Routine Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, I would like to present two petitions this morning. They are both of critical concern to members of my constituency. I had the honour of hosting 12 community meetings recently in different parts of the riding. There was not a single meeting where the issue of the crisis of access to family doctors was not raised. I put forward a petition where the petitioners note that, according to S…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, I completely agree with my colleague from Victoria. The Trans Mountain pipeline is a huge scam that flies in the face of climate action. It comes at an unbelievable cost of over $34 billion, for a pipeline that makes no sense, which is what the private sector, in the shape of Kinder Morgan, had decided. I would like to hear my Bloc Québécois colleague's thoughts on that.
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Madam Speaker, I think my hon. friend from Victoria and I agree on many things. Will she agree with me that it is never too late, even after $34 billion has been wasted on building the Trans Mountain pipeline, to refuse to open it? The use of the Trans Mountain pipeline will have the effect of increasing greenhouse gases from the oil sands and will massively increase the risk of a dilbit spill in …
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Madam Speaker, I thank my friend from Kingston and the Islands for that commitment. I would like to shift the conversation in this place. I will have a question at the end of question period, and there is no real spoiler alert, most people will be gone by the time I ask it, but I want the hon. member for Kingston and the Islands to know about it and to help me sell this idea in his caucus. We need…
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Madam Speaker, I reflect on the member's comments about the overspending and printing of money. I want to remind him, and everyone here, that in the early months of COVID we were unified as a House, because we had to be. We were facing an emergency created by a pandemic and, because we could not physically gather in this place and vote because of the health rules of the City of Ottawa, $80 billion…
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Madam Speaker, I thank my friend from Edmonton Strathcona for putting the notion of Groundhog Day in my mind. It really is Groundhog Day when the Conservative Party's slogan is lifted word for word, rhyme for rhyme, from the British Columbia New Democratic Party's slogan in the 2008 provincial campaign, when the B.C. New Democrats, under Carole James, ran against the carbon tax. In fact, former pr…
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Madam Speaker, I want to set aside the comments on what has dominated in this place, which are carbon pricing and proper solutions to the climate crisis. I wonder if my hon. friend does not agree that the well-being of every single Canadian, as she exhorted in her speech, includes that we face the fact that there is a very worrying fuel load across the country in our forests. The forest fires of s…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, the so-called climate debate taking place in this place is the worst of all worlds. It is unserious and profoundly unfunny. It is a grotesque display of ignorance of the science and a rejection of the solutions that are desperately needed. Our children and grandchildren will not forgive us for this display, but we still have a chance. Will the Liberal government commit that, when we c…
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Mr. Speaker, I do not know about the rest of the members, but I am just not going to get over missing this member for a very long time, probably never. One reason, and he knows this, is that I loved his dad so very much. His dad, Bill Blaikie, was a grand friend and a voice for this planet. I remember his dad talking about climate change in this place in 1986. He was brave and courageous and a man…
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Madam Speaker, because we are able to have this conversation continue back and forth, the hon. minister seems to suggest that my opposition, in principle, to the use of time allocation would mean that this place would come to a standstill and no business could get done. I plead with all sides of the House to return to the use of the rules we have, so House leaders, when they meet, can have a legit…
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Mr. Speaker, having sat through the presentation from the hon. member for Leeds—Grenville—Thousand Islands and Rideau Lakes, I would like to commend him for his thoroughness and for citation of relevant authorities in a fashion that did this place honour. It is so encouraging to hear a debate, and I am not going to mention others, that is substantive and helpful. On behalf of the Green Party of Ca…
Read full speech →Statements By Members
Mr. Speaker, we are facing unthinkable levels of climate crisis events globally. Scientists are alarmed, and so should we be all. It is very clear that last year, 2023, was the warmest year on record. Also, it is now clear for Canadians what we all knew. Records have been smashed. Records have been broken. This winter was the warmest winter on record in Canada, and according to senior climatologis…
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Madam Speaker, as members will know, on principle, I am deeply offended by the move toward the continual limiting and cutting off of debates through the use of closure. I was elected to this place and have had the honour of representing Saanich—Gulf Islands since 2011. When this first began to happen under the previous administration of Prime Minister Harper, I counted the number of times closure …
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, I want to offer my deepest condolences to the entire family of our former prime minister, to Mila, Ben, Mark, Nicolas and Caroline. I had the very huge honour, in a very unlikely event in the life of a very passionate non-Conservative, to serve as a member of the staff team for the minister of environment and ultimately, over the years, to become a friend of Brian Mulroney's. I have n…
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Mr. Speaker, it is so tempting to tell the story of the time the hon. member for Skeena—Bulkley Valley managed to dump a dead salmon on Brian Mulroney's desk, but I have to skip over that. My petition is about salmon and the importance of protecting wild salmon. The petitioners are calling on the government to institute all 75 recommendations of the Cohen inquiry into salmon aquaculture and to mov…
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Mr. Speaker, the words of the member for Windsor West moved and touched me. I would really love if it were absolutely true that, regardless of party, we were taking steps to see that this country does more, whatever we are capable of doing, in the heavy lifting to bring about peace. We know that peaceful solutions do not come without much diplomacy and much moral suasion to say we have to protect …
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Mr. Speaker, I thank all my colleagues and friends in the House. I thank my colleague from Edmonton Strathcona, as well as the Minister of Foreign Affairs, my colleague and friend. I am rather distressed. How can the government members vote against this motion? Canadians want to see us, as elected people, reflect the conscience of this country, the heartbreak across this country and the cries to s…
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Mr. Speaker, I humbly beg my friends to please let me join by unanimous consent of everyone here, because I loved the late prime minister so much it is going to kill me if I do not get to say so out loud.
