Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, I rise because of the member for Kings—Hants's response to a question from the member for Repentigny. I would like the member for Kings—Hants to reflect on whether it was appropriate to, basically, attack the member for Repentigny for continually raising the climate crisis, which is galloping now to a point where we are facing the risk of tipping points and a fifty-fifty risk of the c…
Read full speech →Private Members' Business
Madam Speaker, I thank my dear colleague, the member for Bourassa. I am also proud to give my support to his important private member's bill. My question is, does the member have the government's support for this bill to be accepted and become law in Canada?
Read full speech →Adjournment Proceedings
Madam Speaker, I am rising today to pursue a question I asked in question period on February 27. It was right after the British Columbia government came out with its budget. I have to say that I think every British Columbia member of Parliament was shocked. The B.C. NDP government cancelled a very important program: the community housing fund. The reason I raise this in the context of our federal …
Read full speech →Adjournment Proceedings
Madam Speaker, I am so sorry. That was my first interaction with the newly elected member for Ajax. I congratulate her on her appointment as the parliamentary secretary. My question in question period, and again tonight, was very specific. There is an opportunity that may disappear, specific to British Columbia and specific to projects that are ready to go. It is an opportunity for the federal gov…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, it is an honour to present a petition on behalf of concerned residents of Saanich—Gulf Islands and others. The petitioners note that what we have learned from the empirical evidence is that for people who suffer from mental health issues and substance abuse, incarcerating them is not effective in alleviating the burden to society, the individual or their family. Therefore, the petitio…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, I want to thank my friend from Vancouver Kingsway, the parliamentary leader for the New Democratic Party. I agreed with every single thing he said, right up until when he said the NDP was the only party in this place to stand up for universal pharmacare. We will continue to agree with him that the current Liberal government has abandoned it by not concluding agreements with every prov…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, it is an honour to rise at this later hour, having had some hours pass since the Minister of Finance tabled the spring economic update. It is always an honour to rise in the House as leader of the Green Party of Canada. It is a great honour for me. I did not have high expectations or much hope for the 2026 spring economic update—it is not a budget—but still, I am disappointed. No expl…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, I totally agree with my hon. colleague from Edmonton Strathcona that this is also worrying. It appears that the government thinks there is enough of a surplus in the Canada pension plan that it is okay to reduce contributions. We need to know that there is not going to be a reduction in the benefits to which senior Canadians are entitled, and we need to know that it is not seen as a b…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, I do not know to whom to direct the concern, but my desk has been moved and I cannot rise in my place in this space due to the post and the chairs. I do not know what to do about this. Perhaps there can be some accommodation organized by House officers. I do not know. I am sorry. I wish to speak, but this is the first time I have tried to rise in my new seat, and it is not really poss…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, I am speaking now from a spot that has a chair with no arms, which means I can stand up and address the hon. government House leader. The purpose of this debate is to bring closure on the debate on Motion No. 9. I hope I will have a chance to speak more substantively to Motion No. 9 later this day. On an unprecedented matter and doing something unusual, which is taking the matter of c…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, the hon. member for St. Catharines says that it has been fundamental to parliamentary democracy. I wonder if he would agree with me that the process of parliamentary democracy in this place is continually, regardless of who is in power, to reduce the rights and powers of smaller parties in favour of their own rights and powers.
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, this is the first time I have heard publicly that the member was specifically courted and that there was an attempt to recruit her to cross the floor. I wonder if she could expand on that and confirm whether it is true. It is the first time I have heard it, and it is indeed shocking because we have been assured by the government benches that they never tried to recruit anyone.
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague from Saint‑Jean for her excellent speech. I completely agree with her. She raised some points and shared new figures. Well, they were new to me, at least. The member showed that the committees are not an obstacle to progress here in the House. I thank her for that. Was there anything else my colleague wanted to add?
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to have the opportunity to speak today. It is always an honour to rise in the House. I am speaking today as part of the debate on a key issue, specifically government Motion No. 9. The purpose of this motion is to introduce changes that could be described as innovative. These are unprecedented changes aimed at altering the composition of committees. We know what the topic…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, what I am putting forward is entirely on point with respect to the motion we have before us. The assumption that underlies what the government is doing with this motion is that it was beyond even consideration that there should be seats on the committee for members of the New Democratic Party or the Green Party or any members who happen to sit in this place as independents. There is n…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, my hon. colleague from Winnipeg North will recall that nowhere in my speech did I draw attention to any difficulties myself, as three of my private member's bills have become law. I think that exceeds the batting average for most. What I am pointing out is that members of committees should have been considered from more than just the three recognized parties. With only three recognize…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, the purpose of every government I have witnessed is to accumulate more power for itself and generally more power for its prime minister. This is not the way of healthy democracies.
