Ron Liepert

[Questions Passed as Orders for Returns, November 19th, 2018]

With regard to the Asian Infrastructure Bank, since January 1, 2016: (a) how many Canadian businesses are investing in projects in the Asian Infrastructure Bank broken down by year; (b) how much Canadian money is spent on projects in the Asian Infrastructure Bank broken down by year; and (c) of the projects listed in (a), how many of these businesses are operating through, either directly or indirectly, the Canadian Government?

[Questions on the Order Paper, November 19th, 2018]

With regard to the Minister of the Environment’s YouTube channel, since November 4, 2015: (a) how many full-time equivalents manage the channel; (b) what are the titles and corresponding pay scales of the full-time equivalents who manage the channel; (c) how much has been spent on overtime pay for the full-time equivalents who manage the channel; (d) how much has been spent on developing content for the channel, and how much is earmarked to be spent for the remainder of the 2018-19 fiscal year; (e) how much has been spent on promoting content for the channel, and how much is earmarked to be spent for the remainder of the 2018-19 fiscal year; (f) is there a cross-platform promotion plan to share content from the channel to other digital media platforms; (g) are the costs associated with (f) included in the YouTube budget, or do they fall within the budget of the other platforms; (h) what are the digital media platforms used to promote or share the Minister’s YouTube content; (i) what is the monthly expenditure on the channel, broken down by month; and (j) what is the annual expenditure on the channel, broken down by year?

[Questions on the Order Paper, November 19th, 2018]

With regard to the Canadian Surface Combatant project, since July 1, 2016: (a) how many amendments have been made to the request for proposals; (b) how much has been spent on legal fees for amendments to the request for proposals; (c) how many companies made bids on the first iteration of the request for proposals; (d) how many companies have made bids on the current iteration of the request for proposals; (e) of the companies in (c) how many qualify as small businesses; and (f) of the companies in (d) how many qualify as small businesses?

[Privacy, November 1st, 2018]

Mr. Speaker, when I heard on the news on the weekend about this Statistics Canada scam, I thought it just cannot be true because we live in Canada, not the Soviet Union. After listening to the minister responsible for the gulag over there, I am not so sure we are not in the Soviet Union. The minister said today that Canadians had better get on board.

Yesterday, I surveyed my constituents. In one day there have been over 1,000 responses and 98% of them said, “Get out of my life,” not “Get on board.” I would like to ask the minister—

[Privacy, October 31st, 2018]

Mr. Speaker, this past weekend, I was watching Global News and saw the report that Statistics Canada, without consent, was preparing to gather personal financial information from some 500,000 Canadians. When I saw that, I thought that it could not be true. Well, it is true, because over the past two days, the Prime Minister has not only confirmed it but has also doubled down. He says that Canadians' private information will be protected, but this is also the guy who said he would balance the budget and that budgets balance themselves. It sounds to me like this is another case of “I'm here from the government, and I want to help”.

Not even my wife knows about my own personal financial transactions. Why does the Prime Minister think he has the right to snoop into my transactions and those of half a million Canadians? The Prime Minister is finally demonstrating what we have all known: the long-held belief that he has deep admiration for China's basic dictatorship.

[Natural Resources, October 19th, 2018]

Mr. Speaker, I know that the government is not listening to the indigenous community and so we will see if it will listen to the business community.

Recently, I had the opportunity to visit the Port of Vancouver. At the Port of Vancouver there are hundreds of millions of dollars' worth of construction in new facilities happening today. The officials at the Port of Vancouver said to me that if Bill C-69 had been in place two years ago, not one dollar of what is being spent today would be invested in the Port of Vancouver.

Will the minister stand up today and say to the business community who are investing in the Port of Vancouver that she will kill this bill?

[Trans Mountain Pipeline Project Act, October 18th, 2018]

Mr. Speaker, I welcome the opportunity to use the six minutes to express some views that I consistently get from my constituents in Calgary. They are very similar to what the member for Calgary Shepard mentioned. However, a couple of comments were made today that prompted me to get up and respond.

