Adjournment Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, I am returning to a question I asked in question period on October 18, 2023, just last fall. The question was asked five days after the Supreme Court of Canada struck down sections of the government's bill on environmental assessment, which it redubbed “impact assessment” and which came forward through Bill C-69. I practised environmental law. I will briefly share with the chamber tha…
Read full speech →Adjournment Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, here is the tragedy: Again, the government ignored the advice of the experts it had empanelled. I want to just stress that the extent of public consultation undertaken by that expert panel was extraordinary. There were hearings in every single province and territory and thousands of witnesses in person, as well as advice. This advice was ignored by the former minister of environment a…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, I am so proud to present a petition signed by a firefighting force within my riding. On the very small island of Piers Island, the fire truck is the only internal combustion engine on the entire island. The volunteer firefighters of Piers Island have asked me to present this petition in support of the private member's bill by the hon. member for Courtenay—Alberni, which has been spoke…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, in diving into the world of auto crime today, I found, of course, that the rate of theft of automobiles has also increased dramatically in the United States. I do not think our Prime Minister is responsible for that, but I am looking at it here in Canada. I will share an anecdote. One of the most shocking car thefts in my life was when I was in church and somebody went into the mini…
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Madam Speaker, as we are debating this issue that has hit so many Canadians and has been a source of real concern across the country, and mentioning who should get credit for raising it first, it occurs to me that the hon. minister might have a comment. It seems to me that where we began to see some traction on the issue was not from a political party, but the investigative journalism of the CBC i…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, I wanted to ask the hon. parliamentary secretary about the logic behind mandatory minimums, which have been proven, on empirical evidence, not to hold the logic one would hope. They actually tend to work against reducing crime. One reason for this is that increasing the mandatory minimum would drive people toward cutting deals and plea bargains, instead of actually dealing with matter…
Read full speech →Private Members' Business
Madam Speaker, it is an honour to rise tonight and pursue the discussion of a very complex piece of legislation. It did not start out being complex, when our colleague initially put it forward as Bill C-234, but I appreciate the opportunity to speak to it. Of course, this is the greenhouse gas pollution pricing act as it relates to on-farm use of fossil fuels. It has now been amended in the Senate…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague from Abitibi—Témiscamingue for his speech and also for his response to the question from our colleague from Nunavut. I was amazed by the question she asked. It is so clear to me that this bill must be garbage if our colleague from Nunavut thinks it does not respect human rights. Could my colleague from Abitibi—Témiscamingue say a few words about that?
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, we all remember this: “2015 will be the last election under first past the post.” Without access to a time machine, it is simply not possible to keep that promise anymore, but this House has an opportunity to reach out to the disillusioned and frustrated Canadians who so desperately want fair voting. We have a chance to pass Motion No. 86 on Wednesday. Will the Prime Minister support …
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, I rise to present a petition of deep concern for many of my constituents. Our tax system in many ways is a discriminatory system toward seniors who are single. Married seniors are able to take advantage of income splitting on pensions. Because of the treatment of RRSP with the death of one's spouse, that registered retirement fund or tax-free account can be rolled into the RRSP of the…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, it is a common misconception that liquefied natural gas is somehow good for the climate. The recent decision by the U.S. White House to pause LNG investments to protect the climate is an illustration of the point that, especially where LNG comes from fracked sources, the release of methane means LNG is not only not better than coal but also, on the entirety of its production life cy…
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Madam Speaker, I thank the hon. minister for Bill C-61. Ever since it was tabled in December, I have been looking forward to this debate to learn more about the bill. Certainly, as I read it in black and white, it recognizes sovereignty over infrastructure and the right to clean drinking water. I do not say this in any way, shape or form to suggest that this is not properly thought through, but I …
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Madam Speaker, I appreciated the speech of the hon. member for Haliburton—Kawartha Lakes—Brock. I could not quite decipher between the lines on whether he would vote for the legislation at second reading to get it to committee. Would he know if this would be the position of his caucus?
