health care, all of us will agree that this is a cost that comes from businesses and individuals to the provincial government. The Conservatives gave the provinces a 6% increase per year. The Province of Ontario used to brag about cutting health costs to 3%. I am wondering what the member's comments would be on the Liberal health minister in Ontario who did not use the money we gave him to supply health care and preventive medicine.

[Small Business, November 23rd, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, I want to give a shout-out to all the amazing small businesses in my riding of Lambton—Kent—Middlesex. Every day they work hard and greatly contribute to our communities.

Two young hockey-player entrepreneurs, Matt Laberge and Dan Black, created Clap Balm, a hand deodorizer that gets the smell of hockey gloves off players' hands. They saw a hole in the market for a necessary product and took a shot at it, with great success. This is just one example of the ingenuity and initiative I see all the time in our small towns and rural areas.

My colleagues and I continue to encourage the government to stop raising taxes on small businesses. Rather, assist these people who provide so much in our rural communities.

[Petitions, November 21st, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, the citizens of Canada acknowledge that current impaired driving laws are really too lenient. In the interest of public safety, the petitioners want to see tougher laws. They want to see the implementation of new mandatory minimum sentences for persons convicted of impaired driving causing death and they want the Criminal Code of Canada changed to redefine the offence of impaired driving causing death as vehicular manslaughter.

[Petitions, November 21st, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, I have two sets of petitions.

First, ultrasounds have been used in Canada to tell the sex of an unborn child so that expectant mothers can choose to terminate the pregnancy if the unborn child is a girl.

Polls have suggested that 92% of Canadians believe that sex selective pregnancy terminations should be illegal.

As we know, there are some 200 millions girls missing worldwide, and gendercide has created a global gender imbalance plus violence against girls and human trafficking of girls.

The undersigned petitioners are asking members of Parliament to condemn discrimination against girls occurring through sex selective pregnancy termination.

[Budget Implementation Act, 2016, No. 2, November 15th, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, the hon. member talks about how the Liberals changed things and how they put the question forward. They have a backhanded way of doing things. He listed all of the ways in which they think they may have actually helped people. Then they turn around and bring in a Canada pension plan increase, an increase in EI premiums, and a carbon tax that will increase the taxes paid by Canadians.

They will not reduce the business tax on businesses, but who is it that business people in small businesses hire? It is the people. Therefore, the little they give on the one side they then scoop from these people in another way with their backhanded ways.

Who will be most affected by the carbon tax? It is the seniors, the low and middle-class income people and, as I live in a rural riding, the farmers. Every time they fill the combine up it will cost them another $100. That is not good for the middle-class income people or for Canadians.