Cheryl Gallant

Mr. Speaker, when Ben Chin tried to interfere with the justice system, he moved up to the Prime Minister's Office. When the former attorney general upheld the justice system, she was fired, booted out of caucus and kicked out of the party. For the Liberals, if one does the Prime Minister's dirty work, one gets promoted. If one upholds the rule of law, one is out. Why do the Liberals not understand that this is wrong?

Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Public Safety has admitted publicly that his government cannot rehabilitate hardened ISIS terrorists, yet it is still spending millions of dollars trying to rehabilitate them using poetry and podcasts.Why is it not using this money to protect Canadians against ISIS terrorists when it knows its strategy has no hope of working?

Mr. Speaker, Canadians I speak to are proud of our military history, a proud tradition of standing by our friends when called to do so. The Liberal budget is a deceitful betrayal to every Canadian who served, past, present, or future, who share our military history. The Liberal defence review is a shameful attempt at covering up the disdain the Liberals have for the military.Why are the Liberals turning their backs on our friends and on the women and men who protect us by serving in Canada's Armed Forces?

Mr. Speaker, Canadian veterans are tired of being left in the cold by a Prime Minister who cannot spend a dime on them but has money to burn on luxury travel.Canadian veteran Roger Perreault wants the Prime Minister to tell him why he has $10.5 million for Omar Khadr but not a crumb for soldiers who were critically injured by roadside bombs in the line of duty.

Madam Speaker, when news broke of a secret $10.5-million payment to a self-confessed convicted terrorist, the government launched an investigation spanning six departments to find out who blew the cover-up. When news broke of the Prime Minister trying to interfere in the prosecution of a Liberal-friendly well-connected corporation charged with corruption, he slammed down the justice committee to keep it a secret. When the Liberals cut the shipping order—

Mr. Speaker, the current government gave $10 million to a convicted terrorist who built bombs in Afghanistan, but the veterans who were blown up in bomb attacks are denied the critical injury benefit. The government promised that it would stop taking veterans to court, but it is still doing it. It promised to bring back the pension for life and it broke that promise too. The consequences of these failures is a three-tiered care system for veterans. Why is the government treating our veterans this way?

Mr. Speaker, I was recently approached in relation to the inadequate level of mental health support for soldiers at Garrison Petawawa. The Liberals have let the number of mental health providers drop so low that the soldiers at Garrison Petawawa are forced into group sessions instead of one-on-one therapy.What is it going to take for the Prime Minister to restore the levels of mental health support for the soldiers and the people who serve in the Canadian Armed Forces so that they once again have patient-centred treatment?

Mr. Speaker, the Minister of National Defence made a choice to mislead Canadians on multiple occasions about his role in Afghanistan. He was forced to come clean, but only after he got caught misleading. The military has lost all confidence in the minister, but the Prime Minister says he still has confidence in the minister.Canadians deserve to know how many more times the minister has to mislead Canadians before the Prime Minister will force him to resign.

Madam Speaker, the Liberals are cancelling funding for the integrated soldier system project. This is a uniform that protects the individual soldier from chemical and radiological weaponry and enemy fire. Who can forget when the Liberals sent our soldiers into the desert of Afghanistan in forest green combat fatigues, making them targets?Why do the lives of the women and men who serve in the Canadian Armed Forces mean so little to the Liberals?

Mr. Speaker, ISIL has declared war on Canada, yet the Prime Minister responds to the women and men who died and fought in Afghanistan with a message that their efforts were worthless by ending the CF-18 air cover. How many deaths overseas and here at home will it take for the Prime Minister to accept that some campaign promises are made to be broken?

Mr. Speaker, the Liberals think that if they repeat their lines loud enough, Canadians will accept all their cover-ups. Yesterday, they resumed the Mark Norman cover-up. They voted against releasing the memo sent by disgraced former Privy Council clerk, Michael Wernick, on the Norman affair. They continue with the cover-up because obviously they have something to hide. What are the Liberals hiding? When are they going to come clean with the truth?

