Mike Dawson
Miramichi—Grand Lake, New Brunswick · Conservative · Canada
“Mr. Speaker, it is a great pleasure for me to welcome back to Ottawa today a very special guest and a dear friend, the former member of Parliament for Miramichi, Tilly O'Neill Gordon. Before politics, Tilly spent her career as an elementary school teacher. We continue to learn from her today.”
“Mr. Speaker, in 2012, the Liberals accepted the resignation of Minister Bev Oda over a $16 glass of orange juice. Welcome to Mark Carney's Canada in 2025, where every Canadian now drinks $16 orange juice. The Prime Minister told Canadians that he would be judged by the prices at the grocery store. Well, let us judge.”
“Wherever real Canadians earn real paycheques is where the real economy is in this nation, and it is here where the government is failing every Canadian working man and woman. Other countries are pulling ahead while we are falling behind.”
“Mr. Speaker, there is a problem when the Prime Minister says he is putting in investments. If I invest in my house, I am spending money on it. At the end of the day, investments mean spending money. I was in a classroom yesterday with grade 12 students in Rogersville.”
“Canada is a country running in reverse, and instead of taking responsibility, the government hands us Bill C-15 , a bill built on the idea that if it spends enough more money, nobody will notice there is less in their pockets. Canadians notice. My constituents notice.”
“Despite three visits to the United States and his promises of elbows up, the only deal Canada has been able to close with the United States since March is that former prime minister Justin Trudeau closed on Katy Perry.”
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“In Renous, Doaktown, Nauwigewauk, Chipman or Minto, if someone sells poison to our kids, they belong behind bars or in the ground. If the government does not quickly address the crisis situation, things will only get worse. (1245) There are no mandatory jail terms for fentanyl traffickers in this bill, no new mandatory sentences for criminals who use guns. The bill does not demonstrate strength; it embraces weakness. While it would fail to get tough on real criminals, it would reach too far into the lives of ordinary people. It would let government agencies open our mail. It would force Internet companies to hand over our Google search engine results without a warrant. It would even take aim at the cash in our pockets. Canadians need to know that Conservatives believe in the free market. Cash means choice, and choice means freedom.”
“In June, the Liberals rushed this bill into the House and dressed it up with a tough name, the “strong borders act”. The name is strong, but the bill is not. It is weak where it must be strong, and even worse, it is heavy-handed where it ought to respect the freedom of ordinary Canadians. Conservatives believe in real law and order, common-sense law and order, and that is why we oppose the bill. We will back any measure that truly stops drugs, guns and violence from infecting our communities, but I will not support legislation that would unnecessarily trample on the rights of law-abiding citizens. Where is bail reform? The bill would do nothing to stop the catch and release of criminals in our communities. I can say what my constituents think.”
“This is one Canadian who is starting to think that when it comes to the complex challenges faced by our country, the Prime Minister does not even know whether to sit or wind his watch. I have to wonder whether the government does not know what it is doing or knows exactly what it is doing. It is becoming more difficult to give the Liberals the benefit of the doubt. Are they making well-intentioned bad decisions? Could they make this many bad decisions in a row, or does the bill reveal the vile contempt that the urban elite have for hard-working rural Canadians? The same contempt, voiced by Ruth Marshall from the University of Toronto last week, blocked this House from observing a moment of silence for a young father murdered in Utah last week for believing in God and encouraging others to do the same.”
“It is in this bill, in black and white: The Liberal government's response to the flow of illegal drugs and weapons across our border is to make it easier, more streamlined, for asylum seekers to enter the United States and avoid the proper means of legitimate immigration. The bill would even provide asylum seekers with government support to navigate our system. The bill would go on to allow government to keep a closer eye on our internet search history. For 10 years now, Conservatives have warned that Liberal soft-on-crime policies put Canadians in danger. We warned that fentanyl would rip through our towns; the Liberals did not listen. Now crime is up, drug deaths are up, and the Liberals are doubling down.”
“From where I am standing, it does not look like the Liberals have a real plan to honour their promises to Canadians. What is the Liberal Party's solution to the public safety crisis in this country? It wants to make it harder for people to get money from a bank machine and easier for the government to open people's mail. Bill C-2 would do little to address the very real problems facing our nation, but it would get the government recognition with the World Economic Forum. Tone-deaf does not even begin to describe it. It is no wonder that the Liberal government has failed to get a trade deal with our largest and best trading partner, the United States. The Liberal government has not addressed the very legitimate concerns that the U.S. government has raised over crime in this country and its export across our border to the United States.”
