Colin Carrie

[Questions Passed as Orders for Returns, May 5th, 2017]

With regard to contraband cigarettes and the government’s tobacco control strategy, since December 1, 2015, broken down by province and territory and by month, how many contraband or illegal cigarettes have been seized by the (i) Royal Canadian Mounted Police or (ii) Canada Border Services Agency?

[Questions on the Order Paper, May 5th, 2017]

With regard to the government’s plan to mandate plain packaging for cigarettes: what are the details of any memorandums or briefing notes on plain packaging since November 4, 2015, including (i) title, (ii) date, (iii) sender, (iv) recipient, (v) subject matter, (vi) file number?

[Ethics, April 7th, 2017]

Mr. Speaker, Peter Cleary, the Minister of Health's former senior adviser, is now a lobbyist at Santis Health, a lobbying firm that primarily lobbies her.

While the minister claims that his new employment was cleared by the Ethics Commissioner, it still does not pass the smell test. When was Mr. Cleary offered the job at Santis Health, and what files did he have access to after he was offered his new gig?

[Ethics, April 6th, 2017]

Mr. Speaker, not only does Peter Cleary's new job raise red flags, but it turns out that all of Santis Health's principals worked closely with the Prime Minister's chief of staff and principal secretary at Queen's Park. Not only are they registered to lobby the Minister of Health, they also lobby the PMO.

How can Canadians believe that a prime minister who only makes decisions that benefits his friends will not allow the PMO to be lobbied by its friends at Santis Health?

[Ethics, April 6th, 2017]

Mr. Speaker, Peter Cleary, the health minister's former senior adviser, has joined Santis Health, a registered lobbying firm that exclusively lobbies the federal government on behalf of health care clients. Not only was he her former adviser, but he was personally lobbied by Santis Health numerous times in 2017. He will now be the one lobbying the Liberals.

Does the minister think it is acceptable for one of her senior staff to immediately accept a position with a company that is actively lobbying her and her department?

[The Budget, April 6th, 2017]

Mr. Speaker, last month the Liberal government introduced its second budget.

Budget 2017 actually does more to hurt Oshawa businesses and families than it does to help. We now have a new carbon tax, increased payroll taxes, and the highest electrical rates in all of North America, while the Americans are lowering taxes and lowering the costs of doing business.

Budget 2017 nickels-and-dimes Oshawa businesses and families and makes life under the Liberals more expensive. In Oshawa, we know that in order to create jobs and grow the economy, we need to be competitive. The Liberals failed to lower small business taxes, and they did not offer any new incentives to create jobs.

Budget 2017 takes aim at Oshawa's middle-class families and students. Nothing in the budget puts money back into their pockets. The Liberal budget eliminated the public transit credit, the caregiver credit, and the family caregiver tax credit. Canadians said goodbye to the measures that hard-working middle-class students and young Canadians relied on to make their lives more affordable.

Working-class Canadians, and those wanting to join them, deserve better.

[Canadian Chiropractic Association, April 4th, 2017]

Mr. Speaker, I invite colleagues to join me in welcoming the Canadian Chiropractic Association, whose members have come to Parliament today to meet with decision-makers and raise awareness of the role that back pain and other musculoskeletal conditions play in Canada's opioid crisis.

Currently, Canada is the second-highest consumer of prescription opioids. Every year, over 2,000 Canadians die from the overuse of opioids, which accounts for 50% of all annual drug-related deaths.

Canada's new draft opioid prescribing guidelines call for all health providers to prioritize non-pharmacological alternatives before making the decision to prescribe. With back pain as a key driver of opioid prescribing and excellent evidence supporting the use of clinical alternatives as first-line therapy, Canada's chiropractors are here to talk about a better approach to pain management for Canadians.

Canadian chiropractors, as spine, muscle, and nervous system experts, play an important role in helping relieve the burden of back pain and MSK conditions.

[World Down Syndrome Day, March 21st, 2017]

Mr. Speaker, I rise in the House to inform members that today, March 21, marks World Down Syndrome Day, a day where Canadians celebrate people with Down syndrome and their families, from coast to coast to coast.

Today serves as a platform to share information about Down syndrome in order to debunk the myths and install the facts, facts that will help Canadians have a better understanding of Down syndrome.

The date March 21 is significant because it symbolizes the characteristics of 95% of the people living with Down syndrome, which is the triplication of the 21st chromosome.

I would also like to use this time to recognize the Canadian Down Syndrome Society and its board chair, Laura LaChance. They are here today, as they celebrate 30 years as Canada's only national Down syndrome organization.

I personally would like to thank the society for all the hard work and advocacy that it has provided to Down syndrome awareness in Canada over the past 30 years.

[Justice, March 9th, 2017]

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister is trying to keep at least one election promise, and he is moving forward with legislation to legalize marijuana.

Marijuana edibles, such as lollipops, brownies, cookies, and candies, are directly targeting Canadian youth and are currently the number one sales item at illegal dispensaries. How can Canadians trust the Prime Minister to protect our children under more liberalized laws when he refuses to protect them when marijuana is illegal?

[Foreign Investment, February 24th, 2017]

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister made a deal with his friends in Beijing to sell off part of our health care system, even before B.C. regional health authorities had signed off.

To be clear, the Chinese takeover made no commitment to create new jobs, absolutely no commitment to seniors on the quality of care, and no commitment to the quality of food or the credentials of the people caring for them.

Why are the Liberals selling off our health care system to Chinese billionaires?