Steven Bonk
Souris—Moose Mountain, Saskatchewan · Conservative · Canada
“Mr. Speaker, my colleague gave an excellent speech highlighting some of the affordability challenges that are affecting people in her riding and across all of Canada. I would just like to read a quote from Dr. Sylvain Charlebois, the food professor. He said: ...Canada does not have a food security problem.”
“Mr. Speaker, I have a lot of respect for my hon. colleague across the way because I know he was the Liberal finance minister in Quebec and helped that province come out of a very dire situation. I also know that we both worked on treasury boards in our respective provinces.”
“Mr. Speaker, my hon. colleague mentioned at the beginning of his speech that the Liberals have a bad habit of redefining terms. One of the things they redefined at the beginning of their mandate was the fiscal anchor of “debt to GDP”, which they changed to “deficit-to-GDP ratio”.”
“Mr. Speaker, the government has done everything it can to make food more expensive in Canada. When it comes to the industrial carbon tax and the clean fuel standards, do they not realize that these taxes add costs to every step of the value chain when it comes to food production?”
“Mr. Speaker, the facts are clear: Under the Liberals, Canada is the only G20 country in a recession. A United Way survey shows that 60% of Canadians are worried about their finances, 40% of them are losing sleep over bills and food insecurity is on the rise.”
“Mr. Speaker, for 11 long years, that member has been attacking our province. Under every single measurement I can find, his riding has gotten worse. Food insecurity is worse. The cost of living has increased. Food inflation has increased. There is even a re‑emergence of scurvy.”
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“They are the kind of family who gets up early, works late and steps up when their neighbours need help. As we talked, the wife said something very interesting to me. She said, “We've always been careful with money, but in the past year everything has just moved faster than we can keep up with.” Fuel, fertilizer, repairs, insurance, groceries, every single cost went up, but their income did not. Like so many young farm families, they are doing everything right. They are managing their debt, working extra hours and cutting back where they can, but they are still falling behind. Then she told me something I did not expect to hear from farmers. She said, quietly, “We had to go to the food bank.” Then she added something that cut right to the heart of it, “We're farmers.”
“The government now spends more money on interest payments than it does on health care. That is not a sign of a strong nation. That is the sign of a government that refuses to make the hard choices. Canadians are making sacrifices every day, but the federal government refuses to make any on their behalf. Every dollar spent on servicing the debt is a dollar that we cannot spend on helping seniors, supporting hospitals or investing in infrastructure. This is not sustainable, and it is not responsible. I want to share a story from a farm family I met recently in my riding. It was nothing dramatic, just coffee at a kitchen table and a conversation about how things were going on their farm. They run a small mixed operation, grain and cattle. They are not the type to complain.”
“This is stubbornness disguised as leadership. The Minister of Finance told Canadians he would control spending and bring discipline back to Ottawa, but, once again, the government could not resist the temptation to use borrowed money to paper over deeper concerns. He promised to rein in deficits, but the deficit continues to grow. He promised to make life more affordable, yet Canadians are hit with higher costs on everything: groceries, fuel, housing and interest rates. He promised that the budget would rebuild confidence, but confidence is collapsing, investment is leaving and Canadian productivity, the backbone of our standard of living, remains stuck in neutral. For all that talk about nation building, the budget continues a dangerous pattern of more debt, more bureaucracy and no results.”
“Mr. Speaker, I know that you are a bit of a student of history, and I just want to point out that 158 years ago today was the first convening of the Parliament of Canada. For 148 of those years, all the governments that we have had combined spent less than the Liberals have spent in the last 10 years. I know that when Canadians heard the title of the budget, “Canada Strong”, they expected a budget that would be more affordable, would reward hard work and would restore confidence in our future. Instead, the Minister of Finance has delivered a budget that spends more, borrows more and achieves less. It is the 10th Liberal budget, and after nearly a decade of reckless Liberal spending, Canadians are poorer, investment is weaker and our economy is falling further behind those of our global competitors. This is not strength.”
