Arnold Viersen

Mr. Speaker, Steve Van Raalte in my riding texted me. He is a heavy-duty mechanic who is frustrated with the price of diesel. It has been cutting into his bottom line. The Liberals are out of touch, and Canadians like Steve are out of money. There are at least two companies in Alberta that are working to develop diesel fuel out of natural gas, and this would reduce our reliance on American [more]

Madam Speaker, Conservatives are winning the argument. When Stephen Harper took office as prime minister of this country, he argued that we needed to diversify our market away from the United States, so he went on a tear to sign 43 free trade agreements around the world. Now we see that the Liberal government has finally come to its senses and has started to adopt the Conservative narrative, at [more]

Mr. Speaker, 10 years ago, I rose in this chamber to move a motion that would require Parliament to investigate the public health impacts of sexually explicit material on kids and adults. Thanks to the support of my colleagues, this motion passed unanimously. The following health committee study revealed what experts had been saying, that exposure to pornography is harming our youth. Exposure was [more]

Mr. Speaker, the journey of this bill started back in 2015 with Motion No. 47, which came before this Parliament and was unanimously passed. That caused a health committee report that recommended exactly what the bill before us would do. It has been over a decade since that report come out. Canada was kind of a first mover back then, but efforts have kind of stalled. I wonder if the member could [more]

C-218 Madam Speaker, it is my honour and privilege to rise today to speak to Bill, a bill that would repeal the coming into force of MAID for mental illness as the sole underlying cause for concern. Canada is becoming a parable. It is becoming an example of what not to do for the world. The United Kingdom recently had a discussion about introducing euthanasia or MAID to the country. It looked at [more]

Prime Minister Madam Speaker, before the government's summer vacation, I asked the government why it was putting trade talks with the United States in jeopardy to protect the's corporate friends instead of fighting modern-day slavery. The reality is that since 2021, the Canada Border Services Agency has seized only two shipments of goods that were made using forced labour: a shipment of textiles [more]

S-211 Madam Speaker, I would note that there is a lot of “we will” in the response. The government has been in place for over 10 years, and I have to say that if history is any indication of trying to get forced labour out of the government, it is like pulling teeth. It is incredibly difficult. Attempts to get Billacross the line took a very long time. Then, once we had it passed, the coming into [more]

Mr. Speaker, Steve Van Raalte texted me just the other day. He is a heavy-duty mechanic. He is on the road often, driving from one job to the other. He was complaining to me about how the cost of fuel was really affecting his bottom line. He lives in a competitive environment and has to set his rate based on the other mechanics in the area. He lives kind of far from town and therefore is stuck [more]

Mr. Speaker, I am wondering if the hon. member could reflect a little bit on the history of how we got to this place today and perhaps on the fact that the Liberals seem to be taking our good ideas and running with them. This particular bill would be another example of that. I am wondering if she could talk a little bit about the history of this idea of reducing the gas tax over the last couple [more]

Mr. Speaker, I do not know if the member knows this, but northern Alberta produces about a quarter of Canada's honey. Alberta produces about half of Canada's honey, and northern Alberta produces about half of that, so about a quarter of Canada's honey comes from northern Alberta. I always say that my riding is the promised land. It is literally flowing with milk and honey. Particular places in [more]

Madam Speaker, the member mentioned folks who drive Hummers, and I would just point out to him that the new Hummer is actually an EV, so he might actually be in favour of people who drive Hummers. I want to congratulate the Liberal government on implementing the Conservative agenda, albeit maybe at half speed or a dollar late and a day short. Nonetheless, this has been something that we as [more]

Mr. Speaker, I want to ask my hon. colleague whether he thinks the Liberals have plagiarized our playbook with this bill.

Prime Minister Madam Speaker, Conservatives have been pointing out all day that the newhas been implementing the Conservative agenda, at perhaps about half speed. I am just wondering if my hon. colleague has any comments about that.

Mr. Speaker, Stephen Harper, back in 2007, pursued an agenda of decoupling us from the United States because, he said, we were good friends with the United States at that time, but it was a great risk to Canada that 90% of our commerce went to the United States. He worked on signing 42 free trade agreements around the world. He worked very hard to diversify our markets for our energy, given that [more]

Mr. Speaker, I noticed that the Liberals have been implementing the Conservative agenda, maybe at half speed, but this particular bill was definitely our idea. We are glad to see that maybe a year later after the fact, they are actually doing it. I am just wondering what other great ideas the Conservatives have had that the Liberals will be implementing soon.

Prime Minister Mr. Speaker, I know that the 10 years that Stephen Harper was the prime minister of this country are finally looked back on as a golden age in Canada, and I know that the Liberals have been taking our good ideas and running with them. Perhaps thewill continue that legacy of Stephen Harper of signing free trade deals around the world, moving our economy away from the United States, [more]

Mr. Speaker, this has been quite a debate this evening. I know that over the last number of years, we have watched the Liberals lay burden after burden upon Canadians, particularly with the deficit spending. We now see a reversal of a whole number of these things, whether it is this idea or some of the major project announcements that we have heard. I am just wondering if the member has seen a [more]

Prime Minister Mr. Speaker, I enjoyed the speech by my colleague immensely. I was just surprised that he did not mention anything about the defence relationship that theseems to be pursuing with China. I was just wondering if he had any comments on that.

Mr. Speaker, this feels like déjà vu. It was not that long ago that we were here debating nearly the exact same issue as we are today. Today, we have in front of us a bill. As opposition members, we get to propose ideas through opposition day motions, which are not necessarily binding upon the House or the government. Back in April, we were debating virtually the exact same thing. I would point [more]