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Context: House Hansard - 143 - Dec/7/22

Dec/13/22 2:39:00 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, what we will not support is the waste of the current Liberal government. We know that Atlantic Canadians are suffering. They are going to pay $7,000 more this year to heat their homes, and the Liberal carbon tax plan is only going to make it worse. The Government of Nova Scotia released its own plan this week, which will reduce emissions by 53% over the next several years. This goes well beyond the plan of the Liberal government, which we know continues to fail to meet emissions targets. Will the Liberal government stop forcing its failed carbon tax plan on Atlantic Canadians?

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Context: House Hansard - 143 - Dec/7/22

Dec/7/22 5:43:40 p.m.
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Re: Bill C-32

Madam Speaker, I rise on a point of order. Certainly, the member for St. Catharines had a lot to say earlier, and we would like to request a quorum call.

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Context: House Hansard - 142 - Dec/6/22

Dec/7/22 3:06:53 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, there are two billion dollars' worth of waste with respect to vaccines. The Liberal government would want us to believe that tracking these vaccines and their expiration dates is extremely difficult, because it has not been done before. In reality, quite obviously, thousands of businesses track their inventory every day. Once again, the government of inaction has failed Canadians. It is incapable of managing passports; it is incapable of managing border crossings, and it certainly cannot balance a budget. Will the Liberal Prime Minister stand up and admit that his wasteful government is driving up prices for home heating, gas and groceries for all Canadians?

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Dec/6/22 2:11:08 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, 105 years ago today, two ships collided in the narrows of Halifax Harbour. The collision between the French munitions ship, the Mont-Blanc, and the Norwegian ship, the Imo, resulted in the largest human-made explosion at that time. There were 1,782 people killed and an estimated 9,000 injured. Relief efforts came from across Canada and the northeastern United States. To make matters worse, these heroic rescue efforts were also hampered by a snowstorm. The community of Richmond was devastated, as was the long-standing Mi’kmaq community of Turtle Grove. Lives of countless Haligonians were changed forever. Railway dispatcher Vince Coleman's heroic effort to stop incoming trains stands out. I quote, “Hold up the train. Ammunition ship afire in harbor making for Pier 6 and will explode. Guess this will be my last message. Good-bye boys.” He died at his post. To this day, we send an annual Christmas tree to Boston as a token of our appreciation in our rebuilding efforts.

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Dec/5/22 1:18:04 p.m.
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Re: Bill C-32

Madam Speaker, certainly we know that when we have the worst government, there is nothing worse than that, so there is no superlative for the worst. The other important part is that my province of Nova Scotia actually had a plan for carbon pricing and was trying to reduce pollution. We know, very clearly, that it cost Nova Scotians less and it actually met targets. We all know from debate in the House over the many months preceding this actual topic, that the Liberal government is not meeting its targets, that it is 58th out of 63 governments around the world, yet it continues to say how great it is in meeting targets. I guess the question that would remain is this. Why would we want to adhere to the policies of a big, bossy federal government that then will make this policy on top of Nova Scotia's, which had a better plan, was cheaper and actually met targets?

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Dec/5/22 1:16:17 p.m.
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Re: Bill C-32

Madam Speaker, a multitude of things come to mind. I would like to thank the member for reinforcing the fact that, yes, the carbon tax is going to triple, triple, triple. Obviously, big government moves very slowly and it takes time for people to adjust. Therefore, the difficulty is that if we do not begin to turn the direction of this ship soon enough, the ship is going to crash into an iceberg, much like the Titanic did in spite of direct warnings. The other thing is that to say things are not bad, we get into the scheme of superlatives and we think that things are bad, or that things are terrible or that they could be worse. They could be worse, but who would want them to be? What is the superlative of worse? Is it worser? Is it the worstest? Are they the worstest government?

