Mortgage Brokers  Mr. Speaker, Mortgage Professionals Canada is on Parliament Hill this week, joined by some of my former industry colleagues with the Alberta Mortgage Brokers Association. I wish to point out the important role that mortgage brokers play in Canada's real estate industry. Mortgage brokers arrange one-third of all mortgages in Canada, and nearly half of those for first-time homebuyers, representing $80 billion in annual economic activity.

Finance  Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Finance's mortgage rule changes are failing to fix the problems in Vancouver and Toronto and are hurting markets in Atlantic Canada, which are already depressed. Sherry Donovan, of the Nova Scotia Home Builders' Association, told the finance committee that the Atlantic provinces are “still in deep recovery mode from the weak economy....

Ethics  Madam Speaker, we have demanded answers about the Prime Minister's illegal use of private aircraft. The government House leader keeps telling us that he will answer the Ethics Commissioner's questions. Well, he did answer her preliminary questions, and she must not have liked his answers, because she escalated the matter to an unprecedented full investigation.

Foreign Investment  Madam Speaker, when choosing where to start projects and create jobs, investors listen for clear and consistent messages from legislators and regulators, messages saying that the country is open for business and wants new investment. So when a prime minister, who signals policy intent with every public statement, tells one group that the oil sands have to be phased out and boasts to others about approving pipelines, investors get confused.

Controlled Drugs and Substances Act  Mr. Speaker, I too share my concern for the victims of the opioid crisis. I am extremely concerned because this is a crisis that touches my riding and it touches all Canadians. Our caucus was willing to support this legislation but for one clause. We agreed to pass it through at all three readings but for that one clause.

Controlled Drugs and Substances Act  Mr. Speaker, the previous speaker as well as the member for Vancouver Kingsway both grossly mischaracterized the earlier comments from the Conservative health critic, the member for Oshawa. When the member for Oshawa acknowledged that supervised injection sites may save lives at the moment but do not address the issue of addiction, that is exactly what he meant by that.

Business of Supply  Mr. Speaker, one wonders why such a strident promise was made by the government. This is what I have been thinking about during this debate. I would tend to agree with the previous speaker that, indeed, there may not have been the appetite for change, which is what the interaction in my own riding found.

Job Losses in the Energy Sector  Mr. Chair, our party would also support the export of raw vegetables and not say, “Why can't we prepare a salad and ship that halfway across the world?” The market will find a way to efficiently decide where products are built and how distribution channels will operate. I do welcome the suggestion from those benches though, that they are pro-investment for upgrades.

Job Losses in the Energy Sector  Mr. Chair, as we are having this discussion, it is perhaps more important what the people I have met in my constituency had to say. While extending someone's EI by five weeks, it is cold comfort to Gary, James, or the people I met who have been unemployed for two years. It means nothing to the small contract worker who is not eligible for employment insurance, who might have gone from working 40 hours a week to five hours a month.

Job Losses in the Energy Sector  Mr. Chair, I rise tonight as the member of Parliament for the people of Calgary Rocky Ridge. As a Calgarian and Albertan, I witnessed an economic catastrophe unfolding in my riding. These are my friends, my neighbours, my former business clients, my fellow Albertans who are suffering from the effects of a devastating economic downturn.

Statistics Act  Mr. Speaker, there has been a lot of comment, during debate on the bill, about the issue of independence. I will give my hon. colleague a moment to expand on one of the points he made in his speech around independence versus accountability. We indeed brought expert advisors to government to have independence to execute their tasks to the best of their professional ability, but accountability to Parliament and accountability to the voters are also important considerations that we cannot lose track of.

Request for Emergency Debate  Mr. Speaker, I rise to seek leave for the adjournment of the House for the purpose of discussing an important matter, the economic crisis in Alberta, requiring urgent consideration pursuant to Standing Order 52. Alberta's unemployment rate has just reached a 25-year high and continues to rise.

Taxation  Mr. Speaker, a generation ago, Pierre Trudeau's national energy program drove oil rigs and the jobs that went with them out of Alberta. Today, Alberta has dropped 18 ranks, into the bottom half of energy investment destinations in the world. Unemployment is at a 25-year high and rising, and the Liberals are making it worse by forcing a carbon tax on all Canadians and spending billions on hot air credits.

Business of Supply  Mr. Speaker, the motion is not about the cold war nostalgia. The motion is very much about current events, the events of this past week. The member spent quite a bit of time in his speech talking about the importance of credibility, and the credibility of the Prime Minister. My hon. friend called out the Prime Minister, rightly, for his lack of credibility on a variety of issues.

Business of Supply  Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the member who perhaps would have made a great member of Castro's team for his ability to stand up in the House and always be able to defend his own government, no matter what the government has said. The member for Winnipeg North asked what the motion does to help the Cuban people.