Bev Shipley

Mr. Speaker, the Liberal government is punishing law-abiding gun owners again by bringing in a needless permit regime that would require gun owners to get a permit every time they go hunting or go to the range. Clearly, it is a gateway to bringing back the billion dollar gun registry and make life as difficult as possible for rural Canadians.Why do the Liberals always target law-abiding gun owners? Why do they not go after criminals for a change?

Mr. Speaker, the Arva Flour Mill is in my riding. It is a small business run by a middle-income family. It is 197 years old. It is the only one like it operating in Canada and it has never had a workplace accident. It is basically a working museum. It cannot meet the federal labour code and it is about to be shut down. The Minister of Labour knows the Arva Flour Mill can be exempted from the federal labour code. She has the authority to save it. Will the minister please do her job?

Madam Speaker, for 197 years the Arva Flour Mill has had a perfect safety record. This week is Small Business Week, but this small business will not have anything to celebrate if the labour minister does not grant an exemption from the federal labour code. It has been months since I asked the minister for action, and there has still been no contact with the mill from her or her office.Is it the plan of the minister to let the small mill die a slow death? The minister has the authority to exempt it. Will the minister do her job and keep—

Mr. Speaker, I find it interesting. Canadians have a big problem on their hands with the current government. What they have is a government that does not seem to be able to understand and manage money. There is no accountability. When the Liberals ran, as the member mentioned, they were going to run a modest deficit of $10 billion. I would ask that the member clarify whether that, in fact, is the number that the deficit will be.When the Liberals talked about this great tax relief, they said it would be revenue neutral. Even the private business that the finance minister was formerly involved with says it is actually not neutral. It is about a $2 billion deficit. What has happened over the years is that, when Liberals get into trouble, they go back to the people, as they did in the 1990s when they cut the transfers to the provinces, and health care for municipalities, gutted the military, and then took a little swipe out of EI for some $50 billion, which makes it really easy to start to balance budgets.I am wondering if the member could help us understand if that is the route the Liberals are going to go now to help with the deficit and balance the budget at some point.

Mr. Speaker, the Arva Flour Mill is a small family business without a workplace accident in 197 years. The minister said she was working with the community and the owner. There has been no contact with the owner or the community. The minister said small business has the right to compete and do well. However, it cannot compete and do well if she shuts it down. Will the minister do her job, grant an exemption from the federal labour code, and save the mill?

Mr. Speaker, I am amazed that he is criticizing the Ethics Commissioner for making the comment about what she can do and what she cannot, because the Minister of Agriculture hired his chief of staff, a major stakeholder in one of the largest egg producers and processing companies in Canada. Now she is prohibited from supporting supply management, the egg industry, and any trade issues, particularly around the trans-Pacific partnership.Why did he leave supply management and free trade in the hands of an individual who is not allowed to talk about them?

Mr. Speaker, the foreign affairs minister met with U.S. House Speaker Paul Ryan. He stated that he had a really productive conversation about improving dairy market access. The minister herself called it a successful visit. We can assume he was not talking about more Canadian dairy products flowing into Wisconsin. How much dairy access did the minister offer to the Americans at this meeting?

Mr. Speaker, the issue is not Ms. McFall's knowledge of the industry. It is the fact that she practically owns the industry. She claimed, as my colleague quoted, “my family’s business is pretty relevant to (the portfolio) so I think that’s part of how I got the job”.She got the job because of her family and her company, and apparently the minister, in all due respect, did not see the conflict. However, I have to ask this of the minister. Why hire a chief of staff who has such a direct conflict of interest?

Mr. Speaker, let us be clear. We now have a Minister of Agriculture, and his chief of staff cannot talk about eggs, cannot talk about supply management, and cannot even talk about the trans-Pacific partnership. If she has been involved in any of these files in the last six months, it is a conflict of interest. That is what we knew from the beginning. The minister refused to listen to us. How can the minister assure farmers and processors that his chief of staff has not been using this job for personal gain?

