Frank Caputo
Kamloops—Thompson—Nicola, British Columbia · Conservative · Canada
“Mr. Speaker, it is always a pleasure to rise on behalf of the people from Kamloops—Thompson—Nicola. Before I begin, I want to recognize the life of Ping Beaton. She was a devoted wife and mother. I give my deepest condolences to her husband, Lawrence, who taught me in high school, and her daughter, Geralyn.”
“Mr. Speaker, “collaboratively” is the word used by the Minister of Public Safety as to how he would work with Conservatives on Bill C-22 amendments, and yet the government is insisting on using its manufactured majority to now ram this bill through Parliament. Make no mistake: Conservatives want to put the bad folks in jail.”
“Mr. Speaker, “this is not how legislation works.” That is what the minister just said. Allow me to tell him something. Canadians do not take their orders from the Liberal Party. Conservatives do not take their orders from the Liberal Party. We will scrutinize legislation as we see fit.”
“Mr. Speaker, it is always a pleasure to rise on behalf of the people of Kamloops—Thompson—Nicola. Before I begin, I want to recognize Hafiza Zalmay and congratulate her on her Bachelor of Business Administration. She and her husband came from Afghanistan. It is a huge accomplishment, so my best wishes go to Hafiza.”
“Mr. Speaker, it is always a pleasure to rise on behalf of the people of Kamloops—Thompson—Nicola. Before I begin, I want to recognize Paul and Elly Major, the parents of Dr. Blair Major, a faculty member of Thompson Rivers University in my riding, on their 50th wedding anniversary. I congratulate Paul and Elly.”
“Mr. Speaker, it is always a pleasure to rise on behalf of the residents of Kamloops—Thompson—Nicola. Before I begin, I want to recognize the life of Joan Loehr. She was a prominent resident of Kamloops—Thompson—Nicola. She and her family have given a lot to the community.”
The complete record
Every one of 478 lines we hold for Frank Caputo, in date order, each linked to its source. Free to read, in full, without an account. Page 9 of 10.
“Madam Speaker, I believe it was Senator Martin who put forward a bill that would have rectified so many of these issues, yet the Liberals, as I understand it, voted against it. When we are talking about who is on what side and how we are doing this, a Conservative senator put forward this bill and it was voted against, and that should be remembered.”
“Madam Speaker, I do not believe that we as Conservatives have spoken about propaganda and fear. In fact, I spoke about the Canadian dream and how amazing it is to be here speaking about this. At the end of the day, we want an immigration system that is just, is appropriate and reflects that those who should be coming to Canada, those with an appropriate connection, would actually come here. The reality is, when it does come to consideration at committee, we should be looking at a number of different things. We should be looking at the substantial connection. How much time does that really mean? How many generations beyond the current generation are we looking at?”
“Madam Speaker, what I appreciate about the member for Winnipeg North is not what he says, but how loud he says it. I have watched here all morning and have seen countless Liberals, many women, standing behind him, who do not get to ask a question of the government or of us here, when all the while he stands and speaks. If this is going to be a discussion and the government is going to put its money where its mouth is, this is the reality. There is one member who speaks on behalf of the government. I take issue with the fact that he is asking all the questions on behalf of the government when there are countless individuals, some newly elected, who would love to participate in this debate, and they have to take a back seat to that one member.”
“Can I have a substantial connection to a number of places? Do I have a substantial connection, for instance, to the place where my parents came from, where they landed when they first came to Canada, where they settled or other places? I question whether somebody can have a substantial connection to a number of places. The reality is that Conservatives are completely open. We want to show an angle of compassion and an angle of just immigration and appropriate immigration. I am completely open to that. In fact, I welcome it. I want people to live and experience what I have lived and experienced. I cannot wait to welcome these people with an immigration system that is just, appropriate and reflects Canadian values.”
“I know I have spoken a lot about my background, but I think it is really important. I wish I had more time to speak to it. Maybe the member for Winnipeg North will pass a unanimous consent motion so that I could keep on talking. The reality is that for those 1,095 non-consecutive days, or about three years, somebody could divide their time up. How much time are we talking about? How many of those 1,095 non-consecutive days are we looking at? Where are the checks and balances to determine whether the person has actually spent that much time? What we are talking about is what the courts have called a “substantial connection”, and “substantial” is one of these legal words. I come from a legal background, as most people hear way too much about, but the reality is that “substantial” is one of these legal buzzwords. What does it actually mean?”
