Routine Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, members of my constituency of Saanich—Gulf Islands, as well as many adjacent areas, are very concerned about the fate of the southern resident killer whale, an extremely endangered species. These petitioners point out that once the whales swim to their other areas of occupation here and there, they are in Washington state. Washington state has far better protections for southern resid…
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Madam Speaker, I have a question for my colleague from Beauharnois—Salaberry—Soulanges—Huntingdon. I am a member of the House, but I am not a member of a committee. I want to add a few words to support the position of my colleague and friend from the Bloc Québécois, because it is not just the majority of the committee members who accepted the amendments. There are also two other parties in the Hou…
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Madam Speaker, it is an honour for me to speak to Bill C-8 this afternoon. I have a few comments regarding the substance of the bill, but in light of the previous speeches, I think I can clarify the situation regarding unrecognized parties, although it is a bit complicated. The reality of it is that we do not have to change our rules, but I share with my other colleagues that we have the right, as…
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Mr. Speaker, in the course of the debate today, there have been a number of good points made by members on all sides, honestly, but one of the things that continue to trouble me is that we are not actually putting Canada first in our investments. I wonder if the hon. parliamentary secretary would consider raising within his caucus that it is time to reform the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board …
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Mr. Speaker, it is an honour to rise and present a petition on behalf of concerned constituents. They are concerned because, as we all know here, the poverty rates among people in the disabled community in Canada are shamefully high. The petitioners point out that after COVID, a lot of services that are essential for people in the disabled community are provided virtually, but the tax system has n…
Read full speech →Statements by Members
Mr. Speaker, I will not in the next 60 seconds be able to do justice to the accomplishments of Dr. David Suzuki. Scientist, geneticist, broadcaster, author, educator and activist, David Suzuki has been a recipient of the highest citizen award in this country, the Companion of the Order of Canada. He has received awards from universities around the world too numerous to mention; awards from Japan, …
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Mr. Speaker, I will not be voting for the motion before us today, but I do agree with the hon. member that we need to find ways to ensure that Canadian industries are put first and that we focus on Canada. I would like to ask the hon. member if he has looked at the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board. Of the $80 billion in our pension plan investments, there is no consideration at all for investi…
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Mr. Speaker, very briefly, I do not think I have seen this before, so perhaps the hon. parliamentary secretary, at some point later in debate, or the Speaker can answer the question I have. Is it at all normal that we would have a point of order to review amendments after committee work has closed on Bill C-8 to ask if it is within scope? Those questions are usually taken up at the moment when the…
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Mr. Speaker, I have made it clear to the parliamentary secretary before that it would already be a hate crime to direct hatred and acts of hatred toward individuals or an identifiable group, whether they are practising a faith or are identifiable through other means. The legislation is poorly drafted, and I think the government members will rue the day they force it through.
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Mr. Speaker, the hon. member for Sarnia—Lambton—Bkejwanong and I did have a personal conversation recently, in which she told me that people thought she should be in jail for that. For any speech, obviously, that would be appalling, and I hope the comments she related to me were meant not in earnest, but offhand, and that the members who might have said that deeply regret it, because it is offensi…
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Mr. Speaker, I appreciate where my hon. colleague is coming from, but no. As a fierce opposition party leader and someone who has deep concerns about the direction of the current government, I would say that it does not have an anti-faith group approach, absolutely not. The Prime Minister is a practising Catholic. I compared notes with him about what we have both given up for Lent. Let us stop thi…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, it is an honour to rise on behalf of the many residents of Saanich—Gulf Islands who raise the issue again of the climate crisis. In this context, the petitioners ask the House of Commons to recognize that the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has recognized how much the climate crisis accentuates and increases the societal divides globally, with the global south bearing much o…
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Mr. Speaker, I am not in receipt of Conservative fundraising emails, but I will say this: At this point in the history of our Parliament, we need to come together more and not seek reasons to divide. While I decry the use of partisan clickbait, I also decry notions about anyone in this country, regardless of their political party, faith or lack of faith. I am a practising Christian, but I praise a…
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Mr. Speaker, I rise today to speak to Bill C-9, the anti-hate bill. I will start by saying that I hate the bill. I do not know if that is a good thing or a bad thing. Actually, I try not to hold hatred in my heart for any person, but I think when one sees really bad legislation, it is okay to hate it. This is really bad legislation because it has provoked a debate that pits people who should total…
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Mr. Speaker, I will actually say this as a practising Christian. When they quote one part of the Bible, particularly Leviticus, where they go back and say, “It is not good to commit adultery, but it is okay if it is your slave girl,” there are some sections pulled out by themselves that one would not regard as inspirational or as the word of God. Let me just get that out of the way. The point of B…
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Mr. Speaker, it is an honour to present a petition virtually today. The petitioners expressed deep concern for the historic wrongs and injustices done to indigenous peoples by settler culture Canadians over the experience of colonization. To summarize, they specifically call on the government to follow through on the many long-overdue promises to implement the calls to action from the Truth and Re…
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Mr. Speaker, I am so disappointed that the government is not willing to consider sober second thought, having put forward such a scandalous abuse of omnibus budget bills as is found in Bill C-4. What we have in Bill C-4, which is titled the affordability act, are many measures that are mostly about affordability, but magically, there is this bizarre inclusion of amendments to the Canada Elections …
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Mr. Speaker, I can tell the hon. colleague from York—Durham that, for an absolute fact, there is absolutely nothing illegal about things the Canadian government has done for which we have ended up having to shell out money. As for being secret, I recommend that the member have a look at the Canada investment promotion and protection agreement with the People's Republic of China, which must remain …
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Mr. Speaker, it is an honour to rise on behalf of constituents of Saanich—Gulf Islands on an issue that remains one that I know many members of this place would agree is a national crisis, and that is that we continue to see far too many deaths from opioids, by what are essentially fentanyl poisonings. I want to particularly pay tribute to one of my constituents, Leslie McBain, who lost her son in…
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Mr. Speaker, as with all our policies, the member can find it online. We support trade that is respectful of environmental protections, indigenous rights and labour rights, in other words, fair trade. In fact, for the record, we voted for the Canada-Ukraine trade deal when every single Conservative voted against it.