Mr. Speaker, the Liberal government is punishing law-abiding gun owners again by bringing in a needless permit regime that would require gun owners to get a permit every time they go hunting or go to the range. Clearly, it is a gateway to bringing back the billion dollar gun registry and make life as difficult as possible for rural Canadians.Why do the Liberals always target law-abiding gun owners? Why do they not go after criminals for a change?

Mr. Speaker, the Arva Flour Mill is a small family business without a workplace accident in 197 years. The minister said she was working with the community and the owner. There has been no contact with the owner or the community. The minister said small business has the right to compete and do well. However, it cannot compete and do well if she shuts it down. Will the minister do her job, grant an exemption from the federal labour code, and save the mill?

Mr. Speaker, the Arva Flour Mill is in my riding. It is a small business run by a middle-income family. It is 197 years old. It is the only one like it operating in Canada and it has never had a workplace accident. It is basically a working museum. It cannot meet the federal labour code and it is about to be shut down. The Minister of Labour knows the Arva Flour Mill can be exempted from the federal labour code. She has the authority to save it. Will the minister please do her job?

Mr. Speaker, the foreign affairs minister met with U.S. House Speaker Paul Ryan. He stated that he had a really productive conversation about improving dairy market access. The minister herself called it a successful visit. We can assume he was not talking about more Canadian dairy products flowing into Wisconsin. How much dairy access did the minister offer to the Americans at this meeting?

Mr. Speaker, I am amazed that he is criticizing the Ethics Commissioner for making the comment about what she can do and what she cannot, because the Minister of Agriculture hired his chief of staff, a major stakeholder in one of the largest egg producers and processing companies in Canada. Now she is prohibited from supporting supply management, the egg industry, and any trade issues, particularly around the trans-Pacific partnership.Why did he leave supply management and free trade in the hands of an individual who is not allowed to talk about them?

Mr. Speaker, I find it interesting. Canadians have a big problem on their hands with the current government. What they have is a government that does not seem to be able to understand and manage money. There is no accountability. When the Liberals ran, as the member mentioned, they were going to run a modest deficit of $10 billion. I would ask that the member clarify whether that, in fact, is the number that the deficit will be.When the Liberals talked about this great tax relief, they said it would be revenue neutral. Even the private business that the finance minister was formerly involved with says it is actually not neutral. It is about a $2 billion deficit. What has happened over the years is that, when Liberals get into trouble, they go back to the people, as they did in the 1990s when they cut the transfers to the provinces, and health care for municipalities, gutted the military, and then took a little swipe out of EI for some $50 billion, which makes it really easy to start to balance budgets.I am wondering if the member could help us understand if that is the route the Liberals are going to go now to help with the deficit and balance the budget at some point.

Mr. Speaker, the issue is not Ms. McFall's knowledge of the industry. It is the fact that she practically owns the industry. She claimed, as my colleague quoted, “my family’s business is pretty relevant to (the portfolio) so I think that’s part of how I got the job”.She got the job because of her family and her company, and apparently the minister, in all due respect, did not see the conflict. However, I have to ask this of the minister. Why hire a chief of staff who has such a direct conflict of interest?

Mr. Speaker, let us be clear. We now have a Minister of Agriculture, and his chief of staff cannot talk about eggs, cannot talk about supply management, and cannot even talk about the trans-Pacific partnership. If she has been involved in any of these files in the last six months, it is a conflict of interest. That is what we knew from the beginning. The minister refused to listen to us. How can the minister assure farmers and processors that his chief of staff has not been using this job for personal gain?

Madam Speaker, for 197 years the Arva Flour Mill has had a perfect safety record. This week is Small Business Week, but this small business will not have anything to celebrate if the labour minister does not grant an exemption from the federal labour code. It has been months since I asked the minister for action, and there has still been no contact with the mill from her or her office.Is it the plan of the minister to let the small mill die a slow death? The minister has the authority to exempt it. Will the minister do her job and keep—