Branden Leslie
Portage—Lisgar, Manitoba · Conservative · Canada
“Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister has said affordability is the best it has been in decades, but normal, hard-working, everyday Canadians know that is simply not true. Meat Loaf famously once sang Two Out of Three Ain't Bad , but, surely, three out of four is not good.”
“Mr. Speaker, we have a new top export out of this country. It is announcements and MOUs. Not that long ago, Canadians used to dream of buying a home. Now, under the Liberal Prime Minister , many are starting GoFundMe pages just to pay for essential items for life.”
“Mr. Speaker, I recognize that the minister was not here during the last Conservative government. There are members across the way who were here, and they may recall the outrage whenever the Harper government used time allocation.”
“Mr. Speaker, I listened closely to my colleague's speech. She talked about unintended consequences a lot, which was a bit strange for somebody who, just months ago, told Canadians that it was the Liberals making her communities less safe and that it was their “bail not jail” policies and legislation that favoured criminals over victims.”
“Mr. Speaker, the Liberals did not drive our economy into the ditch by accident. They took every wrong turn and ignored every warning sign, and now they want to blame everyone else. After more than a decade of inflationary spending, red tape and anti-development laws, Canada is now the only G20 country in a recession.”
“Meanwhile, the Prime Minister spent nearly $1 million on luxury catering over 14 trips, enough to feed a family for 55 years. The Liberals can blame the mud, the road or the weather, but everybody knows that they have been behind the wheel. Canadians deserve a government that stops—”
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“It was a mother reminding us that decisions have been made in this place that are lived out in our communities by real people. Meechelle asked a question that should stay with all of us: What good are reassurances if they do not protect anyone? She spoke about how often we hear about the rights of the accused and asked simply and powerfully about the rights of victims and their families. The cost of failure in the bail system is not measured in reports and statistics. It is measured in lives lost, in families living with grief and in communities left wondering whether tragedy could have been prevented. At committee, Conservative MPs did not just talk about the problems. We listened and we proposed solutions.”
“Conservatives did not come to this bill looking for a fight; we came looking for fixes. We listened to victims and their families. One of the most powerful moments at the justice committee did not come from legal experts. It came from a mother. Meechelle Best, alongside her husband Ron, spoke about her daughter, Kellie Verwey, a 28-year-old woman from Portage la Prairie, a bright light in our community. Her life was taken by an offender who was out on bail and already in breach of his conditions. Meechelle did not come to Ottawa looking for sympathy. She came looking for answers and with solutions. When Meechelle described the day she lost her daughter, the room fell rightfully silent. In that room, it became clear to everyone that this was not some theoretical debate.”
“Mr. Speaker, as this is my first opportunity to rise in the aftermath of the terrible murders at Tumbler Ridge, I want to add my voice to the chorus of sorrows. As a father, and like every other parent, I am sure all we could do as we watched that news was to hug our own children a little closer and offer our prayers to the victims' families and the entire community with regard to the devastating impacts they will face in the years ahead. To the issue at hand, Canadians understand something that is too often lost in our political debate: When the justice system gets something wrong, the government just simply moves on, but ordinary people and their families continue to live with those consequences. That is why Canadians expect Parliament, when shaping the law, to keep those people front and centre. Let me begin with something important.”
“Mr. Speaker, that did not instill any confidence for Canadian canola growers. The Prime Minister's deal with Beijing opens our streets up to 49,000 Chinese EVs annually, jeopardizing our security and our auto jobs. He assured Canadians that everything was fine, telling us that we would have canola tariffs dropped by March 1. However, with yesterday's announcement that China is pushing back its decision on tariffs until March 9, we cannot now be sure that he is delivering anything at all. Farmers are left hung out to dry, and in exchange for what? Fancy photo ops and false promises. Can our farmers actually expect lower tariffs, or was the Prime Minister merely hoodwinked into making concessions for nothing in return?”
“Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister once called called China our biggest security threat. Now he tells us that it is a strategic partner. He told Canadian canola farmers to expect lower tariffs by March 1, yet just yesterday we learned that Beijing is delaying its decision until at least March 9. Last time I checked, partners keep their word. Our farmers deserve better than uncertainty, shifting timelines and empty promises, yet that is all the Liberal government has delivered. Is there truly a deal to reduce tariffs on Canadian canola, or did the Prime Minister mislead our farmers about getting results?”
