Colin Carrie

[Extension of Sitting Hours, May 28th, 2019]

Mr. Speaker, my colleague pointed out that there are legitimate tools the government needs to use in order to pass legislation. He has talked about time allocation, extending the hours and things like this, but the frustration on the opposition side is that, if we count them, there are 20 bills the government wants to move forward and there are only 20 days remaining.

He brought up the example this morning of Bill C-81 regarding accessibility, saying there has been some obstruction on this side. I was in the House earlier today and would have liked an opportunity to speak to the bill. As many people in the House know, I have a son who has been diagnosed on the spectrum, and it is a very important bill. Sixty amendments were put forward at committee, and the government chose to include only three. Our job is to make it a better bill, and if we can do that, all of us win. I commend the government for bringing this legislation forward, because it is important legislation, and I will be supporting it. If it is not a perfect bill, it is a start, and we can move forward with that.

There are 20 days remaining, and there are 20 bills. Does my colleague really think there is enough time to properly debate these 20 bills in the next 20 days? Does he not think the government should have had better organizational skills to get these important bills passed?

[Extension of Sitting Hours, May 28th, 2019]

Mr. Speaker, my colleague has been here quite some time. We were both elected in 2004.

He quite rightly pointed out some important pieces of legislation. I have a feeling of frustration on this side of the House because the role of opposition is to work to make legislation better, but also to have time to debate it. This is all about that. We can go back and forth.

During our mandate, 97 bills received royal assent. With the present Liberal government, something like 60 bills have received royal assent. It has been the worst functioning government since the 1930s.

There is some really important legislation and we are now stuck with only a few days left in the House to get them put forward and debated properly.

Even with the increased time for sitting, does my colleague think we have enough time left to properly debate these bills? Does he think Canadians are starting to pay attention? The Liberal government is obsessed with selfies and its image, but it is not doing the work that Canadians expect it to do? Could my colleague please comment on that?

[Royal Canadian Mounted Police Act, May 17th, 2019]

Mr. Speaker, the hon. member for Scarborough—Guildwood did bring up a little bit of an issue with regard to the partisan environment here in the House. That is the way it works, but he seems to be really frustrated that we in the opposition are not even able to ask questions and debate in the House, which I think is a fundamental principle that we have here. The reality is that the member has been here a long time, or as some of his constituents would say, “a very long, long, long, long time”, so he knows how it works. He knows that it is the House leader who brings this forward.

Frankly, the member makes it sounds as if the government is very busy, but at the same time in our mandate our previous Conservative government had passed over 50% more bills. To put it bluntly, as far as getting bills that receive royal assent is concerned, the Liberals have passed 63, while at the same time in our mandate it was 97. That tells us that the government is not very efficient.

Why did the Liberals wait three and a half years to put this through, and put it through with less than 20 days? We do have the right to debate this legislation, and I do have a concern about it. The union was not consulted in the drafting of this bill. They were not even consulted about the conceptualization, and I have to say that I think Canadians really respect those men and women with Canadian border services.

My question to the member is this. If the Liberals have not listened to the men and women on the ground who are going to be affected by this, at this stage of the game, how are they going to allow them to have input in this very important piece of legislation if he just wants to push it through and the voices of their representatives cannot be heard here in the House?

[Royal Canadian Mounted Police Act, May 17th, 2019]

Mr. Speaker, with all due respect, this is a last-ditch effort to get a piece of legislation through that was promised over three and a half years ago. It is incomprehensible for me, being from Oshawa, why the Liberal government did not even bother to consult the union and union members who this piece of legislation would be affecting.

My colleague from the NDP was quite right. We owe a debt of gratitude to the men and women who stay at our borders to keep us safe and who make sure that it is run efficiently. This is a testament to how poorly the current government is running. At this stage of the game with our government, there were 50% more bills passed. In other words, right now, the Liberals have about 63 bills that have received royal assent, and at the same time, we had 97. Here they are bringing this important piece of legislation in at the last minute.

First, why did the Liberals not bother to consult with the union? Second, if this is not passed, who is it going to help before the next election, because the timeline is very short?

[Government Policies, May 16th, 2019]

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister has failed to deliver for Oshawa.

