Parliamentary Speeches
1,167 speeches by Heather McPherson — Page 14 of 24
Government Orders
Madam Speaker, I would like to thank my colleague for listing all the initiatives that the NDP have brought forward, like dental care and the rent subsidy, but my question for him is a bit more concrete. I have been sitting in the House all week, listening to the Liberals asking Conservatives how they can face their constituents when the Conservatives promised to put a price on pollution and are n…
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Madam Speaker, while I certainly do not agree with many of the things the member brought forward, it was interesting. He did talk about how we could make things more affordable for Canadians. I think and hope that is something everyone in the House is eager to do. However, the Conservatives have voted against many of the initiatives that the NDP have brought forward, things like dental care, the r…
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Mr. Speaker, sick kids in Alberta are waiting in heated trailers outside hospitals, and now hospice care for children is paused as staff are redeployed to deal with the health care crisis. Families are forced to scramble for help during their last days with their children. While Danielle Smith is distracted by her ridiculous sovereignty act, neither the federal nor the provincial government is pro…
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Madam Speaker, that was a very interesting intervention. I am not a specialist in cybersecurity, so I am finding this debate very informative. I guess one of the questions I have is about how we balance the need for cybersecurity with the need for transparency. That is really what the big question is for this. How do we make it effective but also adhere to the Canadian values of transparency, huma…
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Madam Speaker, I want to take a moment to apologize to the interpreters for when I completely forgot my headset previously. I am not feeling my best, and I am obviously not on my game. I want to thank my colleague for his intervention today. It was very interesting. I agree with my colleagues from the Conservative Party that we are very late to the game, but I think it is vital that we get it righ…
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Madam Speaker, my colleague and I spent a lot of the day together today. We had an excellent event this morning, which he organized, so I would like to thank the member for Lac-Saint-Louis for that. There is one question I do have with regard to the bill. It has been written in such a way that secret orders could be issued, and they could be kept from being publicized or published in the Gazette. …
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Madam Speaker, my colleague's intervention today was very interesting. He seems to know the subject very well. Looking at this legislation, we have been talking about how it has been a long-time coming, and how we would have liked to have seen this legislation before us sooner. I wonder if, as he studied this bill, he had an opportunity to look at legislation from other countries, and if there is …
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Mr. Speaker, health care in Alberta is in chaos. Kids are waiting 20 hours for care, paramedics are overworked and nobody can find a family doctor. Now the Alberta Children's Hospital is so overwhelmed that it has added a portable trailer in the parking lot to treat sick kids. All this is going on while Danielle Smith is dismantling public health care and, in her own words, preparing us to pay out…
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Madam Speaker, my colleague from Alberta did not speak an awful lot about the bill at hand. There was not an awful lot there on Bill S-4, so I certainly hope later on today, as I do my speech, I am afforded the same leniency to expand upon thoughts. One thing he did talk about was the attack on an RCMP officer, and I think everyone in the House finds it incredibly appalling to hear that. From my p…
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Mr. Speaker, my sympathies to my colleague for the horrific events that happened in Saskatchewan, his province, and the James Smith Cree Nation. I think all Canadians have been horrified by that. He spoke a lot about the failures of the Liberal government to deal with crime and policing adequately. I probably do not agree how that should happen, but I think we can both agree that the Liberals can …
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Mr. Speaker, my colleague's intervention this afternoon was very interesting. I was particularly struck by her personalized experience with youth incarceration, and she did speak about how we need to do much more to ensure indigenous people, BIPOC people and young people are not disproportionately represented within our judicial system. I am wondering what very specific steps she thinks would be n…
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Mr. Speaker, as always, it is a deep honour that I am allowed to stand in this place and represent the incredible people of Edmonton Strathcona, and particularly to speak about Bill S-4. Bill S-4 is all about increasing access to justice. It would make sure that all Canadians have the equal right or the equal access to our judicial system. It would remove barriers to justice and do all of the thin…
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Mr. Speaker, I would like to point out that in past Parliaments, when, for example, Rachel Notley was the premier of the Province of Alberta, there were an awful lot of attacks on Rachel Notley. I think it is reasonable when we are talking about justice and about Albertans' access to justice, because Bill S-4 is ultimately about Albertans' and Canadians' access to justice, that I am able to talk a…