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, I thank my esteemed Bloc Québécois colleague. I think he is right. To answer his question, I think that the current government is on the wrong track. The government has done away with programs aimed at addressing the climate crisis. It has passed bills that violate the rights of refugees, for example. The government has lost sight of several priorities. I used to think that the Libera…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, it is true. It is almost the anniversary of the election and there are several members for whom this is their first year in the House. I very much regret that they have not had the experience I had. I worked for the Progressive Conservative government. I was not a party member, but I worked for Mr. Mulroney's majority government. There was more democracy back then. There was more comm…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, here is my advice. If they want to make a difference for their grandchildren, then the members need to immediately reject the opinion of their party whip. They need to show moral courage for the sake of our grandchildren and our county. To make a difference, it is vital that every member is able to exercise their rights in the name of democracy, not merely for the sake of the leader's…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, as far as we know, there has never been an effort to recruit MPs to shift from a minority government situation to a majority. As I mentioned, it is not unusual to see members cross the floor. Again, there is nothing particularly against our principles, but I think it does tend to, increasingly out there in the hustings, feel a bit fishy.
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, does it not occur to my friend from Vaudreuil that it is time to revisit what Jean Chrétien put forward as the most advanced financing laws in Canada, and there have been other points made by other members, to encourage Canadians to vote and to give people a reason to vote, even if they are in a so-called safe riding for a party they do not favour, and restore the per vote support?
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, I am presenting virtually today a petition from very concerned residents and people who have been exposed through their military service to toxic contamination from phenoxy herbicides. This dates back to an era even before Agent Orange was used in Vietnam. Various formulations were tested in the vicinity of Camp Gagetown in New Brunswick. The petitioners point out that the previous he…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, I am sorry. I had to get my headset back on. I know I am late to say that I would like to give a speech on Bill C-25. If it is not too late, before debate collapses—
Read full speech →Government Orders
I am sorry, it is because I had surgery on Tuesday. I am very disappointed not to be able—
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, this gives us a chance to look at something again. The recognized party status rules were created by law in 1963 to do one thing only, which was to provide funding to parties that have at least 12 members of Parliament in the House. That law said nothing about changing the rights that each member of Parliament has vis-à-vis each other. As the leader of the Green Party of Canada with a…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, it is an honour to join virtually today, and again, as other members have done, I wish everyone a happy Earth Day. The petition I am raising today is not a happy story. However, it is all too typical. There are a lot of examples of Canadian mining companies operating particularly in Latin America, where there are allegations of human rights and environmental abuses. In this case, peti…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Parliamentary Secretary to the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons. Perhaps he misspoke. It was unfair to suggest that the Conservative Party is against the nominee proposed by the government benches to be the new Parliamentary Budget Officer. It is certainly not uncommon for the opposition to bring forward debate on concurrence in a committee repor…
Read full speech →Adjournment Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, I am raising a question tonight in Adjournment Proceedings that I first raised on February 5 at the end of our annual International Development Week. I raised a question in great sadness because the Liberal Party platform in the last election committed to something that mattered. It committed to not cut development assistance. That stood in stark contrast to the Conservative Party com…
Read full speech →Adjournment Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, oh, I wish that was all true. I thank the hon. parliamentary secretary for saying we are committed, but if we are committed, why have we cut when the Liberal budget promised it would not be cut? This is at a time when the world is screaming out that there are increased humanitarian pressures. There are humanitarian pressures in Gaza, in Darfur, in Ukraine and all around the world, and…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, I am very concerned about aspects of Bill C-22, things that continue to include unacceptable elements from Bill C-2. I could not agree more with the hon. member for Oshawa that the hon. member for Winnipeg North has assumed that people are filibustering when we are merely insisting that the legislation be acceptable. Bill C-22 is an improvement, but could the hon. member for Humber Ri…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, I want to put a comment on the record. The Green Party of Canada is 100% in agreement with the summary of what has happened with this bill that was just given by the hon. member for Bruce—Grey—Owen Sound.
