House of Commons photoLost her last election, in 2021, with 42% of the vote.
Ethics December 3rd, 2018
Mr. Speaker, the President of the Treasury Board has been telling two contradictory stories about his political interference in the naval ship contract. In October, he told the House that he was only doing his job by ensuring the contract was value to taxpayers. However, in January of 2016, he told the RCMP that was actually not his job.
When will the President of the Treasury Board come clean with Canadians and tell us which story is true.
Mackenzie Valley Resource Management Act December 3rd, 2018
Mr. Speaker, this past weekend, the Liberal government imposed sanctions on Saudi Arabia in response to the Jamal Khashoggi affair.
Canada gets over $20 billion in oil from Saudi Arabia, yet the government has put a moratorium on northern Canadian oil.
Could my hon. colleague provide some insight into what would happen if Saudi Arabia were to cut off the $20 billion-worth of oil it gives to Canada when Canada is not in a position, as a result of this moratorium, to be energy secure?
The Economy November 29th, 2018
Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister has arrived in Buenos Aires for the G20 summit, where leaders of the industrialized world will discuss international financial stability. The timing of this summit could not be more critical for Canadians, as our own economic security is increasingly at risk.
This week alone, we Conservatives led two emergency debates, one in response to the crushing job losses from the closure of the Oshawa General Motors plant and the other to demand immediate action to address the crisis in Alberta's energy sector, where over a 100,000 jobs have already been lost. The Liberal government has failed those industries. They have failed Canadians.
At the summit, the Prime Minister must sit down with President Trump and have the punishing national security tariffs on Canadian steel and aluminum exports to the U.S. removed. Canadian jobs will not survive much longer. The Prime Minister must act. Canada's economic future hangs in the balance.
Canada's Oil and Gas Sector November 28th, 2018
Mr. Speaker, I think it would be unfair of me to even try to compete with that excellent, broad-spectrum list of all the things. I think the punchline really is that anyone wanting to invest here is having a really difficult time understanding exactly where the goalposts are, what they are going to have to demonstrate, what they are going to be held to, and what kind of timeline they can expect.
It does not matter what we are talking about, the complexity or uncertainty, no one knows when they come to invest in Canada what they can expect, and that is driving them to other jurisdictions where the information is clear and they know that they can get stuff done.
Canada's Oil and Gas Sector November 28th, 2018
Mr. Speaker, essentially what they have done is two things. They have frozen the existing processes to ensure that nothing happens and they have created an incredible breadth of uncertainty around what the processes are going to be in the future. Therefore, we cannot expect industry to wait around to see what it is going to be in the future, and spend that time and money knowing that certain processes have been frozen in place.
Canada's Oil and Gas Sector November 28th, 2018
Mr. Speaker, obviously what my hon. colleague is referring to is when I was actually a member of Parliament as a Liberal, and I did not fully appreciate just how devastating Bill C-48 and Bill C-69 were, not only to Alberta but to the entire country. Therefore, I am very grateful to colleagues on this side of the House who have given me the opportunity to understand the complexity and why those were bad bills. I have no problem reconciling it, because I did not know what I knew then, and I am doing my very best to know what I know now and make amends.
Canada's Oil and Gas Sector November 28th, 2018
Mr. Speaker, I am very humbled to be able to participate in this incredibly serious emergency debate on the oil and gas industry in Canada and the crisis situation facing Albertans. This is a serious issue for Albertans, and they are starting to despair.
There are 29 Conservative members of Parliament in the House of Commons, and all of them would have loved to have had the opportunity to speak to this important issue tonight. However, we only had six spots, and I was privileged enough to be granted one of them.
For those who may not know, I am not an Alberta member of Parliament. I come from Ontario, from Aurora—Oak Ridges—Richmond Hill, which is just north of Toronto. Like probably many other Canadians, I did not fully understand and appreciate the extent, the seriousness, the severity and the contribution of the oil and gas industry not only in Alberta but in Canada as a whole. Then I had the opportunity to go to Calgary.
The member for Calgary Nose Hill, the member for Lakeland, the member for Foothills, and many of the other Alberta members of Parliament took the time to explain to me just how significant and serious this is. I want to thank the Conservative members of Parliament, and I want to thank their constituents, for giving me the opportunity to communicate to them the very important message that I am going to do everything I can to ensure that those in Canada, like me, who do not understand how important Alberta is to Canada, understand. I hope I also can communicate the important message to Albertans that we understand how much they matter to Canada, because if Alberta is in crisis, Canada is in crisis. It is time for us to unite and build a nation, because this is one country, one Canada.
Times are tough, and Alberta is in crisis, yet in the economic update, we heard from the finance minister that the economy is growing, everything is rosy, we have nothing to be concerned about and the Liberal government can take credit for everything that is great. There are certainly no problems that need addressing or to be fixed.
