House of Commons photoWon his last election, in 2021, with 40% of the vote.
Budget Implementation Act, 2016, No. 2 November 1st, 2016
Madam Speaker, government members talk about the Conservative record and the size of the deficit. My colleague was here during the world economic downturn that we had to navigate through. He knows the Liberals at that time were pushing us to make the deficit even larger. The world is not in a recession like it was back then. The Liberals are talking about making investments, but what are the results of those investments over the last year? Could my colleague point to any?
Budget Implementation Act, 2016, No. 2 October 31st, 2016
Madam Speaker, as a newer MP, my colleague has a great attitude as far as working together is concerned, but there are certain realities that we have to face. Coming from Oshawa, a manufacturing community, I recognize that even though we want to work together, sometimes we have to face certain realities when we are competing with our biggest competitor right next door. The Americans do not have policies such as state or federal carbon taxes. They are not increasing their payroll taxes, as we know the government is doing. He knows as well that we are saddled in Ontario with the highest electricity rates in North America.
I am wondering about his thoughts on our international competitiveness. If we start putting these policies forward, as former prime minister Mulroney was quoted as saying over the weekend, we should not foolishly put ourselves at competitive disadvantage. Is there anything he sees coming forward in their budgets that are going to compensate for those non-competitive policies that have been put forth by the Liberals?
Transport October 28th, 2016
Madam Speaker, the Minister of Transport should ensure that Canada's transportation system creates long-term jobs and infrastructure.
The Pickering airport has the support of local chambers of commerce, boards of trades, and the highest-ranking locally elected officials, who represent over 1.5 million Canadians.
The minister received the Polonsky report on the airport in June. When will he release it, and when will he meet with local representatives so we can move forward and create the 40,000 new jobs my region needs?
Canada Pension Plan October 24th, 2016
Mr. Speaker, my colleague has really defined the problem.
I have been listening to the speeches in the House today, and they are saying that retired single females are having a real problem. Well, my colleague explained really well that what the Liberals are trying to do is not going to help anybody who is suffering today.
The challenge I am hearing with the youth in my community who are looking for jobs is that they do not trust the government to look after their savings moving forward. With the way things are going right now, with the job losses, especially out west, and in manufacturing in my community, they want to know what the solution is for the government moving forward. Is it going to end up devaluing people's savings and investments in real estate?
I want to talk to my colleague about an issue that is being missed by the Liberals and the NDP. It is about competitiveness and how this incrementalism that is being put forward in government policy is affecting our competitiveness, especially in Oshawa and for manufacturing, whether it is the highest rates for electricity in North America that we suffer from in Ontario, or this carbon tax that the government is bringing in, or now with the increase in payroll taxes.
Could the member explain to the NDP and Liberal members why this is so harmful to attracting new business to our country, when countries that we compete with do not have these burdens?
Canada Pension Plan October 24th, 2016
Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague from Drummond for his good work. I have had an opportunity to work with him in the past in committee, and I know he is very passionate about these issues.
My question for him today is regarding the following. As the Liberals move forward with these changes to the CPP, he mentioned that they really are not doing anything for seniors.
One of the challenges I have in my community, a manufacturing community in Ontario, is that we are seeing some government policy changes that are really starting to affect our competitiveness. We have in Ontario the highest electricity rates in North America. We are seeing that affecting our manufacturers. We have lost 300,000 manufacturing jobs.
The Liberals are putting in a new carbon tax, which would make us less competitive, and now with the CPP implementation at this time, it really means that anyone who wants to do work in Ontario or this part of Canada is at a disadvantage versus those who sometimes are literally 10 miles across the border, whether in Michigan, New York, or other states.
What are his ideas for actually solving the problem of some of our seniors today, while keeping in mind the necessity of Canada remaining competitive in this global marketplace?
Health October 20th, 2016
Mr. Speaker, given their Ottawa-knows-best attitude, it is no surprise that the Liberals are telling the provinces and territories how they should invest in health care. Not only do the Liberals feel it is their job to control everything health care related, but shamefully, they have even begun accusing the provinces of misspending the money they already get.