“Mr. Speaker, I thank my hon. colleague for that impassioned speech, and I appreciated his bringing light to the issue through a wonderful Christmas float this year, putting the Grinch in jail properly. I want to highlight what he said, because I have seen it in my rural communities too. The social fabric of our community is changing because people are petrified. We are seeing violent carjackers. We are seeing rural crime rising. Could you talk a bit more about the impact on rural communities, in particular?”
“Mr. Speaker, the Liberal government has a recent track record of taking our good ideas, and we are giving them a whole pile of good ideas that, if implemented, would get this country back on track and have our economy thriving. We have heard a whole lot of empty promises, empty words and, unfortunately, a continuation of terrible results. That is why I am sure, when all of us went back to our ridings across this country, we heard the same thing: “I cannot afford to live anymore” and “I just want a good, stable, high-paying job. Why can I not find it?” The answer is 10 years of Liberal failure.”
“Mr. Speaker, this is a great opportunity. I want this country to have an economic boom again. The last time that happened was when our oil and gas and our resource sectors were booming, because all of those little people are the ones who reinvest in those companies. They reinvest in their pensions. We should be investing in ourselves. We should be darn proud of the people who are unfortunately now struggling because they were laid off from a sawmill or an oil field because of the policies of the Liberal government. I will stand up for them every single day, and that is how we are going to build this country back up again.”
“Mr. Speaker, I appreciate my colleague's reviewing the important staples of production in my riding. I am an extremely strong supporter of international trade and of diversifying markets, and that is why I am so surprised it took the Liberal government this long to realize the importance of this. I look back to the Harper government and all of the trade deals. We signed trade deals with nearly two-thirds of the world's economy under the Harper government, but they have been allowed to languish under the Liberal government. They came in and signed the odd trade deal. Conservatives have consistently, for decades, forever, stood up for the importance of rural communities, agriculture and international trade, and I will say one thing: We always will, too.”
“It has been said before, but I firmly believe it: We as Canadians have a history of rising to the challenges when the moment demands it. I will not settle for less, nor will my constituents. I want to prioritize the people who sent me to this place to represent them. Therefore, I invite every member of this chamber, every single one of them, regardless of their party, to join in our efforts and support this plan. This is not ideology. It is the audacity to admit that we can and we must do better, that we refuse to accept managed decline. When we look back, let it be said that we did not shrink from the task and we did not settle for the status quo. We met the moment head-on because that is what Canadians do when the stakes are real. We owe them a country that lifts, that builds and that believes in itself again.”
“This includes fast-tracking approval for a new Pacific pipeline capable of transporting one million barrels per day, diversifying away from our over-reliance on a single buyer. Permit processes would be improved, moving from decades to years through streamlined reviews. Provinces that actually remove internal trade barriers that fragment our national market would receive direct financial incentives, finally creating the one functioning Canadian economy that we have always claimed we have. Critically, we would reduce taxes on the engines of growth. That includes taxes on labour, on new home construction and on energy development. Beneath our feet lie abundant resources. We have timber. We have minerals. We have oil. We have gas, and we have soil that feeds the world. We should be darn proud of it and we should utilize it.”
“It locks capital away in old assets instead of letting it flow into tomorrow's breakthroughs. Instead of turning those proceeds into expansion or new businesses, it just sits there or, worse, the seller moves the capital to places where the taxes on reinvestment are lower and regulations lighter. We end up losing new investments and the jobs that go with them, all of which could have stayed in Canadian hands for the next generation to inherit and build upon. This is not just about investors or balance sheets. This is about unleashing billions of dollars in capital that has simply been waiting for green lights from government. It is about turning Canada into the best place in the world, not just to live but to start something and to scale something. We could also dismantle the bureaucracies that repeatedly kill major energy projects.”