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, again I put on the record the Green Party's strong support for early learning, enriched child care accessible to all across Canada. I note that in Bill C-35 there would be a number of improvements, but one of the pieces is that while funding would be required, there is no particular funding mechanism mentioned. I want to reference that I was honoured to know the amazing Canadian soc…
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Mr. Speaker, I find my hon. colleague's excellent speech very inspiring. I would ask her if she would like to share with the House again her intergenerational lens on the appalling and genocidal residential school system. The defined webs of intergenerational love and caring I find inspiring. I wonder, if I have gotten it at all close to the mark, would she be willing to share that again?
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, to the Prime Minister, who is so concerned about the wildfires and the zombie fires still under the snow, the wildfire season has already started and yet, quietly, on Friday, February 16, Environment Canada posted an extension to consultation on clean electricity regulations. The David Suzuki Foundation has posted a warning. Does this mean more delay? Does this mean that clean electri…
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Mr. Speaker, I thank my hon. friend from New Westminster—Burnaby for his really heartfelt concern for my health. I did have a hemorrhagic stroke after working, straight, seven days a week, for 51 days. For May and June, we were sitting until midnight. I can remember well when a different Speaker would say, “It now being 1:15 in the morning, the question is that the House do now adjourn. The hon. m…
Read full speech →Statements By Members
Madam Speaker, while it is still February, let me rise and wish everyone a happy Black History Month. This is the 62nd Black heritage moment from British Columbia, where I want to celebrate an extraordinary Canadian, a Black Canadian of mixed heritage. His mother was Black and his father was Scottish. Sir James Douglas is generally called “the father of British Columbia”, and he was the first gove…
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Madam Speaker, my friends across the way said that they want to keep me in suspense. That is okay. Suspense is a lot of fun. I do hope that everyone in this place, across all party lines, will vote for this legislation. It does need amendments. I see that the United Steelworkers union has made it clear that it would like to see the exemptions and the loopholes in this bill, Bill C-58, removed. The…
Read full speech →Adjournment Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, it is an honour to address the House virtually this evening and to pursue a matter I first raised in question period late last year, on October 27, 2023. It deals with an issue that is of concern to many Canadians, just at the time when Canadians are feeling pain at the pumps. While I know my colleagues on the Conservative side of the House think that it is due to the carbon tax, it i…
Read full speech →Adjournment Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, I do hope that we will see the Minister of Finance move to tax the windfall profits of the oil and gas sector. We do know how to do it. It is not complicated. The Minister of Finance is already doing it in applying it to the excess profits that have been occurring in the banking and insurance sector. Surely we can align our policies to move away from fossil fuels and ensure that we ge…
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Madam Speaker, there are reasonable elements to the proposition that before a strike there is an agreement on what is absolutely necessary to take place, but I am concerned by the criticisms from Unifor, the United Auto Workers, the United Steelworkers and others that these represent potential loopholes. I would want to make sure that in expert evidence in committee it is absolutely nailed down th…
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Madam Speaker, I thank the member of the Bloc Québécois for his kind introduction and his wonderful speech. This is my first speech about Bill C-58. The Green Party supports this legislative measure because it is necessary. I am so pleased that we have the opportunity to debate it, and I hope that all members of the House will vote in favour of this bill. It is so important for workers' rights and…
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Madam Speaker, I am sorry to my hon. colleague from Sarnia—Lambton. I respect so much her pioneering work in engineering, but I went to law school. It does not mean I know more, but I do know that replacement workers are one thing only: In trade union relations and collective bargaining, replacement workers are scab workers, not workers who come from another country who do work Canadians could oth…
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Madam Speaker, I thank my esteemed colleague. I completely agree with him, except for one thing. The rest of Canada is in dire need of pharmacare. If there is a problem with the money between the province and the federal government, we have to figure that out. I do not want to, at this point, say that absolutely Quebec's approach should be protected in terms of the money, because we will get a bet…
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Madam Speaker, to my friend from Vancouver East, absolutely, 18 months is too long. It makes no sense. Let us get that fixed in committee.
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Madam Speaker, I rise today with a petition of deep concern to residents of Saanich—Gulf Islands, and I dare say of all our ridings across Canada, regarding the crisis of home affordability. The petitioners point out the key problems that have caused the problem. The rise in home costs has to do with the financialization of homes; treating housing as an investment and, worse than that, as a matter…
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Madam Speaker, given the history of trade unions in this country, can the member make the case, quickly, for how passing Bill C-58 is good for economic stability in Canada?