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Dec/5/22 1:14:45 p.m.
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Re: Bill C-32

Madam Speaker, it reminds of the theory of everything when we look at this. As the learned member correctly points out, this is the tax on everything in the sense that everything goes up. We know very clearly from some of the comments from my home province of Nova Scotia that businesses will need to begin to pass on the cost of doing business to consumers. The government would like people to believe that they will end up with more money in their pockets, that somehow the left hand pulls it out and it gets into the right hand, and there is actually more there. I feel like I am in Las Vegas and there is a magic show afoot. I wish I had the money to go there, but clearly with this tax-and-spend government, it is impossible to do so.

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Dec/5/22 1:04:04 p.m.
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Re: Bill C-32

Madam Speaker, I rise here in the House of Commons to look at the economic situation that exists out there for Canadians. Certainly, to say that it is a dire, difficult and unpleasant situation is a misrepresentation. I would like to point out the misrepresentation of the House by the members opposite. They are claiming perhaps their clairvoyant nature of understanding what the government over here might propose when we get to sit on the other side. As we all know, it is not our job as the opposition to present those cards, which we will hold very close to our chests, and we will make the economic picture much better for Canadians as we take office. I would like to focus my remarks on the fall economic statement with respect to Atlantic Canada, and, to no surprise, the carbon tax and how it affects Atlantic Canada. I will also focus on the significant growing debt, the programs the government has introduced and perhaps try to make it a bit personal for Canadians as they try to balance their own budgets with difficulty. When we look at Atlantic Canada in the fall economic statement there is absolutely nothing specific in there. There is really not much talk of Atlantic Canada at all. We find that very surprising given the fact that we all know that Atlantic Canada is still reeling from hurricane Fiona. I just came here this morning. There are still trees down everywhere. Multiple businesses are still affected by hurricane Fiona, and they are unable to get back on their feet again. Certainly, there are still many homes with significantly damaged roofs. How are we going to move forward? We asked the ACOA minister to come and specifically have a look at some of the things going on in Cumberland County, which was one of the hardest-hit counties in the entire area. Sadly, that minister did not show up. When we asked the minister's office to provide information as to how the $300 million in pledged money was going to roll out to Atlantic Canadians, the answer was that it did not know yet. There were no details. It has been a long time since the hurricane happened. For a government to not be able to roll out the pledged money, which Atlantic Canadians specifically so desperately need, is creating more problems. In fact, I had a call with the Canadian Red Cross this morning, and it was pointed out that the applications for its program are now closed, and I will get to that in a second. The Red Cross is seeing many Nova Scotians reaching out from a very difficult financial spot, hoping to get support not only with respect to the hurricane Fiona damage but also from a social services point of view. They are really struggling. We know very clearly from words in the House that 1.5 million Canadians have visited food banks, and 20% of Canadians are cutting back on the food they consume simply for financial reasons. We know as well from my call with the Red Cross that the $31 million generously pledged by Canadians and matched by the federal government is now gone. It is $500 for about 124,000 households. That is $62 million. There is not going to be more money forthcoming from the Red Cross. What other difficulties are we facing as we move forward in 2022? Of course, it is winter, and we know from this budget that difficulties will continue to exist. I have spoken here previously with respect to the words of the Premier of Nova Scotia. It is so bad out there with this carbon tax, which has been foisted upon Nova Scotians, that there is a petition circulating to buck the trend and attempt to not be required to succumb to the heavy burden of the carbon tax. We know that by 2025 it is going to cost the average Canadian $2,200 and by 2030 it will cost $3,100. This is in a population that was not really mentioned in the fall economic statement at all. It is in a population that, sadly, feels the significant burden of what is going on in the world with the increasing interest rates and rising costs of everything very acutely. Imagine a provincial government starting a petition to try to get away from this burdensome carbon tax that is being foisted upon Nova Scotians. We know that the cost of gas, groceries and home heating is continuing to increase. We know that the premier and the Government of Nova Scotia understand this clearly, but we have a government across the aisle that is continuing to spend and very sadly hoping that the budget is going to balance itself. That is a budget that has a debt of almost $1.3 trillion. We also know that this is a government that continues to spend money. It has been said in the House, perhaps somewhat tongue in cheek, that it is spending it like a drunken sailor. However, being mean to drunken sailors is no way to live. We also know that estimates would suggest that the cost of the interest on this debt is going to be about at least $27 billion. In 2026-27, it could be as high as $42.9 billion. That is with the conservative estimates, not ours but budget expert estimates, that interest rates would perhaps stay the same as they are. We also know that if it does not hold true and interest rates are one point higher than planned, the interest costs would move from $42.9 billion to $52.2 billion in a single year, in 2026-27, which is $9.3 billion. That is no small amount of change. In my mind it does not make any sense. Even when we look at $27 billion, we understand that is about 10% of the revenue of the federal government simply being spent on interest charges. The government continues to spend, which absolutely makes no sense. To put it another way, over four years, the interest on this amount of debt is going to cost the government $180 billion. This is spending money as if it were water. To try to make it personal for Canadians, if I could not balance my budget, which I am thankfully able to, and there have certainly been years when my family has struggled, we would look at what we could do differently. We would cut our discretionary spending. We would talk about maybe, in today's terminology, not getting the latest cellphone, not going out to eat, not going out to the movies and those things that everybody would say are “motherhood and apple pie” statements. People would say that if we cannot balance our budget, we are not going out to eat. We are going to stay in, buy the groceries, which are also expensive, and cook. We would not also add costs. We would not put a new front porch on our house. That really would not make a whole heck of a lot of sense when we still could not balance our budget. However, the costly coalition across the aisle continues to add programs that add to the debt load of Canadians. I find it somewhat disconcerting and disingenuous that, across the aisle, they continue to say that over here we do not support those who are struggling. We certainly do. It is a little bit like letting the cat out of the bag about what we might do over here. We would not go at it by continuing to spend more money and throwing a $500 cheque here and a $500 cheque here and $200 there. Imagine this. Regular Canadians are sending in their budgets for the month by email and asking me where I think they should cut or get more of their money. Obviously that is not my area of expertise. Given that, I find it absolutely incredible that people are saying that they do not know what else to do or what else they should be doing. We know, when we look at a budget from a household in a global sense, that having $500 more is really not going to help very much at all. We know that Canadians, including Nova Scotians from my riding of Cumberland—Colchester, are continuing to struggle under the incredible burden that they feel from the reckless spending of the government. We wonder how they are going to feed their families and how they are going to heat their homes this winter. We know that the worst is yet to come. That is exceedingly disheartening for people who are already hurting. Canadians cannot afford the government anymore, and we cannot support the fall economic statement.

