Tracey Ramsey

[Business of Supply, May 1st, 2019]

Madam Speaker, as vice-chair of the Standing Committee on International Trade, I know that the canola issue is something we have been seized with at the committee. We had an emergency debate at the committee that the opposition parties called for. We heard from farmers about the very desperate situation they are in.

Although we see the government coming forward with some funding today, it will not resolve this issue. At the heart of this issue is the diplomacy, the differences between our countries and what has happened with the detention in our country of a Chinese citizen. This is a very deep and serious issue. I hope that the Liberals will be taking it seriously, because what they have done today is not enough. They should not be patting themselves on the back.

One thing that has been called for by the canola farmers is to launch a WTO challenge. Canada is constantly having challenges lobbed at it and we are being dragged to the WTO over multiple trade issues on a constant basis. Here we see a clear-cut case for a challenge. Does the member agree with me that we need that WTO challenge to be initiated now, because we do not know how long this dispute will go on?

[Petitions, May 1st, 2019]

Madam Speaker, I rise to present over 1,300 signatures that have been collected on a petition by the staff of The Body Shop at the Devonshire Mall. They have done some hard work.

This petition highlights the fact that animal testing is unnecessary to prove the safety of cosmetics. It also speaks about following the EU, which has had a ban on animal testing for cosmetics since 2013, and its industry continues to grow. It also highlights the fact that we have signed a trade deal, and they reference CETA, and states that we need to harmonize our regulations with the European Union. The petition also talks about other countries that have made a switch to alternative testing, such as India, Turkey, Israel, Guatemala, Norway, Iceland, Serbia, New Zealand and Switzerland. They call for support for Bill S-214 to ban the sale and/or manufacture of animal tested cosmetics and their ingredients in Canada.

[Automotive Industry, April 30th, 2019]

Madam Speaker, the member mentioned that the Minister of Innovation had gone to Windsor recently. The reason he had to do that was because the Liberals introduced an incentive in the budget for electric vehicles. In doing so, they excluded the only Canadian-made electric vehicle, the Pacifica, the hybrid that is built in Windsor.

Immediately following the budget, we held a rally in Windsor, with all the auto workers. They could not believe the fact that the Prime Minister had been in the plant months before, but it did not cross his mind, when making the budget, to ensure the crown jewel of Windsor, the Pacifica, the only electric-made vehicle in Canada, was included.

We had a rally. We pressured. Then, lo and behold, the minister went to Windsor to announce that, yes, the hybrid would be included.

I thank the workers, those who came out, the member for Windsor West and the member for Windsor—Tecumseh, who, along with myself, stood side by side with them to demand better from the government.

This is the lack of understanding the Liberals have of the auto industry, that they would make such a foolish error in a budget, which they had to correct. I am thankful to those auto workers for working very hard to correct it. However, it should not be on the backs of auto workers. It should be the government that—

[Automotive Industry, April 30th, 2019]

Madam Speaker, I last rose in this place to urge the government to act on behalf of Unifor members at GM Oshawa, who now know that the Liberal government has turned its back on them.

The GM plant closure is devastating for the families of 2,500 workers and for thousands more whose livelihoods have depended on that plant in Oshawa for over 100 years. The Liberals have yet to act. There was no plan, no emergency meetings, and the Prime Minister still has not even been to Oshawa, where the layoff notices are coming and people are very uncertain of their future.

Canadians deserve a government that is working hard for them. Meeting with auto workers in Oshawa should be at the most basic level of engagement, which the Liberal government has completely failed to do.

What is the Prime Minister waiting for? It has been months since the announcement. These workers are fighting for their jobs, along with Unifor, looking for alternatives for the plant that they have in Oshawa and something that can keep some of them working and with their families.

It is clear that it will not be a solution that keeps GM in Canada, and the reason is that the Liberal government simply refuses to get GM to the table to talk about what it will take for them to reinvest in Canada and in Oshawa.

This is critical. This will impact not just the community of Oshawa but the entire auto ecosystem across the country and certainly across southwestern Ontario.