“Mr. Speaker, the member opposite spoke a lot today about international trade and how she is the chair of the international trade committee. As someone who has spent his entire working career in international trade and later had the privilege of serving as the trade and economy minister for Saskatchewan, where we export about 90% of what we produce, I can say with some authority on this subject that, in the past 10 years, everything the Liberal government has done has made it worse. It is every single policy, especially in the last seven months. Since the Prime Minister has taken office, every place he goes, he comes back home with more tariffs, not fewer. Can the member highlight one thing in this budget that will help our exporters and producers move forward, and that will increase trade, not limit it?”
“Mr. Speaker, something that gets lost a lot in the House when we are talking about the budget is the human content and impact. The member gave some very good examples of real-life consequences of Liberal mismanagement, waste and overspending. I am wondering if the member could comment further on the actual human impact this budget is going to cause.”
“Mr. Speaker, prairie farmers do not want handouts; they want a trade deal. China's unfair tariffs on Canadian canola have cost billions of dollars and punished our producers. The canola sector is bigger than Canada's steel, aluminum and auto sectors combined, yet the government treats it like an afterthought. Now the Prime Minister is in China meeting with President Xi. Will he finally reach a deal to lift these punishing tariffs, or will he come back once again empty-handed, proving that when it comes to standing up for Canadian farmers, the Prime Minister is all talk and no trade?”
“Madam Speaker, as I said in my other answer, I am a very results-based person. If something is proven to work, I am sure the Conservatives would be very happy to take a look at it and work with it. I could defer to my colleagues, the shadow minister for justice or the member for York Centre , who have a lot more experience in this field than I do. We are compassionate and we want the best for Canada. If there are ways we can make that happen by working with other parties, we will do it.”
“Madam Speaker, although I fundamentally disagree with the premise of that question, I will comment on how we are not talking about first-time offences here. We are talking about repeat offenders who have committed violent crimes over and over again. The member talks about the presumption of innocence. The presumption of innocence should be that people make mistakes. We have compassion and we all believe that everyone should have a fair trial and a fair crack at the judicial system, but when it has been abused over and over again by repeat criminals committing violent offences, our whole system needs to be looked at again. That is why the Conservative jail not bail act would address the very issues the member is talking about.”
“Madam Speaker, I agree with the member's assessment, but the legislation should have Conservative amendments. I came from the business world. In the business world, we manage our budgets and our companies by results. I want to take a look at some of the results in the member's home city of Winnipeg since the Liberal bail laws were put in place. There were 24 previous violent offences like shootings and carjackings by someone out on probation. There was a murder while someone was out on bail with 16 arrests, nine violent convictions and 15 breaches. There was a fatal stabbing while someone was out on bail with 11 previous convictions like possession of firearms. I could go on with this list. The results speak for themselves. We need laws that protect our citizens and put victims first, not offenders.”
“Canadians have lost faith in their justice system, and they have every right to. We owe it to victims like Bailey McCourt and Savannah Kulla, and to every Canadian who wonders whether their government still values their safety, to make this right. The Conservative position is clear: Public safety comes first, justice means accountability and no violent repeat offender should walk free while innocent Canadians live in fear. That is why we will continue to press the government to strengthen Bill C-14 or step aside and let Conservatives fix the system for good. Canadians do not want tougher laws. They want safer communities. Only a Conservative government will deliver both.”
“That is why our message is simple: Scrap Liberal bail. Canadians deserve more than half measures. They deserve to live without fear in their homes, on their farms, in their shops and on their streets. They deserve a justice system that puts their safety first, not the comfort of repeat offenders. The government has had 10 years to get this right. Instead, it has chosen ideology over evidence, leniency over law, and rhetoric over results. Conservatives will support sending Bill C-14 to committee, but we will fight for real amendments to eliminate the principle of restraint entirely, to presume detention for major and repeat violent offences, to restore mandatory minimums and to turn judicial suggestions into judicial obligations. Only then can we begin to undo the damage caused by Bill C-75 and Bill C-5 .”
