Business of Supply  Mr. Speaker, I rise to speak to this important motion today. It is important because in my riding, like many rural ridings across Canada, trade is the lifeblood of our economy. Trade is facilitated by building strong interprovincial and business relations. When our Prime Minister creates diplomatic incidents, he undermines those relationships, and consequently, trade suffers.

Impact Assessment Act  Mr. Speaker, Bill C-69 is the latest monstrosity to come out of the Liberal government, a bill that will cripple Canada's energy industry and eliminate tens of thousands of good-paying jobs across communities in Canada, particularly in my home province of Alberta. This entire process is yet another concession made by the Liberal government to radical environmental groups that will not stop until Canada's oil and gas industry is eliminated.

Business of Supply  Mr. Speaker, I would be more than happy to take responsibility for the veterans across this country. That is why we will be winning in 2019, because we are going to get to the bottom of this. We are not the party that reopened the Equitas lawsuit. The current government reopened the Equitas lawsuit after the Prime Minister promised those same veterans that they would never again have to go to court to fight for the benefits they deserve, and that is a broken promise.

Business of Supply  Mr. Speaker, I have spoken with Canada's former veterans affairs minister, and he was doing everything that he could to work with our veterans to settle this lawsuit. I have confidence that we would have done that had we been in government. It was not this party that reopened this court case after promising veterans that they would never again.

Business of Supply  Mr. Speaker, I do not need to be lectured about empathy for the members of our Canadian Forces and those veterans, because I have served in the Canadian Forces. I know about these veterans. I know what they go through. I have worked with them, and I have heard their perspective.

Business of Supply  Mr. Speaker, I will be splitting my time with the member for Brandon—Souris. I rise today to speak to the motion of the hon. member for Brantford—Brant. This is an important issue for me personally and for my riding of Sturgeon River—Parkland. My constituency has one of Canada's largest military installations at the Edmonton Garrison and the community surrounding the garrison are the homes of many who serve and have served Canada.

Ethics  Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister broke the law not once but four times. He says that he has taken responsibility, but his words are meaningless. Canadians are looking for action. He claims that this was a family vacation, yet he brought along his political buddies. That is not my idea of a family vacation.

Canada Summer Jobs Program  Mr. Speaker, this past December, hundreds of charitable organizations were presented with an ultimatum: abandon their beliefs and principles or be denied funding by the Liberal government. Numerous businesses, faith organizations, and groups in my riding have participated in the summer jobs program for years.

Canada Elections Act  Mr. Speaker, it is eminently clear to me that the Liberal Party would like to do anything else than talk about its ethical violations or its cash for access fundraisers. My party does not dangle out its members and say, “For $1,500, you can access these top decision-makers.” That is not what the Conservative Party stands for, not now, not in 2006, and not ever.

Canada Elections Act  Mr. Speaker, I thank the only member of the House who is younger than I am for that question, and I am proud to serve with him. It is very clear that Liberals are desperate to hold these cash for access fundraisers, especially considering that the Conservative Party of Canada, yet again, destroyed them in fundraising this year and we are not even the governing party.

Canada Elections Act  Mr. Speaker, it goes to show that some things do not change. We have a party in government that will use all apparatuses of government, whether it be personal jets or meal allowances, or the power of ministers to fundraise and cover costs for personal pleasure. Canadians expect better of their government, and they expect better of their Prime Minister.

Canada Elections Act  Mr. Speaker, many years ago during the 2006 election, one of the most important issues of the day was accountability and transparency. The Liberal government at the time had been implicated in the most severe case of political corruption in modern Canadian history. People may remember this as the sponsorship scandal.

Ethics  Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister has been asked to answer for breaking the law. He says he has taken responsibility, but what is responsibility without accountability? His illegal trips abuse taxpayer funds: $215,000 for security, $32,000 for jets, and over $1,700 for booze and meals.

Criminal Code  Mr. Speaker, before I begin my speech, I want to recognize and express deep gratitude to remarkable leader, a former minister, my predecessor, the Hon. Rona Ambrose, who served the people of Sturgeon River—Parkland with distinction. It is an honour to follow in her footsteps as the representative of Sturgeon River—Parkland.

Taxation  Mr. Speaker, on January 1, there will be major changes to the way small businesses are taxed. The new small business tax changes will have a significant impact on the people I represent. To make matter worse, the Liberals have yet to release their tax plan. This leads Canadians to wonder if the finance minister is too preoccupied with his ethical fiascos to do his job.