Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, I asked Mr. Weston and the others questions this morning about this code of conduct, which we, as Liberals, also support. Perhaps we are doing more than my colleague thinks. My Conservative colleagues are saying that carbon pricing is the sole reason for higher grocery prices. However, I heard them asking Mr. Weston questions this morning in that committee meeting. They recognize that…
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Madam Speaker, it is an honour to rise today and support Bill C-322, an act to develop a national framework to establish a school food program. I want to thank my colleague, the member for Acadie—Bathurst, for introducing the bill. I enjoyed a career as a teacher, a principal, a divisional principal and a coach. During that time, I had the opportunity to work with thousands of students, their fami…
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Mr. Speaker, every day, people across the country lose loved ones to overdoses caused by the increasingly toxic illegal drug supply. Tackling this national public health crisis requires us to leverage all the tools at our disposal. I am the son of an addictions doctor working on the front lines of this crisis in Winnipeg every day. Like many of us in this chamber, members of my own family are suff…
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Mr. Speaker, I listened intently and heard the member opposite talk about giving credit to farmers and celebrating them. I would like to give credit to and celebrate the National Farmers Union representatives who came to see me just last week. I had a wonderful conversation with farmers from New Brunswick, Ontario, Saskatchewan, Alberta and Manitoba, who asked the government to continue moving for…
Read full speech →Statements by Members
Mr. Speaker, I rise today to express disappointment over the recent decision by the Conservative Party to vote against the Canada-Ukraine Free Trade Agreement. Its objection to a reference of carbon pricing in the deal, something Ukraine already embraces, appears to be a diversion from the broader and more critical issue at hand, and that is to support Ukraine in its fight against tyranny. It is r…
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Mr. Speaker, born and raised in Winnipeg, Vivian Silver left her mark on her hometown, our country and people around the world. She dedicated her life to the pursuit of peace, working tirelessly to build bridges between Israelis and Palestinians. She helped found numerous organizations for the betterment of all peoples, one of which was the Arab-Jewish Center for Empowerment, Equality and Cooperat…
Read full speech →Private Members' Business
Mr. Speaker, today I rise to lend my unwavering support to Bill C-355, an act to prohibit the export by air of horses for slaughter and to make related amendments to certain acts. This would be an impactful piece of legislation. The bill is of great significance for Canadians; it addresses a pressing issue that is top of mind for many, including in my riding of Winnipeg South Centre. I had the pri…
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Mr. Speaker, I was surprised to hear my hon. colleague use language that is typically attributable to the Conservatives' policy on climate change. I am wondering if she can comment on the following. At no time in the last few years has the price of groceries in Canada exceeded the cost of groceries in the United States. Canada remains among the countries with the lowest price of groceries in the G…
Read full speech →Statements by Members
Mr. Speaker, I rise to bring attention to a cause close to my heart: the challenges faced by Canadians affected by Parkinson's disease. A few weeks ago, we lost my Uncle Robert, my dad's brother, after a 20-year-long courageous battle with this awful disease. I saw first-hand the toll it took on both him and our family. Canada has one of the highest rates of Parkinson's in the world. Every day, 30…
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Mr. Speaker, Jews in Canada represent just 1% of the population, and as Irwin Cotler reminds us, they are victims of 67% of reported hate crimes in Canada. Anti-Semitism is on the rise and Islamophobia is too. I met with Jewish students yesterday who are afraid to be outed as Jews in their own community for fear of their safety. I have spoken with Muslims who are afraid to be outed as Muslims in t…
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Mr. Chair, I would like to ask my hon. colleague if he could comment on the following two questions. First, what does he believe would happen should Hamas announce, at this moment, that they were releasing the hostages being held in Gaza? Second, what does he believe would happen in the region if Hamas were to change from its charter, its aim and its pursuit of the eradication of the Jewish people…
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Mr. Speaker, I want to thank my colleague for her sincerity, her conviction and her articulation of support for the pursuit of peace. I understand the pain she is feeling and the fear she is feeling as a leader both in her religious and faith-based community and also in her responsibilities as a parliamentarian, broadly speaking. I think that all of us are feeling that way right now. We will have …
