Colin Carrie

[Naw-Ruz, March 19th, 2018]

Mr. Speaker, I rise in the House today to recognize the beginning of the Baha'i Naw-Ruz celebration.

Canadians of the Baha'i faith in my community and across Canada will be celebrating Naw-Ruz to mark the beginning of the Baha'i calendar year. Organizations like The Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of Oshawa will be hosting celebrations to commemorate this very important event.

Just like New Year's Day, Naw-Ruz is a great opportunity for families and communities to come together in celebration of their culture, and of course their shared values. It also serves as a great reminder of the overwhelming diversity that exists in Canada.

On behalf of my Conservative colleagues, I extend my best wishes to everyone participating in a Naw-Ruz celebration. May the coming new year bring nothing but health and happiness.

Happy Naw-Ruz.

[International Trade, March 2nd, 2018]

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister blamed the Indian government for making him look bad. Here is a news flash. The PM is doing an excellent job of embarrassing us on the trade file all by himself: softwood lumber, failed; China trade, failed; U.S. trade, failed; and now the Americans have announced devastating tariffs on our steel and aluminum manufacturers. While our PM feels his job is only ceremonial, Canadians are looking for real leadership. Has the PM confirmed that Canada will be exempt from these new devastating tariffs? Jobs are at risk.

[Henry “Chick” Hewett, March 2nd, 2018]

Mr. Speaker, I rise in the House today to pay tribute to a World War II veteran we lost earlier this week. Henry “Chick” Hewett spent nearly all of his life in Oshawa. Like so many of his generation, he valiantly answered the call to defend our freedom during the Second World War.

Chick served as a navigator on a Lancaster bomber. He flew 35 missions with the Royal Air Force's 90th squadron in 1944-45, but his service did not end there. He went on to contribute immensely to the 420 Wing Oshawa and many other groups in my community.

Anyone who knew Chick had great respect and admiration for him. His boundless love for his country and for his family was well known to all. It was my privilege last year to award Chick with a Canada 150 volunteer medal for his service to Oshawa and to Canada.

There is no doubt in my mind that Chick Hewett was a true Canadian hero whose bravery will never be forgotten. May he rest in peace.

[Business of Supply, February 26th, 2018]

Mr. Speaker, I want to say how disappointed I am with the parliamentary secretary for suggesting that the member for Windsor West is doing something just to appease the Conservatives. I have worked with the member for Windsor West and I respect that member. Guess what? We can have disagreements in the House and still have respect.

Just like the members over here, the member is hearing from his constituents. Members are hearing that people are hurting. They want action from the government, and the government is ignoring the pleas from the civil servants who are hurting from this.

I want to give my colleague from Windsor West the opportunity to answer a question about leadership, because that is what this is about in the House today. It is about leadership and the lack of leadership of the government.

We see the Prime Minister going on another vacation, to India, spending eight days there with his family taking photo ops, and spending tens of thousands of dollars on costumes. Instead of dealing with the issues that are important for constituents, he is going for the photo op.

How important is it for the government to come up with a plan? Instead of asking the NDP and the Conservatives to come up with a plan, the government needs to come up with a plan because people are hurting. What comments does the member want to make about that to this member, who is abdicating all responsibility for that?

[Business of Supply, February 26th, 2018]

Mr. Speaker, I commend the NDP for bringing this forward. I see this as an extreme lack of leadership. When the system was originally reviewed, the previous government decided not to implement it because there were so many warning signs. I can list the pay modernization transition activities checklist. The government was clearly told to clear the backlog. The summary of the Phoenix testing results showed huge failure rates. The office of the comptroller general said there were huge failure rates. This was a month before implementation.

There were so many reasons for not moving this forward, but the government chose to do it. We see the Prime Minister travelling around the world. The Ethics Commissioner said clearly in her report that he sees himself simply as being in a ceremonial role, but we need leadership on this.

My colleague from Elmwood—Transcona was right when he said it is affecting people on the ground and every single MP because this is not fixed. We are hearing from our constituents and they are hurting.

What message is the government giving to Canadians by not giving our civil servants the respect they deserve, especially by not correcting this mistake that the government has made?

[Fisheries Act, February 13th, 2018]

Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague for his very important speech and his comments to the government which really does not listen.

