Lisa Raitt

[Prime Minister’s Trip to India, February 28th, 2018]

Mr. Speaker, we woke up today to headlines from around Canada. “[The Prime Minister] stands by official who suggested Indian factions sabotaged trip.” “PM doesn't refute 'conspiracy theory' that Indian government factions sabotaged his trip.” In response, India has said that the assertion is baseless and unacceptable.

The Prime Minister leads a G7 nation. This is a diplomatic matter. What will he say to the high commissioner to Canada from India in response to its missive?

[Prime Minister’s Trip to India, February 28th, 2018]

Mr. Speaker, as we know it, here are the facts.

Daniel Jean, on his own, called together the members of the press gallery travelling with the Prime Minister in India to tell them that it was factions within the Indian government that were sabotaging the Prime Minister's trip. The Prime Minister has told us that he believes Daniel Jean.

We heard today that the India high commissioner has communicated publicly that the Indian government refutes this, and also says that these accusations are baseless and not appropriate.

The question is this. It seems that the ball is in Canada's court. What is Canada's diplomatic response to this?

[Marijuana, February 14th, 2018]

Mr. Speaker, I am trying to bring to the Prime Minister's attention an actual issue, and I do not need his talking points given back to me.

There is a company based in the Cayman Islands. It has secret investors. It has just invested $271 million in a Quebec cannabis company, and guess what. The founder of that company is the former chief financial officer of the Liberal Party of Canada. Canadians deserve to have the assurance that there is no organized crime element within these secret investors.

[Marijuana, February 14th, 2018]

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister said, in legalizing marijuana, that he was doing it because he wanted to keep organized crime out of the market. We are learning today of significant investments being made in Quebec cannabis companies by offshore accounts that have anonymous members.

Can the Prime Minister give us assurances that these are not companies set up by organized crime?

[Natural Resources, February 13th, 2018]

Mr. Speaker, there is a lot of heat and light in the Prime Minister's kind words but the reality is that he is not getting anything done. Let us take a bit of a review.

Five months ago, the Liberals botched the energy east pipeline and that was 14,000 jobs on a $15 billion project. Now we have another crisis and another 37,000 jobs. Clearly, the Prime Minister does not actually feel moved by the industry's concerns. Maybe he is going to be moved by the fact that it is 50,000 jobs.

Seriously, how many more well-paying Canadian jobs do we need to put in jeopardy to get him moving?

[Natural Resources, February 13th, 2018]

Mr. Speaker, unfortunately those are just words and platitudes that the government is utilizing.

Right now, as we speak, industry is responding to the uncertainty and instability that the government's lack of action is causing. Kinder Morgan has already indicated that it is going to be delaying and slowing its investments in the pipeline. The message to the world is that Canada is not open for business.

The Prime Minister can make these concerns go away by showing a bit of leadership. It is simple. When will he guarantee the construction of the pipeline in Burnaby?

[Natural Resources, February 13th, 2018]

Mr. Speaker, the Trans Mountain pipeline project is an important project. It is a $7.4 billion investment and 37,000 good-paying Canadian jobs. There is much opposition to this project. They are saying that they are going to interrupt it and delay, and the government is silent throughout this whole time. What is the impact of that? Industry is watching closely, and as well there is a growing crisis among our provinces.

Will the Prime Minister stand up for Canadians relying on these jobs, bring certainty, and unveil his plan to allow construction to start this spring?

[Canadian Armed Forces, February 7th, 2018]

Mr. Speaker, the most tawdry part of all this is that the litigation committee of cabinet, which is charged with overseeing how lawyers are instructed, has five women sitting on it. Do any of those five female Liberal ministers want to stand up and let us know exactly why they think it is okay that they have protection in the workplace and yet women in the forces do not? Will they pull this brief?

[Canadian Armed Forces, February 7th, 2018]

Mr. Speaker, words do not lie, and doublespeak is very clear in the following case. The Minister of Defence, on his own website, pledges that the “Canadian Armed Forces is fully committed to providing a workplace free from harassment and discrimination”, yet the lawyers for the government said that it is not their job to “care to individual members within the CAF to provide a safe and harassment-free work environment”. Which is it? Do they stand with women in the forces, or do they not?

[Ethics, February 6th, 2018]

Mr. Speaker, there is still an obligation under the code of conduct to make reports available to the public. The Prime Minister did not do that either. The motion this morning is clear. We are asking for some holes to be plugged so that we do not have this possibility where the Prime Minister decides that he does not have to pay for his consequences. That is just simply wrong.

I have a simple question. Will the Prime Minister person up, do the right thing, and pay these costs?