Government Orders
Madam Speaker, one thing we know is that Conservatives certainly cannot be trusted to stand up against Doug Ford, Scott Moe and Danielle Smith. They want to destroy Canada's universal health care system, which by the way, was brought in by Tommy Douglas, who is from Saskatchewan. It was the New Democrats that brought forward this motion today instead of a motion to remove the carbon tax for the se…
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Madam Speaker, it is a huge honour and privilege to rise today on the NDP motion that was brought forward by my good colleague, the member for Vancouver Kingsway, our NDP health critic. This is a critical debate because we are facing a pivotal moment in Canadian history. We have a universal health care system, but provinces are trying to circumnavigate the rules of the Canada Health Act by using l…
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Mr. Speaker, my colleague talked about supports for people with mental health issues. One group we have not talked about is public safety personnel. This is definitely not partisan; it is about us both coming from rural communities. That includes border services, corrections services, firefighters, operational intelligence personnel, paramedics, police, public safety communications and search and …
Read full speech →Private Members' Business
Mr. Speaker, we are grateful to see this bill come forward. Of course, as the member knows, New Democrats have been fighting this injustice that targets tradespeople and apprentices on deducting their travel expenses for many years. In fact, we have tabled this bill five times. This is a no-brainer. I am surprised that the member did not tell Colin, whom he met at the airport, that the Conservativ…
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Mr. Speaker, I want to thank my colleague for talking about some opportunities and she also cited broken promises when it came to palliative care. As members know, I was here last Monday and the Monday before and would have been here tonight on Adjournment Proceedings, to drag the government here to talk about mental health, but it was disrupted so I am back. I asked the minister about mental heal…
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Mr. Speaker, we know that the government has not delivered a single dollar after its promise of mental health transfers. The member talked about the importance of support. We agree with her given what I heard in her speech. The government still has not tabled legislation to create parity between mental and physical health, which is absolutely critical. We have heard from the disability community, …
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Madam Speaker, it is a privilege to table this petition on behalf of residents of Union Bay on Vancouver Island. They want to draw the attention of the House of Commons to the significant risks to workers and the environment associated with ship recycling due to the presence of a wide variety of hazardous materials in end-of-life marine vessels. They cite that Canada, unlike other jurisdictions, l…
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Mr. Speaker, the Liberals say they are on the side of workers, but we have seen them basically stab workers in the back. I just have a simple question. Do the Liberals agree that using back-to-work legislation amounts to negotiating in bad faith, with or without the notwithstanding clause?
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, Canadians are struggling with their mental health. Levels of anxiety and feelings of isolation are at all-time highs, but accessing help is nearly impossible. Costs for therapy are sky-high and out of reach. Publicly funded services have long waits. People have nowhere to turn, yet the Liberals' new health care deal with the provinces does not guarantee money for mental health. After …
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Madam Speaker, I appreciate my colleague and good friend from the fisheries committee. Does she agree that the use of the notwithstanding clause to suspend rights should not be taken lightly and should only be used in exceptional circumstances?
