COVID-19 Pandemic  Mr. Chair, the Prime Minister visited my riding of Bruce—Grey—Owen Sound just before last fall's election to discuss broadband rural Internet. I will add that he was received with a passionate welcome, to say the least. Small businesses, people working from home and rural schools are all suffering due to a lack of reliable Internet.

COVID-19 Pandemic  Mr. Chair, the gross revenue reduction test for the Canadian emergency wage subsidy does not work well for farmers, as their revenue patterns and income amounts are subject to timing, volume and pricing changes over the year or years, vice what is currently outlined in the wage subsidy legislation.

COVID-19 Pandemic  Mr. Chair, small and micro-businesses, especially those that are family-owned or sole proprietorships, are not eligible for many if any of the current COVID-19 benefits and are slipping through the cracks. Will the government remove the minimum $50,000 wage ceiling for businesses to qualify for the Canadian emergency business account?

Questions Passed as Orders for Returns  With regard to government evidence or studies related to the effectiveness of measures being considered by the government in relation to firearms: (a) what measures are currently being considered or implemented; (b) for each of the measures in (a), does the government have any evidence that such measures would be effective; and (c) based on the evidence in (b), what will be the projected impact of each measure, including the effect on various crime rates?

Questions Passed as Orders for Returns  With regard to the government missing the deadline to raise our bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) status from "Controlled Risk to BSE" to "Negligible Risk to BSE" with the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) in the summer of 2019: (a) why did the government miss the deadline; (b) has the government sought a waiver or exemption with the OIE for the missed deadline; (c) has the government filed an application with the OIE for the “Negligible Risk“ status, and, if so, on what date was the application filed; (d) what measures have been put in place since the missed deadline to ensure that future deadlines are not missed; (e) has the government received any indication from the OIE regarding whether or not the status will be raised to “Negligible Risk“ in March 2020; and (f) will the raising of the status be delayed and, if so, until when?

Veterans Affairs  Mr. Speaker, in June 2017 the Royal Canadian Legion first sounded the alarm on the veteran disability application backlog crisis, two years after the current government took office. By December, the Canadian Press was reporting that the backlog had grown to 29,000 cases, a 50% increase since March of that year.

Battle of Paardeberg  Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute on the 120th anniversary of the battle of Paardeberg. The Boer War marked the first overseas deployment of the Canadian army, specifically the 2nd (Special Service) Battalion of the Royal Canadian Regiment of Infantry, which played an instrumental role in the victory of the battle of Paardeberg Drift.

Public Safety  Mr. Speaker, despite being a veteran infantry officer fully trained on a number of prohibited and restricted firearms, I recently completed the Canadian firearms and restricted firearms safety courses. These courses are integral to knowing about firearms safety and ensuring that Canadians safely store and use firearms.

Firearms  Mr. Speaker, despite being a veteran infantry officer fully trained on a number of prohibited and restricted firearms, I am required by law to complete both the Canadian firearms safety course and the Canadian restricted firearms safety course should I want to own a restricted firearm.

Agriculture  Mr. Speaker, as this is my first time asking a question in the House, I would be remiss if I did not first thank the constituents of Bruce—Grey—Owen Sound for giving me the pleasure of continuing to serve Canadians and to serve them. I was very disappointed last week, when listening to the throne speech, to hear very little mention of rural Canada and our critical and diverse agricultural sector.