“Under this plan, individuals and businesses could reinvest capital gains into Canadian businesses without immediate tax triggers, ensuring that breakthroughs in technology, energy and manufacturing stay here instead of migrating south or anywhere else around the world. Right now, when an entrepreneur sells a business they have built from nothing, a family parts with a property held onto for years or an investor finally realizes a gain from shares that they have been growing, the government steps in and takes a big slice. Capital gains tax hits hardest at the very moment when that new money could be turned into something new, something better, something Canadian. The tax does not just take dollars; it stops people from selling and reinvesting here at home.”
“Over the past decade, Canada has experienced substantial net outflows in foreign direct investment, and while the precise figures may vary, we are looking at hundreds of billions of dollars of lost or foregone capital as money flows to jurisdictions with clearer rules and faster execution. Half a trillion dollars, a made-up number, is real money that could have created well-paying jobs here in Canada and, in turn, good government tax revenue with a growing economy. However, it has been squandered. It has been wasted. This is why we are moving this motion to advance a Canada sovereignty act. It is designed to reverse the exodus and to transform Canada into a destination for investment rather than a point of departure.”
“The workers hardest hit are those in trades, transport and resource industries such as truck drivers, carpenters, welders, pipefitters and equipment operators. Thousands more EI claimants in these fields reflect layoffs and project delays. These are the people who build homes, move our goods and extract our resources. At the root of much of this pain lies our inability to build. Major energy projects are talked about and just languish. The broken assessment process remains intact, with construction permit timelines ranking Canada near the bottom of most OECD nations. Projects that should advance in years stretch into decades, inflating costs, deterring investors and exporting both jobs and capital.”
““Canada's Food Price Report 2026”, released just a few weeks ago, projects that the average family of four will spend $17,570 on food this year. That is nearly $1,000 more for the same groceries: in fact, with shrinkflation, often less groceries, on top of the food prices having risen and being 27% higher than they were just five years ago. Food banks tell an even more grim story. In March 2025 alone, nearly 2.2 million Canadians were recorded visiting a food bank. This is the highest monthly total ever tracked by Food Banks Canada. That figure has doubled since just 2019. (1705) Employment is softening in precisely the sectors that keep Canada moving. Recent figures show that over 566,000 Canadians were receiving regular EI benefits, with trends pointing upward.”
“It is the direct result of decisions and priorities that have drifted away from the people who uphold this country and who have built this country. We acknowledged the Prime Minister 's speech last week. Portions of it mirrored proposals Conservatives have championed for years. We want to unleash our energy and streamline approvals for projects. However, rhetoric, no matter how eloquent, does not lower a grocery price. Let us look at the hard numbers. Food inflation in Canada stands at 6.2%, year over year, as of December 2025, which is the highest in the entire G7. We have now been labelled the “food inflation capital”, an embarrassing moniker. That rate is roughly double what American families face, despite their own economic headwinds.”
“Now, this is not about delivering lofty speeches or getting applause from elite circles in foreign countries like Switzerland. It is about the kitchen table conversations where families look at their bills and feel their stomach drop, wondering if they are going to be able to afford next week's groceries. It is about being in that grocery aisle, where basics like beef, coffee and fresh vegetables, things we once took for granted, now feel like luxuries for far too many Canadians. Food, fuel, heat and a roof over one's head have become things we have to fight for, month after month. It should not be this way. Canada is rich in resources, rich in talent and blessed with a geography that should make us the envy of the entire world. Let us be honest: We are not reaching our full potential.”
“We saw them coming, and unfortunately so many people are feeling it now. Forces beyond our borders are real, and they are unpredictable, but that does not excuse the lost opportunity or the lost years of inaction here at home. I am not here to point fingers, but I am here to join a chorus of MPs who say we should all be focused on doing one thing, which is fixing the mess our country finds itself in. I stand ready to work with any member of any political party across this Parliament who is committed to the overriding goal of making life more affordable and making Canada a place where we can finally, once again, get big things built in this country. We must make Canada more self-reliant so we can withstand shocks, protect workers and thrive, no matter what comes our way.”