“This idea that Conservatives are not welcoming, that there is a carte blanche “no” to immigration, could not be further from the truth. We are a welcoming party, an inclusive party, and if I look around, even in the House of Commons right now, I see people like me who are first-generation Canadians, who owe everything they have to immigration, or who themselves immigrated, like the member who spoke just before me. Against that backdrop, we have to ask ourselves how we deal with this and how we deal with immigration law going forward. We have Bill C-3 before us. This bill would eliminate the first-generation limits and grant citizenship to those born abroad if one parent were to spend just 1,095 non-consecutive days in Canada, and there would be no criminal record checks. I want to dive into that.”
“We, as a family, owe Canada a tremendous debt of gratitude, and it is against that backdrop that I speak about Bill C-3 , a bill on immigration. Frankly, I have heard a number of falsehoods, things I vehemently disagree with from our friends on the Liberal side. I just heard a question: “Why are we not prepared to welcome Canadians?” Nothing could be further from the truth. In fact, I received a message from somebody the other day. I had worked with her on a few things. We had worked together on one thing in particular, and she said that she had just gotten her permanent residency. She went through it the right way. I wrote a note back, and I said that I could not wait to sign her citizenship certificate someday.”
“My parents came to a very different Canada, and places change. When my dad came to Canada, if someone showed up, they got a job. If they worked hard, they kept that job. That was the promise of Canada. That was the Canadian dream. My dad worked very hard. I know that because I spent a summer working at the sawmill where he worked, and after two shifts, I had never had more respect for my father, knowing the back-breaking labour that he did for over 30 years. There I was, 19 years old, thinking, “I do not know how my dad has done this.” He sacrificed so much. In return, he gave back so much to Canada. I cannot tell members how many hours of volunteerism they gave or how proudly patriotic my family is. This all comes back to immigration. I owe Canada.”
“He went to work at a place called Balco, now named Tolko, a huge employer in British Columbia, and he worked there until he literally could not physically work there anymore. That was the Canada they came to. My mom spent her time as a homemaker. She went back to school when I was 10 years old and became a legal assistant. On the one hand, we had a mill worker; on the other hand, we had a legal assistant. They had three children: my sister Rosie, my other sister Ellie and then me. My sisters both became teachers, which is a very noble career. My parents lived that Canadian dream, and now I am living that. To me, that is what this place embodies. That is what Canada embodies. (1320) What do we have to say about that? I owe everything I have to immigration. I would not be standing here were it not for immigration.”
“In fact, the night I was elected, September 20, 2021, my mother, who came to this country as an immigrant, asked, "What would your grandfather, my father, think if he saw this today?" This simply was not an option for him, to be in the House of Commons. My mom has told a story about how he had to borrow money for a chicken so he could have a chicken on Christmas Day. Those are my roots. That is where I come from. My mother followed her father, who came when he did not have the money to bring the whole family. He came to Canada to work because he came from a very poor part of Italy. My mother followed him in 1957. My father came with his family in 1959. They met in Canada. My dad actually did not finish high school; he went to work.”
“Their contributions cannot be understated. I see Neil and Sheila frequently in the community, and I want to recognize Marilyn's life. May perpetual light shine upon her. We are talking about immigration today, and I often speak about this topic in the House of Commons. It actually came up in my first speech. It is something that is really close to my heart. People are probably tired of hearing about my family story, but I am going to say it again because I am able to say it again. When I talk about how proud I am to walk onto the floor of the House of Commons, I mean it. Every single day, I just take it in.”
