Parliamentary Speeches
946 speeches by Adam van Koeverden — Page 15 of 19
Routine Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, with regard to part (a) of the questions, the Government of Canada is supportive of a review by the World Health Organization’s strategic and technical advisory group, or WHO STAG, for neglected tropical diseases, or NTDs, to determine the suitability of noma for inclusion on the WHO’s list of NTDs. The Government of Canada signed the Kigali declaration in support of the implementatio…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, the details of the cost-benefit analysis are included in the regulatory impact analysis statement published with the regulations amending the food and drug regulations (nutrition symbols, other labelling provisions, vitamin D and hydrogenated fats or oils) in the Canada Gazette, part II, on July 20, 2022. The regulatory impact analysis statement can be located at the following address…
Read full speech →Adjournment Proceedings
Madam Speaker, I would first like to thank the member for Abitibi—Témiscamingue for his question. I would also like to thank the other members of the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage for the important work they do in promoting a safe sporting environment. As a society, we in Canada have a shared responsibility to promote and ensure a safe sporting environment for all. Last month, we learned…
Read full speech →Adjournment Proceedings
Madam Speaker, I really appreciate the engagement from my colleague. I appreciate it because he is passionate and he clearly cares about athletes. At the same time, I was an athlete. I talk to athletes about this issue every single day. Somebody comes to me in my new capacity as parliamentary secretary for sport almost every single day to discuss these important issues. Without that experience tha…
Read full speech →Statements by Members
Madam Speaker, workers' rights are human rights, and the right to collectively bargaining is a fundamental pillar of workers' rights here in Canada. Unions across this nation protect workers and ensure better outcomes for them, their families and the people they support in schools, hospitals, factories and work sites across Canada. Education is absolutely essential. It is perhaps the most importan…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague for his question and his attention to this truly very important subject. Canadians expect us to work together with the provinces and territories to find solutions to the challenges our public health care system is currently facing. Our government will continue to support the $72 billion investments we made during the pandemic and we will increase the Canada heal…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Madam Speaker, that is not true. There are investments in dental care and there are members in the House who voted against them. The Minister of Health will meet with his provincial and territorial counterparts in Vancouver next week to further discuss, among other priorities, how we can continue to work together to solve the health care worker crisis and improve access to family health services a…
Read full speech →Adjournment Proceedings
Madam Speaker, the hypocrisy from my colleague down the way is pretty stunning. In the last election he added his name to a ballot, ran for our party and, like all members in this House, ran on a commitment to fight climate change. To now use affordability as a wedge in that fight that we must collectively take on is rather shameful. Our government is continuing to work day in and day out to make …
Read full speech →Adjournment Proceedings
Madam Speaker, I thank the member for giving me the opportunity to talk about our efforts to help Canadians live healthier lives. Chronic diseases are critical issues for Canadians and for our health care system. That includes diet-related diseases, including obesity, type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular diseases, and they are claiming the lives of more and more Canadians every day. These chronic di…
Read full speech →Adjournment Proceedings
Madam Speaker, it is a real privilege to stand in the House tonight to address concerns from my colleague. I remember back to about a year ago when the member ran for the Liberal Party and I knocked on doors with him. He ran on a commitment to price carbon, and it was welcomed at the doors, as it is welcomed across our country. Canadians know that pollution should not be free. Canadians know that …
Read full speech →Adjournment Proceedings
Madam Speaker, I appreciate that the hon. member for Bow River has moved on from the question of front-of-pack labelling for ground beef. It is not an issue anymore because we do not front-of-pack label ground beef. We resolved it in the previous session. The member has moved onto a new issue. Generally, in order to qualify for an adjournment debate, the member needs to ask a question in the House…
Read full speech →Adjournment Proceedings
Madam Speaker, I genuinely want to thank my friend and colleague for her sincere concern for the health care crisis in Canada, and I too wish to thank health care workers in my community of Milton, in the province of Ontario and across Canada. The burden they have shouldered over the last couple of years has been immense, immeasurable and unfair, and that burden continues today. The pandemic is no…
