Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, on a point of order, the member used unparliamentary language. If the member is going to talk about people personally, he can keep it parliamentary.
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Madam Speaker, it is always a pleasure to rise on behalf of the people of Kamloops—Thompson—Cariboo. Before I begin, I just want to welcome to my family my cousin's child, a brand new little girl, Isabelle Vera Smith, daughter to Claudia Wright and Lewis Smith and my newest constituent. I welcome Isabelle to the family and also welcome her to Kamloops—Thompson—Cariboo. My colleague comes from an a…
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Mr. Speaker, 32%, the increase in violent crime, 92%, the increase in gangland slayings; and police and premiers are begging for bail reform. Where would the Prime Minister rather be? Not in Kamloops looking at boarded windows from break and enters. Not in Vancouver, seeing failed Liberal bail policies. Not in Toronto, where broken bail policies have led to crime. When will the Prime Minister get …
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Mr. Speaker, I rise today to salute my grandmother, who passed away one week ago at 99 years old. Rosaria Caputo was born in 1923 and came to Canada with her two sons, including my father, in 1961. She was a wife, a mother and a sister. She also took on the role of zia and nonna to anybody who knew her. My memories include eating gnocchi at her house well into her 80s and 90s; her pushing me out o…
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Mr. Speaker, I highlight two recent times that catch-and-release has failed victims of intimate partner violence. In one instance, an alleged abuser allegedly beat and repeatedly breached restraining orders against a partner. The result: multiple bail hearings, and likely, a terrified partner. In another case, a woman was threatened; firearms were involved. The result: a bail hearing and a terrifi…
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Mr. Speaker, it is always a pleasure to rise on behalf of the people of Kamloops—Thompson—Cariboo. It is a tremendous honour to rise today and present petition e-4155 on behalf of the people from Kamloops—Thompson—Cariboo. This is a petition that advocates for a change to the Income Tax Act that would reflect community land trusts and beneficial tax interests for people who are donating land for t…
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Mr. Speaker, I rise to highlight Ms. Tara Ettinger's work as executive director of Big Bear Child and Youth Advocacy Centre, or CYAC. Big Bear provides a place for child victims of crimes like sexual assault, Internet luring or production of child sexual abuse and exploitation materials, as well as their families, to speak to police, access supports, and seek medical care. As someone who worked in…
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With regard to staffing at the RCMP's Operational Communications Centres (OCC): (a) what was the job vacancy rate (i) nationally, (ii) at each OCC, broken down by location, as of February 7, 2023; (b) how many calls from the public to the OCCs went unanswered or received a busy signal, broken down by month and location since January 1, 2022; and (c) how many hours was each OCC (i) understaffed, (i…
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Madam Speaker, in July 2020, Katie Telford, the Prime Minister's chief of staff, testified before a House of Commons committee on the We Charity scandal. In May 2021, she testified before a House of Commons committee with regard to sexual misconduct. Now the Liberal government is preventing her from again testifying under oath before a House of Commons committee. When will the Liberal government e…
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Mr. Speaker, yes, my much better half, as my colleague from behind me said, and there is no argument from my colleague from Winnipeg. She is much better looking. I do not know if there would be an argument on that either. He just threw up his hands, for the record. She is much smarter, much wiser and much more charming, and I am indebted to her for the work she does. She has told me stories about …
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Mr. Speaker, it is always a pleasure to rise on behalf of the people from Kamloops—Thompson—Cariboo. I want to thank my colleague on the justice committee and in the House from Esquimalt—Saanich—Sooke. This is an area that is close to my heart, and I anticipate speaking to this issue in a few minutes. It is certainly something that causes great concern. I am curious what my colleague thinks about …
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Mr. Speaker, it is always a pleasure to rise on behalf of the people of Kamloops—Thompson—Cariboo. I listened to my colleague's intervention on this issue, and what struck me was when he talked about recognizing the pattern of behaviour as itself violence. All too often, it seems as though we have looked at what we often call a “crime cycle” or a “cycle of violence”, and we do not look at the ante…
