Leslie Church

Mr. Speaker, what we are hearing from that side of the House, what we are hearing heckled today, is that the programs we have been putting in place to help Canadians and Canadian families are glorified food stamps, that these are ideological, radical programs. In fact, they are actually designed to help Canadians. We have boosted them, whether it is our groceries and essentials benefit, which [more]

Mr. Speaker, I have respect for my colleague opposite, but I would remind him that TFWs are less than 1% of the workforce and that temporary foreign workers use is down by 70% in Canada. In fact, this is a government that stands behind youth. We are creating jobs for youth. One of the things we are doing right now is investing in our union, training and innovation programs, supporting 1,800 [more]

Mr. Speaker, let me address the member opposite's concerns, particularly about costs. He was looking for answers. He may not like them, but here they are. The fact of the matter is that spending on the project has not surged. The recently completed move of old age security onto the Cúram platform was delivered as planned and under budget. Let me say that again: It was delivered as planned and [more]

Mr. Speaker, I would note that in the member for Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan's nearly four-minute opener, we barely heard about the impact of the trade war on Canada's economic situation. In fact, what we heard was a fair amount of heavy sarcasm about the state of challenge that has been placed on Canada and on Canadians in the past 14 months as a result of a very serious trade war that [more]

Mr. Speaker, the government's priority is reducing pressures on costs and creating new opportunities for Canadians. I would note to my colleague that, as mentioned in the previous response, Canada right now is set to have the second-fastest growth in the G7. Foreign direct investment into the Canadian economy is at an 18-year high. These are proof points that the serious economic plan that we [more]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to correct my colleague across the way. I said no such thing. I take these concerns very seriously, as does our government: investing in jobs and investing in the growth that is going to propel new jobs in this country in the years to come, to bring in foreign direct investment, to diversify our trade, to build major projects, to invest in housing and to make life more [more]

Mr. Speaker, I have to say that I am a bit confounded by this particular line of argument from both of the members opposite this evening, somehow comparing Canada to European countries in particular, and to Japan, in terms of just comparing the level of integration that we have as a Canadian economy with the United States and calling it comparable to that of European members of the G7. Prime [more]

Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the member for Abitibi—Témiscamingue for his question. I also want to thank him for attending the technical briefing recently held for members of Parliament. This debate gives us yet another opportunity to share with Canadians our commitment to ensuring that they may continue to receive the critical federal benefits to which they are entitled. We have been investing [more]

Mr. Speaker, enough rhetoric from that side of the House. This is a government that is supporting Canadians right across the country. We have delivered on the groceries benefit, which in my riding is going to help over 30,000 of my constituents. I expect something similar in that member's riding as well. That benefit is going to help deliver close to $1,900 this year for a family of four. It is [more]

C-12 Mr. Speaker, with respect to Bill, the government is always interested in ensuring that legislation passed in the House moves quickly through here and the other place. I am going to take a moment to address the question that I think prompted this evening's late show. I want to take a moment to address Canada's actions with respect to the officials of the Iranian regime and the integrity of [more]