Mark Strahl
Chilliwack—Hope, British Columbia · Conservative · Canada
“Mr. Speaker, after more than a decade of reckless Liberal spending, borrowing and economic mismanagement, more and more Canadians are suffering. Under the Liberal Prime Minister , Canada is the only G20 country in a recession, and the devastating results can no longer be ignored.”
“Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister is off to New York for what even the CBC calls a straight-up networking trip. Perhaps he will meet with his friends at Brookfield Asset Management there. Like so many other investors, they fled Bay Street for Wall Street, with Main Street in Canada paying the price.”
“Mr. Speaker, speaking of $20 billion, that is how much money has left Canada in the last four quarters under this Prime Minister . After more than a decade of Liberal taxes, red tape and uncertainty, investors, including the Prime Minister, continue to take their money elsewhere.”
“Mr. Speaker, British Columbians bought their homes, paid their mortgages and played by the rules, but due to the Cowichan decision, they now face uncertainty as to whether their private property will be protected going forward.”
“Mr. Speaker, the same old Liberals have continued their decade of credit card budgets. Not only has this costly Liberal Prime Minister embraced the same borrow-and-spend policies of Justin Trudeau, he has doubled down, doubling the deficit.”
“Mr. Speaker, I understand why that minister would not want to talk about the past, given his horrendous record on housing in the city of Vancouver. It is the same old story with these same old Liberals.”
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“With millions of people going hungry, stressed about their finances and fearful for their future, it is high time the Liberal government reversed its disastrous economic policies so we can finally begin to restore hope for Canadians.”
“Mr. Speaker, after more than a decade of reckless Liberal spending, borrowing and economic mismanagement, more and more Canadians are suffering. Under the Liberal Prime Minister , Canada is the only G20 country in a recession, and the devastating results can no longer be ignored. Today the United Way report has painted a grim picture of the impact on Canadians: Sixty per cent now feel anxiety about their personal finances, 38% struggle with food insecurity, 40% are losing sleep over how they will stretch their paycheque to pay their bills, and 34% know someone close to them who is experiencing poverty, which is up five percentage points. Global factors did not cause this. Liberal inflationary spending, red tape and antidevelopment laws did.”
“Mr. Speaker, speaking of $20 billion, that is how much money has left Canada in the last four quarters under this Prime Minister . After more than a decade of Liberal taxes, red tape and uncertainty, investors, including the Prime Minister, continue to take their money elsewhere. Despite Liberal re-announcements, major projects remain trapped in years of delays while Canadian workers lose those jobs. When will the Prime Minister take real action to cut red tape and repeal these anti-development laws that are continuing to bring about an investment exodus?”
“Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister is off to New York for what even the CBC calls a straight-up networking trip. Perhaps he will meet with his friends at Brookfield Asset Management there. Like so many other investors, they fled Bay Street for Wall Street, with Main Street in Canada paying the price. Over the last Liberal decade, more than $1 trillion in investment has left Canada. That means lost jobs and lost wages for Canadian workers. The Prime Minister himself holds 91% of his personal investments in the United States. Is he in New York for Canadians, or is he just there to check up on his own portfolio?”
“Mr. Speaker, British Columbians bought their homes, paid their mortgages and played by the rules, but due to the Cowichan decision, they now face uncertainty as to whether their private property will be protected going forward. Instead of arguing in favour of those rights in the Cowichan case, this Liberal government told federal lawyers not to defend those rights through litigation directive number 14, a directive that is still active to this day. How can British Columbians believe that this Liberal Prime Minister will stand up for their private property rights when his government guidelines are telling his lawyers to stand down?”
“The Liberals are mortgaging the future, selfishly racking up the credit card and leaving the bill for our kids and grandkids. Enough is enough. It is time to restore fiscal responsibility and put an end to these reckless Liberal credit card budgets.”
“Mr. Speaker, the same old Liberals have continued their decade of credit card budgets. Not only has this costly Liberal Prime Minister embraced the same borrow-and-spend policies of Justin Trudeau, he has doubled down, doubling the deficit. These failed policies have left Canadians with the worst housing costs, worst economic growth and worst inflation in the G7. The costs to Canadians are enormous. Interest charges on the national debt this year will reach $60 billion and in five years will be $90 billion. That works out to $3,400 in interest costs for every Canadian family this year. That money goes to bankers and bondholders instead of doctors and nurses. Interest payments on our debt are now the fastest-growing item in the Liberal budget.”
