Private Members' Business
Madam Speaker, I welcome everyone back to the House after a week in our constituencies. I ask everybody to give me a brief moment this morning to wish my father a happy 80th birthday. It is his 80th birthday today. Duke McPherson, my dad, who is Frederick Clark III but is in fact called Duke, is a bit of character. We were never quite sure who was the parent and who was the child, but we always ha…
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Mr. Speaker, yesterday was Halloween, and in Edmonton Strathcona we welcomed children yelling “trick or treat”, rewarding them with sweet treats. It is a good thing they will have dental care, but trick or treating season did not end last night. For two million seniors, the tricks just keep coming. In 2012, Stephen Harper announced his plan to change the age of eligibility for old age security and…
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Mr. Speaker, Conservative premier Danielle Smith is once again attacking public health care in Alberta, stating that she will pull Alberta out of federal programs that she does not like. She is pushing an American-style private health care system, a system that will not help anyone but the wealthy—
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Mr. Speaker, Conservative premier Danielle Smith is yet again threatening Alberta's public health care system, stating that she will pull Alberta out of federal programs she does not like, federal programs like the Canada Health Act. To make matters worse, the federal government is doing nothing to stand up for Canadians' fundamental right to health care. When is the government going to step up an…
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Madam Speaker, I would like to thank all of my colleagues who are standing in the House tonight defending the Uighur people. I agree with many of my colleagues when they say this is an issue that is beyond partisan politics. This is not an issue that we should be bickering about. This is an issue that all parliamentarians must come together for. I was elected in 2019 and the very first committee I…
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Mr. Speaker, over 600 students, including 80 Ukrainian refugees, at the University of Alberta were not able to go to school this September because they could not get a study permit. Because of IRCC delays and backlogs, students are choosing to study elsewhere and it is costing Canadian universities millions of dollars. The minister needs to be held accountable for ruining the lives of students who…
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Mr. Speaker, this is a very important conversation that we need to have as we go forward. We know that in the United States, in the next two years, there will be elections as another superpower. One of the ways Canada can help with this is to reduce our dependency on superpowers and to, in fact, diversify our relationships and have more relationships with different partners, with different members…
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Mr. Speaker, on a point of order, I seek unanimous consent to table a supplementary opinion.
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Madam Speaker, I apologize for earlier drawing attention to the fact that there were no members of the official opposition in the House for the member's speech. I apologize for saying that.
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Madam Speaker, I recognize that for many of us, having our family in town is a very special event. My son, Maclean, is in town today. My nephew, William, is in town. Of course, I will not be seeing them this evening because I am participating in this debate. However, the importance of what is happening in China with the Uighur people is vital. I was part of the subcommittee that brought forward th…
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Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for his speech. The member for Lac‑Saint‑Jean is great to work with, and I agree with him. However, I do have a question for my colleague. Does he have any concerns about whether IRCC can support these necessary measures? What can be done to ensure that Canada can respond adequately to this motion?
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Mr. Speaker, as always, it is a great honour to stand in this place and represent the people of Edmonton Strathcona. I find this to be such an important debate for us to have, but I have to say that I am disappointed that it is happening in this manner and not when more parliamentarians can join in and there can be more people to participate in the discussion. After so many years, I think the geno…
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Mr. Speaker, I know my colleague to be very thoughtful on issues of human rights and in his work. As parliamentarians, we have an obligation to think about Canada's response. Obviously, there are diplomatic paths and tools we can use to work with other countries that have not come as far along in declaring a genocide. One of the things I have been pushing the government to do is to reinvest in our…
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Mr. Speaker, it is very fascinating to me when the member talks about unanimous consent, as Conservative Party members declined unanimous consent for me to table a motion on vaccine equity today. Clearly, it works when it works for them but not when it works for others. Frankly, the Conservative Party was atrocious when it was in power in terms of immigration. I think we can all agree that its res…
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Mr. Speaker, I absolutely can. Something I reflect on a great deal is how Canada can play a better role, how we can play a bigger role as a country that is respected around the world, and as a country that is seen as a champion of human rights. There are many ways we can do that. One is we can have a bigger role geopolitically. We really, for the most part, have abandoned our obligations to be a p…
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Mr. Speaker, my colleague's intervention today was very interesting, very heartfelt and very intelligently delivered. I have some concerns about what Canada can do in addition to the efforts to allow Uighurs to come to Canada to flee persecution. However, I wonder whether the member can talk a bit about the potential for the government to impose sanctions on those responsible for this genocide and…
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Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank my colleague for persevering through that speech. I hope he gets a lozenge by Wednesday, so he can be in better shape as we all discuss his motion, which of course I will be supporting. I am incredibly honoured to be able to work with the member as he brings this motion forward. I bring some legitimate concerns that the governing party is not acting on this and t…
