SoVote

Dec/1/23 10:42:03 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, I do not know what the official opposition is thinking. I have no clue. I do not know why the Conservatives consider it more important to talk about the cars they bought way back when, cars that were not even built here in Canada. They do not want to talk about how we can make plans to attract more investment so that we can build cars and all their parts too. Why do they not want to talk about it? I do not know. They are more interested in talking about the past, before we had all these industries. Opportunity is knocking and we have to answer.

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Mrs. Shannon Stubbs (Lakeland, CPC)

Dec/1/23 10:42:52 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, regarding the 1% of Canadian oil and gas companies that have 500 or more employees, and the fact that it is traditional oil and gas pipeline and oil sands companies in Alberta that are currently leading the creation of new union jobs in Canada, what does she have to say to all of them when the aim of the just transition, just like the Bloc member rightly pointed out the NDP-Liberals are trying to hide, is to shut down oil and gas in Canada as quickly as possible? What does she say to all the union workers in Canadian oil and gas companies in Alberta, where new jobs are being created at the highest rate of any company or sector in any place in the country, who are also going to lose all their jobs immediately because of the just transition agenda?

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Ms. Julie Dabrusin

Dec/1/23 10:43:50 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, once again, I will listen to the workers who are talking about the bill. The president of the Alberta Federation of Labour said, “what the Conservatives are saying in those committees hearings and what they're saying on social media is that this bill...is a blueprint for phasing out oil and gas...but nothing could be further from the truth.” He represents the workers on the ground.

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Mrs. Shannon Stubbs (Lakeland, CPC)