Read full speech →Adjournment Proceedings
Madam Speaker, to say that was an inadequate response would be a massive understatement. The parliamentary secretary just told us we have to reduce emissions while defending building a $35-billion pipeline that will increase emissions. It is a climate disaster. He completely ignored, as the government did before, that the pipeline violating the Pípsell is the equivalent, as I said on October 6, of…
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Mr. Speaker, it is my first opportunity to rise today to explain the many reasons why the Green Party will be voting against today's opposition motion, but I would like to ask my friend from Kingston and the Islands to comment on this. We had an earlier exchange about whether enforcing the carbon tax or raising the carbon tax could stop fires and floods. The answer from science is clear that it ca…
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Madam Speaker, I care about the price of butter. I am a cook, and I admit that I tend to go the Julia Child route: If there is more butter in the recipe, it never hurt anybody. I know the price of butter has gone really sky-high, but I just googled to check. The price of butter in both Canada and the U.S., in both countries, has increased dramatically. There is a reason, which I have dug into a bi…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, I am honoured to rise here today on the traditional territories of the Algonquin Anishinabe nation. To them, we say “meegwetch”. I am presenting a petition that speaks to an issue that has seized this House in a number of different ways in terms of pending legislation. The petitioners are asking the government to take account of the degradation of Canada's waterways and watersheds. Th…
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Madam Speaker, one debate we have never had in this place is on whether any of the claims about nuclear energy are remotely true; they are not. Nuclear energy is expensive. It is not a solution to the climate crisis. Solar and wind costs have plummeted from 2009 to 2021. Solar has dropped by 90% and onshore wind has dropped by 72%, but nuclear energy has increased by 36%. It is in the way of repla…
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Madam Speaker, I appreciated the parliamentary secretary's focus on the question of what former Progressive Conservative prime ministers and leaders have said about the current state of the Conservative Party. They are obviously two very different parties. My focus is on lamenting that only in Canada, and now in the United States, do we have a division over how to respond to the climate crisis tha…
Read full speech →Adjournment Proceedings
Madam Speaker, I am pleased to rise tonight in Adjournment Proceedings to pursue a question that I asked in question period back in October 2023. On October 6, I asked about the delays on the Trans Mountain pipeline and the decision of our Crown corporation, us, our government and all Canadians to violate a sacred commitment that we had made to the first nations at the Stk’emlúpsemc te Secwépemc N…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, I am honoured to rise today to present a petition on behalf of many constituents who are deeply concerned about the opioid crisis and the unacceptably high number of deaths. It is almost unbelievable that nearly 14,000 people have had opioid-related deaths since 2016. In particular, British Columbians are very concerned. A number of the founders of Moms Stop the Harm come from British…
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Mr. Speaker, it is an honour to rise and present my first petition of calendar year 2024. It is perhaps not too late to wish all members in this collegial and loving environment a happy new year. I would like to present a petition from constituents who are concerned that we move towards a just transition, and that in phasing out fossil fuels and winding down the fossil fuel industry, there be a ce…
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Mr. Speaker, I thank all my colleagues and acknowledge their comments. It really says a lot about the hon. member for LaSalle—Émard—Verdun, as a former minister of justice and a member of a cabinet, when so many of his colleagues from the opposition benches who worked with him closely rise to praise his work and thank him for his collegiality, particularly my neighbour from Esquimalt—Saanich—Sooke…
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Madam Speaker, I thank the hon. member for Perth—Wellington, who is as ever thoughtful and lays out the precedents. I am not saying I am not troubled by the events, but I am troubled by another issue, and I would like the member for Perth—Wellington to share his thoughts with the House. It is unprecedented to have removed one Speaker since the last election. If we were to remove another, would we …
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, I could not agree more with my hon. friend from Elmwood—Transcona and his analysis. When we talk about inflation, we cannot leave out excess corporate profits. He referred to the large, unprecedented profits from oil companies. Does he agree with me that it essentially amounts to profits from war profiteering, because the profits went through the roof when Putin invaded Ukraine?