“From speaking with and listening to my colleagues here in the House, I know nearly every community across this country faces the same serious challenges. There is a very real public safety crisis in our communities and across this nation: drug use and addiction, crime and vandalism, aggressive behaviour and harassment, and home invasions. A good many Canadians do not feel safe walking the streets, and they do not even feel safe at home with their doors locked. I would hope that no member of this House thinks that this is a well-done job. I would hope that we can all agree that something needs to change. However, the Liberal government would like Canadians to rest easy. The government was re-elected on promises to axe the carbon tax and negotiate a trade deal with the Prime Minister 's good friend Donald Trump, but it has done neither.”
“Mr. Speaker, it is great to be back. I want to welcome you and all our colleagues back for another session. I am pleased to have spent the summer back home in my constituency, Miramichi—Grand Lake. I spent the past few months connecting with friends, neighbours and constituents and listening to their concerns. Just last week I attended a standing-room-only public meeting called by the downtown Newcastle Business District in response to a public safety crisis in the heart of our small town. The situation in downtown Newcastle is an emergency. Anyone who attended the meeting recognizes that. All one has to do is take a drive through our community to see it. However, the emergency in Newcastle is not one of a kind.”
“Madam Speaker, I am not sure what happens in B.C., but I know New Brunswick is definitely not ready for EVs at 100%. During the winter, our electrical grid is stressed to the max at all times. If we get two centimetres of snow, we have power outages for days.”
“Madam Speaker, the mandate was brought forward by the previous minister. We are talking about the estimates, and I had just started speaking about the $40,000 it is going to cost each person who buys a new vehicle moving forward.”
“Madam Speaker, for the last four weeks, I think, this side of the House has been listening to the member opposite get up, pat himself on the back and puff his chest out about all the good things the government has done. Well, the doom and gloom on this side of the House is coming from the doom and gloom from all the Canadians we spoke to, at every door we knocked on, about the last 10 years of the failed government that seemed to sneak its way in to get another mandate. The doom and gloom is on the other side, from everything the Liberals do and what they have done the last 10 years.”
“Madam Speaker, it goes back to the same old failed policies of the former minister who brought these problems to us in the first place. I cannot say much more than that: a failed minister on the other side who is still a minister and will make more mistakes in the next four years.”
“Through you, Madam Speaker, I say this to the government: Back off. Scrap the ban. Let Canadians decide for themselves. The Conservative Party does not fear the future; we believe in it. We believe in people, and we believe in choice. We know the best decisions do not come from Ottawa; they come from the ordinary Canadians who pay for and live with the consequences. The Conservative Party respects and has faith in the common sense of the people of Canada, because the only thing more dangerous than a government that wants to take away someone's truck is a government that thinks it knows better than the guy who drives it. If the Prime Minister wants to take away our pickup trucks, he had better bring himself a convoy.”
“Let us not forget that once the government takes away people's ability to choose what they drive, it will not stop there. Today it is gas vehicles; tomorrow it is our furnaces, our wood stoves and maybe even our barbecues. We cannot call it a choice when there is only one option on the shelf. This is not a plan about lowering emissions; it is about increasing control. It is not about saving the planet; it is about control. This is not about climate; it is about compliance. The truth is that this ban will not save the environment, but it will make life harder, colder and more expensive for millions of Canadians. The people paying the highest price will not be the downtown elites or the Tesla crowd. It will be the diesel mechanics, the forestry workers, the young family in Doaktown trying to barely make ends meet.”
“It is typical Liberal government overreach, plain and simple, and here is the kicker: Hard-working New Brunswickers are not going to trade in a sturdy, reliable, rustproof pickup truck for a plastic pop can on wheels because some deputy minister in Ottawa wearing a turtleneck said so. (1910) People in Miramichi—Grand Lake do not take kindly to being told they are backwards just because they know how to run a chainsaw and change their own oil, and they sure do not want to be lectured by a Prime Minister who spent 10 years sipping champagne at the Bank of England. This plan is a slap in the face to rural Canada. This is a slap in the face to every tradesman, farmer, hunter and contractor in this country. This is one more example of the government thinking it knows better than the people it is supposed to serve.”
