Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, protecting all Canadians is an absolute priority for our government. It means working to have a justice system that is effective and fair, and, above all, one that is compassionate towards victims. Given that it is vital that victims have a strong voice to represent them, can the Minister of Justice tell us more about the recent appointment of the victims ombudsman?
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Mr. Speaker, I rise in the House today to commemorate World Refugee Day. Seeking safety is a human right, no matter who one is or where one comes from—
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Mr. Speaker, I rise in the House today to commemorate World Refugee Day. Seeking safety is a human right, no matter who one is or where one comes from. Whenever one has been forced to flee, everyone has the right to seek safety. Let us acknowledge the 100 million displaced people across our planet as the precariousness of peace and climate change continue to be growing concerns. Canada must work h…
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Mr. Speaker, it has been a year since the Afzaal family was tragically murdered while walking in Hyde Park. Salman loved gardening. Yumna loved art. Madiha loved caring for others. Talat simply loved her grandchildren. The void they left on this earth is immeasurable. It was felt during the many events honouring their lives that I attended over the weekend. In the nine months after this tragedy, Y…
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Madam Speaker, once again, I want to reiterate that our government is committed to reducing fossil fuel subsidies. At COP26, we reiterated our commitment to phase out Canada's fossil fuel subsidies by 2023, two years earlier than originally planned. We continue to do that and we continue to do all that we can to have a green recovery for all Canadians.
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Mr. Speaker, Pearl, Ruth, Margus, Andre, Geraldine, Katherine, Roberta, Aaron, Celestine and Heyward, these are the names of the sons and daughters of a strong community who were senselessly gunned down while getting groceries this Saturday. Next week, a community in Central Park will not receive the food that Pearl Young fed them every Saturday for the last 25 years. No one is born hating; people…
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Madam Speaker, I appreciate this opportunity to take part in today's debate—
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Madam Speaker, I am pleased that my colleagues are so excited to see me rising in the House. I will start again. I appreciate the opportunity to take part in today's debate. Our government fully understands the importance of phasing out or rationalizing inefficient fossil fuel subsidies. We take Canada's G20 commitment to do so very seriously. More importantly, we have already made important progr…
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Madam Speaker, I appreciate the question from my colleague across the aisle. I believe that our government has been working to invest in making life more affordable for Canadians. There are a number of measures that we put in budget 2022 to make sure that families are able to afford life. There are things that we are working through right now, after the pandemic, but we are taking strong measures …
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Madam Speaker, I find that question very interesting, because I did mention the numbers and the amount of money that we are going to be putting in the pockets of single people and families to make sure that Canadians are getting the money from this tax back. Once again, I just want to reiterate that budget 2022's main goal and primary driver is to make life more affordable for Canadians, and we ar…
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Madam Speaker, I think the bill is pretty specific. We are talking about francophone immigration outside Quebec and asking the Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship to work with everybody to make sure that francophone immigration continues to increase in Canada and Quebec. I do not think it is true that we have no targets and no specific measures. I just mentioned some of them. I would…
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Madam Speaker, I really appreciate that question from my colleague, who is also a member of the Standing Committee on Official Languages. As I just said in my speech on Bill C‑13, we want this policy to help the Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship build on efforts to increase francophone immigration to Canada. Today he announced that we will continue to work on this. Let us not forge…
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Madam Speaker, I sincerely thank my colleague, who sits with me on the Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration. I know he was there during today's committee meeting when the minister announced that we would be opening two more visa offices in Africa. My colleague knows that we are making a lot of progress. Unfortunately, I have to contradict him when he says that we are not doing much. F…
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Madam Speaker, I rise this evening to talk about our official languages and Bill C‑13, which proposes a long-awaited reform of our language framework. As a francophone from southwestern Ontario, I am proud to be able to rise in the House of Commons to speak to this bill, which would support the modernization of the Official Languages Act in Canada. We need to talk about the compliance of federal i…
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Madam Speaker, my Bloc Québécois colleague gave a very spirited speech. I appreciate his fight to preserve the French language in Quebec. I also thank him for understanding that a large percentage of francophones are in Africa. However, I have the impression that my colleague across the aisle does not understand that francophones outside of Quebec are also a minority. Does he understand that Bill …
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Mr. Speaker, next week will mark Endangered Species Day, and soon after is the International Day for Biological Diversity. It is a time to reflect on nature and conservation, particularly in Canada's urban spaces, which are home to three-quarters of Canadians. Urban parks have a role to play in supporting species to survive and offering residents benefits like cool spaces among the heat islands in…
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Mr. Speaker, LGBTQ+ rights are human rights, and we know that there is still more work to be done. For years, LGBTQ+ communities have been calling for a non-discriminatory blood donation system. Today, Health Canada approved the request from Canadian Blood Services. Could the Minister of Health tell us more about this historic announcement and the impact it will have on these communities?
