Government Orders
Madam Speaker, my colleague and I have worked quite closely on certain files and I know her to be an excellent member of Parliament who certainly chooses to vote with her conscience. This is an urgent issue for which we can get some help out to Canadians quickly. We brought forward dental care in the previous Parliament. If that had been supported at that time, we would have had this in place alre…
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Madam Speaker, I will let my colleagues finish their little rage fit over there. I do not know if the member is aware as he is not from Alberta, but in Alberta, our UCP government is actually talking about taking our Alberta pensions away from the CPP, which is very dangerous. This is something that so many Canadians depend on for a dignified retirement. I do not think it is near sufficient the wa…
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Madam Speaker, I do not always find myself agreeing with the member, but today I do—
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Madam Speaker, I am going to start today by expressing my disappointment that what we are doing here today is talking about this motion, on the eve of the second annual National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, at a time when indigenous people in this country do not have clean water, do not have adequate housing and do not have their basic human rights met, and at a time in this country when indi…
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Madam Speaker, the parliamentary secretary talked about some of the things that are being done to make life more affordable for Canadians by the government, and I am very proud to say that the NDP played such a large role in dental care and some of these other movements, but one of the things that we have not seen the government move on is support for students. On November 24, 2020, I brought forw…
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Madam Speaker, I just want to say to the member that I am very thankful that I was able to do what I could to make sure that children in Saskatchewan are able to access dental care.
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Madam Speaker, I would like to thank my colleague. We have worked very well together on a number of issues, and I find that we align. I suspect him of being NDP in fact. In terms of his question, I think it is true. It is very similar to what the member for Elmwood—Transcona said. It is dangerous when the Conservative Party brings forward motions like this that are filled with rhetoric and that ar…
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Madam Speaker, there are many reasons why we have inflation happening right now in Canada. Some things we do not have control over and some the government very much does. One of those things is corporate greed. We have heard from economists at Canadians for Tax Fairness, who say there is a very simple reason for this inflation and for the affordability crisis. It is because corporations are taking…
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Madam Speaker, I did not hear very much from the member about his thoughts on dental care. As I am sure he knows, the biggest reason that children under 12 end up in the emergency room is because of dental emergencies. I am sure that he knows that this happens because children do not have access to good preventative dental care. I am sure that he has heard from his constituents in Alberta, as he i…
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Mr. Speaker, 23 million Afghans are dealing with drought, food shortages and the breakdown of health services. Canadian humanitarian organizations face criminal prosecution if they even try to help because of the government's restrictive interpretation of the Criminal Code. We have been asking the government to fix this for over a year and the minister has done nothing. This inaction is shocking. …
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With regard to all orders in council that have been adopted by the government but have not been published in the orders in council online database: (a) since 2004, broken down by date, the statute from which they were issued and section of the statute, how many orders in council have been adopted but not published; (b) how many orders in council adopted but not published were in response to Russia…
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With regard to sanctions imposed by Canada under the United Nations Act, the Special Economic Measures Act and the Justice for Victims of Corrupt Foreign Officials Act, broken down by year, type of asset (e.g. property, finances) and assessed value, where available, notwithstanding that it may not reflect the entirety of sanctions enforced by other institutions: how many assets have Global Affairs…
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With regard to legal fees incurred by the government in relation to LC, EB, KG, VD, MT and CL v Canada Employment Insurance Commission: (a) what is the total amount paid to date; and (b) who will be required to be paid for outside counsel services, broken down by (i) department, (ii) agency, (iii) other government entity that incurred the expense?
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With regard to Canada’s commitment in the feminist international assistance policy to promote sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) for women and girls, and its 10-year commitment at Women Deliver 2019 to dedicate $700 million annually to the neglected areas of SRHR: (a) how much international assistance funding dedicated to SRHR has been disbursed annually by Canada in the fiscal year …
Read full speech →Statements By Members
Mr. Speaker, parliamentarians have benefited from the work of these dedicated young leaders in the past, but of course this time it is very different. While Russia wages an illegal war in their homeland, while Russia is committing a genocide against their people, and while Ukrainians are fighting heroically for their freedom and democracy, these amazing women have been here helping us with our dem…
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Mr. Speaker, today I want to take a moment to acknowledge and thank the incredible team of Ukrainian interns who have been working in our offices over the past several months.
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Madam Speaker, I would just say that it was very kind of my colleague to comment on my age and me not looking that age. Perhaps I will take this opportunity to wish my father a very happy Father's Day and to thank him for his genes.