“This was not a change of heart; it was a sleight of hand. The Prime Minister did not kill the carbon tax; he replaced it with something even worse, a carbon ban. He figured, why bother taxing the gas in people's trucks when he can just make sure they are never allowed to own one? The Liberals did not ban carbon pricing because they changed their minds. The Liberals abandoned it because they were blaming the very thing they used to tax. How very Liberal of them. They do not need to tax gas when their plan is to outlaw the engine that burns it. The only thing this plan is guaranteed to reduce is freedom, people's freedom to choose what they drive and to work where they want, live where they want and drive what suits their family and their job.”
“Maybe the Liberals do not want people to drive at all. Maybe they do not want them to leave their homes or go to work or take their kids to the rink. Maybe they want Canadians to be at home, dependent, plugged in and powerless because the government has slogans, not solutions. Now, let me be clear about one thing: The government has a strategy. Just one month ago, in the middle of the federal election, the Liberals' promise was that they were going to pretend they were Conservatives and axe the carbon tax. That is what Canadians heard. What Canadians did not hear and what the Liberals did not say was that their real plan was to replace the tax with something even worse. They did not say they wanted to ban the very vehicles Canadians use to work, raise their families and live their lives.”
“If this were about the environment, we would be talking about grid resilience, rural access, battery disposal and the cost, both present and future, of electricity. Does the government have a plan where everyone in New Brunswick plugs their Liberal-mandated vehicles in at 6 p.m. in January? In Miramichi, our power flickers when the next-door neighbour turns the microwave on during the evening news. Our electrical infrastructure can barely stay ahead of current demand. What do the Liberals decide to do? Let us burn out the grid. Let us double electricity bills. Let us crash the system and blame it on the provinces. We know the Liberal government prefers Canadians to stay at home. We saw it during the pandemic, and we see it today in the federal civil service, still on Zoom, still on mute, still on break. Maybe that is the plan.”
“Progress is not forcing a single mom in Blackville to buy a $70,000 electric car she cannot charge and does not want. Progress is not replacing the family mechanic with a government-approved software update technician. Progress is not shutting down the dealerships, the mechanics and the supply chains that keep rural Canada moving. If the government wants to build electric vehicles, that is fine, but it does not have to kill the combustion engine upon which our modern society depends. Let us remember that freedom is not about the right to vote; it is about the right to choose. Let us be real here: This is not about the environment. If this were about the environment, we would instead be debating a national charging network and a plan to build more reliable charging stations.”
“Let me put it plainly: Where I come from, a truck is not a toy. It is not a fashion statement, and it is not a mobility solution, as one Liberal minister so helpfully called it. It is a lifeline. It hauls the lumber, tows the boat and plows the driveway. It gets people's kids to hockey and their parents to the doctor. One cannot strap 10 sheets of drywall to the roof of a hatchback and call it progress. Unless someone has figured out how to get 500 kilometres out of a battery in -30°C with no charger in sight, I suggest the Liberals stop trying to reinvent the wheel. Any path to a cleaner-energy future must proceed at the pace of possibility, not ideology. The Prime Minister says he is all about progress. Well, let me tell people something about progress.”
“Madam Speaker, it is always a pleasure to stand and speak in the people's House. In my riding of Miramichi—Grand Lake, we have great people, folks who do not ask for much from the government except to defend our borders, protect our streets and then kindly get out of the way. Now we have a Liberal government trying to tell us what kind of car we can drive. The government's plan to ban the sale of gas-powered vehicles by 2035 is not just out of touch; it is out to lunch. This is the kind of thing someone dreams up after a latte in a downtown Toronto espresso bar, not after a hard winter on the Plaster Rock-Renous Highway. This is the plan of an urban elite who are blind to the hard facts of geography, weather, industry and the dignity of hard work borne by everyday Canadians who work hard for a living.”
“Mr. Speaker, our political family in New Brunswick suffered a loss with the passing of Judy Scott O'Brien of Durham Bridge. The daughter of the late Anita and Darrell Scott, she is survived by her husband Mike O'Brien, her brother Don and his wife Joyce, as well as nieces and nephews. Originally from Edmundston, Judy was a key resource for former premiers Richard Hatfield and Bernard Lord. While I did not know her personally, she is a very close friend of my family, and I am aware of her legend. Judy was colourful. She was fiercely loyal, and she was a hard worker. She kept and loved horses. Judy loved politics but also enjoyed her peaceful home in Durham Bridge and her trips to St. Martins with Michael. Please join me in offering condolences to the family and many friends of Judy Scott O'Brien.”
