Candice Bergen

[Christine Archibald, June 5th, 2017]

Mr. Speaker, on Saturday, the people of the U.K. were once again viciously attacked by a group of radical Islamic extremists. This follows a string of attacks in Manchester, in Kabul, and in Egypt, in the attack that targeted and killed 28 Christians.

These Islamic extremist thugs and cowards are the lowest form of humanity. They are weak and they are impotent and they are only filled with hatred. There is no excuse for their existence, and there is no excuse for their actions. As Canadians, we must remain vigilant, but we must also join with our allies to confront and destroy radical Islamic extremism and terrorism in all its forms.

This latest attack hit us here at home. A Canadian woman from B.C., Christine Archibald, was among those killed. She had moved to the U.K. to be with her fiancé Tyler. Chrissy was a social worker, dedicating her life to those who are less fortunate. She was known as generous, kind-spirited, and a bright light.

Today we honour those who lost their lives in London, and we reaffirm that light, like the light Chrissy showed, will always outshine the darkness.

[Government Appointments, June 2nd, 2017]

Mr. Speaker, and he has donated over $30,000 to the Liberal Party over the last 10 years. He forgot to mention that.

Yesterday, the Liberal House leader said that Canadians who want to be the next Ethics Commissioner can apply on a government website, but that was false. The posting for the Ethics Commissioner is nowhere to be found on the website.

The House leader is famous for avoiding questions and giving non-answers, but now she just seems to be making things up. Can the Prime Minister guarantee that when the Ethics Commissioner's job finally is posted that there will not be a Liberal Party donation link right beside it?

[Government Appointments, June 2nd, 2017]

Actually, Mr. Speaker, the only people who seem okay with this absurd level of patronage are fellow Liberals. That is because the Prime Minister is wasting no time in rewarding his Liberal friends.

Generous Liberal donations from the new president of ACOA and the languages commissioner show exactly what qualifications the Prime Minister is looking for.

Why can he not simply be honest with Canadians about his appointment process and advertise that it is only Liberals who need to apply?

[Government Appointments, June 2nd, 2017]

Mr. Speaker, Madeleine Meilleur's appointment as languages commissioner symbolizes everything that is wrong with the Prime Minister's approach, but he cannot seem to see the problem, so I will make it simple.

Meilleur is a former Liberal cabinet minister and donor with deep connections to the offices of both the Prime Minister and the heritage minister. This makes it impossible for her to objectively investigate either.

How can the Prime Minister not see that this appointment is deeply flawed?

[Business of the House, June 1st, 2017]

Mr. Speaker, today I have a couple of questions regarding the upcoming business of the House for the government House leader. First of all, could the government House leader outline the business of the House for the remainder of this week as well as her government's priorities between now and the end of the sitting in June?

Informing the opposition of the government's priorities prior to the summer adjournment is the custom in this place, so it would be particularly helpful as we are moving forward and seek to do the good work that Canadians elected us to do during extended hours.

Also, it is our understanding that the government House leader intends to table a motion to change the Standing Orders. I think the government knows full well our position and the NDP's position. We remain strongly opposed to making any changes. That being said, could the government House leader advise us if she still plans on proposing a motion to change the Standing Orders, and if so, can she assure the House that she will not use the same types of procedural tactics to shut down debate on this motion before the summer recess?

Last, I have one more question regarding the upcoming business. Could the government House leader confirm the accuracy of rumours that the Prime Minister intends to prorogue in the next few weeks? Could she confirm whether that is accurate?

[Government Appointments, June 1st, 2017]

Mr. Speaker, Francis McGuire has donated to the Liberal Party a whopping 23 times over the last 10 years, for a total of over $30,000. That is more money than either Gerry, Katie, or the Prime Minister himself have donated to the Liberal Party. We have patronage at official languages, and we have patronage at ACOA, so it raises the question: What is the minimum Liberal donation going to be for the new Ethics Commissioner to even get on its list?

[Government Appointments, June 1st, 2017]

Mr. Speaker, ACOA is the economic development agency for Atlantic Canada, and for decades it has been run by non-partisan senior civil servants. However, that is not good enough for the Prime Minister, because his top priority is rewarding his Liberal friends. The latest Liberal to be rewarded is Francis McGuire, Liberal donor, insider, and cheerleader, who is now the president of ACOA.

Can the Prime Minister not see that this blatant partisan appointment is undermining the credibility of the good work that ACOA does for Atlantic Canadians?

[Extension of Sitting Hours, May 30th, 2017]

Mr. Speaker, I guess it is not a surprise to see the government, yet again, and I think we are starting to lose count, stop members of Parliament from speaking about important issues. We have really come to expect that.

I would say on this motion that we on this side have no problem working later hours. We represent Conservatives across the country, people across the country who work hard and who many times work late hours.

We have some issues with this motion. Does the House leader think it is right to extend the day so that the government can continue with its business, but not on the days the opposition has one day to bring forward an opposition day motion? That day cannot be extended. That day is only a half day. We are not asking for anything extra. We are just asking that there be a proportional amount of time given to the opposition parties on our opposition day as the government is asking for to conduct its business. It is not unreasonable. It is not the wrong thing to ask, just like when we were are asking for collaboration on changing the Standing Orders. These are very reasonable things, but the government is being heavy-handed.

Can the House leader please tell me why the government will not support and cannot support that change to this motion?

[Government Accountability, May 29th, 2017]

Mr. Speaker, no one believes that the Prime Minister is being accountable. Even the media is not buying it. The Globe and Mail wrote, “we have the ...Liberals, whose new rules threaten to make a government less accountable, not more.” Only the Prime Minister would believe that showing up one day a week to work makes someone more accountable.

Is the Prime Minister's lack of accountability genetic, or is it something that maybe he has learned from Kathleen Wynne?

[Government Accountability, May 29th, 2017]

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister likes to talk about being accountable and transparent, but every chance he gets, he uses his power to run away from accountability in this place. Whether he is stripping the powers of the PBO or changing the rules arbitrarily so he only has to be here one day a week, he treats Parliament like it is a nuisance.

When he is here answering one day a week, will he at least answer our questions and not give us this rinse and repeat and repeat times 19 that we had to deal with last week?