Dec/1/23 10:44:23 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, that was a spectacle. I would suggest that, if the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Natural Resources cannot understand the connection between plastic straws and fuels for vehicles that Canadians like and want to drive, then that says all we need to know about the Liberals' understanding of oil and gas development and how this all works in Canada and the world. Does it not? Make no mistake, today is a dark day for Canada's democracy. Unfortunately, these darks days are increasingly frequent under the NDP-Liberal coalition government. After eight years, I, like a growing number of Canadians, cannot help but reflect on how far away, quiet, dim and so obviously empty the promises of sunny days were. There were promises of sunlight being the best disinfectant, of being open by default, and of collaboration with other parties, provinces and all Canadians, no matter where they live or who they are. The truth is that, after eight years, the Information Commissioner says transparency is not a top priority for the NDP-Liberal government. She says that systems for transparency have declined steadily since the Prime Minister took office in 2015 and that the government is the most opaque government ever. She sounded ever-increasing alarms about the closed-by-default reality of the NDP-Liberal government over the last couple of years. Back in 2017, an audit done independently by a Halifax journalist and his team for News Media Canada, which represents more than 800 print and digital titles, pointed out that the Liberals were failing in breaking their promises and that the previous Conservative government had been more responsive, open and transparent, including during the latter majority years. Everyone can remember when the now Prime Minister made a lot of verifiably baseless claims. Today, the NDP-Liberals want to ram through a bill that their own internal briefings warn would kill 170,000 Canadian oil and gas jobs and hurt the jobs of 2.7 million other Canadians employed in other sectors in every corner of this country. I will say more on that later. Canadians deserve to know what transparency has to do with this. I will explain, but first, members must also know this: The motion the NDP-Liberals have forced us all to debate today, with as little time as possible, is extraordinary. It is a measure usually invoked only for emergencies, and to be clear, it was used twice in nine years of the former Conservative government, but it is happening almost every other day with the NDP-Liberals. Now, I will give the background. Last week, Conservatives and so many horrified Canadians challenged the Liberals on their approach to crime,being hard on victims and soft on criminals, which, at the time, was made obvious by the decision to send Paul Bernardo to a medium-security prison. As usual, the Liberals claimed to be bystanders that day, as they do with almost all things happening in the Government of Canada, which they have been ruling over eight long years. The minister responsible really had nothing to do with it. He was removed from that position in late July, so evidently, someone over there thought he was. However, I digress. To change the channel during the last weeks of that session, the Liberals dumped a number of bills in the House of Commons with promises to those they impacted, which they must have never intended to keep, including Bill C-53 about recognizing Métis people, which they put forward on the last sitting day of the session. They told people it would be all done at once, a claim they had no business to make, and they knew it. Before that, on May 30, the Liberals introduced Bill C-49, a bill to functionally end Atlantic offshore oil and to establish a framework for offshore renewable development that, get this, would triple the already endless NDP-Liberal timelines. There would also be uncertainty around offshore renewable project assessments and approvals. The bill would invite court challenges on the allowable anti-development zones and the potential delegation of indigenous consultation to the regulators, which has been drafted, never mind the 33 references to Bill C-69, which the Supreme Court said nearly two months ago was largely unconstitutional over the last half decade. That claim may end up to be okay in the context of offshore development, but surely we can be forgiven for refusing to just trust them this time, since both the Supreme Court and the Federal Court have recently ruled against the NDP-Liberal government and affirmed every single jurisdictional point that Conservatives and I made about both Bill C-69 and their ridiculous top-down, plastics-as-toxins decree. On May 30, there was no debate on Bill C-49. The NDP-Liberals brought it back to the House of Commons on September 19. They permitted a total of 8.5 hours of debate over two partial days. It is important for Canadians to know that the government, not the official opposition, controls every aspect of the scheduling of all bills and motions in the House of Commons. The government did not put Bill C-49 back on the agenda to allow MPs to speak to it on behalf of the constituents the bill would impact exclusively, such as, for example, every single MP from every party represented in Nova Scotia and Newfoundland and Labrador. Instead, a month later, within two days, the NDP-Liberals brought forward a motion to shut down debate and send the bill to committee. No fewer than seven Liberals and two NDP MPs argued to fast-track Bill C-49 to justify their shutdown of the debate, and they accused Conservatives of holding it up. This is about all the groups and people who must be heard. This is important