Karen Vecchio

Mr. Speaker, the bottom line is that in southwestern Ontario we are angry. As a parent, as a member of Parliament, will the Prime Minister do what is right and put this convicted murderer behind bars where she belongs?

Mr. Speaker, Tori Stafford never came home because Terri-Lynne McClintic, who Tori thought was a friend, lured her to her. McClintic plead guilty to first degree murder and was sentenced to life in prison.The minister's defence of releasing this murderer after only six years behind bars to spend the remains of her sentence in a healing lodge is unconscionable.The Prime Minister has the right and the power to change this decision. Will he or will he not?

Mr. Speaker, when Terri-Lynne McClintic was moved to a healing lodge last year, it took the Liberals months to do the right thing and put her back behind bars. Now she is seeking compensation after being back in jail for murdering eight-year-old Tori. She called the decision “unreasonable”. Tori's father has pointed that what is really unfair is the continued injustices of the correctional system. He is right. Will the Liberals finally stand up for Canadian families and promise to not give Tori's killer a dime of taxpayer money?

Mr. Speaker, Canadians are tired of waking up every day to a new Liberal expense scandal.Yesterday, Brookfield Global Relocation Services shared that two prime ministerial aides, Butts and Telford, would have been briefed on their services and made fully aware. For the past week, these two individuals have been stating they did not know.The bottom line is, who is telling the truth?

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister refuses to answer questions about his own ethical breaches. The innovation minister was forced to admit that he misled Canadians about the people to whom he is selling seniors care facilities.Canadians do not want to hear any lies or see such a total lack of transparency.When will the Prime Minister start acting like a leader and clean up his act?

Mr. Speaker, I would like to begin by welcoming my MPP, Jeff Yurek, on his re-election. It is fantastic.Last night, we saw the people of Elgin—Middlesex—London send a clear message by rejecting this carbon tax. The Liberals have lost over half of their so-called provincial support for the carbon tax. The environment minister has to realize that people are not buying in to these talking points. Ontario will join Saskatchewan, and soon we will see Alberta opposing these job-killing carbon taxes. Now that Ontario has spoken loud and clear, when will the Prime Minister scrap his carbon tax?

Madam Speaker, the Liberals launched a massive investigation into six different departments to find the source of the shameful payout to a convicted terrorist, but when confidential information about an honourable judge is leaked, it is no big deal. This is highly sensitive information that only a handful of people close to the Prime Minister could have known. Why are the Liberals more concerned about protecting the privacy of a convicted terrorist than of a judge who spent his entire life serving Canada?

Mr. Speaker, Bill Browder, who has been fighting to preserve Sergei Magnitsky's memory, joined the all-party support for my Conservative colleague's private member's bill, but he did not have great things to say about the Minister of Foreign Affairs.When it comes to seeking justice, Mr. Browder said that the minister is wrong and that his lack of action is an excuse. “He doesn't care about the morality of the issue...he just doesn't want to rock the boat”.It is just another example of the Liberals' so-called responsible conviction policy.

Mr. Speaker, yesterday the Liberals claimed that Brookfield relocation services apologized to them, yet today it was confirmed that no such apology was ever issued. As a matter of fact, all we got was more damning evidence. In a statement yesterday, Brookfield confirmed our assertion that Telford and Butts claimed expenses with no justification or receipts.These so-called personalized cash payouts need to be explained. Why did the Prime Minister sign off on these?

Mr. Speaker, for months the human resources committee has been asking witnesses how to offset the burden of a carbon tax. We heard it loud and clear, “Don't charge it in the first place”. It is too bad the Wynne Liberals in Ontario did not get this advice before ramming a similar tax on small businesses, families, and commuters. When will the Prime Minister look at how Ontario has been devastated and stop forcing this bad idea on Canadians?

Mr. Speaker, on April 9, a family and community started their search for Tori Stafford. The search continued for 99 days. On July 19, Tori's lifeless body was found. The family, the community and the entire region were devastated by this heinous murder. Today, all members of Parliament have the opportunity to do what is right and to send a clear message to Canadians that victims come first and that killers must remain behind bars.Will the government support today's motion to send McClintic back to where she belongs: behind bars?

Mr. Speaker, I am going to ask that the minister take this seriously, please. The Prime Minister's friends were shamed into giving some of that money back. However, everyone knows that a bank robber who returns part of the loot does not get away without repercussions.Telford and Butts occupy the most powerful unelected positions in the government. They accepted money that now even they claim was unjustified. When will the Prime Minister do the right thing and explain why they were given it in the first place?

Mr. Speaker, let me give the Prime Minister the facts. This was an eight-year-old girl who was heinously murdered and these people were convicted of first degree murder and sent to prison, behind bars. Are you telling me that sending this convicted first degree murderer—

Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Innovation claims to have done a review of the sell-off of seniors care facilities in B.C., but is not capable of telling Canadians who owns Anbang Insurance. Not even Wall Street firms will do business with Anbang because of the murky ownership structure, dominated by the who's who of the Chinese Communist Party. In the minister's pandering to Beijing, Canadians deserve to know who is pulling the strings and deciding the fate of our seniors. The question is simple. Who owns Anbang Insurance?

Mr. Speaker, we are going to try this again. It should not be too surprising that the Prime Minister's best friends learned how to stick taxpayers with the bill. After all, Gerry Butts and Katie Telford learned directly from the Wynne/McGuinty Liberals. In the race to spend and misuse taxpayer money, the Prime Minister is clearly now in the lead. When will the Prime Minister explain how he justified giving his best friend Gerry $126,000?

Mr. Speaker, it is worse than just one meeting. The government House leader's new adviser is not really new at all, especially when it comes to dealing with the Irving family. Kevin Fram has already been in hot water for trips he accepted to the Irving fish camp. Now he is working for the senior New Brunswick minister, who is supposed to have no dealings with the Irvings at all. How can the minister have an ethical screen to the Irvings when both he and his senior staff are so closely tied to them?

