Parliamentary Speeches
808 speeches by Adam van Koeverden — Page 16 of 17
Oral Questions
Madam Speaker, our top priority from the very beginning of this pandemic has always been keeping Canadians healthy and safe while upholding the privacy standards that Canadians expect. Over the course of the pandemic, the Public Health Agency of Canada has used de-identified and aggregated data to perform and inform our government's response to COVID-19, and to transparently provide Canadians with…
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Madam Speaker, ever since the beginning of the pandemic, all Canadians have wanted to know when it will be over and when we can go back to the way things were. I count myself among them. I am eager to get back to normal as well. The reality is that we will continue to do what is right for Canadians and keep people safe throughout the pandemic. Different jurisdictions have handled things differentl…
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Madam Speaker, personal attacks aside, I am proud of Team Canada and I will give them a quick little shout-out over at the Winter Olympics. I am sure all of the members of the House are proud of our team. I do not know why she would want to take a personal dig at me for that. The reality is that we want to continue to support Canadians and we want to keep them safe, healthy and alive. We have to r…
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Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague for this very important question. We know that the omicron variant is spreading quickly around the world. That is why the government quickly put health restrictions in place at the borders in order to continue protecting Canadians against the spread of COVID-19. As stated earlier, our government is officially recommending that Canadians avoid all non-essential t…
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Madam Speaker, I agree with the member that the blockades are causing harm in our communities, so I would ask him to ask all of his colleagues on the other side to ensure we are all encouraging people to go home. As we have seen recently, the member for Carleton says he is proud of the trucker convoy. The anti-vax protests are exactly what he wants for his new political agenda, so let us encourage…
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Madam Speaker, what my colleague from Leeds—Grenville—Thousand Islands and Rideau Lakes tends to like to ignore is that every person who gets vaccinated is one person fewer who is likely to experience severe outcomes, head to the hospital or, indeed, die from COVID-19. Canada is a big country and public health advice can vary across the country due to local epidemiological situations in various ju…
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Madam Speaker, I thank my hon. colleague for his important question. During the election campaign, we committed $25 billion over five years, which means more support for health care. The provinces and territories will receive over $47 billion through the Canada health transfer in 2021-22, and the territories will receive $500 million to help them prepare and—
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Madam Speaker, that is a very important question, so I will answer it in English. Our government has invested incredible amounts of money to ensure that we have been able to get through this COVID-19 pandemic. We have provided $63.7 billion to support Canada's health response, including $14 billion for vaccines and $5.3 billion for PPE and medical health equipment. In 2020 and 2021, the Government…
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Madam Speaker, I am pleased to rise in the House to talk about the motion before us today. Some parts of the country are starting to relax public health restrictions within their jurisdictions, but we have to assess the current situation carefully to determine what to do next. As all members of the House of Commons know, protecting Canadians from COVID‑19 continues to be this government's number-o…
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Madam Speaker, I will answer my hon. colleague's question in English. The last three weeks or so, our health committee have been deliberating on this matter. Her colleague from the Bloc Québécois would be able to reinforce how much conversation we have had at the health committee regarding this. In an update in January, we did touch on the bill with the minister, but if more conversations, more de…
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Madam Speaker, that was a very important question. I will be honest that I agree with her. As an MP here in Ontario I had some questions when we heard that rapid tests were broadly available through certain means and that the federal government had procured and delivered tests to the provinces, yet the tests were challenging to find and procure. In fact, over the Christmas holidays I recognized, a…
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Madam Speaker, I could not agree more. Since the beginning of this pandemic, Canadians have all wanted to know when this is going to be over and when we can go back to normal, and various levels of government have been working together to ensure that it is as quickly as possible. We are in regular contact with public health officials here in Halton, municipal members, as well as local clinics to m…
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Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the opportunity to ask my colleague from the health committee a question. My heart goes out to people like Trevor and the other gentleman he mentioned. They have had such a difficult time. I certainly have had my fair share of hard conversations with constituents here in Milton as well. However, I am still a bit confused. What could the federal government have done differ…
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Mr. Speaker, I rise today with a sense of sadness but also profound gratitude. Last month, we lost a political giant. Julian Reed, a long-time Liberal MPP and MP for Halton, passed away at Georgetown Hospital on January 6 at the age of 85. With a career in politics that spanned nearly three decades, Reed was a larger-than-life personality and a hard-working, dedicated public servant. Although most…
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Mr. Speaker, like the member for Kingston and the Islands, I have been absolutely mystified. Frankly, I think I am suffering from whiplash with the Conservative Party just not being able to decide what side of the conversation it is on. I do not know if Conservatives are outside handing out coffee to anti-vax protesters, or in the House telling them they need to go home. By the same token, I have …
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Mr. Speaker, this is the time for questions and comments. I thought I was entitled to ask a question or make a comment. I will ask my colleague for Kingston and the Islands if he thinks there is anything we can do, as Liberal, science-believing MPs, to encourage members in ridings presided over by Conservatives who have not been sharing vaccine and clinic information to ensure that more Canadians …
