Steven Guilbeault

“Mr. Speaker, I am a rookie in the chamber, a new member of Parliament having served barely, not even, three years. However, I can acknowledge that public service comes at a price, a cost to our friends, our family and all our loved ones. The hon. member for Laurier—Sainte-Marie certainly has committed himself to this service. We could say that he has very deep convictions. Perhaps we would not agree on anything. Probably we would not agree on anything, but his deep convictions might have been taken a bit too literally by him over the years. In fact, as colleagues may know, the hon. member was arrested in Lakeview in my riding, scaling former premier Ralph Klein’s home, and was taken into custody. In a sense, he may have served more time in Calgary than I have. Let me just say that it is a complex issue, because we know that his policies have caused hardships for over a decade. His policies have caused so much hardship for so many families across this country that the price that has been paid by millions of Canadians for his determination has been a very heartbreaking one for all Canadians to bear witness to, but rest assured that his legacy lives on with the current Liberal Prime Minister. The Prime Minister has kept the tanker ban in place. The Prime Minister has kept the “no more pipelines” ban. The Prime Minister has kept the net-zero doctrine. He has kept the EV mandate. The Prime Minister has made sure that his legacy of plastic lids on coffee has been maintained, and in Calgary we cannot use compostable bags. He has kept the industrial carbon tax. One must ask, as I conclude, if the member draws some satisfaction from the Liberal Prime Minister’s carrying on his legacy.”