Harold Albrecht

Mr. Speaker, the Liberal government has taken Canada out of the fight against ISIS. It has eliminated the office of religious freedom. Now we learn that Canada's peacekeeping efforts are at an all-time low. We know that in Iraq today, Christians are still being killed simply for their belief.When will the Liberal government wake up to the plight of Christians in the Middle East and take concrete action towards stopping this genocide?

Madam Speaker, yesterday, the heritage minister tried to blame our previous Conservative government for lack of winter maintenance at the National Holocaust Monument. That is complete nonsense. If the Liberals want it open year-round, they could do it. This is the same Liberal government that neglected to mention the Jewish people on the dedication plaque. Did the Liberals think this monument was not important enough to keep it open year-round?

Madam Speaker, on September 4, the office of the public prosecutor informed SNC-Lavalin that it would be moving forward with the criminal trial. On September 17, the former attorney general told the Prime Minister that she would not interfere in the criminal trial. That should have been the end. However, after that meeting, the Clerk of the Privy Council and the Prime Minister's principal secretary tried to get the former attorney general to interfere in the trial.When will the Prime Minister realize that this obstruction of justice is a criminal offence?

Mr. Speaker, the Canadian Cancer Society recently issued a report that shed some very discouraging light on the state of palliative care in Canada. However, instead of dealing with this sad fact first as its number one priority, the Liberal government seems to be focusing all its efforts on physician-assisted suicide.Why is the Liberal government working so hard on a plan to allow living people to die, rather than helping dying people to live?

Mr. Speaker, due to the legal uncertainty created by the Liberal promise to legalize marijuana, grow ops are sprouting up in my riding. This is causing significant health concerns, especially for our children.Could the minister explain exactly how the Liberals plan to keep this product out of the hands of children when it could be available on every street corner?

Mr. Speaker, the Liberals continue to fail Canadian seniors and their families. On Friday, I asked why they are not making palliative care funding a priority. The parliamentary secretary's response was medical aid in dying. Really? Is the Liberal solution to an aging population assisted suicide? When will the Liberals get serious about the issues facing Canadian seniors and help those in need of proper home care and palliative care?

Mr. Speaker, as the Liberals push to legalize marijuana, many Canadians are concerned about the consequences of people driving while high. We have seen these issues in Colorado, where marijuana-related traffic deaths increased by 92% between 2010 and 2014. After meetings with drug recognition experts, it is clear there is no precise way to measure impairment while under the influence of marijuana. Will the Liberals stop their drive to legalize marijuana until authorities have the tools to ensure the safety of Canadians on the road?

Mr. Speaker, St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church in Kitchener has raised $70,000 to privately sponsor a Syrian refugee family.This family passed all needed security and health checks in February, but is still waiting to come to Canada. The church and family were told they would arrive in Canada by the end of February. Well, here we are three months and $7,000 later, and all anyone has received is a form letter from the Prime Minister.Why have the Liberals failed one more Syrian refugee family?

Mr. Speaker, the Liberals' relentless pressure on the former attorney general in the SNC-Lavalin affair is not only an embarrassment but potentially criminal. In one of those interactions, the former attorney general said that the Prime Minister jumped in, stressing there was an election in Quebec, and said, “I am an MP in Quebec, the member for Papineau.”Later, the former attorney general told the finance minister that engagements from his office to hers on the SNC-Lavalin affair had to stop. They did not stop.The Prime Minister has lost the moral authority to govern Canada. He must resign. When will he resign?

Mr. Speaker, Colorado has had legalized marijuana for over a year now, and we have started to see the statistics that show the dangers of its decision. According to Reuters, over 40 children were taken to a poison control centre after they picked up colourful sweets laced with strong doses of marijuana that their parents had left lying around.The government has said it wants to protect children through legalizing marijuana. Could the Minister of Health explain exactly how she plans to do that?

Mr. Speaker, since the Liberals visited China, the situation has gotten even worse. Farmers and processors in my riding are paying for the Liberal government's failures. China is continuing to unfairly target Canada and is now taking aim at our pork producers. Now the Prime Minister is saying that he might talk to the Chinese president in three weeks. This crisis has been going on for six months. When will the Prime Minister finally stand up for our ranchers and farmers and support our Canadian agricultural industry?