Read full speech →Statements by Members
Mr. Speaker, sadly, Qualicum Beach on Vancouver Island has bid farewell to its former mayor and freeman of the town, Art Skipsey, who passed away last month at the age of 96 following a life well lived. He was a man of integrity, vision, humour and strength, and we came to believe he would go on forever. Art was born to settler parents in 1927 in the Alberni Valley, where he grew up with a love of…
Read full speech →Adjournment Proceedings
Madam Speaker, I appreciate the comments from my colleague. I appreciate my colleague addressing workers and the needs of workers. What I do not appreciate is that the government made a promise in 2021 to deliver a mental health transfer. It has not done that. Our overall health care spending on mental health is between 5% and 7%. In the OECD, the average is 12%. This is unconscionable, that it ha…
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Madam Speaker, I have a lot of respect for my colleague, but I have deep concerns when I hear Conservatives talking about human rights in China. The Conservatives signed the Canada-China Foreign Investment Promotion and Protection Agreement, which locked us into an agreement for 31 years, to 2045. In fact, the Hupacasath people in my riding had to go to court to defend their section 35 rights agai…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Madam Speaker, we just came from the OGGO committee, and the Conservatives demonstrated that they are willing to support the NDP in expanding this to look at all of the outsourcing, especially the $100-million-plus procurement club, which includes companies that benefited greatly under their government. In fact, under the Harper government, PricewaterhouseCoopers went from $9.8 million to $44 mill…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Madam Speaker, it is timely that I table this petition given that we are on the eve of the critical meeting between premiers and the Prime Minister to talk about health. The petitioners are talking about the health crisis right now, about the poisoned drug supply and the toxicity of those drugs that are killing valued citizens, like mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers and family members of people …
Read full speech →Adjournment Proceedings
Madam Speaker, I said last week on Ground Day that I would be back again every week to drag the government here to have a discussion about the need for mental health parity in this country. Here I am again, on the eve of what will hopefully be a historic meeting tomorrow of the Prime Minister and the premiers of the 10 provinces and three territories in this country, to talk about health care in t…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Madam Speaker, deep seabed mining threatens ocean ecosystems. Rather than taking a stand on deep seabed mining like France, Germany, Spain and others, the Liberals prefer to support Canadian mining companies such as The Metals Company, creating industrial-scale mining sites on the deep seabed. Meanwhile, the lives and livelihoods of indigenous and coastal communities around the world that rely upo…
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Mr. Speaker, I am disappointed. I joined this debate this afternoon, and all I hear from the Conservatives is that everything is broken. Everything I hear from the Liberals is that everyone is wrong. We have an opportunity here to talk about bail reform, which is really important. This is something we have heard from municipal leaders and something we have heard about from premiers that has to be …
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Mr. Speaker, this is an important conversation. We recognize that the early release of people pretrial who are violent or repeat offenders is a real concern. We have heard from municipal leaders and premiers who have come to Ottawa. They are waiting for concrete proposals to be presented to this House that we can consider. We have also heard from police that the gap in supports for mental health a…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, Canadians deserve accountability and transparency from the government. They deserve answers on Conservatives' and Liberals' long-standing partnership with expensive consulting firms when Canada has one of the best public services. McKinsey is just the tip of the iceberg. That is why New Democrats are calling to investigate firms that have been raking in hundreds of millions of dollars…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
With regard to the PocketWell application: (a) has the application been clinically validated, and, if so, how; (b) what were the estimated costs of developing, maintaining, updating, and promoting the application; (c) how much has been spent to date in relation to the application; (d) what is the itemized breakdown of spending to date on developing, maintaining, updating, and promoting the applica…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
With regard to expanding access to safer alternatives to illegal substances: (a) is the government actively developing a national safer supply program; (b) if the answer to (a) is affirmative, (i) what steps have been completed or initiated to date, (ii) what, if any, timelines have been established in relation to this goal; and (c) if the answer to (a) is affirmative, has the mandate of the Exper…
Read full speech →Adjournment Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, like I said, we know Thursday is Groundhog Day, but the government decided today is Groundhog Day. We heard the same response and the same old thing. Liberals are patting themselves on the backs about money they promised from before and are spending, but look at the results. The results speak for themselves with overcrowded ERs and doctors having to do social work who need help. Peopl…
