Government Orders
Mr. Chair, will the minister commit to taking a whole-of-ecosystem management-based approach? She has heard me talk about this endlessly, because we see harvests of some species impacting other species. Will she gear her department to take a whole-of-ecosystem management approach, especially with the blue economy?
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Mr. Chair, how will the minister ensure that the PSSI Pacific salmon commercial licence retirement program supports coastal communities and owner-operator fishers, avoids further corporate consolidation of the fishing fleet and holds industry participants responsible for supporting sustainable harvest transformation?
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Mr. Chair, it has been a year since the Department of Fisheries and Oceans announced the $647-million Pacific salmon strategy initiative. In that time, there has been really no genuine engagement with first nations. The Nuu-chah-nulth nations especially are saying to me that to implement the PSSI on the west coast of Vancouver Island, they need to be engaged clearly. Indeed, all the evidence to da…
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Mr. Chair, how many licences is the minister committed to buying back to ensure that there is no net loss of traps and that the “willing buyer, willing seller” policy is adhered to?
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Mr. Chair, first I want to thank the minister and her team, and you, Mr. Chair, for being here tonight. It has been four hours. Crab harvesters in area E, Tofino, have been at a continued significant economic loss since the April 1 trap reallocation. The government still has not responded to their requests for an independently facilitated negotiation process, a process that is imperative to help s…
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Mr. Chair, the installation of intensive subtidal geoduck aquaculture is proposed for the herring spawning grounds in Lambert Channel which, according to Department of Fisheries and Oceans records, are the source of 38% of all the herring spawn that has ever occurred on the B.C. coast and would support the whole Strait of Georgia marine ecosystem. Will the minister put the protection of the spawni…
Read full speech →Private Members' Business
Madam Speaker, at the conclusion of this stage of debate on Bill C-216, I first want to thank the members who have spoken today. Canadians deserve a debate on how to respond to a public health emergency that has been raging for more than six years and has cost more than 27,000 lives. Bill C-216 is the first piece of comprehensive legislation aimed at addressing this crisis debated in this House. W…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Madam Speaker, people across the country are dying from the toxic drug supply. Instead of receiving help, they are being punished. A recent media report found that Black and indigenous people continue to be disproportionately arrested on drug possession charges. This echoes what Health Canada's expert task force on substance use told the government over a year ago. Decriminalization will help Cana…
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Madam Speaker, I request that the motion be adopted on division.
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Madam Chair, what is the timeline for the completion of the accessible government built environment initiative?
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Madam Chair, how much funding has she dedicated to this project?
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Madam Speaker, I really appreciate a lot of the comments from my colleague. I too share her frustration. I mean my office right now is getting absolutely inundated by calls from people who are waiting for their passports. As well, the time that they are waiting at airports is completely unacceptable. We know that none of this is a surprise. People were planning on travelling as soon as the travel …
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Madam Speaker, this is a really important issue and we are hearing from many people in my riding. Certainly, we believe that health measures should be informed by health science and not politics. We heard Dr. Tam in March, stating that a full re-evaluation of Canada's pandemic measures would be done and that she would report back to Canadians. We are at the end of May. People have concerns. Trust …
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Madam Speaker, there are things I truly appreciated in my colleague's speech and things I do not agree with. One thing he touched on were the wait times at the airports. When we see the wait times at airports or passport services, we know the government has not adequately staffed the resources to respond to the increase in the amount of travel. We have constantly heard complaints like these from C…
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Madam Chair, have any of those ministers reached out to the minister for procurement?
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Madam Chair, has the minister heard of the expert task force on substance use?
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Madam Chair, that sounds like a no. This is a group of experts who were convened by Health Canada to make recommendations to the government on federal drug policy. The expert task force had five key messages related to Canada's substance use strategy. One message was, “Bold actions are urgently needed, including...the expansion of safer supply.” I asked the minister at the Standing Committee on Go…
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Madam Chair, here is a quote. It is something the minister wrote in the PSPC 2022-23 departmental plan. It says: Nearly two years into the COVID-19 pandemic, protecting the health and safety of Canadians remains a priority for the Government of Canada. PSPC will continue to play a central role in our response by procuring critical supplies, including vaccines, tests and therapeutics. It has now be…
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Madam Chair, is the minister saying she did not procure for any COVID response needs without direction completely from the provinces?