“Mr. Speaker, I never said that we did not like the tax break. I said that it did very little for the constituents of Miramichi—Grand Lake. What I am saying is this: If the government wants to take care of the people of Canada, it should cut the carbon tax completely.”
“Mr. Speaker, I do not know how the government expects to do this. If one runs a household, they do not just fill up their credit cards, empty their bank accounts, and then try to do a budget after the fact to find out how much money they have left. That is not the way people spend their paycheques. That is not the way they run their households. We should not be running the country that way either.”
“Mr. Speaker, I agree with my colleague on the other side. We need both Pacific salmon and Atlantic salmon to thrive. It is a major industry, and 25 years ago, it was a $40-million industry in Miramichi—Grand Lake. We need to get back to the table to work with the government, as the opposition, to make sure that we keep our industries alive and well.”
“Mr. Speaker, on the question of emissions, I believe we have to work to fight emissions as well, but we also have to fight for the everyday living of Canadians. If Canadians cannot afford to live, there is no sense in worrying about emissions. The cost of living is going to be too high for people to live in Canada.”
“Mr. Speaker, the tax cut that the Liberals are proposing does very little for my constituents in Miramichi—Grand Lake. If the Liberals wanted to make a difference, they would cut the carbon tax completely: not just the consumer carbon tax, but the industrial carbon tax. Axe the tax completely.”
“I hope I can get these wharves on his radar, as I know he has sincere respect and concern for our fishermen in New Brunswick, and they quite rightly respect him as well. I will advocate for much-needed improvements to the wharves in Tabusintac and Bay du Vin. Lastly, while on the topic of fisheries, no speech from Miramichi would be complete without mention of the Atlantic salmon. The Atlantic salmon have been in decline for two decades now. My constituents have been joking that with the job the government has done managing the Atlantic salmon population, perhaps the Liberal government could take over the responsibility for the black flies, in hopes that it could mimic these results with that most troublesome population. I will fight and advocate for the Atlantic salmon. This brings me to the end of my allotted time.”
“I will also fight for the federal government to address the very real concerns of our inshore fishers in New Brunswick. For many years now, the federal government has mismanaged the fishery and allowed tensions between native and non-native fishers to escalate on our waters. These issues must be addressed in real time if we are to create a safe, level playing field for all in this vital industry. For as long as I am a member of Parliament, I will fight and advocate for our small craft harbours and inshore fishers. The community wharves in Tabusintac and Bay du Vin are unsafe and in desperate need of attention from the federal government, whose responsibility they are. The member for Beauséjour injected millions into the wharves in Shediac and Pointe-Sapin, which were in his constituency.”
“Because of this, let me state in my very first speech in the House that I am a small-government, low-tax, “keep government out of our business”, free-speech, God-fearing Pierre Poilievre Conservative. While the government proposes to spend recklessly, my constituents in Miramichi—Grand Lake are very concerned about job security as it relates to employment at the federal payroll centre in Miramichi. During the recent campaign, PSAC, the union representing the workers at the Miramichi payroll centre, accused me and the Conservatives of planning to cut positions at the payroll centre, when it was the Liberals all along who planned to do so. For as long as I am a member of Parliament, I will fight for the workers at the Miramichi payroll centre.”
“It is troublesome, to say the least. This kind of reckless spending in Ottawa with numbers too large to comprehend takes hundred-dollar bills out of the pockets of the working poor and single mothers, and also from those on social assistance and retirees. It is becoming nearly impossible to find someone in these communities who is flourishing and living our great Canadian dream, if in fact the great Canadian dream still exists. I am surprised that the Prime Minister , during his time in England, never picked up on the lessons in economics from Margaret Thatcher: that the problem with spending other people's money is that eventually we run out of it. We are there now.”
“member for Beauséjour , as the greatest living New Brunswicker, is also an honorary Miramichier. (1055) As we have just finished an election campaign, and I have canvassed all the communities and regions that I have mentioned, please allow me to inform this House of the priorities of my constituents, which makes them my priorities. Of course, the economy, inflation and the cost of living are very front of mind in my constituency. Over the last decade, life has become unaffordable for the people of Miramichi—Grand Lake. It is hard to understand how the government proposed a spending bill of half a trillion dollars, which does nothing to help this very worrisome situation. The money the government proposes to spend is money it does not yet have and must steal from individuals and businesses by way of future taxes.”