Read full speech →Adjournment Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, I know Groundhog Day is not until Thursday, but it sure feels like it, because I keep having to drag the government in here at the end of the day to answer to Canadians on why it has not delivered on its mental health transfer. We have a system that is overburdened and stretched to the max. I just had the leader of the NDP in my riding. We went to a round table on seniors' health. We …
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
With regard to the development of national standards on mental health and substance use services: (a) what steps were taken between the tabling of budget 2021 and March 14, 2022, in relation to this work; (b) what are the deliverables of the Standards Council of Canada (SCC) in relation to this work; (c) what specific standards are being developed by the SCC; (d) what was the planned timeline for …
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
With regard to any polling data obtained by the Privy Council Office or the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat since March 1, 2020, related to remote or hybrid work by public service workers: what are the details of all such polling, including, for each poll, (i) who conducted the poll, (ii) the start and end dates of when the poll was conducted, (iii) the number of participants, (iv) the comple…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Madam Speaker, the Liberals promised they would keep people safe from handgun violence. However, at the very last second, the Liberals added an amendment to Bill C-21 that is not about keeping our city centres or children safe, but instead would hurt rural and coastal communities. This bill was supposed to protect people, not go after hunters, farmers or indigenous peoples. Will the Prime Minister…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, I think firefighters would appreciate that. It is a privilege to rise today to table this bill. This bill calls on the Government of Canada to increase the tax credit for volunteer firefighters and search and rescue responders from $3,000 to $10,000 in the Income Tax Act. We know that search and rescue responders and firefighters always show up in difficult crises such as fires, flood…
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Mr. Speaker, we also agree that putting a price on carbon is critical. In British Columbia it was actually the right-leaning BC Liberal party that brought in the carbon tax in 2009, but it is now supported by all provincial parties, because we understand the impacts of climate change. We have seen Lytton burn down. We have seen flooding. We have seen the impacts of climate change, which I have tal…
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Madam Speaker, my colleague just read off a long list of NDP proposals that are there to help Canadians, such as dental care, doubling the GST tax credit and the rent benefit. We are glad to see that. Many Liberals have read off lists of jurisdictions and countries that have a price on carbon. We are glad to hear that as well. However, I have a list of countries that have an excess profit tax: Bel…
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Madam Speaker, it is like Groundhog Day in here. We have another Conservative opposition day about lifting a federal carbon tax that does not apply to six provinces and a territory. There are other issues the Conservative Party could take on. It has 112 members of Parliament. I just met with the MPP for Kiiwetinoong, Sol Mamakwa—
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Madam Speaker, I have a very serious question. I was talking to the Ontario MPP for Kiiwetinoong, Sol Mamakwa, just now. He has 14 nations in his riding that do not have clean drinking water. The Conservatives could have used an opposition day to call on the government to tackle that. No Canadian should go without clean drinking water in this country. Instead of bringing forward motions that canno…
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Madam Speaker, there are a couple of things that the Conservatives have broken promises on. They broke a promise to bring in a price on carbon. They broke a promise to remove the GST on home heating, which is something they had in their last couple of campaigns. Then they brought forward a motion today that is unenforceable in many of the jurisdictions in this country. We need to have a real conve…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
moved for leave to introduce Bill C-310, An Act to amend the Income Tax Act (volunteer firefighting and search and rescue volunteer tax credit). Mr. Speaker, it is a privilege to rise today to table this bill. This bill calls on the Government of Canada to increase the tax credit for volunteer firefighters and search and rescue responders from $3,000 to $10,000 in the Income Tax Act. We know that …
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, it is no surprise I am now tabling a petition on the firefighter tax credit. Firefighters, especially in rural communities, put their lives on the line. Petitioners from my riding of Courtenay—Alberni, from Courtenay, Cumberland, Royston, Dashwood, Parksville, Qualicum, Beaver Creek, Cherry Creek and Sproat Lake, have all signed this petition. The tax code of Canada currently allows v…
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Madam Chair, it is clear that the government tabled its national action plan two years after it tabled the missing and murdered indigenous women and girls report. I will read a very short quote from Mariah Charleson, the former vice-president of the Nuu-chah-nulth Tribal Council. She said, “We waited two years for an incomplete action plan with no deliverables, no landmarks, no immediate goals...n…