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Madam Chair, they have been requesting leadership. The mandate letter to the minister directs her to “[c]ontinue to procure COVID-19 therapeutics, tests and vaccines, for adults and children, to ensure all Canadians have access to free booster shots and second-generation vaccines as needed”, yet there is no mention of procuring a safer supply to address Canada's other ongoing public health emergen…
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Madam Chair, I would like to ask the minister whether the federal contractors program requires organizations bidding on federal contracts to enter into an agreement to implement employment equity? Is this policy being followed?
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Madam Chair, her colleague, the Minister of Mental Health and Addictions, told the CBC that safe supply “is going to be the way that we will save the most lives”, yet the minister is not committed to a timeline for expanding access to safe supply, saying that research is needed before it can be scaled up. Why is the government wasting time on pilot programs instead of ensuring that a safer supply …
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Madam Chair, 20 people a day are dying in this country because of a toxic overdose, and 20 families are getting the call. If the government had the political will, how quickly could a national safe supply program be established in this country?
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Madam Chair, many Canadians who want access to a safer supply cannot get it, so that answer falls short. Does the minister have any idea of the cost of substance use issues in Canada, factoring in health, social services, policing, the justice system, lost productivity and other relevant costs?
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Madam Chair, I live in Port Alberni, where nobody can even get access to detox. It is three and a half hours for a youth to go to Victoria, and there is often a waiting list. In the second report, the expert task force said that current policies are currently costing Canada huge amounts. It recommended significant new investments to reshape the system and address the drug toxicity crisis. Since th…
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Madam Chair, the stigma is not just in the policy; it is in the amount of money that has been spent on COVID-19 and on the toxic drug supply crisis. When will the government respond to the toxic drug crisis with the urgency with which it responded to COVID-19, and in a way that shows it values the lives of people who use drugs, the people who are dying right now in our country and whose lives can …
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Madam Chair, the government says it is taking action while more people are dying. The deaths are mounting. It is not taking action in the way it needs to, like it did with COVID-19. I will change my line of questioning to the minister. As caregivers for children under five eagerly await a decision from Health Canada on Moderna's application for vaccines for this age group, how quickly will doses b…
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Madam Chair, given the ongoing issues with the Phoenix pay system, why did the budget not allocate necessary funding to help deal with the now years-long backlog of pay problems for federal public servants?
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Madam Chair, the government is increasing spending on expensive consultants to fix the problems of expensive consultants, while public servants are being offered wage increases that do not even keep up with inflation. Does the minister believe hard-working public servants who have delivered for Canadians throughout the pandemic deserve wage increases that account for the rising cost of living?
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Madam Chair, does she believe they should be able to be paid and given wage increases to meet inflation and the new cost of living?
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Madam Chair, is the minister committed to reigning in outsourcing to ensure Canadians are getting value for services and that we maintain institutional knowledge, skills and expertise in the public service?
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Madam Chair, the announcement of a strategic review of the public service and potential cuts of up to $6 billion has prompted concern from hard-working public servants and Canadians who rely on public services. The last time a strategic review happened, the Harper government cut service delivery for veterans, people on EI and many others, while going after 19,000 public service jobs. The lack of d…
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Madam Chair, it was recently reported that the Royal Canadian Air Force is relocating two aircraft from Winnipeg to Vancouver Island to address a gap in search and rescue coverage created by procurement delays. The three-year delay in this case will put a strain on other air force operations. Does the minister believe that defence procurement should be moved to a single minister to increase accoun…
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Mr. Chair, if the provinces and the territories came to the government and asked to procure safer pharmaceutical alternatives to the toxic drugs that are killing Canadians, would it act with the same urgency that it did to procure COVID-19 vaccines and supplies?
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Madam Chair, is disaggregated data being collected, and have contracts been awarded to organizations that fail to meet their obligations on employment equity?
