William Stevenson
Yellowhead, Alberta · Conservative · Canada
“Mr. Speaker, the Liberal Prime Minister is the only G20 leader to take his nation into recession, and Canadians are paying the price. The average family now works 160 days a year just to pay taxes. It means people will work until this week just to pay the government before they can actually start earning for themselves.”
“Mr. Speaker, Canada is the only G20 country with a prime minister to take the nation into recession. Full-time workers are living in RVs and trailers because they cannot afford homes. Families are spending more on food and rent than they are earning. People are making impossible choices just to survive.”
“Mr. Speaker, the hon. member brought up riding size as an issue. He said that his riding is about 20,000 square kilometres. Mine is 83,600 square kilometres, so I feel that it is an even worse situation. The hon. member said he wanted all the votes to be equal. Would he endeavour to have the review a little more often?”
“Mr. Speaker, I rise today with great sorrow for a community in Yellowhead. Two men and two children lost their lives on O'Chiese Road last Friday. While the RCMP investigation is ongoing, local leaders have warned for years that a tragedy like this would happen on that road.”
“My thoughts and prayers are with the families, their loved ones and all those affected by this tragedy. There can be no more procrastination. I call on the Liberal government to work with Clearwater County and the Province of Alberta to finally provide its share of the funding needed for O'Chiese Road to be made safe.”
“Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to table a petition today on behalf of fellow chartered professional accountants and other tax preparers who are concerned about how the Canada Revenue Agency authorizes its tax representatives.”
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“Mr. Speaker, in December, I raised Grande Cache as an example of a remote area that is bearing the brunt of rising grocery costs. Residents of Grande Cache have been fighting for years to have their community recognized under the northern residents deduction, a program designed to acknowledge the higher costs of living in remote areas. Grande Cache is remote. Everything costs more, including travel, access to services and groceries, but an arbitrary line on a map drawn by a bureaucrat has excluded it. That is why residents came together to launch a petition simply asking for fair treatment. If Grande Cache were to be included, some families would save more than $1,200 annually. Real money would go back into household budgets and groceries.”
“Experts have warned that these policies are making Canadian food producers less competitive, especially compared to the United States, and the gap is growing. Then there is inflation driven by the reckless spending and the Prime Minister 's recent $78-billion deficit. Inflation is the most painful hidden tax of all because it erodes the value of every paycheque. On top of that, the government piled on new costs through its food packaging rules, hitting restaurants and takeout providers already facing serious financial strain. Thousands of restaurants have closed and more are expected to follow. These policies all add costs to food. Conservatives call it what it is, a tax. If the Prime Minister is serious about affordability, would he eliminate the fuel standard and bring his deficit under control to stop taxing the food supply chain?”
“However, Canadians cannot buy groceries with Liberal talking points. They pay with their hard-earned dollars. When government policies drive up the cost of fuel, energy, packaging and production, that is a tax on food, even if we do not see it listed on our grocery bill. The clean fuel standard alone adds real costs to gasoline and diesel. The Parliamentary Budget Officer has confirmed this increases fuel prices now and they will keep rising. That affects farmers running equipment, truckers hauling food, processors packaging it and stores keeping the lights on. These costs do not disappear. They are passed on to families at the grocery store. The same is true for the industrial carbon tax. Taxing industries that grow, process, transport and refrigerate food means higher prices for everything we eat.”
“Others simply read from a script, offer confusion instead of clarity or are simply wrong. That is not good service. Good service requires proper training, accountability and staffing models that allow agents to access the tools they need to help taxpayers. The CRA touches millions of Canadians every year. It does not have to be this painful. If the Liberal government is serious about respect for taxpayers, it should focus less on extracting every last dollar and more on helping Canadians comply with confidence, dignity and accuracy. For months, Canadians have been told by the government that there is no tax on food. In December, when I asked the Prime Minister about hidden taxes on food, one of his parliamentary secretaries claimed that the taxes have zero impact on food prices.”
“Mr. Speaker, tax policies do not exist in a vacuum. They only work if the system actually works for the people who rely on it. As a chartered professional accountant, I have spent 26 years in public service. I have filed thousands of tax returns. For decades, friends and clients relied on me to navigate our complex tax system. Canada's tax system is based on voluntary self-reporting, and that translates into ordinary Canadians being penalized if they do not get it exactly right. The role of CRA should be to help people comply on time and accurately. That means clear answers, knowledgeable staff and accessible service. However, most Canadians have a bad experience with CRA. They struggle to get through on the phone, and they receive inconsistent answers. Some agents are excellent professionals.”
