Rob Moore

[Protecting Victims Act, January 29th, 2026]

Madam Speaker, I first want to acknowledge the passing of Ernie Fage. Ernie was an MLA and cabinet minister who served ably in Nova Scotia. Our condolences go to his family at this time.

I listened intently to the hon. member's speech. He mentioned putting the rights of criminals over the rights of everyday Canadians, and that is a theme I hear over and over in my own riding of Fundy Royal. I would ask my colleague to expand on that.

[Business of the House, January 29th, 2026]

Mr. Speaker, as it is Thursday, I would like to ask the government House leader if he can inform the House on the agenda we can expect in this place next week.

[Taxation, January 29th, 2026]

Mr. Speaker, failed Liberal policies got us into this mess, and more failed Liberal policies will not get us out of it. The cost to feed a family of four has increased by $1,000 just in the last year. Liberal taxes are hiking the cost of fuel at every point in the supply chain. To make food more affordable, we need to get rid of the Liberals' fuel standard tax and the industrial carbon tax.

When will the Liberals put the best interest of struggling families ahead of their own failed policies?

[Taxation, January 29th, 2026]

Mr. Speaker, this just shows how out of touch the government is. Families in my riding of Fundy Royal and throughout Canada are feeling the pinch at the grocery store. Every month under the government, over two million Canadians are now visiting food banks. Food inflation in Canada has doubled just since the Prime Minister took office, making us the worst off in the G7. Conservatives will fast-track policies to reverse the skyrocketing cost of food.

Will the government finally put an end to the Liberals' industrial carbon tax and fuel standard tax, and cut red tape for farmers?

[Budget 2025 Implementation Act, No. 1, December 4th, 2025]

Madam Speaker, indeed, I hear from my rural communities that in rural parts of the country, in rural New Brunswick, people have to travel farther. That is a cost.

The government has increased the cost of fuel. The government has increased the cost of food. The government has increased crime, and we hear about that a lot in rural communities.

I am hearing about the affordability issue for families and seniors in rural areas, and only the Conservatives are committed to addressing it.

[Budget 2025 Implementation Act, No. 1, December 4th, 2025]

Madam Speaker, in the last 10 years under the Liberal government, the cost of food for families and seniors has doubled. In the last four years, the cost has gone up by 25%. A senior's income and a family's income have not kept pace with that.

It is going to require a complete change in direction from the government to end its inflationary policies and make life more affordable. Whether it is housing, food or fuel, in every measure, the government has pushed us in the wrong direction. It has pushed seniors and families to the very brink, where they are having to make terrible decisions about whether to heat their home, feed themselves or put fuel in their vehicle. Canadian seniors should not have to make that decision.

[Budget 2025 Implementation Act, No. 1, December 4th, 2025]

Madam Speaker, it is unbelievable that the Liberals, after a decade during which crime has skyrocketed, the cost of housing for families has skyrocketed and the cost of food has skyrocketed, can get up and ask us questions about affordability. The cost to families for groceries has doubled since the member's party took government.

We are not going to take any lessons from them on affordability. Canadians are struggling and need help because of the government's policies, because of policies that have hurt our energy sector, because of overtaxation and because of the money printing that has caused inflation to skyrocket. That is why Canadians are struggling. That is why they need help.

The government continues to go down the wrong path. Conservatives will stand up for hard-working Canadian families, always.

[Budget 2025 Implementation Act, No. 1, December 4th, 2025]

Madam Speaker, as we approach Christmastime, it is an honour to be able to stand here in this place and speak to the budget. When I think about the needs of Canadians and what we are all hearing from constituents, I look to the budget to see what is in there for the families struggling to make ends meet, the families we talk to at the grocery store or at the hockey rink who are talking about the struggle to heat their home, put food on the table for their family, maybe get a new hockey stick for their kids for the Christmas season and put gas in their van to get to and from work and sporting events.

I hear from my constituents about that struggle. The government would sometimes have us believe this is all in our heads and that the struggle is not real. However, when we look at this new budget, we are looking to see what is in there for families who are working hard, playing by the rules and paying their taxes.

Some of the numbers in the budget are stark. The federal debt is now $1.35 trillion. The federal debt is a burden, not only on the taxpayers of today but also on the taxpayers of tomorrow: those who are young, those who are just starting off in university and those who are just starting off in elementary school. This is a burden on them.

As well, $55.6 billion is the interest on the federal debt for the 2025-26 fiscal year. What is $55.6 billion, though? How does the average person wrap their mind around a figure as vast as the interest on the debt? A quick way to understand how much money Canadians need to spend, of their tax dollars, on the federal debt is this: This is more money than the Government of Canada spends on health care for the entire country. It is a staggering figure at a time when waiting lists in many provinces are long and people's important treatments are being delayed. The government is spending as much on interest on the debt as they are on health care. In addition, $321.7 billion is the amount that will be added to the federal debt over the next five years. Those are big numbers.

A small number is 1.1%. That is how much Canada's GDP has grown this year. What does that mean? This is the second-lowest growth in the entire G7. For all the spending, Canadians are not better off, and many are falling further behind. That is why we Conservatives called for an affordability budget for an affordable life. We cannot have an affordable life unless the government has an affordable budget.