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Madam Chair, as part of the strategic policy review, will her department be looking at the feasibility of permanently converting unneeded office space into affordable housing?
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Mr. Chair, when can we see buy clean policies that build climate considerations into public infrastructure and spending that rewards Canadian climate leaders and supports the transition of Canada's industries? I am not talking about TMX here.
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Mr. Chair, I have been fortunate to sit on the OGGO committee, and we have heard that, right now, the federal government does not have a program for airplane recycling or for shipbreaking here in Canada. There are regulations that the EU has when it comes to shipbreaking, for example, and also standards in the Basel Convention. Would the member work with me on getting the government to commit to t…
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Mr. Chair, I would like to thank the minister. It has been four hours, and I want to commend her for standing here and taking very difficult questions. I think we all look forward to working with the minister on the difficult issues facing our country, and I look forward to that collaboration as well.
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Mr. Chair, the government keeps touting a safer supply as how it is going to respond to this crisis. Has the government looked into whether bulk buying harm reduction supplies or a safer supply could help reduce costs for supervised consumption sites, which often face funding challenges?
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Mr. Chair, people are dying in the minister's own community. Parents are losing their children. The drug supply in this country has never been more toxic. We need a paradigm shift in our drug policy and we need a crisis-level response. We can save lives by procuring a safer supply. Will the minister raise this issue at her cabinet table and urge the government to act, and act now?
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Mr. Chair, the government created an expert task force on substance use. It included police chiefs, top medical health professionals, people who work on the front lines, people who use drugs, family members who have lost loved ones and experts on substance use. The minister has not even read the executive summary of its report, which she admitted earlier. My question is this. Will the minister do …
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Mr. Chair, does the minister think that her government is doing a good job in responding to the toxic drug supply crisis?
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Mr. Chair, Canada's target of achieving net-zero emissions by 2050 requires substantial carbon reductions across all economic sectors. Changing how we look at public infrastructure can unlock previously overlooked pollution-reduction opportunities while supporting Canadian manufacturers and creating the conditions for them to thrive in the low-carbon global marketplace. This government committed t…
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Madam Speaker, I really love my colleague's riding and enjoy talking to him about protecting wild salmon and of course the lobster stocks in his riding. However, today we are talking about a very important issue. We know the bill is not perfect. I am glad to hear that my Conservative colleague is going to be supporting the bill, because we certainly wanted to see the bill come forward as part of t…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, every day 20 Canadians die because of drug poisoning while the current government sits on real solutions. Policies that stigmatize do not prevent people from using drugs; they prevent people from taking steps to reduce risk or seek help. The government ignored its own Expert Task Force on Substance Use, which found that criminalizing simple possession feeds stigma and increases risk f…
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Mr. Speaker, every day, 20 Canadians die from toxic drug poisoning. Every day, 20 families get this devastating news. Last May, Health Canada's Expert Task Force on Substance Use published its report, which clearly stated that criminalizing people who use drugs is causing harm and needs to end. The government has ignored its own experts now for over a year, while thousands of Canadians have died. …
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Madam Speaker, I feel it is like a watershed moment this week between the NDP and the Conservatives. We saw the Conservatives actually stand up for the first time in a decade to fight against the big banks on merchant fees, something that we have been fighting since the late Jack Layton and my good friend from South Okanagan—West Kootenay did. We saw the Conservatives stand up to call on the gover…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, it is an honour to table a petition on behalf of constituents in my riding from Courtenay, Cumberland and Royston. The petition calls on the government to support a national matching program for provincial farmers' market nutrition coupon programs across Canada that would match provinces, like British Columbia, that are already contributing to their farmers' market nutrition coupon pr…
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Madam Speaker, as my colleague probably recalls, Canada signed the FIPA trade agreement under the Stephen Harper Conservatives, which locked Canadians into a trade agreement for over 31 years that cannot be cancelled. Under this agreement, Chinese companies can seek redress against any laws passed by any level of government that threaten their profits. There is a secret tribunal they can use if th…
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