Mr. Speaker, there is a jobs crisis in Canada, and the Liberals have failed to deliver. This is ironic given the $200,000 that the Liberals are spending to find a so-called foreign deliverology guru. The last time he delivered for the Liberals, he helped McGuinty and Wynne drive the Ontario economy into the ground.Why did the Liberals okay $200,000 for the deliverology wizard when they know how to wreck the economy all on their own?

Mr. Speaker, even Liberals are now being forced to admit that their policies are costing Canadian families dearly. Reports show that even before the Liberals impose their disastrous carbon tax, the cost of food will significantly increase in the new year. All Canadians will be affected, but low-income families will be particularly hard hit.When will the Liberal government stop its attack on struggling families and stop making a bad situation even worse?

Mr. Speaker, on Wednesday, the President of the Treasury Board claimed that he had never been lobbied by the McCain family. We now know that this is not true. In fact, the minister met with Michael McCain in March, and the meeting was registered with the Commissioner of Lobbying. Why did the Liberal minister mislead Canadians?

Mr. Speaker, an illegal vacation to a billionaire island, inviting a convicted terrorist in India, destroying relations with our most important trading partners, attempting to politically interfere with a criminal prosecution, countless ethics violations and an attitude that the rules and the law do not apply to him. Like so many Liberals before him, the Prime Minister's record is scandal and failure with serious consequences for Canadians. How come when it comes to the Prime Minister and his friends, they are taken care of, but ordinary Canadians are not?

Mr. Speaker, while Liberals are threatening to run a $10-billion, $20-billion, $30-billion deficit this year, the fact remains that Conservatives left Liberals a healthy surplus. It is only through runaway Liberal spending and planned job-killing increases that they are putting Canada back into deficit. Will the finance minister take ownership and admit that Liberals have no economic plan for Canada?

Madam Speaker, last night the Prime Minister kicked his cash for access fundraising scheme back into high gear. However, just three nights ago, the Minister of National Defence bailed at the last minute, and for no good reason, on a high-profile fundraiser for Afghanistan vets. The Liberals are showing where their priorities are, and it is not with our military or our veterans. Why does the Liberal government make time for people with big cheques for the Liberal Party but cannot find time to attend fundraisers for our vets and troops?

Mr. Speaker, this Prime Minister has dictated that the provinces must collect his carbon tax. In true Liberal fashion, Premier Wynne has secretly planned to apply HST to their new cap-and-trade plan and will hide the cap-and-trade tax in the delivery charge. Ontarians are not only paying more for heat and hydro but now will be paying tax on tax.When will the Prime Minister stand up for his Ontarians and tell his Ontario Liberal friends to start helping the middle class instead of taxing them to death?

Mr. Speaker, the minister took a self-promoting vanity trip to Hollywood. She billed the taxpayers $20,000 for this trip. She directed her staff to find meetings to try to justify this trip. She even double-billed the taxpayers for dinner in Toronto after she returned home from her trip.When will this minister pay back Canadian taxpayers who shelled out so she could hobnob with Hollywood elite?

Madam Speaker, $304 on floral arrangements to spice up a meeting room; over $35,000 for cars; over $2,000 on fuel surcharges; and over $5,443 on tips. This is just the start of wasteful spending on the Liberal vanity trip to New York.Why do the Liberals need to be reminded that this is taxpayers' money, and what size was that Jamba Juice?

Mr. Speaker, yesterday, in response to a question about the Liberals spending over $23,000 on an external public relations consultant for Kathleen Wynne, for her trip to Israel, the foreign affairs minister said these services are available to anyone.Seriously, anyone can get a free $23,000 PR guy funded by the Liberals? No wonder they have no hope of balancing this budget.Why will the minister not simply admit that Kathleen Wynne got the money because she is a Liberal?

Mr. Speaker, last week, the approval list for Canada summer jobs came out to the MPs. Compared to last year, 36 fewer organizations in my riding even applied. At least 15 of these organizations told me they did not because of the Liberals' values test. Instead of funding groups that provide housing and child care, the Liberals have dumped money into for-profit organizations and retailers. Will the Liberals admit this is wrong, vote in favour of our motion, and support Canadians who are trying to help their communities?

Mr. Speaker, Canadians are expecting more from their government, not just the same old party antics and spending scandals that we saw in the 1990s and the early 2000s. There are many new faces in the government, but they have the same old Liberal sense of entitlement.Where is the leadership? Who is finally going to put a stop to these Liberal entitlements?

Mr. Speaker, Canadian families are struggling to make ends meet. The costs of heating their homes, feeding their families, and transportation have skyrocketed, and the Liberals' carbon tax is making this bad situation even worse. We already knew that the Liberals' plan was going to cost thousands of dollars. Now we learn that it will be five times that. Why will the Liberals not release the secret data we have been demanding for months? Is it because they know that most Canadian families and seniors will not be able to afford this?

Mr. Speaker, I am shocked at the level of Liberal entitlement when it comes to spending other people's money. Liberal staff received more than $1.1 million in payouts to relocate to Ottawa. These cash payouts included more than $100,000 to a single Liberal staff member. This should be no surprise, given that the Liberal whip took $70,000 to move down the street.With unemployment rising and families struggling to make ends meet, why did the Liberals think it was somehow okay to spend taxpayers' hard-earned money on these outrageous staff expenditures?

Mr. Speaker, the commissioners decide based on the information they are provided. I just want to note that. This is absolutely just another Liberal when it comes to ethics. If this was a meeting with his close friend, which he just called a social meeting, then why was it registered as lobbying if it was just a social meeting? When will the Liberal minister stop misleading Canadians and admit that there is a problem of ethics here?