“Mr. Speaker, I understand why that minister would not want to talk about the past, given his horrendous record on housing in the city of Vancouver. It is the same old story with these same old Liberals. Even Liberal-friendly columnists like Andrew Coyne have finally taken notice, saying, “Canada's New Government is no more interested in arresting our economic decline than Canada's Old Government”. Canadians are maxed out. They cannot afford the same reckless Liberal policies of the last decade. Why have the Liberals doubled Justin Trudeau's deficit, doubled down on costly credit card budgeting and forced Canadians to pay more for gas, groceries and housing?”
“Mr. Speaker, these same old costly Liberals have continued their decade of credit card budgeting: more costs, more debt, more taxes, more of the same. In fact, the costly Liberal Prime Minister is now doubling the Trudeau deficit. He is literally doubling down on the failures of the past, failures that have delivered the worst housing, worst food inflation and worst economic growth in the G7. When will the Liberal Prime Minister end his costly credit card budgeting so Canadians can afford to put food on the table and keep a roof over their head?”
“Mr. Speaker, while Conservatives offer real relief, the Liberals are offering pennies at the pump. Their plan cuts only a third of the taxes they collect on fuel for a third of the year. These tiny tax cuts will be burned up immediately as gas stations are switching over to more expensive summer fuel blends. Liberal taxes are so out of control that one out of five young Canadians say they will need to go into debt just to pay their tax bill. Why will the Liberals not provide Canadians with real relief instead of half measures and adopt our Conservative plan to cut all taxes on fuel for the rest of the year?”
“Mr. Speaker, after a decade of Liberal governments, Canadians are at a breaking point. Here are the sobering statistics. Nearly a third of Canadians say they do not earn enough to cover their bills. Nearly four out of 10 are worried about losing their job. Three out of five say they are working harder, but not getting ahead. Just yesterday, the Liberal government voted against affordability for Canadians yet again. Why will the Liberals not provide Canadians with real relief by adopting our Conservative plan to cut all federal taxes on gas and food?”
“Mr. Speaker, the second petition is on behalf of British Columbians who are deeply concerned about proposed changes to the salmon allocation policy that would decimate regular recreational fishing opportunities for coho and chinook in British Columbia. Changing this common property principle risks turning a shared public resource into an exclusive privilege, reducing access for many Canadians and undermining confidence in fisheries management. These B.C. residents are calling on the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans to leave the current salmon allocation policy alone and uphold the cultural rights and traditions of all British Columbians.”
“Mr. Speaker, I am here to present two petitions on behalf of my constituents. The first is from constituents who are calling on the government to lead an international investigation into the Iranian regime's brutal crackdown on activists. Thousands have been killed. Tens of thousands have been arbitrarily arrested. The regime has used torture and sexual violence as a tool of repression. The petitioners are calling for the use of Magnitsky sanctions against Iranian officials and the use of all diplomatic channels to demand the immediate release of Narges Mohammadi and the staying of all pending execution orders for political prisoners.”
“Mr. Speaker, Canadians are paying more because of Liberal policies here at home. All G7 countries are dealing with similar external factors, but it is only the Liberal government that has caused us to have the worst food inflation and the only shrinking economy in the G7. The price of gas is 20% higher here than it is in the U.S., and Liberal fuel and carbon taxes are making it even worse. When will the Liberal government stop passing the buck, take responsibility for its policies and finally cut Liberal taxes to make life more affordable for Canadians?”
“Mr. Speaker, while the Liberals do not control what happens abroad, they do control their policies here at home. Instead of working to bring costs down, the Liberal Prime Minister is not only going ahead with his industrial carbon tax, but has introduced a fuel standard tax, which adds 7¢ a litre to the already high cost of gas and will eventually rise to 17¢ per litre. It is more of the same Liberal taxes from the same Liberal government. When will the Liberal government give Canadians a break and get rid of these Liberal gas taxes that are making life more expensive for Canadian families?”
