Kyle Seeback

[Telecommunications, November 2nd, 2020]

Madam Speaker, by that answer, 2030 is when the Liberals are saying everyone will be connected. They are already behind, so I do not believe they are going to meet that deadline. That is 10 years from now, so I guess the answer I get to tell Jim, who is paying $800 a month for Internet, which is $9,600 a year, is that it is only going to cost him another $96,000 to continue with his slow, unaffordable Internet.

I got a partial answer: 2030. Great, that is awful for my constituents.

There was no answer on affordability. What is going to happen with affordability? Could the member please tell me that I do not have to tell Jim he is going to pay $96,000 for his Internet over the next 10 years, while the government does nothing?

[Telecommunications, November 2nd, 2020]

Madam Speaker, last week, I had the opportunity to ask a question of the minister on rural broadband. I asked her specifically to not give an answer about who installed more or invested more money in broadband, whether it was the Liberal government, former Prime Minister Harper or Sir John A. Macdonald. The minister proceeded to tell me that the government had invested more money than former prime minister Stephen Harper did and did not provide an answer to the question.

I put that answer out to my constituents and asked if this was an answer they felt addressed their issues and concerns. Unsurprisingly, the result was a resounding no. Residents in my riding are fed up with the lack of affordable and reliable Internet, and they got back to me in droves. I am going to share a couple comments I received.

I received a comment from Jim, who said, “We use Rogers Rocket hub and as now with COVID, I work from home and my daughter has come to live with us from the city. Our monthly bills have topped $700 a month. It is completely unacceptable.”

Marion writes, “We also have a Rogers hub. It gobbles up the data and at this point we actually had a bill of $400 in one month. This is when our grandchildren came to stay with us and they were trying to do school work from home.”

Leanne writes that she chose to send her children back to school because she knew they did not have reliable and affordable Internet at home. Her concern is, “I have sent my children back to school where they could be exposed to COVID because we do not have reliable Internet at home and the cost is astronomical.”

Charles talks about how for years he contended with a $300 monthly bill. He asked why the government could not invest to fix this. He has children in Ottawa who pay less than one-third of that price and get high-speed Internet.

Lai says in her email, “Pardon my language,” so I am going to pardon her language as I read this. She says, “Internet in Mansfield sucks. I cannot get any providers that give me more than 5 Mbps or sometimes 6 Mbps with a DSL connection. Are we living in the stone age in Mansfield?”

This is what is going on in my riding every day. The Internet is unreliable and unaffordable. My constituents are tired of glib answers like, “Well, we invested more than the previous government did” and “Wait, maybe something exciting is coming down the pike.”

They need answers now. They need affordable Internet now. When are they actually going to be connected to reliable, affordable broadband?

[Marijuana, November 2nd, 2020]

Mr. Speaker, there is an issue in my riding, and it is all across the country. Licences are being granted to grow marijuana in places that are not municipally zoned to grow. I have written the Minister of Health six times over the last nine months on this issue, as has the Town of Caledon. As a response, we have heard crickets: absolutely nothing.

There is a reasonable and simple fix for this: Do not approve applicants unless they have the appropriate municipal zoning. It could be a box on the form. When will the minister take this reasonable, simple fix and implement it?

[Telecommunications, October 22nd, 2020]

Mr. Speaker, COVID-19 is exacerbating a problem in rural Canada. Right now, thousands of families are trying to access the Internet. They are having affordability and connectivity issues all across my riding of Dufferin—Caledon and all across the country.

My constituents do not want to hear what has been done. They do not want to hear how more fibre was put in by Stephen Harper or Sir John A. Macdonald. They want an answer, and it is a simple answer. When will rural Canada be connected?

[Business of Supply, October 20th, 2020]

Mr. Speaker, I listened with great interest to that rambling diatribe about how evil Conservatives are.

At what point did the government become so small under this party that it cannot handle an extra committee, one that is just asking for some documents that the Liberals have filibustered away since Parliament resumed? How can the government be so incompetent that it cannot have a special committee set up and still run all the programs and benefits that go to Canadians? That is what the Liberals are saying. They are saying they cannot do both.

When did the government become so incompetent under the Prime Minister and the member?

[Business of Supply, October 20th, 2020]

Madam Speaker, once upon a time, a member introduced a private member's bill in 2014 called the transparency act, which, among other things, called government documents public property. The same member in 2015 wrote an open letter to all Canadians, which said, among other things, “you expect us to...be honest, open, and sincere in our efforts to serve the public interest.” The story in The Globe and Mail was false. Who was this radical with these radical ideas of transparency? It was the member of Parliament for Papineau, the current Prime Minister and these gentlemen's leader.

How can they justify this embarrassing metamorphosis and the stunning hypocrisy of refusing to deliver documents and threatening an election, when their leader was so in favour of transparency a mere few years ago?

[Petitions, October 20th, 2020]

Mr. Speaker, the Black Horse community which is part of the town of Caledon in my riding of Dufferin—Caledon, is terribly underserved by rural broadband. Many studies have been conducted to show that upload speeds and download speeds are exceptionally poor. Given the COVID-19 pandemic, with businesses operating from home and children having to do some of their schooling at home, they call on the Government of Canada to make broadband Internet service an essential telecommunications service.

[Questions Passed as Orders for Returns, March 13th, 2020]

With regard to government support programs for agriculture industries impacted by changes in trade with China: (a) in 2019, what is the total amount of government funding provided to the (i) soybean industry, (ii) canola industry, (iii) beef industry; (b) what is the breakdown of all funding in (a), by (i) program, (ii) province; (c) in 2020, what is the projected total amount of government funding to the (i) soybean industry, (ii) canola industry, (iii) beef industry; and (d) what is the breakdown of (c), by (i) program, (ii) province?

[Questions Passed as Orders for Returns, March 13th, 2020]

With regard to the Budget 2019 commitment of $1.7 billion for new funding for rural broadband infrastructure: (a) how much of that funding is projected to be spent for broadband projects in the riding of Dufferin—Caledon, broken down by project; (b) what is the breakdown of the $1.7 billion, by project; (c) what are the details of all projects in (b), including the (i) name, (ii) description, (iii) amount of federal contribution, (iv) projected completion date, (v) number of users impacted; and (d) how much of the $1.7 billion has actually been delivered to date, broken down by individual project?

[Questions Passed as Orders for Returns, March 13th, 2020]

With regard to deportation orders issued or in effect by the government since January 1, 2016: (a) what is the total number of orders issued, broken down by year; (b) what was the total number of deportation orders where the deportation was still pending as of (i) January 1, 2016, (ii) January 1, 2017, (iii) January 1, 2018, (iv) January 1, 2019, (v) January 1, 2020; (c) what was the total number of individuals deported, broken down by year; (d) what was the total number of individuals under the age of 18 deported, broken down by year; and (e) how many parents, guardians or adult family members of individuals in (d) were deported, broken down by year?