Mr. Speaker, we obviously have a very busy Ethics Commissioner working right now. We see a pattern of unethical behaviour by the Liberals. While the Minister of International Trade brushes aside her relationship with Benjamin Bergen, she cannot deny that their relationship helped him get the position he currently holds. In fact, Mr. Bergen is openly bragging about his extensive connections with senior public officials. The only reason he now has his position is because of his blatant conflict of interest.Does the Prime Minister intend to just sit idle while Liberal insiders continue to enjoy special access to the Liberal ministers?

Mr. Speaker, that is not quite the case. It is actually worse than that.The minister travelled first class, scarfing down gourmet food, and then turned around and claimed per diems for the same meals. We all know that this is against the rules. She cannot charge taxpayers for this vanity trip. She double-billed them for meals.Is the minister's integrity worth more than the $104.20 that she has taken from the taxpayers? Will she be returning the money to the taxpayers?

Mr. Speaker, let us just get to the bottom of this. The minister keeps evading questions about the pay-to-play Liberal fundraiser. She apparently cannot speak on this issue or will not. Simply put, who planned this fundraiser?There have been a number of ethical issues with this minister ever since she took over the position. Did she plan these unfortunate events, or is she being set up by those closest to her?

Mr. Speaker, it has come to light that the Minister of Justice actively opposed the Site C dam project. The minister worked closely with Treaty 8 first nations to oppose it for years. Now with her role at the cabinet table, how can we be assured that she will stay neutral? The minister's mere presence will still have an influence.Will the minister remove herself from the discussions on this project?

Madam Speaker, Canadians know there is no way the Liberal carbon tax will save money. Ferguson Fancy Beans in my riding says that the Liberal Wynne carbon tax alone cost them over $50,000 last year. On an admission of her own policy, the environment minister admitted that 90% of the exemption for big emitters focused on keeping jobs in Canada. Will the government extend this to Ferguson Fancy Beans as well?

Mr. Speaker, $1.1 million was handed to Liberal staffers moving to Ottawa for six-figure jobs. The Liberal House leader herself provided over $70,000 to just one staffer. The rules say that it is at the minister's discretion. Does the minister think that forking out a million dollars to Liberal political staff is the best use of Canadian taxpayers' money?

Mr. Speaker, the environment minister gave her staff over $116,000 to come to Ottawa. Her office admits that only $28,000 was actually used for moving. After getting caught, other Liberals have admitted their claims were unreasonable.When will the minister come clean and explain to Canadians what they got for the rest of the money?

Madam Speaker, last fall, the minister disclosed that he had a personal relationship with the Irvings. The Ethics Commissioner has banned him from any dealings with the Irvings. Apparently he does not think it applies to cocktails with Irving lawyers and lobbyists. Given that the minister is in charge of all litigation involving the government, could the minister tell us how many ongoing cases the federal government has with Irving or with Cox & Palmer?

Mr. Speaker, the fact is the Minister of International Trade spent $20,000 on an all-inclusive vanity trip to Hollywood, and to cover up this junket in Los Angeles, she instructed her department to create a few meetings, so that hopefully nobody would notice.Does the minister really think Canadians believe she just happened to be in LA on business when HBO called, or does she think concocting last-minute meetings will make everything okay?

Mr. Speaker, for weeks, the Liberals have repeated the same talking points about their elite and exclusive cash for access fundraising schemes. Canadians do not believe the Liberals' excuses. Just a year ago, the Prime Minister ordered his ministers to obey his own “Open and Accountable Government” rules, but the finance minister, the innovation minister, the trade minister, the natural resources minister, and even the Prime Minister have completely ignored them.Will the Prime Minister stop using government positions to fill the Liberal Party coffers?

Mr. Speaker, is that why we had to go to The Globe and Mail to actually find out these answers? Canadians want to know why Liberals gave $1.1 million to Liberal friends. The justice minister doled out $114,000, and the foreign affairs minister forked out another $146,000. Worse still, the Prime Minister gave his millionaire friends $200,000 to move from Toronto to Ottawa. When will the Liberals tell us exactly how they justify spending this money?

Mr. Speaker, let us go back to the real issue. The minister can try to explain his lavish spending all he wants, but the point is he spent 250,000 taxpayers' dollars on couches and coffee machines.This side of the House knows that his spending does nothing for Canadians. When will the minister admit that the only infrastructure plan he has is to beautify his own office?

Mr. Speaker, Conservatives undertook consultations that Liberals refused to, and we led the charge against the Prime Minister's summer jobs values test. While Liberals started attacking us, now they are starting to back down, but that will not be good enough for the kids this year, for charities that feed the hungry this year, and for churches that provide child care this year. Why are the Liberals waiting until next year to do the right thing?

Mr. Speaker, on May 18, the Liberal House leader's parliamentary secretary stood in this House and said this: I cannot say enough about the Canada autism partnership and what it has been able to accomplish to date. I applaud each and every person involved in that. However, on May 30, that same member stood in solidarity with his Liberal colleagues and opposed the Canadian autism partnership and the interests of Canadians living with autism.What did the Prime Minister say to make the parliamentary secretary vote against the very existence of the organization he praised less than two weeks earlier?

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister is at it again with another cash for access event, this time with Chinese billionaires. Not only has he broken his own ethical rules, but he has violated Liberal Party guidelines requiring officials to ban anyone from attending a fundraiser if they have direct business interests before the government. Will the Prime Minister finally show some leadership, enforce his own rules, and stop using his government position for his own personal benefit?

Mr. Speaker, Canadians are asking why the Prime Minister's friends received over $200,000 in payouts for so-called moving expenses. The reason is the Prime Minister approved it. He could have limited their taxpayer abuse if he wanted to, but he chose not to. When will this Prime Minister stop giving taxpayer money to his Liberal friends?

