Ottawa, ON – After gaining 2.4 million new votes and twenty-four new seats in the latest federal election, a larger and stronger Conservative caucus returned to Ottawa to fight for a Canada that is affordable, safe, self-reliant and united.
Conservatives are willing to work with the government when it’s in the best interests of the nation. We will proudly support all proposed tax cuts in order to lighten the burden on Canadian workers, even if the Liberals’ tax cuts don’t go nearly far enough. But the past weeks have shown that – even after a decade in power – the Liberals are still out of their depth when it comes to actually governing.
During Conservative questioning, Carney’s Minister of Public Safety revealed he didn’t know basic facts about existing firearms regulations. That included not knowing what a Restricted firearms license is, what the Canadian Firearms Safety Course is, or what the three classifications of firearms are. The same Minister also denied that the Liberals decriminalized hard drugs, including fentanyl, crystal meth and crack cocaine. He refused to ensure a review of the transfer of Paul Bernardo to a medium security prison, or commit to repealing catch-and-release Bills C-5 and C-75 that have led to crime and disorder across the country.
Sadly he wasn’t the only Minister who didn’t know their own file. Carney’s Immigration Minister was unable to confirm how many non-permanent residents had left Canada, how the government planned to meet its targets, how many asylum claims are pending or how long it takes to process a refugee claim. And despite a terror suspect obtaining citizenship after appearing in an ISIS video, the Minister said that the government’s vetting of immigrants for security risks under the Liberals was sufficient – also claiming that none of the 10,000 international students given a fraudulent acceptance letter came to Canada. As Canadian youth struggle with the worst summer unemployment this century, and Canadians struggle to afford homes, the Minister even had the audacity to claim that “migration growth is what this country needs at the present time.”
The Minister of Housing isn’t ready to help Canadians either. When asked if he thought housing prices need to go down, he said “no.” He said that development charges, which account for up to 25% of the cost of a new home, are needed. The Minister refused to reveal how many investment properties he himself owns. But we did confirm that the Liberals’ big new bureaucracy is as far away as the affordable housing he says it will build. According to the Minister, their proposal was still in the design stage and wasn’t a “current program” this year.
As for Carney’s President of the Treasury Board, he wouldn’t provide figures for the debt, deficit, or amount of money the Liberals want to spend. And he refused to answer why the Liberals won’t bar GCStrategies and their owners for life, or even apologize for the millions of dollars they received. He also wouldn’t answer why the government continued signing contracts with GCStrategies when its founder admitted to deliberately falsifying resumes to secure government contracts. Despite saying the government has taken GCStrategies to court, the Minister couldn’t answer where it was filed, or how much the government was seeking.
Canadians deserve much better from their government. That’s why Conservatives, together with the other opposition parties, passed a motion calling on the government to recover the money given to GCStrategies within 100 days – making Canadians whole and protecting our taxpayers. Only the Liberals wanted to stand in the way of getting our dollars back from their cronies.
It’s why we passed an amendment to the Throne Speech, demanding that the Liberals present Canadians with a spring budget. Mark Carney says he’s a man with a plan – but he introduced half a trillion dollars of new spending without a budget to show how he plans to pay for it.
It’s why we introduced a motion to end the government’s unrealistic zero-emissions vehicle mandate: a reckless scheme that will increase the cost of cars and force Canadians to buy EVs whether it suits their needs or not.
It’s also why we amended Bill C-5 to safeguard Canada’s lobbying and conflict of interest laws – protecting taxpayers from corrupt politicians who would use public office for private gain.
And it’s why Conservatives will work hard over the summer, and return to Ottawa this fall ready to stand up for Canadian jobs and families once again.
Millions of Canadians put their trust in us to build a better tomorrow and we will work to fulfill that hope: for our people, for our country, for Canada – now and forever.