Sandra Cobena

Mr. Speaker, Positioning · 37 wordsthere are moments in the life of a country when people stop asking for promises and start asking for honesty, and this is one of those moments. Canadians are not confused about what is happening around them.Positioning Claims · 32 wordsThey see it every day, with their bills, when they put groceries back on the shelf or when their adult children move back home because even full-time work no longer guarantees independence. Positioning · 22 wordsThey know something is wrong. What makes it worse is that they are being told not to believe their very own eyes.Positioning Claims · 23 wordsThe Liberal government says that the economy is not in a recession and that affordability has not been this good in 10 years, Positioning · 11 wordsbut Canadians know the truth because they are living the truth.Positioning Claims · 67 wordsThe truth is that under the Liberal Prime Minister, Canada has become the only country in a recession in the G7.¹ The truth is that Canadian households now carry the worst debt burden in the G7.² The truth is that housing costs in Canada are now among the worst in the industrialized world.³ The truth is that our unemployment rate is now the second-highest in the G7.⁴ Reasoning · 9 wordsThis did not happen by accident. Policies have consequences. Positioning · 39 wordsThe Liberal government has governed as though debt were imaginary, as though growth would somehow appear without productivity and as though governments can endlessly spend money they do not have without asking working people to eventually carry the cost, PositioningClaims · 58 wordsbut Canadians are carrying the cost. They carry it every time their rent goes up, every time interest rates rise and mortgages are up for renewal and every time they hear another announcement from a government that mistakes press conferences for progress. The Prime Minister likes to say that Canada will move at speeds not seen in generations.⁵ Positioning · 14 wordsI will say, when Canadians first heard those words, they wanted to believe them.Positioning Claims · 46 wordsNow, after more than a year of this government, the results have not matched the rhetoric. The Liberal recession means declining growth. It means our economy is shrinking. It means Canada is not moving at speeds not seen in generations. It means Canada is falling behind. Positioning · 20 wordsThis is not just a criticism but the reality that Canadians are living with and that businesses are responding to.PositioningUnearned certainty Claims · 22 wordsThe Prime Minister is travelling the world trying to sell Canada to investors, while blowing $200,000 on inflight catering over three flights, ⁶Off pointPositioning · 5 wordsbut what is he selling?Positioning Claims · 60 wordsHe is selling a Canada where major projects still take too long and approvals are uncertain, a Canada where the tanker ban remains in place and Bill C-69 continues to scare away billions of dollars in investment, a Canada where housing starts are not rising at speeds not seen in generations but slowing to a pace not seen in generations.⁷⁸ Positioning · 26 wordsWe hear members opposite boast about the Prime Minister’s résumé, but a fancy résumé does not matter to investors looking for opportunities in a business-friendly environment.Positioning Claims · 44 wordsIn fact, in 2025, 45% of all foreign direct investment into Canada, ⁹or $44 billion, consisted of foreign purchasers buying up Canadian businesses rather than building new facilities or expanding productive capacity.¹⁰ Canada used to build national champions, but increasingly, we are selling them. Reasoning · 16 wordsWe do not need better marketing. We need a Canada that is actually open for business. Claims · 12 wordsWe have energy, critical minerals, the workers, the talent and the geography. Positioning · 30 wordsWe have people who are hungry to build, to work, to invest and to grow. What we do not have yet is a government creating the conditions for investor confidence.Positioning Claims · 25 wordsThe Liberal government has given itself extraordinary powers. It has the Major Projects Office.¹¹ It has given itself a majority government through dirty backroom deals, Off pointReasoning · 8 wordsso it should have the ability to move. Positioning · 13 wordsWhere are the major projects? Where is the urgency to meet this moment?Positioning Claims · 77 wordsThe Liberals talk about unleashing Canadian energy, but the tanker ban remains. They talk about building homes, but housing construction in the GTA and in Vancouver has collapsed, and 100,000 people are now out of work.¹² They talk about mines, manufacturing and productivity, but the regulatory reform needed to restore investor confidence is still not there. They talk about moving quickly, but Canadians keep seeing the same pattern: announcement first, action later and, too often, action never. Positioning · 5 wordsShould we really be surprised?Positioning Claims · 15 wordsThe Prime Minister is surrounded by the same Liberal team that delivered the last decade. Positioning · 51 wordsHe can steal our ideas, but does he really believe in them? We know the team around him is not willing to do what it takes to fully implement those ideas and restore Canada’s economy, so Canadians are stuck with the same Liberal pattern: announcement followed by failure to follow through.Positioning Claims · 80 wordsConservatives put forward practical ideas more than a year ago, such as the Canadian sovereign act, the removal of industrial carbon tax, the removal of HST on all new homes worth up to $1.3 million, shovel-ready project zones and capital gains deferrals so we can kick-start our economy and bring wealth home for our people.¹³ In the last election, we laid out an ambitious agenda for the first 100 days to set the tone on energy, crime, competitiveness and affordability, Reasoning · 3 wordsbecause urgency matters. Claims · 16 wordsNow, more than a year later, only a tiny sliver of that vision has been implemented, Positioning · 10 wordsand the Liberals are wondering why things have not changed.Positioning Claims · 33 wordsThe Liberals dismissed most of those ideas, and then they copied them halfway and failed in the implementation. The ideas that would have had the biggest impact are still sitting on the sidelines. Reasoning · 8 wordsHalf measures will not reverse a lost decade. Claims · 92 wordsYes, Canada faces challenges with the U.S., and trade uncertainty is real, but Canada is not the only country facing those challenges. Still, the government wants to blame every failure on geography. On the one hand, the Prime Minister says Canada has the best trade deal with the U.S. of any country in the world and says he wants to help make America great again.¹⁴ On the other hand, he blames our proximity to the United States for our lack of growth and says there is a permanent rupture in our relationship.¹⁵ Positioning · 3 wordsWhich is it?Positioning Claims · 10 wordsThe truth is that Canada has what the world wants, Positioning · 19 wordsbut the world is not yet convinced that the Liberal government will do what is necessary to unlock it.Positioning Procedure · 5 wordsLet us think about this.Procedure Claims · 43 wordsOil prices have soared, yet Canada is still in a recession. We have the best free trade agreement with the U.S., yet Canada is still in a recession. We have the critical minerals the world needs, yet Canada is still in a recession. Positioning · 29 wordsAs I sit in the House, all I hear from the Liberal benches is deflection after deflection and excuse after excuse. They need to wake up and take responsibility.Positioning Claims · 28 wordsThis is not simply something that is happening to Canada. It is a result of slow execution and weak confidence in a government that confuses announcements with achievements. Positioning · 29 wordsWhen will the Liberals realize that the cause of the recession is not Canada or Canadians but them and their failed policies? Canadians do not need more hollow speeches.Positioning The ask · 18 wordsWe need ambition in law, in approvals, in construction, in energy, in mining, in manufacturing and in paycheques. Claims · 19 wordsWe need a government that passes laws and delivers results because the problem is not that Canada lacks potential. Positioning · 29 wordsThe problem is that the Liberal government has not yet had the courage or the urgency to move beyond announcements, get serious about implementation and finally unleash our economy.Positioning