Lianne Rood
Middlesex—London, Ontario · Conservative · Canada
“Mr. Speaker, I am excited to welcome everyone to Middlesex—London this summer for the Canadian Plowing Championships in Strathroy. As the member of Parliament for this area, I am proud to extend a warm southwestern Ontario welcome to all of the competitors, families and visitors who have come from across Canada to take part in this nation…”
“Mr. Speaker, I just want to thank my colleague. I am one of the rare people in this chamber who had an opportunity to work with her as a staff member. Actually, I was a volunteer afterwards, when I left the Hill and being a staffer. She was chair of the National Prayer Breakfast for four years.”
“Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister is the only G7 leader and Canada is the only G20 country that is currently in a recession. Full-time workers are living in RVs because they cannot afford homes.”
“Mr. Speaker, Liberal claims of success are completely detached from reality. Canadians are crowdfunding their way through this cost of living crisis, and the Prime Minister has blown nearly $1 million on luxury inflight catering on just 14 flights, including $175,000 on one single flight.”
“Mr. Speaker, every other G20 nation is facing the same global headwinds as Canada is, yet under the Liberal Prime Minister , Canada is the only G20 nation facing a recession. In the last few days, we have learned even more about the dire state of our economy under his watch.”
“Mr. Speaker, Canadians cannot trust the half-truths or honeyed words coming off the lips of any of the Liberals right now. The Parliamentary Budget Officer gives a less than 1% chance that the Liberal government will meet its own fiscal anchor. Banks forecast growth of 0.5% in 2026.”
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“He has reviewed over 4,000 peer-reviewed scientific studies on plastic, and I agree with him that “The problem is clearly not with plastic itself, but with the...behaviour of some humans who [litter].” In the real world, plastic films and trays extend shelf life, cut spoilage and keep food safer through transport and storage. This is critical in Canada. As DeArmitt says, smart packaging isn't the villain; it is the reason your lettuce is not soup by Tuesday. By banning plastics or replacing them with heavier, leakier alternatives, we do not get greener; we get more waste and more emissions. Treating plastics as toxic would add 50% more waste at retail and up to 150% across the full supply chain, and would add a further 22.1 million tonnes of GHGs tied to food waste, over 8% of national emissions.”
“In committee rooms and on plant floors across Ontario, I have seen how safe, modern packaging prevents waste, extends shelf life and keeps costs lower for consumers. We import more than 80% of our fresh fruit and vegetables. Long-haul supply chains need reliable packaging to preserve the quality and safety of the food. When activists force rushed bans or label essential materials as toxic, they do not make food cheaper; they make it more expensive and more likely to spoil. That is not a theory; it is what the industry has warned, and it is what common sense tells us. For any Liberal who disagrees, I will happily give any of them a book to read by a leading expert in the field, Chris DeArmitt.”
“I still run an operation today. I have said it many times before, and I will say it again: no farms, no food. If we do not support Canadian farmers, we will have less food and higher prices, full stop. The Liberals' poor policies on the carbon tax, fertilizer tariffs, carbon tax 2, the clean fuel standards, plastic packaging bans and red tape have punished farm families working on the thinnest of margins. The Liberals have piled costs onto producers, haulers and processors and then acted shocked when prices rise at the till. That is not economics; that is denial. Let me also debunk a fashionable fallacy I keep hearing in Ottawa, that banning modern food packaging and plastics will magically make life cheaper and greener. Well, it will not.”
“Sixty-one per cent of Canadians worry that they will not be able to afford groceries six months from now, and that fear is even higher among young adults and modest-income families. These are not abstract figures; they describe the family in the minivan beside us in the parking lot. In Middlesex—London, local headlines have reported crowded food bank drives, community cupboards running at capacity and frontline volunteers stretched thin. I have met with many pantry coordinators who say demand spikes high right before rent is due or when the hydro bill lands, because people simply run out. When a mother tells us she has learned to ration fruit for her kids, we do not forget it. Across Canada, the story is the same. Because I am a Conservative, I am going to talk about supply, not just the symptoms. I grew up on a family farm.”
“They are fuel costs, carbon taxes on the supply chain, red tape, slow approvals and a broken competition landscape that concentrates power in the hands of a few dominant retailers. When Ottawa pretends these inputs do not matter, it is pretending families will not see it reflected on their receipts at the grocery store, so let us dig into some numbers that Canadians are living with. (1025) This is what the people in Middlesex—London are seeing at the checkout: beef top sirloin up 33%; canned soup up 26%, grapes up 24%, coffee up 22%, sugar up 20%, canned tuna up 19%, apples up 14%, vegetable oil up 13% and chicken up 11%. These are not luxury goods; these are staples. The average family of four is projected to spend almost $17,000 on food this year. That is over $800 more than last year.”
