Brent Rathgeber

[Public Safety, November 18th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, the House is currently debating government legislation that would increase the mandate of Canada's spy agency, giving CSIS broader powers of surveillance over Canadians. However, the Security Intelligence Review Committee, suffering from two vacancies and without a full-time chair, is already falling behind in its investigations of complaints against the agency. Even former chair Chuck Strahl stated that it might be necessary to review the role of SIRC, its resources, or both.

Does the government not believe that national security should be properly balanced with effective oversight and respect for the privacy of law-abiding Canadians?

[Taxation, November 17th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, unlike other members of the opposition, I actually support the government's intention to introduce income splitting, because I support income tax relief generally. However, I do agree with the opposition that income splitting will benefit far fewer Canadians than would generalized, broad-based tax relief.

Why does the government prefer boutique tax credits and a complicated tax code over simply lowering income tax rates for all Canadians?

[Finance, October 27th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, over year ago, in its throne speech, the government promised taxpayers balanced budget legislation.

However, with oil trading at under $81 a barrel, with Canada now involved in an important mission in Iraq, and with domestic security agencies about to get enhanced power and presumably, additional resources, is the government still on track to balance the budget this fiscal year? If so, could we please see balanced budget legislation?

[Petitions, October 8th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, the second petition is signed by 1,671 residents of Edmonton—St. Albert.

The petitioners call upon the Government of Canada to recognize the plight of Falun Gong and the Falun Dafa practitioners and the persecution they face in China. They call on the Government of Canada to press the Government of China to end their horrific persecution.

[Petitions, October 8th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, I have two petitions to present today.

The first petition is on behalf of 112 residents of Edmonton—St. Albert. The petitioners call on the Government of Canada to recognize the dire situation of Christians in Iraq and to speed the refugee process to help displaced Christians and give them safe passage into refugee status.

[International Trade, October 6th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, I support the Canada-Europe free trade agreement, but what I do not support is expensive photo ops, especially for trade agreements in danger of becoming unwound due to opposition by powerful players such as Germany.

Could the government advise the House as to how many tax dollars were used to host the lavish celebratory business reception in Toronto on September 26, and also to fly the two European officials from Toronto to Brussels on the Canadian Forces Airbus, which we now know was not even necessary and its acceptance may have actually violated the European Union's code of conduct?

[Business of Supply, September 29th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, I thank the hon. minister for a great speech. I really enjoyed it.

I agree with her that it is up to the members of the House to take ownership of the House. If we look like buffoons or disinterested on TV cameras, that reflects badly not only on the individual in the camera shot but on all of us, and I think on that we can all agree.

The member made a good argument that order paper questions and adjournment proceedings are a good avenue to pursue questions not answered in question period. However, does the member not agree that question period is the apex of the day in the House of Commons? It is when the media is watching, when the gallery is full and the House is full. That ought to be the time when the government, policing itself, ought to take ownership of the quality of answers.

[Employment, September 29th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, all Alberta MPs are hearing from their constituents regarding our unique labour shortages. In fact, the new Alberta premier, our former colleague, Jim Prentice, has indicated that changes to the temporary foreign worker program will be the first order of business he wants to discuss with the Prime Minister.

Last week the Alberta Urban Municipalities Association president, Helen Rice, implored the government to reverse the changes announced last spring, stating that Alberta MPs are not listening to Albertans and that Alberta employers desperately need access to both temporary workers and permanent immigration.

When will the employment minister and Alberta MPs start listening to Albertans and Albertans' elected representatives and reverse the ill-thought-out changes to the TFW program?

[Agriculture and Agri-Food, September 26th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, the Fair Rail for Grain Farmers Act promised that more grain would be moved and that backlogs would be eliminated.

However, CN has been fined $100,000 per week, proving that in actuality the punitive measures are not moving more grain, only raising revenue for the government.

When will the Minister of Transport acknowledge that the problems with the supply chain are much more complicated than simply blaming the railroads?

[Government Contracts, September 25th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, the government has spent more than $20 million on media monitoring contracts since December 2012, notwithstanding maintaining any army of 3,300 communications staff across all government lines.

Given that this in-house communication staff costs nearly $263 million every year, why does the government need to outsource another $20 million in media monitoring services? Has the government never heard of Google Alerts?

What do all of these people do?