Read full speech →Adjournment Proceedings
Madam Speaker, I agree that we have to increase the Canada health transfer. It is just not a matter of saying, “Here is unlimited money to spend on whatever you would like, including budget surpluses and $500 cheques to millionaires,” as they do in the province of Quebec. We need to spend that money responsibly and make sure it actually solves the problems my hon. colleague so eloquently pointed a…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, I appreciate the opportunity to rise and ask my colleague some questions about his speech today. There are a couple of things. I am really glad that he brought up the environmental record of the Conservatives back in the nineties. It was really strong, and it continues to be probably the strongest Conservative environmental agenda in this country, provincial or federal, ever. It beg…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, it is a pleasure to stand up and find common ground with my friend and colleague opposite, particularly on what she calls the carbon tax, given that we both ran on commitment to price carbon in the last election. I think there are two things we can agree on today: that the environment is worth protecting and that the time that we have in the House to debate important bills is limite…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, I have a couple of numbers for my colleague opposite and the other members who continue to debate this bill past the number of hours typically spent on a budget implementation act. The first number is zero. That is the number of people in the House or really anywhere who have talked about banning single-use plastics from the health care sector. The number is zero because that is not…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, on a point of order, Bill S-5 is not about the carbon tax. This is not an opportunity to talk about future plans for campaigns or anything like that. Bill S-5 is about the Canadian Environmental Protection Act, and I think that if the members opposite are going to speak to it, they should speak directly to the bill.
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, my friend and colleague opposite, during his speech on Bill S-5, raised some pretty valid concerns and some important issues that, while I was knocking on doors this weekend, I heard from my neighbours as well. However, in talking about Bill S-5, or actually not talking about Bill S-5, we are removing time from the Order Paper and talking about these issues. My friend and colleague wa…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, I want to thank my colleague for his question. The Canada dental benefit will be available to all eligible Canadian and Quebec families, including those covered by the public insurance plan. Our program will directly help families in need. There is no mechanism for opting out because it is not negotiated with the Quebec government.
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, I am happy to stand in this House and extol the important virtues of vaccination over the last couple of years. Indeed, only very few Canadians have decided not to get vaccinated, and that means we have done quite well, in terms of the fatality rate in Canada. It is so important that Canadians consider now, this fall, getting a bivalent vaccine for themselves and their families. I wou…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, before I begin, it is a pleasure to say that I will be sharing my time with the member for Winnipeg North. I am grateful for the opportunity to speak today to respond to this motion brought by the opposition. The demise of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II has raised questions about the relevance of constitutional monarchies in the 21st century, and a number of western democracies remain…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, the word “diversity” brings about a different sense or meaning for a lot of people. This place contains a lot of diversity in terms of our backgrounds, beliefs and systems. However, we are in a country called Canada with many distinct nations and distinct identities, and they are all welcome here. I do not see any reason why we cannot work together despite some of the differences. Con…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, as the member was speaking, I was just reflecting about the opportunities we have had to play soccer with staff from some of the high commissions here in Canada, and that represents the kind of fraternity that I was referring to, which I do not think is a frivolous thing. It is unfortunate to use a term like “fraternity”, which is steeped in sexism, but we agree that those occasions a…
Read full speech →Statements by Members
Mr. Speaker, three days after being detained by Iran's so-called morality police for supposedly wearing her hijab improperly, 22-year-old Mahsa Amini was killed. This human rights violation began a series of protests across Iran in over 80 cities, leaving over 200 people killed by security forces. This indiscriminate killing has also left at least 23 children dead. My thoughts are with all Iranian…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, before many of us ever got involved in politics, I would say that we looked to the member for Wellington—Halton Hills as a beacon of hope in the Conservative Party with respect to fighting climate change. We saw him as the only leadership contestant in a race who was willing to talk about and acknowledge climate change. He, at the time, I believe, was a proponent of carbon pricing, …
