Michael Chong

[Business of Supply, April 24th, 2018]

Madam. Speaker, there have been arguments about the wording of all this. Setting that aside, it is clear that there are a lot of irregular crossings and that the problem is growing. Why will the government not address this problem?

There is a problem right across the country, and it is important that the government speak with the U.S. administration in order to solve it.

I do not understand why the government is not talking to the United States government about this. Let me put this to the government: What if the shoe were on the other foot? What if Canada plunges into a deep recession as a result of a housing crash or some other deep recession, unemployment skyrockets, economic growth is negative, and we have the opposite happening? What if we have literally tens of thousands of people irregularly crossing the border from Canada into the United States? We would not have much leverage to renegotiate the safe third country agreement. We would be under inordinate pressure as a government and a country to give the Americans whatever they want in order to ensure that the free trade of goods and services continues to flow across that border.

Why is the government not taking the opportunity today to bring this challenge to the administration, to seek a remedy here that would stem the flow of irregular border crossers so that we can regulate this problem before it becomes a real crisis in the other direction?

[Business of Supply, April 24th, 2018]

Mr. Speaker, the member outlined the government's position on this issue. If he does not agree with the member for Calgary Nose Hill's suggestion that the government work with the United States to amend the safe third party agreement to declare the entire 9,000 kilometre border a port of entry, why does the government not simply declare Lacolle, Quebec, where he has visited and talked to local officials, a port of entry? If people are coming through that point irregularly, why not just declare that point, and other points in the country where people are coming through, ports of entry so that these persons will be treated the same as every other person who tries to enter Canada through an official port of entry?

[Wellington Advertiser, April 18th, 2018]

Mr. Speaker, amid all the doom and gloom in the newspaper industry, there is good news, and that good news is in Wellington County in rural Ontario.

Fifty years ago, Bill and Trudy Adsett started a newspaper out of the front seat of their car. First, they only sold classified ads, but as time went on, they began to cover the news. Today, the paper, managed by their son, Dave Adsett, is one of the largest family-owned independent weekly newspapers in Canada. It is profitable, and it is the single biggest source of news in the county. As they say at the Wellington Advertiser, “We cover the county.”

The paper, along with Wellington County, is looking to the future. It has just digitized every edition of the paper, from its first edition on March 12, 1968 until today. It has also just received the Ontario Community Newspapers Association Gold Quill award.

I extend congratulations to the Adsett family and to all the staff at the Wellington Advertiser.

[Beef Farmers of Ontario, March 28th, 2018]

Mr. Speaker, l would like to recognize a former classmate of mine and a constituent.

Mr. Joe Hill was just elected president of Beef Farmers of Ontario. He and his family live just outside of Fergus and Elora in Wellington County. They have been raising beef cattle for generations. In fact, I remember when we both worked on beef farms when we were at Fergus High School, he on his father's farm and I on the neighbour's.

Ontario is Canada's second largest beef producing province, and Beef Farmers of Ontario represents the province's 19,000 beef farmers.

Once again, congratulations and best wishes to Joe Hill as he begins his term as president. I look forward to working with him to ensure that Ontario's beef farmers are well represented here on Parliament Hill.

[Infrastructure, March 20th, 2018]

Mr. Speaker, that is not the case. According to the parliamentary budget officer, the budget provides an incomplete version of the government's infrastructure spending plan. In fact, he asked the government for a copy of the plan, but there is no plan.

Before the Liberals refer to their so-called infrastructure plan, would they care to tell us where we can get a copy of the plan?

[Infrastructure, March 20th, 2018]

Mr. Speaker, in the last election, the Liberals promised to run modest deficits of less than $10 billion to fund infrastructure. Instead, they are racking up much bigger deficits, but they are not spending the money on infrastructure. In fact, the PBO reports that one-quarter of the money promised for infrastructure will go unspent. That means that millions of Canadians stuck in traffic and roads and bridges unrepaired.

The Liberals also promised to transfer unused funds into the gas tax fund. Where is the promised Liberal plan for infrastructure?

[Questions Passed as Orders for Returns, March 19th, 2018]

With regard to the Ambassador Bridge Enhancement Project: (a) did the Minister of Transport, the Minister of Infrastructure and Communities, or the Prime Minister hold any meetings or interactions concerning this project with (i) Manuel (“Matty”) Moroun, (ii) Matthew Moroun, (iii) representatives of the Detroit International Bridge Company, (iv) representatives of the Canadian Transit Company; (b) did officials or exempt staff from the offices of the Minister of Transport, the Minister of Infrastructure and Communities, or the Prime Minister’s Office hold any meetings or interactions concerning this project with (i) Manuel (“Matty”) Moroun, (ii) Matthew Moroun, (iii) representatives of the Detroit International Bridge Company, (iv) representatives of the Canadian Transit Compan; and (c) did officials from the Embassy of Canada to the United States or Canadian consulates in the United States hold any meetings or interactions concerning this project with (i) Manuel (“Matty”) Moroun, (ii) Matthew Moroun, (iii) representatives of the Detroit International Bridge Company, (iv) representatives of the Canadian Transit Company?

[Questions Passed as Orders for Returns, March 19th, 2018]

With regard to the Gordie Howe International Bridge: (a) what was the original estimated date of completion of the bridge when the project was announced; (b) what is the current estimated date of completion; and (c) if there is a delay, as per (b), why does this delay exist?

[The Budget, February 28th, 2018]

Madam Speaker, the Minister of Finance in his speech said, “Canada leads all the other [group of seven] countries in economic growth”. That is not an accurate reflection of what is actually happening on the ground. It is not an accurate reflection of what ordinary Canadians feel. It is not an accurate reflection of the growth that actually matters to the constituents we represent here on the floor of the House of Commons.

Here is why. The GDP growth numbers that the government used in the budget do not take into account population growth, and Canada has one of the most rapidly growing populations in the G7 and in the OECD. In 2016, we had 1.2% population growth. If a country has 5% GDP growth but it has 6% population growth, it actually has declining per capita incomes and increasing poverty. Therefore, with a 1.2% population growth, here are the per capita GDP numbers based on the budget: in 2018, 1%; in 2019, 0.4%; and in 2020, 0.5%.

[The Budget, February 27th, 2018]

Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Finance has tasked the minister in Premier Kathleen Wynne's government who headed up the largest ministry in the province of Ontario with proposing the largest new federal program in decades, something that could cost upward of $20 billion a year. How can he have confidence that this is not going to result in the same fiscal mess federally that we now see in the province of Ontario?