because of what they then proposed at committee, which was not a concurrence study, as the parliamentary secretary claimed today. When it comes to the last-minute name change to Bill C-50, which is still the globally planned just transition no matter what the NDP-Liberals spin to Canadians now. The Liberals first announced plans to legislate this in July 2021. They introduced Bill C-50 with no debate on June 15, just a week before MPs headed to work in our ridings until September. They brought in Bill C-50 on September 29. They permitted only 7.5 hours of total debate over two months, and about a month later, over two days, shut it down and sent it to committee. Bill C-50, which represents the last step and the final solution in the anti-energy, anti-development agenda that has been promoted internationally and incrementally imposed by the NDP-Liberals in Canada, and which they know would damage millions of Canadian workers in energy, agriculture, construction, transportation and manufacturing, just as their internal memos show it, was rammed through the first stages in a total of three business days. Government bills go to committee and are prioritized over everything else. At committee, MPs analyze the details of the bills, line by line, and also, most importantly, hear from Canadians about the intended, and sometimes even more imperative unintended, consequences. They then propose and debate changes to improve it before it goes back to the House of Commons for more debate and comments from MPs on behalf of the diverse people in the communities we represent across this big country. That is literally Canadian democracy. However, on October 30, the Liberals brought in a detailed top-down scheduling motion for the natural resources committee and changed the order of the bills to be considered, which was not concurrent. Their motion was to deal with Bill C-50, the just transition, first. This was a reversal of the way they brought them in. They also shut down debate on each, delaying Bill C-49, the Atlantic offshore bill they said they wanted to fast-track, even though they actually control every part of the agenda themselves. Their motion limited the time to hear from witnesses to only four meetings, and there were four meetings to go through each line and propose changes, but they limited each of those meetings to three hours each for both bills. On behalf of Conservatives, I proposed an amendment that would help MPs on the natural resources committee do our due diligence on Bill C-49 to send it to the next stages first, exactly as the NDP-Liberals said they wanted to do. I proposed that the committee would have to deal with the problem of the half decade old law Bill C-69, which was found to be unconstitutional two weeks earlier, because so many of its sections are in Bill C-49, and then move to Bill C-50, the just transition. Conservatives have always said that both of these bills are important with disproportionate impacts in certain communities and regions, but ultimately very consequential for all Canadians. The NDP-Liberals had the temerity to say, that day and since, that they wanted to collaborate on the schedule, as we heard here today, and work together to pass these bills. Let us talk about what that actually looked like. It looked like a dictatorial scheduling motion to the committee with no real consideration of the proposed schedule by Conservatives, and then there was a preoccupation to silence Conservative MPs' participation. They even suggested kicking a couple of them out, such as the MP for Peace River—Westlock and the MP for Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan, who, like me and every Conservative Alberta MP, represent the hundreds of thousands of constituents that Bill C-50 would harm directly. They do have a right to speak and participate at any committee, like it is in all committees for all MPs and all parties here. Believe me, we have spent every single day fighting for workers, and we will not stop. For an entire month, as of yesterday, the NDP-Liberals have claimed that they want to collaborate on the schedule for this important work, but other than a text message from the natural resources parliamentary secretary, which received no response when I replied with the very same suggestions Conservatives proposed in public and otherwise, and ironically, in the very order that they rammed it all through, they really have not dealt with us in any measure of collaboration or good faith at all. I guess now would be an awkward time to put a fine point on it to remind the ever-increasing top-down NDP-Liberal government that Canadians actually gave Conservatives more votes individually in both of the last two elections, and they are a minority government, which most people hope or claim means more compromises and more collaboration. However, these NDP-Liberals do the exact opposite. Whatever happened to all those words long ago about respecting everyone, inclusion and working together? I guess we can never mind that. That brings us to today, Friday, December 1. Close to midnight on Wednesday, Conservatives received notice of this motion. As usual, there is a lot of parliamentary procedure and legalese here, but I will explain exactly what it proposes to do about Bill C-50. The motion would limit Bill C-50 to less than two hours of debate. The committee would hear no witnesses, so none of the affected workers, experts or economists would be heard. The committee would not hear from anybody. MPs would only have one day to review the bill at report stage and one day of debate at third reading. Given that debate at second reading was limited to less than eight hours, this is absolutely unacceptable for the hundreds of thousands