Verbatim: The principle duty of government

Proceedings from the House of Commons as reported in Hansard

Proceedings from the House of Commons as reported in Hansard:

Mr. Marc Dalton (Pitt Meadows—Maple Ridge, CPC): Mr. Speaker, what should the number one job of a federal government be? I have always told my constituents that it is national security, our safety and security. Last night, as I was preparing my remarks, I asked Dr. Google what the top priority should be for a national government. Lo and behold, up pops a website for Canada’s federal government, which states, under “National Security,”: “The first priority of the Government of Canada is to protect the safety and security of Canadians both at home and abroad.” 

That made me feel pretty good at first. I thought to myself that I was on the right track, and I was glad that the Liberal government places safety and security as its top priority. That made me happy. Unfortunately, I then felt disturbed when I started to think about it because, as we have seen so much with the Liberal government, rhetoric and words are one thing, and doing is another. Members might ask why. It is because I feel that so much of what the Liberal government and the Prime Minister do actually undermines the safety, security and protection of Canadians at home, within our borders. 

The Liberals are weakening our justice system by removing mandatory minimums. There was a report recently in Vancouver that 40 or so criminals have done 6,000 crimes. That is the Liberal method, to catch and release. That is okay, I suppose, for fishing stocks, to catch a fish and let it go, but it is not good when it comes to criminals, when we have increased problems on transit with random attacks on people, and when a killer who is out on bail murders a police officer. This is not right. Canadians are not feeling protected at home by their justice system. It is a shame and a disgrace. It is not fulfilling the government’s priority with respect to our security. With respect to our national security, we have let our hair grow. Maybe that was okay back in the 1960s, but we have just let it go…The Minister of National Defence has let things go with respect to our military. I was also watching reports on Twitter and, big deal, Canada sent one tank to Ukraine. That was brought up in the House and the response was that it was actually four tanks, because three more are on the way. 

Meanwhile, the Ukrainians are losing hundreds of tanks over there, but Canada does not have much to send because our cupboards are bare. This is personal for me because I was raised in a Royal Canadian Air Force family. I was born in Germany and lived in bases all throughout Canada. Even from a young age, my mind was on the military and our national defence. I also served in the military after finishing high school. Our national defence is not a priority. I will say that categorically…Much of what we have seen, and what I have seen since being elected in 2019, is just rhetoric. It is smoke and mirrors to make it look like the Liberals are doing something when they are not…This just came out a few hours ago in The Globe and Mail. It said, “China employed a sophisticated strategy to disrupt Canada’s democracy in the 2021 federal election campaign as Chinese diplomats and their proxies backed the re-election of Justin Trudeau’s Liberals...and worked to defeat Conservative politicians.” 

The Deputy Speaker: The member cannot use the name of a member even in a quote. 

The hon. member for Pitt Meadows—Maple Ridge Mr. Marc Dalton: Mr. Speaker, I should have edited that quote.

Feb. 17, 2023