Government Orders
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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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. 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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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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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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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, 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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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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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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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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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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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 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. 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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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. 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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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…
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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, my colleague's interventions in this House are always very helpful, and I love the opportunity to speak about my bill, Bill C-263. Basically, it is to do what the government had promised to do initially, which is to give us a CORE ombudsperson who has the ability to compel testimony and compel documents. It is basically to give the CORE ombudsperson the teeth necessary to do the job…
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Madam Speaker, first of all I would say that if the member listened to my speech, he would know I said that one of the things we got was dental care. This budget was not what we wanted to see, but we were able to get some things. The member also talked about the fact that we cannot hold the government to account. In fact, we have a very transparent, clear agreement, and if the government does not …
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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, 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, 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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Mr. Speaker, I rise today to request an emergency debate on the impacts of the war on Ukraine on the global food crisis. Over the weekend, Russia destroyed a major grain export terminal in Ukraine. This terminal plays a crucial role in international food security. The attack on this grain terminal is not only an attack on Ukraine, but it is an attack on millions of people around the world who are …
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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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Mr. Speaker, that did not answer the question. Frankly, I made it very clear in my question that it was not how many are coming here; it was about providing the support for them when they are here. This is basically the answer of thoughts and prayers. The government is so good at promising things and delivering absolutely nothing for the people who need them. Canada's resettlement agencies and Ukr…
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Mr. Speaker, people in Alberta are devastated by the toxic drug crisis. A record number of Albertans lost their lives to the poisoned drug supply last year. We are in the same situation as B.C. This is a national public health crisis and the federal government has an obligation to protect lives. Yesterday, the Liberals had an opportunity to follow the evidence-based advice of their own experts. In…
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Mr. Speaker, Canadians are united in their support for Ukraine and their condemnation of the horrific and appalling illegal war and genocide being perpetrated against Ukrainians by Vladimir Putin and the Russian Federation. Canadians want Canada to support Ukraine and Ukrainians. Canadians want their government to act, and time and again it has promised to act. It has promised to sanction Putin an…
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Mr. Speaker, people in Alberta are devastated by the toxic drug crisis. A record number of Albertans lost their lives to the poisoned drug supply last year. Our situation is the same as in B.C. This is a national public health crisis and the federal government has an obligation to act. Yesterday, the Liberals voted with the Conservatives, against the advice of their own experts, to let Canadians d…
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Madam Speaker, my hon. colleague spoke about unity and unity within this place. One of the things that I think is very important is that we show solidarity and unity with our colleagues within NATO and with colleagues within the Baltic states. I am wondering if he could tell me why the Conservative Party has blocked the foreign affairs committee from going to visit our partners in NATO in the Balt…
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Madam Speaker, I would say that we have not lost track of where those sanctions have gone. We have never been told. Parliamentarians have never been given that information, and the opaqueness of our sanctions regime has been called out many times. The government is not interested in sharing it. I have an interesting fact. If we need to know what was shipped to Canada from Russia, we can check with…
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Madam Speaker, I have many thoughts and I will not have time to get to them all, but here are a couple of them. Let us tie our defence spending to our humanitarian spending. As soon as the government is ready to spend 2% on humanitarian diplomacy and overseas development, I would be happy to see that spending go into our defence budget. The other thing we could do, at the very low bar, is send a d…
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Madam Speaker, I have to think about that question, but I will say one thing. Today in the House there was a coalition of parties that voted against supporting people trying to get access to a safe drug supply. The Liberals voted with the Conservatives to stop life-saving legislation from going forward. I do not really know if he understands what “coalition” means, if he understands the coalition …
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Madam Speaker, I will be sharing my time this evening with the member for North Island—Powell River. I want to begin my remarks tonight by stating unequivocally that the New Democratic Party supports Sweden and Finland in their bid for membership in NATO, and that New Democrats call on all NATO members to approve the application as quickly as possible to address the urgent situation that is facing…
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Madam Speaker, I know my colleague cares deeply about people around the world. We have worked together on many files looking at human rights around the world. In fact, today we were on a panel looking at the atrocious war crimes that are being committed in Ethiopia in the Tigray region, and I am delighted to hear at least the words of the government, if not the actions, in support of Ukraine. Howe…
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Madam Speaker, I want to follow up on a question that I asked earlier this evening of the member's colleague. He talked about how the spending on ODA is lower now under the current administration than it had been under the previous administration. In fact, under the previous administration, it was 0.26% of GNI. Now, with COVID, we are still at the disgustingly low number of about 0.31%. Why are th…
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Madam Speaker, I am sorry. I will not be speaking French because it is too difficult to talk about NATO in French. The member spoke about the initial invasion in 2008 and how we need to act to ensure that the escalation we have been seeing since February 24 does not continue. In the member's opinion, what are some of the other steps we can take to ensure that what we do now does not result in a fu…
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Madam Speaker, we know that NATO is in fact a security alliance of some countries. The member talks a lot about the investment in NATO, but what about investment in other multilateral institutions that would work toward a more peaceful future and not just peacekeeping but peace-building? Would he be as supportive of investment in those institutions as he is of NATO?
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Madam Speaker, I know that while we do not agree on everything on the response to Ukraine, my colleague and I both strongly believe that Canada needs to do everything it can for the people of Ukraine. As a co-vice-chair of the Ukraine Canada friendship association, I admire his commitment to the people of Ukraine. I would like to ask him a question. We know that there has been about $600 billion w…
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Madam Speaker, I would like to echo some of my colleagues in this place and thank the member for her genuine honesty in her intervention today. Two former prime ministers of Canada, three former foreign ministers, two former defence ministers and all members of the Liberal Party have endorsed the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons. In fact, they wrote a letter on September 21, 2019, rebu…
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Mr. Speaker, recent polls tell us Canadians are deeply concerned about the threat of nuclear war in Ukraine. Nuclear disarmament is more important now than ever. The world cannot be held hostage by madmen like Putin. Before they were elected, the Liberals promised to play a leading role in nuclear disarmament, but like so many other promises, nothing has been done. The Canadian government has an o…
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