Robert Gordon Kitchen

[Business of Supply, May 29th, 2024]

Madam Chair, did the minister give them anything whatsoever to help them keep Canadians safe?

[Business of Supply, May 29th, 2024]

Madam Chair, did the minister provide any training?

[Business of Supply, May 29th, 2024]

Madam Chair, why did the minister not provide funding?

[Business of Supply, May 29th, 2024]

Madam Chair, the answer is none.

Did the minister provide funding?

[Business of Supply, May 29th, 2024]

Madam Chair, the deputy chief of the Vancouver Police stated on April 15 that their members require “tools so that they would be able to do their jobs when there are community concerns about problematic drug use.”

What resources did the minister give to law enforcement before deciding to legalize the use of hard drugs?

[Business of Supply, May 29th, 2024]

Madam Chair, all my questions will be for the Minister of Mental Health and Addictions.

Why did the minister tell law enforcement that they are expected to “do their jobs” when the NDP-Liberals took away their ability to keep our communities safe from people using hard drugs in public?

[Hungarian Canadian Award Winner, May 22nd, 2024]

Mr. Speaker, last night Candace Barta-Bonk was presented with the Knight's Cross of the Order of Merit of the Republic of Hungary by the ambassador of Hungary to Canada.

The honour is given in recognition of Candace's value-creating activities in order to preserve the identity of Hungarians in Canada and to strengthen their cultural, linguistic and spiritual community, as well as her dedicated work to strengthen bilateral relations. Candace, a fourth-generation Hungarian Canadian, grew up in Moosomin and Kipling, Saskatchewan, where her family settled after immigrating in the 1880s.

In 2021, Candace was given the role of Hungarian honorary consul in Saskatchewan, and she continues to promote and celebrate her heritage and traditions through a variety of initiatives. She was instrumental in the restoration of the Bekevar Church, a local landmark in the Kipling area that helps to preserve the legacy of the historic Hungarian community.

I congratulate Candace for her achievement and thank her for all she continues to do on behalf of Hungarians in Saskatchewan.

[Fall Economic Statement Implementation Act, 2023, May 9th, 2024]

Mr. Speaker, it is good to see that, even at this late hour, we still have people here intending and trying to learn from the incompetence that the present government is showing.

With the holiday season upon us once again, oh, we need to hang on a sec; I wrote this speech back in December, and the holiday season was upon us at that point in time. However, it shows the incompetence we see from the government that it has taken six months to get to this stage. It is interesting that when we look at things where things are being tabled, I guess we consider the holidays. In some ways, I am not being wrong when I say the holidays, because we do have Victoria Day coming up within a week, or as they say here in Ontario, May Two-Four day. It is a holiday that is coming, so I guess I am not being incorrect in that statement.

Now, Canadians all across the country are feeling the financial pinch, and many of them are trying to save money in any way they can. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said of the Liberal government, which continues to increase spending and taxes on the backs of middle-class people, as outlined in the fall economic statement. After nine years under the Prime Minister, Canadians are struggling while the government just keeps getting richer. We see this struggle in many different areas. Food bank usage is up across the country, with a record two million visits occurring in a single month, and that is projected to be increasing by another million.

First of all, I would like to thank the Salvation Army, which does a tremendous job in helping our Canadians with raising food for the food banks, helping to feed Canadians and stepping forward and stepping up. I know the Salvation Army was here this past week. I would also like to thank all Canadians who step up and contribute to these food drives and assist Canadians, because what we need is showing where Canadians are working for Canadians.

Unfortunately, as I said, we cannot say where the government can continue to increase spending and taxes on the backs of these middle-class people, and this is outlined in the Liberals' fall economic statement. After nine years of the government, we have seen that the cost of groceries continues to go up, and over 50% of Canadians are $200 or less away from going broke. The situation is alarming, and one would expect that a responsible government would introduce measures to address this, but no. Instead, the Prime Minister has announced more than $20 billion in new inflationary spending in the fall economic statement, and this will continue to keep inflation and interest rates higher than Canadians can afford.

Sadly, this does not come as a surprise to anyone who has been paying attention to the government's dismal history when it comes to managing the finances of this country. I will read from an article from The Globe and Mail, which says, “Every time the Liberals update the country on the state of its finances, it is accompanied by pages of prose [141 pages, to be exact, in this situation] trumpeting the government’s devotion to fiscal restraint. And yet, every time, spending somehow ratchets higher.” One need only glance at the projected deficits to see that this is true.

Let us go back in time to touch on budget 2023, where the finance minister said that the deficits for the next four years would be as follows: $35 billion, $26.9 billion, $15.7 billion and, finally, $14 billion in 2027-28. Let us keep in mind that those projections were made over a year ago, and not much has changed with respect to Canada's fiscal landscape since then. Now, let us take a look at the new deficit projections from the fall economic statement. It states that we will have a $38.4 billion deficit in 2024-25, then $38.3 billion, then $27.1 billion and, finally, $23.8 billion in 2027-28. This is an average of about $9 billion more per year. In what world is that considered fiscally responsible or showing restraint, as the Liberals would like us to believe? How is that possible?