Mr. Speaker, in reference to the Supreme Court of Canada decision yesterday, our Minister of Health stated that the Liberals need to confront the fact that access to high quality palliative care is available in a very patchy manner across the country.While Liberals keep talking about their commitment to palliative care, their free spending budget does not earmark one single dollar for it.Why do the Liberals continue to break their promises by saying one thing and then doing another?

Mr. Speaker, the Liberal carbon tax will raise fuel costs by over 10¢ per litre. For a farmer in Kitchener—Conestoga, that means an additional $6,000 a year just for this carbon tax. Add to that the cost of getting his feed to his farm and getting his milk to market, these costs will be devastating.Why is the Liberal government padding its books on the back of farmers in my riding of Kitchener—Conestoga?

Mr. Speaker, Ontario voters have spoken clearly: they do not want a carbon tax. Now it is time for the Prime Minister to stop forcing his punishing carbon tax on middle-class Canadian families. Farmers in Kitchener—Conestoga are especially concerned about this unfair tax, which would increase their costs for tractor fuel, fertilizer, and transportation of feed and farm products.Will the Prime Minister finally stop forcing and using his heavy-handed taxes, which are only needed because of his out-of-control spending?

Mr. Speaker, this morning the Prime Minister signed the USMCA along with the presidents of the United States and Mexico.The problem is that appendix 3, sections C10 and 11, undermine Canadian sovereignty and our ability to manage our dairy sector without U.S. intervention. Canada cannot afford to hand over sovereignty of our dairy sector, effectively giving up our ability to provide food security for Canadians.Why did the Prime Minister capitulate to Donald Trump at the expense of our dairy sector?

Madam Speaker, last week I heard from Mike, chairman of Tri-Mach manufacturing in Elmira. Mike employs 150 Canadians and had purchased more land with plans to expand his company and add another 100 employees, but these proposed Liberal tax changes have halted all of his plans. In fact, Mike is now planning on selling the land and downsizing his operation.Why has the finance minister designed a system that will make Mike pay huge increases in tax that will cripple his business, while the family fortunes of the Prime Minister and the finance minister remain untouched? How is that fair?

Mr. Speaker, while we recognize this week as National Suicide Prevention Week, suicide continues to be a major national public health issue in Canada. In December 2012, Bill C-300, An Act respecting a Federal Framework for Suicide Prevention, was passed into law. This framework will help the hundreds of Canadians across Canada who are working with some of Canada's most vulnerable people.Would the Minister of Health inform the House as to when we can expect some information as to when this bill will actually be implemented?

Mr. Speaker, I certainly do not profess to have the procedural acumen that my colleagues have, but over the almost 13 years I have been in Parliament, I have had the privilege of serving on a number of committees for interparliamentary groups, such as the Canada-Africa Parliamentary Association, the Canada-Armenia Friendship Group, and the Canada-Germany Interparliamentary Group. Some of those groups get funding from Parliament, and one of them is the NATO interparliamentary group. I have been a member of it and I received a notice that a meeting was called for last night. I went to the meeting. A number of motions and points of order were raised. At one point, the meeting was adjourned. Upon adjournment, I left the building and went to another event. I did not know until this morning that the meeting had supposedly been reconvened However, it could not be reconvened because it did not fall within the rules of the constitution of the NATO interparliamentary group. There was no two weeks' notice given. There was no notice of nominees. There was no way that I, as a parliamentarian, could have had meaningful input into the choice.Thus, my privileges as a member of Parliament have been breached. As a member of Parliament and as a member of the NATO interparliamentary group, it was my right to be at a meeting that was convened for the purpose of carrying on business. That did not happen last night. I do hope, Mr. Speaker, that you will take into consideration the very good procedural points that my colleagues have raised for the sanity of this place and to continue to operate these interparliamentary groups as parliamentary groups, not government-controlled groups. It was so obvious last night that the government was controlling what this parliamentary group was doing. That is not appropriate. All of the times that I have travelled with these groups and welcomed people to this country from other jurisdictions, we have worked hard to keep the groups as non-partisan parliamentary groups that represent members of Parliament.

Mr. Speaker, by international standards, Canada has fewer doctors specializing in palliative care than countries such as the U.S. or Australia. The Liberal government promised to support palliative care, but there was no word of it in the 2016 budget or in the latest legislation. How can the Liberal government, in good conscience, open up physician-assisted suicide when palliative care is not available to the large majority of Canadians who need it?

