House of Commons photoWon his last election, in 2021, with 35% of the vote.
Business of Supply November 28th, 2023
Mr. Speaker, it is not that I am always opposed to the member for Winnipeg North, but I think it is inappropriate for him to claim to know what another colleague is going to speak of in the future. Maybe he has a Ouija board on his desk.
To contradict my Conservative colleague, it is not about the carbon tax. It is about the instruction to the unelected, unaccountable Senate, which is full of bagmen and friends.
Business of Supply November 28th, 2023
Mr. Speaker, I appreciate that, and in that I do not actually deal with the unelected Senate on a regular basis, is it “crony” or “pal”? Is there a particular term that I should be aware of?
Business of Supply November 28th, 2023
Mr. Speaker, the issue of Conservative hypocrisy in the Senate is one of the reasons the Canadian people threw Brian Mulroney out. They gave him the bum's rush after he imposed eight senators to force through the most hated tax of all time, the GST. Canadians were stuck paying for these dudes until they were 75. They cannot be fired. The price of a Conservative sock puppet is enormous.
Stephen Harper came in and said he was going to reform the Senate. What did he do?
It is just one long list of pals and cronies. Let us talk about Larry Smith. Larry Smith gets appointed to the Senate, and he is outraged when he finds out how much money he is going to make. He says it is “a dramatic, catastrophic pay cut” that he had to serve the Canadian people. This is how out of touch the guy is. He then runs for office. Needless to say, the Canadian people want nothing to do with Larry Smith, so he comes in third. This man is unfit for public service. Stephen Harper puts him back in, a loyal sock puppet, and we are stuck with this guy until he is 75. He cannot be fired. He does not have to show up for work. All he has to do is be loyal to the Conservative Party.
When I see the member who is living in Stornoway, a 19-room mansion, talk about the common people and the Senate, I am amazed. Does he not meet with them every week and know exactly how entitled and how out of touch and what cronies of the Conservative Party they are?
Points of Order November 28th, 2023
Madam Speaker, on the same point of order, it felt like my colleague had verged well into the area of debate in order to defend the Conservative record.
The facts that have been raised here are very clear. The Conservatives are the only party that voted against the Canada-Ukraine free trade deal. That is—
Business of Supply November 28th, 2023
Madam Speaker, people often say flamboyant and outrageous things in the House, but today I would like to make an apology. I would like to apologize to the leader of the Conservative Party because I have accused him of never having a job. Apparently, he has had a paper route.
However, that is not fair of me to say because he did have a job. When Stephen Harper needed someone to defend the secret bribery of $90,000 to Mike Duffy, of all the members of the Conservative caucus, nobody wanted to take the job, but the present leader of the Conservative Party did not mind defending Mike Duffy, who might be the worst choice for senator since Caligula appointed his horse. He could be on a list of all the other Conservative hacks, bums and friends of the party who were there to raise money for Stephen Harper.
With the Conservatives now being led by the leader of the Conservative Party, the man who defended a secret $90,000 payout to someone who was facing bribery and fraud charges, it shows what the Conservative Party is up to. I am amazed that he comes here with the gall to talk about democracy.
There is nothing democratic about appointing bagmen such as Leo Housakos or Larry Smith, who was so bad as a candidate that Conservatives appointed him to the Senate. He ran in the election and lost, coming in third, and then Stephen Harper put him in the Senate for life.
I would ask my hon. colleague what it is about the Conservatives and their use of the Senate for friends, cronies, bums and corrupt allies, who the leader of the Conservative Party will stand up to defend day after day after day.
Business of Supply November 28th, 2023
Madam Speaker, it is amazing to hear the hypocrisy of Conservatives talking about the Senate and democracy. They pick bums such as Larry Smith, who could not get elected, came in third, but got appointed to the Senate twice, as well as Leo Housakos, party bagman, who gets paid for life.
What is even more astounding is that this party had the gall to stand in this House and vote against a trade deal with Ukraine. Meanwhile, we see Tucker Carlson's pro-Putin propaganda, Republican pro-Putin propaganda, the Danube Institute and Stephen Harper pro-Putin propaganda. The Conservatives claimed it was on carbon pricing, which Ukraine has had for years.
The fact that the Conservatives would use carbon pricing to undermine Ukraine's war effort to support their right-wing hack friends in the United States is the height of hypocrisy for the Conservative Party.
Fall Economic Statement November 21st, 2023
Mr. Speaker, the story of northern Ontario is that we gave away the gold, the timber and the hydro, but the greatest resource we gave away, year after year, was the talent of our young people. That is why the investment in education was so fundamental.
We saw the destruction of Laurentian University through the exploitation of the CCAA and the destruction of the Franco-Ontarian programs, the indigenous programs and the midwifery program for northern women. New Democrats said we had to deal with it. We called for an emergency debate in the House. New Democrats brought forward legislation to call for the loopholes to be closed and to protect public institutions.
Finally, we are seeing the Liberals recognizing that there is a problem with the exploitation of the CCAA against post-secondary institutions. They have not included in their fall economic statement the need to protect all public institutions so that we do not have Danielle Smith, Premier Moe or Doug Ford putting hospitals and other institutions under CCAA to strip them, destroy them and take them apart.
Is my colleague willing to work with the New Democrats? We are going to fight to ensure that what happened at Laurentian University is never done again to a public university or any kind of public institution. Public investment will remain, and opportunities will remain in this age of privatization and corporate backroom deals.
Small Business November 21st, 2023
Mr. Speaker, we are getting the fall economic update from the government today.
Let me give an update from small businesses in northern Ontario. First, they were hammered by the pandemic. Then they were hammered by high inflation. Now they are being hammered by Liberal indifference. If the Prime Minister does not change course on the CEBA repayments, many of our businesses are going to be forced to close their doors in January.
Will the Prime Minister do the right thing and extend the loan repayment deadline so that our small businesses can get back on their feet?
National Security Review of Investments Modernization Act November 9th, 2023
Mr. Speaker, I listened with great interest to my hon. colleague on the issue of critical minerals as I represent Timmins—James Bay, which has some of the greatest base metal and critical mineral deposits anywhere.
There is a number of issues that we need to face in Canada in terms of being able to compete in this fast-moving energy transformation. Number one is making sure that that supply chain is able to benefit our economy. We know that other international economies are desperate to get metals.
The other issue is strategic. That is about whether or not we put a lens of sustainability on, for example, metals like cobalt and lithium that are controlled by China and that are being exploited in really brutal conditions, for example, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. We need to actually have a supply chain that says we can do it sustainability, that we can do it with good jobs, that we can do it with investment, and that we can do it to build up a Canadian-North American economy, as opposed to simply going to the bottom line of what is happening in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, with Chinese control and horrific human rights abuses.
I would like to hear what my hon. colleague has to say on that.
National Security Review of Investments Modernization Act November 9th, 2023
Mr. Speaker, I am rising on a point of order. Obviously we struck a nerve about the $1,800 bottle of wine and the Danube Institute, but what the member is saying is a falsehood.
If the hon. member has evidence, I would have him submit it, if they will submit who actually paid for the $1,800 bottle of wine that the member for Cumberland—Colchester drank. If he wants to submit evidence, we would ask the Conservatives to give the evidence of who paid for all those drinks.