Routine Proceedings
moved that Bill S-212, An Act respecting a national strategy for children and youth in Canada, be read for the first time. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to rise today to introduce in the House Bill S-212, An Act respecting a national strategy for children and youth in Canada. I would like to thank Senator Moodie for introducing this important legislation in the Senate and for her leadership in champio…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, first and foremost, I want to thank my colleague from St. Catharines for the shout-outs and plugs for my private member's bill. I appreciate it very much. I want to say that the member really distilled the essence of what the bill is about. Bill C-20 is about affordable housing. One of our colleagues across the way mentioned earlier that he was a home builder, and I respect that. Any …
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, no, it is a plan. If someone were to go to any successful private sector company in this country and ask them to show their strategic plan, they would do it, because it is a road map for how to succeed. My question for my colleague is, why did his party vote against Bill C-227?
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, I have listened to my Conservative colleagues talk about this bill and other bills many times, and quite often they bring up issues of young Canadians. That is fair, because we know that young Canadians have had the most trouble dealing with the housing crisis. To help solve that problem, I put forward a private member's bill, Bill C-227, that will be going towards committee report st…
Read full speech →Statements by Members
Mr. Speaker, today I rise to recognize Rachel Reid, a Canadian author and a constituent in my riding of Sackville—Bedford—Preston. As of this week, three of Rachel’s novels, all from her Game Changer book series, have spent well over a month on the New York Times bestsellers list, reaching the number four position for combined print and e-book fiction. Books from her series also occupy the top fiv…
Read full speech →Private Members' Business
Madam Speaker, I thank all my colleagues who spoke today to my bill, Bill C-227. In particular, I want to thank my colleagues from Spadina—Harbourfront and Les Pays-d'en-Haut for their comments. I want to touch on a few things here quickly. The first is that one of the privileges I have had in my life, in addition to being here, was serving as a member of the Nova Scotia House of Assembly for abou…
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Madam Speaker, I would request a recorded vote on this matter.
Read full speech →Statements by Members
Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize an extraordinary achievement by Synergy, a local barbershop quartet in Nova Scotia. Earlier this month, in Hershey, Pennsylvania, the Synergy quartet was crowned the 2025 Queens of Harmony at the international harmony competition, representing eastern Canada on the world stage and competing against top quartets from across North America. This is the first tim…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, I know one thing the President of the Treasury Board was involved with in the development of the budget was the comprehensive expenditure review, which found $60 billion in savings over five years. I wonder if the President of the Treasury Board can give us an update on that process and how it will save Canadians money over the long term.
Read full speech →Statements by Members
Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize Shane MacLeod, a teacher in my riding and the recipient of the Prime Minister's Award for Teaching Excellence in STEM. Mr. MacLeod's approach to science education is defined by innovation and inclusion. He integrates current events and lived experiences into physics and environmental science, helping students see themselves in the material and understand how …
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, at the end of my colleague's speech, he touched on the investments in this budget in defence, which is of significant net benefit for the entire country, but particularly for Nova Scotia, where for centuries we have had a disproportionately high rate of veterans in military service. I wonder if the member could touch a bit on how he expects that will help his constituents in Kings—Han…
Read full speech →Private Members' Business
Mr. Speaker, my colleague from Mississauga Centre is another great young Canadian in the House. As I said in response to my colleague from Madawaska—Restigouche, the spotlight and focus have to be on young Canadians in particular. That is an area where we have perhaps not been as diligent as we needed to be in the past. The strategy I proposed would do that very particularly.