“Mr. Speaker, I can feel the hon. member's frustration with regard to what has gone on. Does he see a pattern over the last 10 years? This is just an extenuation of what has gone on with things not being accounted for when it comes to the Liberals dealing with certain things, specifically things in the Indian Act. How is this going to make anything better?”
“Madam Speaker, as a member of INAN, the indigenous and northern affairs committee, I welcome a lot of the member's suggestions because the criticism we get from the government is that we do not have suggestions. The member has touched upon a lot of the issues, specifically one that has hit my riding. Does the member think they could work with what they have available now, or does the process need to change? In my riding, the Exshaw School was going to have to close because it was reliant on the neighbouring Stoney nation, which had all its kids there, and the government was not paying for the school. The school was about to close until the eleventh hour. Does the member think it is just that the Liberals do not get things done, or do they need to change the process entirely?”
“Mr. Speaker, according to Bloomberg, Canada's economy is on life support and we are now on recession watch. Growth has stagnated, and real GDP is expected to decline. Forestry and logging are down 2.8% for the third month. The Prime Minister has not delivered on his trade promises, and sawmills in Yellowhead are paying the price. Since the Liberals love our ideas, why do they not remove the industrial carbon tax, fuel standard and anti-development laws so Canadian businesses can succeed?”
“Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister told Canadians he should be judged by the prices at the grocery store. The average weekly food bill was $159 a week when the Liberals took over, but today that has doubled in the big cities. That does not address remote areas, such as Grande Cache and most of my riding, where it is much worse. New fuel standards, the industrial carbon tax and inflationary spending all increased the cost of transportation. When will the Liberals consider the consequences of their legislation and stop the measures so Canadians can afford to eat?”
“Mr. Speaker, my hon. colleague was speaking to the CPA in me when he mentioned tax reform. However, I wanted to say that during my 26 years as a CPA in public practice, I also noticed, without actually documenting it, the decline in the number of entrepreneurs starting out. Can my colleague comment on what he thinks would be helpful from the Conservatives' platform to help out small businesses starting out and moving forward?”
“Mr. Speaker, my fellow committee member brought up a few things that the accountant in me likes to acknowledge, concerning the unintended consequences that happened with regard to the disability tax credit and to the seniors' supplement. I am wondering if the member has any insight, from when he was looking at this, as to whether the Liberal government has actually taken into account any of the unintended consequences, if you have heard of any changes, and what you might suggest the government do with regard to these unintended consequences.”
“Mr. Speaker, as I said before, the government is not operating with the same fiscal framework that businesses are required to when they deal with the CRA for their taxes. They could never account for a liability as an asset, yet the government has done that. There have been a lot of changes to the CPP over the last few years that have made two different levels and added more burdens when it comes to the taxpayer, both businesses and individuals. The changes to the CPP have not necessarily been helpful in regard to what is going to benefit the program in the long term. The Liberals have made it so it is going to last, but they have made it expensive. That is the problem.”
“Mr. Speaker, one thing that I find the government is supposed to do, as far as when I got into this goes, is help people out. Usually, helping out businesses to be profitable and give good jobs means making a good environment in our country for them to make profit. We are falling behind when we compare ourselves to the U.S. There are different tax credits. We had the 100% expensing of certain items for businesses, but that has been reversed. We are falling behind, so we have to look at how we are going to make ourselves more competitive in this world against our fellows to the south. That is a very important part of this that we have to deal with when we are looking at how the tax code affects all businesses.”
“Mr. Speaker, I have spent many hours on hold with the CRA. I have had a lot of frustration with the number of people reading off a checklist who have inadequate answers to the questions we go through. Even when we write the CRA, we do not always get the right answer. I am sorry the member feels that I have little respect for the CRA, but I have experienced, for a long time, a lot of frustration.”
“The Liberals discourage growth, punish taxpayers and add complexity to a system already strained to the breaking point. What Canadians need is a tax framework that rewards work and supports Canadians. After I listened to Canadians in my riding, my conclusion was simple: This budget fails the people it is supposed to support. Rural communities asked for affordability, for safety, for opportunity and for respect. Instead, they would be handed higher costs, more bureaucracy and a government that continues to ignore the realities outside major cities. The Conservatives continue fighting for a government that lives within its means and respects taxpayers. We will push for a tax system that is fair, a regulatory system that makes sense and a budget that puts families, farmers, workers and small businesses first.”