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, last Thursday in question period, in response to a question from the member for Edmonton Strathcona, the Minister of Energy completely dismissed any concern about the recent nearly one million-litre leak from the pipeline of Imperial Oil on Cold Lake First Nations territory, on top of frequent spills and leaks by Imperial from its tailings ponds and elsewhere. With Earth Day on Wednes…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, it is an honour to rise today to present a petition. It is an e-petition that was put together and supported by 587 people looking at the issue of expansion of fossil fuel infrastructure. The petitioners point out that any expansion of fossil fuel infrastructure runs contrary to climate action and the necessity of holding the global average temperature increase to below 1.5°C, if poss…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, I know this may offend people. There are people who think there are too many lawyers in politics, but I do not think there are enough of us. I want to thank the hon. member for Nanaimo—Ladysmith, whose legal background showed through in the way she put together that critique of Bill C-22. I am also very concerned about changing “reasonable grounds to believe” to “reasonable grounds to…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, it is an honour to present a petition on behalf of concerned residents of Saanich—Gulf Islands. The southern resident killer whale is, as all my constituents are deeply concerned about it, one of those issues that unifies people within all of British Columbia, particularly the coastal Coast Salish territories. The southern resident killer whale is an extremely endangered species. It i…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, we had the problem yesterday. I went to IT, and they verified that this one does work and is appropriate.
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, I will put on the record my request that we do in the House what we do in committee, which is to let the IT people check ahead of time so this does not happen, please.
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, it is an honour for me to speak virtually, since a situation came up that prevented me from participating in person. Those are the rules of the House. I am grateful for the chance to speak to Bill C-22. I do not have lengthy parliamentarian experience compared to other members, but I have been a member of Parliament for nearly 15 years, and I have never seen anything like what the gov…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, I think it is the first time my hon. colleague the member for London—Fanshawe and I have had an exchange. I did hear his speech as well. I agree with his concern. For smaller service providers, this could indeed be a burden, so I will just say that I agree.
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, I will be proposing amendments, particularly with respect to part 2. The best thing would be to remove part 2 as a whole, but in anticipation of the committee's work, I will be preparing amendments to that part.
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, I have a good record. In 15 years, I have never heckled in this place, but I had a very strong temptation to respond and to encourage the member for Kamloops—Thompson—Nicola, to inject levity, and say, “Hello, hello, hello” back to him when he made the Grand Canyon comment, which may go down in the annals of parliamentary history as a good way of not breaking our rule of not pointing …
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, as pre-arranged through the desk for virtual petition presentation, I am presenting e-petition—
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, I ask the hon. minister a very direct question and thank him for improvements made in the amendments in Bill C-25 to the Elections Act. I wonder if the minister could give the House a quick rundown on the sections of former Bill C-65, which had been through committee, was being studied and had elements that are not included in this act. I wonder if he could explain why the government …
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, since the official opposition has had good success in obtaining amendments by working with the government, I wonder if the hon. member for St. Albert—Sturgeon River will be willing to pursue changes to the Elections Act that were in former Bill C-65, which died on the Order Paper when the House prorogued on January 6 of last year. Might he be willing to get amendments over the line in…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, I certainly do support the member's key point that we should have, by now, acted to create the foreign registry for agents who interfere in Canadian democracy. However, knowing him to be an open-minded and fair-minded member, I would ask him if he would reconsider his opposition to the per-vote subsidy for fair financing, recognizing that it was one of the recommendations in the repor…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, one recommendation from Madam Justice Hogue that is not in Bill C-25 to confront foreign interference but that I would love to see in Bill C-25, was to restore the political finance reforms that were introduced originally by a former prime minister, the Right Honourable Jean Chrétien. Does my friend from Davenport agree that the bill would be strengthened if we were to bring back the …
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, this is a petition that I am so honoured to present. I am always honoured to present petitions from my constituents, but this is e-petition 6955, with an extraordinarily high number of supporters. In fact, just under 24,000 people signed this. The first signatories on the petition are all scientists from around the world. In short, the petition notes that currently, under Canadian law…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, my question goes to the heart of the issue: Does the government respect science? We are hearing cuts announced across Environment and Climate Change in terms of its research efforts, and in Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada and its critical research. Hundreds of scientists around the world have expressed alarm at killing an entire segment of our scientific capacity for insect taxonomy.…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, there are many issues on which the member and I do not agree, but I think we do agree that there has never been anything like this not only in this Parliament but in any Parliament of Canada. A single bill, originally Bill C-2, the strong borders act, was so universally panned and attacked by so many civil society groups, a coalition of more than 300, that the bill then had to morph f…
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