Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship  Mr. Speaker, many Liberals claim that closing the Vegreville Immigration office was to “manage middle-class taxpayer dollars responsibly”, and to “spend tax dollars wisely”, and to “save money”. Yesterday, Global News exposed all that was a massive Liberal deception. The facts reveal this cold-hearted decision will actually cost taxpayers millions.

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship  Mr. Speaker, this is actually all nonsense. Just last week, the Minister of Infrastructure and Communities claimed that the Liberals were closing the office because they “want to be responsible for how they use taxpayers dollars”, but Canadians now know the truth. Rural Liberal MPs, the NDP and federal public service workers everywhere should be outraged.

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship  Mr. Speaker, this is about the eighth different excuse in the last seven months about why this is happening. However, let us be clear about what is happening. The minister is spending millions of tax dollars to shut this office down in a small town represented by a Conservative and moving jobs to a vulnerable Liberal riding.

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship  Mr. Speaker, last month employees at the Vegreville case processing centre were given their options for when the Liberals close the office. The minister and other Liberal MPs claim that the closure is to save money, but the employees in Vegreville consistently exceed departmental targets and outperform other offices.

Infrastructure  Mr. Speaker, the Liberals put up roadblocks to job-creating and nation-building infrastructure. Now the B.C. election and the NEB changes put approvals at risk and cause uncertainty for future proposals. The natural resources minister claims approvals are safe, but actions speak louder than words.

Indigenous Affairs  Mr. Speaker, approximately 32,000 Métis and first nations people work in Canada's natural resources. It is the largest private sector employer of first nations people across the country. First nations in Lakeland and Alberta are very active in oil and gas, from upstream exploration and production to service, supply, and technology.

Softwood Lumber  Madam Speaker, in Lakeland, Al-Pac, near Athabasca, leads in pulp, paper, biofuels, and jobs, but the lumber mill near Boyle closed, cutting 11% of jobs and $12 million in annual revenue from town. It was the biggest employer. Canadian forestry provides more than 370,000 jobs in over 200 communities, but with no softwood lumber deal and new U.S. tariffs, livelihoods are at risk.

Ethics  Mr. Speaker, it is obvious the Prime Minister is not being honest with Canadians about his trip to billionaire island. He claimed that taking a private helicopter was the only way he could get to the private island, but one of his staff made the same trip on a commercially chartered seaplane.

Questions Passed as Orders for Return  With regard to the Phoenix pay system: (a) how many individuals received (i) overpayments, (ii) underpayments, during the 2016 calendar year by the Phoenix pay system; (b) how many individuals (i) owed the government money, (ii) were owed money as of January 1, 2017, as a result of receiving either overpayments or underpayments during the 2016 calendar year; (c) what specific measures have been put in place by the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) related to individuals who received overpayments or underpayments in 2016; (d) as of February 13, 2017, had the Minister of National Revenue provided any directives to CRA regarding relief for the individuals in (a); and (e) if the answer to (d) is affirmative, what are the dates and contents of any such directives?

Infrastructure  Mr. Speaker, if they understand the challenges, they better do something about it. Yesterday, the minister said “...federal infrastructure dollars can only be used for infrastructure projects”, but the AUMA is clear: the Alberta NDP is breaking the commitment of $300 million for infrastructure projects in local communities.

Infrastructure  Mr. Speaker, the Alberta Urban Municipalities Association says the Alberta government is breaking its agreement to flow $300 million of building Canada funds to local municipal projects. Instead, it is going to pay down the Alberta NDP's out-of-control debt. The infrastructure minister keeps falsely repeating that this money is building infrastructure and creating jobs.

Taxation  Mr. Speaker, the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Finance, whose department is responsible for the carbon tax cover-up, said that releasing the costs ”could cause confusion for Canadians, industries, provinces and territories, and our partners around the world about Canada's actual plan and the cost associated with it”.

Taxation  Mr. Speaker, the Liberals claim to be open, transparent, and fair, but it is clear they are deliberately covering up the harmful consequences of their carbon tax. The Liberals should be straight with Canadians, but it is obvious why they are not. They do not want us to know they are making everything more expensive for everyone and they are hurting the most vulnerable the most.

Business of Supply  Mr. Speaker, no, because I oppose a carbon tax. The member seems to have a foggy memory of what happened there. In fact, at the beginning of a debate about meeting targets in the Paris agreement, the Prime Minister, before any debate occurred, or any MP could have a say, before anyone could represent his or her constituents, before anyone had any ability to consider a policy proposal or the impacts on the communities, stood and pre-empted that entire debate.

Business of Supply  Madam Speaker, the debate is about the impact of the carbon tax on all Canadians and the Liberals refusal to release the information, the facts, to Canadians about what the carbon tax will cost them. We all know what happened. Without debate with members of Parliament, without consultation with the provincial governments, the Liberals announced they would be forcing a carbon tax on every person and every community in Canada.