Mr. Speaker, the Liberals claim to stand up for the middle class, but the recent non-action by the Minister of Transport on foreign ownership rules for air carriers means that middle-class Canadians will continue to have poor airport service and pay higher fees. The clear recommendation of the Canadian Transport Act review would reduce costs and give better service for middle-class Canadians who use the Waterloo regional airport in my riding of Kitchener—Conestoga. Why is the minister ignoring them?

Madam Speaker, the Waterloo International Airport wants the Liberals to raise the foreign ownership limit of airlines to 49%. This will allow low-cost airlines to start up in Canada and will create thousands of jobs.The minister said a decision was not forthcoming, but in the House last week, his parliamentary secretary said that there would be a decision in the coming months.This uncertainty is unacceptable. We need action now. Why is the minister not listening to Canadians who want low-cost air carriers and more jobs?

Mr. Speaker, Canadians have shown strong support to resettle thousands of refugees from Syria to Canada. Unfortunately, it seems that the number of Syrian refugees is more important than the care they receive. Organizations and churches that raised up to $70,000 to privately sponsor a refugee family were told they would arrive in February. Here we are, three months later, and nothing. There has been nothing in three months.When will the minister make good on these promises and unite these refugees with their sponsors?

Mr. Speaker, Canadians are very concerned about the escalating violence against Christians in Nigeria and about the Liberal government's decision to close the office of religious freedom at a time when it was effectively working in Nigeria.The former parliamentary secretary to the Minister of Foreign Affairs said that the office had “successfully developed a community-based mechanism to help defuse tensions between different religious and ethnic groups”, including Christians and Muslims. Why did the Liberal government close an office that it knew was effectively reducing violence and deaths?

Mr. Speaker, by international standards, Canada has fewer doctors specializing in palliative care than countries such as the U.S. or Australia.Out of 77,000 physicians in Canada, a recent survey identified only 51 palliative care specialists, as well as 123 family physicians whose practices focus on palliative care.Where is the evidence that the Liberals have any concrete plans to address this crucial issue of palliative care?

Mr. Speaker, recent data released by Statistics Canada show that for the first time in history more seniors than children are living in Canada. Budget 2017 provides almost no help to seniors today, but instead delays palliative care funding for a decade. Seniors need help now. When will the Liberals start taking this issue seriously by making the necessary investments in palliative care and home care?

Mr. Speaker, in February 2016, the Canada Transportation Act review report was tabled in the House. It recommended that Canada's foreign ownership limit be increased to 49% to allow other carriers to provide improved air transportation for Canadians. In spite of a strong business case, strong market demand, and the overwhelming support of airports and municipalities, including the Regional Municipality of Waterloo, the minister has chosen not to take action. Why is the minister standing in the way of job growth?

Mr. Speaker, since the Liberals visited China, the situation has gotten even worse. Farmers and processors in my riding are paying for the Liberal government's failures. China is continuing to unfairly target Canada and is now taking aim at our pork producers. Now the Prime Minister is saying that he might talk to the Chinese president in three weeks. This crisis has been going on for six months. When will the Prime Minister finally stand up for our ranchers and farmers and support our Canadian agricultural industry?

Madam Speaker, on September 4, the office of the public prosecutor informed SNC-Lavalin that it would be moving forward with the criminal trial. On September 17, the former attorney general told the Prime Minister that she would not interfere in the criminal trial. That should have been the end. However, after that meeting, the Clerk of the Privy Council and the Prime Minister's principal secretary tried to get the former attorney general to interfere in the trial.When will the Prime Minister realize that this obstruction of justice is a criminal offence?

Mr. Speaker, the Liberals continue to fail Canadian seniors and their families. On Friday, I asked why they are not making palliative care funding a priority. The parliamentary secretary's response was medical aid in dying. Really? Is the Liberal solution to an aging population assisted suicide? When will the Liberals get serious about the issues facing Canadian seniors and help those in need of proper home care and palliative care?

Mr. Speaker, Ontario voters have spoken clearly: they do not want a carbon tax. Now it is time for the Prime Minister to stop forcing his punishing carbon tax on middle-class Canadian families. Farmers in Kitchener—Conestoga are especially concerned about this unfair tax, which would increase their costs for tractor fuel, fertilizer, and transportation of feed and farm products.Will the Prime Minister finally stop forcing and using his heavy-handed taxes, which are only needed because of his out-of-control spending?

