Vance Badawey

[Civil Aviation Safety, December 13th, 2024]

Mr. Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 32(2) and consistent with the policy on the tabling of treaties in Parliament, I have the honour to table, in both official languages, a treaty entitled “Agreement between Canada and the European Union amending Annex B of the Agreement on Civil Aviation Safety between Canada and the European Community” done at Washington on June 12, 2024.

[Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship, December 11th, 2024]

Madam Speaker, frankly, alarmist discourse that feeds into disinformation about the security of our border is not helpful and undermines the team Canada approach we have taken with the provinces and territories on this issue.

Just today, the first ministers were meeting with the Prime Minister to go through many issues, such as the one we are discussing this evening.

I have total confidence in the ability of these brave women and men, who every single day work tirelessly to keep our border safe and secure. We will continue to support them, because they support us, by increasing human resources, technologies and the equipment they need to continue to protect the integrity of our border and ensure border security readiness in the face of uncertainties. We will do so while also strengthening our collaboration with provincial, municipal, indigenous and American law enforcement partners.

I invite my colleagues to leave their political agendas behind and to join us in speaking in unity to show that Canada is and will continue to be a strong, reliable and trustworthy partner.

[Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship, December 11th, 2024]

Madam Speaker, I want to say that our first and foremost priority at the moment is to take concrete and immediate actions at the border to show Canadians and our U.S. partners that our shared border is secure and that we continue to work to improve its integrity.

To that end, we are working on a strong, smart and tough border plan, which includes immediate actions at the border as well as short-term investments and measures to bolster our posture. Our government has made significant efforts in the past years to combat cross-border criminality and transnational organized crime, particularly around the issues of human smuggling, drugs and firearm smuggling, as well as trafficking. In budget 2024 alone, we announced funding totalling $399.5 million over five years, and $69.2 million ongoing, for the CBSA to support the processing of asylum claims and facilitate removals. The results speak for themselves.

We have recently seen record-breaking seizures of methamphetamine as well as cocaine, alongside arrests linked to firearms trafficking. Collaborative efforts between the CBSA, the RCMP and other Canadian and international law enforcement partners, such as U.S. Customs and Border Protection, have been central in clamping down on cross-border threats.

Partnerships with U.S. law enforcement agencies and partners have already enabled several successful law enforcement actions, including Project Moneypenny, a collaboration that saw the disruption of a firearms trafficking operation and led to the seizure of 173 smuggled firearms, drugs and other proceeds of crime, coupled with dozens of arrests. These great examples of co-operation between all partners and successful stories of seizures show, clearly, that our system is working, that our border is secure and that Canadians and Americans are safe.

We have no intention of stopping here. We will continue to invest and support our law enforcement and border agencies to ensure that they have the human resources as well as the tools they need to enhance the security and integrity of our border and to respond to any potential threats or surges well into the future.

That is why, in coming days, our government will make further announcements to strengthen Canada's border security posture. These additional measures will focus on providing the resources and tools the RCMP and the CBSA need, whether it be by leveraging new technologies, providing additional drones and helicopters or putting more boots on the ground and boats in the water to ensure that all areas are controlled.

I hope that all my colleagues will join me in supporting these important measures so that we can move swiftly on ensuring a smarter, stronger and tougher border.

[Privilege, December 11th, 2024]

Madam Speaker, this is something that the Conservatives have not told Canadians about the carbon tax, and I hope the Conservatives are paying attention.

If Canada had no carbon tax, Canadian farmers exporting to the European Union, for example, could face significant challenges under the carbon border adjustment mechanism. How would farmers who are exporting deal with tariffs if Canada did not have the carbon tax or carbon pricing?

[Questions on the Order Paper, December 9th, 2024]

Mr. Speaker, with regard to part (a), Via Rail only authorizes sports and recreational equipment with a linear dimension of 158 linear cm (61 linear inches). Linear dimensions are obtained by adding length, width and height.

With regard to part (b), Via Rail is continuing to replace its Québec City-Windsor corridor fleet with new and modern trains. As such, travel with bicycles as checked baggage will be progressively reintroduced as of spring 2025, and cyclists will be able to reserve and pay for their bicycle transport on trains where the service is available when they book their ticket on Via Rail's reservation system.

In the case of routes outside the Québec City-Windsor corridor, such as Toronto-Vancouver, Montreal-Halifax, Sudbury-White River, Senneterre, Jonquière, Winnipeg-Churchill and Jasper-Prince Rupert, for safety reasons, bicycles must be stored in our baggage cars, which can accommodate larger items and are equipped with bike racks. This is why a baggage car is required to authorize their transport.

With regard to part (c), this long-standing distinction in Via Rail's baggage policy is currently being re-evaluated and the policy will be adjusted to charge uniformly for sports and recreational equipment of comparable size and requiring the same handling effort.

With regard to part (d), rolling equipment and train sets, as well as passenger's needs, differ from country to country. As a result, passenger train operators’ baggage policies may vary. Via Rail cannot speak on behalf of other companies.

With regard to part (e), travel with bicycles will be progressively reintroduced in the Québec City-Windsor corridor as of spring 2025. By then, cyclists will be able to reserve and pay for their bicycle transport on trains where the service is available when they book their ticket on Via Rail's reservation system.

[Transport, December 6th, 2024]

Madam Speaker, actually, I agree with the member. We have been in the House here for over a month now, bogged down by the Conservatives with respect to their privilege motion. Once we can get by that, we can get back to the order of business here in the House, something that most, if not all, members are looking forward to.

[Persons with Disabilities, November 28th, 2024]

Mr. Speaker, this government takes accessibility very seriously, ensuring all passengers are treated with dignity. In May, for example, we had a summit to listen to and learn from those who have accessibility issues. Of course, recommendations came out of those meetings to ensure we work with the airlines and, quite frankly, demand they address the issues as the member has brought forward.

[Air Transportation, November 25th, 2024]

Mr. Speaker, our government was the first to protect the rights of passengers, starting in 2019. The air passenger protection regulations are there to protect passengers and their families. We expect all airlines to follow these rules.

We are going to be relentless in working with the airlines to ensure, once again, that they are looking after their passengers as well as the families of those passengers.

[Conservative Party of Canada, November 21st, 2024]

Mr. Speaker, the Leader of the Opposition has made it clear. His vision for Canada mirrors the Mike Harris “common sense revolution”, a revolution that was anything but common sense for Ontario families.

Ontario remembers that under Harris, we saw crucial programs that built stronger, healthier communities slashed without thought, infrastructure neglected and costs recklessly downloaded to municipalities. The result was soaring property taxes, skyrocketing water bills and communities left to clean up the mess.

The Leader of the Opposition now wants to take the same failed approach nationwide, cutting programs like the housing accelerator fund that Canadians rely on, weakening public services and forcing municipalities and families to bear the financial burden, resulting in property tax and water bill increases.

Canadians deserve better. They deserve a government that invests in communities, strengthens public services and supports affordability, not one that revives the reckless Conservative policies of the past that will increase property taxes and water bills.

[Oil and Gas Industry, November 8th, 2024]

Madam Speaker, the pollution cap will ensure that our energy sector can increase its production while decreasing its emissions. Countries around the world are looking at Canada for less-polluting energy. If we want our energy to stay competitive, we must lower our emissions. The pollution cap will provide long-term competitiveness in Canadian energy so that we can keep being an energy superpower for the world.

Under the do-nothing approach of the previous Conservative government, Canada's imports of foreign oil were two times higher. It failed to promote Canadian energy. I would be happy to offer the Conservative leader and his party a briefing on climate change. He does not—