Parliamentary Speeches

Government Orders

Madam Speaker, I was prompted to put my hand up to ask a question when the member said that the current Liberal government was responsible for inflation. I hope the hon. member will take this question in the spirit in which it is intended, which is non-partisan. I am plenty angry with the Liberal government and the Prime Minister for many things, but I do not think it is reasonable to say that the…

Government Orders

Madam Speaker, I offer a big thanks to the member for Kitchener Centre for Motion No. 92. I am hoping we get it through. The housing crisis is exacerbated, no question, by an increase in the number of Canadians here. I favour more immigration, absolutely, but we need to be planning for that so we have homes for the people who are moving here We absolutely have to act on real estate investment trus…

Government Orders

Madam Speaker, as a resident of Vancouver Island who cannot afford a home here, we rent and our rent has gone up. I am not going to say for one minute that I am one of the Canadians having a hard time of it. We all know what we make as MPs. However, what happened to the Vancouver housing market started with converting homes into investment properties. I am not trying to blame everything on the pre…

Government Orders

Madam Speaker, I could not agree more with my hon. friend, the parliamentary secretary. We should get Canada to work together, to think like a country, and get all of our orders of government to work together just as well as the European Union does, with 27 separate sovereign nation states and 30 official languages. Canada operates like a group of separate fiefdoms, each going in their own directi…

Government Orders

Madam Speaker, it is an honour to join the debate today virtually to continue the discussion of Bill C-56, which aims to and claims to address the dual affordability crises of the affordability of housing and of food and groceries. There is no question on any side of this House that we are seeing very difficult conditions for most Canadians, and particularly for anyone who is not in the billionair…

Routine Proceedings

Madam Speaker, it is an honour to rise this morning virtually to present a petition on a quite astonishingly dreadful proposal for new commercial activities threatening marine ecosystems, but particularly the general group of species known as cephalopods, or octopus and squid. Octopus and squid are obviously wild animals. They are solitary animals. There are now proposals all around the world for …

Government Orders

Mr. Speaker, I do not need to review the blues. I listened carefully to what the hon. member for Calgary Nose Hill had to say. She presented a cogent, thoughtful and respectful argument. I hope you will take it into consideration and decide that it is the wisest course for the Speaker to recuse himself from this role for this particular matter of privilege.

Routine Proceedings

Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague; it is nice to be seen, as well as heard, in this place. The petition deals with a subject that I do not think has come up in this place before. It is the threat of autonomous weapons systems, or in other words, using artificial intelligence to direct weapons of war and using sensors more than human control. The petitioners call on the Government of Canada to enga…

Routine Proceedings

Mr. Speaker, it is my first opportunity to address you as Speaker. I send my heartfelt congratulations. I also congratulate you on your immediate approach just moments ago in getting through question period. I think your car is not yet dented. The petition I am presenting today is about something I have not presented a petition on before. It is of real concern to residents of Saanich—Gulf Islands.…

Adjournment Proceedings

Madam Speaker, the hon. parliamentary secretary claimed that first past the post has served Canada well. I had the honour to serve on the all-party select committee that studied the matter of electoral reform, and we heard from many experts that first past the post has not served Canada well. These experts included a former chief electoral officer, Jean-Pierre Kingsley, and a professor emeritus fr…

Adjournment Proceedings

Madam Speaker, it is an honour to rise virtually this evening to pursue a question I initially asked on May 8, 2023. That question related to electoral reform, and specifically, I was picking up on the fact that, just in the previous weekend, at the Liberal Party policy convention, the Liberals had adopted a resolution very close to a motion that had been put forward by my Green colleague, the hon…

Mr. Chair, it is a great honour to speak today at this unique sitting. Unfortunately, I am unable to attend in person. Because of my inability to be on an airplane at this point in my life due to having had a stroke, and I am, as you see, recovering quite well, I cannot participate in person, which means I also cannot vote, which is a terrible shame. I am participating this way because I want to m…

Routine Proceedings

Madam Speaker, it is an honour to present a petition today on behalf of residents of Saanich—Gulf Islands concerned about the multiple threats the highly endangered forest- and sea-dwelling bird, the fantastic little marbled murrelet, face. I will not digress into my experiences with marbled murrelet chicks, but it is quite the story. They are endangered because their habitat is being logged. They…