“Whenever he walked by, everybody would give a good-natured sound effect; if someone knows, they know. To Dennis' family, I am so sorry to hear of his loss. I am going to say it one time for Dennis, in commemoration of his life: bah. I also wish to recognize the life of Marilyn VanDongen. Marilyn VanDongen was somebody who was so devoted to the community of Kamloops—Thompson—Nicola. She and her family were active participants in the Alzheimer's walk. She was afflicted with this horrible disease, a disease that ultimately took the life of my grandmother. Marilyn leaves behind her husband, Casey, to whom I awarded a Queen's Platinum Jubilee Medal. She also leaves behind her daughter Diane; son Ken; another son, Neil; and daughter Sheila. Neil and I actually went to kindergarten together, so this is a family I have known for over 40 years.”
“Madam Speaker, it is always a pleasure to rise on behalf of the people of Kamloops—Thompson—Nicola. Before I begin, having been away for the summer, I want to welcome everybody back. It is always a pleasure and an honour to speak on the floor of the House of Commons, something that so few Canadians get to experience. I welcome everybody back. I welcome you, Madam Speaker, back to the chair. I recently got some sad news. A childhood friend of mine, a friend I went to school with from, I believe, grade 3 or grade 4, Dennis Doyle, passed away tragically and unexpectedly. He leaves behind his father, Peter Doyle; his mother; his sister, Leanne; and his fiancée, Ashley Sumner. This was completely unexpected. I went to high school with Dennis. He was such a character.”
“Mr. Speaker, while we were prorogued, we had a special constituent born: Remi Robson Murray, the grandchild of my former teacher Cam Murray and the child of Aidan and Jessie. I welcome Remi to our great Kamloops—Thompson—Nicola. I also want to give a special shout-out to my goddaughter, who is celebrating her graduation this weekend, Emery Britton. It has been a pleasure and an a honour watching her grow into the young woman she is. I am so proud of her. To my hon. colleague, we have heard a lot of talk from the Liberals. Would he agree that over the last 10 years, their talk and their rhetoric have not matched their actions?”
“Mr. Speaker, it is a pleasure to rise on behalf of the people of Kamloops—Thompson—Nicola. It is nice to see one of my colleagues recognizing people the way I do. I love that. I just want to clarify something that my colleague mentioned. I think he was talking about the Bykovets decision, a decision that said judicial oversight or a judicial authorization, a warrant production order, is required for IP addresses. I believe many people in the law enforcement community would support the provisions he was referring to. I think where we, as Conservatives, take issue is that one step further when we are talking about getting data from Meta and things like that. Does the member see the distinction between those two things?”
“Mr. Speaker, it is a pleasure to rise on behalf of the people from Kamloops—Thompson—Nicola. Before I begin, I want to give a shout-out to someone who helped a lot in my campaign, and that is my sister, Rosie Caputo. I am very thankful to her for all of her help. I have worked with my colleague extensively. I have a great deal of time for him. When we talk about these things, there is this balance between law and order, we have some court decisions that need to be addressed in terms of IP addresses, and also the balancing of civil liberties. Does the member have any ideas how we can strike that proper balance in legislation like Bill C-2 ?”
“Mr. Speaker, it is always a pleasure to rise on behalf of the people from Kamloops—Thompson—Nicola. I want to give a shout-out to somebody who helped my campaign a tremendous amount, and that was Mr. Spencer Paul. I thank Spencer. To my hon. colleague, I wonder if he would agree with my sentiment, which is that the Liberals have allowed a porous border and, at the same time, have not dealt with guns, trafficking or bail, yet none of these things are in the bill. It is like they have created a mess and put an omnibus bill here before us. Does he not see it as a bit rich that the Liberals are also not dealing with the things they have created and made a mess of?”
“Members will note that this would not be judicially authorized; there would be no production order and there would be no warrant, so perhaps the member would like to clarify the record here, because he has been telling people that Canada Post would need a warrant. It is not even the RCMP or a peace officer. Would he like to clarify the record on this important point, please?”
“Mr. Speaker, it is always a pleasure to rise on behalf of the people from Kamloops—Thompson—Nicola. Before I begin, I want to give a shout-out to someone who helped with my campaign: Zach Brubacher. I thank him very much for everything. The member said last time during debate, one of the many times he spoke, or perhaps it was in a heckle, I am not sure, that Canada Post could not open our mail under this legislation without a warrant, so I am going to read him the provision, and perhaps he wants to retract that. This is at page 12 of the bill, proposed subsection 41(1): “The Corporation may open any mail if it has reasonable grounds to suspect that”.”
