Rona Ambrose

[Ethics, December 12th, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, the more we know, the more it looks like the Prime Minister's cash for access fundraisers are unethical. Many have been quite open about how this works. People pay $1,500, and then they lobby the Prime Minister once they are in the door.

We can see how uncomfortable even the Prime Minister's own caucus is when we ask these questions, but for some reason, there is one person who does not seem uncomfortable at all, and that is the Prime Minister. Not only is he 100% comfortable, he brags about all the government business he discusses at these fundraisers. In fact, he did it again at a press conference this morning.

How can the Prime Minister be so blind on ethics?

[Taxation, December 12th, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister's carbon tax will put Canadian companies and workers at a disadvantage relative to U.S. companies.

According to the Prime Minister's own officials, this tax will increase the cost of electricity and fuel in Canada. In the meantime, the president-elect is committed to lowering taxes and reducing energy costs for U.S. companies.

How can the Prime Minister justify putting his country at such a disadvantage?

[Taxation, December 12th, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, if getting all the premiers together is going to cost Canadians $2,500 per family every year going forward, I hope they do not have any more meetings any time soon.

The Prime Minister himself does not even have the numbers. We actually do not know how much more this is going to cost Canadians, or maybe he is not telling us what he knows, or maybe the real problem is he actually does not care. He does not care about jobs, the economy, or the fact that families actually cannot make ends meet right now. Some Ontario families are choosing between groceries and paying their electricity bills.

Why is the Prime Minister plowing ahead with this new carbon tax when he will not even tell Canadians what it would cost?

[Taxation, December 12th, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister's new carbon tax will put Canadian businesses and workers at a very real disadvantage compared to our American neighbours and our biggest competitors.

According to the Prime Minister's own officials, it will increase the cost of electricity, gas, and other fuel in Canada. Meanwhile, the president elect down south said he will cut taxes and energy costs.

How can the Prime Minister justify putting our own country at such a competitive disadvantage?

[Ethics, December 8th, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, it is highly disappointing and it is actually disturbing to see the Prime Minister continue to blindly defend his actions of selling access to himself and the rest of the government. The Liberals are not even denying it anymore. They are explicitly linking government business with fundraising and raking in hundreds of thousands of dollars. Not only is the Prime Minister breaking his own ethical rules, but he appears to be breaking the conflict of interest laws.

Does the Prime Minister understand these facts and just does not care, or is the money too good to say no to?

[Ethics, December 8th, 2016]

And not one new job in Canada, Mr. Speaker.

Yesterday, we asked about cash for access and the Prime Minister said, “there are a lot of questions about these issues”. He needs to answer them.

The Liberal Party is promoting these events as a chance to discuss business and lobby the government. The hosts of these fundraisers know it. The guests know it. The Prime Minister knows it, but he also knows that this is wrong.

When will the Prime Minister finally admit that selling access to raise money for the Liberal Party is unethical? When will he commit to stopping it?

[The Economy, December 8th, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, high taxes are not creating jobs and with Trump's election, it is about to get worse.

The president-elect of our neighbour to the south has an aggressive approach to trade and protectionist policies to keep jobs in his country. That threatens Canadian jobs. To make matters worse, the Prime Minister suggested renegotiating NAFTA before anyone even asked him to.

Does the Prime Minister acknowledge that that was irresponsible?

[The Economy, December 8th, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, here is why it is so important for the Prime Minister to start getting serious.

In the U.S., the new administration is getting ready to slash taxes on businesses and families. It already has advantages over Canada in energy costs. Canada's competitiveness is at risk and jobs are going to go south even faster, unless the Prime Minister can get down to work.

Will the Prime Minister come back next year with a real low tax plan to keep jobs in Canada?

[The Economy, December 8th, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to welcome the outgoing vice-president to Canada today. We appreciate the good work that we all did together over the last decade. However, there are new challenges on the horizon with the United States, work that we fear the Prime Minister is not ready for.

While the new U.S. president-elect starts slashing taxes and looking out for American jobs first, the Prime Minister is doing photo ops and fundraisers. Meanwhile, there has not been a single additional full-time job created in this country in a year.

What is the Prime Minister's plan to compete and get Canadians back to work?

[Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship, December 7th, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, there is the Liberal arrogance that Albertans have come to expect from the Prime Minister.

The Alberta MP asked a very good question about jobs. If it was 290,00 jobs in Toronto, the Prime Minister would have been paying attention and he would have answered the question. She deserves respect. Albertans deserve respect.

Why does the Prime Minister not get up, do the right thing, and give the people of Vegreville their jobs back?