of Canadians whose livelihoods this bill would destroy. I want to make the following point clearly. Because of the NDP-Liberals' actions to date, no Canadian would be able to speak about the actual bill, Bill C-50. No MP would be able to hear from any Canadian in any part of the country about it. Of course, this is just like the Liberals' censorship of Canadian media, and now they are all howling that we have to communicate directly on the only option they have left us. This bill would impact Canada and the livelihoods of millions of Canadians. As if the NDP-Liberals have not done enough damage already by driving hundreds of billions of dollars and hundreds of thousands of jobs out of this country. They definitely do not want to hear from anyone about it. It is bad enough that they did a last-minute copy-and-paste job to switch all the references from “just transition” to “sustainable jobs”, even though no one had actually ever called it that before. There was a National Post column in February entitled, “Most Canadians don't trust Liberals' plan for 'just transition' away from oil: poll”. The column says, “84 per cent of Canadians do not know what the 'just transition' plan actually is.” It also states, “40 per cent believe it will hurt the oil and gas sector; 36 per cent believe it will lead to lost jobs,” and, “Fifty-six per cent of Canadians are 'not confident' the government will be able to deliver, and 26 per cent of those people are 'not at all confident'.” The article says, “About one quarter...of Canadians think the government is moving too fast to transition Canada’s economy,” which is what this is really all about. About 60 per cent of Canadians “don’t want to pay any additional taxes to support the transition and just 14 per cent were willing to pay one or two per cent more.” That is bad news for those who are pro quadrupling the carbon tax in the NDP-Liberal-Bloc coalition. The article continues, “57 per cent of Canadians worry about the impact of lost tax revenue to governments should the economy transition away from natural resources. And 40 per cent believe that the plan to transition away from fossil fuels will make Canada less competitive in the global economy.” A whopping “60 per cent of all Canadians think we shouldn’t make major changes before larger global polluters make serious efforts to reduce carbon emissions”. Of course, and luckily, common-sense Conservatives agree with all of those Canadians. For the record, I believe all of those Canadians will be proven to be correct if Canadians let the NDP-Liberals advance the rest of this destructive agenda, but I am hopeful more Canadians than ever will see right through the Liberals now and will have a chance to stop it. It does look like it will come down to that since, despite all the NDP-Liberals' big talk, they really are not interested in adjusting their anti-energy agenda at all. They are only interested in escalating it to what would be more major costs and more brutal losses for the vast majority of everyday Canadians, whom they prove everyday they do not really care about. Canadians can stop this attack on our country from our own government, this attack on our standard of living, our quality of life and our ability to buy and thrive here in our Canadian home. However, because of the NDP propping up the Liberals, Canadians have no choice, but they will have to deal with it in the next election. Luckily, they have a common-sense Conservative Party that is ready and able to bring our great home, our country of Canada, back up and away from this cliff. The NDP has abandoned its traditional, and often admirable, position of being a principled and plucky opposition party because it cries outrage everyday while it props up the Liberals, apparently with the co-operation of the Bloc now too, to keep them in power and to prevent Canadians from having a say in an election sooner than later. The NDP-Liberals are clearly parties of power at any price now, so it is logical to conclude that the truth-telling Canadians featured the February column about the polls on the just transition are exactly what caused the crass and obviously last-minute name change to cover up the facts and try to fool Canadians that Bill C-50 is not exactly what they fear and exactly what they do not trust the government to do. That is with good cause, after eight years, but it is the just transition. I would also mention here that Alberta NDP leader, Rachel Notley, has also called on the NDP-Liberals to scrap this just transition plan, but they are not listening to her either, even though the NDP's federal and provincial parties are formally related, unlike, for example, the federal common-sense Conservatives, which is a federal party in its own right with no official ties with any similar free enterprise Conservative provincial parties. The NDP-Liberals will say that this is all much ado about nothing. They will say, as the member did, that it went through committee last year. Of course, the bill itself absolutely did not. It was a study on the general concept. I must note that, between April and September, we had 64 witnesses and 23 written submissions, and not a single witness, except for one lonely government witness at the very end, ever called them “sustainable jobs”. They all said “just transition”. However, the NDP-Liberals announced the Bill C-50 just transition before the committee even issued its report and recommendations, so that was all a bad charade too. It is ridiculous that they are claiming this is not about what it plainly is, because of course, if there was no plan to kill hundreds of thousands of jobs and disrupt millions more, there would be no need for anything called a “transition” at all.