“I almost invite them to put up their hand and say, “Yes, I would love to speak”, and I would seek unanimous consent to have them speak. Why is it that on such an important bill, the member gets up, gives the speeches and asks all the questions? What is with the Liberal Party today that only he gets to talk on behalf of it?”
“Mr. Speaker, it is always a pleasure to rise on behalf of the people of Kamloops—Thompson—Nicola. Before I begin, I want to give a shout-out to somebody who helped me tremendously on my re-election campaign. I am grateful for Jesus Bondo's help. I have to say this. I said this a couple of days ago and nothing changes. Hon. Kevin Lamoureux: You say that all the time, Frank. Frank Caputo: Now the member from Winnipeg is heckling me. Mr. Speaker, the member is here doing a 20-minute speech. For those watching at home, we often divide our time into 10-minute speeches. He is doing a 20-minute speech while Liberals are either watching him or looking down. There are other Liberals who I am sure are all very capable. I have heard some of them speak, and yet today, crickets.”
“Mr. Speaker, that all sounds great. Unfortunately, the minister voted for Bill C-5 , which took away mandatory minimums for people serving sentences for fentanyl trafficking, for gun trafficking and for extortion with a firearm. Fentanyl is killing people: brothers, sisters, mothers and fathers. Will the minister look into the camera and tell people whose children are victims, people who have died from fentanyl, that he will legislate to end the insanity?”
“Mr. Speaker, the equivalent of five to seven grains of salt, a 0.2 milligram dose, is how much fentanyl it takes to kill somebody, so it is no surprise that Canadians would be shocked to hear that somebody who had 24 grams of fentanyl, enough to kill thousands of people, was sentenced to house arrest. Whom do I blame? Again, it is not the judge, not the prosecutor and not the defence lawyer. I blame the Liberals for their lack of action and for passing Bill C-5 . When will the Liberals finally legislate so that people who traffic fentanyl cannot serve their sentence on the couch?”
“Did they come here to sit on their hands and listen to him speak, or did they come here to make a difference for Canadians?”
“Madam Speaker, it is always a pleasure to rise on behalf of the people of Kamloops—Thompson—Nicola. I wish at this time to wish all the best in the upcoming nuptials of Justin Potestio and Dr. Namat Majaess. They are getting married and I wish them all the best. I say with sincerity to my hon. colleague that we hear him talk so much. This is on a contentious bill; at what point are the other Liberals going to get the opportunity to ask questions? At what point are the other Liberals going to get the opportunity to give speeches? We hear about how much the government values diversity, and yet it has one person stand up every single day to ask more questions and give more speeches than the whole Liberal caucus. Is the member okay with that? I cannot figure out why Liberal backbenchers are okay with that.”
“Madam Speaker, it is always a pleasure to rise on behalf of the people of Kamloops—Thompson—Nicola. Before I begin, I want to recognize the life of a community member, Luigi Collavini, who passed away in the time we were not sitting. He leaves behind his son Jon, his daughter Erminia and his wife Teresina. May perpetual light shine upon him. The Liberals just talked about money going into the hands of Canadians. What about the motion, which this member just voted against, to put money that was taken through GC Strategies back into the hands of Canadians? Does my colleague agree?”
“Madam Speaker, it is always a pleasure to rise on behalf of the people of Kamloops—Thompson—Nicola. I wish to recognize the life of Gloria Goold, mother-in-law to Stephanie Rennick, who works in my office, as well as Peter Goold. What is the biggest broken promise my hon. colleague has seen from the Liberal government in recent years?”
“Madam Speaker, it is always a pleasure to rise on behalf of the people of Kamloops—Thompson—Nicola. Before I begin, I want to recognize a new person in Kamloops, a new cousin. His name is Harry Smith, born to Lewis Smith and my cousin Claudia Wright. I welcome Harry to the world. It is a pleasure to have him as one of our newest members in Kamloops. My hon. colleague spoke about first nations and consultation. I took over part of his riding through redistribution. We now have 27 first nations in Kamloops—Thompson—Nicola. I wonder if, given his knowledge of the area, the member could expand on the comments he made earlier respecting first nations.”
