Government Orders
Madam Speaker, I appreciate my colleague's speech, but here we are in the middle of a climate crisis, and what does the government do? It had a successful program, the greener homes program, that employed many tradespeople and enabled people to reduce their energy needs and their carbon footprint. People were able to take autonomy in their own homes to come up with a cleaner energy future and be p…
Read full speech →Adjournment Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, I am sad that I did not get an answer. I do not want to be dragging my colleague, my friend, in here at 12:35 a.m. to try to get an answer and still not get an answer. I will probably have to do this again, I hate to tell him and inform the House. We know polystyrene and plastic is literally choking our ocean. There was a movie just put out by Rick Smith called Plastic People. I recom…
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Madam Speaker, one thing that I am really grateful for is that, earlier on in this debate, we finally had a Conservative MP from British Columbia acknowledge that the federal carbon tax does not have jurisdiction in British Columbia. Actually, only the British Columbia government can decide whether it is going to remove or continue the carbon tax, despite the fact that we have the leader of the Co…
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Mr. Speaker, I find it pretty rich when Conservatives start talking about expanding pharmacare when they are doing everything they can to block it. Three years ago, they voted against pharmacare. They could have brought forward amendments to expand it to cover people with rare diseases. They did not do that. In fact, they are saying that people are already covered. Becky in my riding writes, “Our …
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Madam Chair, when COVID-19 arrived in this country, we put out a plan to get vaccines to people. We moved and mobilized quickly. We worked through jurisdictional overlap overnight to literally save lives. However, the government is not doing that when it comes to this crisis because of stigma. Is the minister aware that over 20 years of peer-reviewed research shows that safe consumption sites save…
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Madam Chair, the member does not need to declare an emergency, then; she needs to act like it is an emergency. That is what we are looking for. That is what the moms and families who have lost loved ones are looking for, or those who are struggling and the families that are impacted. We know that across the country, indigenous peoples, first nations, Inuit and Métis communities feel like they are …
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Madam Chair, we know that Health Canada is introducing major regulatory changes under an outdated and broken self-care framework. This has an impact on 54,000 jobs in a $5.5-billion industry. The Canadian Health Food Association has asked for a simple meeting with the Minister of Health, and he refuses to meet with them. Can he explain to them why?
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Madam Chair, that is not “meeting the moment”. That is not responding to a health emergency. We look to Portugal on how it responded to a health emergency, and it treated it as that. The federal government controls to whom and how supervised consumption services are provided. These services remain unavailable in most locations across the country, especially in more rural and remote locations. When…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, it is an honour to table petition e-4769, signed by 1,014 petitioners and sponsored by Chris Alemany from Port Alberni, British Columbia in my riding. The petition calls on the Government of Canada to enact policy and budgetary resources to enable the Parliament of Canada to provide an open, trusted, federated social media presence for use by all members, senators, officers and other …
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Madam Chair, does the minister see that this is really a province that is implementing a de facto criminalization of medical practices?
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Madam Chair, no one is disputing that, but it is important that the minister sit down and meet with these leaders. It has a huge impact on these employees, their customers and these business owners. Has the Minister of Health considered that people with disabilities need to undergo two rigorous application processes to access disability benefits from both the provincial government and the federal …
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Madam Chair, the federal government should be asserting its jurisdiction and not allowing provinces to threaten draconian penalties on people trying to save lives during a worsening overdose crisis. My question for the minister is this: When will her government act to ensure that treatment services for substance use are subject to proper regulation and oversight, and are part of Canada's public he…
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Madam Chair, the Minister of Mental Health and Addictions has said that the government is “meeting the moment” when it comes to the toxic drug crisis. However, over 42,000 Canadians have died. I cannot see that as meeting the moment. Honestly, I see that the government still does not have a plan and does not have a timeline on how it is going to tackle this issue. How many more people need to die …
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Madam Chair, agreeing is not good enough. Safe consumption sites are frozen in Ontario. The government is not delivering them in those places in Alberta that I talked about. Is the minister aware that in 2008, all nine judges of the Supreme Court unanimously ruled that the federal Conservative health minister's attempt to close Insite went against the country's Charter of Rights and Freedoms by th…
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Madam Chair, we can follow up right now. For many applicants for the disability tax credit, the application process takes a significant mental and physical load. They often require visits to doctors and government offices, which are rejected after all that work. This is having a huge impact on physicians at a time when we are having a doctor shortage. Does the minister believe that the government …
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Madam Chair, does the minister think it is appropriate for Alberta to levy a $10,000-per-day fine against people for providing life-saving first aid by operating informal overdose protection sites?
