House of Commons photoWon his last election, in 2021, with 64% of the vote.
Questions on the Order Paper May 5th, 2016
With regard to the Prime Minister's decision to hire staff to care for his children: (a) what is the total combined salary cost for all caregivers; (b) the cost of the benefit package for the caregivers; (c) the anticipated cost of all meals to be provided, per diem included; (d) the budgeted cost for all caregiver domestic travel; (e) the budgeted cost of all caregiver international travel; and (f) the cost of living accommodations for all caregivers employed by the Prime Minister?
Criminal Code May 4th, 2016
Mr. Speaker, I am absolutely outraged by this. I am going to lose my opportunity to speak to this bill on behalf of my constituents, many of whom have very impassioned views that they wanted me to rise in this House and express on their behalf.
It is very rich, coming from these folks on the other side of the House. One of the first things they did, rather than striking up a committee, was to announce that they are going to lengthen the process for discussion on something as innocuous as a pipeline, which is going to put gasoline in people's cars, by two years so that everybody in Canada who wants to talk about it can, and yet they are only going to let one in four MPs, at second reading on this bill, talk about something as important as the sanctity of human life.
This is something that the Minister of Justice is going to have to reconcile with. This is an abomination. It violates my privileges as a member of Parliament.
Ministerial Expenses May 4th, 2016
Mr. Speaker, I am not sure if she is referring to Mitch Stewart from the Obama campaign or David Axelrod from the Obama campaign. Oh no, that was the Liberals who hired those strategists.
The trade minister's trip to LA is yet another example of the Liberals being entitled to their entitlements.
Officials were confused and uncomfortable with her trip. In one instance, her deputy minister requested that the minister tweet from her own account, not the department account. In another example, officials stated in an email to remove the reference in the program to the show. They did not want people to know about it in advance.
Why is she using government officials to cover up her personal vanity?
Ministerial Expenses May 4th, 2016
Mr. Speaker, yesterday the trade minister tried to explain her vanity trip to LA.
To be clear, it was the minister who created this controversy. She scheduled herself on an HBO television show. She booked first-class flights to LA from Manila when she had a free ride home on the government jet. Then she had Time Warner book five-star accommodations for her. She left her department in the dark until the last minute and then stuck the taxpayers with a bill under the guise of business, yet not one business or trade partner from Canada attended with her.
It is time for the minister to stand in her place and give Canadians an honest answer. When will the minister finally admit that this was a personal trip for herself?
Ministerial Expenses May 3rd, 2016
Mr. Speaker, in a one-on-one sit down interview with the LA Times, the minister's California dream trip was characterized as a “brief stopover”.
LA Consul General Villeneuve noted there “seems to be a bit of confusion”.
The Global Affairs director general of communications was also confused, saying in emails, “What is she doing in LA? Besides the Bill Maher show?”
Clearly, this was a personal trip built around her TV appearance.
We know the Liberals are entitled to their entitlements, but are taxpayers not entitled to an honest answer about the real purpose for her going to LA?
Ministerial Expenses May 3rd, 2016
Mr. Speaker, the Minister of International Trade claims that her vanity trip to California was to promote Canadian business interests. However, emails released through access to information paint a very different picture.
Her staff were scrambling to put a program together and were begging LA Times journalists for an interview. Senior foreign policy and diplomacy officer Dan Pasquini stated in an email, “this visit has only just fallen in our laps”.
Why does the minister continue to claim the trip was about Canadian business interests when it was actually all about her?
Questions Passed as Orders for Returns May 3rd, 2016
With regard to the government’s decision to resettle 25 000 Syrian refugees, what is: (a) the total dollar value being disbursed to each refugee upon arriving in Canada; (b) the total dollar value the government is providing each refugee on a monthly basis; (c) the anticipated end date for the government’s financial assistance to each refugee; (d) the monthly cost for all refugee temporary housing; and (e) the cost of any and all subsidies provided to Syrian refugees once placed in permanent housing?
Ministerial Expenses May 2nd, 2016
Mr. Speaker, we know the minister rescheduled her personal vanity trip to California from October to November, after she was appointed to cabinet. Emails released through access to information indicate her staff was left in the dark until the final days of her L.A. departure. Apparently, no one but the minister knew she was going to L.A. to spend some time with Bill Maher.
When is the minister going to be honest with Canadians and admit the trip was about her and not about her job as the trade minister?
Ministerial Expenses May 2nd, 2016
Mr. Speaker, documents released through access to information indicate the Minister of International Trade left her officials in the dark about her vanity trip to California and there are significant factual inconsistencies with the answers the minister has provided about her California dream trip. She billed the taxpayer-funded junket to L.A. around her late night TV appearance.
Does the minister believe that her ministry is just an extension of her so-called celebrity journalism career?
Ministerial Expenses April 21st, 2016
Mr. Speaker, several times this week, the Minister of International Trade or her parliamentary secretary have risen in this place and told us that it was her department, and her department alone, that handled all of the arrangements for her fun-in-the-sun vanity trip to California.
However, documents indicate that it was Time Warner that booked the five-star Beverly Hills hotel rooms for her and her staffer. Something does not add up here.
The question is simple. Why should Canadians be paying for her vanity trip to Hollywood?