Ryan Williams

[Liberal Party of Canada, December 17th, 2024]

Mr. Speaker, I rise on a point of order. Just so that I am clear, it was the Liberal members who said they did not want to have emergency hearings on the $1.2 trillion—

[Liberal Party of Canada, December 17th, 2024]

Mr. Speaker, knowing that our House time is coming to an end and that we want to make sure that we look at this $1.2-trillion trade relationship with the Americans, we have a unanimous consent motion.

I move that, notwithstanding any standing orders, special orders—

[Committees of the House, December 17th, 2024]

Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague for her speech. I enjoyed serving with her on the trade committee.

We talk about what Canada needs when it comes to trade. We talk about leverage or strength. We talk often on this side about the weakness that comes from the current government and Prime Minister in taking on a very strong American counterpart. When we look at that, there are three things we need to see right away. Number one is to axe the carbon tax, which is putting an undue burden on a lot of our businesses, making them uncompetitive. Number two is to scrap the cap on emissions in oil and gas, which is our number one export and, of course, drives growth into Canada. Number three is to make sure we are Canada first when we look at defending our borders and when it comes to meeting our 2% NATO commitment, which builds up our military for us.

Does the member agree that we need to look at Canada first for all Canadians, for always?

[Committees of the House, December 17th, 2024]

Madam Speaker, when we look at trade and the Americans, of course there are big deals. Seventy per cent of Canada's economy is tied to trade with the U.S. It is a big deal for Canadians. Of course, we want to look at other markets but we cannot ignore the Americans. We look at how to handle the Americans, and we talk about how we have become the third-largest trading partner to the Americans. Mexico is number one and China is number two.

The new American president is coming in, talking tough to Canada and acting like he does, but we do not have the Prime Minister standing up for Canada. It is actually the premiers. The premiers of Alberta, Ontario and Quebec have stood up either to talk tough to the Americans or to ensure we are taking care of the borders, which is in question.

Since we have premiers standing up where the weak Prime Minister is not, how much do we need a strong Prime Minister to stand up for Canada?

[Committees of the House, December 17th, 2024]

Madam Speaker, when we look at what has happened in the last nine years with the relationship with the Americans, the failed trade deal and the weak Prime Minister we have, Canada has gone from being the number one trading party of the Americans to now the third. Mexico is number one.

Let us look at some of the reasons. They include taxes and regulations. Canada has increased the carbon tax over five times; it is going to increase the carbon tax again by 19% on April 1. The Americans do not have a carbon tax. If we look at regulations, we have capital gains increases, taxes in Canada that are almost double the Americans. In Texas, there are no federal taxes. The state tax is only 25%. We have taxes, regulations and now loss of wealth. The member mentioned Manitoba is really important to him. It has 10% of its economy linked to U.S. trade. If there is a 25% tariff, that is going to hurt the economy.

Is the member prepared to lose 10% of the economy in Manitoba?

[Committees of the House, December 17th, 2024]

Madam Speaker, if anyone needs to apologize, it is the NDP for asking the Conservatives, who nine years ago made changes when there was not a problem with the border. They had nine years to fix it and now are complaining about the border not being fixed.

We are going to put the resources into the border. We are going to stop the problems that are occurring at the border. We are going to make sure the fentanyl traffickers the NDP-Liberal government allowed are put behind bars. We are going to take care of the border because the government will not.

[Committees of the House, December 17th, 2024]

Mr. Speaker, we can only dream.

Canadians are unanimous in agreeing that the Prime Minister needs to resign and that we need a new government. However, we are faced with the reality that the Prime Minister is not going anywhere, buoyed up by the New Democrats, who seem to think all is well.

One of the biggest issues we have coming up is our trading agreements, particularly with the Americans. When we look at precedents for the House of Commons in any capacity, it is on our trading relationship with the Americans. It is so bad that the premiers are stepping up. Our Prime Minister is so weak that it is the premiers who are standing up for Canada right now. The Premier of Quebec stood up and said he will make sure he puts resources into the border because the President-elect is threatening tariffs if we do not take care of our border.

We should want to take care of our borders, not just for that relationship, but because Canadians should want to see a secure border. Let us make sure we stand up behind those premiers, stand up where this Prime Minister is not and stand up for Canada.

[Committees of the House, December 17th, 2024]

Mr. Speaker, if I got thrashed like the Liberals did last night, I would be willing to turn the page and talk about something else too. Let us talk about trade for a minute.

Our Canadian dollar just dipped below 70¢ this morning for the first time. For Canadians who are already facing the highest grocery bills they have ever had after nine years of the Liberal government, that means grocery bills are going up again. A single mother in Kingston has to go to the grocery store to try to buy milk, food and bread for her children and, by the way, is getting no tax back during a so-called GST holiday this season. They now have to face higher grocery bills at the grocery store. Shame on the government. Shame on the member for thrashing another member of Parliament. He should look at himself.

