Madam Speaker, it was a question.
House of Commons photoLost her last election, in 2025, with 47% of the vote.
Resumption of Debate on Address in Reply September 24th, 2020
Madam Speaker, it was a question.
Resumption of Debate on Address in Reply September 24th, 2020
Madam Speaker, in the previous throne speech the government had said that it was going to plant two billion trees. It is in this throne speech as well. The government has had more ethics scandals and conflict of interest scandals than it has planted trees. I would like to ask the member opposite about this.
During the pandemic would have been the perfect time to get people back to work planting trees. They would have been outdoors, socially distancing. When will the Liberals be planting their first tree?
Resumption of Debate on Address in Reply September 24th, 2020
Mr. Speaker, on August 18, the Prime Minister announced the prorogation of Parliament and at that time cited that it was to help families, businesses and individuals and to relaunch our economy. The reality is that businesses, large and small, are barely hanging on. Tara, in my riding, owns a small business. Her revenue completely dropped, yet she had to pay her full commercial rent as she was not eligible for the commercial rent assistance because her landlord would not apply for it. MG, in my riding, also was not eligible because his revenue only dropped 68% not 70%.
When listening to the throne speech yesterday, there was nothing addressing any of these issues and it was extremely disappointing for business owners, in particular small business owners. Therefore, my question for the member today is this. What is the government doing to address this issue? It has been brought up many times and was not in the throne speech. What is the government doing to give business owners like Tara and MG hope and certainty?
International Trade September 24th, 2020
Mr. Speaker, Canada's trade agreement with the EU, CETA, will no longer apply to the U.K. as of December 31. Canadian businesses from multiple sectors across the country are very concerned that we do not have a new agreement signed. In February, the Deputy Prime Minister stated that the government would inform the House of any negotiations that it enters into with intent within 90 days of those negotiations starting. This means that, technically, we would not be entering into negotiations until December, when this agreement ends.
When are the Liberals going to enter into negotiations with the U.K.?
COVID-19 Pandemic and Other Matters August 12th, 2020
Mr. Chair, when the government announced the internal Canada free trade agreement in 2017, it was stated that this would bring $25 billion in economic activity to Canada. That was three years ago.
Can the government please disclose what this $25 billion in economic activity has brought into Canada's engine of economy during the last three years since this was implemented?
COVID-19 Pandemic and Other Matters August 12th, 2020
Mr. Chair, one of the other reasons Fitch Ratings stated that Canada lost its AAA credit rating was because of interprovincial trade barriers. In May I questioned the Deputy Prime Minister about the government's announcement to put a hold on all work being done with interprovincial trade, and we were told at the time that it was due to COVID-19. That was three months ago.
What is the government doing now to jump-start interprovincial trade, and when did this work resume?
COVID-19 Pandemic and Other Matters August 12th, 2020
Mr. Chair, I will be splitting my time with the member for Saskatoon—University.
One of the reasons Canada lost its AAA credit rating from Fitch Ratings, as it stated, was because Canada did not have an economic recovery plan. That was two months ago.
When will the government be announcing its economic recovery plan?
COVID-19 Emergency Response May 26th, 2020
Mr. Speaker, tourism is vital to the Okanagan economy and businesses have a very short window in order to make enough revenue to carry them through to the next season.
With COVID-19, events, festivals, conventions and travel for families have all been cancelled. Related companies are also affected, like cab drivers, event suppliers and bicycle rentals.
The Prime Minister stated on May 5 that the government was looking into tourism-specific supports. It has now been three weeks and still nothing. The Liberals are letting tourism operators down.
When will the government announce its plan for the tourism sector?
Proceedings of the House and Committees May 26th, 2020
Mr. Speaker, the member gave a very impassioned speech. To use his own words, he mentioned that we need to do, legislatively, what we can. He also mentioned we could call it Parliament or call it virtual Parliament, whatever one wants.
In fact, what we are talking about today is neither of those. We are not talking about Parliament or virtual Parliament. What we are debating today is a committee, which is not Parliament or virtual Parliament. Under that role there is no legislation that we will be able to vote on.
What is the member's understanding of what we are voting on today, and how would he expect the legislation he might be interested in to come forth when we are actually not discussing Parliament?
Proceedings of the House and Committees May 26th, 2020
Mr. Speaker, there was a lot in the member's speech around the economy. What has been proposed by the government is to not have all committees sit. When we look at a lot of the committees that really would be very important at this time, for example, international trade, transport, infrastructure and communities, why are we not going down the road of having all committees sit so we can have these important discussions?