Mr. Speaker, let us bring this back to what Canadians are seeing and what they are saying. They see $20 million going to an organization that the Minister of Justice used to chair. They see the minister's husband lobbying the Liberals on behalf of the organization for funding. This has nothing to do with the FNFA and first nations. Canadians see this as unethical, yet the minister continues to deny any wrongdoing.When will the Prime Minister hold his ministers accountable for their unethical behaviour?

Mr. Speaker, I keep hearing Liberals use the words “open” and “transparent” in the responses to the million dollar move, which is ironic, given the lack of details provided to Canadians.If the Liberal House leader is so transparent, can she tell us exactly who she gave this $70,000 to and what the money was supposedly for?

Mr. Speaker, last year, thousands of Canadian organizations offering kids summer camps and helping out seniors were ineligible for Canada summer jobs because of the Liberals' values test, but now the Liberals have decided to fund a group that has terrorist links, a group that paid $550,000 in fines and lost its charitable status from CRA. Yesterday, the minister said she would review the decision.Can the minister confirm that this group with terrorist links does not meet the Liberals values test?

Mr. Speaker: Well you don't have it so bad. Everyone in Canada has a sob story. Can the Minister of Sport and Persons with Disabilities clarify what he meant by these words, which he recently used while meeting with a group of thalidomide patients?

Mr. Speaker, even Liberals are now being forced to admit that their policies are costing Canadian families dearly. Reports show that even before the Liberals impose their disastrous carbon tax, the cost of food will significantly increase in the new year. All Canadians will be affected, but low-income families will be particularly hard hit.When will the Liberal government stop its attack on struggling families and stop making a bad situation even worse?

Mr. Speaker, the bottom line is that in southwestern Ontario we are angry. As a parent, as a member of Parliament, will the Prime Minister do what is right and put this convicted murderer behind bars where she belongs?

Mr. Speaker, last week, the approval list for Canada summer jobs came out to the MPs. Compared to last year, 36 fewer organizations in my riding even applied. At least 15 of these organizations told me they did not because of the Liberals' values test. Instead of funding groups that provide housing and child care, the Liberals have dumped money into for-profit organizations and retailers. Will the Liberals admit this is wrong, vote in favour of our motion, and support Canadians who are trying to help their communities?

Mr. Speaker, on Wednesday, the President of the Treasury Board claimed that he had never been lobbied by the McCain family. We now know that this is not true. In fact, the minister met with Michael McCain in March, and the meeting was registered with the Commissioner of Lobbying. Why did the Liberal minister mislead Canadians?

Mr. Speaker, all week opposition members have been asking the heritage minister to explain the inappropriate appointment of Ms. Meilleur as the Commissioner of Official Languages. We have read that testimony from committees, requested a list of the final 10 candidates, proven incestuous ties to Liberal fundraising campaigns, and clarified shared staff between the minister and Ms. Meilleur.When will the minister stand up and start taking this question seriously, stop reciting the Liberal-appointed commissioner's resumé, and admit that this appointment is nothing but Liberal patronage?

Mr. Speaker, for months the human resources committee has been asking witnesses how to offset the burden of a carbon tax. We heard it loud and clear, “Don't charge it in the first place”. It is too bad the Wynne Liberals in Ontario did not get this advice before ramming a similar tax on small businesses, families, and commuters. When will the Prime Minister look at how Ontario has been devastated and stop forcing this bad idea on Canadians?

Mr. Speaker, just a few weeks ago the Prime Minister heard first-hand the struggle of Ontarians who are facing out-of-control hydro rates at the hand of his mentor, Kathleen Wynne. Struggling Ontarians cannot afford the Prime Minister's plan to make a bad situation far worse by adding more costs through a carbon tax. A carbon tax would increase the costs of almost everything from gas to groceries.When will the Prime Minister abandon this irresponsible tax on everything, and start defending the interests of Canadians?

Mr. Speaker, Liberal after Liberal has gotten up over the past few weeks to defend the Minister of Infrastructure and Communities and sky palace 2.0. Initially he tried to defend his actions by claiming that this was simply the Liberals doubling the infrastructure budget. Apparently only Liberal ministers need to apply.Does the minister feel embarrassed to know that his colleagues are being forced to support his spending almost $1 million on fridges and flat screens?

Mr. Speaker, Canadian families are struggling to make ends meet. The costs of heating their homes, feeding their families, and transportation have skyrocketed, and the Liberals' carbon tax is making this bad situation even worse. We already knew that the Liberals' plan was going to cost thousands of dollars. Now we learn that it will be five times that. Why will the Liberals not release the secret data we have been demanding for months? Is it because they know that most Canadian families and seniors will not be able to afford this?

Mr. Speaker, Tori Stafford never came home because Terri-Lynne McClintic, who Tori thought was a friend, lured her to her. McClintic plead guilty to first degree murder and was sentenced to life in prison.The minister's defence of releasing this murderer after only six years behind bars to spend the remains of her sentence in a healing lodge is unconscionable.The Prime Minister has the right and the power to change this decision. Will he or will he not?

Mr. Speaker, Canadians are asking why the Prime Minister's friends received over $200,000 in payouts for so-called moving expenses. The reason is the Prime Minister approved it. He could have limited their taxpayer abuse if he wanted to, but he chose not to. When will this Prime Minister stop giving taxpayer money to his Liberal friends?

Mr. Speaker, I am shocked at the level of Liberal entitlement when it comes to spending other people's money. Liberal staff received more than $1.1 million in payouts to relocate to Ottawa. These cash payouts included more than $100,000 to a single Liberal staff member. This should be no surprise, given that the Liberal whip took $70,000 to move down the street.With unemployment rising and families struggling to make ends meet, why did the Liberals think it was somehow okay to spend taxpayers' hard-earned money on these outrageous staff expenditures?