“At the eleventh hour, after thousands of accounting hours, the Liberals cancelled the implementation because it would have had unintended consequences. In the last few days, several Liberals have admitted to the cancellation of the UHT, or underused housing tax, which also had unintended consequences. They eliminated that fiasco. The UHT was supposed to target foreign speculation, yet it swept up millions of Canadians into unreasonable reporting requirements for no good. Once again, red tape for poorly thought-out legislation added layers of half-formed regulations and burdens. I can only say that thank goodness someone saw the light on this Liberal failure. My fear is that this disastrous budget would not create prosperity, just financial strain on our constituents and future generations.”
“As someone who has spent a career helping people navigate the tax system, I cannot support a policy that would put vulnerable Canadians at risk of overpayment and missed benefits. This is a system that would put government convenience ahead of citizens' rights. I spent my career studying numbers behind government decisions and the impacts those decisions have on Canadians and their businesses. I can tell members this: Too often, Liberals have lacked the vision to see what happens with the changes they make. For example, the changes to bare trust reporting that were supposed to be implemented for March 2024 were meant to go after so-called rich people, but they cast a wide net affecting millions of ordinary Canadians.”
“My expectation is that this change will only cause more confusion, more frustration and more phone calls to an already drowning phone line. Under automatic filing, the CRA would become both the tax preparer and the auditor. This is not service and it is not simplification; this is a conflict of interest. Seniors, low-income families and rural citizens would be the ones most likely to lose the benefits they should receive. When the CRA makes a mistake, who do Canadians appeal to? We already have a system where someone is guilty until they can prove otherwise with the CRA. With this change, Canadians would need to appeal to the same agency that made the mistake, and likely months after the fact.”
“(1245) I want to address another issue that, as a CPA for 26 years, is especially troubling to me: the government moving forward on automatic tax filing. Let me be clear. Conservatives support making life easier for Canadians. We support simplicity, efficiency and fairness, but automatic tax filing is not about making life easier. It is about giving the CRA the power to assess people's taxes for them without ensuring they get the benefits, deductions and credits they are entitled to. The Auditor General reported that when people are able to get through on the phone, the CRA gives wrong information more often than not. Many Canadians already face reassessments and incorrect notices. It is naive to believe that adding another automatic system would improve in any way the service Canadians receive from the CRA.”
“However, the budget continues to pour millions of dollars into confiscating legally purchase firearms instead of putting resources where they actually make a difference, such as border enforcement, rural policing and indigenous policing, as I have already mentioned, and the government needs to address the root causes of crime. Bill C-15 punishes people who did nothing wrong while real problems go untouched. For those of us who hunt to fill our freezers, who pass down traditions to our children and who treat firearms with respect, this is not just a policy disagreement. It is a sign that our voices and realities are being ignored. We deserve laws that target criminals, not citizens who follow the law.”
“Indigenous communities deserve equitable public safety and should be supporting first nations policing, not ignoring it. As a rural Albertan, a legal firearm owner and a hunter who has been a responsible gun owner my entire life, I need to address the impacts the bill would have on law-abiding firearms owners. What Ottawa is calling a buyback is not a safety measure. It feels as though the government does not understand our way of life, and it is reaching into our homes and taking property when we have already followed all the rules. Gun owners are licensed and trained, and we follow storage and transport requirements because we believe in safety.”
“The federal government had a chance to support them, and it chose not to. That decision puts real jobs, families and communities at risk. Another area I was hoping to see addressed in the budget is regarding indigenous policing. I have been privileged to sit on the indigenous and northern affairs committee. We have heard again and again, week after week, that the government needs to step up and adequately fund indigenous policing in Canada. The lack of consistent, reliable funding is continuing to have an impact on public safety in these communities. I believe the government really missed the mark when it comes to not including dedicated funding where it is sorely needed. This is a profound failure. Rural Albertans know this well. My communities rely on underfunded RCMP detachments that are already stretched thin.”
“That is the cost of the Liberal government. Tourism is the heartbeat of many rural Alberta communities, especially in my riding of Yellowhead. With the natural beauty of Banff National Park and Jasper National Park, to the welcoming communities of Canmore and Grande Cache, our local festivals, rodeos, campgrounds, trails and small businesses employ over 8,700 workers in my riding, Moreover, 2,259 businesses in Yellowhead are tourism-related. Tourism has proven to be one of the best returns on investment that a country can make, with research showing an up to 12-fold return for every dollar invested in tourism. I was appalled to see that the budget absolutely ignored our tourism sector. Rural operators are struggling with higher costs, labour shortages and shrinking margins. They are fighting just to stay open.”