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, we are on a theme of Liberal promises that keep being broken. Here is a question. We have Bill C-50, which is the sustainable jobs act, which kicked down the road coming up with a sustainable jobs plan until December 31, 2025. It then went to committee, where all the Liberal MPs present and all the NDP MPs present voted to extend that deadline to December 31, 2040. Could the hon. mini…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, it is a great honour for me to rise this afternoon to add my comments to the extraordinary words of our colleague, the dean of the House of Commons. I thank him for his speech. I want to also say thank you for the strong words and memories shared by the hon. member for Beauséjour. I was particularly moved by the hon. member for Oshawa, who expressed so clearly the sense of what politi…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Madam Speaker, I know this is difficult for all of us. I want to reflect on how the Green Party handled the previous controversy, which we found egregious. The hon. member for Nipissing—Timiskaming was in the wrong, accepted responsibility and stepped down. We are the only party in this place that did not call for his resignation. It was difficult. I hugely respect the hon. member for New Westmins…
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Madam Speaker, I am very grateful to the member for North Island—Powell River for raising the issue I had planned to raise here. I want to thank the hon. parliamentary secretary for his thoughtful remarks on the Chemical Weapons Convention Implementation Act and getting it on the record. Clearly, Green Party MPs will vote for this. However, the ultimate weapons of mass destruction are the nuclear …
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, it is my first opportunity to speak on Bill C-58, so I will first put on the record that the Green Party supports this very important legislation. It is time for Parliament to act to protect workers' rights. I used to practise in the area of labour law with a firm in Halifax back in the day that represented trade unions, specializing in labour law. I would ask the hon. member for Ba…
Read full speech →Orders of the day
Mr. Speaker, the Greens agree to apply the vote and will be voting no.
Read full speech →Statements by Members
Madam Speaker, it was exactly 24 hours ago that we came into this chamber, shaken by the news we were hearing on the television and radio that there had been an explosion on the Rainbow Bridge. There were words and accusations of terrorism in the air. We did not know much, but as we gathered here, I was grateful that the Prime Minister told us that he was seeking answers, that authorities were try…
Read full speech →Statements by Members
Madam Speaker, it was only 24 hours ago that we gathered in this place shaken by the news that an explosion on the Rainbow Bridge sounded like it might have been about terrorism. We were worried. The Prime Minister told us that it was time to ask questions to find out what had happened. The word “terrorism” was in the air, and some sought to achieve partisan advantage by jumping on the word and tr…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, it is an honour to rise today to present a petition from citizens of Saanich—Gulf Islands and a number of others, who are very concerned about the fate of old-growth forests. This is e-petition 4277, with nearly 2,000 signatories; they are looking for action to protect old-growth forests and noting that the Species at Risk Act calls for protection of the ecosystems and habitats of spe…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, imagine the horror, the nightmare of leaving home with a crying newborn in the back seat, making a way through smoke, hardly being able to see and trying to find an evacuation route from fires. This was the situation for thousands of people in the Northwest Territories this summer, yet through climate inaction and through a failure to fund essential infrastructure in the north, Canadi…
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Mr. Speaker, I want to pay tribute to my colleague from Kitchener Centre for his consistent hard work to make the disability benefit real. He has been working tirelessly to get the Liberal government to keep its promise in this area. We also had a promise from the Liberals, in I cannot remember how many campaigns, but starting in 2015, that they were going to get rid of subsidies to fossil fuels. …
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Mr. Speaker, I would be honoured. The Greens commit here and now to work with the NDP to make sure that public institutions, such as Laurentian University, never face the threats of insolvency and bankruptcy, and the scandalously bad management, that left students high and dry. I remember that debate. I remember so well what was done. Finally, we see something in this fall economic statement to en…
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There are a few issues, Mr. Speaker, but since I have to pick one, I have to say that I am surprised to find no mention in this fall economic statement of the need to allocate more funds to the Canada greener homes grant, which is a program designed to make each home more energy efficient with the help of each homeowner. It is bizarre, because considering the recent announcements on carbon pricing…