Madam Speaker, yesterday, the heritage minister tried to blame our previous Conservative government for lack of winter maintenance at the National Holocaust Monument. That is complete nonsense. If the Liberals want it open year-round, they could do it. This is the same Liberal government that neglected to mention the Jewish people on the dedication plaque. Did the Liberals think this monument was not important enough to keep it open year-round?

Mr. Speaker, the Liberals' relentless pressure on the former attorney general in the SNC-Lavalin affair is not only an embarrassment but potentially criminal. In one of those interactions, the former attorney general said that the Prime Minister jumped in, stressing there was an election in Quebec, and said, “I am an MP in Quebec, the member for Papineau.”Later, the former attorney general told the finance minister that engagements from his office to hers on the SNC-Lavalin affair had to stop. They did not stop.The Prime Minister has lost the moral authority to govern Canada. He must resign. When will he resign?

Mr. Speaker, this morning the Prime Minister signed the USMCA along with the presidents of the United States and Mexico.The problem is that appendix 3, sections C10 and 11, undermine Canadian sovereignty and our ability to manage our dairy sector without U.S. intervention. Canada cannot afford to hand over sovereignty of our dairy sector, effectively giving up our ability to provide food security for Canadians.Why did the Prime Minister capitulate to Donald Trump at the expense of our dairy sector?

Madam Speaker, last week I heard from Mike, chairman of Tri-Mach manufacturing in Elmira. Mike employs 150 Canadians and had purchased more land with plans to expand his company and add another 100 employees, but these proposed Liberal tax changes have halted all of his plans. In fact, Mike is now planning on selling the land and downsizing his operation.Why has the finance minister designed a system that will make Mike pay huge increases in tax that will cripple his business, while the family fortunes of the Prime Minister and the finance minister remain untouched? How is that fair?

Mr. Speaker, Colorado has had legalized marijuana for over a year now, and we have started to see the statistics that show the dangers of its decision. According to Reuters, over 40 children were taken to a poison control centre after they picked up colourful sweets laced with strong doses of marijuana that their parents had left lying around.The government has said it wants to protect children through legalizing marijuana. Could the Minister of Health explain exactly how she plans to do that?

Mr. Speaker, Canadians have shown strong support to resettle thousands of refugees from Syria to Canada. Unfortunately, it seems that the number of Syrian refugees is more important than the care they receive. Organizations and churches that raised up to $70,000 to privately sponsor a refugee family were told they would arrive in February. Here we are, three months later, and nothing. There has been nothing in three months.When will the minister make good on these promises and unite these refugees with their sponsors?

Mr. Speaker, in reference to the Supreme Court of Canada decision yesterday, our Minister of Health stated that the Liberals need to confront the fact that access to high quality palliative care is available in a very patchy manner across the country.While Liberals keep talking about their commitment to palliative care, their free spending budget does not earmark one single dollar for it.Why do the Liberals continue to break their promises by saying one thing and then doing another?

Mr. Speaker, in February 2016, the Canada Transportation Act review report was tabled in the House. It recommended that Canada's foreign ownership limit be increased to 49% to allow other carriers to provide improved air transportation for Canadians. In spite of a strong business case, strong market demand, and the overwhelming support of airports and municipalities, including the Regional Municipality of Waterloo, the minister has chosen not to take action. Why is the minister standing in the way of job growth?

Mr. Speaker, due to the legal uncertainty created by the Liberal promise to legalize marijuana, grow ops are sprouting up in my riding. This is causing significant health concerns, especially for our children.Could the minister explain exactly how the Liberals plan to keep this product out of the hands of children when it could be available on every street corner?

Mr. Speaker, by international standards, Canada has fewer doctors specializing in palliative care than countries such as the U.S. or Australia. The Liberal government promised to support palliative care, but there was no word of it in the 2016 budget or in the latest legislation. How can the Liberal government, in good conscience, open up physician-assisted suicide when palliative care is not available to the large majority of Canadians who need it?

Mr. Speaker, Canadians are very concerned about the escalating violence against Christians in Nigeria and about the Liberal government's decision to close the office of religious freedom at a time when it was effectively working in Nigeria.The former parliamentary secretary to the Minister of Foreign Affairs said that the office had “successfully developed a community-based mechanism to help defuse tensions between different religious and ethnic groups”, including Christians and Muslims. Why did the Liberal government close an office that it knew was effectively reducing violence and deaths?