Mr. Speaker, is that why we had to go to The Globe and Mail to actually find out these answers? Canadians want to know why Liberals gave $1.1 million to Liberal friends. The justice minister doled out $114,000, and the foreign affairs minister forked out another $146,000. Worse still, the Prime Minister gave his millionaire friends $200,000 to move from Toronto to Ottawa. When will the Liberals tell us exactly how they justify spending this money?

Mr. Speaker, let us just get to the bottom of this. The minister keeps evading questions about the pay-to-play Liberal fundraiser. She apparently cannot speak on this issue or will not. Simply put, who planned this fundraiser?There have been a number of ethical issues with this minister ever since she took over the position. Did she plan these unfortunate events, or is she being set up by those closest to her?

Mr. Speaker, an illegal vacation to a billionaire island, inviting a convicted terrorist in India, destroying relations with our most important trading partners, attempting to politically interfere with a criminal prosecution, countless ethics violations and an attitude that the rules and the law do not apply to him. Like so many Liberals before him, the Prime Minister's record is scandal and failure with serious consequences for Canadians. How come when it comes to the Prime Minister and his friends, they are taken care of, but ordinary Canadians are not?

Mr. Speaker, defence experts agree that the Liberals made a promise that was impossible to keep when it comes to replacing Canada's aging fighter jets. Not only have the Liberals broken this promise, they are doing so with great costs to taxpayers, as our air force will have to run a mixed fleet. Unlike Australia, Canada does not need a stop-gap solution. The defence minister claims the CF-18 life extension project will continue. Given that reality, why are the Liberals moving forward with a band-aid solution to a non-existent problem?

Mr. Speaker, Canadians are tired of waking up every day to a new Liberal expense scandal.Yesterday, Brookfield Global Relocation Services shared that two prime ministerial aides, Butts and Telford, would have been briefed on their services and made fully aware. For the past week, these two individuals have been stating they did not know.The bottom line is, who is telling the truth?

Mr. Speaker, kids' hockey and soccer, piano and singing lessons, college and university tuition, textbooks, bus passes, and Uber—what do these things have in common? The Liberals have raised taxes on all of them.Will the finance minister advise Canadian families how much money he has taken from hard-working families by increasing all these taxes?

Mr. Speaker, when Terri-Lynne McClintic was moved to a healing lodge last year, it took the Liberals months to do the right thing and put her back behind bars. Now she is seeking compensation after being back in jail for murdering eight-year-old Tori. She called the decision “unreasonable”. Tori's father has pointed that what is really unfair is the continued injustices of the correctional system. He is right. Will the Liberals finally stand up for Canadian families and promise to not give Tori's killer a dime of taxpayer money?

Madam Speaker, last night the Prime Minister kicked his cash for access fundraising scheme back into high gear. However, just three nights ago, the Minister of National Defence bailed at the last minute, and for no good reason, on a high-profile fundraiser for Afghanistan vets. The Liberals are showing where their priorities are, and it is not with our military or our veterans. Why does the Liberal government make time for people with big cheques for the Liberal Party but cannot find time to attend fundraisers for our vets and troops?

Mr. Speaker, for years, the Trudeau Foundation relied on donations from Canada. It was 2014 when the foreign money started to flow. In 2015, nearly $430,000 of foreign donations were given to the foundation. However, the Prime Minister landed a huge donation when his Communist Chinese friends gave $1 million, including $50,000 to the building of a statue of his father. When will the Prime Minister admit that mixing his personal, party, and government business is wrong, and when will he put an end to it?

Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Innovation claims to have done a review of the sell-off of seniors care facilities in B.C., but is not capable of telling Canadians who owns Anbang Insurance. Not even Wall Street firms will do business with Anbang because of the murky ownership structure, dominated by the who's who of the Chinese Communist Party. In the minister's pandering to Beijing, Canadians deserve to know who is pulling the strings and deciding the fate of our seniors. The question is simple. Who owns Anbang Insurance?

Mr. Speaker, despite being forced to settle a constitutional court case regarding Canada's summer jobs last year, the Liberals are attacking the very people they claim to help.By forcing groups to sign the Prime Minister's values test, the government is denying help to groups that provide aid to refugees, run day camp programs for kids with disabilities, and help at-risk youth. On behalf of these organizations from across Canada, will the Liberals finally remove this values test from the Canada summer jobs application?

Mr. Speaker, on April 9, a family and community started their search for Tori Stafford. The search continued for 99 days. On July 19, Tori's lifeless body was found. The family, the community and the entire region were devastated by this heinous murder. Today, all members of Parliament have the opportunity to do what is right and to send a clear message to Canadians that victims come first and that killers must remain behind bars.Will the government support today's motion to send McClintic back to where she belongs: behind bars?

Mr. Speaker, I would not take that values test either.The government claims it has issued a clarification about its intentions, but it still has not changed the attestation it demands applicants to sign. Many of the not-for-profit organizations whose mandate is simply to help vulnerable Canadians will not check the box, because a clarification by the government does not change the wording that is plainly in this attestation.Will the government take the logical next step, remove the values test attestation, and extend the deadline so that groups previously excluded will have time to apply?

Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Natural Resources sat at home while the Liberal Party bagmen wined and dined with U.S. cabinet ministers. The Minister of Natural Resources sat at home while the Liberal Party president mixed and mingled with the senators.The government had a chance to use this event to build energy relationships, but it wasted it. Is the reason he brought friends and family instead of the Minister of Natural Resources because the Liberals want to shut down the energy industry?

Mr. Speaker, here is the bottom line. The Prime Minister signed off on these expenses and wrote his best friends six-figure cheques. Yesterday, Gerry and Katie were willing to take the fall for their best friend, the Prime Minister. How can Canadians trust this Prime Minister's judgment when their hard-earned money always seems to end up in personalized cash payouts?