“People used to leave their doors unlocked, and now they lock their vehicles, barns and shops every night. Farmers are losing quads or trucks to organized theft rings. Small business owners are watching thieves walk in, clean out the shelves and walk out, only to see those same offenders released the next day. The numbers tell the story clearly. In Souris—Moose Mountain, violent crime has increased from about 3,500 incidents in 2015 to nearly 4,700 incidents in 2024, a staggering 34% jump. This is not an abstract statistic. Those are hundreds of real families in our rural communities that have been victimized, that have lost their sense of safety and that are asking when the system will finally put law-abiding citizens first. Every time an offender is released without consequence, confidence in the justice system erodes a little more.”
“It would raise the risk threshold from “substantial likelihood” to “reasonably foreseeable” because, if it is reasonably foreseeable that someone will reoffend, they should not be released. The Liberals call Bill C-14 a comprehensive reform. I call it an admission of guilt and an admission that Conservative warnings were right all along. They copied our ideas because the evidence left them no choice. They copied them only halfway, because political optics still matter more to them than public safety. They talk about compassion for victims, but every piece of legislation they have passed since 2015 has sided with offenders. They cannot be pro-victim and pro-offender at the same time. (1055) Communities across my riding of Souris—Moose Mountain know this reality all too well.”
“It would replace the principle of restraint with a public safety primary clause, making the safety of the public in our communities the governing principle in bail. It would presume detention, not release, for serious violent crimes, such as sexual assault, human trafficking, armed robbery and home invasion. It would restore mandatory minimums for firearms, sexual assault, kidnapping and other serious offences. It would ban house arrest for robbery, gun and trafficking crimes. It would require judges to consider every prior conviction, any outstanding charge and any pattern of offending while on bail. It would bar criminal sureties and enforce surety obligations so that bail means accountability, not just paperwork.”
“While Conservatives welcome any movement in the right direction, let us be clear. Bill C-14 is not the bold reform Canadians deserve. This bill keeps the principle of restraint that caused the crisis in the first place. It does not restore the mandatory minimum sentences that were stripped away with Bill C-5 . It does not presume detention for repeat violent offenders. It simply shifts the burden of proof. It still allows house arrest for robbery, trafficking and firearm crimes. Its so-called guidance to judges remains optional, not mandatory. Canadians do not want more guidance. They want guarantees that violent repeat criminals will not be back on the streets to terrorize their communities. Our Conservative plan, the jail not bail act brought forward by my colleague from Oxford , would deliver those guarantees.”
“Let us not forget the names behind those statistics. Bailey McCourt was murdered by her ex-husband just hours after he was released on bail for assaulting her. Savannah Kulla, a 29-year-old mother of four, was gunned down in Brampton by a man who had already been released on bail. These tragedies are not anomalies. They are the predictable outcome of policies that put ideology ahead of safety. After a decade of denial, the Liberals introduced Bill C-14 , which admits, finally, that their reforms have failed. The bill tweaks the Criminal Code to clarify that restraint would not require release when detention is necessary to protect the public. It adds a few more reverse-onus offences, such as violent auto theft, break and enter and human trafficking, and it slightly tightens conditional sentences for youth custody rules.”
“That single change and that Liberal ideology opened the floodgates to the catch-and-release system we now have in our justice system. Then came Bill C-5 , which gutted mandatory minimum sentences and made house arrest available for serious crimes like sexual assault and drug trafficking. When crime inevitably spiked, the government tried to paper over this damage with Bill C-48 , a bill it sold as tough on bail but that barely scratched the surface with a handful of new reverse-onus offences and no real change to the culture of automatic release. The result has been devastating. Since 2015, violent crime is up 55%, firearm crime is up 130%, extortion is up 330%, sexual assault is up 76% and homicide is up 29%. Those are not just numbers. Each one represents a victim, a family and a community that has been forever changed.”