“Then on May 7, after last spring's election campaign, the government quietly paused many of those countertariffs. There was no fanfare, no accountability, but this was a tacit admission that it had made a bad problem worse. Second, there is volatile tinkering. The so-called GST holiday on groceries created chaos in pricing systems, compliance headaches and distortions across categories. Since January, food inflation has surged from -0.6% to 3.8%. Liberals claim this was inevitable, but federal meddling did not steady the ship; it rocked it. Third, there are the structural costs the Liberals keep piling on. We can ask any grower, trucker, small processor or independent grocer about their biggest upward pressures.”
“In Middlesex—London, one in four families is food insecure, which means they do not know where their next meal is going to come from. This is not and should not become normal in a country as blessed as Canada. When the government needs to step in to help feed people and their families, government policy is failing. Canadians see the disconnect. Let us walk through how we actually got here. First, there are policy mistakes. The government slapped countertariffs on U.S. imports last spring, going far beyond steel and autos, and hit a long list of grocery items. Food economists warned that this would raise prices in the very aisles where Canadians were already hurting: coffee, tea, pasta, spices, nuts and citrus. Sure enough, we saw renewed pressure in July and August.”
“Food inflation numbers released on Tuesday morning show overall inflation at 1.9% year over year in August, but grocery prices are up 3.5%. Meat is up 7.2% and beef is up 12.7% compared to August 2024. That is not a rounding error; that is a kitchen table crisis. Families are not just making ends meet anymore or just making substitutions; they are actually skipping meals, and it is getting worse. Years of elevated food inflation mean that we are all paying today's higher prices on top of last year's increases. It is no wonder that Canadians feel as though the ground is shifting below them in the cereal aisle. Let us be clear about the scale of hardship. In southwestern Ontario, local food banks repeatedly warn that it is tough to keep shelves stocked year-round as the demand grows.”
“This issue has an impact on many families across Middlesex—London, a sensation they feel every single time they step through those automatic doors at the grocery store, the relentless squeeze of food inflation and the cost of living crisis that the Liberal government still refuses to confront honestly. Back in May, when asked how Canadians could hold him accountable, the Prime Minister said, “Canadians will hold us to account by their experience at the grocery store”. He may regret those words today. Judged by that very measure, he is absolutely failing. Food inflation is 70% above the Bank of Canada's target. Food prices are up 40% since the Liberals took power. Food bank use in Canada is up by 142% since 2015; the Daily Bread Food Bank expects four million visits to its food banks in 2025.”
“Everyone loved mom's home-cooked meals and having her in the campaign office. I want to thank Anna for going out in rain, snow and sunshine to knock on all those doors for all those weeks. I want to thank Jeremy for always being there for me for moral support, which is really more like keeping me in line, even though he could not be there because he was out fighting forest fires in Saskatchewan. I thank him for his support. Now, since the good people of Middlesex—London brought me here to hold the Liberal government to account, let us talk about their atrocious record on food affordability in Canada.”
“To my amazing campaign team, who worked faithfully, day in and day out, keeping everything running smoothly, I want to thank Jordon Wood, Dalton Holloway, Tony Circelli, Evan Dunnigan, Tayler Fipke, Anna Rood, Yvonne Hundey and Kim Heathcote. I would also like to thank all those folks who volunteered in some way on my campaign. There are way too many to name as there were hundreds of volunteers. It means so much to me to have their support. I would like to take a second to thank my parents, Theo and Diane Rood; my brother, Jeremy; and my niece, Anna Rood. I am so grateful for their love and support, day in and day out, and for their dedication to my campaign. I want to thank my dad especially for taking the time to make sure that signs were put up in all 3,000 square kilometres of the riding.”
“Mr. Speaker, it is an honour to be here in this place representing the good people of Middlesex—London. As this is my first speech since coming back for my third term as a member of Parliament, I would like to take a moment to express my gratitude to those who helped on my most recent campaign. First and foremost, I thank the people of Middlesex—London for putting their trust in me to be in this place on their behalf. They have sent a clear message to Ottawa that our diverse rural and urban communities want accountability and change in Ottawa. I will not let them down, and I will be that voice of reason for common sense as I work diligently as their representative.”
“Mr. Speaker, Liberal promises are about as empty as Canadians' grocery carts. In Middlesex County, one in four families is food insecure, which means they have no idea where their next meal is going to come from. Food banks cannot keep their shelves stocked. At the checkout, grapes are up 22%, canned soup is up 26%, coffee is up 22% and sugar is up 20%. The Prime Minister 's policies have clearly failed. Will he back measures that actually cut costs, or will he keep feeding inflation while Canadians starve?”
“Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister said that Canadians would judge him by the costs at the grocery store. Well, the Liberal record holds that food bank use is up 142% since 2015, and the Daily Bread Food Bank expects four million visits in 2025. Families are cutting meals while costs are climbing and wages stall. He promised he would bring relief, but he did not bring home the bacon, an item that is up over 20%. Will the Prime Minister stop the bait and switch and cut costs so that Canadian families can afford to eat?”
“Mr. Speaker, the Parliamentary Budget Officer, Canada's top financial watchdog, just ripped the Liberal job record, saying, “the labour market sucks, wages are not going up”. Eighty-six thousand Canadians have lost their jobs since the Liberals took office. Youth unemployment is over 14%, and Canada now has the second-highest unemployment in the G7. This is another classic Liberal bait and switch. I have one simple question: Does the Prime Minister have the guts to admit that his so-called jobs plan has completely failed Canadians?”
“Mr. Speaker, Canadians cannot live in press releases and recycled talking points. They need homes. London received $74 million from the Liberals' housing accelerator fund, and what did we get? We got a staggering 72% drop in housing starts, and zero transparency. Meanwhile, the government is under fire for funnelling public dollars to insiders and mismanaging every major project. When will the Liberals admit their signature housing plan is a flop, and stop using taxpayer money to cover up their failure with photo ops?”
“Mr. Speaker, a new report confirms what Canadians already knew: The Liberal housing crisis is not just locking generations out of home ownership; it is dragging down our whole economy. Teachers are commuting hours just to afford rent; tradespeople are building homes they are priced out of owning; and permitting in London is taking over six months, even for a small renovation. Now the Liberals' own data shows collapsing housing starts: down 72% in London. After nearly a decade in power, how does the government defend doubling housing costs and tanking our economy?”
“Mr. Speaker, the Liberal way is that the harder someone betrays Canadians, the more their friends reward them. The Auditor General laid out a staggering failure. Some 82% of GC Strategies contracts brought no value for Canadian taxpayer money, yet Liberal ministers were all promoted under the new Liberal elitist Prime Minister . Canadians are paying the price for corruption while insiders cash cheques for doing nothing. Is this corruption the Liberal definition of merit-based appointments?”
“Mr. Speaker, the Auditor General confirmed what we already knew: $64 million was handed to a two-person company with no proof of work done, no security clearances, no deliverables and no competition. This was about enriching Liberal insiders, not about serving Canadians. Will everyone in this House stand with taxpayers and vote for our Conservative motion to get Canadians their money back?”
“Mr. Speaker, Canadians do not need more photo ops. They need somebody to fight for them and actually get results. During the campaign, Trump endorsed the Liberal Prime Minister , and it is no wonder why. The Prime Minister said his government would collect $20 billion from U.S. tariffs. That was his big talking point, but when the pressure came, he went to his friend Trump and quietly dropped all those tariffs, leaving our steel and aluminum workers blindsided and betrayed. Will the Liberals listen to Parliament, be transparent and table a budget so that Canadians can see how much, if anything, was ever collected from the so-called elbows-up tariffs?”
“Mr. Speaker, Trump's 50% tariffs on steel and aluminum are wrong and an unjustified attack on our Canadian economy. This means that manufacturers in Middlesex—London are cutting shifts, delaying investment and relocating to the U.S. These tariffs are a direct threat to Canadian jobs and our economic sovereignty. The Prime Minister promised Canadians that he would defend us. He said he had a plan, but in responding to the U.S., the Prime Minister's elbows have gone limp. I will ask the Prime Minister this: Was the entire Liberal campaign just theatre?”
“They have inspired the next generation of young athletes across Middlesex—London and beyond. This victory is a testament to the strength of local sports programs and the bright future of Canadian hockey. I congratulate the London Knights, who have made history once again.”
“Mr. Speaker, I want to extend my heartfelt congratulations to the London Knights on their incredible Memorial Cup championship win. What a moment for Middlesex—London and Canadian hockey. With a dominant 4-1 victory, the Knights have claimed their third Memorial Cup title. This is a team that never stopped pushing, never stopped believing and showed what it means to play with grit, determination and heart. Easton Cowan from Strathroy made history as the first player since 1972 to lead the tournament in scoring in back-to-back years, with seven goals in this series alone. He has earned his MVP title and made us all proud. To the coaches, staff, families and especially the players, I say that their dedication, discipline and teamwork brought this championship home.”
“Mr. Speaker, for years, I have been getting up in the chamber and talking about farming in the north, as I actually farm in the north, in your area. It is refreshing to hear somebody else talking about agriculture in the north, because there is a lot of farming happening up there. As my colleague would know, farmers have to budget, and they have to plan their years. They have to look at their finances. In the House, in the government so far, the Prime Minister has said that we need to have a plan, yet the Prime Minister fails to bring a plan. Where is the budget? Does my hon. colleague believe that the government should give Canadians what they deserve and have a budget, just like farmers have to budget and plan for their finances?”