Mr. Speaker, the Liberal procurement process is failing our military. The decision to withhold funding for the Cyclone search and rescue helicopter reminds Canadians of the horrible Chrétien decision of the 1990s to cancel the EH 101 helicopters. Why is the Prime Minister so willing to put the women and men of the Canadian Armed Forces at risk by cutting military funding?

Mr. Speaker, rural municipalities across Ontario depend on mail-in ballots for their local elections. The latest contract offer from Canada Post has been rejected by its union. Canada Post has told election officials that it does not have to honour the contracts to have the ballots delivered before election day.Will the Prime Minister direct Canada Post to have the ballots delivered by taxpayer-owned Purolator before the election?

Mr. Speaker, with summer upon us, Canadians are gearing up to head out to the great outdoors, and it appears they are better equipped than our Canadian Armed Forces. Thanks to the Prime Minister's failure of leadership, our troops now face a shortfall of equipment when it comes to sleeping bags. How can the Prime Minister justify deploying our troops to a war zone in Mali when he cannot even outfit our troops for a trip to cottage country?

Mr. Speaker, the minister was caught claiming to be the architect of Operation Medusa. It was not a slip-up. It was intentional, because he got caught repeating the story. Canadians deserve to know. Why did the minister concoct this story, and how are Canadians supposed to trust this minister?

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister has said that he no longer has dealings with the way his family fortune is managed. Struggling Canadians do not have family fortunes and do have to manage their finances. They know they cannot afford a carbon tax. Secret government documents reveal that taxes will soar after the next election, costing taxpayers up to $5,000 extra per year.When will the Prime Minister come clean, tell the truth and let Canadians know how much he plans to hike his carbon tax by?

Mr. Speaker, I am proud to represent the women and men of Garrison Petawawa, home to the Canadian Special Operations Regiment.Yesterday we learned that the Liberals have already withdrawn the CF-18 air cover for our troops on the ground. The families of CSOR, those who provide the boots on the ground for this change in mission, want to know is the minister prepared to take full responsibility for putting their loved ones at increased risk just to fulfill a campaign promise?

Mr. Speaker, the Liberals are refusing to allow today's emergency meeting on the Vice-Admiral Mark Norman affair to be televised. Canadians deserve transparency, but the Liberals want to hide in the dark. Vice-Admiral Norman says he has a story to tell that Canadians will want to hear. Canadians need to be assured that the Prime Minister is not orchestrating yet another cover-up. Will the chair of the defence committee do the right thing and allow today's meeting to be televised?

Mr. Speaker, the families of soldiers well remember the 2002 friendly fire incident when U.S. jets fired on Canadian soldiers in Afghanistan, killing four of them. Our CF-18s would have known they were Canadian boots on the ground, and now we are back to relying on other countries for air cover.What did the minister mean yesterday when he said that our special forces in Iraq needed anti-armour? Did he withdraw the CF-18s before putting necessary protection in place for our soldiers on the ground?

Mr. Speaker, tourism is a major economic driver in Canada with nearly six million Canadians camping every summer. Many campgrounds are small, family-run, seasonal businesses. Surprise tax bills in the tens of thousands of dollars are being sent to these small businesses, because the Liberals have decided that unless a campground has five or more full-time, year-round employees, they no longer qualify for the small business tax rate. Why are the Liberals targeting small campgrounds to pay for their out-of-control spending?

Mr. Speaker, the minister is allowing his officials to bully the military ombudsman. Six months ago the ombudsman recommended that medically releasing soldiers have their incomes and medical treatments in place prior to leaving the military rather than waiting months for an income and struggling for years for their health benefits. The attack on the military ombudsman is really an attack on the people the minister was appointed to serve. Why will the minister not implement the recommendation?

Mr. Speaker, it has been two and a half years since Mark Norman was suspended from his position as vice chief of the defence staff. It has been two years since the Prime Minister put his thumb on the scale of justice, saying that Mark Norman would end up in court. It has been five weeks since the Crown stayed the charges after receiving evidence that the government was trying to block. All this time, Vice-Admiral Mark Norman has still not been reinstated. When will the Prime Minister do the right thing and reinstate him as second in command of the Canadian Armed Forces?

