Discussion · Government Orders
Luc Berthold Conservative
“The Liberal government makes promises but gets no results. It failed to stop American tariffs, and groceries cost more. Government offices also have long delays that hurt local businesses, and a minister attacked me politically for writing to her about it. I want everyone in the House to agree to let me table that letter.”
“Madam Speaker, I will be sharing my time with my hon. colleague from Louis-Saint-Laurent—Akiawenhrahk. We are debating a motion today that perfectly illustrates how this Liberal government operates. In fact, I should say how it fails to operate, because since this new version of the old Liberal government was elected, we have heard a great deal of promises but seen very few results. We have heard grand promises, significant promises. The first was the Prime Minister’s promise that he would be the right person to resolve the tariff dispute with our neighbour to the south, Donald Trump, and that, because he is a prominent banker and has a wealth of experience, he would be able to find a solution that would ensure Canadians pay fewer tariffs. Eighteen months later, have we seen any improvement? When I speak to businesses in my riding, unfortunately they tell me quite the opposite. Every time that this government takes a step forward, it seems that the U.S. government and Donald Trump use it as an opportunity to raise tariffs. The first misleading claim by this government and this Prime Minister pointed to his long list of credentials and past experience to say that he was the right person for the job. Unfortunately, we have seen that he has been unable to reach an agreement with the Americans, and Canadians are left paying the price. The second major promise he made was that he would be judged by the prices at the grocery store. Of all the people I have spoken with, not one has told me that groceries have become less expensive over the past 18 months under this new Prime Minister from the same old Liberal government. I think that everyone understands what I mean. Once again, we have a government that talks a lot. Our leader likes to say that this Prime Minister is all talk and no action. Personally, I would say that he is all talk, a bad negotiator and short on results, because nothing is getting done. That is the reality. I will ask my Bloc Québécois colleagues for their indulgence, as I will return to the motion in a moment, because I want to say that I was asked this week about the fact that I had written to a minister of this Liberal government. It is as though there were something wrong with a member of Parliament writing to a minister because their department is not functioning properly to offer potential solutions. Unfortunately, the minister chose to use that letter to play partisan politics in the House. The Minister of Jobs and Families used a letter that I had sent her on behalf of three businesses in my riding to score political points, claiming that we say one thing and do another, when nothing could be further from the truth. Since I was unable to table this letter, I would like to read three short paragraphs expressing what I wanted to tell the minister. Here is an excerpt: The current delays at ESDC [Employment and Social Development Canada] are hard to fathom for businesses that rely on the processing times published by the department. In most cases brought to our attention, these processing times are not being met. Worse still, they sometimes end up twice as long as expected. A little further on, I wrote the following about one company’s experience: An LMIA [labour market impact assessment] for three workers was submitted last March 25. More than 90 days after it was filed, the business was still awaiting a reply, and two of the three workers involved were no longer able to work. Here is a passage concerning another business that illustrates a different issue deserving the minister’s attention: The company waited more than 150 days for a response to an LMIA. After more than five months, the file still had not been processed and, according to information sent to my office, had not even been taken in charge by ESDC. That is what I was telling the minister. I would not have made the letter public. I would not have brought it up here because I thought we could still sort things out with the Liberal ministers. However, it seems that we can no longer trust exchanges between a member who represents a riding and the ministers of this Liberal government. I think that is wrong and that there should seriously be a cabinet shuffle somewhere so that the people who are in those seats realize that they have a responsibility to all Canadians, not just Canadians in their ridings but Canadians in all ridings. That is what democracy is all about. They are government ministers who must represent everyone. I really wanted to get that on the record. I would also like to seek the unanimous consent of the House to table the letter if my colleagues agree.”
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Madam Speaker, I will be sharing my time with my hon. colleague from Louis-Saint-Laurent—Akiawenhrahk. We are debating a motion today that perfectly illustrates how this Liberal government operates. In fact, I should say how it fails to operate, because since this new version of the old Liberal government was elected, we have heard a great deal of promises but seen very few results. We have heard grand promises, significant promises. The first was the Prime Minister’s promise that he would be the right person to resolve the tariff dispute with our neighbour to the south, Donald Trump, and that, because he is a prominent banker and has a wealth of experience, he would be able to find a solution that would ensure Canadians pay fewer tariffs. Eighteen months later, have we seen any improvement? When I speak to businesses in my riding, unfortunately they tell me quite the opposite. Every time that this government takes a step forward, it seems that the U.S. government and Donald Trump use it as an opportunity to raise tariffs. The first misleading claim by this government and this Prime Minister pointed to his long list of credentials and past experience to say that he was the right person for the job. Unfortunately, we have seen that he has been unable to reach an agreement with the Americans, and Canadians are left paying the price. The second major promise he made was that he would be judged by the prices at the grocery store. Of all the people I have spoken with, not one has told me that groceries have become less expensive over the past 18 months under this new Prime Minister from the same old Liberal government. I think that everyone understands what I mean. Once again, we have a government that talks a lot. Our leader likes to say that this Prime Minister is all talk and no action. Personally, I would say that he is all talk, a bad negotiator and short on results, because nothing is getting done. That is the reality. I will ask my Bloc Québécois colleagues for their indulgence, as I will return to the motion in a moment, because I want to say that I was asked this week about the fact that I had written to a minister of this Liberal government. It is as though there were something wrong with a member of Parliament writing to a minister because their department is not functioning properly to offer potential solutions. Unfortunately, the minister chose to use that letter to play partisan politics in the House. The Minister of Jobs and Families used a letter that I had sent her on behalf of three businesses in my riding to score political points, claiming that we say one thing and do another, when nothing could be further from the truth. Since I was unable to table this letter, I would like to read three short paragraphs expressing what I wanted to tell the minister. Here is an excerpt: The current delays at ESDC [Employment and Social Development Canada] are hard to fathom for businesses that rely on the processing times published by the department. In most cases brought to our attention, these processing times are not being met. Worse still, they sometimes end up twice as long as expected. A little further on, I wrote the following about one company’s experience: An LMIA [labour market impact assessment] for three workers was submitted last March 25. More than 90 days after it was filed, the business was still awaiting a reply, and two of the three workers involved were no longer able to work. Here is a passage concerning another business that illustrates a different issue deserving the minister’s attention: The company waited more than 150 days for a response to an LMIA. After more than five months, the file still had not been processed and, according to information sent to my office, had not even been taken in charge by ESDC. That is what I was telling the minister. I would not have made the letter public. I would not have brought it up here because I thought we could still sort things out with the Liberal ministers. However, it seems that we can no longer trust exchanges between a member who represents a riding and the ministers of this Liberal government. I think that is wrong and that there should seriously be a cabinet shuffle somewhere so that the people who are in those seats realize that they have a responsibility to all Canadians, not just Canadians in their ridings but Canadians in all ridings. That is what democracy is all about. They are government ministers who must represent everyone. I really wanted to get that on the record. I would also like to seek the unanimous consent of the House to table the letter if my colleagues agree.