Do not be fooled. We can agree to disagree, but even if we look at the statistics the finance minister is providing us, they are lag indicators. He is looking at data in the past. He is not actually looking at where we are today and therefore at what that means for the future.
If we look at Alberta as the initial indicator, it is the beginning of what will happen to the rest of the country. Alberta has lost over 100,000 jobs, and it has lost over $100 billion in investment.
Why does the oil and gas industry matter? For many years, it has been the economic engine and has driven much of the growth the country has enjoyed. It has the third-largest oil reserves. It is the fourth-largest oil exporter, and it is Canada's second-largest export. It is the number one contributor to private investment in the Canadian economy, and it contributes over 11% to the overall Canadian economy. That is nothing to sneeze at. That is significant.
That incredible economic engine is now stalled. Why is that? It is not about corporations making informed economic decisions that were out of the control or the purview of the government. It is because of policy and regulatory decisions the government has chosen to make, and in some instances, has chosen not to make.
The regulatory burdens that have been placed on the approval process to get pipelines built are incredibly complicated and unclear, and the goal posts keep changing. They are overwhelmingly complex and therefore are driving those corporations outside of this country, because like other industries, Canada is competing with other jurisdictions to bring that business to Canada. If our regulatory and policy environment is so difficult to understand, they are going to choose other jurisdictions where they can get those things built.
What does that mean? It means that we cannot get our incredible oil and gas to market. We cannot build pipelines to tidewater to get them to foreign lands abroad, and we cannot get them south. We cannot get them to market, and unfortunately, the longer we wait, the more those other suppliers of oil and gas in the world we are competing with will fill the void. We will lose that window and never get it back.
We are also losing massive amounts of capital investment that we need not only for today but for growth and a continued economic engine into the future. We are also talking about energy security, because we need to have our country able to look after itself. We have enough energy reserves. We need to have energy independence, because it gives us energy security as well as economic security and to a certain extent, in these uncertain times in the world, defence security.
That is why the oil and gas industry matters in Alberta, but why does it also matter to Canada? We are not only losing the revenue from the oil and gas industry, but one job in oil creates seven manufacturing jobs. We have all kinds of businesses in the financial markets and the stock market that come from oil and gas; $3.9 billion in Ontario alone was provided from oil and gas purchases, and 12% of jobs in the oil and gas industry can be created in Ontario. That would generate $153 billion that will contribute to oil and gas in the Ontario economy from 2017-27 if we can get some of these pipelines built. That would contribute $12.6 billion in taxes in Ontario, which would go a long way for all kinds of services in Ontario that are highly needed. By not being able to leverage that potential, not only is Alberta suffering but Ontario is suffering, as are other parts of the country that would benefit.
The Prime Minister was in Calgary last week, and he talked to Albertans and said that he feels their pain. He also said that this is a complicated matter and there is no simple or easy answer, yet to simply say that he feels their pain is really not enough. Ultimately, he is the Prime Minister. The job of being Prime Minister is probably to solve the complicated and difficult challenges facing the nation. We are looking to the Prime Minister to do what needs to be done. He needs to lead the country, and he needs to solve difficult problems, and he needs to make sure these things get done.
In closing, I would also like to make sure that we speak to Albertans. Do not despair, because there are many of us in the House of Commons who understand just what a crisis this is. We are uniting with Albertans, and we are not going to stop until we are able to build the nation that we need to be with these pipelines, because we are looking at one country, one Canada.
Ethics November 27th, 2018
Mr. Speaker, this is not about a court case. This is about the integrity and honesty of the President of the Treasury Board. He has told two different stories that contradict each other. This is a serious issue with respect to political interference in a major contract. Where is the transparency and accountability? Why will the President of the Treasury Board not come clean and tell us which version of his story is true?
Ethics November 27th, 2018
Mr. Speaker, the President of the Treasury Board has told two different stories with respect to the political interference with the naval supply ship contract. In October, he told this House that it was his job to examine the details. In 2016, he told the RCMP that it was not his job. He cannot have it both ways.
Will the President of the Treasury Board stand in the House today and tell us which version of the truth is accurate?
General Motors Plant Closure November 26th, 2018
Madam Speaker, the government has spent a significant amount of money investing in innovation and green technology, yet this GM plant had the opportunity. It said that it is focusing on innovation, green technology and electric cars, yet it chose not to retool the Oshawa plant with that green technology and innovation.
Therefore, for the member opposite to say that his government has provided a jurisdiction that attracts and retains business is overlooking the critical facts around manufacturing in our country. The Oshawa plant is closing, Bombardier has let go 3,000 jobs, the General Electric plant in Peterborough has closed, Procter & Gamble in Brockville has closed, and that is just the beginning. Clearly, there is a pattern that is not limited to GM and is not attracting that retooling and investment. What would the hon. member say to that?