Mr. Speaker, the Toronto Liberals have been charging a hidden carbon tax since 2009. It has doubled the price of electricity in Ontario. It has cost tens of thousands of jobs as companies move to the United States. It has forced seniors on fixed incomes to choose whether to eat or heat. Now, the Ottawa Liberals want to charge another carbon tax. When will they stop the cover-up and tell Canadians how much that carbon tax is going to cost?

Mr. Speaker, we have seen the Prime Minister fight veterans in court before. He says that they are asking for more than he can give, but when it comes to fighting people who are standing up against him, then money is no object.How many taxpayers' dollars has the Prime Minister wasted trying to destroy Vice-Admiral Mark Norman?

Mr. Speaker, the offer to purchase Great Lakes Power by recently privatized Hydro One has Ontario electricity consumers, who already pay the highest rates in North America, worried that rates will go up even higher. If allowed, one company would control 98% of the total transmission in Ontario.What plans does the FedNor minister have to conduct open public consultations and public hearings as part of the Competition Act review of this transaction?

Mr. Speaker, we support our women and men in uniform in whatever they are sent to do. The Liberals told Canadians that they were sent to Mali on a peacekeeping mission, without debate, without a vote and where there was no peace to keep. The head of the UN has said that the situation in Mali has sharply deteriorated.How can Canadians be assured that our soldiers have the equipment and the manpower to defend themselves when the Liberals play politics with procurement?

Mr. Speaker, in 2006, Warrant Officer Roger Perreault was injured in an lED blast in Afghanistan. He has had three back surgeries, two hip replacements, and other complications. Now in the process of being released from the military, the Liberals are denying him his critical injury benefit, saying that at age 46, it is just normal wear and tear. When did the fake promises of supporting our injured soldiers from slipping through the cracks become the policy of the Prime Minister?

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister himself said that Mark Norman would end up in court, even before charges were laid. Clearly, this was a political attack on someone who was standing up for what is right. It is another example of the Prime Minister attacking someone who got in his way. When will the Prime Minister apologize and have Vice-Admiral Norman reinstated as vice-chief of the defence staff?

Mr. Speaker, Hydro One will continue to gouge customers, especially seniors, while Brookfield, the parent company of Great Lakes Power, rakes in record profits on the backs of those on fixed incomes.Will the FedNor minister commit today to launch an inquiry into Ontario electricity rates before more companies like Algoma Steel have to file for bankruptcy protection and even more jobs in Ontario are lost?

Mr. Speaker, the Liberals claim that the $8.48 billion cut in this year's defence budget relates to the fixed-wing search and rescue and upgrades to the light armoured vehicles, but according to defence analyst David Perry, these two projects at most could account for $2.84 billion.Perry also says that finance officials cannot account for the $5.6 billion shortfall, so what other equipment does the Prime Minister plan on taking away?

Mr. Speaker, the minister has admitted to concocting stories about his service record. Now he says he is sorry, but only after he got caught. When did the minister decide it was acceptable to start making up stories about his service record? Why did he think it was acceptable to take credit for the work of others, and how are the military and Canadians supposed to have confidence in anything this minister says?

Mr. Speaker, David MacNaughton was Dalton McGuinty's right-hand man and helped to run Ontario's economy into the ground. He was the boss of the current Prime Minister's chief of staff at the lobbying firm StrategyCorp. For this, he was rewarded with the job as Canada's ambassador to the U.S. He recently met with the American ambassador in that role. The problem is that he is still listed as a chairman of that same lobbying company. How can the Liberals think it is ethical to be a lobbyist and an ambassador at the same time?

Mr. Speaker, in their 2016 deficit budget, the Liberals promised to transfer uncommitted infrastructure funds from the previous Conservative government to municipalities through the gas tax transfer fund. When they took office in November 2015, there was $837 million left to distribute to municipalities across the country. On budget day just four months later, there was just $31 million left in the pot. One problem: no municipality has a record of the money coming to their municipality, so if no one has a record of the money, where did the money go?