Mr. Speaker, we are going to try this again. It should not be too surprising that the Prime Minister's best friends learned how to stick taxpayers with the bill. After all, Gerry Butts and Katie Telford learned directly from the Wynne/McGuinty Liberals. In the race to spend and misuse taxpayer money, the Prime Minister is clearly now in the lead. When will the Prime Minister explain how he justified giving his best friend Gerry $126,000?

Mr. Speaker, $1.1 million was handed to Liberal staffers moving to Ottawa for six-figure jobs. The Liberal House leader herself provided over $70,000 to just one staffer. The rules say that it is at the minister's discretion. Does the minister think that forking out a million dollars to Liberal political staff is the best use of Canadian taxpayers' money?

Mr. Speaker, the Liberals said that the Prime Minister would not attend a new NAFTA signing ceremony with Donald Trump if the steel and aluminum tariffs were still in place.Workers in our steel and aluminum sectors have been greatly affected by these tariffs, and yet we saw the Prime Minister with Donald Trump this morning, signing this deal.Can the Liberals confirm that the tariffs have been removed?

Mr. Speaker: So you probably have about 10 years left then now. That's good news for the Canadian government. Can the Minister of Sport and Persons with Disabilities please clarify what he meant when he said these words?

Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Transport rose in the House in response to a question concerning aerodromes from the member for Trois-Rivières. The minister clearly stated, “decisions concerning aerodromes fall within federal jurisdiction”. I wrote to the minister regarding the Dutton Dunwich aerodrome and the proposal to place windmills and hydro lines in the perimeter of this aerodrome. The minister advised me that this is a provincial issue. If safety is top of mind for the minister, will he tell me right now if the installation of windmills and hydro lines near the Dutton Dunwich aerodrome is safe?

Mr. Speaker, the story is that the Minister of International Trade needs to be honest with Canadians. She declares proudly that she was in California to promote Canadian business, but her own officials did not even know about the trip until two days before.The minister indicates that she met with the lieutenant governor of California and a U.S. senator, but does not mention that it was on the late show with Bill Maher.When will the minister just be honest and tell Canadians she went to Hollywood on a personal vanity trip, using taxpayer money?

Mr. Speaker, yesterday the Liberals claimed that Brookfield relocation services apologized to them, yet today it was confirmed that no such apology was ever issued. As a matter of fact, all we got was more damning evidence. In a statement yesterday, Brookfield confirmed our assertion that Telford and Butts claimed expenses with no justification or receipts.These so-called personalized cash payouts need to be explained. Why did the Prime Minister sign off on these?

Mr. Speaker, the trade minister's own officials were not told of the L.A. junket until November 17, two days before she arrived. The department's director of communications did not even know what the minister was doing in L.A. besides the Bill Maher show. Her department scrambled to find events so she could bill the vanity trip to the taxpayers of Canada. When will the trade minister pay for this personal trip so Canadian taxpayers do not have to?

Mr. Speaker, last year, thousands of Canadian organizations offering kids summer camps and helping out seniors were ineligible for Canada summer jobs because of the Liberals' values test, but now the Liberals have decided to fund a group that has terrorist links, a group that paid $550,000 in fines and lost its charitable status from CRA. Yesterday, the minister said she would review the decision.Can the minister confirm that this group with terrorist links does not meet the Liberals values test?

Mr. Speaker, for days the Liberals have defended personalized cash payouts for the Prime Minister's best friends. On Friday, after being caught, they said the expenses were unreasonable because they had no justification or receipts. The Prime Minister's poor judgment allowed him to sign off on something his friends now call unreasonable.Once again, what exactly are personalized cash payouts?

Madam Speaker, recently the Minister of Agriculture stated that the majority of Canadian farmers supported the Liberal carbon tax. He obviously has not been to the riding of Elgin—Middlesex—London, which is filled with farmers. Farmers throughout southwestern Ontario are concerned about their increased input costs. These families are the stewards of our land and are using cutting-edge technology to reduce their own emissions.Is the Minister of Agriculture willing to stand and oppose this carbon tax on hard-working Canadian farmers and their families?

Mr. Speaker, the Treasury Board's guidelines require ministers to disclose their travel and hospitality costs quarterly. For the past eight months the Minister of Finance has been travelling all over Europe, Asia and Canada, but has only disclosed the costs of one trip. The minister is in charge of Canada's finances, but will not even obey the law when it comes to his own travel. Why is the Minister of Finance hiding his own spending from Canadians?

Mr. Speaker, it looks like the President of the Treasury Board has decided all on his own that he is above the rules.He used to be the chair of SeaFort Capital, a major company in Atlantic Canada that is backed by powerful families in the region. When he joined cabinet, his husband replaced him on the board.Canadians will not believe that these families and this corporation have no influence on this minister.What is stopping the President of the Treasury Board from doing the right thing and putting up a screen to end this obvious conflict?

Madam Speaker, Canadians know there is no way the Liberal carbon tax will save money. Ferguson Fancy Beans in my riding says that the Liberal Wynne carbon tax alone cost them over $50,000 last year. On an admission of her own policy, the environment minister admitted that 90% of the exemption for big emitters focused on keeping jobs in Canada. Will the government extend this to Ferguson Fancy Beans as well?

Mr. Speaker, I am requesting the unanimous consent of the House to table documents regarding the question I asked the Minister of Transport today. From the Minister of Transport I received one answer regarding jurisdiction, and both today and in question period, with the member for Trois-Rivières, a very contradictory answer.I would like to table this so that we can get clarification on jurisdiction.

Mr. Speaker, the Conservatives balanced their budget and we helped families balance their budgets. The Conservative family tax cuts enhanced universal child care, helped 100% of families and kids, and gave back $2,000 of their own money. Families can and have to balance their budgets. The Liberals cannot and will not balance their budget.Why do the Liberals insist on taking benefits away from hard-working moms and dads to pay for their out-of-control spending?