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, the Conservatives have loved avoiding three simple facts throughout this debate. The first is that climate change is real and carbon pricing works. I appreciated the note about William Nordhaus and his Nobel Prize explaining just that. The second is that the price on pollution is not a tax. When the Conservatives say “fuel taxes”, they are saying the Supreme Court of Canada wrong. I…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Chair, I submit to my hon. colleague that he has spent quite a lot of time in rooms with experts discussing this issue, and far more than I have. I am new to this conversation. It is uncomfortable. It is intimidating. It is scary. We are not experts on mental health in this room, but my hon. colleague has heard from many. I wonder if he can articulate to the chamber this evening what he has …
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Chair, I am glad my colleague from Nanaimo—Ladysmith focused on children tonight. It is an important subject of conversation. Unfortunately, children are often forgotten in society. I am also glad she connected the climate crisis to kids and their mental health. My question is about children. We all know that kids spend a little too much time on their phones. I spend too much time on my phon…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Chair, it is an honour to rise in the House today to take part in this debate on such an important issue, which is the topic of how we can collectively improve the mental health of Canadians. As we take part in today's discussion, I want to recognize we share a common commitment in this place to address this serious challenge together. Indeed, we all ran on a commitment to our neighbours, an…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Chair, the member for Nanaimo—Ladysmith knows exactly what I love to talk about in this House, and that is the power of physical activity, primarily for kids. I am a kinesiologist. I was an athlete, and one of the things that is missing from my life, as much as it used to be, is physical activity every single day. When I talk to kids, like Josephine, Meghan and Jamie today, they talk to me a…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Chair, the member is once again after my own heart. I am proud to stand up and talk about the community sport for all program, which I was fortunate enough to work on with support from our caucus. The community sport for all program has invested $80 million, half of it so far and $40 million next year hopefully, in community sport programs across the country focused on disadvantaged youth, y…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Chair, I know we are not supposed to use props, but these greasy rectangles of glass in our pockets are devastating for children. They distract them. They keep them on those things, and they keep them from developing that physical literacy I was talking about. They can be an encouraging way to keep in touch with their friends and make sure their parents keep track of them, but we have to enc…
Read full speech →Adjournment Proceedings
Madam Speaker, I appreciate that clarification. I will be honest: It was not a mistake. It happens all the time. It is an effort to catch parliamentary secretaries with a speech or a response that has nothing to do with the question, so the member opposite can stand up and say that the parliamentary secretary is not answering their question. If I were to answer the question he asked in June, it mi…
Read full speech →Adjournment Proceedings
Madam Speaker, before I answer the question from the hon. colleague for Leeds—Grenville—Thousand Islands and Rideau Lakes, I would like to talk for just a minute about adjournment debates. As a parliamentary secretary, I am happy to come into this place and discuss important issues, resolve questions that were not fully answered during debate or in question period and be accountable, but occasiona…
Read full speech →Adjournment Proceedings
Madam Speaker, our government understands the urgency of this situation, and I would say the government understands the urgency of this situation even more because of my friend and colleague from Courtenay—Alberni. We are moving fast and forward with a fact-based approach to ending this crisis. The overdose crisis is having a devastating impact on people. It is ripping the hearts out of our commun…
Read full speech →Adjournment Proceedings
Madam Speaker, before I start, I would like to say thanks to my friend from Courtenay—Alberni. He is a tremendously passionate, outspoken and dogged ambassador, advocate and spokesperson for this cause. He knows that I respect him. He knows that I think he is doing incredible work here in the House, in his community and across the country regarding the overdose crisis. I am proud to be in the Hous…
Read full speech →Adjournment Proceedings