I wonder if the member could comment on a statement by the Hon. Sergio Marchi from the Canadian Electricity Association. He is a previous Liberal cabinet minister. He said that Bill C-68 “represents one step forward but two steps back”. He went on to say:

In practical terms, this means that virtually any action, without prior authorization, could be construed as being in contravention of this Act...will result in greater uncertainties for existing and new facilities, and unduly delay and/or discourage investment in energy projects that directly support Canada’s clean growth agenda and realize its climate change objectives.

Here we have a government that is not listening to the conservation side of things, first nations, and is not listening to the business side of things.

I wonder if the member could comment on how much work has to be done in committee to get the bill right.

[Youth Employment, February 12th, 2018]

Mr. Speaker, we all know that the Prime Minister said he admires the basic dictatorship of China. We now understand some of what he means.

This past Friday, applications closed for the Canada summer jobs program. In my riding of Oshawa, the number of applicants is down by about half. This means fewer jobs for students at UOIT, Trent University, and Durham College. It means fewer summer camp options for parents already struggling to make ends meet.

All of this is happening because of the Liberals' new values test: attest to their values or be punished. If one does not agree with the ideological positions of the Liberal Party, one's organization will no longer be eligible to receive funding for a summer student. It is as simple as that.

One organization in my riding wrote to me saying, “we are desperately concerned that this government overreach is just a test run for a more insidious plan”.

This values test has no place in Canada. While the current Prime Minister talks a lot about respecting diversity, his actions tell a very different story.

[Business of Supply, February 6th, 2018]

Madam Speaker, I want to thank my colleague for his comments about this extremely important ethical issue that we are facing in the House. We know that the current government has said it wants to set the bar higher than ever before. My colleague was my seatmate before. I remember when we were first elected, we all sat down and were told the rules about what we could and could not do. Most members of the House do their best. When people make mistakes they pay back what is expected.

I think what is really bothering people about this situation is the Prime Minister's priorities. He was at a town hall, and a veteran came up to him and said he was prepared to give his life for the country and now the government was turning its back on veterans. The Prime Minister answered by saying, “Why are we still fighting certain veterans groups in court? Because they're asking for more than we are able to give right now.” That was the answer he gave, which is incredibly disturbing.

The Prime Minister took an illegal vacation, and he had money for that. What does he think he is doing by providing that example of behaviour especially toward our veterans?

[Tobacco Act, January 30th, 2018]

Madam Speaker, I enjoyed my time serving on the health committee with my colleague as well. I think he is aware that there is a tobacco strategy out there that is going to be sunsetting. At the end of the day, all of us want to put things into the public domain that would help decrease the amount of smoking. When we are talking about the regulations of these products, the vaping products and e-cigarettes, I think that everyone in the House is in full agreement.

I have one concern where I am not in total agreement with my colleague. We have heard members in the House today trying to extrapolate from the experience in Australia, saying that it would apply directly to Canada. Canada has a different situation, where even today we have a huge contraband industry. In some places up to 60% of cigarettes sold are contraband. These will be increased by going to plain packaging, so I am not sold on it as much as my colleague is.

However, I very much support this legislation going to the health committee. I trust him and the other members of the health committee to work on this legislation to get the best possible piece of legislation that we can, with the understanding that all of us would like to see less smoking, especially among our youth.

[Tobacco Act, January 30th, 2018]

Madam Speaker, I want to thank my colleague for a very important question because this is a major question that has not been addressed. The government is proposing to have all the markings taken off these cigarettes. From a consumer protection standpoint, when a person goes out to have a cigarette, it could be a contraband one or a properly manufactured one. We all know that cigarettes are bad, but we also know that contraband cigarettes are way worse. They can have all kinds of chemicals, animal feces, sawdust, and things along those lines.

My colleague has brought up a key point that will have to be addressed at committee. There are ways to make things easier to counterfeit. There are suggestions, and it just intellectually makes sense, that plain packaging would make it much easier for people to make contraband cigarettes, which would be an unintended consequence. Everybody in the House would like to see fewer cigarettes, and if they are going to be out there as a product, a safer product. However, we may end up having the exact opposite occur.

Some of these special markings should be allowed, so that it is not entirely plain packages that go out because they are too easy to counterfeit.