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Mr. Chair, the collective punishment is the collective punishment that Hamas is creating. The conditions that Hamas is creating is collective punishment on its own people and the people of Israel. I would ask my hon. colleague to reflect throughout this debate and afterward on what would happen should there be a ceasefire. Of course we want an end to the conflict. Of course we want to end the loss…
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Mr. Chair, I remember fondly the member opposite and I would debate one another on a local Ottawa campus radio station some years ago. Since then he arrived here much sooner than I and made important contributions to our public discourse. The definition of genocide has a particularly important adjective: deliberate. I think of the innocent lives lost, of Palestinians and Palestinian children, that…
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Mr. Chair, I want to start by sharing a story. When I was a kid, my father would talk to me often about his life as a kid. Mostly they were positive stories filled with wisdom and great life lessons. However, one story he told took place at the Crescentwood Community Centre when he was about 12 years old. He and some other Jewish kids from the neighbourhood were attacked behind the building. They …
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Mr. Chair, all week, since the events in Israel as a result of the terrorist attack by Hamas, I have been saying that we have to be able to condemn without the insertion of the word “but”. The leader of the NDP just began his speech, empathetic, so it seemed, to the victims of the terrorist attack by Hamas, only to insert the word “but”. Perhaps I misunderstood him, but it sounded to me that he wa…
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Mr. Chair, does my hon. colleague think that the actions of the Israeli government constitute revenge?
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Mr. Chair, I want to thank my colleague from Thornhill, as well as colleagues on the opposition side, for their support for our community and me personally over the course of the past number of days. I have heard varying perspectives in this chamber today on the conflict in Israel and Gaza. I am wondering about one of the things I heard. A member from another opposition party talked about and char…
Read full speech →Statements By Members
Mr. Speaker, the tragic loss of life at the hands of Hamas's evil has made us angry, sad and filled with unimaginable grief as we are left trying to comprehend the incomprehensible. These terror attacks are the cruellest against the Jewish people, my people, since the Holocaust. It is possible to live in a world where we strive for peace in the Middle East while at the same time being able to stat…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, on Saturday, Canadians will recognize the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation. It serves as a national moment of reflection on the horrors of our past and a collective call to action in our effort to chart a better future. I will be spending the morning with elders and indigenous leaders at the site of the former Assiniboia Residential School. Established in 1958, it was one of …
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Mr. Speaker, I will be sharing my time with the member for Kingston and the Islands. On June 19, the people of Winnipeg South Centre put their trust in me to be their voice in this chamber. It is with the greatest sense of pride and humility that I rise today for my maiden speech as a member of Parliament. The people of Winnipeg South Centre are as diverse as the country itself. It is a riding com…
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Mr. Speaker, I admit it was an egregious error not to begin my remarks by highlighting the fact that I have also been named, as he has, to the Standing Committee on Agriculture and Agri-Food. I look forward to working with the member; as I mentioned earlier, the west is going to be at the forefront of change in this country, and the agricultural industry is critical to that change. Whether it is a…
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Mr. Speaker, I thank my hon. colleague for his kind words. As I said earlier, these are global challenges that we are also facing in Canada. We have taken and will continue to take concrete action to ensure that grocery costs continue to drop. I would once again like to thank my colleague for his words. I will have the opportunity to work with him on these issues in the weeks and months to come.
Read full speech →Statements by Members
Mr. Speaker, as I rise in this House for the first time, I am overcome by a profound sense of gratitude and responsibility. I want to thank the people of Winnipeg South Centre for putting their faith in me to reflect their voices in this chamber and beyond. Our community is diverse, vibrant and filled with people who aspire to have a better future. Together, we will tackle the challenges that matt…
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