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Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank my colleague from Edmonton Manning for raising the issue I have also been working on for years on behalf of British pensioners within Saanich—Gulf Islands. There have been many years and many missed opportunities to try to negotiate with the British government on how it indexes the pension for Canadian expats. It does not make sense, and as the member rightly poi…
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Mr. Speaker, I will just quickly dispute the notion that we have brought more money into protest groups than Canada paid out. Canada paid out $8 million for a perfectly legal decision rendered by the federal Minister of Environment, John Baird at the time, and the Progressive Conservative provincial Minister of Environment for Nova Scotia. Bilcon of Delaware got away with murder and took our money…
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Mr. Speaker, I would like to truly thank my colleague for his speech on investor-state dispute settlement. I actually think that things are worse than how he described them in his speech. My colleague said that large transnational corporations currently have the right to take part in agreements, but it is worse than that. They currently have more rights than Canada does in such agreements. Could m…
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Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the hon. parliamentary secretary for splitting his time with me. This is an alphabet soup, as people have mentioned. It is sometimes hard to see why the U.K. is suddenly joining the CPTPP and why we are discussing it today, but there are overlays and previous trade agreements. Perhaps something of a narrative might work to quickly review how we got to where we are toda…
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Mr. Speaker, I wholeheartedly agree with my colleague, because the problem is that the major parties here, in this Parliament, despite their many political differences, all share the same high regard for big multinational companies, big oil and big pharma. Big oil and big banks get the respect of Liberals and Conservatives always, regardless of who is leading the parties, which is at the base of g…
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Mr. Speaker, I have a question for my colleague from Saint‑Hyacinthe—Bagot—Acton. As he knows, I am very concerned about trade agreements that include investor-state dispute settlement mechanisms. That gives rights to foreign companies, like the Indonesian company Paper Excellence for example, which bought the vast majority of pulp and paper companies across Canada, particularly in Quebec with Res…
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Mr. Speaker, the question I asked earlier to the Bloc Québécois, to my friend from Saint-Hyacinthe—Bagot—Acton, was specifically about an Indonesian company that has bought up most of Canada's pulp and paper mills. It is called Paper Excellence. This agreement, and its investor-state agreements, will limit our ability to regulate to protect our forests and those jobs. Does the hon. member not agre…
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Mr. Speaker, of course, most Canadians know AtkinsRéalis by its original name of SNC-Lavalin. It is the now disgraced company that is so corrupt it cannot do business anywhere in the world after bribing Gadhafi's family to get a contract. We also know that AtkinsRéalis got the deal of deals when Harper sold it all of AECL for $17 million. Now, using the name of Canadian Nuclear Laboratories, it ma…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, it is an honour to rise today to present a petition about an issue my constituents are concerned about, but the issue is actually on the other side of the country and relates to a proposed project that will affect the Tantramar marsh that is on the Chignecto Isthmus. For those who are not familiar with the Chignecto Isthmus, it is the very low-lying land mass that connects the rest of…
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Mr. Speaker, I want to address the hon. minister on the matter before us right now, which is shutting down debate on Bill C-9, rather than the details within Bill C-9. I think the bill needs much more debate and discussion, which is why I hope the government will withdraw the attempt at closure on Bill C-9 before we have had an opportunity to discuss it properly. I know the minister will say it wa…
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Mr. Speaker, I am struggling with Bill C-9 because I think the definitions are so vague and there is so much discretion that the bill may not survive court challenges later. Does the hon. member not think it would be better to take the time here to debate it and get the bill right than to see it defeated in the court later?
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Mr. Speaker, I just want a chance to ask the hon. member if he is aware that it is not just the Conservatives who do not like the bill. The Greens will vote against it as well.