For far too long, Conservative and Liberal governments have taken the auto sector, its companies and our auto workers for granted. The auto sector produces 40% of all Canadian exports. That is a huge portion of what we are exporting. It is also a significant amount of all the research and development that Canada does, and it employs tens of thousands of highly skilled, well-paid workers in high-tech manufacturing, while supplying billions in taxes to support public services like health care and education.

This industry built the Canadian middle class. The blue-collar workers and auto workers of our country have been the backbone of the middle class. This is the crown jewel of our economy, not just in Windsor-Essex but across the country. To be quite honest, it is what every other country wants and what they are trying to steal away.

I visited Malaysia with the trade committee last year around the CPTPP. Ten years ago, Malaysia had no auto industry whatsoever, but it has gone above and beyond to attract and create an entire auto sector that is getting them away from their traditional sectors, so to say that somehow auto jobs are being replaced by robots or technology or processes is completely and utterly false. I think the government should be focusing on how we can keep these jobs here in Canada.

Over the last 10 years, in North America alone, Canada received only 7% of the auto investment that was made versus Mexico, which got 20%, and the U.S. received 73%. Those numbers alone tell us that we are not doing enough. Certainly the Liberal government has no auto policy and no auto strategy. When we lost the Auto Pact, the Conservatives, and now the Liberals, did nothing to try to support auto workers.

Therefore, my question is this: Will the Liberals finally stand up for auto workers in a meaningful way and go to Oshawa and try to attract investment in our country?

[Justice, April 30th, 2019]

Mr. Speaker, it is another day in Ottawa, and another way the Liberals are disrespecting the independence of our court systems. Let us look at their record: SNC-Lavalin, interference with the former attorney general; leaking of judges' personal information, Liberals do not want to investigate; snooping on judicial candidates, “Let us check our Liberal database to see how good a Liberal they are.” When Canadians go to court, they need to know that judges are impartial, not whether they donated to the Liberals or had a big red Liberal lawn sign. Canadians deserve a government that takes the rule of law seriously.

I have a simple question. Will the Liberals stop running candidates through their private database?

[Justice, April 30th, 2019]

Mr. Speaker, the one thing you could have done, you did not. Another day in Ottawa, another way Liberals are disrespecting the independence—

[Justice, April 11th, 2019]

Mr. Speaker, as much as this Prime Minister wants to change the channel, Canadians still want the truth on his political interference in the prosecution of SNC-Lavalin. The Prime Minister says that he has full confidence in committees, the same ones the Liberals have shut down debate on.

The OECD is not letting it go, and that is why it referred the case to its working group on bribery. The Prime Minister's word is not going to cut it. This is a stain on Canada's international reputation.

Will the Prime Minister save us the embarrassment and launch a public independent inquiry?

[Justice, April 10th, 2019]

Mr. Speaker, the justice committee did not get the job done because the Liberals shut it down. What is the Prime Minister hiding that he does not want Canadians to know?

The OECD has referred the PMO's interference scandal to its working group on bribery. The Prime Minister does not seem to understand that Canada's reputation is on the line. The Liberals have blocked any way forward to get to the bottom of what happened. Canadians deserve to know if there was any political interference in the prosecution of SNC-Lavalin.

What is the Prime Minister afraid of? Why does he not do the right thing and call a public inquiry now?

[Justice, April 10th, 2019]

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister's interference scandal is capturing attention from the international community, but not the kind that Canadians are proud of.

The Liberals have shut down debate in two committees with their majority. The Ethics Commissioner has a very limited role. Now the world is watching and Canadians want the truth. Canadians have questions that the Prime Minister needs to answer.

If the Prime Minister is serious about the truth, then the answer is simple: an independent public inquiry. Will he launch one, yes or no?

[Justice, April 9th, 2019]

Mr. Speaker, there have been expulsions from caucus, shutting down debate in committees, a lawsuit, a leak of confidential information about a chief justice Supreme Court application and two months of Liberals doing everything they can to change the channel on the PMO scandal. However, leaking confidential information, that is a serious breach.

The Minister of Justice does not seem to understand the seriousness of this act. Is the Attorney General comfortable with a leak that was intended to smear the former attorney general? The integrity of our courts is at stake. Will the Attorney General launch an investigation into this serious breach?