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Context: House Hansard - 136 - Nov/28/22

Dec/5/22 1:00:39 p.m.
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Re: Bill C-32

Madam Speaker, why should we have any more faith, going forward, in the government with which he has chosen to partner? It cannot deliver on basic programs like passports. How can we ever do something complex like a housing program and things like that, which he so eloquently spoke of?

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Context: House Hansard - 136 - Nov/28/22

Nov/28/22 2:52:43 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, this is very interesting. Perhaps the member opposite should go speak to his own premier, who is asking Canadians to weigh in on the Liberals' punishing carbon tax on Nova Scotians. We all know the tax is going to disproportionately affect low- and middle-income families and will cost as much as 14¢ more a litre at the pumps. The “no carbon tax for Nova Scotia” petition is asking Nova Scotians to support a made-in-Nova Scotia plan that builds on our climate leadership, safeguards our environment and protects the pocketbooks of Nova Scotians. Will the Liberal government stop forcing its failed carbon tax plan on Nova Scotians?

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Context: House Hansard - 129 - Nov/17/22

Nov/28/22 2:51:24 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the Liberal government's carbon tax will increase the price on gas, diesel and home heating fuel. It will also increase the price we all pay for groceries, clothing, building materials and school supplies. Of course, it will force many businesses to pass these costs on to consumers. An analysis done reveals that Nova Scotians will pay $2,000 more a year in 2025 and $3,100 more in 2030. Atlantic Canadians cannot afford the Liberal government's carbon tax plan. When will the Liberal government stop forcing Atlantic Canadians to accept its terrible plan?