“I spent more than two decades reviewing financial statements, and I have seen business families thrive, but I have also seen them struggle. When I look at the budget, one thing is obvious: In the business world, the government would never secure financing on this record. Let us remember what the Prime Minister promised Canadians six months ago. He promised a deficit at $62 billion, but it is at $73.8 billion. He promised to lower the debt-to-GDP ratio; instead, it is rising. That is another miss. He promised to spend less, but he is spending $90 billion more, which amounts to $5,400 in new inflationary spending per household. He promised more investment, yet investments in Canada are collapsing. These are not minor errors. These are fundamental failures in fiscal stewardship, and they are costing Canadians every day.”
“Mr. Speaker, as a member of Parliament for a rural Alberta riding, and as someone who spent 26 years as a chartered professional accountant before coming to this place, I feel obligated to rise today to speak to Bill C-15 and to the government's latest disaster of a federal budget. I am going to dive into some of the fiscal details of the budget, but I want to be clear from the start: After 10 years of the Liberals, Canadians cannot afford the cost of the Prime Minister . They cannot afford the cost of his deficits; they cannot afford the cost of his broken promises, and they cannot afford the growing cost to simply feed their families. This budget does not build a stronger Canada. It mortgages our future and leaves rural communities, such as the ones I represent, behind.”
“Mr. Speaker, I would like the member to comment on this. We have heard a few speeches in the House today, and one of the Liberals said that the Liberals decided to take out the unused housing tax because it had “unintended” consequences. This was a recurring theme of theirs in 2024 when they came up with this at the eleventh hour to get rid of the changes they had made for trusts. I wonder whether the member could tell me if there are any other issues that he could say have unintended consequences that we might be able to bring to the attention of the Liberals to change some of their ways.”
“Mr. Speaker, I recently visited a penitentiary in my riding where there is chronic underfunding and overcrowding. I know it is going to be difficult to know what the Liberals are thinking, but maybe the member can comment on whether it is possible that the Liberals' solution is soft-on-crime bail rather than building extensions or new penitentiaries to keep more criminals in jail.”
“Imagine the impact $5,400 would have on Canadian families. It is time for Liberals to scrap the hidden food taxes so Canadians can decide how they want to spend their own money.”
“Mr. Speaker, Food Banks Canada has given the Liberal government an F when it comes to poverty and food security. With Canadians paying over $800 more for food this year than they did last year, it is no wonder food bank usage has skyrocketed across the country. The hidden Liberal industrial carbon taxes on fertilizer and farm equipment, along with the so-called clean fuel standard, keep on increasing the cost of food for Canadians due to the need to transport all our food. This has become so unsustainable that more families are going hungry every day. The Liberal government decided to announce a deficit of $78 billion, which will continue to drive up the cost of food in Yellowhead and across the country. Every hour, this budget adds $10 million to our national debt, which means $5,400 in inflationary spending per household.”
“I urge all members of the House to recognize that for communities to prosper, we need a strong visitor economy. I invite all members to come experience the wonders of Yellowhead.”
“Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize the vital role of the visitor economy in my riding of Yellowhead and across all of rural Alberta. Tourism is more than just sightseeing. For my riding it is an economic engine that supports nearly 9,000 jobs and more than 2,000 small businesses, most of which are locally owned and operated by proud Albertans. Yellowhead is at the heart of Alberta's visitor economy, from the crown jewels of Banff, Jasper and Kananaskis to the hidden gems like Grande Cache, Nordegg and the Cowboy Trail. Like Travel Alberta says, we are “Canada's wild side”, a world-class destination that showcases our western heritage and attracts billions in investments and visitor spending, creating a stronger and more prosperous Alberta. Tourism is the key to strengthening and diversifying Canada's economy.”
“Therefore, the government must reject this harmful recommendation and protect the charitable status of religious organizations.”
“Mr. Speaker, I rise today to present a petition from concerned citizens in my riding and across Canada regarding a proposal by the Liberal-led finance committee to remove the advancement of religion as a charitable purpose under the Income Tax Act. More than 30,000 registered charities, approximately 42% of all charities in Canada, fall under the category of advancing religion. These faith-based organizations operate food banks, refugee programs, long-term care homes, schools, hospitals, shelters and much more. Canadians are deeply concerned that removing charitable status from these organizations would undermine not only freedom of religion and expression, but also the ability of these groups to continue their work serving those in need regardless of their backgrounds or beliefs.”