“Mr. Speaker, every country in the G7 is facing external pressures, but this government stands alone in having created the worst food price inflation and the only shrinking economy in the G7. Instead of making life more affordable, the Liberals are making it worse with their higher fuel and carbon taxes, which are raising the costs for farmers, fishers and truckers, driving up the cost of everything for cash-strapped Canadians. Why do the Liberals not finally focus on what they can control and get rid of these harmful policies that are punishing Canadians?”
“Mr. Speaker, Canadians are struggling to make ends meet. Record food bank usage, personal bankruptcy rates and an increasing number of Canadians borrowing money to buy food are proof of that. While there are some things that are outside of our control, there are things that the government does control, like its new fuel tax, which is already raising the price of gas by seven cents a litre and is set to climb up to 17¢ a litre, raising the cost of everything that Canadians buy. When will the Liberals finally take responsibility for their reckless policies and stop making life more expensive for Canadians?”
“Mr. Speaker, the Liberal plan is not working. Over two million Canadians a month are using the food bank. The cost of groceries has skyrocketed to over $340 a week for a family of four. The small minority of Canadians who get that recycled rebate he was talking about will only get $10 a week, which is not going to keep their creditors at bay. Now bankruptcies and bankruptcy proposals are at their highest levels since the global financial crisis, so when will the Liberals finally cut taxes and red tape and stop pushing record numbers of Canadians into bankruptcy?”
“Mr. Speaker, these Liberals keep telling Canadians that they have never had it so good. Not only has food inflation doubled since the Prime Minister took office; it is now twice as high in Canada as it is in the United States. It is driving over two million people a month to food banks. I guess they should just “move on” from that. Now we learn that more and more Canadians have been forced into bankruptcy and bankruptcy proposals. In my province of British Columbia, they are up over 10% in the last year alone. When will the government stop pushing people to the brink and cut the taxes and red tape that are pushing Canadians into bankruptcy?”
“Mr. Speaker, most Canadians will get no benefit from this recycled plan. A small number will get about $10 a week, but that will not make a dent in the over $340 a week a family of four has to spend to buy groceries. The finance minister promised he would bring down grocery prices three years ago. He failed then, and he is failing again. The Liberals' plan is not working, so why do they not vote for our food affordability plan to cut the industrial carbon tax, axe the fuel standards tax and finally lower grocery prices for all Canadians?”
“Mr. Speaker, the finance minister promised three years ago that he had a plan to lower food prices. How is that working out? Since then, the cost of groceries has skyrocketed, with the price of lettuce up 40%, coffee up over 30% and the price of beef up over 25%. The recycled plan for a temporary rebate will not reduce the cost of a single item of food. Their plan has failed, so why do the Liberals not support our food affordability plan to axe the industrial carbon tax, cut the fuel standards tax and boost competition in grocery stores to lower food prices for all Canadians?”
“Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to stand and present e-petition 6908, which was created by a constituent of mine, Aidan Gunter, a local angler. The petitioners are deeply concerned about a growing problem on the Chilliwack-Vedder River, including foul hooking. They call on the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans to implement a maximum leader of approximately one metre for sport fishing on the Chilliwack-Vedder River, to increase enforcement monitoring, to ensure compliance and to protect wild salmon.”
“Alano is a hub dedicated to healing and recovery, recognizing the importance of social activities for people on their journey to live a clean and sober lifestyle. On behalf of all the people who have been helped by Chilliwack's Alano Club, I thank it for the difference it is making in people's lives. I congratulate Chilliwack's Alano Club on 40 years of serving our community.”
“Mr. Speaker, for 40 years Chilliwack's Alano Club has provided a safe, clean and sober place to meet seven days a week for people in recovery from addiction. This consistent availability ensures that help and support are always accessible for vulnerable people in need. It has become a vital resource for groups like Alcoholics Anonymous, Narcotics Anonymous and Al-Anon. Chilliwack's Alano Club is more than just a building; it is a place for community and fellowship where members and visitors can enjoy a reduced-price breakfast or lunch. Friends and families can gather for coffee or to play board games. Christmas parties, holiday dinners and weddings are held there too, all in an environment free from drugs and alcohol.”
“Mr. Speaker, every word in our motion is from the MOU, so I would invite that member to put his money where his mouth is and vote to support a pipeline from Alberta to the north coast of British Columbia. He can do it in about 30 minutes.”