The reality is that over the last decade, over the last 10 years that the Liberals have been in government, Canadians, Canadian families and communities continue to fall further and further behind. Canadians know all too well the burden of taxes. That burden has increased 32% in the last decade. Canadians are paying 32% more of their hard-earned money for taxes than they were 10 years ago when the Liberals took government. That is more than Canadians are spending on food and housing combined. It is a staggering amount.

There is more bad news in that regard. There is an affordability crisis in housing. There is a crime crisis. We have seen the crime severity index go off the charts now that the Liberals, with their failed policies on bail and other justice measures, have created chaos in our streets.

Another area of failure is on food affordability. The numbers just came out. If Canadians were hoping for some relief, the numbers are not providing it and the budget is not providing it. “Canada's Food Price Report” was just released. This is a direct quote from the report: “If 2025 was difficult for Canadian households, 2026 is unlikely to be any easier.”

In fact, although families are already stretched to the limit and are already making compromises around gassing up their vehicle, heating their home and putting food on the table, the cost of food is going to go up $1,000 this year. Food prices are expected to increase to the point at which, for the average family of four in Canada, the cost of food is $17,571 per year. This is a 112% increase over the last decade.

That is right. The cost of food for Canadian families has doubled in just the 10 years the Liberals have been in government. Have people had their paycheques doubled? Have the paycheques of my constituents and the constituents of members in this chamber doubled? They have absolutely not, but the price they pay to put food on the table for their family has more than doubled. What this means is that, in 2015, the cost for the year was $8,286, or approximately $160 per week for food. Incredibly, since then, in just 10 years, that number has more than doubled to $340 per week for the average Canadian family of four.

When we bore down further into the numbers in this report, it is very staggering. What the report found is that Canadians are compromising healthy choices in favour of more cost-effective options. Nearly a quarter said they would eat healthier and 20% would buy a higher quality of food if they could afford it. We see that the price of strawberries is up 51% since the Prime Minister took office. Beef is up 30%; chicken, 23%; coffee, 22%; ground beef, 14%; and salad dressing, 13%. Canadians literally cannot afford the Liberals at all anymore.

Let us look to my home province of New Brunswick. Feed NB is an organization that supports food banks, community kitchens and similar programs. When I have talked to representatives of food banks in my riding, they have said demand is off the charts. On days when food is being delivered, we see lineups at the food banks. Feed NB is reporting that the demand for their services has seen an astronomical increase of 140% in only the last three years.

New Brunswickers and Canadians are struggling just to put food on the table. The latest MNP Consumer Debt Index found that 24% of Atlantic Canadians are struggling to afford food for their families. What is the government doing with the tax money? It is not their money; it is Canadians' money. It is their hard-earned tax money. Well, it gave carmaker Stellantis $15 billion for a battery plant and $529 million for factory upgrades, but there was no protection for workers. This led to 3,000 layoffs in Brampton.

This week, Canadians learned the Prime Minister handed Algoma Steel $400 million, knowing full well about its plans for layoffs, and now 1,000 steel workers have lost their jobs. This is the same Liberal logic that led to the government committing to spend up to $1.34 billion to prop up Quebec's Northvolt battery plant, only for the company to file for bankruptcy last year.

This week, a paper mill in British Columbia informed workers it would permanently shut down, leading to 375 workers losing their jobs. In New Brunswick, the lumber industry is a key driver of our economy, and we just learned last week of a paper mill in Maine no longer accepting softwood lumber from New Brunswick because of tariffs, which have gone from 14%, when the Prime Minister took office, to 45% now.

We were hoping for some relief for taxpayers in this budget. That relief, unfortunately, is only going to come for Canadians, for New Brunswickers and for families when we elect a Conservative government, one that takes the issue of overtaxation seriously and will enable Canadians to provide for their families by lowering costs, making Canada affordable again and renewing the promise of Canada so that families can be successful and Canadians can enjoy a great future in our great country.

[Forestry Industry, November 21st, 2025]

Mr. Speaker, these workers are not asking for new programs. They want their jobs back.

These forestry workers are being left out in the cold by the Prime Minister. He is touring the world while tariffs on softwood lumber have tripled under his watch. The Liberals are not helping workers. The only thing they are helping is themselves, while Canadians lose jobs and families struggle to make ends meet, pay their bills or put gas in their cars.

When will the Prime Minister show some respect to hard-working Canadians and stop selling out our softwood lumber workers?

[Forestry Industry, November 21st, 2025]

Mr. Speaker, the lumber industry is part of the backbone of my province of New Brunswick, and 80% of our lumber exports go to the United States. However, a pulp and paper mill in Maine is no longer accepting softwood lumber from New Brunswick due to tariffs.

When the Prime Minister took office, softwood tariffs were at 14%. They then rose to 35%. Now they are at 45%. The Prime Minister promised he would negotiate a win with the United States by this past July. He has broken that promise.

When will the Prime Minister stop selling out our lumber workers?