Standing Committee on Human Resources, Skills and Social Development and the Status of Persons with Disabilities  Madam Speaker, I am pleased to rise today to support the motion of my colleague from Mississauga East—Cooksville. Skilled workers are the backbone of Canada's economy. The study proposed by the motion would examine ways we can respond to the skilled labour shortage in the greate

Standing Committee on Human Resources, Skills and Social Development and the Status of Persons with Disabilities  Madam Speaker, I thank the hon. member for bringing this motion forward. It is very timely. The Conference Board of Canada estimated that Ontario will face a shortage of 190,000 skilled workers in 2020 and by 2030 that number will be roughly double. Can the hon. member speak to

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship  Mr. Speaker, family reunification is a priority for this Liberal government. Under the Conservatives' mismanagement, we saw Canadians wait years in ballooning backlogs to reunite with their wives, husbands, parents and grandparents. In my riding of Kitchener South—Hespeler, I hav

Petitions  Mr. Speaker, I wish to present e-petition 1576, which I sponsored and which has been certified by the clerk of petitions. The petition has been signed by 554 Canadian citizens of Sudanese origin and residents of Canada. Sudanese applicants for Canadian visas are obliged to travel

Retirement Congratulations  Mr. Speaker, one minute is too short to adequately honour Ken Seiling, husband to Kathryn, father of five, grandfather of nine, hockey coach, organist, choir master, teacher, museum director. Ken has announced his intention to retire after 42 years of public service, two years a

Automotive Industry  Mr. Speaker, two years ago, I rose in the House for the very first time to recognize 30 years of significant contributions by Toyota to my constituents. I took great pleasure this past Friday when the Prime Minister, Premier Wynne, and Fred Volf, president of Toyota Motor Manufac

Budget Implementation Act, 2018, No. 1  Mr. Speaker, the member asked great questions. I want to lay out what our government has achieved since we have taken office. Some 600,000 jobs have been created since we have taken office. Canada is doing the best of all the G7 countries. Our government has lifted over 300,000

Budget Implementation Act, 2018, No. 1  Mr. Speaker, we have invested historic numbers in infrastructure. With this investment we have been able to get Internet and broadband access to many rural communities. That did not happen under the previous government. In terms of the superclusters, $950 million has been given

Budget Implementation Act, 2018, No. 1  Mr. Speaker, a couple of weeks ago, I happened to catch Stephen Poloz's speech on budget 2018. Hearing the governor of the Bank of Canada's remarks on our federal budget filled me with pride. Hearing his optimism about the present macroeconomic situation, including the creation o

Budget Implementation Act, 2018, No. 1  Madam Speaker, the hon. member mentioned a couple of quotes. I want to give him a quote from the Business Development Bank of Canada: “Canada had solid economic growth...in 2017. Our economy is on a solid footing. [...] Canada should have a solid growth of 2.2% in 2018”. Some est

International Development  Mr. Speaker, on February 23, UNICEF called on the international community to intervene urgently to help the Rohingya people. Colleagues in the House are familiar with the suffering they have endured, and now they face yet another threat, the rainy seasons and cyclones that will s

Petitions  Mr. Speaker, I rise today to present two related petitions. Petition e-1264, signed by 531 Canadians, reminds the House that approximately 25% of Canada's population are non-believers, and calls upon the House to request that the Minister of Justice and the Minister of Canadian H

Clearpath Robotics  Mr. Speaker, Waterloo region is one of the best places in the world to build a technology company. With over 1,000 technology companies, Waterloo region's start-up density is second only to that of Silicon Valley. I recently visited an innovative and award-winning company in my

Workers in Manufacturing  Mr. Speaker, I stand today to express my sincere appreciation to all the men and women working day, afternoon, night shifts, 12-hour continental shifts, and weekends. I have a great respect for all the workers in manufacturing facilities because I, too, have worked in all shifts

Indian Act  Mr. Speaker, my colleague quoted Senator Christmas, who said that the government will need to pay close attention to indigenous communities. I wanted to ask the hon. member about the importance of consulting, how that process needs to be done efficiently and effectively, and how