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Madam Chair, during Mental Health Week earlier this month, the Prime Minister stated, “We’re making sure that all Canadians have access to the mental health care they need, no matter where they live or what they do. That means making sure that mental health is a full and equal part of our health care system.” In the absence of a dedicated and permanent Canada mental health transfer with accompanyi…
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Madam Chair, we know that housing is integral in supporting people with substance use disorder. The government announced $250 million for emergency funding in the budget. That could create tiny homes in communities like Port Alberni and we could trust the province to support wraparound supports and the city to provide land. How quickly can the government get that money out the door? It is an urgen…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Madam Speaker, I am tabling a petition on behalf of constituents in my riding who are concerned about the horrific situation right now in Gaza, where over 73,000 Gazans have been injured and over 34,000 have died, over 70% of them women and children. The petitioners are calling on the Government of Canada to investigate whether Canadian weapons or weapon components have been used against Palestini…
Read full speech →Orders of the Day
Madam Speaker, I have a lot of respect for my colleague. I believe that his intention and his party's intention is not to just do this as a tactic to block pharmacare from getting to people who need help. They are genuinely concerned about the Speaker's office being used for partisan reasons. It is clear that we call on the Liberal Party to apologize for breaking the rules and for what it did. Whe…
Read full speech →Orders of the Day
Madam Speaker, just recently, my colleague spoke about the fact that the Conservatives are blocking things, not only here in the House but also at committee. They do not want to see pharmacare advanced. Not only are they blocking pharmacare, but they are also blocking things that need to get through the Standing Committee on Health and need to get through the House. Conservatives say they are stan…
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Madam Speaker, it is prudent that we hold each other to account in the House. Right now, we are seeing the Conservatives use every tool and tactic to delay getting pharmacare passed so people can get life-saving medication covered. Let us talk about what is going on in my colleague's riding of Lethbridge. It has an overdose toxic drug death rate that is triple that of British Columbia, one of the …
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With regard to the communities which comprise the federal electoral district of Courtenay—Alberni, since fiscal year 2005-06: (a) what are the federal infrastructure investments, including direct transfers to municipalities and First Nations, for the communities of (i) Tofino, (ii) Ucluelet, (iii) Port Alberni, (iv) Parksville, (v) Qualicum Beach, (vi) Cumberland, (vii) Courtenay, (viii) Deep Bay,…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
With regard to contracts awarded since the 2009-10 fiscal year, broken down by fiscal year: what is the total value of contracts awarded to (i) McKinsey & Company, (ii) Deloitte, (iii) PricewaterhouseCoopers, (iv) Accenture, (v) KPMG, (vi) Ernst and Young, (vii) GC Strategies, (viii) Coredal Systems Consulting Inc., (ix) Dalian Enterprises Inc., (x) Coradix Technology Consulting Ltd, (xi) Dalian a…
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Mr. Speaker, these are justice issues and they are justice issues for every member of Parliament, so he can also answer with his position and viewpoint as a member of Parliament, not just as a cabinet minister. How much does this government spend on policing drug offences versus investments in harm reduction and treatment and recovery?
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Mr. Speaker, what evidence does the minister have in terms of public safety concerns linked to simple drug possession?
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Mr. Speaker, regarding the decision to allow the recent amendment of B.C.'s decriminalization pilot and the rejection of the Toronto application, despite the fact that we have seen an 11% decrease in toxic drug deaths in British Columbia since March of 2023 and we have seen a 17% rise in toxic drug deaths in Alberta and a 23% rise in Saskatchewan, what analysis was done to ensure that the right to…
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Mr. Speaker, they are looking for the minister to take leadership on this. In June 2021, the justice committee tabled a report about systemic racism in policing in Canada in response to the tragic death of Tla-o-qui-aht First Nations member Chantel Moore, who died at the hands of an Edmundston police officer during a wellness check. One of the core recommendations in the report was about the RCMP'…
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Mr. Speaker, why then is the government resorting to failed policy, perhaps preferring political optics over saving lives?
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Mr. Speaker, if that is the case, why did this government overrule the expertise of a local board of health and the support of the Toronto Police Service and cite public safety concerns to reject Toronto's decriminalization application?
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Mr. Speaker, the federal government controls who and how supervised consumption services are provided. These services remain unavailable in most locations across the country, especially in more rural and remote locations. This is despite the fact that we heard from the deputy commissioner of the RCMP and the B.C. chiefs of police, who say that we need more safe consumption sites, not fewer. We onl…
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Mr. Speaker, they are not willing to do it. This is the problem. In Lethbridge, they closed them. People are dying. In Alberta, since the UCP took power, the Conservatives in Alberta, the death rate has gone up 276% over five years, the worst increase in toxic drug deaths by far. For the vast majority of doctors in Alberta able to prescribe safer supply, they are subject to a $10,000-per-day fine …
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Mr. Speaker, the Nuchatlaht have cited that the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act requires the federal government to make its laws consistent with UNDRIP. How will the minister change parliamentary process and procedure, in the passing of laws through Parliament and the Senate, to include indigenous involvement and consent? Right now, first nations can help draft l…
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Mr. Speaker, the minister keeps saying it is a health issue, but it is still a criminal issue for people in Canada. He has to get this straight here. This is a case of the province implementing de facto criminalization of medical practices. It goes against the Canada Health Act. When will the federal government step in and stop provincial intrusion on its jurisdiction to regulate controlled substa…
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Mr. Speaker, my colleague from Cowichan—Malahat—Langford asked this earlier. Twice the Liberal government has been asked, and twice it has not fully answered if and when it will meet the legal requirements to sequester the criminal records on simple possession of illicit drugs for more than 250,000 Canadians. The deadline is this November, and Canadians are rightly asking if they will be notified …
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Mr. Speaker, the minister's predecessor, Mr. Lametti, invited consultations with nations with respect to jurisdiction over gaming. This remains an extremely live issue in British Columbia and for Nuchatlaht people. In the context of the recognition of nations' inherent rights to self-government and with respect to the continued role of the province in the regulation of gaming activities on reserve…
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Mr. Speaker, why is the Liberal government making it a criminal issue east of the Rockies, for the rest of the country, if that is the position of the government?