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Mr. Speaker, my colleague spoke about the importance of not recognizing lesser humans. He spoke of lesser humans, how there is this hierarchy and how dangerous that is. One of the concerns I have, as I have mentioned in this place, is that we pick and choose which human rights to protect. Children are, of course, innocent regardless of the circumstances they find themselves in. I wonder if my coll…
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Mr. Speaker, like my colleague, I do worry about genocides happening around the world in many different locations, including in Xinjiang with the Uighur people. There is a need for us to say, and mean, “never again”. We were able to vote on the motion to declare the Uighur genocide years ago. The Subcommittee on International Human Rights declared it a genocide years ago, yet the government has st…
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Madam Speaker, people in Canada do not need more talk. This week, the media reported that the emergency wait times at Edmonton's Stollery Children's Hospital has reached 17 hours. One ER doctor revealed that patients are dying in the waiting room. It is unacceptable that the Liberals avoid taking any responsibility for this crisis. They are standing by while Conservative premiers are underfunding …
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Madam Speaker, earlier this week, the Alberta Federation of Labour brought forward a report on what it would look like to have a just transition for workers in Alberta. The member talked a lot about the boom-and-bust economy and certainly my family, as a family that has been involved in the oil and gas sector for some time, understands the challenges of that boom-and-bust economy. However, we did …
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Madam Speaker, I would like to thank my colleague for his intervention. The member spoke about the slowness with which the supplies and weapons have been delivered to Russia. However, on June 28 of this year, the Prime Minister promised $75 million to help with humanitarian aid going to Ukraine. Unfortunately, none of that, as of September 1, had even been earmarked, let alone distributed. I am wo…
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Madam Speaker, I have the great honour of splitting my time today with the member for Vancouver East. Today we have a concurrence debate, and we are talking about Ukraine, we are talking about Russia and we are talking about what more Canada can do to support the people of Ukraine and support the brave people in Russia who are valiantly trying to hold the line on the principles of democracy, the p…
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Madam Speaker, I agree with my colleague. There is just too little time in this place. What I have found, particularly during this session of Parliament, is that so many people are trying to obstruct us going forward, obstruct us in our work. For example, the foreign affairs committee has not been as effective and as transparent as it should be. The House of Commons cannot get important bills thro…
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Madam Speaker, the NDP have been standing up for nuclear disarmament across the board for a very long time. We have had leaders like Paul Dewar, Linda Duncan, the member for Randall Garrison (Esquimalt—Saanich—Sooke) and others who have been pushing for nuclear disarmament, and it is a very important thing to do. I sit in the same chair in which the Hon. Douglas Roche sat. He has been fighting for…
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Madam Speaker, this is an appropriate time to make a note that the Hon. Douglas Roche is celebrating his 50th year since he was elected as a member of the House. It is quite remarkable that a man like Mr. Roche has fans in every party in this place. I would like to take a moment to acknowledge him today.
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Mr. Speaker, the government was asked a very clear question about support for Alberta workers. Its answer was insulting, so I am going to ask it again: Will the minister support the Alberta Federation of Labour's plan for a future economy? Albertans are tired of empty words and no action. There is a massive opportunity for good-paying union jobs, and Alberta workers risk getting left behind becaus…
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Madam Speaker, the member's speech was very interesting and thoughtful. One of the things that was talked about yesterday when I met with some folks from Russia working on the Magnitsky sanctions is the idea of how our sanctions are imposed. Right now, we will often use the SEMA sanctions, not the Magnitsky sanctions. I am curious as to why the government has made the decision to use that system o…
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Madam Speaker, that is interesting to me because I think what the member is basically saying is that we should leave this to the private sector, which brings me back to where I started with my comments on the Premier of Alberta. I will say that, as a New Democrat, I strongly support universally accessible, publicly delivered health care that includes dental care, that includes pharmacare and that …
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Madam Speaker, I apologize to my colleague for calling the member a Teletubby. I know it was meant in good fun. In terms of the situation in Alberta, absolutely we need to make sure that all children in Alberta have access to dental care, but I think he is getting at the idea that, as a parliamentarian who loves Edmonton Strathcona, I want to make sure children in Nova Scotia, children in B.C. and…
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Madam Speaker, we need to have things like pharmacare, eye care, mental health support, supports for people living with disabilities and supports for indigenous people, who have not even basic rights being given to them. We need to have support for people around the world. We have a food crisis. Putin is once again threatening famine to millions of people in sub-Saharan Africa and the Middle East.…
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Madam Speaker, I want to take a moment today to wish all of my colleagues in the House of Commons a happy Thanksgiving. We have not been in this place since then, and I want to reach out to everyone and extend that greeting. I want to note that I am certain that many of us, when we were in our constituencies last week, heard from our constituents that the price of food, the price of fuel and the c…
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Madam Speaker, I thank my hon. colleague for pointing out that this, in fact, is due to the NDP bringing it forward. That is kind of him. I did notice, however, that he spent a lot of his speech talking about things other than dental care. I wonder if that was because of his worries about going back to his constituents and explaining to them why he does not support dental care for children under 1…
