Marc Dalton · TranslatePolitics.ca

Government Orders

Bail and Sentencing Reform Act

2026-06-12

“You're wrong. Crime is bad because of you. You want us to be quiet. But we must talk and change your bill. We know what Canadians really want.”

Government Orders

Government Business No. 12—Proceedings on Bill C-30

2026-06-12

“You said a lot of nice things about the government. But you didn't mention the car industry. It's down from over 2.5 million cars to under one million. Honda and Northvolt pulled out of EV battery plans. The government's investments aren't working.”

Government Orders

2026-06-11

“I want to praise another Conservative's speech. He really understood the bill. I hope the government accepts his change. This bill upsets normal people. My pastor's relative called me, very upset. I said”

Official Hansard

Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the member for his passionate speech and for his very clearly thought-out presentation and understanding of the bill. I certainly hope that the Liberals will follow through with his amendment. My wife and I received a call a couple of days ago from a relative of the pastor of the church I have been going to for about 25 years. She was very upset about this bill. I wanted to soothe her, so I told her, “I do not believe they are going to be taking people in the next few days or few weeks and bringing them to prison.” I was just trying to calm her down. At the same time, I said, “This is leading somewhere. We do not know where it is going to go. It is going to be interpreted.” I wonder if the member could tell us how this would impact the human rights courts—

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Private Members' Business

National Framework on the Durability of Electronic Products and Essential Home Appliances Act

2026-06-11

“I want to sound reasonable, so I'll tell lots of stories about how appliances used to be better. Our party should look like we're on the consumer's side too. But really, this repair bill would make a huge bureaucracy. Liberals love bureaucracy, but we're against that. Never mind the details, just know we're voting no because it would grow government. I'll complain a lot about all the ways it could go wrong, but I won't give a real alternative. I just want my party to look like we tried.”