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Mr. Speaker, as Women's History Month comes to an end today, women still face systemic barriers to participate in our economy, and there is still a lot of work that needs to be done for women entrepreneurs, especially those who are under-represented. Women should be celebrated every day and have equal chances to prosper. In 2018, our government announced the first-ever women entrepreneurship strat…
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Mr. Speaker, access to quality and affordable housing helps to create a stable environment for children by reducing frequent family moves, affecting the stability and well-being of families. I am proud to see the many investments happening across the country to continue to address housing needs. I want to highlight a good story in my riding of London West, where a recent opening took place of 61 h…
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Mr. Speaker, March 8 is International Women's Day, a time to celebrate women's and girls' achievements and crucial contributions to our society. International Women's Day is also a moment to raise awareness of the progress made toward gender equality and to look to the work that remains to be done for the equality of all women in Canada and abroad. Can the Minister for Women and Gender Equality an…
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Mr. Speaker, some working low-income seniors in this country have had a challenging time making ends meet during this pandemic, which is why they turned to what most Canadians did, the CERB and other pandemic benefits. While we are going to be supporting people who suffered drops in their GIS and allowance compensation payments, the Minister of Seniors' mandate letter also called on us to look for…
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Madam Speaker, I want to thank the member for her comments and her really great speech. I agree with her that it is time for this bill to pass and to pass quickly. We have talked about how much all of us really want to support seniors and how many of us were sent to this House by seniors to be strong advocates for them. Would the member continue her call on how we can continue to support people? I…
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Mr. Speaker, this week is International Development Week, a chance for all of us to come together and celebrate our achievements in international development. Today, I am particularly pleased to draw attention to Nutrition International, an international organization headquartered here in Canada, which this year is celebrating 30 years of making a difference for millions of people living in vulner…
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Mr. Speaker, February 1 marks the beginning of Black History Month in Canada, and as the first Black woman elected as the member of Parliament for the riding of London West, I rise today to encourage everyone to learn about, celebrate and acknowledge the contributions that Black communities in Canada have made and continue to make. I also want to highlight the London Black History Coordinating Com…
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Mr. Speaker, there have been discussions among the parties, and if you seek it, I believe you will find unanimous consent for the following motion. I move: That the House: (a) view the display of racist flags in Ottawa this weekend as shameful and a testament to the divisive and hateful rhetoric of the protest; (b) condemn these actions; and (c) continue to fight to eradicate anti-Black racism and…
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Mr. Speaker, last year, our government launched its first-ever Black entrepreneurship program to help Black Canadian business owners and entrepreneurs. Yesterday, we took another step in supporting Black Canadians as we made an announcement about the Black entrepreneurship knowledge hub component of the program. Could the Minister of Small Business and Economic Development inform the House on how …
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Mr. Speaker, for far too long, many people, especially indigenous, Black and marginalized Canadians, have experienced, and continue to experience, systemic racism rooted within our criminal justice system. Could the Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada inform the House on what steps the government will take to address this systemic discrimination and strengthen the confidence of all …
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Mr. Speaker, many families across Canada have been able to count on our government to support them, whether it is through introducing tax cuts for families, creating the Canada child benefit, or making life more affordable through the early learning and child care agreements. Can the Minister of Finance tell the House when Canadians can expect a new fiscal and economic update?
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Madam Speaker, I want to emphasize the fact that we went into an election with a plan to make child care universally accessible and affordable to every family across Canada. In Ontario, we are still waiting. Women are still waiting to hear from their government on how they will be able to get back to work, how they will be able to save more money so they can continue to raise their families. We ar…
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Madam Speaker, I did meet my colleague at COP16 in 2010. I was about 10 years younger than I am today. It is really exciting to see that she is still in the House, still doing the work and still fighting for climate change. I look forward to working with her, her team and everyone else to ensure we deliver on what we promised Canadians we would do. I want note that our children are watching from h…
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Madam Speaker, I am pleased to see you back in the chair. I would like to start by mentioning an unfortunate accident that happened last night in London West involving 11 people, eight of whom were taken to the hospital. This morning we learned that a young girl of only eight years old has lost her life in this tragic accident. I extend my deepest condolences to her family and friends in the Londo…
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Madam Speaker, I will begin by saying that climate change is real: We experienced it during the election campaign, when it was really hot, and we saw how urgently we need to act. I have heard a lot of young Canadians say that they want to have a future and live in this country and on this planet. We need to do something today. Our climate change plan is clear, and that is why the government was re…
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Mr. Speaker, today I rise in the House for the first time to talk about an issue that is personal to me. My family and I arrived in Canada as refugees with nothing but the clothes on our backs. The first years of my life in Canada, I lived in social housing. Considering the rate of homelessness across the country, I know that we were lucky. Accessible and affordable housing is not a privilege. It …
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