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Context: House Hansard - 126 - Nov/14/22

Nov/17/22 2:05:42 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, “Get up!” the caller calls, “Get up!” And in the dead of night, To win the bairns their bite and sup, I rise a weary wight. My flannel dudden donn’d, thrice o’er My birds are kiss’d, and then I with a whistle shut the door, I may not ope again. This was, of course, written by the pitman poet, Joseph Skipsey. As the snow has begun in Canada, I thought it appropriate to highlight the “blood on the coal” tartan. It commemorates the coal miners who lived, worked and died in the designer's hometown of Springhill, Nova Scotia, in my riding of Cumberland—Colchester. Coal has been mined in Canada since 1639, and most of the mines in Nova Scotia have been since abandoned. Miners Memorial Day is also known as Davis Day in honour of William Davis. Davis was killed in a riot in New Waterford, Nova Scotia, in 1925 during a confrontation with company police. There was a targeted campaign to break the miners' union. There are four colours on this tartan: black is for the coal and the darkness of the mine; yellow is for the miner's lamp; red represents the blood on the coal of the miners' lives lost; and white represents the remembrance of their lives. Miners Memorial Day is an occasion to remember and mourn all miners killed in provincial coal mines.

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Context: House Hansard - 126 - Nov/14/22

Nov/14/22 2:44:31 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, let us be clear: The majority of Atlantic Canadians still have not seen a penny for the cleanup of Fiona, and the mess is still there. I want to read a quote: “provinces and territories must not implement measures that directly offset, reduce or negate the price signal sent by the price on carbon”. The Liberals want Canadians to pay more at the pumps, and shame on any provincial minister of finance who would dare try to reduce the tax. This is the attitude we are dealing with. Why does the Liberal government refuse to allow provincial governments to reduce taxes on gas, groceries and home heating? They are the essentials.

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Nov/14/22 2:43:25 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, last week, we heard that the Liberal government has been strong-arming the Government of Nova Scotia to prevent it from reducing provincial fuel taxes. With the cost of living at an all-time high, Canadians could use any help, but thanks to the Liberal government, absolutely none is forthcoming. Why is the minister pulling out all the stops in a concerted effort to hurt Canadians more and more by tripling the carbon tax?

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Oct/27/22 6:35:45 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, we would request a recorded division.

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Oct/27/22 1:58:15 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, once again we would like to request a recorded division.

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Oct/27/22 1:57:33 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, on behalf of His Majesty's loyal opposition, I would like to request a recorded division.

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Oct/27/22 10:40:51 a.m.
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Re: Bill C-31

Madam Speaker, I do not think that is the point. Maybe the member was perhaps not listening carefully, but we are not trying to pit people against each other. The sad reality is that, in spite of the fact that the costly coalition thinks money grows on trees in the backyard and can be poured out of a firehose, it is just not how any economy works. We know that we have to pick and choose where money needs to be spent and, again, if the roof is off of one's house, one does not put a front step on. That only makes sense to me. I am trying to make it as simple as possible, and I am unsure why people have a difficult time understanding economics 101.

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Oct/27/22 10:39:06 a.m.
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Re: Bill C-31

Madam Speaker, I want to thank my colleague for his input with respect to this. There are certain things that I really enjoy in my relationship with my Bloc colleagues, and there are certain other things, of course, that make me sad inside as a Canadian to understand the difficulties that we have. I wish we could all hold hands, sing Kumbaya and live in much more harmony in this great country, because we do have an absolutely fantastic country. This morning, I got to my office at eight o'clock so that I could take French lessons, which happen twice a week. I think it is important that we as Canadians embrace the great culture that we do have here. I also think that there are certain provinces that are not going to be helped by this proposed dental program. For instance, Nova Scotia has a great dental program now, and the amount of money that we would actually receive from this program is very minimal when other provinces would benefit significantly. I do not think that the “Ottawa knows best” approach is any way to continue to do things.

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