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Mr. Speaker, I thank all of my colleagues in the House. After reading this important fall economic statement, like many of my opposition colleagues, the member for Elmwood—Transcona in particular, I am disappointed. We have an opportunity to do important, urgent things, but it is being ignored, overlooked. Why? I do not understand it. As the other members have already said, we have the ability to …
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the kind words of my colleague from Milton. At the time that I had a stroke, a number of members of this place sent me nice notes and prayed, and I appreciate that a lot. With respect to co-ops, we had a commitment to $1.5 billion in budget 2023, and that money has not started to be spent yet, if I get that right. We do have new money announced in the fall economic statem…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, we take Bill C-52 at second reading. In its title, the bill refers to passenger transportation, but it only applies, as we know, to air travel and some marine travel. Passenger rail continually gets neglected in this country. Now that we are at second reading, would my hon. colleague agree that, in committee, we could specifically get at the question of aircraft and jet noise, as well…
Read full speech →Adjournment Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, I am hopeful that the parliamentary secretary's answer is saying that they are looking at it. Let me just be clear that I am not talking about a standing committee of parliamentarians. I am talking about a working committee of governments: federal, provincial, territorial, indigenous and municipal. We are at risk. People will lose their lives. The current government adaptation plan, f…
Read full speech →Adjournment Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, may I just pause to say that I appreciated the words reminding us of why we wear our poppies. Let us remember to thank and honour our veterans and our current men and women in uniform. Here in Adjournment Proceedings this evening, I am returning to a question I asked June 12. It was a question for the hon. member for Scarborough Southwest, who at the time was our minister for emergenc…
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Mr. Speaker, it is the first chance I have had to address the hon. member for Portage—Lisgar since his win in the by-election. I would like to congratulate him. I look forward to working with him in this place, as I did with his predecessor. In terms of the piece of legislation before us, I am very concerned that we apply a new lens to foreign investment in Canada, from a national security point o…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, I mentioned when I got a chance to speak to the House on another occasion that I wanted to run around and hug everyone. I have not reached all of my colleagues yet, but I am very happy to be back. My question for the hon. Minister of Environment, who may not be so happy to see me back, is based on the report from the commissioner of the environment and sustainable development. The rep…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Madam Speaker, I am tabling e-petition 4375 today. I believe this is the first time this issue has been raised on the floor of the House of Commons in any form and the first petition. I want to thank the person who initiated this petition, Mary Ann Sjogren-Branch, and Julian Branch who brought this to our attention, as well as Prevent Cancer Now and other networks of grassroots citizens. They are …
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, to refresh the hon. member's memory, Bill C-12, the Canadian Net-Zero Emissions Accountability Act, was brought forward in 2021 and I voted against it because it would do absolutely nothing toward climate accountability. I know we are not debating climate tonight, but it is coming up. The Government of Canada just found out from the commissioner of the environment and sustainable deve…
Read full speech →Orders of the Day
Mr. Speaker, the Green Party agrees to apply the vote, and we will be voting yes.
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, it is not to denigrate any individual minister, but the reality is that ministers would have pressures on them that might be regional. They might be specific to the concerns that are shared within the region they represent or the sector that has their ear most frequently. On a matter of turning down the purchase of a Canadian corporation by a foreign interest, it is traditionally a …
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, I do not think so. The difficulty is that, yes, there would be improved transparency once one has a review, but what would trigger a review in an issue like that of Paper Excellence, which I have referenced? How wide is the net cast, and when could we take concerns forward? I wish we had more time. I will vote for Bill C-34; let me make that clear. It is an improvement and would mod…
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