Official Hansard

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to speak to Bill C-267, an act to establish a national framework to promote the durability of electronic products and essential home appliances. The legislation proposes a federal framework to improve product durability, repairability and transparency for consumers. It sounds really good. Everyone has stories about appliances and their longevity, or the lack thereof. I bought a second-hand freezer 35 years ago. It is still humming away in our basement. It needs some defrosting. It has almost become a member of the family. I do not know how many more years it has, but it will probably outlive us. There is also my microwave. It is 23 years old today. It celebrated its birthday. About 10 years ago, it had a little problem. It started sparking. My wife, whom I have been pretty impressed with, has come up with some fixes for our dryer and our microwave, and we did a little patch. Guess what? They are still working after all these years. Those are some good stories about appliances, but not all appliances in our household have happy stories. Take our stove. It did not have a knob, like they used to. I guess some of them still do, but the one we had did not. It had a plastic top. Anyway, one of the little plastic pieces behind broke. It was about 50¢ for the piece, so I thought it would be no problem to get this little repair job done. I thought it was going to keep up with my freezer, but it apparently needed a whole new control panel. They did not make the replacement for that little piece, and a new control panel would have cost almost the same as buying a new a stove. That was a frustrating and expensive experience. Toasters nowadays seem to be just as useless, compared to half a century ago. The list goes on and on. There is a history of planned obsolescence. Have members ever heard about the Phoebus cartel? I had never heard about the Phoebus cartel before I did the preparation for this speech. It was made up of the world's major light bulb manufacturers. In 1924, we had Osram, which I had never heard of, and Philips, which I have heard of, as well as GE and others. These companies secretly agreed to cap bulb lifespans at about 1,000 hours. They were at about 2,500 hours at that time. They fined members whose bulbs lasted too long. They saw, rightly, that having bulbs that never went out was not good for business. There is a light bulb in my riding. It was part of the member for Mission—Matsqui—Abbotsford's riding until the last election. It is in the Ruskin Dam. That light bulb is almost 100 years old. It has not gone out in 100 years. That is amazing. If we had light bulbs like that, we could almost put them in our will. Planned obsolescence is not new. In the 1920s, GM introduced the annual model year. Alfred Sloan pioneered dynamic obsolescence. He restyled the cars every year so that the previous year looked aged. This is what happened to the Model T. That sank it for Ford and the Model T. It was about fashion. We see present-day obsolescence in software updates, incompatible chargers, glued-in batteries and printer cartridges with kill chips. This is frustrating. I would agree that the industry can do better. We can get products that last. Canadians would welcome this. I just ordered a fourth shaver a couple days ago from Amazon. They used to last a decade or more. This is what we are seeing. We need to dig a little deeper into this bill. What would it actually do? It would force the minister to make a bureaucracy. It would force the minister to make a national framework. Liberals love the words “national framework”. The framework must address the minimum useful life and labelling, the repair via accessible parts, tools and information, replacement part availability periods, technical documentation, software support duration, consumer education and the responsibilities of manufacturers, importers and distributors. It is a massive bureaucratic undertaking. I can see the Liberals being gleeful about this bureaucracy. Frameworks are nebulous and vaporous. What does it mean to have a national framework? It means 50 full-time bureaucrats talking and talking. Maybe it is 500 or 5,000. I do not know. The minister must confer with the provinces on possible future legislation, industry obligations, inspections and penalties every 18 months and must report to Parliament. There would be report after report, more bureaucracy and more expense to the taxpayer. We have seen this playing out over and over again. We were recently discussing Build Canada Homes, which is a fourth bureaucracy. The Liberals have a terrible record. My staff tell me how hard it is becoming to deal with the Canada Revenue Agency, immigration and the government. It is getting slower and slower. It is hard. We need to also consider the prices for appliances that were stable and have been declining for many years. It is true that refrigerators, washers and dryers were simpler and easier to repair, and parts were more robust and less dependent on electronics. They were also heavier, with more metal components. Now, electronic control boards, sensors, touch screens and smart features introduce more failure points. Manufacturers are also feeling the pressure to keep prices competitive, which leads to lighter construction and lower-cost components. Before we run headlong into bureaucracy and regulations, we need to also recognize that modern appliances use much less electricity and water. That is a significant cost savings. They have more features and conveniences, and they meet stricter environmental standards. The trade-off has been lower purchase prices and better efficiency versus durability and ease of repair. This is another issue to keep in mind. Canada is a small market, compared to Europe and the United States. As it was mentioned previously by my colleague from British Columbia, most of the manufacturing is done in other countries. That is a problem, because they are not going to bend for Canada. Basically, what will end up happening is there will be a reduction in the number of products for Canadians. This will certainly increase costs for Canadian consumers, who the Liberals are saying they are trying to help. At the same time, the Internet has made it easier than ever for consumers to see how long things last, based on honest reviews. They may be honest. We may have to pick through them. The Conservatives are opposing this bill. Why? It is because it moves away from previous Conservative-supported right-to-repair measures. Bill C-294, which we supported, would have made it easier for Canadian businesses and innovators to create products that work with existing technologies, giving consumers more choice and encouraging competition. It was a common-sense measure that would have supported innovation, helped grow our economy and benefited Canadians without taking away copyright protections. This bill, despite its title, does not display common sense. This bill would present risks around federal intrusion into areas of provincial jurisdiction. The Liberals do not have a problem with that. It would introduce the potential for increased regulatory burden on businesses. The Liberals do not have a problem with that, either. It would risk consumer choice by reducing lower-cost product options and discouraging manufacturers from offering certain products in the Canadian market. It sounds like a great idea, but there are a lot of problems and pitfalls in this bill. The Conservatives will be voting against it, and I encourage the government to go back to the table and follow the Conservatives' plan.

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Government Orders

2026-06-11

“I want you to agree with my party's amendments. It will influence my vote.”

Statements by Members

Mel Zajac

2026-06-11

“Mel Zajac was a good man who helped many kids. I'm sad he's gone.”

Official Hansard

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honour the life of an extraordinary British Columbian philanthropist and community builder, Mel Zajac, who passed away at the age of 98. I had the privilege of knowing Mel and visited Zajac Ranch in Mission on several occasions, including just last month. It is an amazing place, and it is constantly improving. What always struck me was that, right to the very end, Mel remained passionately committed to helping youth with disabilities. After the heartbreaking loss of two sons, Mel transformed personal tragedy into a remarkable legacy of hope. His vision gave life to Zajac Ranch, which is a fully accessible camp where children and young adults with complex medical conditions can experience joy, friendship, confidence and the sense of belonging that every child needs. Over the decades, thousands have been touched by Mel and Wendy's belief that barriers should never prevent a child from thriving. Mel Zajac leaves behind a legacy of philanthropy and compassion. On behalf of the House, I extend my deepest condolences to Wendy, his family and the entire Zajac community.

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Oral Questions

The Economy

2026-06-10

“I want the Prime Minister to admit he caused these problems. Liberal policies are causing hardship. Canadians are struggling. The Prime Minister should reverse his costly policies.”

Government Orders

Build Canada Homes Act

2026-06-05

“This bill creates more bureaucracy and regulation. It spends more taxpayer money. It benefits Liberal friends and insiders.”