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Mr. Speaker, the current government has a serious problem with transparency and accountability. I have asked in the House and through access to information for a full and comprehensive list of the sanctions that have been imposed, when they were imposed and what assets have been seized. It has refused to provide any meaningful information. I need this information for my constituents and for Canadi…
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Mr. Speaker, I rise on a question of privilege. I am rising pursuant to Standing Order 48 to bring to your attention what I believe to be a breach of my privilege. Standing Order 48(2) requires written notice to be given to the Speaker to outline a member's intention to raise a question of privilege. An electronic letter was provided to the Speaker's office at the earliest opportunity, that being …
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Madam Speaker, it is my privilege to stand in this place and speak to Bill C-11. I have to begin by saying that I was one of the members of the heritage committee in the last Parliament when Bill C-10 came forward. I greatly appreciated working with my colleague from the NDP, the heritage critic in the last Parliament, and I thank him for his intervention today. I learn so much every time he speak…
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Madam Speaker, I look at the House, and I look at all of those who are supporting the legislation and know how important it is that we bring forward this long overdue legislation. Then, I see the Conservative Party not supporting it, and I question that. I wonder why that is the case. Part of me thinks that it is because right now they are without a leader and they are, in fact, blocking everythin…
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Madam Speaker, my colleague is absolutely right: The world has changed. A Broadcasting Act that was brought forward in the 1990s would clearly not be sufficient for what artists in this community are facing today. In fact, I am just going to quote, if I could, from a constituent in my riding. She is, in fact, Juno prize-winning singer and musician Maria Dunn. She wrote to me with her support for B…
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Madam Speaker, the reality is that what people see online is already being regulated. It is being regulated by multinational corporations that are not paying their fair share. They decide what people get to see. They already do that, and they do not contribute. To say that there is somehow going to be some strange oversight that is going to go too far is really misleading, and is really disappoint…
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Mr. Chair, I will say that there have been additional promises made. As I said in my speech, I really do hope that it is urgently delivered and not just another promise, and that it is not going from one pot to another pot, because we have seen that in the past. I will also say that I have asked for transparency on our dollars and on what has been spent, but I have not been given any of that infor…
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Mr. Chair, I have to say I am absolutely delighted that we are having this debate today and that we have the opportunity to speak about this issue. I firmly believe that the food security crisis that is facing the global community is one of the most pressing issues affecting the world right now. I am going to speak about the impacts of Ukraine on this issue, but I want to start by saying that wher…
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Madam Chair, this is a very important debate, and I am glad to see people in the House contributing to it. One of the big issues I have is that, in foreign affairs and international development, Canada has not contributed its fair share of food security funding for a long time. Right now, we are set at $250 million a year. That is about where we have been through past Conservative and Liberal gove…
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Mr. Speaker, I always learn a great deal listening to my colleague and have enjoyed working in this place with him. I agree with him that, when we stand here and listen to speeches from all members in this place, we hear the total agreement on moving this piece of legislation forward. What other things would he suggest we could do to encourage this bill to go forward as quickly as possible? Would …
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Madam Speaker, I congratulate my colleague on his excellent speech. I hope he agrees that we need to pass this bill so that we can spend more time resolving other problems in our judicial system, particularly systemic racism and the appointment of judges. What does he think are the biggest problems in our judicial system?
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Madam Chair, I am sorry, but it is hard for me to speak in French because it is so late. I really enjoyed it when my colleague talked about what good development principles are. We know that we have the principles of sustainable development effectiveness. He talked about what we can do with the FAO and with other organizations to deal with the global food crisis in a holistic manner or how to deal…
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Madam Chair, the member is from Alberta, as I am. Of course, we have an enormous population of Ukrainians who settled in the prairies and helped build our province. I think we are all very thankful for, and proud of, the contributions that Ukrainian Canadians have made to our country, and I wonder if the member is hearing from his Ukrainian constituents about how we should be providing more suppor…
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Madam Chair, my colleague and I worked together very well on the ALS caucus, and I enjoyed working with him on that very much. I want to talk about the aid levels Canada is contributing. I do not think anyone in this place will be surprised by that. Under the present government, we are currently at 0.3%. Many people would think the Liberal government, especially with what we heard from the Prime M…
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Madam Chair, my colleague works on the foreign affairs committee with me and I know her to be very honourable. We work very well together. I would like to quote Anne Frank, who said, “Hunger is not a problem. It is an obscenity.” When we fail to address this, that is an obscenity. The member knows as well as I do that 60% of the people who go hungry are women and children. She knows that the impli…
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Mr. Chair, I am going to bring this back to the global food crisis. I know there has been a lot of discussion about farmers in western Canada, but really what we are talking about is the global food crisis. I want to let the member know that right now we are facing hunger that is generational in scope. There are 181 million people at risk of starving to death. In Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia, one p…
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Mr. Chair, prior to being elected, I worked with the Canadian Foodgrains Bank quite a lot, and I think of my colleague as a friend and an ally in this place. I would be remiss if I did not take this opportunity to wish Jim Cornelius a very happy retirement from the Canadian Foodgrains Bank. Very quickly, I would ask for the member to share some more of his expertise with us tonight. We know the Ca…
