Ken Hardie

[Business of Supply, June 4th, 2024]

Madam Speaker, I am totally on side with the motion, but it is a matter of the what and the how.

What we want to do is see food prices moderate or come down. With respect to how, though, I want to talk about the price cap and ask my hon. friend a question. The free market response to a price cap quite often ends up being rationing. What would the response be if big grocery decided that we were forcing them to sell milk, eggs, butter, etcetera at a low price, so they were not going to make a whole bunch of those things available to people? Are there thoughts, or could there be thoughts, on how to deal with that issue?

[Business of Supply, May 30th, 2024]

Madam Speaker, my colleague is very articulate and eloquent, but she missed a few points. With the kind of tax cut that Conservatives are talking about, somebody would have to burn almost 1,300 litres of gasoline over the next three months for that to really make sense.

There are a couple of other things. We could do without the rebates, which is a consequence of axing the tax, but what a lot of people do not remember is that 40% of the excise taxes collected in Canada go back to municipalities to help them with infrastructure. I know this from my days in metro Vancouver at the transportation authority because we benefited from that. Is that also something she would give up?

Would she be prepared, as well, to contemplate somebody doing a “Danielle Smith” or the big oil companies just simply raising their prices to take up the space left when she cuts the tax?

[The Budget, April 29th, 2024]

Mr. Speaker, I wanted to give the hon. member a chance to expand on the whole issue of the housing accelerator fund. The average person might be forgiven for playing along with the question that was asked regarding how many houses this would build. The housing minister said that it would build none. People would ask what that is all about.

With regard to the housing accelerator fund, what is it all about?

[Committees of the House, April 18th, 2024]

Mr. Speaker, I have the honour to present, in both official languages, the sixth interim report of the Special Committee on the Canada-People's Republic of China Relationship, entitled “Summary of the Special Committee's Meetings in Washington, D.C.” I would note that our American cousins have many of the same issues that we have, in terms of our ongoing relationship with the People's Republic of China; I would also like to take this opportunity to give a shout-out of sorts to Mike Gallagher.

Representative Gallagher from Wisconsin has been the chair of their select committee. He is leaving public life, at least for the time being, in just a few days. He has done outstanding work in Washington, and we will miss him.

[Employment, April 16th, 2024]

Mr. Speaker, today, the Deputy Prime Minister will deliver the budget. Over the last few weeks, we have seen the important efforts of this government to invest in this country, building a record we can be proud of. On the other side, the Leader of the Opposition loves to talk about his record when he was minister of employment. He wants to convince Canadians that he has the solution to make life better: cut, cut, cut. Well, cuts do not create jobs. Cuts do not create investment. Cuts do not increase wages.

Can the Minister of Employment, Workforce Development and Official Languages tell the House what the government is going to do to make life better for Canadians?

[April 12th, 2024]

Madam Speaker, on the same issue for Motion No. 117, I voted but did not receive any kind of notification that there was a problem. My vote was not counted, so I am asking for unanimous consent that my vote be counted as a yes.

[George Garrett, April 11th, 2024]

Mr. Speaker, metro Vancouver has lost yet another media legend, George Garrett. Known far and wide as the intrepid reporter, George passed away on March 18 at the age of 89.

George was legendary for many reasons, not the least of which was his incredible Rolodex of contacts with personal phone numbers for police, prosecutors and politicians, including mine.

He was legendary for his disarmingly friendly and gentlemanly demeanour. George could charm his way into gathering new scoops that kept CKNW, his radio home for 43 years, way out in front of the pack of press and broadcast reporters. He had a unique balance. He was tough, but as I experienced personally, one could always trust that one would get a fair shake from George, which is why people would answer when he called.

George received many awards, but I think the biggest one was the respect and admiration of his peers and of his community leaders alike. Now, when news reporting is more important than ever, we should all hope to see more like him.

[Canadian Sustainable Jobs Act, April 11th, 2024]

Mr. Speaker, really, the most difficult output of fossil fuels is when they are burned for fuel. However, other things could be done with the things that we dig up out of the ground.

Could the hon. member talk about the innovation in the petrochemical industry? Has he heard from the industry about the sort of things that could be done that would certainly make for a very bright future for the petrochemical industry when we, at least, rely a lot less on burning it for energy?

[Petitions, March 22nd, 2024]

Mr. Speaker, the second petition that I have harmonizes with work done at the fisheries and oceans standing committee.

Basically, the undersigned citizens of Canada call on the Minister of Fisheries, Oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard to immediately prohibit any transfer of commercial fishing licences and quotas to foreign interests or beneficial owners who are not Canadian.

[Petitions, March 22nd, 2024]

Mr. Speaker, I have two certified petitions pursuant to Standing Order 36.

The first recognizes long wait times and inconsistent standards of service delivery, which have a significant negative impact on the physical and mental well-being of Canadian Armed Forces veterans, as well as current and former members of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.

The petitioners ask that the Minister of Veterans Affairs commit to remedying the situation, which has been allowed to exist for too long.