“Unfortunately, every headline brings fresh dread for so many folks, with economic storms brewing and troubles that seem to creep closer to our shores each and every day. However, here is the truth that gives me hope: There is nothing so wrong with Canada that we cannot fix. Anyone who has listened to Conservative MPs, in particular our Conservative leader , knows exactly what I mean. We warned about these threats early and often. We raised the alarm on the housing crisis, which priced out an entire generation. We highlighted families being forced to choose between groceries and heating their homes. We pointed to the bureaucracy and red tape that have resulted in not being able to build anything on time or on budget in this country. Frankly, we were the canary in the coal mine. Today's big problems are not a surprise to us.”
“Madam Speaker, it is always an honour to rise in this place on behalf of the fine folks of Portage—Lisgar. After weeks in our own constituencies, all of us got the chance to come back with the country's pulse. The reality of what I heard from so many folks is that they are hurting. Their demand was that the time to act is now. Families are anxious about tomorrow. Seniors are feeling incredibly squeezed by rising costs. Young Canadians feel exiled from the very future this country once promised. They are shut out of the housing market and left to wonder whether starting a family is just a dream for the few these days. Too many people are wondering if their jobs will still be there next month. Too many folks on work-sharing programs are wondering if that will end and they will be laid off in the very near future.”
“Mr. Speaker, it is like the Liberals cannot help themselves and it is in their DNA to try to control what other people think. Canadians are sick and tired of it, and I think they wish they could just share that message with a few more Canadians on social media.”
“Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the acknowledgement of the stats that have been kept by my colleague and the report undertaken about the lack of appearances. It would be one thing if it was just the odd camera-shy minister who was not very confident in their portfolio and did not want to show up, knowing they might get rung through the ringer a little. However, we are seeing a consistent pattern across every single department, a fear to come and defend the ideas, policies and the spending by this Liberal government. If the Liberal ministers are proud of what the government is doing, they should have the guts to show up to a committee and answer tough questions from parliamentarians on behalf of their constituents. That is the job.”
“Mr. Speaker, that was just such a Liberal question: “Why would they not just do what we want them to do?” It reminds me a lot of Bill C-9 actually. The Liberals are trying to control what people say and how they express themselves. It is a continuous track record for people who do not agree with the Liberals, as they then do their level best to silence them. The Liberals try to control everything that people say, see and think. Can members remember when we could share news articles on social media in this country? What a time to be alive that was. The Liberal government is all about control. It is not surprising to get a question like that, asking why we would not just do what they think should be done. No, we are not going to do that.”
“It is time for the Minister of Environment , the Minister of Justice and the Minister of Transport , the ministers of the Liberal government, to do a heck of a lot better.”
“There should certainly be an increase in training for chairs, either to better understand the non-partisan nature of their role or simply to understand the rules. They should not have so many rookie MPs, who have just taken the time to read the rules of this place, providing guidance to the chair. They should not have chairs so reliant on and attempting to follow but basically bungling the advice of the clerks. All in all, the environment committee has been a difficult one for the Liberal government because of its terrible track record of coupling the amount of pain and suffering that it has imposed upon Canadians with its incredibly disastrous track record of environmental policies and the lack of gain in terms of any environmental results, made worse by a complete disregard for ministerial accountability. It is time that we did better.”
“Just to give a few examples from a very in-the-weeds procedural standpoint here, I have never seen so many requests for suspension and all of a sudden the chair whacking gavels and we are suspended. I have never seen so many attempts at a point of order just ignored to adjourn a meeting. I have never seen such a rude exchange as the one with my colleague from the Bloc Québécois, in which the chair took issue with the professionalism of a member. I hope that in future, this debate today sparks a conversation, as it appears that there are many other chairs who are certainly lacking in awareness of the new and improved big green book that was just recently circulated to members' offices here.”
“If this job is too hard, then give up the car, give up the driver, give up the salary, give up the responsibility and let the Prime Minister appoint somebody else. I am sick and tired of asking officials questions that ministers should be accountable for at committee. Speaking of not being up to the job, there is our committee chair . Aiding and abetting this ministerial dereliction of duty is an unchecked, tyrannical, power-tripping chair who is unwilling to collaborate with any members of the opposition. Now, this member has been elected for a long enough time to know, I would have assumed, the rules. It has become clear that either intentionally hiding behind not knowing the rules, or simply not knowing the rules, is perhaps cover for following orders from on high from the minister's office, to try to avoid any sort of accountability.”