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Mr. Speaker, for eight months, Ukrainians have heroically defended their country against Putin's genocidal invasion, yet the government's response has been slow and ineffective. The sanctions regime is a mess, with no enforcement and no accountability. The humanitarian aid and the supplies for Ukraine that the government has promised have not been delivered. Even Ukrainian MPs have said Canada's r…
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Madam Speaker, it is important that we have these conversations and this debate, but frankly that is not what has been happening. The obstruction, deflection and inability to do any work in this place because of the some of the members of the opposition mean that it is very important that we move on this. It is very important that we get the support out to people as fast as we possibly can. I am v…
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Mr. Speaker, my colleague across the way did say that he felt this motion did not go far enough, so I assume that means he supports it. I cannot imagine he is against having CEOs pay the money that they owe. He has made it very clear that he is not against having a fair and affordable food strategy. Obviously, his members have already said that they would be supporting the study in agriculture. Do…
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Madam Speaker, I have a couple questions. The member told my colleague in the previous speech that there was some complexity to the food system, and he brought forward an awful lot of suggestions, options and information in his speech. I think, as a member of the government, it would be fantastic if his government was to bring some of these things forward. What we are doing right now with the NDP …
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Mr. Speaker, my colleague talked about how important it is not to put an additional burden on Canadians and not to increase taxation on Canadians. However, what I would like to point out is that it has been over half a century since corporations paid the same rate that Canadians pay, since 1952, in fact. I wonder if the member would be open to the idea of taxing corporations that are making massiv…
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Mr. Speaker, right now, heroic women and men are risking their lives fighting for their rights and freedoms, demanding justice for Mahsa “Gina” Amini and for the victims of flight PS752. The government must use the Magnitsky act to punish every guilty member of the murderous IRGC. The violence and intimidation in Canada must stop, and Canada must support bids for justice at the ICAO and the ICC. I…
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Madam Speaker, I learn so much from my colleague from Vancouver East about housing. She is such an expert on housing. We all should listen to her and hear the call that she brings to this place. I am going to start today with a bit of a story because we are in the House debating this bill and the need for dental care for Canadians, which would bring some relief for Canadians who are struggling rig…
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Mr. Speaker, I am a bit perplexed, because I did bring that up in my speech. It was actually my motion at the foreign affairs committee to take on a study of that and have emergency meetings during the summer. I am appalled that the government has not cancelled the waiver on the turbines. I wrote a letter immediately. I have met many times with the Ukrainian ambassador, many times with the German …
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Mr. Speaker, I know my colleague has done so much work for the Ukrainian community in her riding as well, and I am very proud to be in the same caucus as her. Yes, there is a problem. We have a government announcing that an unlimited number of Ukrainians will be welcomed to Canada, and of course they should be; of course that should be the case. However, we need to make sure that we are providing …
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Mr. Speaker, at the beginning, I think we all thought that in some way we needed to negotiate with Russia. It is very clear that this is not what we need to do right now and that, in fact, the fundamental principle of international law that we need to look at is distinct geographical sovereignty for countries. We have to support Ukraine as Ukrainians do their own work to defend their own borders. …
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Mr. Speaker, what we saw in January changed very drastically in February. February 24, when the Russian Federation invaded Ukraine, I think we could all agree, changed what was happening on the ground. I would hope that every member in this place recognizes that we must fight for peace as long as there is even a hope that peace is available. We must fight for peace as long as possible to ensure th…
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Mr. Speaker, clearly, Canada could play a really important role here. We need to involve the ICC. That needs to be part of this. We need to ensure that we are providing support for forensic reports, so that we are helping Ukraine document the crimes that are happening against humanity. Of course we need to stop those crimes from happening, but we also need to ensure that justice is done as we go f…
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Mr. Speaker, it is a great pleasure to stand here today and share with my colleagues some of my thoughts on this report that has come from the foreign affairs committee. I am the New Democratic member on the foreign affairs committee and I am, of course, the critic for foreign affairs and international development. I am also the vice-chair of the Canada-Ukraine parliamentary friendship association…
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Mr. Speaker, we stand in this place to talk about how dental care is so important for the health of children under 12, but it is also a financial benefit. It would be beneficial for our health care system, which is under attack and so overburdened, as children would not have to go for emergency care. We could do preventative work. Could the member comment on the value of that, and perhaps how dent…
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Madam Speaker, I do not understand where the Conservatives get some of their data and information from. We do have a program in Alberta. If a family is living just pennies above the poverty line, if someone is making just pennies above minimum wage, they will get some support for dental care, but realistically, the vast majority of Canadians who are living on under $90,000 a year cannot access den…
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Madam Speaker, I know the member is being very thoughtful, but is his question basically whether we should give them nothing because we are not giving them enough? Is that the expectation? What I am seeing is that we have a program that was not put in place by the New Democrats, because of course the New Democrats would have done this much differently and would have had a much more robust program …
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