Mr. Speaker, Corporal Terra Janz is a veteran who is being denied a benefit for a disability, which her specialist and family doctor say was caused as a result of her military service. As a condition of her disability, she must self-catheterize, which is something she will have to live with for the rest of her life. She is being denied this benefit on the basis that her disability is a medical event common to women.When did the Prime Minister decide that being a woman in the military is cause enough to deny a benefit to a veteran?

Mr. Speaker, StrategyCorp lobbies the Prime Minister's Office, the Privy Council Office, the Department of Foreign Affairs, and countless other departments. It is even lobbying for the finance minister's own company, the firm Morneau Shepell Ltd. The ambassador designate is still the chairman of a major lobbying firm that lobbies the very people who appointed him, including the Prime Minister's Office. What is it that the Liberals just do not understand about conflicts of interest?

Madam Speaker, when news broke of a secret $10.5-million payment to a self-confessed convicted terrorist, the government launched an investigation spanning six departments to find out who blew the cover-up. When news broke of the Prime Minister trying to interfere in the prosecution of a Liberal-friendly well-connected corporation charged with corruption, he slammed down the justice committee to keep it a secret. When the Liberals cut the shipping order—

Mr. Speaker, the Liberal procurement process is failing our military. The decision to withhold funding for the Cyclone search and rescue helicopter reminds Canadians of the horrible Chrétien decision of the 1990s to cancel the EH 101 helicopters. Why is the Prime Minister so willing to put the women and men of the Canadian Armed Forces at risk by cutting military funding?

Mr. Speaker, when Ben Chin tried to interfere with the justice system, he moved up to the Prime Minister's Office. When the former attorney general upheld the justice system, she was fired, booted out of caucus and kicked out of the party. For the Liberals, if one does the Prime Minister's dirty work, one gets promoted. If one upholds the rule of law, one is out. Why do the Liberals not understand that this is wrong?

Mr. Speaker, ISIL has declared war on Canada, yet the Prime Minister responds to the women and men who died and fought in Afghanistan with a message that their efforts were worthless by ending the CF-18 air cover. How many deaths overseas and here at home will it take for the Prime Minister to accept that some campaign promises are made to be broken?

Mr. Speaker, the minister has admitted to concocting stories about his service record. Now he says he is sorry, but only after he got caught. When did the minister decide it was acceptable to start making up stories about his service record? Why did he think it was acceptable to take credit for the work of others, and how are the military and Canadians supposed to have confidence in anything this minister says?

Madam Speaker, the Liberals are cancelling funding for the integrated soldier system project. This is a uniform that protects the individual soldier from chemical and radiological weaponry and enemy fire. Who can forget when the Liberals sent our soldiers into the desert of Afghanistan in forest green combat fatigues, making them targets?Why do the lives of the women and men who serve in the Canadian Armed Forces mean so little to the Liberals?

Mr. Speaker, Canadian veterans are tired of being left in the cold by a Prime Minister who cannot spend a dime on them but has money to burn on luxury travel.Canadian veteran Roger Perreault wants the Prime Minister to tell him why he has $10.5 million for Omar Khadr but not a crumb for soldiers who were critically injured by roadside bombs in the line of duty.

Mr. Speaker, we support our women and men in uniform in whatever they are sent to do. The Liberals told Canadians that they were sent to Mali on a peacekeeping mission, without debate, without a vote and where there was no peace to keep. The head of the UN has said that the situation in Mali has sharply deteriorated.How can Canadians be assured that our soldiers have the equipment and the manpower to defend themselves when the Liberals play politics with procurement?

Mr. Speaker, I was recently approached in relation to the inadequate level of mental health support for soldiers at Garrison Petawawa. The Liberals have let the number of mental health providers drop so low that the soldiers at Garrison Petawawa are forced into group sessions instead of one-on-one therapy.What is it going to take for the Prime Minister to restore the levels of mental health support for the soldiers and the people who serve in the Canadian Armed Forces so that they once again have patient-centred treatment?

Mr. Speaker, in 2006, Warrant Officer Roger Perreault was injured in an lED blast in Afghanistan. He has had three back surgeries, two hip replacements, and other complications. Now in the process of being released from the military, the Liberals are denying him his critical injury benefit, saying that at age 46, it is just normal wear and tear. When did the fake promises of supporting our injured soldiers from slipping through the cracks become the policy of the Prime Minister?

