Candice Bergen

[Points of Order, June 6th, 2018]

Mr. Speaker, I rise on a point of order. I would like to seek unanimous consent to table some important documents I believe the House needs to see so everybody can then have a full discussion.

We asked the Prime Minister four times today, although we have actually been asking for weeks, about the price and the cost of the carbon tax. We have documents here that my hon. colleague, the member for Carleton, has worked very hard to get, which would reveal the cost of the carbon tax to Canadians. Unfortunately they have been redacted, but it would be important I table those documents today. This is something that has been in dispute. We are getting ready to rise very soon for the summer, and Canadians need to know how much the carbon tax is going to cost.

[Carbon Pricing, June 5th, 2018]

Mr. Speaker, every time I talk to farmers they are telling me how much they miss Gerry Ritz.

Let us face the facts. Farmers do not want a carbon tax because it is going to hurt them and their families. It is going to add a cost to everything, and the minister does not seem to understand that. From the price of seed and input supplies, to simply driving into town to pick up groceries, or taking their kids to the dentist, the family farm is going to hurt. Therefore, will the minister tell farmers how much the carbon tax is going to cost their families?

[Carbon Pricing, June 5th, 2018]

Mr. Speaker, agricultural producers in Canada have spoken up loud and clear to tell the Liberals that they do not support their carbon tax. In fact, the President of the Agricultural Producers Association of Saskatchewan said that a carbon tax adds a huge cost to producers who are already facing tight margins. The agriculture minister's failure to recognize farmers' opposition to this carbon tax is troubling and is undermining his already diminished credibility.

Why can the minister not admit that he is wrong? Farmers do not want your Liberal carbon tax.

[Agriculture and Agri-Food, June 4th, 2018]

Mr. Speaker, let me be clear. Canadian farmers do not support a carbon tax. The ag minister is clearly dead wrong on that. In fact, the Western Canadian Wheat Growers said that the carbon tax is bad for farmers. It is going to put them at a huge disadvantage on the world stage.

Will the ag minister finally admit that the carbon tax is bad for farm families, and maybe while he is at it, tell those families how much the carbon tax is going to cost them?

[International Trade, June 1st, 2018]

Madam Speaker, the problem is that there were no plans built into the Liberal budget to deal with an unpredictable U.S. administration. It is like the Liberals naively thought there would be no impact on Canadians because of this unpredictability, and so they did not prepare for it.

This morning Canadian workers are worried. They are seeing tariffs that will hurt them and the beginning of a trade war. Why are steel and aluminum workers and their families going to have to suffer because the Liberal government failed to prepare for what we are seeing happen right now?

[International Trade, June 1st, 2018]

Madam Speaker, just weeks ago, the Prime Minister went on what actually looked like a premature victory tour lap of steel mills, prematurely telling workers that he had a deal with Trump, when clearly he did not. He had to have known how risky that was and that it just was not true.

Today, steel towns across the country are worried. They are concerned. What is the government going to do to mitigate the pain that this trade war with the U.S. will inflict on our steel and aluminum workers?

[International Trade, June 1st, 2018]

Madam Speaker, Canadians woke up this morning to the reality that we are in a trade war with our friend and closest ally, the United States. This trade war is not good for anyone, and the consequences will be severe. The Prime Minister knew that President Trump might do this, and so it could not have come as a shock. Although retaliatory measures are appropriate, they alone will not solve the impasse.

Just how does the government plan on getting things back on track with our friend and closest ally south of the border?

[Business of the House, May 31st, 2018]

Mr. Speaker, I have a couple of questions relating to the business that we are going to be dealing with next week. In the last couple of days the government has used time allocation a number of times for bills that it is moving ahead—not that we agree with it, but it is within the government's purview to do it.

Standing Order 78 says “A Minister of the Crown who from his or her place in the House, at a previous sitting, has stated that an agreement could not be reached...” and then it goes on to the provision. We know that the government did not speak to us in the opposition at all, not to me or the NDP, about bill C-74, but it has moved time allocation on that bill even though the Liberals have not talked to us.

My first question is this: are they planning on moving time allocation on bills that they have not even talked with us about?

My second question is also related to that matter. Regarding the business of the House, I would like to know why the government House leader is not following the custom of sitting down with the opposition to discuss priority bills that the government wants to pass or advance before the June adjournment. It is very normal practice that the government House leader would sit down and talk with us and let us know.

Other bills have been discussed previously, but because she has not done that here, there is a vacuum in the House that has led to some unnecessary chaos and unintended consequences. In fact, we have not had a House leadership meeting in nine days.

I have those two questions, and I also would like to ask the government if it could tell us what business we will be looking at this next week.

[Budget Implementation Act, 2018, No. 1, May 31st, 2018]

Mr. Speaker, in three days debate has been shut down in this House on five major bills. It is unbelievable—well, it is actually not unbelievable, because everything the Liberals said they would do while they were campaigning has been an absolute fabrication. Coming here self-righteously and saying, “We are not going to shut down debate” was just another big, phony act. It seems like everything the Liberals do is a big, phony act.

I saw the height of it last night when the minister gave notice of this time allocation. He said there had been consultations with the opposition on Bill C-74. That is outright misleading of the House and misleading Canadians. There has not been one iota, not one syllable, of consultation. Nobody has asked anybody on this side about how much time was needed for Bill C-74.

Not only are the Liberals breaking their word; now they are misleading the House on incredibly important issues. This is the carbon tax that is going to be implemented. We do not know how much it is going to cost because they will not tell Canadians, and now they are saying they have consulted with us on Bill C-74. That is not true. Why are the Liberals misleading this House?

[Budget Implementation Act, 2018, No. 1, May 30th, 2018]

moved:

Motion No. 405

That Bill C-74 be amended by deleting Clause 405.

Motion No. 406

That Bill C-74 be amended by deleting Clause 406.

Motion No. 407

That Bill C-74 be amended by deleting Clause 407.

Motion No. 408

That Bill C-74 be amended by deleting Clause 408.

Motion No. 409

That Bill C-74 be amended by deleting Clause 409.