[Committees of the House, December 17th, 2024]

Mr. Speaker, Adam Smith is the father of modern economics, and he understood a timeless truth: Trade is wealth. When we talk about trade and trading nations, we can say that trading nations do best when they sell the things they produce the best and trade for the rest.

Canada is a trading nation, or it should be. We sit, as Canadians, with the most natural resources per capita of all nations on the planet. Canadians should be rich from that. We are third among countries with the most oil in the world and sixth in terms of natural gas. We have all the things the world needs for batteries and critical minerals. We are number one with potash. We have some of the best mines but, right now, Canadians are broke because the trade deals that the government has put together have been terrible for workers, for paycheques and for Canadians.

We now face a bigger problem with the Americans. Americans smell weakness in the Prime Minister and the government. After nine years of fleecing the government, we have a GDP per capita in Canada that is $32,000 less per worker, per Canadian, than our American counterparts have. We have seen half a trillion dollars of investment go south. We have lost 90,000 softwood lumber jobs as we have been mired in bad trade deals.

When we have a weak Prime Minister and a weak government, it means that we need a strong opposition to formulate a trade partnership with our trade committee. That way, we can study the upcoming CUSMA trade deal to make sure that we are tackling the weakness of the Prime Minister versus the strong president-elect coming into the U.S. We can then ensure that we have strength from the Parliament, because we certainly do not have it from the government.

We are asking for this trade committee to reconvene so that we can bring forth many witnesses to study the effects that a Donald Trump government would have on Canada, Canadians and workers.

I am going to read an amendment to our motion today.

I move:

That the motion be amended by deleting all the words after the word “That” and substituting the following: “the second report of the Standing Committee on International Trade, presented on Thursday, October 27, 2022, be not now concurred in but that it be recommitted to the Committee for further consideration, including in relation to the protection of Canadian jobs, especially unionized jobs, in the electric vehicle, softwood lumber and other sectors, given the announced policy of the incoming United States administration of President-elect Donald Trump to impose 25 percent tariffs on all Canadian exports to the United States, provided that, for the purposes of this study:

(a) the holders of the following offices recognized in law, howsoever styled, shall each be ordered to appear, individually, as witnesses, for at least two hours each, at the prescribed dates and times, for which the Committee shall be instructed to meet at those times:

(i) the Minister of Labour on Monday, January 6, 2025, at 2 p.m.,

(ii) the Minister of Industry on Tuesday, January 7, 2025, at 11 a.m.,

(iii) the Deputy Minister of Citizenship and Immigration on Tuesday, January 7, 2025, at 2 p.m.,

(iv) the Minister for International Trade on Wednesday, January 8, 2025, at 11 a.m.,

(v) the Director of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service on Wednesday, January 8, 2025, at 2 p.m.,

(vi) the Minister of Foreign Affairs on Thursday, January 9, 2025, at 11 a.m.,

(vii) the President of the Canada Border Services Agency on Thursday, January 9, 2025, at 2 p.m.,

(viii) the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration on Monday, January 13, 2025, at 11 a.m.,

(ix) the Ambassador of Canada to the United States of America on Monday, January 13, 2025, at 2 p.m.,

(x) the Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness on Tuesday, January 14, 2025, at 11 a.m.,

(xi) the National Security and Intelligence Advisor to the Prime Minister on Tuesday, January 14, 2025, at 2 p.m.,

(xii) the Minister of Finance on Wednesday, January 15, 2025, at 11 a.m.,

(xiii) the Commissioner of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police on Wednesday, January 15, 2025, at 2 p.m., and

(xiv) the Prime Minister on Thursday, January 16, 2025, at 11 a.m.;

(b) the Committee shall hold such other additional meetings, as may be necessary, during the weeks of January 6 and 13, 2025, to hear from stakeholders, experts, union leaders, premiers or other representatives of provincial and territorial governments, and other witnesses who are proposed by the members of the Committee; and

(c) if a new or increased tariff is imposed by the United States government during the week of January 20, 2025, (i) the Committee shall meet within 24 hours of any such announcement, and (ii) the Committee may order the re-attendance of any minister named in paragraph (a), as the Committee sees fit.

[Finance, December 12th, 2024]

Mr. Speaker, the government is so out of touch, it does not even understand that is only saving Canadians $4.51, because there is no GST on groceries, just pop and chips.

Here is another number: The unemployment rate is up to 6.4%. The Prime Minister has lost control. As the government is set to blow through the $40-billion deficit guardrail, it has its own MPs thinking about unemployment. The member from Saint John—Rothesay said that it is not an “unlimited pot” and, importantly, the Prime Minister and the finance minister are not even talking.

Before the Prime Minister loads his MPs on the unemployment bus, will he tell them about the $40-billion deficit guardrail or will he just drive them over the fiscal cliff?