Statements by Members

The Economy

2026-06-05

“Canadians thought they were getting a great economic deal with the Liberals, but instead we got the only recession in the G20. Our economy has declined in three of the last four quarters, and there's only a 1% chance the Liberals will meet their own fiscal targets. Businesses are retreating from investment amid soaring uncertainty. The Liberals claim to be cutting costs, but they plan to hike personnel expenses and borrow $72 billion in deficit this year alone. This means diminished paycheques, fewer jobs, and strained households. Canadians deserve better than a lost Liberal government.”

Official Hansard

Madam Speaker, last year Canadians thought they were electing someone with exceptional economic skills who could strengthen our economy and quickly negotiate a deal with the United States. Well, it is becoming increasingly evident that we have been duped. Under the Liberals, Canada has the only recession in the G20. We have now suffered economic decline in three of the last four quarters. The Parliamentary Budget Officer paints a grim picture, saying there is only a 1% chance the Liberals will meet their own fiscal targets. As for businesses, they are retreating from investment amid soaring uncertainty. The Liberals claim to be cutting costs, but they plan to hike personnel expenses from $69 billion to $86 billion by 2031. Then there is the $72 billion in deficit borrowing this year alone. This is not just numbers; it is diminished paycheques, fewer jobs and strained households. Canadians deserve better than a Liberal government that has lost its way.

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Government Orders

Build Canada Homes Act

2026-06-05

“I want companies to be free from regulation. The government is holding people back.”

“I want fewer bureaucracies and less cronyism. Government control is bad. More homes should be built privately instead.”

“I'm very upset. You didn't do what I wanted. I think you did a bad job. I say you get an F.”

“I want taxpayers to spend more money. I don't like that other party. In my riding, we built a lot of things. That makes me sad that people can't buy houses now. Conservatives have a plan to fix this.”

