Kevin Lamoureux

[The Budget, April 30th, 2024]

Madam Speaker, the Conservatives like to believe that they represent rural Canadians. What is interesting is that, within the fall economic statement, we have the doubling of the top-up for the rural carbon rebate. That is not passing because the Conservative Party continues to filibuster that legislation, the fall economic statement.

When we think of the private member's bill that the Conservatives constantly make reference to, with Senate amendments, it is the Conservative Party again that has the ability to bring that legislation before us, and it has chosen not to.

On the one hand, the Conservatives are being critical of the government; on the other hand, they are preventing rural communities from getting more breaks from Ottawa.

[The Budget, April 30th, 2024]

Madam Speaker, the member is very critical of the government, trying to attribute doctor waiting times to it, but then, toward the end of his speech, the member said that we do not have jurisdiction over that, so it seems to be a bit of a conflict. It is nothing new. There is a lot of conflict within the Conservative Party of Canada.

I think of the Diagolon group, a far extreme, right-wing grouping of individuals. The Diagolon is something which the leader of the Conservative Party meets with, and then the Conservatives wonder why Canadians see the Conservative Party as going so far to the right. At the end of the day, it is going to be about chopping government services. When the Conservatives say they are going to fix the budget, let us keep in mind that what they are really going to do is cut programs, including health care. I take exception to a lot of the things that the member has said when he tries to demonstrate that he cares about—

[Questions on the Order Paper, April 30th, 2024]

Mr. Speaker, I ask that all questions be allowed to stand at this time.

[The Budget, April 29th, 2024]

Madam Speaker, I am sitting back here and I am listening to the member recite something that might have been written by the Conservative spin doctors behind the curtains, trying to put a little bit of passion into it.

Let me try to portray what the Conservative Party is really all about. When Conservatives talk about issues such as the deficit and the “dollar for dollar” in spending and cutting, what it really means is that things such as pharmacare, dental care and child care programs are all on the axing block. The Conservatives are all about cuts and austerity. They do not believe that the national government has a role. Instead, what they really believe in are things such as the Diagolon group, which is the extreme right, which preaches hatred, among many other things, and revolution.

Can the member explain to Canadians why it is that the leader of the Conservative Party allows himself to be tied to an organization such as that? All it does is reinforce the idea that the Conservative Party is being driven by the extreme far right.

[The Budget, April 29th, 2024]

Madam Speaker, I have often made reference to the Conservative Party and its leader being on the far right. I know that upsets the member across the way, but that is the truth.

Could the member reflect on the leader of the Conservative Party and his flirtation with Diagolon, which is an extreme right group that preaches hatred and who knows what else? It is a far-right group. That is the driving force being enabled by his leader, the leader of the Conservative Party. I would be interested in his comments on that.

[The Budget, April 29th, 2024]

Madam Speaker, members can do the contrast. I am game for that.

He says that they would be a capitalistic government. Do members know that, last year, Canada was ranked number one in the G7 in direct foreign investment? Canada was ranked number three in the world. I would suggest to members that those who are investing, those countries abroad and those people abroad, realize that Canada is a good place to invest. The facts demonstrate that from last year.

I would suggest to members that it is in good part because of things like the number of trade agreements that we have signed off on. That is important. No government has signed off on more free trade agreements than this government has. That is a fact.

Why did the hon. member vote against the Canada-Ukraine trade agreement?

[Questions on the Order Paper, April 29th, 2024]

Mr. Speaker, I would ask that all remaining questions be allowed to stand.

[Questions Passed as Orders for Returns, April 29th, 2024]

Mr. Speaker, if revised and supplementary responses to Question Nos. 2142, initially tabled on January 29, and 2340, initially tabled on April 8, could be made orders for return, these returns would be tabled in an electronic format immediately.

[The Budget, April 29th, 2024]

Mr. Speaker, I could address the many issues the member has raised where she is misleading people, but I would rather highlight something else.

Let there be no doubt there is a Conservative hidden agenda that Conservatives do not talk about. I am talking about, for example, the disability program that is within this budget, the steps forward on pharmacare, the $10-a-day child care program, the dental program and the guaranteed commitment to future generations on health care of close to $200 billion. When Conservatives talk about fixing the budget, they are talking about cut after cut. That is the reality of the Conservative Party today.

Why will the member not make that commitment visible? Why does she not tell Canadians what a Conservative government would actually do?

[The Budget, April 29th, 2024]

Mr. Speaker, one of the announcements I am very proud of is that the federal government has recognized the importance of not having children in schools who are learning on empty stomachs.

We came up with a national food program, which is going to help an estimated 400,000 children. The Bloc does not like it because it says it is not our jurisdiction. I would counter by saying that a caring national government should be concerned about the children in our schools. If we are in a position to be able to assist children and have them learn on fuller stomachs, we should be doing that.

Would the member acknowledge, at the very least, that the national government does play a role? Not all jurisdictions in Canada may have the same attitude in terms of providing full stomachs to kids going to school.