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Mr. Speaker, it is always a pleasure to rise on behalf of the people of Kamloops—Thompson—Cariboo. I will offer a comment to my colleague, especially based on what he just said. It is very important, as he mentioned, to recognize victims. If we look at the Criminal Code, “victim” is actually defined very broadly. Anybody who is impacted by an offence can submit a victim impact statement, for insta…
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Mr. Speaker, it is always a pleasure to rise on behalf of the people of Kamloops—Thompson—Cariboo. I am going to follow up on the last point my friend and colleague just made, which was in regard to sentencing. I know he mentioned Bill C-5, and we may have some disagreement on minimum penalties. For instance, if memory serves, the maximum penalty for assault is five years when proceeded by an indi…
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Mr. Speaker, it is always a pleasure to rise on behalf of the people from Kamloops—Thompson—Cariboo. This is questions and comments, so this is a comment to my colleague and friend on the other side of the floor. What we are talking about here really is victims, who are vulnerable. One of the things I found quite dismaying is that when it came to the ombud for victims, that position was left unfil…
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Madam Speaker, I obviously have not referred to the report, but my colleague is often an expert on this. At the end of the day, we have to recognize that this type of offence is not going away. During the pandemic, it escalated. Any sort of mentality that we are instantly going to bring down the occurrence of offences, in my view, is not backed by anything I have seen at this point. I know that pe…
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Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague for his work on the justice committee. The Criminal Code is really quite convoluted when it comes to sexual assault of intimate partners. In Canada, we have a rule against the twin myths, although I do not have time to get into that. It certainly does not make it any easier on victims. I have had victims literally crying on the phone, asking “Can't you just deal…
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Madam Speaker, the member asked about bail and firearms. I probably only have time to deal with one, so I am going to pick bail because that is a really significant issue. In that case, it is actually a lack of action by the government. There was one action, which was to create a reverse onus. I believe it was if a person had a previous intimate partner violence offence; I would have to check that…
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Madam Speaker, this is an excellent question. In my experience, one of the reasons why people go back to their abuser is economics. That is what it is. The partner was the person who brought home most of the money, or they simply cannot afford to live apart in two residences. What does that do? It brings two people together, back into what was an otherwise toxic relationship. I could not agree mor…
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Madam Speaker, before I begin, our condolences go to Constable Pierzchala's family and anybody who has suffered from his passing. It is not uncommon to see intimate partner violence joined by other offences. That is one thing that makes it so difficult. It can be a stand-alone defence. There could be a doctor who is alleged to have done this, or a lawyer, like me, or anybody. It spans all differen…
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Mr. Speaker, it is always a pleasure to rise on behalf of the people of Kamloops—Thompson—Cariboo. I did not anticipate speaking today. I know I have 20 minutes, so if the Chair would indulge me, I would like to do a couple of quick shout-outs. One shout-out is to my niece, Juliana Bradley. She came into this world 23 years ago. I was a criminology student with a lot of hair back then. I still rem…
Read full speech →Statements By Members
Mr. Speaker, after eight long years of the Liberal government's catch-and-release policy, Canadians feel unsafe. Police are tired of arresting the same people day after day, week after week and month after month. The justice minister has an army of lawyers and an army of bureaucrats. Despite those resources, we have seen nothing on bail. However, we as Conservatives have listened to the police, to…
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Madam Speaker, it is always a pleasure to rise on behalf of the people of Kamloops—Thompson—Cariboo. Prior to asking my learned colleague a question, I want to reflect on the life of a constituent who passed away over the holiday break. That was Paul Da Silva. I am very sorry for his family's loss, and I wish his wife and children all the best in this difficult time. May eternal light shine upon h…
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Madam Speaker, I appreciate my colleague's intervention. I have been here 18 months, and it has been a pleasure to get to know him over that time. My hon. colleague may not know this, but my wife, as a clinical lawyer, helps the most down-and-out people. She is somebody I consider an expert in this field, helping out people and giving them legal advice for the greatest issues. They are often the m…