Oral Questions

Madam Speaker, I want to thank you for your valiant efforts today in maintaining order through question period. I would also like to thank the hon. member for Louis-Saint-Laurent for apologizing. He is a role model for us all. I did hear something that can be taken up later, and I know that if I heard it clearly it may end up in Hansard. It was not something said by the hon. member for Lethbridge,…

Oral Questions

Madam Speaker, I want to raise the concern of the lawyers representing the Stk’emlupsemc te Secwepemc Nation, just in time for the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, that we are violating a sacred commitment made to that first nation. I say “we” because, thanks to the Liberals, we own the Trans Mountain pipeline. Their lawyer has asked that at least before they start construction on Octobe…

Government Orders

Madam Speaker, we have another day's debate on carbon pricing, which is a necessary but completely insufficient response to the climate crisis. This is one of things that lacks context in these debates, which is that is as if carbon pricing were an adequate response to the climate crisis. It is not. Canada's emissions have continued to rise as the government of the day, while talking a good game, …

Government Orders

Madam Speaker, I have to say I agreed with everything the parliamentary secretary said. Unfortunately, the only thing that makes the Liberal climate record look good is the complaining from the Conservatives suggesting that we should do nothing. I note that the parliamentary secretary is wearing an orange shirt for Orange Shirt Day and reconciliation. The government is pursuing the Trans Mountain …

Routine Proceedings

Mr. Speaker, it is an honour to rise virtually in the House to present a petition of concern to citizens of Saanich—Gulf Islands and some from beyond Saanich—Gulf Islands. The petitioners ask the House to consider the state of Canada's waterways. They point out that healthy waterways are critical for our forests, watersheds and fisheries. When we have a healthy watershed, it is essentially green i…

Routine Proceedings

Madam Speaker, it is an honour to rise virtually today to present a petition from constituents in Saanich—Gulf Islands and elsewhere who are calling on the government to recognize that we are entering an age where human impact is approaching many ecological system boundaries, threatening survival. They mention boundaries in terms of freshwater usage, atmospheric pollution and extinction of species…

Routine Proceedings

Mr. Speaker, I am thankful for the opportunity to represent the extraordinary population of Saanich—Gulf Islands in presenting a petition that deals with a convergence of a number of really critical issues facing Canada today: issues of indigenous reconciliation, the climate crisis and our forests. Petitioners note the linkages here, that respect for indigenous peoples and their territorial sovere…

Routine Proceedings

Madam Speaker, given my earlier intervention to the hon. member for Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan, I also agree with much of what the parliamentary secretary to the House leader just said. I do not doubt for one minute that the motivation of the Conservative back rooms is to hijack debate this morning. That does not take anything away from my earlier comment that this is an important matter that…

Routine Proceedings

Madam Speaker, I am grateful that my hon. friend from Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan has raised this. There has been an increase in conflicts in a region of the world where we have seen ethnic cleansing or, at least, accusations of ethnic cleansing from the Armenian population. We have deep concerns for the fate of Nagorno-Karabakh. We always find it unfortunate in opposition benches, and I suppo…

Adjournment Proceedings

Mr. Speaker, I thank my hon. friend, the parliamentary secretary, and I congratulate her on this new role. This is the last place in the world we need partisanship. Everybody in this place will know that I have been talking about the threat of the climate crisis for about 40 years. I have watched it and had a front-row seat to failure after failure. We need to avoid the worst of the climate crisis…

Adjournment Proceedings

Mr. Speaker, I am resuming a question I that initially asked in question period on May 29 of the former minister for emergency preparedness. I have to say that I mentioned in my question at the time that I thought he was working very hard and doing quite an exceptional job. However, my plea tonight to the hon. parliamentary secretary, and through her, to our new Minister of Emergency Preparedness,…

Government Orders

Madam Speaker, my friend from Esquimalt—Saanich—Sooke anticipated my question, because the hon. member for Simcoe North mentioned co-operative housing, and that is also a large priority for Greens. We see it as a very successful form of housing. The comments from my hon. colleague from Simcoe North are encouraging. I know he is speaking only for himself, but does he have a sense of how other membe…