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Mr. Chandra Arya (Nepean, Lib.)

Dec/1/23 11:00:28 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, today is World AIDS Day. This is a global moment to unite people in the fight against HIV and AIDS. World AIDS Day exists to shine a light on the real experiences of people living with HIV today, while celebrating the strength, resilience and diversity of the communities most affected. It is a moment to inspire the leadership needed to create a future where HIV does not stand in the way of anyone's life. I am glad Canada is investing in global health, including funding for AIDS and education, and has other important global investments. Investments in the global fund and working with grassroots communities through organizations like One Canada are foundational to ending AIDS. Canada has made a 10-year commitment to increase funding for sexually transmitted disease control, including HIV and AIDS.

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Mr. Eric Melillo (Kenora, CPC)

Dec/1/23 11:01:29 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, I rise today with a heavy heart. Kenora's Jenn Schott passed away on November 26 at the age of 51 after a courageous battle with cancer. She was well known as an early childhood educator and operator of they Coney Island Snack Shack, where I spent the better part of my summers growing up. However, she was so much more. She was a volunteer for almost everything, and her joy and positivity went unmatched. She spread it everywhere she went. I was grateful for the chance to visit with her last week, and true to form, she offered some wise words of encouragement. Jenn's message was that we should be kind to one another and always try our best because we can move mountains. She added with a smile that ECEs should be paid more. She will be dearly missed by our entire community, as was evident by the over 1,000 residents who joined a light tribute in her honour along the harbourfront. My thoughts are with her husband Doug, her daughters Skye and Starr and all of her loved ones during this very difficult time.

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Ms. Lena Metlege Diab (Halifax West, Lib.)

Dec/1/23 11:02:40 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, I rise today to congratulate the Maskwa Aquatic Club, which in September won the national Sprint Canoe Kayak Championships for the third time and the Canadian masters championship for the first time in the club's history. Also, at nationals, every Maskwa para-athlete finished on the podium. This national success came on top of Maskwa athletes winning Atlantic championships in every age level. It has been one of the most successful seasons for a paddling club in Canadian history. For decades, Maskwa, located on beautiful Kearney Lake in Halifax West, has offered programming for all ages and caters to a wide range of abilities. I want to offer my congratulations to all the athletes who competed this season, their families and supporters, and the club's coaches and staff, including head coach Christian Hall and Commodore Brian Smith. I cannot wait to join them this weekend at the club's annual awards ceremony. Congratulations, everyone.

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Mr. Alexandre Boulerice (Rosemont—La Petite-Patrie, NDP)

Dec/1/23 11:03:48 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, I have the honour of being one of the spokespersons for Mothers Step In, a group of women committed to our children's future. Being a spokesperson means giving a voice to Quebec scientists on climate issues. As COP28 gets under way today in a petro-state, I am speaking on behalf of Dr. Claudel Pétrin-Desrosiers, a family doctor in Montreal and new mom-to-be. For years now, Dr. Pétrin-Desrosiers has been concerned about the harmful and growing health consequences of climate change. She regularly treats people living with the consequences of our inaction, which include extreme heat, smoke from forest fires, allergies and eco-anxiety. A member of the Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment, Claudel Pétrin-Desrosiers works through the health care system, the media and universities to ensure that the climate crisis is properly recognized and treated as a health emergency. The scientific and economic data support that view, and climate action is an opportunity to protect and restore health. As parliamentarians, let us take action to give our loved ones, and our future loved ones, the opportunity to live in a healthy environment.

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Mr. Francis Drouin (Glengarry—Prescott—Russell, Lib.)

Dec/1/23 11:04:53 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, despite the progress we have made, gender-based violence continues to be a problem in Canada. According to the statistics, 44% of women have experienced some form of intimate partner violence at least once since age 15. That is unacceptable. During the 16 days of activism, we all need to be united, men and women alike, in calling out violence against women. Women have the right to live in peace, without fear of harassment or sexual violence. Men have a duty to show our brothers, our friends, our sons how to respect women. I want to thank organizations in my region like Interlude House and Centre Novas of Prescott-Russell for their hard work to provide women the support they need. Gender-based violence will not be solved tomorrow, but until it is eradicated, we must support these organizations that offer hope to women in abusive situations. Let us be united in our efforts to address gender-based violence.

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Mr. Rick Perkins (South Shore—St. Margarets, CPC)

Dec/1/23 11:05:54 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, last weekend I had the honour to take part in a tradition that goes back through generations of Nova Scotians. Steaming out of New Harbour, I joined my good friend Vincent Boutilier on board his vessel for the setting of his lobster traps for this season about 15 miles offshore. All along the southern and western shores of Nova Scotia, the men and women of the lobster fishery set out to sea, in the face of winter weather, to fish their traps for the best quality lobster in the world, in LFA 33 and LFA 34, until the end of May. The dangers involved in the lobster fishery in winter are well known, and the lobstermen accept these challenges to catch food and support their families and communities. However, now they must deal with the challenges to their livelihoods brought on by the Liberal government, with its unwillingness to enforce the law and stop the illegal poaching harming the sustainability of this fishery. To lobster harvesters in LFA 33 and LFA 34, I hope for fair seas and bountiful catches this winter season.