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Madam Speaker, I congratulate the member for Regina—Lewvan on this motion, and I thank my colleague from Scarborough—Rouge Park for quite a lot of technical information that helped to guide me a bit. I love Saskatchewan very much. My father used to live in Saskatchewan, and I visited Regina many times to race on Wascana Lake. I want to give a shout-out to Mark McMorris, who won his third bronze me…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Madam Speaker, it is because they are conspiracy theorists. Members on the opposite side are always trying to portray the government as having some kind of a conspiracy going on. It is something that I flatly refute and disagree with. I think it is irresponsible of members on the other side to continue to promote these types of ideals when they are actually impossible. It is not feasible. It is no…
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Madam Speaker, like the member from Barrie—Innisfil, I have a smart phone. I have it here, as most people do. I use it for all sorts of things. Sometimes when I google a restaurant to see if it is open, it says the restaurant is a little busier than usual. Sometimes if I am driving in traffic and I check applications like Waze or Google Maps, those applications will tell me there is a better route…
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Madam Speaker, it is a pleasure to be in the House virtually today. I am grateful to have the opportunity to rise in the House to speak to how the Government of Canada has started using mobility data and why a request for proposal—
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Madam Speaker, I am grateful for the opportunity to rise in the House to talk about how the Government of Canada started using mobility data and the reasons why a request for proposal was issued. Our government has seen that using health data to support an effective pandemic response has been a constant challenge. Stakeholders and experts have repeatedly stated that there is a data deficit needing…
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Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague for his question. I want to acknowledge that the member is an expert in this area. He is an author and probably has a lot to say that is above my level on this subject. However, I do want to say that the issue he has raised is a lot bigger than the usage of this data by the Public Health Agency. He is raising existential issues about using cellphone data, which …
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Madam Speaker, I want to thank my friend from Hamilton Centre for the compliment. I do not have a vote on the committee, as my committee is currently under way, the health committee, so it is not up to me to determine whether this proceeds as such. Personally, I have no problem using my de-identified and aggregated data for this use right now. I have no problem having the procurement of this data …
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Madam Speaker, perhaps there is some confusion about what a conspiracy actually is. A conspiracy is a plot and some kind of a secret to do something unlawful and illegal. That is exactly what the member opposite suggested was going on, that there was some kind of a secret plot to listen to Canadians. That is completely impossible, as I said. It is beyond the pale to continue to promote these types…
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Madam Speaker, I would like to apologize to the member from the Bloc Québécois if I insinuated that I was referring to him as a conspiracy theorist. That was, indeed, not my objective. I was referring to the allegation that Canadians are being listened to. That is not something that the member from the Bloc Québécois said during his speech. I listened very attentively to his speech, and I did not …
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Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague and neighbour for the intervention today. The member for Flamborough—Glanbrook is indeed in the riding just next to mine, and I have never addressed him in the House of Commons before. I welcome him to the House and welcome him as a neighbour. Perhaps we can find a good coffee shop on the border between our two ridings and meet, as I have done many times with the …
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Mr. Speaker, I thank my hon. colleague for the question. The COVID‑19 pandemic continues to highlight the challenges that all Canadians face with respect to care, including shortfalls in infection prevention and control equipment. We have been there to support the provinces and territories from the beginning of the COVID‑19 pandemic, and we will continue to work with the provinces and territories …
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Mr. Speaker, I thank my hon. colleague for his question. I also thank him for giving me an opportunity to practise my French. I will answer in English so that I do not stumble over my numbers, because the question was about numbers. Indeed, we have provided $63.7 billion in support of Canada's health response, including $14 billion for vaccines, including $5.3 billion for PPE, and, last year alone…
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Mr. Speaker, I share with my hon. colleague a position on the health committee, so I look forward to tackling some of these issues in committee. Once again, I will reiterate the numbers. The Government of Canada has indeed provided almost $42 billion in cash support. We will continue to be there for our provinces and territories. I will also acknowledge that we must continue to work to ensure that…
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Mr. Speaker, once again that is simply not true. The Prime Minister meets with the provinces and territories on a regular basis, as does our amazing Minister of Health. I represented the Minister of Health at a recent FPT meeting. We were proud to discuss issues of pertinence with provinces and territories, making sure that we continued to work in conjunction with them and providing the supports t…
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Mr. Speaker, we committed over and over again to continue to ensure that our blood services are fair and equitable, and I agree with the member that historically they have not been. Steps have been taken, and as we all know, there is a timeline going forward to ensure that blood donations can be made by everybody in Canada. That is the fairest way forward and the most equitable way forward, and I …
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Mr. Speaker, I absolutely agree with my colleague that we all want COVID-19 to be over. Perhaps one thing that we disagree on is how. We need to ensure that all of our communities are vaccinated, and we are encouraging everybody to get vaccinated so that we can get back to normal. My colleague knows that many of the lockdowns are provincial in nature. We continue to work with our provinces and ter…
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Mr. Speaker, I followed my colleague's speech with interest. I have some questions for him. I heard him repeatedly say that we should spend less and do more. I also heard him say we should spend more, and in other cases do less. It was a meandering speech, one that did not really settle on any solutions except to urge the government to do more. The policies we have put forth over the last couple o…
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Which business would the member have me take the money away from in his riding?