In fact, with the BIA, which we are debating right now, we now have a better idea of what the national debt numbers will be. Remember that the national debt, back in 2015, when the Liberal government came into power, was just over $600 billion. In 2023, the government showed it to be $1.1 trillion. That 0.1 is $100 billion. When we put it in that perspective and look at this, people need to finally wake up to what those costs are. According to the statement in the fall economic statement, it will be $1.2 trillion.

As for this budget that came forward just now, the 2024 budget, which was supposed to be there to help generation Z and the millennials, when one looks at what that projects the national debt will be for 2025-26, is projecting it to be $1.5 trillion. That is a $200-billion to $300-billion increase. How is that helping generation Z and millennials? That is adding $300 billion-plus onto the debt, which they are going to have to pay at some time. How is it going to happen?

As for what this government is doing, it is upping the credit limit, and it is increasing it to $2 trillion, more than we have, and continuing. How is that teaching gen Z and millennials, or even anybody, how to save money? How can they afford to survive? We are not teaching them a thing, and this from a government that campaigned back in 2015 on having just two $10-billion deficits. That is simple math. It is not hard to figure out, but when it was $600 billion, assuming that they had two $10-billion deficits, our deficit should only be $620 billion. Those numbers do not seem to add up.

Furthermore, while the annual government revenue projections are to be $6 billion higher because of their inability to control Canada's debt, interest costs have skyrocketed and will have doubled in the last two years. Here are the budget projections for interest charges on the federal debt of budget 2023: $46 billion for 2024-25, $46.6 billion for 2025-26, $48.3 billion for 2026-27 and $50.3 billion in 2027-28.

Let us compare those interest figures with the new updated projections from the fall economic statement, where we have $52.4 billion in 2024-25, $53.3 billion and then $55.1 billion, ending with $58.4 billion in 2027-28. Interest costs are now the highest they have been in a decade, and the Liberals have no plan whatsoever to remedy this. This eats up and consumes the $6 billion in increased revenue I previously mentioned. That is net-zero increases.

To put this into perspective, the Prime Minister has allowed the interest costs for the federal government to run so high that the amount is now double what it spent on national defence, and it will be more than the federal government spends on health care next year, which is evident in our 2024 budget, where the interest rates that are being paid are higher than the total amount we would spend on health care.

This means that, instead of taxpayer money going toward our doctors and nurses, it will be spent on servicing a debt that should never have been this high in the first place. The government cannot be trusted to do what is in the best interests of Canadians, and it is time for a new Conservative government that truly understands what responsible fiscal management means.

[Business of Supply, May 9th, 2024]

Madam Speaker, when we look up at the screen, we see how this is dictated by the House. It talks about the legalizing of hard drugs, but that is not what we are talking about here. This is not about legalizing hard drugs. This is about the role of government, as well as the Public Health Agency of Canada, to educate and protect the people of this country. This includes health care, and while the provinces and territories play the leading role, they are given guidance and oversight by the federal Minister of Health, the Minister of Mental Health and Addictions, Health Canada and the Public Health Agency of Canada.

The federal government must work with and listen to its provincial counterparts, which it is not doing. When it comes to health care policy, it needs to respect provincial jurisdiction. When the Province of B.C. came to the federal government to say that its experiment was failing, the government failed to respond quickly to that aspect. It is shocking that we sit here and listen to the government and members talk about how they believe it is important to be providing free drugs to Canadians when they are finding out from B.C.'s example that it does not exist.

At the Health committee, we heard from Ms. Fiona Wilson, president of the British Columbia Association of Chiefs of Police and deputy chief of the Vancouver Police Department, on April 15th. Ms. Fiona Wilson stated, “As police leaders, we were unequivocal about the need to prevent unintended impacts on community safety and well-being, especially for youth.” Again, they were not provided with the information.

Ultimately, when we talk about things, what we need to be aware of is that 21,824 Canadians suffer from hypoxic brain injury. With two to three minutes of no oxygen to the brain, the damage to brain cells is extensive. With just one shot of naloxone, either nasally or by injection, to resuscitate, the risk of brain injury is exponentially greater.

[Carbon Tax, May 7th, 2024]

Mr. Speaker, after nine years of the NDP-Liberal government, we continue to see the carbon tax increases escalate the cost of food. Over two million Canadians are now using food banks, and this is expected to rise by a million.

Throughout southeast Saskatchewan, the level of use is exponentially increasing. While the Salvation Army continues to do tremendous work, on the radio, it repeatedly requests assistance for food drives to fill and replenish its stock. I thank the Salvation Army and Canadians for stepping up and assisting.

A new report by Canada's food professor finds that nearly 60% of Canadians are eating expired food so they can cut back on their grocery bills. This spoiled food is dangerous and putting Canadians at risk of illness. Unfortunately, until the NDP-Liberal government is out of office, Canadians will continue to pay the price of the Prime Minister's lack of leadership and broken promises.

It is time for a change. It is time to axe the tax and work for those who do the work. It is time for a common-sense Conservative government.