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Mr. Darren Fisher (Dartmouth—Cole Harbour, Lib.)

Dec/1/23 11:07:01 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, December 1 marks World AIDS Day and the beginning of Indigenous AIDS Awareness Week. During this time, we remember those we lost to HIV and show our support for those living with it by raising awareness, increasing our knowledge and working to end discrimination surrounding HIV. This year's theme, “Let communities lead”, is a reminder to listen to communities as we work to end the stigma surrounding HIV. We are working to ensure that people across the country have access to testing and treatment for infectious diseases like HIV and that these resources are reaching those who need it most. The first step to treatment is care and knowing your status. This week, we encourage people to get tested and learn more about the facts of HIV, because when we work together, we can put an end to AIDS.

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Ms. Anita Vandenbeld (Ottawa West—Nepean, Lib.)

Dec/1/23 11:07:52 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, today is World AIDS Day. The UN reports that one life is lost every single day to HIV/AIDS. Even today, 9.2 million people living with HIV around the world do not have access to life-saving antiretroviral therapy. However, in the last 20 years, the world has made considerable progress. Since 2002, Canada has been one of the main donors to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. Last year, thanks in large part to the advocacy of Canadians through Results Canada and the One Campaign, Canada committed $1.21 billion to the Global Fund. In countries where the Global Fund invests, AIDS-related deaths have fallen by 72% since 2002. However, our progress is fragile. It is important that we recommit to putting an end to AIDS as a public health threat by 2030.

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Mr. Michael Kram (Regina—Wascana, CPC)

Dec/1/23 11:08:58 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, after eight years, we have seen once again that the Liberal-NDP government is just not worth the cost. According to a Statistics Canada study released this month, 18% of Canadian families are experiencing food insecurity, and it should come as no surprise. The Liberals' carbon tax applies to farming activities all across the country, and those costs inevitably get passed on to consumers every time they go to the grocery store. Unfortunately, the Liberals used this month's fall economic statement to double down on their ever-increasing carbon tax. Fortunately, Conservatives have a solution. Conservative Bill C-234 would exempt certain farming activities from the carbon tax. Those lower costs would be passed on to consumers in the form of lower grocery prices and fewer Canadians turning to food banks to feed themselves. It is time for the Senate to pass Bill C-234 so Canadian can feed themselves.

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Grocery

Mr. Adam van Koeverden (Milton, Lib.)

Dec/1/23 11:10:01 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, today is World AIDS Day, and I am wearing a red beaded ribbon pin to remember the significance of this important day, when we commemorate the millions of lives tragically taken by HIV and AIDS. However, we must also celebrate all of the incredible innovations in treatment we have seen over the past decades. Though fewer people die from this disease, more and more people are living with it. Thanks in some part to noteworthy innovations and medical advancements, those with HIV live longer than they used to. This morning, I met with representatives from the Canadian AIDS Society, and I would like to thank its members for their hard work and advocacy. I encourage all Canadians, especially constituents in my riding, to learn more about the significance of today and to get involved. Key to the eradication of HIV and AIDS is access to testing for individuals so they can know their HIV status. Unfortunately, stigma and discrimination remain as obstacles to this goal. Today, we are called on to support communities in their leadership in the fight against HIV and AIDS. In Milton, across Canada and right around the world, we must continue to care for and empower one another. During a time when the world is in turmoil due to violence and hateful rhetoric—

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The Assistant Deputy Speaker (Mrs. Alexandra Mendès)

Dec/1/23 11:11:03 a.m.
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The hon. member for Saskatoon West.