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Mr. Chair, first of all, I will address the fact that the member's Prime Minister promised 600 peacekeeping troops would be deployed. We currently have 60. We are ranked the 70th country in peacekeeping around the world. I do not think we are punching above our weight, as we would like to do. I think that realistically, as we are parliamentarians, we are meant to do what is best for the country. W…
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Mr. Chair, I would like to thank my colleague for her question. It is a question that we all need to be grappling with. The sewing of a flag on a backpack is such a truly Canadian thing to do. We sew our flag on backpacks when we travel around the world, because we are so deeply proud of our contribution globally. However, right now in peacekeeping, which is something that Canada was known for, we…
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Mr. Chair, I must say the work that I have done for decades is to try to move both Conservative and Liberal governments further on this issue, and much of it was before I was elected as a member of Parliament. It is the short-sightedness that really worries me about our global response, because when one is unwilling to contribute multilaterally in the short term, the long-term costs are massive. T…
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Mr. Chair, first of all, I would say that hunger is a choice and that this is something we do have the ability to solve, but the global community has not yet seen fit to do so. One of the things that the New Democratic Party has put forward is a wealth tax. Right now, $6 billion would go a very long way to solving the global food crisis that we are experiencing. Elon Musk is worth $300 billion, so…
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With regard to orders issued under section 4(1)(b) of the Special Economic Measures Act and section 4(1)(b) of the Justice for Victims of Corrupt Foreign Officials Act, broken down by year since 2014, month since 2022 and action (freeze, seize or sequestrate): (a) how many times have these orders been used; (b) how many properties have been frozen, seized or sequestrated as a result from these ord…
Read full speech →Adjournment Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, I am asking the government to invest in Alberta's future by helping to diversify our economy. The Canadian critical drug initiative is the perfect example of a project that should be funded by the government. This initiative comes out of the University of Alberta in my riding of Edmonton Strathcona and it is led, in part, by a Nobel Prize-winning scientist, Dr. Michael Houghton. This …
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Mr. Speaker, as always, it is a pleasure and privilege to rise in this place. Today, I want to talk about Alberta and our economic recovery. For decades, Alberta has played an oversized role in Canada's economy, largely in part due to the oil and gas sector. During boom times, Alberta's GDP was the largest in Canada, the largest in North America and among the largest in the world. Even during the …
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Madam Speaker, one of the questions I have follows up on the member's response to his colleague. One of my colleagues is the member for Nunavut. She represents more land mass than any other parliamentarian in the world. It is very difficult for her to reach all of the communities in her riding. I wonder if he could elaborate on the ways in which we could support members of Parliament in this place…
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Mr. Speaker, the new UN report on the occupied Palestinian territory in Israel has alarming findings: increased discrimination, ongoing human rights abuses and a deepening asymmetrical conflict. Israel clearly has no intention of ending the illegal occupation. This UN report adds to the list of reputable reports that the government is ignoring. Human rights are human rights everywhere in the world…
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Mr. Speaker, the foreign affairs minister blamed Global Affairs staff for attending a party at the Russian embassy. She will not even admit whether she knew if they were going. The government is failing on sanctions and on immigration, and is now literally attending parties at the Russian embassy. There is a genocide happening in Ukraine. This is a pattern of behaviour that is not helping Ukrainia…
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Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague for his intervention, but there is one thing I will flag for him. I found it very interesting that he chose to use a quotation from the past justice minister of Alberta Kaycee Madu, considering that Mr. Madu lost his position as the justice minister because he phoned the police chief after getting a ticket he did not like. He seems like an interesting person to …
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Mr. Speaker, it has been over 100 days since the illegal war in Ukraine began, and this government still is not transparent on sanctions imposed on Russian oligarchs. Global Affairs will not tell us what assets have been frozen, because it says that its data may not be complete, so the government does not know what has been sanctioned and Canadians do not know what has been sanctioned. Do the Russ…
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Madam Speaker, it is an honour to stand as the representative for Edmonton Strathcona today to speak about the budget implementation act, Bill C-19. I thought I would start today with some of the parts of the budget implementation act that I like and am very supportive of. I know many people think politicians only oppose, but I have to say there are things in this budget implementation act that I …
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Madam Speaker, I am grateful that the member did retract that statement, because that was inappropriate and unparliamentary language for this place. First of all, many of the things that I mentioned I can reiterate, but I will just point to one thing. If the member were to come to Alberta and talk to workers in Alberta, which I do an awful lot, he would understand that there is zero faith that the…
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Madam Speaker, the intervention by my colleague from the Bloc was very interesting. I always want to stand up when a member of the Bloc speaks to let the Bloc know there are Albertans in this place who are deeply worried about the climate emergency. She talked about where the support goes, how it will go to making sure that workers are protected and that the transition is where investment is neede…
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Madam Speaker, the member talked a lot about the idea of revenue versus spending. We have seen the Conservative Party vote against all of the common-sense tax reform efforts that we have brought forward. We have seen them vote for 2% spending for defence spending, for NATO. I would love to hear just one idea from the member on a revenue stream that the Conservatives are supportive of, that they wo…
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