Government Orders

Madam Speaker, there are a number of things that could continue to reduce prices for Canadians and continue to open up more housing. There are literally thousands of ideas, but there is one I am attracted to. New York City has recently taken action, which others have been afraid to do, with taking on Airbnb. We know a substantial portion of Canadian housing is now taken up in short-term vacation r…

Routine Proceedings

Mr. Speaker, it is an honour to rise virtually in the House today to present a petition on a subject of keen interest to many of my constituents. To cover it briefly, this relates to the ongoing crisis for west coast wild salmon and the need for action to reduce their exposure to viruses and disease, as well as infestations of lice, that come into the wild salmon population from locations in marin…

Government Orders

Mr. Speaker, the speech from my hon. colleague for Mission—Matsqui—Fraser Canyon nicely dovetailed with mine on the concern for prairie farmers. The member mentioned pulse growers in Saskatchewan, but wheat growers in Alberta and barley growers all face the same problem: the massive inefficiencies at the Port of Vancouver where bulk carriers sit idly, which costs everyone. It costs prairie farmers…

Government Orders

Mr. Speaker, this legislation is incredibly important to people in my constituency. The issue is not just container ships, which have been mentioned in the supply chain, but bulk carriers, particularly of coal and grain. I would like to put it on the record that the Vancouver Fraser Port Authority is massively inefficient and incompetent, and the result is we have a backup of a virtually permanent…

Government Orders

Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague from Rivière‑du‑Nord for his work at the Standing Committee on Justice and for the speech he delivered today. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I have been trying to get in, as you know, to ask a question since the minister spoke, so I will speak very quickly. It may be my only occasion to say that the Green Party will be supporting Bill S-12. My only concern is that I real…

Routine Proceedings

Mr. Speaker, it is an honour to rise virtually today on behalf of petitioners in Saanich—Gulf Islands who are concerned with the fate of old-growth forests. The petitioners have identified and raised to the House assembled the need to pay attention to a risk to a specific endangered species of plant, specifically of lichen that is found only in the old-growth forest of yellow and red cedars. It is…

Government Orders

Madam Chair, as the leader of a much smaller opposition party, for me it is a moment for solidarity. I really appreciate the fact that I am able, through great good luck, to immediately follow my friend from Burnaby South, the leader of the New Democratic Party, to echo his words that we need to show solidarity, and that every Canadian from every ethnicity and every part of the world who has found…

Government Orders

Madam Chair, the question is, what is our role as members of Parliament? That is one thing I put that lens on in trying to figure out what I was going to say this evening. We can always comment on what we know about Prime Minister Modi and his anti-human-rights record and so on. However, what do we really know, and what, as parliamentarians, should we have a responsibility to oversee? I think we n…

Government Orders

Madam Chair, in forming my thoughts, I find this a very difficult topic because we have had allegations of foreign interference and now nothing could be more disturbing, troubling and unacceptable than the murder of a Canadian on Canadian soil. However, we have obligation as parliamentarians to stay calm and to allow the investigation to take place. We must, and I think we all are united in this, …

Government Orders

Mr. Chair, it is an honour to rise in this place virtually to join the debate. I want to start by thanking members for the opportunity to have this speech but also to say that I will be splitting my time with the hon. member for Edmonton Griesbach. Canadians from coast to coast to coast are grappling with something deeply shocking. It was only yesterday that the Prime Minister stood in this place.…

Government Orders

Mr. Chair, I have a question for my colleague and friend from Rivière-du-Nord. The matter is clear. We now understand that the victim of this terrible murder, Mr. Nijjar, had been warned by police and by CSIS that he was being threatened and was not safe. I am going to say this in English. It is late. I am very troubled that our security forces and the RCMP were unable to keep Mr. Nijjar safe. As …

Government Orders

Mr. Chair, information came to light from the hon. Minister for Emergency Preparedness, speaking to CBC News. He said that the Prime Minister told us what he told us yesterday because he had reason to expect that this was going to come out in the media, and he wanted to make sure the House was notified before it came out as a media leak. I find this aspect of what we are debating tonight deeply tr…

Government Orders

Madam Chair, I want to thank the leader of the official opposition for taking the tone he has taken, as did the hon. member just now, that we need to see more evidence and that we need to know. These charges are grave. I am as alarmed and aggrieved as any member in this House. I would have liked to have, right away, in response to the Prime Minister, extended condolences, support and deep sympathy…