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Mr. Brad Redekopp (Saskatoon West, CPC)

Dec/1/23 11:11:06 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, after eight years, this costly NDP-Liberal coalition is at it again, planning to quadruple the carbon tax on Canadian farmers. Canadians understand that when farmers, truckers and processors pay thousands of dollars in carbon tax, this makes the food we buy more expensive. The price of food is so dire that the Ontario Hunger Report confirmed that food bank visits are up 38% in Ontario, the largest year-over-year increase ever recorded. It is not just in Ontario; the director of Saskatoon's food bank said, “After about 18 months of living through increased inflation, folks are really struggling. We’re seeing about 23,000 [food bank users] per month.” That is in a city of only 300,000 people. Conservative Bill C-234 would create another carbon tax carve-out by removing the carbon tax on Canadian farmers. The good news is that this will make food prices cheaper in Canada. The even better news is that the environment minister has said that he will resign if this bill passes. It is time for the Prime Minister to tell his appointed senators to stop stalling and pass Bill C-234 to bring home lower food prices for Canadians.

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Farmers

Mrs. Cheryl Gallant (Renfrew—Nipissing—Pembroke, CPC)

Dec/1/23 11:12:11 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, food security in the U.K. focuses on ensuring food supply sources at home and abroad. To the Dutch, food security means promoting agricultural growth by increasing productivity and improving market access for producers. In the United States, food security is having enough access to food for every person in a household to live an active, healthy life. In Canada, there has been an 82% increase in the number of workers in Ontario using food banks. When it comes to food security for Canadians, the NDP-Liberal government policy is to send us to food banks. Other countries create the conditions for farmers to succeed to grow more food so that there is plenty to go around, and no one needs to go hungry. In Canada, we have shorter growing seasons and higher heating costs, so food security should mean taking the taxes out of production costs. Instead, the Prime Minister has slapped a carbon tax on food production at every step along the way. He is not worth the cost.

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Mr. Stéphane Lauzon (Argenteuil—La Petite-Nation, Lib.)

Dec/1/23 11:13:17 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, Wednesday was a very special day. I had the opportunity to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the Centre action générations des aînés de la Vallée‑de‑la‑Lièvre. I would like to thank and commend the volunteers for their outstanding dedication and commitment. They have made a huge difference in making the centre a wonderful place where seniors in our community can turn for support and compassion. I am extremely grateful that we are celebrating their invaluable contribution. I especially want to applaud our outstanding executive director, Michèle Osborne, who has been helping seniors for over 35 years. Her inspiring leadership has helped elevate the organization. Her determination to bring positive change to the lives of seniors is truly commendable. I thank them all for their hard work, compassion and generosity. Together, we will continue to make our centre a beacon of kindness for our seniors—

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The Assistant Deputy Speaker (Mrs. Alexandra Mendès)

Dec/1/23 11:14:18 a.m.
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The hon. member for Cowichan—Malahat—Langford.

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Mr. Alistair MacGregor (Cowichan—Malahat—Langford, NDP)

Dec/1/23 11:14:24 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, CEBA loans saved hundreds of thousands of businesses and millions of jobs across Canada during the pandemic, but recovery has been slow. I received messages from two businesses in my riding: the Ginger Room hair salon, managed by Nicole Doyle, with eight employees; and the Fish Bowl Cafe, managed by Jessica Fetchko, with nine employees. At this time of hardship, one is struggling with lower sales and the other with higher costs. Both are extremely worried about their ability to pay back their CEBA loans and are having to choose between cutting staff hours and very high interest loans. In response, the Liberals only extended the repayment deadline by 18 days. Why is this Liberal government so inflexible on this simple request, and why is it choosing to put the small businesses in my riding in danger at such a tough time for our communities? On behalf of the many small businesses in my riding of Cowichan—Malahat—Langford, I call on this Liberal government to extend the CEBA loan repayment deadline. There is still time to do the right thing.

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