Mr. Speaker, as the Liberals push to legalize marijuana, many Canadians are concerned about the consequences of people driving while high. We have seen these issues in Colorado, where marijuana-related traffic deaths increased by 92% between 2010 and 2014. After meetings with drug recognition experts, it is clear there is no precise way to measure impairment while under the influence of marijuana. Will the Liberals stop their drive to legalize marijuana until authorities have the tools to ensure the safety of Canadians on the road?

Madam Speaker, the Waterloo International Airport wants the Liberals to raise the foreign ownership limit of airlines to 49%. This will allow low-cost airlines to start up in Canada and will create thousands of jobs.The minister said a decision was not forthcoming, but in the House last week, his parliamentary secretary said that there would be a decision in the coming months.This uncertainty is unacceptable. We need action now. Why is the minister not listening to Canadians who want low-cost air carriers and more jobs?

Mr. Speaker, recent data released by Statistics Canada show that for the first time in history more seniors than children are living in Canada. Budget 2017 provides almost no help to seniors today, but instead delays palliative care funding for a decade. Seniors need help now. When will the Liberals start taking this issue seriously by making the necessary investments in palliative care and home care?

Mr. Speaker, I certainly do not profess to have the procedural acumen that my colleagues have, but over the almost 13 years I have been in Parliament, I have had the privilege of serving on a number of committees for interparliamentary groups, such as the Canada-Africa Parliamentary Association, the Canada-Armenia Friendship Group, and the Canada-Germany Interparliamentary Group. Some of those groups get funding from Parliament, and one of them is the NATO interparliamentary group. I have been a member of it and I received a notice that a meeting was called for last night. I went to the meeting. A number of motions and points of order were raised. At one point, the meeting was adjourned. Upon adjournment, I left the building and went to another event. I did not know until this morning that the meeting had supposedly been reconvened However, it could not be reconvened because it did not fall within the rules of the constitution of the NATO interparliamentary group. There was no two weeks' notice given. There was no notice of nominees. There was no way that I, as a parliamentarian, could have had meaningful input into the choice.Thus, my privileges as a member of Parliament have been breached. As a member of Parliament and as a member of the NATO interparliamentary group, it was my right to be at a meeting that was convened for the purpose of carrying on business. That did not happen last night. I do hope, Mr. Speaker, that you will take into consideration the very good procedural points that my colleagues have raised for the sanity of this place and to continue to operate these interparliamentary groups as parliamentary groups, not government-controlled groups. It was so obvious last night that the government was controlling what this parliamentary group was doing. That is not appropriate. All of the times that I have travelled with these groups and welcomed people to this country from other jurisdictions, we have worked hard to keep the groups as non-partisan parliamentary groups that represent members of Parliament.

Mr. Speaker, the Liberals claim to stand up for the middle class, but the recent non-action by the Minister of Transport on foreign ownership rules for air carriers means that middle-class Canadians will continue to have poor airport service and pay higher fees. The clear recommendation of the Canadian Transport Act review would reduce costs and give better service for middle-class Canadians who use the Waterloo regional airport in my riding of Kitchener—Conestoga. Why is the minister ignoring them?

Mr. Speaker, the Canadian Cancer Society recently issued a report that shed some very discouraging light on the state of palliative care in Canada. However, instead of dealing with this sad fact first as its number one priority, the Liberal government seems to be focusing all its efforts on physician-assisted suicide.Why is the Liberal government working so hard on a plan to allow living people to die, rather than helping dying people to live?

Mr. Speaker, by international standards, Canada has fewer doctors specializing in palliative care than countries such as the U.S. or Australia.Out of 77,000 physicians in Canada, a recent survey identified only 51 palliative care specialists, as well as 123 family physicians whose practices focus on palliative care.Where is the evidence that the Liberals have any concrete plans to address this crucial issue of palliative care?

Mr. Speaker, while we recognize this week as National Suicide Prevention Week, suicide continues to be a major national public health issue in Canada. In December 2012, Bill C-300, An Act respecting a Federal Framework for Suicide Prevention, was passed into law. This framework will help the hundreds of Canadians across Canada who are working with some of Canada's most vulnerable people.Would the Minister of Health inform the House as to when we can expect some information as to when this bill will actually be implemented?

Mr. Speaker, the Liberal government has taken Canada out of the fight against ISIS. It has eliminated the office of religious freedom. Now we learn that Canada's peacekeeping efforts are at an all-time low. We know that in Iraq today, Christians are still being killed simply for their belief.When will the Liberal government wake up to the plight of Christians in the Middle East and take concrete action towards stopping this genocide?