Read full speech →Private Members' Business
Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the member for Madawaska—Restigouche for his advocacy. He is another young member of the House, a bit younger than me, and I thank him. As I said during my speech, Build Canada Homes is a key part of this bill. Its strategy dovetails very nicely with both Build Canada Homes and the national housing strategy, which is due to expire in 2027-28. For me, it is critical for…
Read full speech →Private Members' Business
Mr. Speaker, I do not think it comes down to which level of government is best placed to address the housing crisis. There are community organizations for this, and housing is in many ways the responsibility of the provinces. I know that very well having served in provincial legislatures. However, I believe strongly that the federal government has a role to play, which oftentimes is lacking, in co…
Read full speech →Private Members' Business
Mr. Speaker, the national housing strategy my hon. colleague refers to, which was adopted back in 2017, did not have as explicit a focus on young Canadians as I would have liked. I certainly was not here at that time, but the idea, as I said during my speech, is not to endlessly litigate a litany of things that may have happened in the past, but to look forward to the future to make sure that, thr…
Read full speech →Private Members' Business
moved that Bill C-227, An Act to establish a national strategy on housing for young Canadians, be read the second time and referred to a committee. Mr. Speaker, it is a real pleasure for me to speak, at second reading, to Bill C-227, an act to establish a national housing strategy for young Canadians. It is rare in political life to get a second chance at a good thing, but I am happy to say I have…
Read full speech →Statements by Members
Mr. Speaker, earlier today, I came from a meeting with Children’s Healthcare Canada and the Pediatric Chairs of Canada, whose members have flown to Ottawa from across the country to meet with parliamentarians. They are focused on ensuring that Canada's children have access to care that is timely, equitable and designed with the unique needs of young people in mind. We know that Canada's pediatric …
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, all members of the House agree on the need to keep our communities and streets safe. A key part of that commitment is freeing Canadians from the scourge of gun violence, an issue our government is committed to addressing. To that end, can the Minister of Public Safety explain how this critical work is being advanced through the assault-style firearms compensation program?
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, my colleague mentioned prevention in her speech. Deterrence and punishment are obviously parts of the criminal justice system, but prevention is really important. That word does not appear in the motion at all, not once. I wonder if my colleague could touch a bit on the importance of prevention as part of the criminal justice system as well.
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
moved for leave to introduce Bill C-227, An Act to establish a national strategy on housing for young Canadians. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to introduce my private member's bill, Bill C-227, an act to establish a national strategy on housing for young Canadians. All members of the House know that there is a housing crisis in this country. I believe all members also know that no group of Canadians h…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, when we talk about energy projects and resource projects, we are a bit too narrow. I hear from the Conservative colleagues quite a bit about oil and gas, which is of course part of the equation, but not all of it. In my home province of Nova Scotia, for example, the premier, with whom I served in the legislature, has talked about the eastern energy partnership, which is a significan…
Read full speech →Statements by Members
Mr. Speaker, I rise today to celebrate two local organizations in Sackville—Bedford—Preston that were recently selected for the 2025 Field of Dreams grants through the Jays Care Foundation. Sackville Minor Baseball will receive funding from the Toronto Blue Jays' official charity to refurbish Les Mayo Field in Lower Sackville, while the LWF Hardball Association will see upgrades to George P. Vanie…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, my colleague touched on defence, which is a significant announcement. As we all know, it has been many years in the making, and we are now several years ahead of schedule to reach our 2% of GDP target. I believe the member's riding includes Royal Military College. My riding of Sackville—Bedford—Preston on the east coast, of course, has many military families, many veterans who are rea…
Read full speech →Speech from the Throne
Mr. Speaker, one thing that is really important to my riding, and all ridings across the country, is housing. When I was in the provincial legislature, I also served as the housing critic, so it is an issue that has been very important to me for a number of years, particularly for people my age and younger, I would say, who are extremely worried about how they are going to pay rent or afford a mor…
Read full speech →Speech from the Throne
Mr. Speaker, when it comes to transparency and finances, this is something that, again, I think our government is working quickly on. This is the second-fastest return to Parliament in the history of our country, which is a testament to the urgency of the Prime Minister and the government. We are here in the House. I have been in opposition before; now I am on the government side. I know that the …
Read full speech →Speech from the Throne
Mr. Speaker, there is no question that whether one is in British Columbia, Nova Scotia, Nunavut, Ontario, Saskatchewan or any part of this country, the opioid crisis has taken tens of thousands of lives needlessly, many young lives and many lives that otherwise would have been full of hope and productivity. This is something the government certainly is aware of and wants to fix. It wants to make s…
Read full speech →Speech from the Throne
Mr. Speaker, I will be sharing my time with the member for Brampton South. It is with a profound sense of gratitude and humility that I rise for the first time as a member of Parliament in the House of Commons. I want to start by thanking the good people of Sackville—Bedford—Preston, who have placed their trust in me. From my hometown of Bedford to Sackville to Fall River, Waverley, Wellington, Be…
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