“There are also several first nation communities in our beautiful riding: Elsipogtog, Esgenoôpetitj, Metepenagiag and Natoaganeg, which I will have open dialogue with, and I will work on their behalf for their interests as well. Miramichi has a long history of contribution to our great nation, by way of both our natural resources and our people. The timber from our forests and the ore from our mines have contributed to our proud national history. Lord Beaverbrook, who served as a member of Parliament in England during the Second World War and as a part of Winston Churchill's war cabinet, was born and raised in our woods and along our shores. Former prime minister R.B. Bennett lived and worked in Miramichi. Former New Brunswick premier Frank McKenna, whom I recognize, despite the best efforts of the hon.”
“Please let me spend a moment explaining where my riding is and how it is a part of our great nation. Geographically, my riding begins in central New Brunswick, where the headwaters of the Miramichi River form, and it follows those waters through the communities of Boiestown, Doaktown, Blackville, Renous, Sunny Corner and Barnaby River. My constituency contains the entire city of Miramichi, formerly Newcastle and Chatham. It continues on to Neguac, Baie-Sainte-Anne, Tabusintac, Rogersville, Richibucto and all points in between. It also includes the municipalities and communities that surround Grand Lake, the communities formerly known as Chipman and Minto, as well as Sheffield, Noonan and Maugerville.”
“Mark Donnelly is my official agent and great friend since we were kids. Tilly O'Neill Gordon, our former and much-loved member of Parliament, is a kind and sincere woman who laid the groundwork for my opportunity to sit in this chamber. Jimmy Whalen was by my side, door to door, and knows almost everyone everywhere in my riding. Andrew Dawson was a key part of my success in Fredericton and will continue to do so in Ottawa. MLAs Michelle Conroy, Kathy Bockus, Richard Ames, Daniel Allain and former New Brunswick premier Blaine Higgs, who were all my colleagues the past three and a half years in the Legislative Assembly of New Brunswick, contributed to my success then and now as well. To all my volunteers, and the list is growing very long, their long hours and dedication were instrumental in my success.”
“Let me further say, for the record, that I will always be accountable to my constituents. I will always put the needs of my constituents ahead of my own and make best efforts to meet with them whenever they need it. I will vote with my conscience on questions of ethics. I know that at the end of the day, I only sit in this House, which is impressive and inspiring, by the will of the people and the hard work of those who supported me to get here. There are many individuals who deserve my thanks for helping me get here, too many to name, but I will mention just a few. To my wife Kathy, my children Mikey and Dylan, and our granddaughter Carter, without their love and encouragement, none of this would be possible. Frank Trevors, my campaign manager, took on an incredible challenge and saw it through to the end.”
“Today, I think a great many Canadians share his cynicism of politics in our country. For my part, while my grandfather is no longer with us, I remind myself daily of the need to restore public confidence in the elected offices in our country. I am not a career politician; I am a tradesman and a contractor. My father, Mike Sr., died unexpectedly of cancer when I was in high school in 1992. I dropped out of high school and went to work, eventually building my own business in drywall and construction. I let my name stand for public office because I wanted to give back to the community and region that gave so much to me. I made only two promises to get here: that I would always be honest with my constituents and that I would always work hard on their behalf.”
“Mr. Speaker, it is a pleasure to stand in this House today to give my first speech since being elected back home in Miramichi—Grand Lake. I would like to congratulate you, Mr. Speaker, upon your election to office and offer you my promise to assist in maintaining decorum and order in this House. It is both humbling and an honour to sit in the chamber as a member of Parliament. While I am both proud and overwhelmed at the responsibility of this job, I take comfort in the fact that we would have no authority in this House whatsoever unless it had been given to us from above. As this is my maiden speech in the House, I respectfully ask for the opportunity to explain my purpose for being here. My grandfather, Pat, used to joke that politics was just a chance to wear out a good suit and hang around a lower class of people.”
“Mr. Speaker, Conservatives and Canadians know that if people pay more taxes to the government, the weather will not get better. Conservatives have been standing up for Canadians and against the carbon tax for more than a decade. The Prime Minister made a big splash in March when he told Canadians he would axe the carbon tax. After the Conservatives pleaded for years, finally his government removed the consumer carbon tax. Will the Prime Minister also repeal the industrial carbon tax so Canadian companies and industries can compete in the global economy, yes or no?”