House of Commons photoLost his last election, in 2019, with 39% of the vote.
Questions Passed as Orders for Returns March 29th, 2018
With regard to the Lester B. Pearson Building, since November 4, 2015: (a) on what dates were employees sent home due to a lack of heating, cooling, or other workplace environment issues; (b) for each date in (a), what was the issue which caused employees to be sent home; (c) approximately how many employees were sent home on each date in (a); and (d) what percentage of employees whose normal workplace is the Lester B. Pearson Building does each number in (c) represent?
Firearms Act March 27th, 2018
Mr. Speaker, repeatedly the Liberals have maintained that this legislation would not recreate a gun registry. They say it is not a backdoor reassertion of the gun registry, yet we see in this legislation the word “registrar” and the words “reference number” a total of 28 times.
If there are no concerns about this being another registry, why did the Department of Justice recently ask for some clarification? It is raising concerns about the potential on reasonable search and seizure of the private information of law-abiding citizens. If it is not a concern, why would the Department of Justice have raised this red flag?
Elmira Maple Syrup Festival March 21st, 2018
Mr. Speaker, it is officially spring in Canada, and that means it is time for the annual Elmira Maple Syrup Festival, the world's largest one-day maple syrup festival, held this year on April 7.
Members of the House have already received my invitation, but let me repeat it here and now. I invite them to please join me in enjoying some of the thousands of pancakes served with the world's best maple syrup. Mr. Speaker, I would be happy to serve you personally.
The festival is filled with great food, golden maple syrup, sugar bush tours, pancake flipping contests, and many other activities for all ages. Last year, over $55,000 was raised in support of 32 local charitable and not-for-profit organizations.
Springtime, maple syrup, flowers pushing through the snow are all signs of new life. As we celebrate spring and approach Easter, let us remember the life, death, and resurrection of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, his perfect example of sacrificial love and his offer of new life.
I wish my constituents in Kitchener—Conestoga and all my colleagues in the House a happy and hope-filled Easter.
The Budget March 20th, 2018
Madam Speaker, many times during my colleague's speech, he talked about championing diversity, valuing diversity, defending diversity. The introduction to the budget talks about a country where differences are recognized not as a barrier to success but a source of strength.
However, we have witnessed in these last number of weeks, and indeed yesterday during the vote for the Canada summer jobs program, that the government has chosen not only to not champion diversity but to actually clamp down on those who have different opinions or different beliefs from the current government.
How can my colleague stand here today and say these things about championing diversity, when just yesterday we saw a situation where freedom of belief, freedom of opinion was being squelched?
The Budget March 20th, 2018
Madam Speaker, I want to thank my colleague for his remarks. I enjoy working with him on the scrutiny of regulations committee. He always does his homework and is well prepared.
I have a question that relates to some of the conversations we have had today and yesterday in this House. In the preamble of the budget, it talks in glowing terms about a country where differences are recognized not as a barrier to success but as a source of strength.
However, yesterday, we saw almost the entire Liberal caucus voting against a motion that would have removed some of those barriers. It would have given equal access to summer students, or groups applying for funding to employ those summer students, to give them the opportunity to access funds they have paid as taxes in our country.
Now we have a system where to receive those funds, not only can we not remain neutral, we cannot just be silent, we have to sign an attestation saying that we agree with the government.
How is that removing a barrier to success?
The Budget March 20th, 2018
Madam Speaker, my colleague continues to list the number of investments, as he calls them, or expenditures, but he fails to acknowledge the fact that these investments, this spending, is done at the expense of increased deficit spending year after year to the point where we are spending over $26 billion a year just on interest.
The platform of the Liberal Party, when it was running for election in 2015, clearly indicated it was going to go into a deficit. We knew that. However, what it did not tell us was the size and length of the deficits that we have seen. It said it would be $10 billion maximum and that by 2019 it would balance the budget. Here we are with $18 billion more in deficit, a continuing growth of that deficit, and no plan to balance the budget.
Therefore, I would like to ask my colleague this. Did the Liberals lie to Canadians when they said it was only going to be $10 billion or are they just incompetent managers? When will the budget be balanced?
The Budget March 20th, 2018
Mr. Speaker, my colleague was very optimistic and glowing in his remarks about the budget. I was reading through some of the preamble in the introduction of the budget. It talks about our towns and cities being better, cleaner places to live, yet we know that just recently another 46 million litres of raw sewage was released into the St. Lawrence river from Quebec City. Earlier in the Liberals' mandate, eight billion litres of sewage went into the river. I do not see how we can say those are better, cleaner places to live.
The budget also states that Canadians are optimistic about the future, about owning their own homes. Recently, I have held a number of round tables both in my riding and in Sault Ste. Marie. Mortgage brokers, real estate agents, and homebuyers are not optimistic about being able to own a new home.
How can my colleague feel optimistic when some of the economic data that we see on the ground in our communities is so negative?
The Budget March 20th, 2018
Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague for drawing attention to the increasing consumer debt that Canadians are taking on. A recent study indicated that consumer debt has risen by 6% since the fourth quarter of 2016. However, the introduction in the budget document states, “For Canadian families, this means greater financial security, and greater peace of mind”. That certainly has not been bearing out in the consumer debt levels that Canadians are taking on.
I wonder if my colleague is concerned about the increasing and spiralling amount of money we are paying just in interest to service our national debt. This year alone it will be $26 billion. By 2022, it will be $33 billion a year just in interest. Just a 1% rise in interest rates would increase this amount by billions per year.
Does my colleague share my concerns about the increasing amount of money that we are spending on interest to service our national debt?
The Budget March 20th, 2018
Mr. Speaker, my colleague listed a number of different projects that are receiving different amounts of money, millions here and millions there. However, one number he failed to mention is on page 219 of the budget, where the summary of all the expenditures are. It shows a $26-billion payment, simply for interest this coming year. That grows to $33 billion by 2022.
I understand that my colleague has wide and deep experience in running businesses. I wonder if he would answer the question as to how it is possible that any business, whether a private enterprise or a government agency, could continue to spend billions of dollars, or even millions of dollars more each year than what they are taking in. What kind of long-term sustainability would that company have?
The Budget March 20th, 2018
Mr. Speaker, my colleague neglected to mention the huge deficit this budget would leave. This year alone the deficit will be $18 billion. The interest costs alone in 2018-19 will be $26 billion. By 2022, the interest costs are projected to be $33 billion. If we look at page 340 of the budget document, the department-by-department spending, it shows there is no department in the entire Government of Canada that spends this much money. The Liberal government, during a time of economic prosperity and economic growth, is spending more money than it is taking in, to the tune of $18 billion this year.
How can we possibly trust the government with our economic management when it continues to spend more money than it takes in during a time of economic prosperity? We should be paying down our debt, not adding to our debt, during these good economic times.