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Mr. Speaker, it is a pleasure to be joining the House from the unceded lands of the Tseshaht and Hupacasath people in Port Alberni on Vancouver Island in Nuu-chah-nulth territory. We continue to hear the Liberal government talk about the toxic drug crisis as a public health issue, not a criminal justice issue. Will the minister tell us if he agrees that it is a public health issue, or is it a crim…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
With regard to contracts awarded since the 2015-16 fiscal year, broken down by fiscal year: what is the total value of contracts awarded to (i) McKinsey & Company, (ii) Deloitte, (iii) PricewaterhouseCoopers, (iv) Accenture, (v) KPMG, (vi) Ernst and Young?
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Madam Speaker, that member comes from Regina, where there are 66 deaths per 100,000. That is more than 50% higher than British Columbia. Kids are dying from poisoned drugs in his community by accessing unregulated street drugs. In Saskatoon, where brownies are being sold to keep the doors open of safe consumption sites, the deaths are half of what is going on in Regina. When it comes to youth, it …
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Mr. Speaker, first, I want to send my condolences to all the families who have been impacted by this terrible, tragic crisis. We heard earlier about the mothers, and certainly, the mothers know the danger of the toxic drug supply better than anybody. They also have lived experience of what it is like to support someone with substance use challenges. They have insight. They have understanding and k…
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Madam Speaker, the evidence is in on how the Conservatives' policy is playing out. Alberta is leading the country per capita for death rates due to toxic drugs, and its rate is skyrocketing. In Saskatchewan, it is skyrocketing. Alaska has the same program of no safe supply and no decriminalization. The Conservatives want to point the finger at British Columbia. All they need to do is go to Lethbri…
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Madam Speaker, my colleague is grounded in experience. She worked in the field, on the front line, with young people, seeing the barriers and navigating a broken system. She also understands the importance of connection, peer support, the critical investments and having an integrated, coordinated, compassionate approach. However, that has to be funded. It has to be supported by government. Right n…
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Madam Speaker, I can go to Lethbridge, which has a death rate of 137 per 100,000; it closed the safe consumption site. Imagine being a parent of a child in Lethbridge, where there is no safe supply, where it does not support decriminalization and where it closed safe consumption sites, or a parent in Belleville who needs safe consumption sites. Police are saying we need more, not less, safe consum…
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Mr. Speaker, this is such a serious issue. I asked a serious question and what I got was a condescending answer—
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Madam Speaker, I wanted to learn about this issues, because it is causing so much harm in my home community and I am so deeply impacted by it as well. I travelled the country, going to 13 different cities. I met with moms at very stop and at every stop, they said the same thing: That we needed to listen to the experts and that this needed to be grounded in evidence. They want the government to act…
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Mr. Speaker, 42,000 people have died from the toxic drug crisis, which is more than the Canadians who died in World War II. That is not meeting the moment. Spending less than 1% of what we spent in response to COVID-19 is not meeting the moment. Portugal had over 1,000 people die from their drug crisis. It went from 250 people to 35,000 people on methadone in two years. It engaged the military and…
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Madam Speaker, I want to thank my colleague, who actually stands behind evidence-based policy, policy that is grounded in facts. We hear the Conservatives bring this moral panic around safe supply, for example, and give disinformation about it. This is harmful in a health crisis. We heard from the president of the BC Association of Chiefs of Police that the diversion of safe supply is nominal at b…
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Madam Speaker, it is an honour and a privilege to rise today to speak about the leading health crisis, toxic drugs. Certainly in my own province, it is the leading cause of death for those under the age of 59. This issue is not just close to me; it is close to everyone in my home province, and it is a terrible tragedy. Highly contaminated toxic drugs are raging across the country and killing peopl…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, it is a huge honour to table this petition on behalf of residents from Ucluelet, including fire chief Rick Geddes. This petition was obviously done before the budget, but this is on behalf of 120,000 volunteer firefighters and 10,000 search and rescue volunteers who are calling on the federal government to increase the volunteer firefighter and search and rescue tax credit from $3,000…
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