Harold Albrecht

[Transportation Modernization Act, October 30th, 2017]

Madam Speaker, I would encourage my colleague to remember that while he does not call this omnibus legislation, it is a bit of verbal engineering to try to stay away from that.

Another thing that the member mentioned in his comments was YKF, the airport in the greatest riding in all of Canada, Kitchener—Conestoga. It is not in Guelph, but it is very close to Guelph. I remember when we had good service directly from YKF to Ottawa. Certainly, anything we can do to restore that service would be welcomed by many people, not just members of Parliament.

My question is related to the issue of the air transport, and specifically the air passenger bill of rights that this bill includes. It seems very thin on details as it relates to the legislation. This was a campaign promise of the Liberal Party in the last campaign, and yet here we have this legislation with almost no details as to the air passenger bill of rights. All of that is going to be left for the regulatory process later on.

Would my colleague care to comment on why the Liberals did not take a little more time to get it right on the passenger bill of rights?

[Transportation Modernization Act, October 30th, 2017]

Mr. Speaker, while you may not want my colleague to sit down, many on this side are very happy to have him sit down.

One of the campaign promises that the Liberals made was to champion the so-called passenger bill of rights for air travel. There is some movement in that direction with this bill, but it is clear that they are short on details in the legislation as it relates to preserving the rights of air passengers.

Currently I serve as the co-chair of the scrutiny of regulations committee, and I am very much aware that a lot of regulations developed subsequent to legislation often end up creating some issues to be dealt with. It certainly prolongs the process of getting the bill and its regulatory framework into practice.

My question for my colleague is, why would the Liberal government, after championing this idea in their campaign, be so weak on details as it relates to preserving the rights of air passengers?

[Canadian Heritage, October 27th, 2017]

Madam Speaker, yesterday, the heritage minister tried to blame our previous Conservative government for lack of winter maintenance at the national Holocaust monument. That is complete nonsense. If the Liberals want it open year-round, they could do it. This is the same Liberal government that neglected to mention the Jewish people on the dedication plaque. Did the Liberals think this monument was not important enough to keep it open year-round?

[Business of Supply, October 23rd, 2017]

Mr. Speaker, I too have a lot of respect for my colleague and thank him for his intervention, even though it was way off topic.

My colleague accused Conservatives of focusing on tiny things. Let me remind my colleague, and indeed all Canadians, that the finance minister is responsible for our pension laws, he controls $300 billion of taxes and spending for our country, his department is in charge of billions of dollars in government bonds, he holds all of the government's shares in the Bank of Canada, and he is responsible for CMHC's hundreds of billions of dollars of mortgage insurance. No one has more power to enrich a company and its shareholders with public resources than the finance minister.

My question is very simple. The guidelines in the code and the act are very clear. They are written down for every member of Parliament and every minister. Why, after two full years of being in government, has the finance minister failed to comply with the clearly written rules of the code and the act?

[Business of Supply, October 23rd, 2017]

Mr. Speaker, I am not sure if my colleague has failed to read the motion that we are discussing today, but he is not talking about this motion at all. The motion clearly outlines the concerns that we have relating to the ethical standards that the finance minister is or is not operating by. The member is simply going over some of the so-called consultation that did or did not occur over the summer.

I would ask you, Mr. Speaker, to ask my colleague to return to the motion at hand.

[Business of Supply, October 23rd, 2017]

Mr. Speaker, my Liberal colleague from Winnipeg Centre recently commented that we should give the Ethics Commissioner time to sort this all out.

The facts are that the government has been in power for two years. The act and the code are very clear as to what is expected of members of Parliament and cabinet ministers. We constantly hear, “I am working with the Ethics Commissioner.” There should be no need to say that one is working with the commissioner, because the guidelines are clearly written and clearly laid out for all of us to see. For someone of the calibre of our current Minister of Finance to say that he was not aware of them sounds rather dubious at best.

Could my colleague comment on the fact that the guidelines are all clearly written and that there should be no question as to whether or not we should follow those rules and no need to continue dialoguing with the Ethics Commissioner if we are simply following the rules?

[Business of Supply, October 19th, 2017]

Madam Speaker, I wish I could share my colleague's optimism about his government's support for the softwood lumber industry. Does he really believe that his government is making the softwood lumber industry a priority when it was not even mentioned in the ministers' mandate letters? How can he really believe it is important to the government when it is not even mentioned in those letters?

[Humanitarian Assistance, October 16th, 2017]

Mr. Speaker, two days ago, I returned from Serbia and Hungary after productive meetings with a number of their members of parliament. Travelling on Thanksgiving weekend, the autumn colours there reminded me of home. Later in the week, as part of an international consultation on Christian persecution, I visited “Cross-in-Fire”, an exhibit at the Hungarian National Museum.

In the west, we have not yet awakened to the magnitude of the destruction, particularly in Syria, Iraq, and North Africa. In 2015 in Iraq, one Christian was killed every five minutes, simply because of his or her religious beliefs. Here in Canada we are right to give thanks to God for bountiful harvests, our freedoms, and countless other blessings, yet we cannot forget the plight of our brothers and sisters enduring brutal physical persecution, having lost homes, family, and even life.

Today thousands of refugees want to return home and resettle in their native lands. We need to help provide security and stabilization and humanitarian aid and create opportunities for life in the region. Canada can help. Canada must help.

[Taxation, September 29th, 2017]

Madam Speaker, last week I heard from Mike, chairman of Tri-Mach manufacturing in Elmira. Mike employs 150 Canadians and had purchased more land with plans to expand his company and add another 100 employees, but these proposed Liberal tax changes have halted all of his plans. In fact, Mike is now planning on selling the land and downsizing his operation.

Why has the finance minister designed a system that will make Mike pay huge increases in tax that will cripple his business, while the family fortunes of the Prime Minister and the finance minister remain untouched? How is that fair?

[Armenia, September 22nd, 2017]

Mr. Speaker, my Armenian friends here in Canada joined with the Armenian diaspora around the world yesterday, September 21, to celebrate Armenian Independence Day. Over the past 11 years, I have had the honour of serving as vice-chair and chair of the Canada-Armenia Parliamentary Friendship Group. During that time, I have had the privilege of observing the incredible contributions that the Armenian community has made to Canadian life. Whether in the arts, medicine, politics, faith, technology, or any number of other sectors, Armenians have contributed much to the strength of our country.

Please join me in congratulating the people of the Republic of Armenia on establishing and building their country on democratic principles and the rule of law, promoting freedom and opportunity for all. Let me at the same time thank the former ambassador, His Excellency Armen Yeganian, and his wife Maria for six years of excellent representation of their country here in Canada. To newly the appointed ambassador, His Excellency Levon Martirosyan, welcome.

God bless Armenia. God bless Canada.