Lisa Raitt

[April 18th, 2018]

Mr. Speaker, I thought it would never end.

Let us review the actual record of the government when it comes to its inability to get things done: the $36-billion investment in the Pacific NorthWest LNG project, cancelled; the $7.9-billion northern gateway project, cancelled; the $50-billion energy east and eastern mainline projects, both cancelled.

Again, the Prime Minister of Canada ends up going to Europe to try to sell investor confidence by saying that his plan is to phase out the oil and gas industry.

Can anyone over there answer for me—

[April 18th, 2018]

Mr. Speaker, there is a crisis that has been created by the government, and it is following on the uncertainty of the Trans Mountain project.

Let us take a look at what it has done to foreign investments. Since 2015, investments have decreased by $80 billion. In 2016 and 2017, they decreased a further 42% and 27%. Now the Prime Minister is travelling internationally, understandably in order to sell Canada to foreign investors, and what does he say? He says he laments that he cannot phase out the oil and gas sector tomorrow.

Is this how they think they sell investor confidence?

[Natural Resources, April 17th, 2018]

Mr. Speaker, the minister speaks of one province, but this is not a crisis that is caused by one province or another; it is a crisis that is caused simply by the lack of leadership and the inability of the government to actually get the job done. We have seen this before, and as long as the government fails to step up, we are going to see it again.

Eighty billion dollars in investment has left the energy sector, as well as 100,000 well-paying Canadian jobs. These results are simply unacceptable. When will the Prime Minister stop failing the Canadian families who are relying on these projects?

[Natural Resources, April 17th, 2018]

Mr. Speaker, words without action are simply words, and the reality is that this government has a record of making great announcements but an appalling record of actually implementing the things it is announcing.

We have the third-largest oil reserves in the world, and our economy depends upon the success of this industry. The uncertainty over Trans Mountain is costing us $40 million a day, and billions of dollars more are fleeing our country. Why is the Prime Minister shortchanging Canadians through his failure to deliver?

[Natural Resources, April 17th, 2018]

Mr. Speaker, the approval of the Trans Mountain pipeline was announced with a promise of a $7.4 billion investment in our economy and the creation of 37,000 Canadian jobs. It was great news for an industry that was already suffering from the loss of previously announced projects, such as energy east.

Now, just months after this approval, we find ourselves in a crisis and the future of this project in serious danger. Was the Prime Minister really serious when he said he wanted to phase out the oil sands from the Canadian economy?

[Ethics, March 28th, 2018]

Mr. Speaker, it is not about whether or not businesses are invited along. It is about whether or not the public can have the trust in the integrity of the members of Parliament inviting these businesses along

Where the member has gone woefully wrong, and I must assume he offered the invitation since the Prime Minister has not said anything different, is that he is a lawyer. He would have read his code of conduct and he would know that if there was a grey area as to whether he was furthering the private interests of his contracted employer, then he should seek an opinion of the Ethics Commissioner.

Did he seek an opinion of the Ethics Commissioner before he invited his boss to rub elbows with the Prime Minister and the ministers?

[Ethics, March 28th, 2018]

Mr. Speaker, in 2015, after the member of Parliament for Brampton East was elected, he started to accept contracts from various people within his constituency. Ironically, the president and his boss was invited along on this disastrous trip to India which the Prime Minister and his entourage undertook. For me, that poses some significant questions with respect to conflicts of interest.

Will the Prime Minister tell us who invited Mr. Yenilmez and who approved that invitation?

[Status of Women, March 27th, 2018]

Mr. Speaker, there is no attack in saying the facts. One, the minister never once sought to ensure he had proper representation on his private sector board. Two, the finance department is woefully lacking women in senior positions by 4:11. Three, in his own office there is only one woman who is a member of his senior staff. That is his choice.

I have every right to ask questions that make the government uncomfortable and I am going to continue to do it whether those members like it or not.

[Status of Women, March 27th, 2018]

Mr. Speaker, the government has a troubling history that every time its members get pushed on questions that show the fact that they do not have a good answer, they resort to name calling.

Yesterday at the finance committee I was questioning the minister with respect to his own record on promoting women in senior positions. In response the minister said I was one of those people he needed to drag with him and I was a neanderthal. It is unacceptable language. Could the minister please clarify what he was trying to say?

[Public Safety, March 27th, 2018]

Mr. Speaker, forgive me for being stunningly bewildered, but the minister has said today that there is no need for the national security adviser to testify before a committee for the reason that the media has reported everything the national security adviser told the reporters. This just in: a very esteemed senior individual journalist, David Akin, has just said, “I had one of those briefings from the 'senior government official'. At several points...the official told me stuff he said I couldn't print.”

Let us give up the pretense. Let us give up the—