David Tilson

[Home and Garden Shows, March 1st, 2018]

Mr. Speaker, members may have noticed that there is a hint of spring in the air this week. In Dufferin—Caledon, that is a sign that our local home shows are right around the corner.

In both Caledon and Orangeville, our home shows offer local businesses the opportunity to showcase their products and services to constituents thinking about sprucing things up this spring.

In Orangeville, the 2018 Lions Home & Garden Show runs at the Orangeville Fairgrounds on April 6, April 7, and April 8. Over 200 booths will be showcasing everything to do with home improvement, lawn and garden, and more.

In Caledon, the Chamber of Commerce's Spring Home Show 2018 runs at the Albion Bolton Community Centre on April 20, April 21, and April 22. The show is a “shop local” experience, where constituents can find great deals on items related to their home and garden living.

I encourage all residents of Dufferin—Caledon to come check out the Orangeville and Caledon home shows in April.

[Petitions, February 26th, 2018]

Mr. Speaker, I have a petition from a number of residents of my riding of Dufferin—Caledon. They are concerned that Canadian refugee sponsorship groups have applications in progress at the Canadian visa office in Israel to sponsor refugees, and some of them have been held by the visa office for two years without any progress or notification.

They are asking for a number of things, one of which is for the Government of Canada to immediately act in response to the impending humanitarian disaster in Israel, as Israel plans to forcibly deport thousands of asylum seekers beginning in March 2018.

[Business of Supply, February 6th, 2018]

Mr. Speaker, it appears that the Prime Minister has no intention of paying the money back. If other members of Parliament fall into a similar role where they have misspent taxpayers' money, has a precedent now been set that, because the Prime Minister has no intention of paying it back, no one can?

[Tobacco and Vaping Products Act, January 30th, 2018]

Mr. Speaker, I listened to the debate on the topic throughout today, particularly my colleague's comments, and there appears to be a conflict between Bill C-45, which is the cannabis bill, and Bill S-5.

Governments, provincial and federal, as well as organizations have spent a lot of money trying to stop people from smoking. We get into vaping, contraband, and a lot of these topics. All of these things are out of fear for our health, whether we are talking about illegal contraband, packaging, or health, when people go to a doctor or have surgery and have to sign something saying whether they smoke and when they stopped smoking.

In Bill C-45, it is almost like we are encouraging people by legalizing cannabis. The provincial governments will be selling different types of products or sending it out to have other people do it. Is there a major contradiction in the philosophy of these two bills?

[Salaries Act, December 12th, 2017]

Madam Speaker, first of all, I want to congratulate the member for his very thoughtful comments, which support why a Conservative caucus will not be supporting this bill.

The effect of the bill is that five members of this House are going to be getting a $20,000 Christmas bonus. It is not just a bonus; it is a $20,000 raise. My constituents will be horrified. Will his?

[Access to Information Act, December 5th, 2017]

Madam Speaker, on a point of order, the member is giving an interesting speech, but I do not think there is quorum.

[Petitions, November 28th, 2017]

Mr. Speaker, the second petition is from another group of people who are concerned with the proposed amendment to the Criminal Code that would eliminate the protection for faith leaders and malicious interference with funerals, rituals, and other assemblies of any faith. The petitioners ask the Government of Canada to abandon any attempt to repeal section 176 of the Criminal Code, and to stand up for the rights of all Canadians to practise their religion without any fear of recrimination, violence, or disturbance.

[Petitions, November 28th, 2017]

Mr. Speaker, I have been asked to present two petitions to the House of Commons this morning.

The first petition is from a number of people who are concerned with the payment to Omar Khadr and the apology that was issued to him. The petitioners have asked the Government of Canada to revoke its apology issued to Mr. Khadr on July 7, 2017 and to seek to redirect any settlement payments attached to that apology to Sergeant Speer's widow and Mr. Morris for their pain and suffering caused at the hands of Mr. Khadr.

[Citizenship Ceremony, November 27th, 2017]

Mr. Speaker, on November 16, I had the honour to attend a citizenship ceremony for 33 new Canadians from 11 different countries organized by the Orangeville District Secondary School and the Orangeville Legion Colonel Fitzgerald Branch 233.

My compliments to principal Pat Hamilton, Department head Paul Nelson, Janine Grin, and Kathy Trimble for bringing together the student body resulting in such an impressive ceremony.

I thank the Orangeville Legion President Chris Skalozub and the Legion’s colour party for the tremendous effort they all undertook in making this ceremony memorable.

In addition, I would like to thank the senior band, Honour Stahl for her poetry reading, the ODSS choir, the yearbook class, Pommelien Thijs' beautiful rendition of O Canada, and the students who formed the flag-waving human tunnel that celebrated each new citizen. It was a tremendous experience.

Finally, I would like to thank former principals Bill Lenny and the late Darryl Kirkland, under whose leadership this initiative began.

Well done, ODSS.

[Questions Passed as Orders for Returns, November 1st, 2017]

With regard to the government’s commitment to land government-assisted and privately-sponsored Syrian refugees in Canada: (a) what is the total number of government-assisted Syrian refugees who landed in Canada between November 4, 2015, and June 30, 2017; (b) what is the total number of privately-sponsored Syrian refugees who landed in Canada between November 4, 2015, and June 30, 2017; (c) what was the total cost to process applications and provide security clearance for those streams of applicants, to date; (d) how much did the government spend on (i) transportation, (ii) food, (iii) accommodation, (iv) healthcare, (v) clothing, (vi) furnishings, (vii) language instruction, (viii) miscellaneous or incidental allowances, (ix) supervision and support services, (x) all other associated costs related to Syrian refugees landed between November 4, 2015, and June 30, 2017; (e) with regard to both government-assisted and privately-sponsored Syrian refugees who have landed in Canada between November 4, 2015, and June 30, 2017, how many of these refugees are 14 years of age and younger and how many are over the age of 14; (f) of those Syrian refugees who have landed in Canada between November 4, 2015, and June 30, 2017, from all streams, how many are employed either full-time or part-time; (g) of those Syrian refugees from all streams, how many have accessed social assistance programs, including social housing, since arrival and how many continue to do so; and (h) with regard to both government-assisted and privately-sponsored Syrian refugees who have landed in Canada between November 4, 2015, and June 30, 2017, how many have either (i) returned to Syria voluntarily, (ii) been removed by the Canada Border Services Agency?