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Mr. Speaker, pardon me. My point of order is simple and in jest. We do not address members by their names in the House. Since my friend and colleague is new, I thought I would offer that.
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Mr. Speaker, I was amused, as I think everybody in the House was, to hear the funny anecdote about kindergarten. I really do struggle to see what relevance the story had to the conversation around Bill C-8, which certainly does have quite a lot in it. I am sure you have read the bill. You say there is just nothing to see here, so I will read a quote, because I have heard the member speak about the…
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Madam Speaker, I would like to acknowledge my colleague and thank him for his recent support with respect to a round table I hosted on co-op housing. I thank the previous questioner from the Bloc Québécois for raising the topic of public housing, because it is something I am passionate about and I know my colleague on this side shares that. It seems that a lot of the questions coming from the othe…
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Mr. Speaker, tomorrow Team Canada will march into the opening ceremony of the Olympic winter games. The Canadian delegation will be led by three-time Olympic champion and two-time gold medallist Marie‑Philip Poulin, the captain of the women's hockey team, and by five-time Olympic short-track speed skating champion Charles Hamelin. I encourage every Canadian and indeed every member in this House to…
Read full speech →Adjournment Proceedings
Madam Speaker, I want to thank my hon. colleague and tell him that I look forward to working with him at committee. I am pleased to have the opportunity to talk about Canada's border measures to protect Canadians from COVID-19. Border measures continue to be an important part of Canada's response to the COVID-19 pandemic and serve to protect the health and safety of all Canadians. Testing at our b…
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Madam Speaker, I would like to reiterate that the Government of Canada's top priority is the health and safety of Canadians. To protect Canadians, the government has implemented some of the strictest travel and border measures in the world. The party opposite did urge the government to do so, as the member mentioned in his speech. The Government of Canada is well aware that these changes to border…
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Mr. Speaker, Health Canada is committed to openness and transparency. Information related to approved drugs, their date of approval, their approved indication, including how many and which ones were for rare diseases, is available both in annual highlights reports, available at https://www.canada.ca/en/health-canada/services/drugs-health-products/highlights-reports.html, and in databases that are …
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Mr. Speaker, in response to (a), Health Canada’s role in relation to human health concerns of proposed major resource and infrastructure projects, including the rail industry, is fulfilled through the impact assessment process. In accordance with the Impact Assessment Act, Health Canada provides technical expertise, for example, regarding air quality, noise, drinking water quality, social determin…
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Mr. Speaker, with regard to part (a), the ventilator model MOVES SLC, produced by Thornhill Medical, met the Public Health Agency of Canada’s technical and regulatory requirements. With regard to part (b)(i), since March 22, 2020, 1,020 units were ordered. With regard to part (b)(ii), since March 22, 2020, 857 units were delivered. With regard to part (c)(i), 731 units were delivered between April…
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Mr. Speaker, I would like to talk today about Canada's role as a leader for disability inclusion. Since 2015, we have taken unprecedented steps to build an inclusive Canada for persons with disabilities. In budget 2021, we put the “nothing without us” strategy into action by investing in accessible communities, training and job creation, students with disabilities, and inclusive child care. We mad…
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Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague from Esquimalt—Saanich—Sooke for his expertise and decades of advocacy on issues of social justice and others like it. I also want to acknowledge that he is an expert on the subject matter. He mentioned that we were rushing into debate a bit. I tend to agree with that, but I also agree with him about the urgency of this matter and the importance of correcting th…
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Madam Speaker, I would like to acknowledge my colleague's 35 years of service in policing and also acknowledge his very clear sense of duty. Sadly, the member used the word “liberal” more than he used the word “racism”, so I would remind him that this bill is not about parties or politics but more so about who mandatory minimum penalties actually harm. Mandatory minimum penalties have not improved…
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Madam Speaker, on the topic of sticking to what this bill is about and what this bill is not about, I have a very simple question for my colleague, with whom I share a floor in our office. If we can agree things need to change in order to get better and we can agree this is about helping people get better and helping society heal, can we not agree the system, as it currently stands, is overreliant…
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Madam Speaker, that was an excellent speech. I would also like to acknowledge that of all of us, 338 in this House, likely no one has as much experience or perspective on this issue. I want to thank the hon. member for adding to that discourse today. I hear what he said regarding the need for a committee. I also appreciate that he did not just stand up and talk about problems; he also presented qu…
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Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague for his comments and his commitment to this very important file. I agree that the work that needs to be done does not require a whole new committee. I would like his thoughts on what the next steps should be. How do we achieve this in a non-partisan way?
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