Official Hansard

Madam Speaker, I was an MLA in British Columbia in the years coinciding with when the Conservatives were in power under former prime minister Stephen Harper. Those were the years when Canada, and more specifically B.C., was moving forward. Projects were getting built under a free enterprise provincial and federal government. In my riding, there is the Golden Ears Bridge, the Pitt River Bridge, the Port Mann Bridge and the expansion of the Trans-Canada Highway. The highway that used to go between Vancouver and Squamish was called the highway of death because of all the fatalities there. That was expanded. There is Kicking Horse Pass. The Olympics happened. There is the Canada Line, the convention centre and a new stadium, new hospitals and new schools. All throughout British Columbia there was tremendous progress, and I know that this was the same throughout the country. The New York Times, during that period, said that Canada had the richest middle class in the world. We had a dollar at par with the American dollar. I would talk to Americans and others visiting Canada and visiting Victoria, where I often was for my government work. They were amazed by the prosperity they saw in British Columbia and in Canada. Let us keep in mind that between 2007 and mid-2009, the world underwent the great global recession. It was the most severe economic and financial meltdown since the Great Depression in the late twenties and the thirties, impacting housing significantly. Canada weathered this storm very well, and we were number one in growth. Between 2006 and 2015, under Stephen Harper, there were two million housing starts in Canada, while the population growth was about 3.2 million. Using household sizes, those starts were enough to accommodate more people than the population during that period. Canada fared the best in the G7. We were a prosperous nation going from strength to strength. Fast-forward to 2026. After 11 long years under the Liberal government and under two Liberal prime ministers, we have gone from boom to gloom and from first to worst. There has been economic stagnation and decline under the Liberals. In three of the last four quarters, we have shrunk. We are in a recession. We are the only country in the G20 with an economy that is shrinking. The G20 includes nations such as Argentina, which was an economic basket case not so long ago; Australia; Brazil; China; France; Germany; India; Indonesia; Italy; Japan; Mexico, whose number one trading partner is the U.S., as it is for Canada; Russia; Saudi Arabia; South Africa; South Korea; Turkey; the United Kingdom and the United States. I know that the Liberals would like to blame the U.S. for all the problems Canada faces, but all these countries are impacted by U.S. tariffs, and some are in war zones. However, credit must be given where credit is deserved. The Liberals excel, get an A, for building bureaucracy, increasing red tape and doling out money to friends, family and themselves. Since I was elected to the House of Commons in 2019, it has been one scandal after another. We get numb after a while. The Conservatives had their scandals also. One lady, a cabinet minister, resigned for having a $16 glass of orange juice. The Prime Minister promised to double housing construction to half a million homes a year and to move at speeds we have not seen in generations. How has that turned out? More than one year in, the result is the exact opposite: fewer permits, fewer starts, and a housing crisis that keeps getting worse. For example, Toronto has experienced a major housing construction downturn, a crash. Starts are down more than 50% in the last three years. New condo sales in the GTA collapsed to 1,599 units in 2025, the lowest annual total in 35 years and 91% less than the 10-year average. However, this must be kept in context. Canada's population has increased by 2.5 million people in the last three years alone, under the Liberals' chaotic handling of immigration. Construction should be skyrocketing, not plummeting. The Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation says that we need to build 480,000 homes a year for the next decade. We are expected to build only half of that this year and only 212,000 units by 2028. Meanwhile, 131,000 Canadians who used to work in construction are unemployed as of April, and half of home builders and contractors are reporting layoffs in the first quarter of this year. Maybe there is a strategy under this political madness. Maybe the intention is to make things so bad that when there is a change, and I think there was some positive news with the numbers today, the Liberals will blow the trumpets, bang on the drums and say how they have turned things around, how marvellous things have become. However, this is a fail. It is not a new day. It is not a new government. It is the same old, same old. Instead of a plan to build homes, the Liberals would deliver a fourth housing bureaucracy. Far from building at generational speeds, they have taken a year to introduce legislation that still builds no homes. Even when homes start getting built, the Parliamentary Budget Officer found, Build Canada Homes would add just 5,000 homes per year, 1% of what the Liberals promised. We can do the math on how much is being invested right there and what that equates to as far as cost per unit. It is more bureaucracy, more red tape and more cost. I recently held a round table with builders and developers. They are asking for less government in the homebuilding process, not more. Ever-increasing regulations are killing the market and driving up construction costs. Federal, provincial and municipal regulations and taxes are all adding costs, not just for the builder but also for the home purchaser. If we are to make housing affordable for Canadians, we need to cut the cost of building and to build more, faster. Bill C‑20 would not build, and it would not cut costs for builders. What would it do? It would build a fourth government bureaucracy. That is an F, for “fail”. I was a teacher. We can see the stats here very clearly. Canadians used to be able to buy their first home in their twenties or early thirties. Realtors in Vancouver tell me that it is now an anomaly for new homebuyers to purchase a place without getting significant financial help from their family. This is building a sharp divide in Canadian society between the haves and the have-nots. This is not good. It is becoming dependent upon generational wealth rather than on someone's being able to make it on their own, even with a supposedly great salary. Conservatives have a plan: Cut the GST on all new homes under $1.3 million, saving families up to $65,000 and unleashing new building; tie federal infrastructure dollars to homebuilding, with municipalities having to permit at least 15% more homebuilding each year to get things done; cut development charges by 50%, because the number one cost of construction is all the regulations and permitting; and end the capital gains tax on reinvestments in new housing in Canada and unlock billions of dollars of investment in the country's homebuilding sector. Canadians should be able to earn a strong paycheque in a thriving economy to buy an affordable home. It used to be this way, and it can be this way again.

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Government Orders

Business of Supply

2026-05-07

“Business owners can't renew mortgages. Homeowners can't get loans. There's chaos and uncertainty all because of your treaties. This is your mess, Liberals.”

“Homeownership is a big deal. But now some court decisions are messing with it. That's scary for a lot of people. The Liberals aren't taking this seriously. They need to step up and defend private property rights for real.”