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Mr. Chair, I thank my dear colleague for giving me the opportunity to participate in this evening's incredibly important debate. Since the morning of February 28, from coast to coast to coast, Canadians have been scared. Canadians are praying for peace, wondering if the world is unravelling even faster than before. We have wondered, since Putin invaded Ukraine four years ago, if the world is capab…
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Mr. Chair, a regime change in Iran may be sought by many, but it would not necessarily lead to peace and prosperity for the people of Iran if it were to come through an armed conflict. I recall, as the member will as well because he was with that government working with John Baird, when on June 14, 2011, I was the only member of Parliament to vote against Canada bombing Libya. I asked John Baird a…
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Mr. Chair, it is not possible to rewrite the United Nations Charter from a desk in this place. It is the case that sovereign nation-states are recognized for their sovereignty as nation-states. I will agree with the hon. member. I, myself, dislike the Iranian regime, but the sovereignty of that nation does not rest in its people, unfortunately, any more than the sovereignty of any nation can be de…
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Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague, the Bloc Québécois leader, for his speech. Now, I want to quote the President of the United States, who said, “When crazy people have nuclear weapons, bad things happen.” Does my colleague think, as I do, that the President is looking in the mirror?
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Madam Chair, I agree with my colleague 100%. The Government of Canada must not support illegal wars.
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Mr. Chair, I made many of those points as well when I spoke earlier this evening, because it is clear that this is an illegal war, but we are put with a false choice that if we do not oppose an illegal war, we are somehow just giving in and abandoning the brave people of Iran who are fighting against a brutal regime. Does the hon. leader of the NDP not believe we can do both: work hard to protect …
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Mr. Speaker, a former senior commander of the Canadian Forces, retired Major-General Denis Thompson, has said on the record that he thinks it is “highly likely” that Canadian exchange officers in the region knew in advance. Does the minister have any comment on that?
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Mr. Speaker, I addressed this question earlier to the official opposition with some trepidation because it is information I have from friends within the Vancouver area who are also, like me, associated with the Anglican Church and are very concerned that some members of the Iranian national guard may be obtaining a baptismal certificate to hide their real background and intentions in this country.…
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Madam Speaker, as I come to my feet today on this legislation and on the programming motion, it just has to be said that we are shaken to our core and, as Greens, horrified by the acts of violence directed at synagogues just within the last day or two in Toronto. We are debating legislation and wondering if it would make things better, and I do not know, because I agree with the civil liberties re…
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Madam Chair, the member for Mount Royal knows that is absolutely not the position Greens would take. We do believe that there can be multilateral diplomatic efforts, and we have always supported that the people of Iran deserve to be protected. Unfortunately, the responsibility to protect doctrine was wrecked when Canada went along with bombing Libya until Libya became a failed state and we destroy…
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Mr. Chair, I wonder if the hon. parliamentary secretary can agree with me that there are times when we land on the same place, like with the need to get rid of former Iranian Guard members who make Iranian Canadians and others in the diaspora feel afraid. We have to deal with that, but can we also agree that a lot of Iranian dissidents who hate this regime also object to the bombing by the United …
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, this is an issue of deep concern for the people of Saanich—Gulf Islands and across Canada. Every MP in this place knows of this scandal, that people living with disabilities in this country are far more likely to be living in poverty. We voted and worked in this place to get the Canadian disability benefit through. However, at this point it is not lifting people out of poverty. Theref…
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Mr. Speaker, as I look at the creation of Build Canada Homes, I am particularly interested in the fact that the government moved fast and used something rarely used, called a special operating agency, which is under Treasury Board rules. I wonder if the lack of transparency involved in that troubles the member for Thornhill.
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, on February 28, the United States and Israel launched illegal attacks against Iran. Lloyd Axworthy, former foreign minister of this country, wrote in the Toronto Star that day, “Canada once rejected America's aggressive, unlawful foreign policy. Today [the Prime Minister] embraced it”. He went on to say, “Under the [United Nations] Charter, cross-border uses of force are prohibited ex…
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Mr. Speaker, I asked earlier to another hon. colleague on the Conservative benches if there was not an improvement in seeing if, now that we have Bill C-20's approach, we actually are no longer describing Build Canada Homes as a special operating agency and there may be more transparency—
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Madam Chair, I could not agree more with the hon. member for Thornhill that it would be a great day to see the end of this regime. My problem is that the lessons of history tell us that when wars have started for regime change, they often fail to achieve regime change and worse leadership is put in place by the same kinds of thugs we were hoping to get rid of the first time. I ask the hon. member …
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Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague from Drummond for his speech. I have a lot of concerns about Bill C-9, but that is not what we are talking about today. I do not like the idea of putting so much importance on using motions like these to study a bill quickly. I have a problem with the part of Bill C-9 that makes it possible to break the law during a demonstration for being too close to a buildin…
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Madam Chair, the United Nations Charter is not a legal technicality. If we did not have it, this world would be in a great deal more trouble. However, I do agree with the hon. member. We should not turn away. We should never have turned away. We should not have allowed what happened in Syria to happen, with the butcher al-Assad killing his people. We turned away because it was difficult, but a com…
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