Government Orders

Madam Speaker, I am so happy to see my friend from Battle River—Crowfoot. I am going to hone in on something he said in his speech about transportation needs, because it is critical. Because of having a stroke, I could not take a plane to Ottawa, and as I needed to pursue foreign interference, I took the train. I thought of him while crossing the trestle bridge over Battle River. I thought, “I kno…

Government Orders

Madam Speaker, Tip O'Neill once said all politics is local, but in the case of Newfoundland and Labrador and the climate crisis, it is rather the crucible of events. We have the extreme traumatic event of hurricane Fiona that impacted Newfoundland and Labrador so strongly. People from that province now take a different view about the climate crisis; it is personal. This is a really exciting opport…

Government Orders

Madam Speaker, I would say to my hon. colleague from Sarnia that it is important to distinguish the measures that reduce emissions, or at least provide a break with respect to growing emissions, from the global phenomenon. Overall, Canada's record is one of failure under successive governments to reduce emissions. In Copenhagen, the previous government under Stephen Harper promised to reduce emiss…

Government Orders

Madam Speaker, I appreciate that it is important we move rapidly to develop our offshore wind resources, but I dispute the minister's statement that it is a matter of opinion how fast we move in transition. I ask if he has looked at the most recent report from the United Nations. The climate summit is occurring there tomorrow. It is very clear the world is not on track and that what we will experi…

Government Orders

Madam Speaker, to the hon. colleague for Tobique—Mactaquac, I cannot move to my question without personally thanking him for his really kind email this summer sending prayers after my stroke. I am so grateful. In the debate all day today I have heard Conservatives say that they do not like C-49. I have been specific about the thing I would like to see changed, which is to go back to the original C…

Government Orders

Mr. Speaker, for my colleague from Miramichi—Grand Lake, I had not heard over the course of the summer that he faced health challenges. I had a stroke in June and this is my first opportunity to speak of it in this place since we resumed. I want to thank, from the bottom of my heart, all the members from different parties who sent me notes of encouragement. As they can see, I am recovering well, b…

Government Orders

Madam Speaker, my hon. colleague from Lakeland is probably the only one in the House who will not be surprised by what I am going to say, which is that Bill C-69 was not in the interests of environmental assessments in Canada. It was so poorly designed. It was all discretionary. There were no timelines. The only thing that made environmentalists think it was a good bill was that Jason Kenney calle…

Government Orders

Madam Speaker, Bill C-49 is welcome. The Canada-Nova Scotia Offshore Petroleum Board and the Canada-Newfoundland & Labrador Offshore Petroleum Board have long had embedded within the legislation aspects of the Atlantic accord that make it a duty of these offshore boards to increase offshore petroleum production. I do not see those sections being removed. It is certainly welcome to see a focus that…

Routine Proceedings

Mr. Speaker, it is an honour to rise today to present a petition that deals with the pressing issue of the climate crisis. Specifically, the petitioners zero in on the government's commitment to ban the export of thermal coal. Coal, and particularly thermal coal, is the dirtiest of all fossil fuels. As Canada has, unfortunately, a sorry record of increasing greenhouse gases since we pledged to cut…

Government Orders

Madam Speaker, I hope my hon. colleague from Kamloops—Thompson—Cariboo had a good summer. I know his area was also affected quite heavily by smoke. I heard the exchange with the hon. member for Esquimalt—Saanich—Sooke. I know it is tempting in this place to paraphrase what another member has said, and in some way, make their comments seem less responsive to public will. I just know that when my co…

Routine Proceedings

Madam Speaker, on a point of order, as someone who knew Monique Bégin, I ask for unanimous consent to add some words to the tributes that have been made so eloquently by my hon. colleagues, the member for Louis-Saint-Laurent, the member for Vancouver Kingsway and all those who have spoken about the extraordinary legacy of a champion woman, parliamentarian and trailblazer, the Hon. Monique Bégin.

Routine Proceedings

Mr. Speaker, I rise on a point of order. I seek unanimous consent to join my colleagues in response to the horrific and chilling news that the Prime Minister has shared with us. I was particularly grateful for the tone taken. The first person to speak after the Prime Minister was the Leader of the Opposition. I heed his words to link arms and join hands in the quest for justice, which was so passi…