Mr. Speaker, given the investments in the CF-18 life extension program made by the previous government, defence experts agree that there is no immediate need to run a mixed fighter jet fleet in the interim. Retired General George Petrolekas of the Conference of Defence Associations Institute said he does not see the value of an interim purchase. He asks, why not just go straight to the competition right now?It is a good question. Why is the government putting politics ahead of our armed forces? Why not go to the competition right now?

Mr. Speaker, as I indicated, political interference is political interference.This is just not about the government House leader. His own letter says that he was writing on behalf of the Prime Minister.Why does the Prime Minister think that he has the right to openly interfere with judges and quasi-judicial board members?

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister is at it again with another cash for access event, this time with Chinese billionaires. Not only has he broken his own ethical rules, but he has violated Liberal Party guidelines requiring officials to ban anyone from attending a fundraiser if they have direct business interests before the government. Will the Prime Minister finally show some leadership, enforce his own rules, and stop using his government position for his own personal benefit?

Mr. Speaker, I am going to ask that the minister take this seriously, please. The Prime Minister's friends were shamed into giving some of that money back. However, everyone knows that a bank robber who returns part of the loot does not get away without repercussions.Telford and Butts occupy the most powerful unelected positions in the government. They accepted money that now even they claim was unjustified. When will the Prime Minister do the right thing and explain why they were given it in the first place?

Mr. Speaker, the government is out of touch with Canadians.In just 100 days, it has done nothing to help the most vulnerable in society. It has done nothing to help low-income families, and it continues to keep them in the dark.Why is the minister making moms and dads wait months to hear about their latest tax scheme? How are families supposed to plan their budgets when they are being told to hang in there until July 1?

Mr. Speaker, for weeks, the Liberals have repeated the same talking points about their elite and exclusive cash for access fundraising schemes. Canadians do not believe the Liberals' excuses. Just a year ago, the Prime Minister ordered his ministers to obey his own “Open and Accountable Government” rules, but the finance minister, the innovation minister, the trade minister, the natural resources minister, and even the Prime Minister have completely ignored them.Will the Prime Minister stop using government positions to fill the Liberal Party coffers?

Mr. Speaker, Canadians are expecting more from their government, not just the same old party antics and spending scandals that we saw in the 1990s and the early 2000s. There are many new faces in the government, but they have the same old Liberal sense of entitlement.Where is the leadership? Who is finally going to put a stop to these Liberal entitlements?

Mr. Speaker, I keep hearing Liberals use the words “open” and “transparent” in the responses to the million dollar move, which is ironic, given the lack of details provided to Canadians.If the Liberal House leader is so transparent, can she tell us exactly who she gave this $70,000 to and what the money was supposedly for?

Mr. Speaker, the minister is hiding behind the so-called rules, these same rules that they are talking about today. They had the choice. Each and every minister had the choice. The environment minister should be able to answer this question. She signed off on this money. She should be able to tell us where it went.What is the minister hiding and where did the money go?

Mr. Speaker, the fact is that the Prime Minister's friends and family enjoyed a weekend of VIP access, sipping champagne with the Washington elite.Meanwhile ministers, like the Minister of Natural Resources, were left off the guest list. We know the guest list was submitted by the Liberals. That is why family members and party executives were part of the delegation.Why were Liberal insiders and family brought along instead of actual government decision-makers?

Mr. Speaker, let us go back to the real issue. The minister can try to explain his lavish spending all he wants, but the point is he spent 250,000 taxpayers' dollars on couches and coffee machines.This side of the House knows that his spending does nothing for Canadians. When will the minister admit that the only infrastructure plan he has is to beautify his own office?

Madam Speaker, last fall, the minister disclosed that he had a personal relationship with the Irvings. The Ethics Commissioner has banned him from any dealings with the Irvings. Apparently he does not think it applies to cocktails with Irving lawyers and lobbyists. Given that the minister is in charge of all litigation involving the government, could the minister tell us how many ongoing cases the federal government has with Irving or with Cox & Palmer?

Madam Speaker, $304 on floral arrangements to spice up a meeting room; over $35,000 for cars; over $2,000 on fuel surcharges; and over $5,443 on tips. This is just the start of wasteful spending on the Liberal vanity trip to New York.Why do the Liberals need to be reminded that this is taxpayers' money, and what size was that Jamba Juice?

Mr. Speaker, let us bring this back to what Canadians are seeing and what they are saying. They see $20 million going to an organization that the Minister of Justice used to chair. They see the minister's husband lobbying the Liberals on behalf of the organization for funding. This has nothing to do with the FNFA and first nations. Canadians see this as unethical, yet the minister continues to deny any wrongdoing.When will the Prime Minister hold his ministers accountable for their unethical behaviour?

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister refuses to answer questions about his own ethical breaches. The innovation minister was forced to admit that he misled Canadians about the people to whom he is selling seniors care facilities.Canadians do not want to hear any lies or see such a total lack of transparency.When will the Prime Minister start acting like a leader and clean up his act?

Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Infrastructure and Communities has a mandate. That mandate is supposed to involve investment in public transit, green infrastructure, and social infrastructure like affordable housing. His objective should be to encourage economic growth.Could the minister explain how spending $250,000 on furniture for himself achieves that mandate? Does the minister truly believe that this is a good use of taxpayers' dollars?

Mr. Speaker, Conservatives undertook consultations that Liberals refused to, and we led the charge against the Prime Minister's summer jobs values test. While Liberals started attacking us, now they are starting to back down, but that will not be good enough for the kids this year, for charities that feed the hungry this year, and for churches that provide child care this year. Why are the Liberals waiting until next year to do the right thing?

Mr. Speaker, Mr. Browder also had interesting things to say about the Minister of Foreign Affairs' colleague on the bill. He said that the Minister of International Trade favours it very strongly.Mr. Browder also said, “We have had discussions with others in the cabinet who also said this [bill] was a no-brainer”.Will the Minister of International Trade stand in the House today and confirm his friend's statement that when it comes the time to vote, she will support our Sergei Magnitsky act?

