Canada Pension Plan  Madam Speaker, on this side of the House, we believe in maximizing the choices and opportunities for Canadians to save and to provide for themselves, their families, their futures, and their communities. What is clear is over the last year under the Liberals' failed plan is that the roadblocks and the policies of the Liberal government are crushing the middle class and dismantling the economy.

Canada Pension Plan  Madam Speaker, I am pleased to speak to Bill C-26, which would have consequences for all people and communities across Canada with very real costs that would not deliver the promised benefits, and at a time when job losses are escalating with not one single net new full-time job created in Canada during the past year under the Liberals.

Natural Resources  Mr. Speaker, Canadians need more than understanding and actions speak louder than words. Approving a project is one thing, but getting it built is another. Canadians want jobs. Unemployed energy workers and their families are hurting. Their livelihoods and futures are at risk and they just want to get back to work.

Infrastructure  Mr. Speaker, the Liberals constantly pit Canadians against each other such as forcing a carbon tax on provinces, if it is wanted or not; and hiking costs for everyone, but mostly for rural and northern Canadians and the poor. Only 1% of infrastructure funds will go to rural towns.

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship  Mr. Speaker, when the minister says closing the Vegreville immigration centre is to “ensure tax dollars are spent on quality services”, he insults my constituents. In fact, officials have praised Vegreville staff, saying that it is a model, and an innovative office doing exemplary work and exceeding targets.

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship  Mr. Speaker, this is even bigger than 280 jobs, as 250 spousal jobs will be impacted. Small businesses will shut their doors. Struggling farm families will lose the only stable income they have. Schools will lose one-quarter of their students, and then teachers. The Liberal's so-called business case does not include a cost study or an economic impact assessment., so how can the minister claim anything about job gains when he has actually no idea about the full scope of devastation he is causing?

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship  Mr. Speaker, the minister's edict to close the Vegreville immigration centre and move it to a Liberal-held city centre riding is just the start. Jobs and families are at risk. We are moving 280 jobs from Vegreville. It is comparable to cutting 55,000 jobs from Edmonton. The Liberal plan failed to create one single new full-time job in all of Canada in the past year, and now the Liberals are charging ahead to cut 280 from a small rural town.

Natural Resources  Mr. Speaker, in 2014, nine out of 10 new jobs created in all of Canada were created in Alberta. Today, Alberta's job losses are the highest in nearly 22 years. Pipelines are lifelines for Alberta, and for hundreds of thousands of energy workers across the country. Canada's world-leading oil and gas is at risk.

Natural Resources  Mr. Speaker, thousands of Albertans are out of work and have been for over a year, and not one additional full-time job has been created in Canada under the Liberals in that time. Meanwhile, the U.S. president-elect said that he will approve Keystone XL within 100 days of taking office, but our Minister of Natural Resources says it is not a priority.

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship  Mr. Speaker, the Liberals' attack on rural Canada is insulting. The immigration minister's edict on Vegreville could be just the start. If it is done in Alberta, who is to say it will not be done to the exact same office in Sydney, Nova Scotia, or to the pay processing centre in Miramichi, New Brunswick, where towns and hundreds of workers depend on those jobs?

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship  Mr. Speaker, the minister's excuses to shut down the Vegreville immigration office do not add up. He claims that there is a strong business case, but there was no cost analysis, and that there will be a net gain of jobs. However, the hundreds of immediate and spinoff job losses will devastate the town and region.

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship  Mr. Speaker, yesterday, the minister said all staff at the Vegreville immigration centre will be “guaranteed jobs in Edmonton”. However, officials say more than half will not be covered to move, some will not even get an offer at all, and others cannot afford to commute. The minister's answers keep changing and contradicting officials and others.

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship  Mr. Speaker, if the minister does not care about killing jobs in town by closing the Vegreville immigration centre, maybe he will care about the social impact. Seventy-six per cent of CPC Vegreville employees are women. Therefore, he is ripping the mothers, daughters, babas, the volunteers, and the leaders out of town.

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship  Mr. Speaker, the minister claims that closing the Vegreville immigration centre will increase jobs in Alberta, but he is wrong. This edict will immediately kill 280 jobs in town, but that is only the start. Jobs will be lost at the local post office, local school, the town, charities, and more.

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship  Mr. Speaker, the minister's excuse for closing the Vegreville processing centre and moving it to a Liberal city riding is nonsense. He claimed there was a strong business case and cited efficiencies. He also said that the union agrees, but prairie PSAC reps say, “This has nothing to do with workload or the capacity of these employees to deliver service....