“Mr. Speaker, in British Columbia, an offender was recently sentenced to house arrest for possessing child sexual abuse and exploitation material. The victims of such deplorable materials are living a psychological life sentence. Whom do I blame for this? It is not the judge, not the prosecutor and not the defence lawyer. I blame weak Liberal laws that allow people like these to serve their sentence on the couch. Will the public safety minister recognize this injustice and stop allowing house arrest for people who watch sexual abuse of children?”
“Mr. Speaker, there are questions on the public safety minister's recent recusals. Was the Ethics Commissioner consulted prior to the public safety minister setting up an internal conflict screen? Can the Prime Minister explain to this House why the minister has recused himself?”
“Mr. Speaker, 1,000 pounds was the amount of cocaine that was seized by Peel police according to media reports just yesterday. The public safety minister previously said that the bail system was sound, yet six out of nine of those arrested are already on bail. Given what we see and hear when it comes to bail, does the public safety minister still think the bail system is sound?”
“Mr. Chair, Randall Hopley, somebody who the Premier of British Columbia, an NDP premier, says should not be let out again, kidnapped a three-year-old. Will the minister enact legislation to ensure that sex offenders such as Randall Hopley can be dealt with and that the public can be safe?”
“Mr. Chair, for discharge with intent, or drive-by shootings, someone can now get house arrest, and there is no mandatory minimum. The minister voted for that. Does he regret that, given gun violence today?”
“Mr. Chair, we are not going to get an answer here. On robbery with a firearm, the member voted to take away the mandatory minimum and to allow house arrest. Does he regret that vote, given gun violence?”
“Mr. Chair, the classification of firearms has nothing to do with that. We are not talking about Bill C-21 . We are talking about whether something as basic as how a firearm is classified is known by the public safety minister.”
“Madam Chair, I invite Canadians to behold our Public Safety Minister, who has no idea what is going on and is seemingly indifferent. Now let us get to bail. The minister said that the bail system was sound. Does he stand by that?”
“Madam Chair, he does not want to meet with the father of a victim. That is reprehensible. What about Tara Desousa, Canada's youngest dangerous offender, who sexually assaulted a baby and lives at the same jail as the mother-child program. Is the minister going to give us the same answer again, that it is up to someone else, when he is the minister?”
“Madam Chair, he will not order an inquiry. How about Terri-Lynne McClintic, who killed an eight-year-old child? She is now living in medium security next to a child through the mother-child program. Is he okay with that, yes or no?”
“Madam Chair, I will be splitting my time with the member for Montmorency—Charlevoix and the member for Hastings—Lennox and Addington—Tyendinaga . Is the minister okay with the fact that Paul Bernardo, one of Canada's worst serial killers, remains in medium security?”
“Madam Speaker, during the last Parliament, Speaker Rota drew a distinct line. In fact, I asked a question, and I believe it was Mr. Mendicino, who was Minister Mendicino at the time, who used the term “intentionally misleading”. If one is deliberately trying to obfuscate, is deliberately trying to do something, that is akin to lying. It is unparliamentary language. It has been said by the Chair. It should be repeated again, with all due respect to the Chair.”
“Mr. Speaker, it is always a pleasure to rise on behalf of the people of Kamloops—Thompson—Nicola. I was going to raise a point of order, but I know my colleague is more than capable of dealing with this. The member for Winnipeg North said something that I think was deeply offensive to this House and was completely unparliamentary. He was essentially telling my colleague to get real when all she was doing was citing facts. This is at a time when we were told by a cabinet member that Canada Post would need a warrant to open up mail. I am going to read directly from the bill: The Corporation may open any mail if it has reasonable grounds to suspect that It is “reasonable grounds to suspect”, not even to “believe.” He should be apologizing. Shame on him.”
“Mr. Speaker, 700,000 doses of fentanyl, 32 illegal guns and seven people on bail. These are the statistics from a recent raid just yesterday in York. I commend the police for doing such a good job. I also condemn the Liberals for allowing this sort of crime to flourish in Canada. Indeed, catch-and-release is alive and well in Canada, so why do the Liberals not accept the Conservatives' plan to end catch-and-release so we can crack down on gun and fentanyl traffickers?”