I listened attentively to the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Natural Resources. He talked about the government having a plan. Many in Alberta believe the Liberals do have a plan, and it is called ragging the puck. Part of the plan was to purchase Kinder Morgan so they were then in control of the timeline for building the pipeline. Many people in Alberta, including me and many of my colleagues, believe the government has no intention of ever getting shovels in the ground. This is part of the plan all right, the plan to rag the puck until after the next election, and the Liberals are doing a good job of it.

I know a number of members on the government side may not be familiar with how the oil industry is priced. I thought I would like to make a few comments to put it in a perspective that is easy for all Canadians to understand. We hear terms like, “price differential”. Very few people really understand what price differential means, so let me try to lay out as to what it means to Canadians in the way of lost revenue.

Today, the price of world oil is about $80 a barrel. In the U.S., it is around $70 a barrel. Alberta today is getting under $20 a barrel. Therefore, that price differential of $50 a barrel equates to one school per day not being built in Canada, while one school per day is being built in the United States. It equates to the equivalent of one hospital per week not being built in Canada, but it is being built in the United States.

For those members of the government who come from the auto industry area of Ontario, let me put this in perspective. At the Ford plant in Oakville, it produces a car worth $70,000 and it sells for $70,000 in Canada. However, when that same car is sold in the U.S., the Americans are quite happy to give us $20,000 for it. That is what we are dealing with today.

It is time for the government to do what it says it will do. The Liberals say they are committed to this pipeline. I see nothing in what they are doing that will get this pipeline built. That is why this bill is so very important.

I am offended when I hear the Prime Minister say that the government will not use tricks. He is calling a piece of legislation a trick. The Prime Minister is very good at tricks. It is time he start to look at reality and get on with it, get the job done and get that oil flowing to the west coast so we can start having a school per day built in Canada, not in the United States; a hospital per week built in Canada, not in the United States.

The time is now. We can do it with this legislation. Let us get on with it and support it.

[Clayton Riddell, September 17th, 2018]

Mr. Speaker, this past weekend the City of Calgary lost a pillar of the community, Mr. Clayton Riddell.

Clay, as he was better known, was the founder of Paramount Resources. He was a co-owner of the Calgary Flames, but he was probably best known for his philanthropic initiatives across the country. Included in that is his name being on the University of Manitoba's Faculty of Environment, Earth, and Resources. He is also well known for making one of the largest donations ever to Carleton University. Many of the people on the Hill today come from its graduate program in political management.

Mr. Riddell was one of those guys who, whether one met him in his office or on the midway of the Calgary Stampede, was Clay. We will miss Mr. Riddell and his philanthropic initiatives, but I can say that for many generations going forward, Canadians will benefit because of this outstanding Canadian. We express our condolences to his children, Sue and Jim, who are also leading Calgarian business people.

[2013 Calgary Flood, June 18th, 2018]

Mr. Speaker, this past weekend marked the fifth anniversary of the largest natural disaster in the city of Calgary's history. It was the great flood of 2013. Contrary to what the Minister of Environment and Climate Change continues to try to tell us, this flood was not caused by climate change. It was caused by a heavy late-spring rainfall that melted a large snow pack in the mountains.

This flood caused billions of dollars of damage, but it also resulted in thousands of Calgarians helping neighbours in the clean-up. As a result, Calgary, on the second weekend of June, always celebrates neighbour day. That happened this past Saturday, where communities held barbecues and neighbours held block parties.

I would ask Canadians to consider, in cities and communities across the country, emulating what Calgary has done because we never know when we will need our neighbours' help.

[Questions Passed as Orders for Returns, June 14th, 2018]

With regard to renovation, redesign and re-furnishing of Ministers’ or Deputy Ministers’ offices since April 1, 2016: (a) what is the total cost of any spending on renovating, redesigning, and re-furnishing for each ministerial office, broken down by (i) total cost, (ii) moving services, (iii) renovating services, (iv) painting, (v) flooring, (vi) furniture, (vii) appliances, (viii) art installation, (ix) all other expenditures; and (b) what is the total cost of any spending on renovating, redesigning, and re-furnishing for each Deputy Minister’s office, broken down by (i) total cost, (ii) moving services, (iii) renovating services, (iv) painting, (v) flooring, (vi) furniture, (vii) appliances, (viii) art installation, (ix) all other expenditures?