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Madam Speaker, the member for Kingston and the Islands commended me for my honesty. I appreciate that. I like to think I am always honest in this place. In 1993, if memory serves, we had the Rodriguez case. I am probably simplifying this, but that was a question on the right to die. It was a five-four split, but the Supreme Court of Canada said that there was no charter basis for that decision. It…
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Madam Speaker, I will address the member saying that this was resolved two years ago. Two years ago would have made it February 15, the day after Valentine's Day, 2021. This charter statement was tabled in the House October 21, 2020. Was this issue resolved mere months after this charter statement? I get it. Reasonable people can disagree sometimes, and we talk about expert panels. I will say this…
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Madam Speaker, we do not have a charter statement and we should. It is my understanding that, even when a bill is revised, there should be a charter statement. With Bill C-7, we had an initial charter statement. It came back from the Senate, and there is no new charter statement. The charter statement we are left with is pre-amendment. That is a problem, and if we couple that with the lack of a ch…
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Madam Speaker, it is always a pleasure to rise on behalf of the people of Kamloops—Thompson—Cariboo. I will admit that my hon. colleague kind of stole my thunder, because I was going to ask a bit about what his constituents were saying. However, I am wondering if there were any responses that particularly stood out. As I understood his last comment, he said that it was about fifty-fifty on the iss…
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Madam Speaker, it is always a pleasure to rise on behalf of the people for Kamloops—Thompson—Cariboo, especially when we are talking about something that is really quite critical and that is quite important to a number of people in the House. This is an issue that really tugs at the heartstrings of a number of Canadians. My hope, and what I have seen so far, is that we can have a rational debate o…
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Mr. Speaker, I rise on a point of order. I just wanted to wish my wife and all spouses and partners out there a happy Valentine's Day.
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Mr. Speaker, it is always a pleasure to rise to behalf of the people of Kamloops—Thompson—Cariboo. Before I get into my question, I also want to recognize the life of a titan of Kamloops politics, Pat Wallace. She was a pioneer who spent many years, decades, in Kamloops on Kamloops city council, paving the way for so many others. She recently passed away. May an eternal light shine upon her. I wis…
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Mr. Speaker, it is always a pleasure to rise on behalf of the people of Kamloops—Thompson—Cariboo. Before I begin my question, I want to recognize the life of Cliff Branchflower, the former mayor of Kamloops, who passed away earlier this week. I wish his family the best at this difficult time. My colleague mentioned that we are going to have decreased oil and gas jobs in the future, not because th…
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Mr. Speaker, it is always a pleasure to rise on behalf of the people of Kamloops—Thompson—Cariboo. I wish to recognize the life of Danilo Covaceuszach. I just saw his obituary in the Kamloops This Week. May eternal light shine upon him. In reference to that last answer from the Minister of Justice, it really is incumbent, in my view, that the Minister of Justice listen to the people of Canada, and…
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Madam Speaker, I invite my hon. colleague to go back and listen to the Minister of Justice's remarks to this House when asked similar questions on January 30 and 31 of this year, and into the prior year, where he essentially denied that there was a problem. We now hear that they have been talking for months. After eight years of inaction, the bail system has never been worse. Canadians feel unsafe…
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Madam Speaker, after eight years of Liberals dragging their feet and not acting on bail reform, we find ourselves here, where bail is broken. Premiers want change. Canadians want change. Police want change. The government prefers to talk rather than act. Yesterday, I and my Conservative colleagues took the first step in a very long journey on bail in tabling Bill C-313. Will the government pass th…
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moved for leave to introduce Bill C-313, An Act to amend the Criminal Code (justification for detention in custody). Mr. Speaker, as every day, it is an honour to rise in the House today on behalf of the people of Kamloops—Thompson—Cariboo and Canadians at large. It is a further honour to be here to table my fourth private member's bill in the House. This bill aims to address a serious problem whe…