Mr. Speaker, there is a jobs crisis in Canada, and the Liberals have failed to deliver. This is ironic given the $200,000 that the Liberals are spending to find a so-called foreign deliverology guru. The last time he delivered for the Liberals, he helped McGuinty and Wynne drive the Ontario economy into the ground.Why did the Liberals okay $200,000 for the deliverology wizard when they know how to wreck the economy all on their own?

Mr. Speaker, yesterday, in response to a question about the Liberals spending over $23,000 on an external public relations consultant for Kathleen Wynne, for her trip to Israel, the foreign affairs minister said these services are available to anyone.Seriously, anyone can get a free $23,000 PR guy funded by the Liberals? No wonder they have no hope of balancing this budget.Why will the minister not simply admit that Kathleen Wynne got the money because she is a Liberal?

Mr. Speaker, budget 2016 provides $20 million to the First Nations Finance Authority, the same organization that the Minister of Justice chaired, the same organization that the Minister of Justice's husband lobbies for. There is a clear conflict of interest here.The Prime Minister states that his ministers must uphold the highest ethical standards and the impartiality of government is to be maintained and enhanced.Does $20 million to an organization so intertwined with the Minister of Justice and her husband seem impartial?

Mr. Speaker, the Liberal Leader of the Government in the House of Commons wrote intimidating letters to members of the IRB, letters interfering and urging these well-respected judges to step down. There are no indications that these humble public servants have not been doing their jobs effectively. Why did the Prime Minister and the Liberal House leader feel that they had the right to interfere by pressuring them to leave their positions?

Mr. Speaker, the government says one thing and does another. For the last year, the Prime Minister said he did not need taxpayer child care. As a mother of five, I am offended, for his first act in cabinet was to give himself child care benefits that no other Canadians have. Why did the Prime Minister not keep his word, and is it because he is entitled to his entitlements?

Mr. Speaker, this Prime Minister has dictated that the provinces must collect his carbon tax. In true Liberal fashion, Premier Wynne has secretly planned to apply HST to their new cap-and-trade plan and will hide the cap-and-trade tax in the delivery charge. Ontarians are not only paying more for heat and hydro but now will be paying tax on tax.When will the Prime Minister stand up for his Ontarians and tell his Ontario Liberal friends to start helping the middle class instead of taxing them to death?

Mr. Speaker, 86 is the number of hours that were debated under the Fair Elections Act under the previous Conservative government. Now after just two hours, the Liberals have shut down debate and are attempting to rig our election system. Liberals can talk all they want about respect for Parliament and Canadians, but allowing only two hours of debate is anything but respect for our democracy.Will the Prime Minister instruct Elections Canada to stop implementing these changes to the Elections Act before this bill has had a chance to be reviewed?

Mr. Speaker, Benjamin Bergen was the campaign manager and executive assistant to the current Minister of International Trade. Now he has a new job as a lobbyist. How did he get this job? It was by stating he has an extensive network among senior public sector officials that would be of benefit to his new organization. Clearly, he is counting on his connection with the minister to get ahead.How will the Prime Minister address the growing problem of insiders getting special access to their Liberal ministers?

Mr. Speaker, the commissioners decide based on the information they are provided. I just want to note that. This is absolutely just another Liberal when it comes to ethics. If this was a meeting with his close friend, which he just called a social meeting, then why was it registered as lobbying if it was just a social meeting? When will the Liberal minister stop misleading Canadians and admit that there is a problem of ethics here?

Mr. Speaker, on May 18, the Liberal House leader's parliamentary secretary stood in this House and said this: I cannot say enough about the Canada autism partnership and what it has been able to accomplish to date. I applaud each and every person involved in that. However, on May 30, that same member stood in solidarity with his Liberal colleagues and opposed the Canadian autism partnership and the interests of Canadians living with autism.What did the Prime Minister say to make the parliamentary secretary vote against the very existence of the organization he praised less than two weeks earlier?

Mr. Speaker, just as question period was starting, we learned that Canada was left with a $392 million surplus in November. Do not take my word for it. The finance minister's own officials said it. In fact, from April to November, the federal surplus stands at $1 billion. Will the Liberal finance minister just admit that Conservatives left Liberals a healthy surplus and that in fact it is just bad economic management?

Mr. Speaker, that is not quite the case. It is actually worse than that.The minister travelled first class, scarfing down gourmet food, and then turned around and claimed per diems for the same meals. We all know that this is against the rules. She cannot charge taxpayers for this vanity trip. She double-billed them for meals.Is the minister's integrity worth more than the $104.20 that she has taken from the taxpayers? Will she be returning the money to the taxpayers?

Mr. Speaker, while Liberals are threatening to run a $10-billion, $20-billion, $30-billion deficit this year, the fact remains that Conservatives left Liberals a healthy surplus. It is only through runaway Liberal spending and planned job-killing increases that they are putting Canada back into deficit. Will the finance minister take ownership and admit that Liberals have no economic plan for Canada?

Mr. Speaker, the fact is the Minister of International Trade spent $20,000 on an all-inclusive vanity trip to Hollywood, and to cover up this junket in Los Angeles, she instructed her department to create a few meetings, so that hopefully nobody would notice.Does the minister really think Canadians believe she just happened to be in LA on business when HBO called, or does she think concocting last-minute meetings will make everything okay?

Mr. Speaker, Benjamin Bergen was the executive assistant to the current Minister of International Trade and her campaign manager. Now, he has begun lobbying the Liberals. His relationship with the minister gives him access to her and her cabinet colleagues. He has even stated that he has an extensive network among senior public sector officials that would be of benefit to their organization.What is the Prime Minister going to do about yet another insider getting special access to Liberal ministers?