“Mr. Speaker, I have been a CPA for 26 years. I have worked with Canadians as they navigate their personal taxes and finances under the fiscal mismanagement of the Liberal government. Budgets do not balance themselves, as the Prime Minister knows well, with his background. There is no excuse to continue the fiscal disaster he inherited from his predecessor. My question is simple: Will the Prime Minister keep his promise and ensure that deficits do not exceed the outrageous $42-billion deficit of Justin Trudeau?”
“Mr. Speaker, I am rising to present a petition on behalf of the citizens of Yellowhead. A growing number of taxpaying residents of the Ghost Valley and Waiparous area, including Benchlands, the Summer Village of Waiparous, Ghost Country Place, Pearce Place and households along Richard Road, require access to a functional postal code in order to fully participate in modern daily life. Postal codes are essential for accessing critical services. Residents need them for claims for rural status, filing taxes with the CRA, opening bank accounts, registering children for school, shopping online, requesting supplies for delivery and reporting utility outages. The absence of a functional postal code creates unnecessary barriers for residents and undermines their ability to access basic services that other Canadians take for granted.”
“Mr. Speaker, from my reading and learning over the last several months, I see absolutely no benefit to creating more reports. We need to actually have action. Just having another place for another bookshelf to store another report to collect dust would not be productive and would not get to the root of any of the problems. We need to actually implement what we have and listen to the reports we have, as I said earlier in my speech. We have had over 20 reports from the Auditor General, and very few of those have actually been implemented. There is no point in creating more reports to be ignored.”
“Mr. Speaker, I agree that the commissioner would have absolutely no teeth. It begs the question, would they really have any ability to do anything that is not already in existence? It would be very similar to the Auditor General, who has made all kinds of recommendations, but nothing is accomplished. The government can choose to ignore things. I do see the proposal as a waste of money, when we already have the ability, with the Auditor General, to do the reports that the commissioner would now have the ability to do. It is just a repeat of the same abilities we already have, so it would be very much a waste of time. However, I am not sure that I would actually want to give the commissioner any more power unless we wanted to extend to the Auditor General the power to make implementations.”
“Mr. Speaker, as I stated in my speech earlier, the Conservatives have a long history of stating that they do recognize that there were problems in the past and that we have addressed them, starting with Mr. Harper. There were several times when actual action was done; it was not just words but things that were actually produced and going forward. I do recognize that there were these problems. We on the Conservative side want action, not just more words.”
“It would only create another hurdle, another level of bureaucracy and another barrier for indigenous communities that simply need the government to do its job, to honour existing treaties and to follow through on its promises. Let me close by returning to my riding of Yellowhead, a region rich in history and tradition and home to proud indigenous peoples who want the same thing as every Canadian: the opportunity to build a better life, to raise a healthy family and to move forward with dignity and respect. They do not need another commissioner. They do not need another report. They need a government that will stop talking and start doing. That is what Conservatives will fight for and what I will fight for. I urge all members to vote against Bill C-10 .”
“It is, ultimately, a waste of time, energy and taxpayer money that would be better spent actually implementing the treaties we already have On June 11, 2008, former prime minister Stephen Harper said the following about the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, during the government’s apology to former students of Indian residential schools: It will be a positive step in forging a new relationship between aboriginal peoples and other Canadians, a relationship based on the knowledge of our shared history, a respect for each other and a desire to move forward together with a renewed understanding that strong families, strong communities and vibrant cultures and traditions will contribute to a stronger Canada for all of us. What the bill proposes would not improve the lives of the communities it seeks to help.”
“Conservatives are committed to advancing reconciliation through real results, negotiated agreements, infrastructure development and ensuring that indigenous communities have the tools they need to succeed on their own terms. Reconciliation is not served by bloating the bureaucracy in Ottawa; it is served by empowering indigenous communities at home. The Liberal approach to reconciliation has become performative and bureaucratic, and Canadians are seeing through it. Bill C-10 is not a solution; it is a diversion. It is a smokescreen for a government that has failed to act. It is a press release disguised as policy.”
“Creating a new commissioner would not hold government to account; it would just add a middleman. What we need is not more paper; we need more performance. We need ministers and departments to do the job they are paid to do, with no more shifting of blame or hiding behind reports. They should just do their job. I want to speak directly for a moment to the indigenous leaders and communities in Yellowhead and across the country. I hear them, I see their frustration, I know they are tired of waiting, and I know they have heard a lot of promises from governments of every stripe, with too few results. We do not need more layers of government to make good on its obligations. Government just needs to take leadership. We need accountability and action.”