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Mr. Speaker, the laws on bail are clear? I think the minister meant to say that the laws on bail clearly are not working. While the minister was in the classroom, I was in the courtroom running bail hearings. I have looked victims in the eye who were victimized by people who were on bail. The reality is that violent crime is up 32%. Thugs and gangsters with guns are running wild on our streets. Wh…
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Mr. Speaker, I do not know that I can imagine a comment more out of touch than that which the Liberal minister just said. I will remind the minister that, like him, I also taught at a law school. Unlike him, I do not have to go back to school to see people on the streets who are victimized, to see the statistics of gangland homicides and to see police officers on our streets being killed by people…
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Madam Speaker, it is always a pleasure to rise on behalf of the people of Kamloops—Thompson—Cariboo. Before I begin, I do want to recognize a life well lived, the life of Mr. Rex Renkema, of Kamloops. He passed away over the holidays. Mr. Renkema was a mentor to me. He was a pioneer in the legal field, in my view. He was well respected by his colleagues, both at the bar and in the community. He ha…
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Mr. Speaker, it is always a pleasure to rise on behalf of the people of Kamloops—Thompson—Cariboo. Before I begin asking my question, I want to recognize Kendra Woodland and the whole women's hockey team that won the winter FISU World University Games. We are obviously very proud of what our women's team accomplished. I congratulate Kendra and the team. The question for my hon. colleague is this. …
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Do you even know what our position is?
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With regard to the government's requirement that assistant deputy ministers confirm and sign off on the integrity of their department's greenhouse gas emissions data, broken down by year and reporting cycle, since the requirement came into effect in 2019: (a) which department's data was signed off on by the assistant deputy minister; and (b) for each instance where the assistant deputy minister si…
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Madam Speaker, it is always a pleasure to rise on behalf of the people of Kamloops—Thompson—Cariboo. Before I begin, I want to recognize a constituent who recently passed away, Mrs. Kathie Lock. She was the secretary at my elementary school, and I graduated elementary school with her daughter. I wish her family all the best and want to express my condolences in this difficult time. May perpetual l…
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Madam Speaker, may I have unanimous consent to split my time?
Read full speech →Private Members' Business
Madam Speaker, it is always a pleasure to rise on behalf of the people of Kamloops—Thompson—Cariboo. I am going to speak not from notes but from the heart today. Before I begin, however, I want to note two things. First, I will be splitting my time with the member for Kelowna—Lake Country. This will be likely a brief speech that I am giving, from the heart—
Read full speech →Private Members' Business
Madam Speaker, it is always a pleasure to rise on behalf of the people of Kamloops—Thompson—Cariboo. I want to highlight the exemplary work of someone from my community who recently passed, and that is Melanie Savage. She was a captain in the Blackpool Fire Department. Only 34 years old, she served the community with diligence. I got to know her father through his work in the RCMP when he was a Qu…
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Mr. Speaker, this is a situation I am hearing of more and more about as well. When it comes to pediatric services, clearly what we are doing is not working. Health care is a provincial initiative, but there is substantial federal funding that goes through. Had something like this been present, specifically in reference to my hon. colleague's question, I would have been happy to consider it, becaus…
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Okay, let us talk about pensions. Mr. Speaker, I will ask for unanimous consent for my friend across the floor to take 30 seconds to talk about it.
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Mr. Speaker, it is always a pleasure to rise on behalf of the people of Kamloops—Thompson—Cariboo. Before I begin, I want to give a brief shout-out to a business that is a Kamloops beacon and a beautiful, thriving small business in Kamloops—Thompson—Cariboo. It is Riversong Guitars, which recently won a prestigious award. I want to read from a story from the CBC. Here is a quote: Riversong's P2P R…
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Mr. Speaker, prior to commencing my speech, I would ask for unanimous consent to split my time with the member for Coast of Bays—Central—Notre Dame.
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