“She would give us one hour, in which the chair would start the meeting a little late, she would leave a little early, and we would call that a day. That is not accountability, and it is not ministerial responsibility. There is another outstanding future invitation for the minister to come with respect to the industrial carbon tax, the so-called strengthening that we are expecting to perhaps see, as alluded to in the budget and in the memorandum of understanding with Alberta. I hold out next to no hope. This minister is simply terrified to show up. She is terrified to come and answer tough questions about a $500 carbon tax and about the fact that manufacturers, dealers and Canadians broadly despise the electric vehicle mandate.”
“Unfortunately for her, though, we did notice. We asked her to come forward within a few weeks to explain the vote and explain the process that was happening, but we got crickets; we have been ghosted yet again. Then, all of a sudden, the Liberal MPs moved a motion to bring forward the minister for supplementary estimates, the bare minimum of what a minister could appear for. Surprisingly, she agreed to lump one hour of supplementary estimates in with one hour of the two hours that were requested regarding her mandate and priorities. That was for Monday, December 1. Lo and behold, hours before the meeting, she got too busy. She could not possibly come for two hours. She would come for one hour, combining all of the spending and supplementary estimates for the environment department with what her mandate and priorities are.”
“On October 20, we passed an important motion seeking clarity out of the Government of Canada by having the Minister of the Environment appear regarding the Canadian government's vote at the United Nations International Maritime Organization on the UN net-zero scheme that would apply a carbon tax of up to $500 per tonne to the entirety of shipping goods in the world. I have no idea where this money is going to go. (1810) An hon. member: It's Brookfield. Branden Leslie: Mr. Speaker, Brookfield is a very reasonable guess, and if only the minister would come and answer, maybe we would know whether it is Brookfield or someone else. All I know is that it seems as though the minister just hoped that nobody would notice that Canada went along with trying to impose this massive tax on the import of every good that we bring into this country.”
“On September 25, we passed another motion asking for a different minister, the former minister of Canadian identity and culture , for two hours to discuss the transition of Parks Canada from Environment Canada over to the heritage department. At that time, it was the minister who resigned from that post recently, who was the former minister of the environment. He was the perfect minister to come and explain how this transition had happened. We did not even receive a response. I recognize that it is different; it is not the environment minister, but it was a very reasonable request that was just looking for a briefing. However, there was not even so much as a no thanks. They would not even respond to us. We simply did not matter.”
“In that same meeting, we passed a second motion for an important study and invited the minister to appear to kick off that study on the electric vehicle mandate, or EV mandate, that this government is trying to impose upon manufacturers, dealers and all Canadians. There was a timeline associated with both of those, with October 10 for the mandates and priorities and prior to Halloween for the EV mandates. We ended up starting that study a little later, but that study was completed without the minister's appearance. We are unable to move forward with our report because, as per the motion adopted by the committee, we have not had all of the witnesses, including that minister. It is like she is hiding from a policy that she knows is going extremely poorly.”
“To give members a bit of a timeline, the first meeting we had at the environment committee was back on September 18, where we passed a very reasonable motion inviting the minister to appear for a total of two hours on her mandates and priorities. Given that, under this so-called new Liberal government, it was no longer publishing the mandate letters, it made sense to have the minister come and appear, particularly in the aftermath of a platform that was focused on removing many of the Trudeau-era environmental legacy pieces. The invitation was sent out later that day on September 18.”
“For Canadians out there thinking, well, we have question period, if anyone ever watched question period, they would notice that it is certainly called “question period” and not “answer period” for a reason. I think there has been a tremendous regression in question period under the current Liberal government. Committees are the place where accountability is meant to be had. It is where I, as a member of Parliament, just like all my colleagues, is on the same footing as a minister. It is where we can ask tough questions and are expecting fair, truthful answers. It is not a place to come and hide from accountability.”
“We have been ghosted time and time again. We have been stood up. It is starting to feel like she just does not like us. She is just not that into us. Asking tough questions is not a good enough reason to not be accountable to Parliament and to all Canadians. I would go so far as to say there have been more verified pictures of Bigfoot taken than there have been of our minister in the environment committee. I will say something about the previous environment minister . He showed up. He was a scrappy guy. I will give him credit. I did not like his answers and I am sure he did not like my questions, but at least he had the guts to show up with regular occurrence. He got so fed up with his current government that he, of course, had to quit cabinet. Nonetheless, he at least showed up.”