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Madam Chair, I really appreciate my friend's speech and I appreciate her. She knows full well that I live in Nuu-chah-nulth territory. I represent the Tla-o-qui-aht people here in Parliament and I bring their voice here. I am grateful that she talked about the late Chantel Moore. The fact of the matter is that there was an independent investigating officer team that came in from Quebec, with no in…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, Canadians are dying and lives are being shattered every day because of a contaminated drug supply. The Conservative leader wants to double down on the failed war on drugs, while the government will not fund the supports people need. The Liberals promised in the last election to send $500 million to the provinces and territories to improve access to evidence-based treatment, but yet ag…
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Mr. Speaker, that is an excellent question, as there are economic development opportunities being missed. It is simply just staffing at DFO when it comes to seaweed. It is the same with the shellfish sector. They are having a hard time because they get caught up with the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, environment and DFO. They just need dedicated staff. I was out in Nova Scotia. For wave energy,…
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Mr. Speaker, it is extremely frustrating. Again, there is some stuff we liked. We liked seeing that they were getting rid of interest on student loans. That is really important. It is something that we have been fighting for. We liked seeing that there is an excess tax at 1.5% on big banks and insurance companies over $100 million. However, there is a lot missing. There was an opportunity to go af…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, it is an honour and privilege to rise to table a petition on behalf of constituents from Courtenay, Cumberland and Royston in my riding. They cite that over 29,000 Canadians died due to opioid toxicity between January 2016 and December 2021. Those who died as a result of this preventable drug-toxicity crisis were loved and valued citizens of this country. The petitioners are calling o…
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Madam Speaker, it is absolute propaganda and misleading when the Conservatives rise in the House and start saying the federal government can remove the carbon tax in jurisdictions like mine in British Columbia. I have even seen Conservative MPs from B.C. suggest the same thing. We have had carbon pricing in British Columbia since 2009. It was brought in by the B.C. Liberals and supported by all pa…
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Madam Speaker, I heard my colleague talk about removing the carbon tax. I am from British Columbia where the carbon tax was brought in by the B.C. Liberals, a right-leaning party, and was supported by all parties in British Columbia, just like the carbon tax here federally in the last election, which was supported by all parties represented here in the House. It is funny how the Conservatives chan…
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Mr. Speaker, it is an honour and privilege today to have an opportunity to rise to speak to Bill C-32 on the fall economic statement. We know people are struggling. The cost of goods and inflation are skyrocketing. The rising interest rates are having a huge impact on people's budgets and to families in our communities, especially in my riding of Courtenay—Alberni. We are pleased to see some of th…
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Mr. Speaker, I wanted to raise those important items because they were not in the budget, and they were not in the fall economic statement. They are missing. Those are opportunities to help our communities and to help keep our first responders active, making sure they are protecting our communities and making sure we have economic development. One thing that was missing, that we have been calling …
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Madam Speaker, I really appreciate my colleague's work on this and his long-standing work in this area. He talked about the national cost-sharing program for historic places. It is my understanding that, for 2023-24, the Liberal government has only budgeted $2 million to this program, yet the environment committee, back in 2017, recommended $10 million. McLean Mill is in Port Alberni, which is in …
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Madam Speaker, again, I am warning the government of huge risks from unregulated shipbreaking. An oil spill was discovered on the shoreline of a shipbreaking facility in Union Bay on Vancouver Island. This facility has been operating despite legal challenges and objections from local governments and first nations. Baynes Sound is critical to our local economy and ecosystems. It is home to over 50%…
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Mr. Speaker, seeking truth is an essential component in ensuring justice for indigenous communities that have suffered because of the Indian residential schools. I would like to hear from my colleague his thoughts on ways he believes the knowledge of elders and the knowledge keepers could be used to conserve indigenous history across the country. Also, maybe he could speak about the important role…
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Madam Speaker, Chief Ken Watts waamiiš from Tseshaht First Nation, one of the Nuu-chah-nulth nations, has been advocating for funding directly to first nations, to enable their museums to repatriate artifacts and honour their culture. There is lore and there are stories and oral histories in those intellectual artifacts. Could the member speak about how important it is to get those resources to t…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, it is an honour to table this petition on behalf of constituents from my riding of Courtenay—Alberni. The petitioners are calling on the Government of Canada to enact just transition legislation that reduces emissions by at least 60% below 2005 levels by 2030, to make significant contributions to emissions reductions in countries in the global south, and to create new public economic …
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