“When there is a prime minister like Justin Trudeau, who will rip up a signed deal, it sends the message to invest elsewhere.”
“Mr. Speaker, the member is quite correct that the Conservatives did not buy a pipeline. When we were in government, the private sector was lining up to build pipelines in every direction in this country. It is the Liberals who had such a convoluted bunch of red tape, rules and regulations that it drove private sector investments away. He is quite correct that the Conservatives have never bought a pipeline. We did not have to. The government now says that there is no proponent for this pipeline. Of course there is no proponent for this pipeline. It has driven them all out of the country. It created a business environment that does not allow for certainty. These investments are billions and billions of dollars over decades.”
“Mr. Speaker, I am not convinced the Prime Minister is serious about it. If he wanted it to happen, he would make it very clear to his caucus that it is going to happen. He would shut down this ridiculous idea that the Premier of B.C., the NDP premier, has a veto over this pipeline. He would make it very clear by voting in favour of this motion that he supports a pipeline, just like the Conservatives do.”
“Mr. Speaker, I am told by the Liberal government every day in question period that it is an imaginary tax that does not exist. I am very confused. Of course, we are opposed to the carbon tax. We were the ones who drove the agenda on the consumer carbon tax until the government flip-flopped and agreed it needed to go. This is a government that wants a carbon tax without a pipeline. We want a pipeline without a carbon tax.”
“We want to see Canada prosper, and we want to see people get back to work so that we can all prosper as a nation, build our infrastructure, build our schools, build our education system, build the country that Canadians expect us to build and not have a government that stands in the way of that progress.”
“NDP premier and that, if they do not have consent from David Eby, it is not going ahead. That does not sound like much of a commitment to me. This motion provides an opportunity for clarity. The Liberals can declare whether the Prime Minister , when he speaks in Alberta, is telling the truth, or when he speaks in Ottawa, is telling the truth. They can declare whether Liberal members of Parliament from B.C. are the ones expressing the views of the government or whether the Minister of Energy and Natural Resources is. It is very clear. It is laid out in the motion, which came, by the way, from the Liberal MOU. The words are drawn straight out of that memorandum of understanding. Conservatives want to see pipelines built.”
“(1705) We have heard that the Liberals have suddenly seen the light and that they are super in favour of pipelines, but we have the comments from the Prime Minister himself. Apparently, he told the B.C. caucus about the pipeline and said, “If BC doesn’t want it, it’s not going ahead.” The member for Vancouver Granville said that the pipeline must have B.C. and first nations consent and “we will all work to ensure our B.C. coast is protected.” The member for Fleetwood—Port Kells said that the pipeline must have the consent of the Premier of British Columbia. David Eby has apparently been promised a veto by the Prime Minister. Forgive us if Conservatives do not take these guys very seriously when they talk about how pro-pipeline they are, when every one of their members stands up to talk about how they are going to give consent to the B.C.”
“It made it so difficult to build anything and invest in the country that TransCanada abandoned both of their projects, changed its name entirely and moved its operations primarily to the south. It is now TC Energy because TransCanada Energy, after the debacle of the Liberal government, did not sound as attractive to investors as it once had. Enbridge abandoned its project after getting a $1-billion kick between the pockets. Kinder Morgan's project was so risky, after the Liberal government took over and changed all the rules and regulations, that it completely abandoned the project and the government had to buy it. Bill Morneau had to pay taxpayer money to get something that, under the Conservatives, the private sector was willing to do.”
“There was the energy east pipeline, which was proposed to deliver Canadian oil to the Atlantic provinces. That was, by the way, proposed by a private company, TransCanada Energy. There was the Keystone XL pipeline. Again, it was TransCanada Energy that proposed to send Canadian crude to the gulf coast. There was the northern gateway pipeline, which I have talked about, by Enbridge and the Trans Mountain pipeline by Kinder Morgan. We should notice the common denominator. When Conservatives were in government, private sector investors were prepared to put their own money forward to invest in big projects in this country, billions and billions of dollars. Just a couple of short years later, those were all gone because of the regulatory environment that the Liberal government put in place.”