“Mr. Speaker, I will be splitting my time with the member for Okanagan Lake West—South Kelowna . It is an honour to rise today ahead of what I guess is an early Festivus miracle to air some grievances on how committees are functioning in this place. I can assure members that in my experience at the environment committee, things are not going well. As my colleague so ably stated, we are watching, in real time, ministerial responsibility fall apart. We are watching an erosion and a decay of ministerial responsibility. In the case of the environment committee, which I have been a proud member of since I was first elected back in 2023, we have been graced so humbly by the minister , it was only for a total of one hour of her time, one hour of her presence. We have been ignored, with over five invitations for the minister to appear.”
“It is no wonder he wants to help them. Instead of avoiding questions, as he helped Brookfield avoid taxes, the Prime Minister needs to come clean. Is the Prime Minister here to serve Canadians or Brookfield and himself? Conservatives will not stop asking questions. We will expose this sleaziness and fight to make sure that it stops.”
“Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister is riddled with conflicts of interest, and companies like Brookfield are raking it in while he is at the helm. Not only did the Prime Minister help his company avoid paying $6.5 billion in taxes, but it is now also Canada's greatest tax-dodger. Is it a bike shop in Bermuda? That is no problem. Is it a couple of tax havens in the Cayman Islands? It will use anything to keep Brookfield outside the reach of the CRA. Ordinary Canadians are struggling to put food on their plates and a roof over their heads, while the Prime Minister 's elite friends just keep benefiting. His so-called ethics screen is mostly a joke. The ethics committee found that 95% of Brookfield's companies, nearly 1,900 of them, are not included. If they perform well, the Prime Minister is going to reap the reward.”
“Mr. Speaker, I have had a number of conversations recently with some folks back home. We have a helicopter training facility there, as well as some veterans. Folks have said that the top-up on salary is appreciated, but their concern is about the cuts and what impact those could have on veterans' services. Again, the idea of investing in our military is a very sound one, but there are structural, fundamental issues in the way we go about procuring things in this government and in this country, particularly when it comes to our armed forces. We need to be very mindful, not only of finding ways to improve outcomes, but also, in every way and every day, supporting and thanking those who served in uniform to protect our country.”
“Mr. Speaker, a nearly $80-billion deficit is most definitely enough. I also have real questions about where the government is spending its money because, clearly, it is not reaching the people it needs to. I am a firm believer in investing in local infrastructure. In my rural communities, we have much aging infrastructure in need of renewal. Too often, though, as with everything else from the Liberal government, the Liberals decide to pick winners and losers. It is often the forgotten rural communities, which people like me and many other colleagues across and on this side of the aisle represent, that get so frustrated when the government decides to put crazy ideas as strings attached to any sort of funding. At the end of the day, we need to let our local governments decide how best to spend the money.”
“Mr. Speaker, let us look at the root word in “Conservative”: “conserve”. We are conservationists at our core. What we believe in is taking care of our natural landscapes. People in polling consistently care about clean air, clean water and protecting our natural landscapes. I represent a whole bunch of people who live, work and play on the land. They are the best conservationists and the true environmentalists, and I will always fight back against some concrete-jungle, ivory-tower policy idea trying to be imposed on the people I represent. As it turns out, as evidenced by the environment commissioner's own report, these are not working. The Liberal government's policies have been an abysmal failure. They have been all pain and absolutely no gain.”
“The government already has the tools it needs to prosecute those who promote violence and genocide. Adding insult to injury, the same member who proposed policing biblical verses was just now made the Minister of Canadian Identity and Culture . I say this to my Liberal colleagues: Stop attacking our inheritance from our ancestors for their political gain. Canadians are tired of it. Whether it be the Liberals' tacit support of tearing down statues and belittling symbols of national importance or the general pursuit of shaming our heritage, Canadians do not want a government that wages war on their values, their faith and their heritage. They want a government that supports the vulnerable, respects the contributions of charities and unites Canadians rather than dividing them. They want a responsible government that acts with common sense.”
