MEMBER OF PARLIAMENT
Cobena consistently focuses on how government policies and spending are hurting Canadians and the economy. She wants lower taxes, less regulation, and a government that gets out of the way of business growth. She pushes for fiscal responsibility and calls out what she sees as government excess and broken promises.
Oral Questions
“You think the Prime Minister should spend $195,000 of taxpayer money on steak and fine wine? That's bad. The cost of gas, food, and hydro is going up. Canadians have it hard. The Prime Minister shouldn't buy luxury butter cups with taxpayer money. He should use his own money for that.”
“The Prime Minister spent $195,000 of taxpayers' money on fancy food. He should spend less so Canadians can afford to eat.”
Government Orders
“I want the minister to answer my simple, direct question about the cost of the bureaucracy. Stop dodging.”
“I want you to give a straight answer: how much interest will Canadians pay on this $25 billion fund's debt?”
“You're not following Norway's example. You're doing the opposite. I want to know the cost of the fund. Nobody will tell me. How much will it cost Canadians over the next five years?”
“You want to spend more taxpayer money on a fancy new program. That program will pay executives a lot of money. But Canadians have trouble buying food. I want you to say how much the new CEO will get paid.”
“You won't answer my simple questions. I think your program just helps Liberal friends. Why won't you copy programs that work better?”
“This government program can't get anything done because of the government's own rules. Why should we think their new fund will be any better?”
“Why are you ignoring the rest of the world's good examples?”
“This 'fund' will have a Liberal-appointed board, use borrowed money, and have political interference. That's a slush fund, not a sovereign wealth fund.”
“I'm going to poke at how 'independent' this will really be. Who gets to pick the board members?”
“You say the fund is independent. But then you say 'we' will make it invest in the national interest. 'We' will pick the projects. That's not independent. That's political influence. Norway's fund has zero political influence. This one will have tons. You told Canadians this is a normal sovereign wealth fund. But it's not. Why did you mislead people?”
“You didn't answer my real question. I asked about diverse investments, not page numbers. Norway keeps their investments out of politics. But you want us to invest inside Canada only, and now you're picking favourites with the money. How can you say the fund will be independent when you're the one choosing?”
“You didn't answer me. Canada's fund comes from borrowing $25 billion. Norway's fund comes from surpluses. How can Canada get good returns without investing worldwide like Norway does?”
“We don't have budget surpluses like Norway to start a sovereign wealth fund. So where will you get the $25 billion to start this?”
Oral Questions
“The government spends money on the wrong things and doesn't care about regular people. Why won't they cut gas taxes?”
“Government debt is too high. The other party spent too much. Canadians are paying a lot of interest. We say cut some taxes instead. Why won't the other party cut taxes like we suggest? Do they not care or are they out of control?”
Government Orders
“The Canada Infrastructure Bank is a proven failure. It burned money for seven years just to cover its own costs. If that's your idea of success, I want nothing to do with it.”
“We know this fund will be seeded with borrowed money and controlled by the prime minister. That's not how sovereign wealth funds are supposed to work. There isn't even a clear mandate. It makes no sense.”
“I don't like it when government makes businesses wait. I know a business that couldn't grow here but found it easy in the U.S. Government taking too long to give out permits drives investment away. We need less talk and more action on making it easier to grow a business here.”