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Madam Speaker, this morning is my first opportunity to take part in this debate. I have heard a few comments from people who think the Government of Canada is going to have a hand in murdering Canadians. I know it has come up in a point of order. We are stuck, but it does not mean that anyone wants to murder any Canadians. I think we need to be concerned, with a choice and a debate this deeply per…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, on Monday, February 26, the 13th ministerial conference of the World Trade Organization will open in Abu Dhabi. Amazingly, just eight weeks ago, that same country closed on an ambitious climate agenda from COP28, referred to as the United Arab Emirates consensus. Will the government use that synchronicity, get in there and make sure that the 13th trade ministerial is a climate ministe…
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Mr. Speaker, as we debate here and keep hearing the words, which we are now getting used to, “medical assistance in dying”, in the context of Bill C-62, I wonder whether we can create something different, like “societal assistance in living”. We desperately need things like a guaranteed livable income. We need better access to social supports, mental health provisions, addictions counselling and a…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Madam Speaker, a source of deep concern from constituents in Saanich—Gulf Islands is the critical shortage of family doctors and health care practitioners. Statistics Canada states that approximately 4.8 million Canadians do not have what we think of as a family doctor, primary health care practitioner, nurse practitioner or others. The concerned citizens and residents who signed this petition cal…
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Madam Speaker, this has become an issue, because it was inserted in the legislation at Bill C-14 by the Senate. Does the hon. member have any knowledge of what attitude the Senate is going to take? We are operating under the gun here. We have to do something before March 17. Do we have any indication of whether the Senate will, once the House dispatches this matter, take it up quickly?
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Madam Speaker, I appreciate the opportunity to speak to this. Having been in this place for all the debates we have had, I have been trying to figure out the best way to explain to Canadians, if there is an argument here, why it is not between Liberals and Conservatives, or between Greens and NDP and Conservatives and the Bloc. It has actually been, from the very beginning, a struggle for Parliame…
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Madam Speaker, I must say, I was very disappointed that the hon. leader of the official opposition was not rising to ask me a question. It would have been a first, and I was so looking forward to my response to him. The hon. member for Châteauguay—Lacolle has asked me a very important question. I am a person of faith. I struggled with this. My constituents convinced me. I spent a lot of time talki…
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Mr. Speaker, it is an honour to rise and present a petition from constituents in Saanich—Gulf Islands who are concerned about the nexus between the climate crisis and the health of humanity. The petitioners note that the World Health Organization has determined that, “Climate change is the greatest threat to global health in the 21st century.” The health impacts from climate change include lung di…
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Madam Speaker, my friend, the member for Kelowna—Lake Country, and I share many of the concerns expressed today. This is one of those issues on which I would beg everyone in this place not to seek partisan advantage. The divide we have here is really the most non-partisan thing of all: the structure of our Parliament, the Westminster system, whereby we still have the equivalent of the House of Lor…
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Madam Speaker, I believe access to care really is a key issue. I agree that having a continuum of suffering is unacceptable. I am not against MAID eligibility for people who are suffering due to a disease and who have shown that their suffering is real. We must act. However, we do not have to act immediately, on March 17.
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Mr. Speaker, I thank hon. Minister of Justice for sharing these comments with other members of the cabinet, particularly the Minister of Health. This is perhaps the most difficult issue any of us will ever deal with as members of Parliament. Strangely enough, I will just add that, had she been alive when I was a member of Parliament, Sue Rodriguez, who went all the way to the Supreme Court of Cana…
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Madam Speaker, it is not an easy choice. I was in this place in the Harper years, when time allocation started to be used on every single bill. In those days, the Liberals were against it, as I was. Things change. Whoever is in power thinks that the tools that were used by the last government, which they used to decry, are okay if they are efficient for getting things done, because might makes rig…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Madam Speaker, in this petition, the petitioners note that the climate crisis will require massive efforts to reduce energy consumption. They point out that 17% of all energy consumed in Canada is used in heating, cooling and other activities in our homes. COP28 calls on governments to double energy efficiency by 2030. The petitioners are asking the Government of Canada, in the ongoing provincial,…
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Madam Speaker, I thank my hon. colleague for Nunavut for providing me with a chance to speak to Bill C-29. This is a bit of an explanation and background, and a bit of mea culpa, because when Bill C-29 came forward, I recognized it of course as being in response to one of the calls to action of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, specifically found in paragraphs 53, 54 and 55. I compared Bill…
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Madam Speaker, please forgive me. I thank the hon. member for Nunavut.
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Madam Speaker, my hon. colleague from Winnipeg North has, in congratulating his party and his government for bringing in UNDRIP, invited the inescapable question of how the government ignored and violated UNDRIP by giving the Crown corporation we own, the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion, permission to drill right through and dredge right through the most sacred territory of the Stk’emlúpsemc te …
Read full speech →Private Members' Business
Madam Speaker, I am honoured to take the floor this evening remotely. I want to signal to the member for Cloverdale—Langley City my support for the private member's bill, Bill S-202. I appreciate it, because I remember the work that former senator Patricia Bovey did on this bill, and it seems such a shame that it slid off the Order Paper. I think the circumstances were unfortunate at that time. I …
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