Mr. Speaker, Corporal Terra Janz is a veteran who is being denied a benefit for a disability, which her specialist and family doctor say was caused as a result of her military service. As a condition of her disability, she must self-catheterize, which is something she will have to live with for the rest of her life. She is being denied this benefit on the basis that her disability is a medical event common to women.When did the Prime Minister decide that being a woman in the military is cause enough to deny a benefit to a veteran?

Mr. Speaker, the Toronto Liberals have been charging a hidden carbon tax since 2009. It has doubled the price of electricity in Ontario. It has cost tens of thousands of jobs as companies move to the United States. It has forced seniors on fixed incomes to choose whether to eat or heat. Now, the Ottawa Liberals want to charge another carbon tax. When will they stop the cover-up and tell Canadians how much that carbon tax is going to cost?

Mr. Speaker, in their 2016 deficit budget, the Liberals promised to transfer uncommitted infrastructure funds from the previous Conservative government to municipalities through the gas tax transfer fund. When they took office in November 2015, there was $837 million left to distribute to municipalities across the country. On budget day just four months later, there was just $31 million left in the pot. One problem: no municipality has a record of the money coming to their municipality, so if no one has a record of the money, where did the money go?

Mr. Speaker, the minister is allowing his officials to bully the military ombudsman. Six months ago the ombudsman recommended that medically releasing soldiers have their incomes and medical treatments in place prior to leaving the military rather than waiting months for an income and struggling for years for their health benefits. The attack on the military ombudsman is really an attack on the people the minister was appointed to serve. Why will the minister not implement the recommendation?

Mr. Speaker, I am proud to represent the women and men of Garrison Petawawa, home to the Canadian Special Operations Regiment.Yesterday we learned that the Liberals have already withdrawn the CF-18 air cover for our troops on the ground. The families of CSOR, those who provide the boots on the ground for this change in mission, want to know is the minister prepared to take full responsibility for putting their loved ones at increased risk just to fulfill a campaign promise?

Mr. Speaker, Hydro One will continue to gouge customers, especially seniors, while Brookfield, the parent company of Great Lakes Power, rakes in record profits on the backs of those on fixed incomes.Will the FedNor minister commit today to launch an inquiry into Ontario electricity rates before more companies like Algoma Steel have to file for bankruptcy protection and even more jobs in Ontario are lost?

Mr. Speaker, with summer upon us, Canadians are gearing up to head out to the great outdoors, and it appears they are better equipped than our Canadian Armed Forces. Thanks to the Prime Minister's failure of leadership, our troops now face a shortfall of equipment when it comes to sleeping bags. How can the Prime Minister justify deploying our troops to a war zone in Mali when he cannot even outfit our troops for a trip to cottage country?

Mr. Speaker, the Liberals claim that the $8.48 billion cut in this year's defence budget relates to the fixed-wing search and rescue and upgrades to the light armoured vehicles, but according to defence analyst David Perry, these two projects at most could account for $2.84 billion.Perry also says that finance officials cannot account for the $5.6 billion shortfall, so what other equipment does the Prime Minister plan on taking away?

Mr. Speaker, Canadians I speak to are proud of our military history, a proud tradition of standing by our friends when called to do so. The Liberal budget is a deceitful betrayal to every Canadian who served, past, present, or future, who share our military history. The Liberal defence review is a shameful attempt at covering up the disdain the Liberals have for the military.Why are the Liberals turning their backs on our friends and on the women and men who protect us by serving in Canada's Armed Forces?

Mr. Speaker, rural municipalities across Ontario depend on mail-in ballots for their local elections. The latest contract offer from Canada Post has been rejected by its union. Canada Post has told election officials that it does not have to honour the contracts to have the ballots delivered before election day.Will the Prime Minister direct Canada Post to have the ballots delivered by taxpayer-owned Purolator before the election?