He promised an open and transparent process for major decisions, yet he refuses to release the business plans for the Oshawa harbour as well as the Pickering Airport, a project which could create up to 50,000 much-needed jobs for our communities.

He promised a unique environmental plan and carbon taxes that would bring the jobs of the future to Canada. Instead of building the cars of the future in Oshawa, GM will now be building them in the United States where it is more internationally competitive.

The Prime Minister also broke his solemn promise to veterans to settle lawsuits out of court. He actually said that they were “asking more” than he could give.

Also, for one who has served his country bravely for nearly 40 years in the Royal Canadian Navy, the Prime Minister will drag the person's reputation through legal proceedings. However, become a convicted terrorist and he will gift a $10.5 million out-of-court settlement.

The fact is that the Prime Minister is simply not as advertised.

[Oceans Act, May 13th, 2019]

Madam Speaker, I am really impressed with my colleague's knowledge on this topic. I wanted to see if he would engage with me, because the Liberals are always saying that they would like to consult, but obviously, in this situation, that is not a priority.

Even as the Liberals brag about being the party of science, as the member pointed out, I believe that with the Liberals wanting to move forward with ministerial power, the minister could actually just draw a circle in the middle of the water and say, “Nothing can happen here.”

Could the member discuss the idea of this hypocrisy but also the uncertainty it creates and the frustration it is causing in different communities?

[Criminal Records Act, May 6th, 2019]

Mr. Speaker, if we look back, the whole idea for legalization was to take marijuana out of the hands of kids and the profits away from organized crime, which we have not seen happening so far. In Oshawa, we had a horrible situation of kids taking marijuana edibles to school, and it was a big issue. The concern a lot of us have is that the Liberals have fumbled this legislation all the way through.

With this piece of legislation for these pardons, what does my colleague think about the question of equity, as previous questioners have asked? There are low-income Canadians and Canadians who can afford to pay for pardons. What does he think about using Canadian taxpayers' dollars exclusively for these pardons, when in many cases these convictions were plea bargained down from more serious offences? Does he not see that there could be some potential danger to the public by giving across-the-board pardons to people?

[Business of Supply, May 1st, 2019]

Madam Speaker, my colleague from Essex points out some extremely important things about this debate. It is a non-partisan debate. This is about Canadians on the ground who are losing, in many cases, their entire livelihoods. I think all of us here are ashamed at the weak response of the Prime Minister and the Liberal government.

The Prime Minister stated before the election that he admired the basic dictatorship of China. This seems to be holding him back from any action. We have been asking for an emergency debate every day for the last several weeks. The Liberals keep blocking it by moving to the orders of the day. Finally, we get this debate and we only get one hour to debate this important issue. That is just shameful.

How dangerous is this weak, dithering approach by the Prime Minister to the future of Canadian trade? When does the member think the government will actually take action?

[Communities with Brooms, April 30th, 2019]

Mr. Speaker, I rise to thank over 100 Oshawa residents, community representatives, business people, students and, yes, even a few politicians who joined me for Oshawa's 11th annual Communities with Brooms downtown cleanup on April 25.

As members of the House are aware, the past few months have not been easy times for my community. However, even in these uncertain economic times, Oshawa continues to prove that ours is a city filled with heart, spirit, hope and unstoppable civic pride.

Through their efforts, these volunteers, supported by our mayor and city, city councillors, Regional Chair Henry, MPP French, two rotary clubs, the John Howard Society, the downtown BIA, KX96 FM and my office, have made real contributions to beautifying our city's downtown.

On behalf of all members of the House, I offer my sincere appreciation to each of the volunteers and organizations that work so hard to improve and beautify our beloved city of Oshawa.

[Automotive Industry, April 12th, 2019]

Mr. Speaker, in November, the Prime Minister promised that he would have a plan for saving jobs in Oshawa. Instead of saving jobs, we have seen more job losses announced in the automotive sector, this time in Windsor.

The Prime Minister pretended to stand up for jobs at SNC-Lavalin to the point of political interference in a criminal trial. Those jobs were not even at risk. Meanwhile, we stand to lose 15,000-plus jobs in Durham Region and Windsor stands to lose over 1,500 jobs.

Instead of just acting, why can this Prime Minister not act when there is a real crisis?