“The economic benefit is clear. Cardus Institute research shows that, for every dollar a congregation spends, the local community receives $3.39 in economic benefit. Why even raise the prospect of revoking their charitable status? It is clearly not for fiscal reasons. The best explanation seems to be that the Liberals want to divide Canadians for political gain. This has become an extremely common trend under this government, and it is happening in real time. Just this week, we learned the Liberals have secured the Bloc's support for their proposed combatting hate act, which is yet another attempt to police the thoughts of Canadians. What is the deal they struck in making amendments to criminalize sections of sacred texts? This is completely unnecessary.”
“I ask this not rhetorically but earnestly: What is the point of having a Canadian Net-Zero Emissions Accountability Act when absolutely no minister, department or government will ever be held accountable for any of their failures? To move on from the environmental failures of this government, equally important is what has been excluded from this legislation. Fortunately, the Liberal government decided not to proceed with its disastrous idea to strip faith-based organizations of their charitable status. That this idea was even proposed is extremely concerning. I have had hundreds of my constituents write to me and agree with the idea that the government should never be stripping faith-based organizations of their charitable status. These charities support the most vulnerable in our society, filling a crucial gap the state simply cannot.”
“The Liberal Minister of the Environment insisted just yesterday that imposing this UN-backed net-zero shipping tax, potentially hitting $500 per tonne, will not drive up the cost of everyday items for Canadians. Think about that in a Canadian context, where we were not even at $100 per tonne. I live in the real world where businesses do not just eat these taxes out of the goodness of their hearts. They pass them straight down to every Canadian. If I were expected to take the minister at her word that the Liberals have not abandoned their 2030 targets, whatever else they are cooking up must be an absolute doozy because, my goodness, they have a lot of ground to make up.”
“Now, the new minister tells us that they will unveil new measures to meet the targets sometime next month. Forgive me for not popping the champagne on this one. We have all seen this movie before, and the sequel is never better than the original. Chances are that this will be yet another round of environmental policies destined for the same shelf, where all their other failures go to die. Let us be honest. When a government this far behind suddenly insists it is still on track, what it is really signalling is a whole heap of new regulations and taxes so heavy-handed that they could bring our economy to a halt. We know about one of the ideas the Liberals support: the UN's new net-zero carbon tax on shipping.”
“Just yesterday, I asked the new Minister of Environment a straightforward question. I asked her if they have given up on meeting their emissions reduction target. Her answer was pure bureaucratic gibberish that was so tangled that members would need a map and compass to navigate their way out of it. She could not bring herself to say what everybody already knows: After a decade of failed policies, they are nowhere near hitting these targets. It has been all pain for no gain. (1310) Members do not have to take my word for it. The environment commissioner himself said that the Liberals now boast the worst record in the entire G7. Just as the Liberals have chased away hundreds of billions of dollars in investment, and nickelled and dimed families for heating their homes and filling up their cars, their policies still fail spectactularly.”
“We saw how the Liberals' ill-thought-out emissions cap, which was very much a production cap, was abandoned. We saw their ludicrous EV mandate get put on ice to buy them some time to figure out how to get themselves out of that mess. We have seen ideology trump reality time and time again. Now we see a Liberal caucus that seems to be ripping apart at the seams as its members struggle to reorient themselves. I will admit that it has been something to watch former Liberal environment ministers get a little hot and bothered as their once-sacred flagship policies are quietly tossed overboard. To be fair, the one who just resigned at least had the decency to walk away from the chauffeured car and the extra salary instead of twisting himself into a pretzel trying to defend all the recent backflips.”
“Whoever has the best lobbyists or friends in the PMO can get their project referred to the Major Projects Office and get it sent to the front of the line. It is basically the Air Canada super elite program, where a select few stroll down the red carpet, breeze through their own priority security line and sail past check-in, while everyone else gets bumped, stranded on the terminal floor and stuck on hold for hours hoping somebody, anybody, just picks up. This is because the Liberals have made it so impossible to get projects built. If we step back for a second, we will quickly see that hundreds of billions of dollars or over half a trillion dollars of investment has fled the country over the past 10 years. The outflow of capital is simply remarkable and sad.”