Mr. Speaker, the offer to purchase Great Lakes Power by recently privatized Hydro One has Ontario electricity consumers, who already pay the highest rates in North America, worried that rates will go up even higher. If allowed, one company would control 98% of the total transmission in Ontario.What plans does the FedNor minister have to conduct open public consultations and public hearings as part of the Competition Act review of this transaction?

Mr. Speaker, we have seen the Prime Minister fight veterans in court before. He says that they are asking for more than he can give, but when it comes to fighting people who are standing up against him, then money is no object.How many taxpayers' dollars has the Prime Minister wasted trying to destroy Vice-Admiral Mark Norman?

Mr. Speaker, the Minister of National Defence made a choice to mislead Canadians on multiple occasions about his role in Afghanistan. He was forced to come clean, but only after he got caught misleading. The military has lost all confidence in the minister, but the Prime Minister says he still has confidence in the minister.Canadians deserve to know how many more times the minister has to mislead Canadians before the Prime Minister will force him to resign.

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister himself said that Mark Norman would end up in court, even before charges were laid. Clearly, this was a political attack on someone who was standing up for what is right. It is another example of the Prime Minister attacking someone who got in his way. When will the Prime Minister apologize and have Vice-Admiral Norman reinstated as vice-chief of the defence staff?

Mr. Speaker, the Liberals think that if they repeat their lines loud enough, Canadians will accept all their cover-ups. Yesterday, they resumed the Mark Norman cover-up. They voted against releasing the memo sent by disgraced former Privy Council clerk, Michael Wernick, on the Norman affair. They continue with the cover-up because obviously they have something to hide. What are the Liberals hiding? When are they going to come clean with the truth?

Mr. Speaker, the Liberals are refusing to allow today's emergency meeting on the Vice-Admiral Mark Norman affair to be televised. Canadians deserve transparency, but the Liberals want to hide in the dark. Vice-Admiral Norman says he has a story to tell that Canadians will want to hear. Canadians need to be assured that the Prime Minister is not orchestrating yet another cover-up. Will the chair of the defence committee do the right thing and allow today's meeting to be televised?

Mr. Speaker, the families of soldiers well remember the 2002 friendly fire incident when U.S. jets fired on Canadian soldiers in Afghanistan, killing four of them. Our CF-18s would have known they were Canadian boots on the ground, and now we are back to relying on other countries for air cover.What did the minister mean yesterday when he said that our special forces in Iraq needed anti-armour? Did he withdraw the CF-18s before putting necessary protection in place for our soldiers on the ground?

Mr. Speaker, tourism is a major economic driver in Canada with nearly six million Canadians camping every summer. Many campgrounds are small, family-run, seasonal businesses. Surprise tax bills in the tens of thousands of dollars are being sent to these small businesses, because the Liberals have decided that unless a campground has five or more full-time, year-round employees, they no longer qualify for the small business tax rate. Why are the Liberals targeting small campgrounds to pay for their out-of-control spending?

Mr. Speaker, it has been two and a half years since Mark Norman was suspended from his position as vice chief of the defence staff. It has been two years since the Prime Minister put his thumb on the scale of justice, saying that Mark Norman would end up in court. It has been five weeks since the Crown stayed the charges after receiving evidence that the government was trying to block. All this time, Vice-Admiral Mark Norman has still not been reinstated. When will the Prime Minister do the right thing and reinstate him as second in command of the Canadian Armed Forces?

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister has said that he no longer has dealings with the way his family fortune is managed. Struggling Canadians do not have family fortunes and do have to manage their finances. They know they cannot afford a carbon tax. Secret government documents reveal that taxes will soar after the next election, costing taxpayers up to $5,000 extra per year.When will the Prime Minister come clean, tell the truth and let Canadians know how much he plans to hike his carbon tax by?

Mr. Speaker, StrategyCorp lobbies the Prime Minister's Office, the Privy Council Office, the Department of Foreign Affairs, and countless other departments. It is even lobbying for the finance minister's own company, the firm Morneau Shepell Ltd. The ambassador designate is still the chairman of a major lobbying firm that lobbies the very people who appointed him, including the Prime Minister's Office. What is it that the Liberals just do not understand about conflicts of interest?