House of Commons photoWon his last election, in 2025, with 83% of the vote.
Further COVID-19 Measures Act July 21st, 2020
Mr. Speaker, the disability tax credit application is quite arduous. I am not sure if the member has had a chance to go through that with some of her constituents, but it is a very heavy bureaucratic process and does take time.
I am wondering if she is aware of that process, the challenges that many Canadians have in applying for that credit and the fact that those who are either in the midst of applying or do not qualify are being left behind by aspects of this legislation.
Further COVID-19 Measures Act July 20th, 2020
Madam Speaker, my colleague touched on a number of very important issues.
We have heard rumours in the last number of days, like we did in the last election, about a home equity tax. There is an old adage, and I was a volunteer firefighter for a number of years, that where there is smoke, there is fire. When one sees smoke a number of times, one must see that there must be fire.
Could my colleague talk about how devastating a home equity tax would be on Canadian taxpayers?
Further COVID-19 Measures Act July 20th, 2020
Madam Speaker, it is always interesting to hear the hon. member. I am glad he acknowledged that he does not know all things about all things, so I appreciate his moment of transparency in that regard.
I would make a quick note, before my simple question, regarding the rewriting of history. I was speaking with another colleague just before coming back to the House, and we said how incredible it is that this year started out with what very well could have been the issue of the year, which was the rail blockade. For the member to suggest that the economy was moving along in the right direction prior to COVID is a rewriting of history in an epic way, so I would encourage the member to look carefully at his government's record in that regard.
One of the things I have heard from many constituents about a number of the programs, including the wage subsidy, is that they are concerned about the complexities associated with the application and the accounting. For large corporations that have accounting departments, legal teams and whatnot, it is quite straightforward: They send the application to their department and it gets all sorted out. However, for a small business, a mom-and-pop shop or those smaller entities that need the support, I do not think that increasing the complexity of the wage subsidy was the right direction, so I would certainly like to hear from the member across the way how he can reconcile the increasing of complexities in the program.
Instead of increasing the complexity, should it not have been made simpler, especially for those small and medium-sized enterprises, to access these applications with ease so the economy can get moving in the right direction again?
Ethics July 20th, 2020
Mr. Speaker, the WE Charity scandal continues to deepen. More troubling details are being revealed daily. With their filibuster in the ethics committee last week, it would seem that the Liberals are hiding something embarrassing. Every minister should be asked about their connection to WE. The transport minister, the employment minister and the foreign affairs minister have made it clear that they knew nothing about the Prime Minister's conflict of interest. The rest of cabinet, however, must come clean.
Can the minister tell us if she was aware of the Prime Minister's blatant conflict of interest?
Government Business No. 8 July 8th, 2020
Mr. Speaker, I appreciate a couple of the attitudes that the hon. member mentioned in her speech. Those are the need for creativity and the need to be positive.
When it comes to the need for creativity, I wish there was more creativity in terms of making sure that Parliament could have sat over the last three months, so that we could have had fulsome and regular debates, including private members' business and whatnot over this past number of months as this country faced an unprecedented crisis.
Certainly, when it comes to the attendance of members, I know a number of members who are not listed in the minutes as some of our other colleagues have mentioned, because they had to watch it on CPAC because of technical challenges. I wish that creativity could have been exercised in this place.
Specifically, to my hon. friend across the way, I think that unleashing that positive entrepreneurial spirit is absolutely key to a good recovery. I know there are many examples specifically within the energy sector in my constituency, such as cutting-edge environmental science that is moving our world-class energy industry forward, but we need a plan to move forward. Unfortunately, the fiscal update today did not outline a plan to move forward. It was simply about looking back.
I wonder if the member agrees with me about this: Over the last number of months, the 700-plus staff in the Department of Finance could have been working on a budget that, certainly, I would have been happy to sit this summer and debate, so that we as Canadians and as members of Parliament could see the plan for this country going forward, as opposed to a fiscal selfie that simply talks about the $350-some billion deeper in the red that we will be.
Government Business No. 8 July 8th, 2020
Madam Chair, I would speak to that previous point of order that he is specifically referencing the proceedings of what he is calling movement within this House and—
Government Business No. 8 July 8th, 2020
Madam Chair, your point is well taken and I do apologize that I get impassioned in debate.
My point of order is about referencing the attendance of members within the House. It was brought up a number of times during the previous COVID committee—
Government Business No. 8 July 8th, 2020
Madam Chair, I have heard much from my constituents about how disappointed they are that Parliament would be shut down. I cannot help but think that it is ironic whenever the leader of the fourth party in the House tweets that the government should be doing this, that or the other thing; maybe it would be able to, except the NDP voted to shut Parliament down.
My question is simple. Does the leader of the NDP regret partnering with the Liberals in shutting down Parliament?
Questions Passed as Orders for Returns May 25th, 2020
With regard to the Canada Revenue Agency: what is the number of audits performed on small businesses since 2015, broken down by year and by province or territory?
Opposition Motion—Pharmacare March 12th, 2020
Madam Speaker, my question is brief. Has the member spoken with pharmacists in his constituency about their feelings on the struggle that already exists for pharmacists to access the drugs that Canadians need?