“Madam Speaker, Canadians are tired of watching the same headlines play out every week: another violent crime committed by someone who never should have been released in the first place. They see the revolving door of justice spinning faster than ever and have the right to ask why their safety no longer seems to matter. That is why we are here today to debate Bill C-14 , the government's latest attempt to clean up the mess it created years ago through soft-on-crime policies. Let us not forget how we got here. In 2019, the Liberals passed Bill C-75 , which enshrined in law the principle of restraint. It directed police and judges to release offenders at the earliest reasonable opportunity under the least onerous conditions.”
“Mr. Speaker, the Auditor General's report exposes yet another example of Liberal incompetence, this time at the Canada Revenue Agency. Since 2015, the CRA's operating expenses have grown from $4.1 billion to $6.9 billion. That is a 70% increase, but Canadians are not getting better service; they are waiting longer than ever. Last year alone, the CRA received more than 32 million calls, yet one in four of those calls was abandoned before an agent even got around to answering it. Under Liberal mismanagement and incompetence, if finally someone did get through, they were given the wrong information 83% of the time. After nine years of Liberal waste and bureaucracy, even calling the tax agent is an ordeal. Conservatives will restore confidence, accountability and respect for the Canadians who keep this country running.”
“Mr. Speaker, canola is not just a prairie success story; it is a national powerhouse, bigger than our steel, aluminum and auto sectors combined. However, while unfair Chinese tariffs continue to crush the canola sector, the Liberal government is silent; there is not a word, not a plan, not a single success. When will the Liberals stop abandoning Canadian farmers and finally, for once, stand up for the good people who feed this country?”
“Madam Speaker, I would like to thank my colleague for his kind words. It was interesting. There was a bit of a paradox. Under the Harper government, crime went down by 25%. Everyone thought that we would have to build more jails to house all of the criminals, yet the amount of criminality went down. There is something to be said for deterrence and stronger measures. We have to make sure that we have the victims at the centre of our justice system, not the criminals.”
“Madam Speaker, I am really surprised that keeping Canadians safe, keeping repeat offenders away from our communities so that people can feel safe in their own homes and businesses can feel safe operating without the fear of criminal activity, is such a partisan issue in the House. I thought everyone here would want to try to help Canadians. I really do not understand why it is such an issue for everyone else to support the bill.”
“Madam Speaker, for example, I can relate the story I told in my speech, where one person was arrested 180 times in one community yet was continually released on bail. That means that we have a very small number of criminals in Canada, but they are very productive. If someone repeats serious crimes over and over again, they should not be allowed out on bail.”
“The choice before us is clear: protect Canadians or protect criminals. Conservatives are choosing Canadians. Conservatives are choosing public safety. Conservatives are choosing to scrap Liberal bail. I urge all members of the House to support Bill C-242 , the jail not bail act. Canadians deserve to feel safe again in their home, their street and their community.”
“That is why Canadians are seeing violent repeat offenders back on the street time and time again. That is why victims are losing faith. That is why police are calling for change. To restore the balance, we must return to common sense, and that means it is time to scrap Liberal bail. I return to the words of my constituent, the small business owner who told me she is afraid to walk outside at night. That fear should never be normal in Canada. I also return to the words of Chief Jamie Blunden, who told me that police chiefs across the country support the bill. When citizens and law enforcement are both calling for the same thing, the House has a duty to act. The Liberals have chosen leniency and ideology, and this has left Canadians vulnerable. Conservatives choose accountability, common sense and public safety.”
“However, Conservatives are offering a different path: a path where dangerous repeat offenders are held accountable; a path where police officers are supported, not undermined; and a path where business owners, parents and seniors can feel safe again in their communities. That path starts when we scrap Liberal bail. It is important to remember that bail was never meant to be automatic. The original intent of bail was to balance two things: the presumption of innocence and the protection of society. When someone posed a clear risk to the community, bail was never supposed to be granted. What the Liberals have done is strip away that balance. They have tilted the system so heavily in favour of offenders that the protection of society has been forgotten.”
