Budget Implementation Act, 2018, No. 1  Mr. Speaker, the parliamentary secretary touched on a really good point about two-thirds of the way through his speech, when he talked about where Canada was in 2015, technically entering into a recession, and what transpired in order to get us to where we are today. As a matter of fact, the decision the government made, in terms of putting money into infrastructure and investing in researchers and our educational institutions, had a serious impact on the way people gained confidence in what the Canadian economy was about and how it could continue to build and move forward.

Impact Assessment Act  Mr. Speaker, the member serves on the environment committee, which I had the opportunity to serve on too, as did the member for Edmonton Strathcona. In her speech earlier, she basically all but said that she had absolutely no input, that when she put forward ideas or asked for witnesses to come forward, repeatedly her suggestions and everything she had to offer were not permitted to take place in the committee.

Impact Assessment Act  Mr. Speaker, once again we are confronted with one of those issues where the Conservatives think we are doing too much and the NDP think we are not doing enough. I cannot help but wonder, objectively speaking, that if we removed ourselves from all of the partisanship right now, if we would not perhaps think that what the government is proposing is somewhere right around where it should be, and what Canadians expect and want.

Impact Assessment Act  Mr. Speaker, I noticed that in the beginning of his speech, if I heard him correctly, the member was talking about cellphone towers and other communication devices that are inserted into different landscapes and different areas, traditionally with very little public input. When I was involved in municipal politics in Kingston, on a number of occasions the federal government, which has jurisdiction over particular areas, would do things without proper consultation with other interested stakeholders.

Impact Assessment Act  Madam Speaker, I appreciate the comments from the member for Saanich—Gulf Islands. She is extremely passionate about this particular topic, as we know. I will not question her wisdom in terms of the information that she brings to the table in regard to this debate. I will say that when the Liberal Party ran in the last election, Liberals had a lot of concerns over the way that things were previously being done with respect to engaging on our environmental commitments.

Opportunity for Workers with Disabilities Act  Madam Speaker, it is a pleasure to rise in the House today to speak to Bill C-395, the opportunities act. I want to take an opportunity very quickly to thank the member for Carleton for bringing this forward. I know the opportunity to present a private member's bill does not come along that often, and many members in the House will not have an opportunity to see one through to completion.

Budget Implementation Act, 2018, No. 1  Mr. Speaker, unfortunately I could not agree less with the member's comments, specifically with respect to the government always taking a reactionary approach to things. As a matter of fact, our signature policies are the exact opposite. They are policies that are taking a proactive approach to things, such as what we are doing with our environment and how we are going to protect the environment for future generations.

Budget Implementation Act, 2018, No. 1  Mr. Speaker, I rise on a point of order. I might be interrupting the clip that the member can use on on YouTube, but the truth is that he said “your government”, as if he were speaking to me directly, so perhaps we can correct that.

Budget Implementation Act, 2018, No. 1  Mr. Speaker, I just want to drill down into one particular aspect of the budget. Subclause 20(1) deals with the small business deduction from the general corporate tax rate, a commitment that all the parties have advocated. Yesterday, when the Speaker grouped the 409 amendments, primarily by the Conservatives, the member for Carleton, seconded by the member for Portage—Lisgar, put forward a motion to delete clause 20, essentially deleting that reduction in the corporate tax rate.

Budget Implementation Act, 2018, No. 1  Mr. Speaker, I am not 100% certain where the member is getting the entirety of his information, but the fact of the matter is that the budget, in particular the cannabis excise framework, specifically says that to help those who rely on pharmaceutical cannabis products to relieve pain or treat illness, the government will exempt these products from the excise duties, so long as they are acquired through a prescription.

Budget Implementation Act, 2018, No. 1  Madam Speaker, if the opposition has been listening since this debate started, it will know that the manner in which people are going to be taxed, the manner in which the price on carbon is going to be introduced, is going to be based on an agreement between a province and the federal government.

Budget Implementation Act, 2018, No. 1  Madam Speaker, I appreciate the fact that we are debating the budget, so the questions will be on the entirety of the budget. My remarks today were specifically on the price on carbon. However, when it comes to the price of medicine and the costs associated with that, the government has a clear position on what it is going to do and how it is going to move forward.

Budget Implementation Act, 2018, No. 1  Madam Speaker, there is respect. The respect is shown in the way in which the federal government is choosing to engage with the provinces in terms of setting up that price on carbon and how that money is going to be translated and used within the province. When it comes to certain issues, one of those being the effect on the environment nationally, the role of the federal government is to set policy and set direction and to then work with the provinces to implement that and see how they want to use the revenues they are going to be receiving from that.

Budget Implementation Act, 2018, No. 1  Madam Speaker, it is a pleasure to rise today to speak to the budget implementation bill. In particular, today I will be focusing my comments on the carbon pricing system that the government is proposing to put in place. Our government is taking very seriously the challenges and opportunities presented by the threat of climate change and the evolution of clean growth.

Extension of Sitting Hours  Let me get this straight, Mr. Speaker. If I understand this correctly, the rep from the PMO needed to run up behind the Liberal members to tell them how to vote on every vote when they were voting in favour of every single one. That is the problem with the discussion and the discourse that is going on in here.