“Madam Speaker, it is always a pleasure to rise on behalf of the people from Kamloops—Thompson—Nicola. Before I begin, I want to recognize a young man named Jasper Phillips, who recently received the Chief Scout's Award for fundraising for robotics kits of over $1,000. We thank him for his service. I always really enjoy speaking with my hon. colleague. I was just looking at a report from Staff Sergeant Josh Roda of the Merritt RCMP, a community of 7,000. Staff Sergeant Roda reported that the Merritt RCMP have already seized 69 firearms this year, two just this last month, with one being a sawed-off shotgun. This is what we need to address, in my view. The bill would do none of that. Would my hon. colleague agree?”
“Madam Speaker, it is always a pleasure to rise on behalf of the people of Kamloops—Thompson—Nicola. First, I wish to denounce what happened at my colleague's office, which he referred to. That is unacceptable for anyone in Canada to experience. Where I take issue with my colleague's speech is that it is straight out of the Liberal playbook of saying, “We're going to, we're going to, we're going to.” Like me, my colleague was here for that, and he may have even been here before I got here. The Liberals say they are going to do all these things on crime. They mocked us for all of these proposals and now are flip-flopping. How can we have any faith whatsoever that the Liberals are going to take action when they have said that they will not and in fact had ideological opposition? It is largely the same group of Liberals over there.”
“Madam Speaker, it is always a pleasure to rise on behalf of the people of Kamloops—Thompson—Nicola. As always, I thank all members for their interventions, including this hon. member. The Liberals are talking a strong game about crime and things like that. I am wondering if my hon. colleague from the Bloc agrees with me that while the Liberals are talking a strong game, they have failed to take action on the issue of crime, and a lot of it has actually manifested itself in Quebec. I am wondering if the member agrees with me that this is a little hypocritical of the Liberals and that we should not necessarily take them at their word. They had ample opportunity to do this but have done absolutely nothing over the last 10 years.”
“Madam Speaker, that was the most cat-and-mouse response I have ever heard. I challenged him. He speaks more than all other Liberal members combined, so I think he could address the challenge. Does he support house arrest for people who traffic fentanyl? I challenged him, but he would not even answer; he just heckled me. He should give me an answer. We do not even have a charter statement yet. The bill is a 130-page document. The Liberals say they want to move in an expeditious manner, but they took 10 years to get here. They have been talking out of both sides of their mouth in that regard.”
“I challenge him to stand up and say whether he is in favour of my proposed bill, Bill C-313 , on bail, and whether he still supports house arrest for people who do drive-by shootings and who traffic fentanyl.”
“Madam Speaker, I have learned a lot from my colleague. We first met a number of years ago, and it has been really great just to walk with him in my parliamentary journey. I see nothing in the bill that deals with firearms. Kamloops—Thompson—Nicola, like so much of Canada, is a rural area. I believe there are 27 first nations in my riding, and hunting is integral to those first nations. We have heard the Liberals speaking out of both sides of their mouth on the issue; they say that we need to really crack down on guns and illegal guns used in shootings, yet they are burying us in more bureaucracy without going after people who repeatedly breach firearms prohibitions and things like that. I see nothing in Bill C-2 on this. I see that the member for Winnipeg North is going to ask a question.”
“My colleague is right that there is a labour shortage in this regard. This actually highlights one of the biggest issues I have with many of the government's interventions: It is always “we are going to” and is never “we are going do this, and this is how we are going get there.” The government cannot build homes. The government cannot even plant trees. How is the government going to secure the border?”
“Madam Speaker, it will be an honour for me as well to sit with my colleague around the committee table as the public safety critic. We have not had a chance to work together before, but I do look forward to working with her and perhaps practising my French. Her question was what I would call a fairly loaded one because it had elements of generalities with respect to our not having enough agents to do this, but also the specificity about the rail cars. What I can say right now is that she is right; we do not have the agents to do this. The minister actually spoke about, and I think $300 million is what was was referred to earlier, how we are going to start having scanners and things like that. Why are they not there already? It is just a colossal failure by the government to not have them there.”