Official Hansard

Mr. Speaker, we are talking today about a very important issue that is impacting all British Columbians and has implications for all Canadians: property rights. In the 2021 census, two-thirds, about 66.8%, of British Columbian households owned their own home, and it was about the same throughout the country. One-third were renters, and a good many of those renters wanted to eventually own. It has become increasingly difficult during the past decade under the Liberals due to the cost of housing, rising inflation and less and less disposable income to pay for things like groceries, gas and taxes, let alone a down payment on a home. People work hard to pay down their mortgages. It can take decades. I remember one worker I spoke to not that long ago telling me that he was working seven days a week, and very long days, just to keep a roof over his family's head and to keep their home. “It is nothing fancy”, he told me. He said that he could not give his body a break. I think of myself when I was a new teacher buying a condo, working long hours, extra hours, for money to go towards the mortgage. I think of seniors who have spent a lifetime paying down their mortgage and want to use their house as a nest egg to provide financial resources and security for their retirement and pass it on to their children and grandchildren. I do not like saying this, but this is being undermined today. In British Columbia, we sometimes have small earthquakes, we have not had a large for probably over 100 years, but I have felt them. There are tremors, foreshocks and aftershocks. The foreshocks around the world sometimes indicate that a big one is coming and should not be ignored. However, with private property rights, there are some shocks happening. The Liberals can just ignore them and say that nothing is happening. “It is the same old, same old” is what we hear from them, but there is something dangerous looming, and it is already here. Private property rights are often considered one of the foundational elements of a free and stable economy. It is important, because it impacts people's economic freedom, their personal security and investment. For generations, Canadians have understood a basic principle: If they lawfully purchase a home, if they hold title to their property, if they invest their life savings into a piece of land, and not just their life savings, but their sweat and work, then the law protects that ownership. It is certainly not a privilege. It is one of the cornerstones of democratic society. It is what allows families to build a future. It allows farmers to invest in their land. It allows businesses to create jobs and communities to grow. Where there is uncertainty in property rights, confidence erodes, investment dries up, families hesitate and communities stagnate. This is a big concern. I had a booth at a home show over the past weekend for several days and talked to hundreds of people. The topic of property rights came up over and over again, unsolicited. It is not just what the Liberals call “fearmongering”. It is what people are feeling in the community. It is not some bad dream they are having. It is reality. There are things happening, and the Liberals have been asleep at the switch, which is an old expression. The Liberals are more than asleep. Their incompetence is a key reason that we find ourselves in the mess we are in. Last August, the Cowichan Tribes v. Canada decision of the B.C. Supreme Court threatened the private property rights of landowners in British Columbia and potentially in other provinces. In one act, the judge deemed the aboriginal title had prior and senior rights over fee simple home ownership, like over 800 acres in Richmond worth a billion dollars. It is setting a precedent that other judgments can be made on. That is the concern. That is a big concern. It sets a precedent that can expand. It is already serious enough. This ruling has shaken the foundations of British Columbia's economy and sparked fear among landowners province-wide. As Conservatives, we are bringing this up. We are hearing what communities, like Richmond, and the owners are saying. I have met with farmers who have spent generations on their land, clearing, working and spending money. This is all being threatened and the Liberals pooh-pooh us. They say we are just barking up a tree. We are not barking up a tree. This is serious and they need to take it seriously. They cannot just say it is in the court's hands, that we need to forget about it and just go back to sleep. We are not going to. We are going to fight for this. We are going to fight for landowners. We are going to fight for homeowners. We are going to fight for our communities. We are going to try to wake up the Liberals because they have gotten us into this situation. British Columbians bought their homes, paid their mortgages and followed the law, but because the Liberal government directed its lawyers not to argue for property rights in the Cowichan case, the judge did not protect private property. The government will say it is there and it is fighting for it, but it did not actually intervene. It said it would appeal on the very last day. The government said it had better do that as it might not be very good for it electorally. That is what it is thinking of. It is all electoral; it is all speech. Under the Prime Minister's leadership, the federal government continues to maintain the same legal directive adopted in 2019: litigation guideline 14. That directive led Ottawa to abandon the argument in defence of fee simple title in British Columbia, including in the Cowichan case. It is still on the government's website today, unless it was taken out this morning, to not encourage the government lawyers to stand up for fee simple property. The Liberals say we are fearmongering. That is not true. They are trying to minimize a very serious situation that British Columbians find themselves in. They say we are being racist. It is not true. Conservatives believe in reconciliation with indigenous people. It is essential. It is a moral obligation, a constitutional responsibility and an opportunity to build a stronger Canada founded on mutual respect and shared prosperity. Reconciliation cannot succeed if it is built on ambiguity, secrecy and legal confusion. What does this all mean? What is going on here for private property owners? What does it mean for municipalities? What does it mean for future land claims and development projects? British Columbia has been an important engine in Confederation and in the economy, but it is not the same. We are struggling here economically and developmentally. When business owners are afraid of expanding, that has an impact on jobs. The lack of jobs impacts taxes and revenues, which impacts health care and everything else.

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Oral Questions

Indigenous Affairs

2026-05-07

“Homeowners followed the law but the Liberals told their lawyers not to protect property rights. They still have that rule on their website today. Why are the Liberals telling lawyers not to defend homeowners?”

Government Orders

Report Stage

2026-05-04

“I don't like that the Liberals put the floor crossers next to the Prime Minister. It's like they're showing off a prize. Those floor crossers have no shame, just like the Liberals.”

“I agree with you. The Liberals care more about politics than helping victims or respecting justice. That's terrible.”

“I want Arbour to come to committee and answer questions. It bothers me that she didn't.”

“That's not a complete answer. I want victims to pick what they think is fastest. The other system is slow right now. You brought up a report writer's name a lot.”