Madam Speaker, it is always a pleasure to talk with my colleague from Bow River. I am glad that he brought up the top of climate change. I met with a whole bunch of farmers from my riding. Many people are not aware that the riding of Milton is home to many ag producers. We have beef farmers, chicken farmers, egg farmers and apple farmers. When my family came from the Netherlands, they settled just…
Read full speech →Adjournment Proceedings
Madam Speaker, it is always a pleasure to come into the House to discuss these issues with my friend from Bow River. He was a teacher, so it is interesting to me that he, like many of his colleagues, refers to a change in the price on pollution, or “carbon tax”, as he calls it. Of course judges in courts across the country have deemed it not to be a tax, because it is not a revenue program, but wh…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, I am happy to chime in today on this very important bill. Also, this debate is occurring on the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty. I am sure my hon. colleague is aware of this important day. I am also really glad to hear there is a community food centre in his riding. We are neighbours in fact, so it is good to hear that the Community Food Centres is doing so much goo…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, I thank my hon. colleague and friend for the speech. I am looking forward to doing some Canada-Netherlands Friendship Group work with him if he is interested. We have some work to do and he is my co-chair, so I will be counting on his engagement there. My friend talked about how it is important, as a Conservative, to stand up and help people who need it most, people who do not have ac…
Read full speech →Statements by Members
Mr. Speaker, Niagara has lost a giant. Keith Simmonds was a business leader at Great Wolf Lodge, a mentor, a friend, a celebrated community member, a father and a husband. Keith died last weekend on a charity bike ride doing what he loved: raising money for charity with his friends. I only met Keith three weeks ago. Along with 36 other riders, we were part of R2//NYC. We rode our bikes to New York…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank the hon. member for Guelph for his consistent advocacy, particularly on health-related matters, for his constituents in Guelph. I was at that meeting last week. According to the Canadian Dental Association, over 2.26 million school days a year are missed because kids are having tooth decay and other tooth-related matters fixed at their dentist and fully one-third…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, I thank my hon. colleague for the question. Although I take French lessons three times a week, I will answer in English to ensure my comments are clear. It is important to have a place, in the House, where we can debate the minutia and the details of the importance of a strong social safety net. That is why I appreciate the high-level question and debate from my hon. member. We all …
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, I do want to thank my hon. colleague from Edmonton Strathcona for her work and her tireless advocacy on behalf of students and young people in this country. In brief, what I will do is make my way over to her side of the chamber and discuss how we can better support students.
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, I am very pleased to be here today with my friends and colleagues to speak to the very important issue of making life more affordable for all Canadians. I am pleased to contribute to the debate today on this motion. Making life more affordable for Canadians is a key priority for our government, and I would like to highlight some of the measures that we are taking to address the cost…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, the Conservatives have been very ambiguous on which piles of money they disagree. Is it the CERB, which supported millions of Canadians across the country when they were out of work? Is it the wage subsidy, which supported small and medium-sized businesses across the country to support their workers? They have been very ambiguous with respect to which piles of money the government h…
Read full speech →Emergency Debate
Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for flying in today and for sticking around at the community level to ensure that everybody had what they needed before she came to the House of Commons. I was fortunate enough this summer to visit my friend and colleague in Halifax and visit throughout the riding. I got to see first-hand her commitment and dedication to the constituents in her riding. That was ev…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, I thank members on the other side for committing to support this measure. When I was growing up, my mother received an HST refund and I know that it helped her with raising two boys with tight paycheques sometimes, and I am confident that this measure will do the same for families now. My hon. colleague's speech wound around a bit and talked about how sending out cheques can contrib…
Read full speech →Emergency Debate
Mr. Speaker, my hon. colleague knows quite a lot about international development and I look forward to our next chat in the elevator on this topic. I did want to highlight, because I had the opportunity to visit the Red Cross in Nova Scotia this summer, its extensive network of community-level contacts and relationships. The type of rapid response that these donations will rely on are those relati…
Read full speech →