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Mr. Speaker, what an entertaining time we are having in the House this afternoon. My colleague from the Bloc Québécois has given me a great opportunity to speak to another issue. I am very proud to be Albertan, of course, but very proud to be a Canadian as well. One of the concerns I have with judicial access for Albertans is around the current Premier of Alberta, Danielle Smith, and her desire to…
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Mr. Speaker, I do not have a lot of insight into that, to be perfectly honest. When I look at our judicial system and look at those who need to interact with our judicial system and with all of the technologies we can use safely, effectively and appropriately, it makes a lot of sense for us to explore. It does make sense for us to try to find ways to, as members of other parties have said, prevent…
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Mr. Speaker, I represent an urban riding, but as only one of two New Democrats who represent the province of Alberta. I also feel that I often need to think about the needs of progressive voters across Alberta, so I look at these things such as access in remote and rural areas. I agree with him that what the government has done is made us promises to make Internet available, and to make broadband …
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Mr. Speaker, that is a massive problem. We see this across the country. I know that in Alberta this is a big problem. When judges are not being appointed fast enough and we do not have enough judges in place, that interferes with justice for Canadians. We have seen it happening multiple times. We have seen cases having to be cancelled, because there was not that judicial leadership. The government…
Read full speech →Statements by Members
Mr. Speaker, defending and promoting French in Alberta are vital to my province and to my riding, Edmonton Strathcona. Sheila Risbud announced last month that she would be stepping down as president of the Association canadienne-française de l'Alberta. I want to thank Sheila for her wonderful leadership skills and her many years of commitment. She will be greatly missed. However, thanks to several…
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Madam Speaker, one of the worries I often have when legislation is brought forward or things are announced in the House is that resources will not be available to do the work that needs to be done. For example, with our sanctions regime, we do not have the resources for CBSA to do what it needs to do. With regard to forced labour, only one shipment relating to force labour was identified by CBSA a…
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Mr. Speaker, that did not even come close to answering the question. A new report reveals that the profits of big grocery stores have increased by 118% since 2019. These companies are making massive profits while Canadian families are struggling. In Alberta, food banks have seen a whopping 73% increase over the last three years, yet in the latest government report, the Liberals blame workers' wage…
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Madam Speaker, over the past few weeks, the Liberal government has met several times with its Indian counterparts, but we have seen no statements from the government calling out the ongoing persecution of minorities in India, including Sikhs, Muslims, women and other minority groups. The Indian government must respect the human rights of all Indian citizens, and Canada must call it out when those …
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Mr. Speaker, my colleague's intervention was very interesting. I noticed that she is wearing a sustainable development goals pin. One of the things that I find most frustrating is that we have a government that claims to have a feminist international assistance policy. We have a government that speaks about being a feminist government that will perhaps, one day, provide a feminist foreign policy, …
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Madam Speaker, I agree with the member. What we all should be doing is working for jobs for workers, making sure that we have family-sustaining unionized jobs across the country. I do not think the government has done enough for Alberta. I will say that the Conservative Alberta government has a $13-billion surplus, yet it has not invested in our community. It has not invested in workers. In fact, …
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Madam Speaker, my colleague's speech was very interesting. I liked that he talked a little about what it was like when COVID hit and we had those terrible attendance records. I have to say, as a relatively new member of Parliament in 2020, I assumed that we all did our job and went to work. I was quite shocked to find that in Alberta, I was the only member of Parliament in that hybrid session that…
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Madam Speaker, I understand my colleague's concerns with moving time allocation and moving forward on this, but I am curious. It was not very long ago that the Bloc supported time allocation on Bill C-10, when we were debating that in the House, when we were seeing the Conservatives do everything they could to stop the important work that needed to be done for Canadians, to make sure that Canadian…
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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, 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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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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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 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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