“Right now, under the Liberal catch-and-release system, victims are left feeling abandoned, and communities are left feeling vulnerable. Conservatives believe that this is the time to put the rights of victims and the safety of communities back at the centre of our justice system. To do that, we need to end the failed experiment of catch-and-release. We need to scrap Liberal bail. Public safety is the first duty of government. The very first duty of any government is to keep its citizens safe. Everything else, our prosperity, our freedoms and our sense of community, depends on that foundation. The Liberals have neglected that duty. They have chosen ideology over common sense. They have chosen to prioritize repeat offenders over the safety of ordinary Canadians, and Canadians are paying the price.”
“Residents are telling me the same thing: Crime is growing, repeat offenders are emboldened and people feel unsafe in their own neighbourhood. When rural Canadians who have taken pride in their safety in their close-knit towns start telling their MPs they are afraid to leave their own house after dark, that should be a warning sign for the rest of the country. This is not just about big cities; it is about every community, every neighbourhood and every Canadian. That is why it is time to scrap Liberal bail. Victims' rights must come first. It is worth reminding ourselves that our justice system is not meant to protect only the rights of the accused; it must also protect the rights of victims. Victims deserve to feel that justice is being done. Communities deserve to feel that the system is working to keep them safe.”
“This legislation would ensure that repeat offenders are kept behind bars until trial, end the automatic release of criminals who have proven time and time again that they have no respect for the law, and put the rights of victims and communities ahead of the rights of repeat offenders. This bill is not about vengeance. It is about safety, deterrence and restoring faith in our justice system. It is about replacing a failed policy with a common-sense one. It is about making a clear choice to scrap Liberal bail and replace it with Conservative common sense. (1745) Sometimes people think that crime is a big-city problem, something happening only in Toronto, Vancouver or Montreal, but that is not true anymore. It is also in communities like Estevan, Weyburn and Moosomin.”
“Police chiefs are saying loud and clear to scrap Liberal bail and restore public safety. We can talk about statistics. Violent crime up 39% since the Liberals took office. Gang-related homicides have doubled, and car thefts are at record highs. Behind every number is a victim. This is not compassion. This is not fairness. This is failure. It is the failure of Liberal bail. If we are to restore safety and dignity to victims, then we must scrap Liberal bail once and for all. Conservatives believe in a simple principle: If someone repeatedly breaks the law and endangers the public, they should not be granted the privilege of bail. Public safety must come first. Bill C-242 , the jail not bail act, is rooted in that principle.”
“Yesterday I spoke withe Estevan's chief of police, Jamie Blunden. Chief Blunden is not only responsible for law enforcement in the city, but he also sits on the national police service of Canada and the national advisory committee, where he works directly with police leaders from across the country. Chief Blunden told me something very important. He said that police chiefs from coast to coast to coast are united in supporting this bill. They know better than anyone what it looks like on the ground when repeat offenders are automatically released. They see the victims. They see the businesses broken into time and time again. They see the toll it takes on officers who arrest the same individuals over and over, with no real consequence. When the people we trust to keep us safe are speaking with one voice, we must listen.”
“It is the result of deliberate choices made by the Liberal government. When Liberals passed Bill C-75 , they weakened bail conditions and lowered thresholds for release. They did this in the name of so-called fairness, but in reality what they created was a revolving door of justice. Across the country, we see the same scenario playing out over and over again. A repeat violent offender is arrested, police officers do their jobs, charges are laid and then, sometimes within hours, the same offender is back on the streets free to reoffend. It is hard to describe the frustration police officers feel when they risk their lives to apprehend violent criminals only to see them walk free before the ink is even dry on the paper. That is the reality of Liberal bail. It is broken and dangerous, and it must end. It is time to scrap Liberal bail.”