“When the business and investment communities are told that, even though $1 billion was put into a project, and everything was done right, with every t crossed and every i dotted, but the government can just rip away that approval, what happens to investment in that country, a jurisdiction that would allow that? It evaporates. Since that decision by the Liberal government, we have lost hundreds of thousands of jobs and tens of billions of dollars that have gone elsewhere because the Liberal government does not foster an environment where things can get built. When the Conservatives left office in 2015, there were at least four major pipelines. I am sure I am forgetting some of them. I am sure the Speaker knows the ones that I do not know.”
“When Justin Trudeau declared that the Great Bear Rainforest was no place for a pipeline, as if it was some sort of magical forest that could not have a pipeline, there were already, I believe, 207 conditions for the building of it. The work had been done. The engineering had been done. The agreements had been reached with the communities along the route. (1700) When Justin Trudeau declared that it was a pipeline that should not be there, Canada sent a message to Justin Trudeau and the Liberals, many of whom are still here, still getting up after every speech to ask questions time after time. It is the same government with a new leader.”
“We just heard from the member for Skeena—Bulkley Valley about how the government had been working on this for eight months and did not consider talking to first nations leaders, first nations communities or indigenous communities in British Columbia or Alberta. It was a complete afterthought. Now, it retroactively stands up and tries to virtuously tell us how committed it is to section 35 consultations and how respectful it is. The Minister of Natural Resources went on TV and said that maybe he would have a Zoom meeting with them, dismissively insulting first nations communities and telling them that, if they want to consult with the Liberal government, they should just jump on a Zoom call. This is outrageous disrespect from a government that holds itself pretty high and mighty when it comes to dealing with indigenous communities.”
“This was an opportunity for them to realize the potential of the hundreds of millions of dollars that was going to be poured into those communities to improve infrastructure, education and the outcomes for the people who live there. It said that it did not have to because it was just cancelling it. Therefore, when the government was taking something away from indigenous communities, when it was ripping money out of their hands for generations to come, it did not even bother to let them know. Now we have the current government pretending to respect indigenous communities through this MOU.”
“Jim Prentice, who were both Indigenous Affairs ministers and respected in British Columbia and Alberta, worked with those nations to help them to benefit from the economic development that would have come from the development of the northern gateway pipeline. They had an equity stake in that pipeline worth $2 billion. The Liberal government came in and, with the stroke of a pen, ripped that out of their hands. At the time, we asked the government if it had consulted with the first nations and the indigenous communities before it stripped away 2 billion dollars' worth of economic development from their communities, and these are often communities that had not had anything close to that sort of economic development for generations.”
“When the Prime Minister was trying to get a standing ovation at the Calgary Chamber of Commerce, he talked about how much he supports pipelines. That is very interesting considering the record of the government he now leads. The Liberal government cancelled the northern gateway pipeline, a pipeline that was approved to go from Alberta to northern B.C. The proponent, Enbridge, spent over a billion dollars working its way through the approval process. It had been approved by the regulator. It had a number of conditions attached to it. It had aboriginal equity partners. I think this is a tragic part of this story that often gets overlooked. I knew some of the negotiators on that. My father, Chuck Strahl, and the Hon.”
“Mr. Speaker, it is always great to speak on behalf of the people of Chilliwack—Hope in the House. Today we are speaking to a Conservative motion that basically calls on the government to stop speaking out of both sides of its mouth. That is what we have seen over the last number of weeks. This is a government that goes to Alberta to say one thing to Danielle Smith, then comes back to Ottawa, or goes to B.C., or talks to people in other parts of the country, to say something completely different. That is what we have decided to seek clarity on today with our motion. It acknowledges the MOU that was signed by the governments of Canada and Alberta, but it also seek clarity on where the government actually stands, because we are not getting the same message, depending on which member we talk to.”
“Mr. Speaker, we will take no lessons from a minister who conducts indigenous consultations over Zoom, and we absolutely will oppose a carbon tax in all of its forms. The Prime Minister has told his “keep it in the ground” caucus that the pipeline will never happen, while he promises Albertans that it might. Today, he can finally come clean with Canadians and provide crystal-clear clarity. He can support our motion, which is based on his MOU, and vote to cancel his tanker ban and green-light a new pipeline. Why does he not get out of the way, stop obstructing the pipeline and vote for our Conservative motion?”
“Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister cannot be trusted on pipelines. He endorsed Justin Trudeau's cancellation of the approved northern gateway pipeline and stopped the shipment of Canadian oil through northern B.C. He now claims that he might allow a new pipeline but his Liberal MPs insist that it will never get built. Instead of playing both sides, the Prime Minister should definitively endorse a new pipeline to Canada's west coast and cancel the Liberal ban on shipping oil from northern B.C. Will the Prime Minister finally stop the doublespeak, stop obstructing the pipeline and vote for the Conservative motion today?”
“Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister promised Canadians he was going to negotiate a win with the Americans and that he could handle Donald Trump. Well, not only has he failed to get a deal, but softwood lumber tariffs have tripled under his watch and he has unilaterally abandoned legal challenges against these tariffs. Now, another mill on Vancouver Island is closing, killing nearly 1,500 direct and indirect jobs. They do not want handouts; they want to keep working. When will the Prime Minister finally keep his promise to get a lumber deal so forestry workers stop losing their jobs?”
“Mr. Speaker, of course, we support investment in the country. That is why, under a Conservative government, investments were up hundreds of billions of dollars, unlike under the Liberal government, with hundreds of billions of dollars leaving the country in the last 10 years. Tens of billions of dollars have fled the country since the Prime Minister took office. We will take no lessons from this member, who has been a member of a party that has been for a carbon tax and against it in a matter of weeks. We will certainly try to give him a lesson on being fiscally responsible. He has not learned it yet.”
“Mr. Speaker, we do need to talk about the oil and gas sector and the benefits it brings to the Canadian economy, the hundreds and hundreds of billions of dollars in revenues and royalties that go to pay for such things as our health care system, our education systems and the transfer payments that go across this country. We need to be talking up the oil and gas sector as a great benefit to Canada. We do it the best in the world. We have the best environmental regulations, the best workers and the best product. If we did a better job of creating a level playing field so that everyone knew the rules and everyone could make investments that were not held up by the government, we could have even more benefit for Canadian families. We could have more benefit, in terms of lower taxes and better services.”
“Mr. Speaker, yes, after the world economic and financial crisis, there was a big deficit. The Conservatives got the budget back to balance by 2015. That was our record. That took a lot of hard work, because we believed in the importance of leaving a balanced budget for future generations. We did not want to increase the debt for them to pay back. I am glad the member asked me a question. The last time he asked me a question in this House, I believe he was asking me why I did not support a consumer carbon tax. That is what he was on about. He asked that question of this side about a thousand times. I am glad he broke that promise. Maybe he could keep the promise to keep the budget deficit to $62 billion, and what a big challenge that would be. The Liberals could not even do that; it is at $78 billion.”
“He said he would have a resolution with China, but there are still tariffs on our canola and on our seafood. There are new tariffs from India on our peas. For our softwood lumber producers, the tariffs have increased threefold, to 45% for softwood lumber producers in my province of British Columbia, with hundreds of layoffs and thousands more jobs hanging in the balance. The government has failed to deliver for Canadians. It has broken its promises. We will not support the budget nor the budget implementation act.”
“Then he went out again over the last couple of weeks to say, “By the way, the mine I announced in 2018 is on the major projects list. Aren't you proud of us? Look at it investing for future generations.” That is a scam. The government fails to understand that we do not need it to pick winners and losers but to create a winning environment for investment in the country, for everyone to make their investment choices and make those investments, instead of an environment in which investors are fleeing this country. I want to talk briefly about more failures of the government. The Prime Minister said that he would have a deal with the United States by July. We are at the middle point of November with no deal, and the U.S. tariffs are twice as high.”
“Instead of creating an environment where all major projects can be approved if they meet the regulations, they say that certain projects do not meet the regulations but that they are going to allow them to go through anyway. They are going to give an exemption to certain projects. Oh, and by the way, all the projects they are announcing had already been announced six or eight years ago. Many of them are already being built. The Liberals say, “Look at us. What a fantastic number of projects there are.” I do not even know what the minister 's portfolio is, as it changes so often; I think it is trade relations with the U.S. right now. In 2018 he stood in the Maritimes and announced that construction would be under way at the Sisson mine.”