This is far from the collaborative approach that the Liberals promised Canadians and the premiers. When will the Liberals stop trying to interfere in provincial jurisdiction?
Health October 18th, 2016
Mr. Speaker, as a chiropractor, I know how important it is for Canadians to keep their spines healthy. Over 11 million Canadians suffer from at least one musculoskeletal condition every single year. In fact, low back pain and other MSK conditions account for one-third of missed work in Canada, second only to the common cold.
Our back hurts because we sit too much. Our necks ache because we spend hours staring at computer screens. As a result, millions of Canadians move through their day enduring back and neck pain, migraines, and headaches. Thanks to the good work of chiropractors, there are great ways to get relief.
This past Sunday marked World Spine Day. Our friends over at the Canadian Chiropractic Association have launched their campaign called Chiropractic Care Changed My Pain to help educate Canadians on the profound impact that chiropractors can have on their lives.
I encourage all of my colleagues to do their part for musculoskeletal health and share this invaluable information using the following link, www.chirochangespain.ca, and by using the hashtag #chirochangespain.
Paris Agreement October 4th, 2016
Madam Speaker, I want to thank the parliamentary secretary for her speech, but I do have a really important question that the previous Liberal member failed to answer. Have the Liberals actually done a cost-benefit analysis, or have they done an economic analysis of what this is going to cost Canadians, particularly in communities such as ours? She comes from a community in British Columbia that does not have a lot of manufacturing. It is extremely important that we be competitive with our international partners.
In the speech by the Ontario government, we heard minister Smitherman promise 50,000 new jobs, but later the government said it was not based on any analysis. It actually came up with that number without taking a look at it first, and it did not take into account the number of job losses due to higher energy costs.
Would the member let us know in advance? Have the Liberals actually done an analysis on this? How many jobs are going to be affected? How many of these green jobs that were once promised in Ontario are we going to get now? It did not happen before with the same policy, but how many are we going to get now? How many job losses are there going to be because of the increase in energy costs?
Paris Agreement October 4th, 2016
Mr. Speaker, my colleague comes from Ontario, too, and his speech had a lot in it that was in another familiar speech given about 10 years ago by a colleague in his brother's government. Back when the Ontario government brought in the Green Energy Act, a gentleman named Smitherman mentioned that 50,000 new jobs would be created. The member's brother said it would be difficult switching from making cars to windmills and that it was not an easy thing to transform an economy.
Unfortunately, these things did not come to pass. In 2012, Stats Canada actually said that the Green Energy Act would lead to an overall employment drop of 2,200 to 2,500 full-time-equivalent jobs. Overall employment in Ontario basically has been stagnant for the last decade with decreased jobs in mining, manufacturing, and forestry; decreased competitiveness internationally; decreased profitability; and decreased wages. In my community, we are living it in the automotive sector and we are seeing the challenges with international competitiveness.
Has the federal government actually done a cost-benefit analysis and an economic analysis of what the effects of this policy would be for Canadians, particularly in the manufacturing sector?
Paris Agreement October 4th, 2016
Madam Speaker, the misinformation coming from this member is amazing. I did not say that. What I said is that we have to show the proof.
The hon. member has a computer there. She can google “cap and trade”, “Europe”, and “scandal” and see what actually happened. What we want to do and what our government did is to take a real approach, a regulatory approach to lowering greenhouse gas emissions. What does the NDP want to do? It just wants to raise taxes even more. It wants to put unrealistic expectations on industry. Just ask Alberta.
The hon. member does not remember that her former leader, Jack Layton, wanted an 80% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. That would have killed our economy. Canada is a resource-based economy, a manufacturing-based economy, and a value-added-based economy.
The only way to get to those targets the NDP would like us to reach would be to shut down every single industry, every single home, every single method of transportation. There is not even technology out there to have solar airplanes. New Democrats are talking about technologies they think will happen in the future. This is unrealistic and we have to be very cautious, because right now the Canadian economy is fragile, and with the Liberal government's tax and spend policies, our competitiveness and place in the world are deteriorating.