“She told me that, for the very first time in her life, she is afraid to go out at night. She described knowing of one individual in her community who had been arrested more than 180 times. That person had 180 arrests, and every time that person was back on the streets almost immediately. She said to me, “Our streets are not safe anymore.” That sentence should stop us in our tracks, because when Canadians begin to feel unsafe in their own communities, when fear starts to dictate the way we live our daily lives, then government has failed at one of its most fundamental duties, which is to protect its citizens. That failure is a direct result of Liberal bail policies. This is why we must scrap Liberal bail. We need to be honest about how we made it here. The erosion of public safety is not a coincidence.”
“Madam Speaker, I am very much looking forward to the next speech, which will be offered by my friend from Cariboo—Prince George , who I will be splitting my time with. I know he will have insights, which are always unique, and I am very much looking forward to it. Across the country, Canadians are experiencing something they never thought possible in Canada: a loss of trust in their own safety. For decades, one of the things that set Canada apart was the fact that families could feel safe and secure in their own homes. Business owners could work late without fear, and children could walk to school without a second thought. This sense of security is now being replaced by fear. Just yesterday, I spoke with a small business owner in my riding of Souris—Moose Mountain.”
“Mr. Speaker, the member opposite referenced that the Liberals want to protect the rights of criminals and that they want to protect the rights of citizens, but the result from their Bill C-75 is that crime is out of control and repeat offenders are on the streets in minutes. How can the member defend the policy, when it is completely hypocritical?”
“Mr. Speaker, it is a pleasure today to stand here to present a petition, pursuant to Standing Order 36, regarding limiting the rights of religious organizations and revoking their charitable status. Religious organizations in Canada and in my constituency do so much good work through either volunteering or helping those in need. It is very important that these organizations are allowed to maintain their charitable status. The undersigned citizens and residents of Canada call upon the Government of Canada to reject recommendation 430 of the FINA pre-budget report, reaffirm Canada's commitment to an open culture and support each citizen's freedom to promote the common good through the advancement of religion without punitive financial measures.”
“Mr. Speaker, Canadian canola farmers are being punished by crippling Chinese tariffs, yet those in the Liberal government just shrug their shoulders. Instead of fighting for market access, they have responded in the most Liberal way possible: creating more government programs. Farmers do not want handouts; they want a trade deal. When will the Prime Minister stop hiding behind bureaucratic band-aids and finally get to work on making a real trade deal for Canadian canola farmers?”
“Mr. Speaker, as Conservatives, we are happy when any project finally gets built in this country, after 10 years of the Liberal government trying to stop everything, but this is an example of the Liberal government causing problems and creating a new program to try to fix them. Why would the member not just tell his caucus to please just scrap Bill C-69 and Bill C-48 ?”
“Mr. Speaker, the member had a great speech, and she has concerns, which I share with her, concerning transparency. We know that there are some issues with the Prime Minister with regard to his disclosure and the conflict of interest reports. I am just wondering what her constituents think about the lack of transparency from the government. We know that there will not even be a public list of projects that are in the national interest. How can she go back to her constituents to say that the government is listening to the people when she knows full well that there is no transparency?”
“Madam Speaker, anyone who has been involved in private business knows that what we really need to make a project successful is predictability and to know what the rules are. We have seen time and time again that the Liberals move the goalposts halfway through the game. With Bill C-5 , they are doing exactly the same thing. Can the member explain why he thinks this bill is a good idea and why we should not just scrap the bills before it, which caused all these problems in the first place?”
“Mr. Speaker, the Conservatives believe energy projects in this country that are responsibly developed and follow the regulations and rules should be allowed to go forward. We can power our economy. We can use that money to invest in our schools, hospitals and roads, and make Canada one of the strongest countries in the G7, if not the strongest country in the G7. I know the Conservatives have a lot of disagreements with the Liberals on this, but one thing I can say for sure is that Conservatives want to see Canada prosper.”
