Wayne Long

[Committees of the House, June 13th, 2023]

Mr. Speaker, I continue to be confused by the party opposite, the Conservative Party, as to what its members actually believe when it comes to housing. They voted against the housing benefit, the rapid housing initiative and the accelerator fund. They actually voted against the right to housing.

Last week, the member for Calgary Centre actually supported his council's NIMBYism. He supported a council that did not want to increase density or eliminate things like parking requirements.

The party opposite seems to be all over the map when it comes to housing. Therefore, I ask my colleague this. Has he sorted through what the Conservative position is on housing?

[Port Saint John, June 1st, 2023]

Mr. Speaker, as Port Saint John celebrates its annual Port Days, excitement and optimism reign supreme. Our government's $100-million investments are supporting more than 100,000 TEUs of cargo and are aimed at 150,000 by the end of the year. This will be the largest volume of container traffic the port has ever processed and will explode to over 800,000 TEUs in only a few years.

This has positioned Port Saint John as the fastest-growing container port on the eastern seaboard and in all of Canada. We are no strangers to tourists through our port either. Just this week, Saint John welcomed the fourth-largest cruise ship in the world. The Oasis of the Seas came to our port with over 8,000 passengers and crew filling our uptown businesses, restaurants and tourist destinations.

Federal investment in our port is driving our economic diversification and growth in Saint John—Rothesay. I am proud of the entire team at Port Saint John, led by CEO Craig Estabrooks and chair Jack Keir, and I know our government will continue to stand up for, invest in and deliver for Port Saint John.

[Fall Economic Statement Implementation Act, 2022, December 6th, 2022]

Madam Speaker, as a government, we often hear about everything we are doing wrong. It seems to be one thing after another. Certainly, the official opposition is quick to remind us that we cannot manage the economy, yet it ran nine straight deficits. The economy was in a mess when we took over.

In the fall economic statement, we came forth with a lot of good programs. To be sure, we hear from the party opposite about eliminating the tax on home heating, which would be about $40 or $50 per tank, but what about the doubling of the GST credit? What about the elimination of interest on student loans? What about the rent support? What about all of the programs we have offered that will help Canadians through the situation we are in now?

Can the member opposite tell us which of those programs she would cut?

[Fall Economic Statement Implementation Act, 2022, November 18th, 2022]

Madam Speaker, only in an alternative reality would the Conservatives think that they are fiscal stewards. They ran nine straight deficits. They tried to balance the budget by throwing in the sale of stock and an EI rainy day fund in 2015. We all know, and Canadians know, that is not true.

In the fall economic statement, there are three things my constituents love: first, the doubling of the GST rebate for six months; second, the top-up for rent; and third, the waiving of interest on student loans. Which one of those programs will he actually tell his constituents he does not support?

[Fall Economic Statement Implementation Act, 2022, November 17th, 2022]

Madam Speaker, my friend opposite's speech was impassioned. I have to admit that for a while there I was feeling kind of bad, but then I remembered that the members of the party opposite live in an alternative reality where they are the fiscal managers and fiscal stewards of this country.

Let me remind Canadians that this is the party that ran nine straight deficits. It drove the Canadian economy into the ground. It tried to balance the budget in its 10th year by throwing in the sale of GE stocks and the rainy day EI fund and whatever else, but the economy was a mess. When challenged on that, the Conservatives said, “We had hard times.” They forget that we have just been through a worldwide pandemic. Would the member opposite not agree that he does not have a leg to stand on with respect to fiscal stewardship?

[Fall Economic Statement Implementation Act, 2022, November 17th, 2022]

Madam Speaker, one thing our government did was believe in students. We believe, in particular, in university and post-secondary students, and we have done many things to help those students. We have doubled the Canada summer jobs. We have doubled the Canada student grant, and in this last fall economic statement, we have raised the threshold of repayment from $25,000 to $40,000. It is key that we have also eliminated interest on Canada student loans, which the party opposite has said was a bad decision and wasteful.

I am wondering if the member agrees with his party's position on our elimination of interest for the Canada student loans.

[Committees of the House, November 3rd, 2022]

Madam Speaker, I cannot say there is a lot I agree with in the member's speech.

In my riding of Saint John—Rothesay, I was pleased that under the veterans connection to home program we announced over $450,000 to identify and assist veterans.

I want to tell a little story about 2014, when I was not a politician and was really not involved in politics at all. I was watching one of the TV channels, and the then minister of veterans affairs, Mr. Fantino, had refused to meet with veterans on the Hill. I will never forget the response from those veterans. I dug a little deeper and found that was the government that cut call centres for veterans and made cuts on the backs of veterans.

Does the member opposite agree with what happened to veterans under the Conservative government?

[Investments in Saint John—Rothesay, October 27th, 2022]

Mr. Speaker, I came to this great place in 2015 laser-focused on one goal: to deliver much-needed strategic federal investment for my beautiful riding of Saint John—Rothesay, investment that was sadly lacking under the previous Conservative government. It was because of that lack of investment that Saint John's waterfront was undeveloped. That is, until now. We have announced $15 million to rebuild the seawall. We have invested millions of dollars in the boardwalk, Fundy Quay and area 506 container village. We also just announced a new outdoor arena for our waterfront and a new digital light display for Jardine's Alley.

Our government believes in strategic investments that will turn ridings like mine around. I am proud of what my government has done. I am proud that we have invested in spades in Saint John—Rothesay.

[Port Saint John, October 24th, 2022]

Mr. Speaker, seven years ago, in 2015, I came to this great place on behalf of the constituents of Saint John—Rothesay with one major goal. That goal was to deliver much-needed federal investment in my riding, a riding that had become stalled under the previous government.

I wanted to deliver strategic investment that would help my riding grow and thrive, and there is no better example than that of our government's $100-million investment in Port Saint John.

A few years ago, Port Saint John did 60,000 containers per year. In the next several years, it will go up to 800,000 containers. That will create hundreds of well-paying, waterfront jobs.

There is no better example of a government investing to create private sector investment. CP Rail and DP World will invest half a billion dollars in Port Saint John over the next several years.

Port Saint John is growing and thriving. It is an economic catalyst for my riding and for all of New Brunswick. I am very proud of my government's investment.

[Strengthening Environmental Protection for a Healthier Canada Act, October 24th, 2022]

Mr. Speaker, I have a few comments. First and foremost, I know there was mention made of a broken regulatory system. That system was broken because the previous government, prior to 2015, absolutely gutted that system and broke all trust in it. That is why that system was broken. That is number one.

Number two, the member talked about the government's credibility with respect to a price on pollution. I am always confused when I look across the aisle. They were for it. They were against it. They ran on it. Now, all of a sudden, they want to scrap it. I am just wondering, if our system is so bad, whether the member opposite could name for me a couple of initiatives that his government would take to reduce carbon.