“As a new member of the public accounts committee, I am dismayed to learn how so many of these reports and recommendations have gone unimplemented. Although I have been assigned to the committee for only a short time, I have seen time and again that the work is being done. The Auditor General and her office are spending time and money to dig into the issues and to table reports in Parliament, yet again and again, their tangible recommendations that the government cannot bother to follow through on are ignored. In fact some of the most damning evidence of the government's failure has come from the Auditor General's reports. What has the Liberals' response been? It has not been action or implementation but more delay, more excuses and now more bureaucracy.”
“Every member of the House sees the impacts of Liberal spending in their riding and hears about the needs of their constituents on a daily basis. As a CPA, I have seen first-hand the effects of increased Liberal taxes on my community. Small businesses are drowning in red tape. The Liberal government's solution is to spend millions more dollars creating yet another office in Ottawa. This is not common sense; this is Liberal nonsense. (1300) Let me remind the House that we already have a respected independent institution that audits federal indigenous programs and treaty obligations: the Office of the Auditor General. Since 2005, that office has issued over twenty reports on everything from treaty land entitlements to self-government agreements and to the implementation of modern treaties.”
“After a decade of broken promises from the Liberal government, I understand the desire for any measure that might force Ottawa to pay attention. However, we need to be honest about what the bill is. It is not real accountability; it is bureaucratic theatre, and it comes with a price tag. We are told the new office would cost $10.6 million over four years, employing about 15 full-time bureaucrats. That may not sound like much to the big spenders on the other side of the House, but let me remind them that Canadians are hurting right now. Inflation is out of control. Families across Canada are struggling to heat their home, fill their gas tank and put food on the table. These struggles are not exclusive to indigenous communities, nor are they exclusive to communities in my riding.”
“It would create a new agent of Parliament, the so-called commissioner for modern treaty implementation. This commissioner would write reports, table findings and issue recommendations, but as we have already heard today, would not have any authority to enforce anything. The kicker is that the reports would go to the minister first, the same minister who is failing to implement the treaties in the first place, before the reports are even tabled in the House. That does not sound very transparent to me. Proponents of the bill, including many indigenous stakeholders, have expressed support, saying it would improve accountability. I respect their voices and their opinions on the legislation. I also respect their frustration.”
“What they need is not another report from another commissioner; what they need is for government to do its job. Imagine what an estimated $2.6-million annual budget for the proposed office could accomplish in indigenous communities in my riding and across the country. Throughout the country, indigenous communities need housing, better infrastructure and clean water, something the government has promised but has repeatedly failed to deliver. They need the federal government to live up to existing treaty commitments, not to kick the can down the road while claiming moral high ground from behind a new desk in Ottawa. Bill C-10 is not about reconciliation; it is about political theatre. Let us take a closer look at what the bill would actually do.”
“Contrast that with the current Liberal government: zero modern treaties negotiated in over a decade in office. That is not progress; it is paralysis, and the Liberal record is shameful. Now, after years of doing nothing, the Liberals are suddenly telling Canadians that the answer to their own failure in bureaucracy is another office, more Ottawa insiders and a new commissioner who, let us be honest, would duplicate work that is already being done by the Office of the Auditor General. My riding of Yellowhead is home to seven indigenous communities and is located on Treaty 6, Treaty 7 and Treaty 8 lands. These are proud nations with deep roots, strong traditions and growing aspirations. I have had the opportunity to meet with leaders and members of the communities since my election this spring.”
“Mr. Speaker, I rise in the House today to speak in strong opposition to Bill C-10 , the so-called commissioner for modern treaty implementation act. Let me begin by stating what should be obvious but often gets lost in the noise of the Liberal government's grandstanding: Conservatives support treaty rights. We support the process of reconciliation with Canada's first nations, Inuit and Métis people, not just in word but in meaningful action, and we have the record to back that up. Under Prime Minister Harper, five modern treaties were successfully negotiated in just six years. These were not symbolic gestures; they were real agreements that advanced indigenous self-government and secured land and government rights that had been long delayed.”
“Mr. Speaker, I am not a lawyer, but I am the member for Yellowhead, and I do have a jail in my riding. I have met with the guards a couple of times, and I have been told a lot of the problems they have. Specifically, because my area is relatively remote, they have a problem getting the people to help the prisoners improve in their lifestyles and that sort of thing. The prison does not have the resources to get the people back into society. Now, one of the things the member said is that automatic penalties are bad. What about automatically being released after one-third of their sentence? Part of the problem is their getting back into society too quickly.”