Bob Benzen

[Justice, March 22nd, 2019]

Mr. Speaker, when the Prime Minister leaned on the former attorney general to cut a deal for SNC-Lavalin, he justified his actions by claiming that many jobs would be lost and the company would move from Montreal if there was no DPA. For weeks the Prime Minister has repeated his mantra that what some perceived as interference in a criminal prosecution was in fact an effort to protect threatened jobs. However, like so much of what the Prime Minister has said in relation to this scandal, we know that was not true.

On Wednesday, the CEO of SNC-Lavalin directly contradicted the Prime Minister when he said that the company's jobs in Canada were never threatened.

The Prime Minister is hemorrhaging credibility. Cabinet ministers are resigning and MPs are leaving the Liberal Party rather than participate in his cover-up.

There is still time to make this right. Will the Prime Minister do so today by allowing the member for Vancouver Granville and the member for Markham—Stouffville to finally speak their full and unfettered truth?

[Taxation, February 26th, 2019]

Mr. Speaker, amid a mounting list of failures, the Prime Minister's 2019 carbon tax is just the beginning of what he wants Canadians to pay. The Prime Minister's carbon tax will add 11 cents to the cost of every litre of gasoline and hundreds more to heat a home.

Despite fake assurances that it will not add up to much, if anything, independent experts disagree with the Prime Minister on the cost of his carbon tax to Canadian families, with some estimates as high as almost $100 per month more, just for doing family things like working, playing and living, and at a time when Canadians say they cannot afford it.

Worse, the Liberal tax will go even higher. The Prime Minister may shrug, as he has never had to worry about money, but another $100 matters to families trying to make the household budget last to the end of the month.

Canadians should not have to pay for the Liberals' failure or just to get by. That is why Conservatives are fighting for better. In October, Canadians can choose Conservative leadership to get ahead.

[Questions on the Order Paper, December 10th, 2018]

With regard to the government’s Expert Panel on Sustainable Finance: why are there no panel members from any province or territory outside of Ontario and Quebec, as of October 24, 2018?

[Carbon Pricing, October 5th, 2018]

Mr. Speaker, resistance is growing to the Prime Minister's plan to risk our economy by having a federal carbon tax.

Manitoba is the latest province to say it will no longer tolerate the Liberals' intrusion into its policy-making and will focus on its made-in-Manitoba climate and green plan instead. Ontario premier Doug Ford is in Calgary today for a "Scrap the Carbon Tax" rally. He has been leading the charge against the tax by outing it as "the absolute worst tax for Canadian families, Canadian businesses, and the Canadian economy” and one that “does nothing for the environment". That message resonates in Alberta, where Jason Kenney will repeal the tax when he becomes premier.

Consensus is building across Canada for what Conservatives have said all along: that the Liberal carbon tax is nothing more than a cash grab to finance the Prime Minister's out-of-control spending, and that the Liberals must come clean on its real costs.

[Natural Resources, September 28th, 2018]

Mr. Speaker, this summer the Prime Minister failed to get construction started on the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion. He could use legislation to deliver this pipeline, but instead he is content to claim helplessness in face of the forces lined up against it and content to allow the project to sit idle.

Since the Prime Minister has no plan, will he commit today to adopting the step-by-step path presented by the leader of Canada's Conservatives and finally get this project built?

[Heritage Park Historical Village, May 30th, 2018]

Mr. Speaker, my riding, Calgary Heritage, shares its name with one of western Canada's great attractions, the Calgary Heritage Park Historical Village. The park brings the history of Canada's west to life through recreations that chronicle the frontier, from the 1800s to the middle of the last century.

From forts and trading posts, first nations encampments, and rail lines, to a replicated 19th-century prairie village and the popular Gasoline Alley Museum, life in the west as it was once lived unfolds with the help of 1,800-plus volunteers.

The park just recently announced a new project to honour the pioneers of Alberta's oil patch while exploring the past, present, and future of our energy sector. Heritage Park is truly a grassroots operation, and one that enhances our sense of community.

I urge all Canadians to visit it when they travel to Calgary, and see first-hand why this remarkable place is rightly called Canada's largest living history experience.

[Natural Resources, May 11th, 2018]

Mr. Speaker, media reports say the Prime Minister will not guarantee legislation he promised to re-assert federal authority over the Trans Mountain pipeline and get this project built. Legislation is now only being called an option.

With few sitting days left before Kinder Morgan's deadline, it is now clear the Prime Minister only intended his promise to mislead Canadians that he was taking action to get himself out of a jam.

My question is for the Prime Minister. Is this another Liberal broken promise, and if not, then where is the legislation?

[Calgary Zoo, May 11th, 2018]

Mr. Speaker, one need not travel to Madagascar to watch lemurs leap, nor go to Antarctica to see penguins plunge. These creatures and many more thrive at the Calgary Zoo, where lasting contributions to species conservation are made every day.

The zoo is renowned for its work in protecting endangered species. Its biologists specialize in the science of species reintroduction and have restored black-footed ferrets to Canada, reintroduced nationally extinct swift foxes, bolstered the greater sage grouse population, and won awards for protecting endangered whooping cranes.

Just this week, the Calgary Zoo also became the place to watch pandas play. The pandas Er Shun and Da Mao and their cuddly cubs have taken up residence in a special habitat designed to meet their every need.

Canada is fortunate to have the experts at the Calgary Zoo contributing to species recovery teams and working toward wildlife conservation at home and around the world.

[Canada Elections Act, February 7th, 2018]

Madam Speaker, I think that there are different ways to get donations. Yes, every Canadian citizen could write a cheque for $50 and send it in, no problem, but if the way a party is getting money is by giving personal time with the Prime Minister or a cabinet minister for 10 minutes or half an hour, then that is special access. This is not sending in a cheque for $100.

The governing party could easily get tons of money just in simple cheques. Nobody asks questions and there is no personal time with these people. However, when one has access to the most powerful person in Canada, the Prime Minister, because one is a wealthy citizen and has given cash, it can create issues that we have to be very concerned about, because it is unequal access. It is extra access, and one could easily influence the Prime Minster's decisions with that.

[Canada Elections Act, February 7th, 2018]

Madam Speaker, to some extent that is true. The incumbent always has the advantage. I mean, that is a given. If one is an incumbent in one's riding, one is well known, and has the name and the power right now. Therefore, in that sense, in theory, yes, the governing party should have an advantage.

However, the problem with this cash for access is that we are dealing with government officials, either the Prime Minister or a cabinet minister, who has the power to make decisions that affect us all. That is an important distinction we have to make. It is not as if we are just talking about a backbencher. We are talking about the people who make the decisions.

Why do the Prime Minister and the cabinet ministers have to put all of their assets into a blind trust while other backbenchers do not? It is because they have so much power. Therefore, if one has access to them simply because one paid money, it could be a problem. That is what we are worried about.