“Mr. Speaker, just by the structure of this bill, there is no chance there will be no trade barriers by Canada Day in interprovincial trade. I had the privilege of working on the CFTA with the members opposite. Basically, we got a whole bunch of exemptions, put them together in a package and called it a Canadian internal free trade agreement. This is something the Conservatives are not looking to repeat. We want free trade for all, for everyone. It would unleash our economies and make Canada one of the most powerful countries we could ever imagine.”
“Mr. Speaker, there are so many things wrong with Bill C-5 , but as Conservatives, we are just so happy the Liberals are finally doing something about anything. We have spent so many years with them stopping every single project that was proposed in this country. It is basically like a non-tariff trade barrier imposed on our own industries right here in Canada because of our federal laws. This is something that has to stop, but we are glad to see they are actually trying to get at least something done.”
“When done right, it positions Canada as a responsible leader in global energy and environmental standards. Canadians do not just want a government that points at a few shiny projects and says, “Look what we did”; they want a government that builds a system that works reliably and consistently for all.”
“Our caucus has put forward common-sense proposals that would accomplish exactly that: a one-year cap on project approvals, a six-month fast-track option for strategic projects, transparent national standards that recognize provincial authority, and the repeal of burdensome laws, like Bill C-69 and Bill C-48 , that have made it nearly impossible to build anything of consequence. In short, we want Canada to be a country where great ideas get built, where workers get hired and where prosperity is not an accident, but is the result of deliberate, focused policy choices that support growth rather than stifle it. It is not about ideology; it is about practicality. A strong resource sector helps pay for hospitals, schools, roads and the public services we rely on across the country. It supports jobs in urban and rural communities alike.”
“Instead, it is a narrowly tailored mechanism that selects a few special projects for acceleration without addressing the fundamental problems that hold the rest of the country back. It creates a two-tier system: one for the politically favoured and one for everyone else. What Canada needs is a one-tier system that works for all, for everyone in every region. We need a system that respects the regulatory rigour that our environment and indigenous people deserve, but one that does so in a way that is efficient, transparent and accountable. We need to stop creating special lanes and start fixing the entire road.”
“Whether it is potash operations around Rocanville, oil wells of the Bakken formation or the grain and cattle operations that dot the landscape, we are a region that contributes to the economic backbone of this country. However, increasingly, people in my constituency are telling me they feel their efforts are being undercut by policy decisions made in Ottawa that fail to reflect the reality on the ground. They ask me this: Why does it take years to approve something that should be straightforward? Why are we losing investment to the United States and elsewhere when we have the resources and expertise to get things done here? Why does the government keep announcing grand frameworks that never seem to translate into shovels in the ground or jobs in our communities? Bill C-5 should have been the answer to those questions, but it is not.”
“They deserve to know that when a project is approved, it will be built. They deserve leadership that does not just manage decline, but believes in building something greater. Conservatives will continue to support projects that grow our economy, strengthen our sovereignty and create opportunity for all Canadians. We will work with any party to pursue real reforms, not just symbolic gestures. We will always stand up for the people who power our nation, from Estevan to Arcola, from potash miners to oil field welders, because we believe in their future and we will fight for it. In Souris—Moose Mountain, we take great pride in being builders.”
“They are putting their money where approvals are predictable, often south of the border, and while Canada stalls, the U.S. moves. While we hold consultations, they build. While we argue over definitions, they approve projects in weeks, not years. We are falling behind, not because of a lack of resources or workers, but because we lack a government willing to make the hard choices. Let me summarize our concerns. This bill leaves too much power in the hands of cabinet; lacks clear criteria for project selection; has no enforceable timelines; invites legal challenges; offers no protection against future political interference; sunsets in five years, offering no long-term certainty; and picks a few winners instead of fixing the system for all. Canadians deserve better. They deserve a regulatory system that is fast, fair and final.”