Government Orders
Mr. Chair, no, the travel ban was put in place today. Has the minister, and her department, done an assessment on whether or not the U.S. is still a safe third country?
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Chair, well, will the minister table the assessment?
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Chair, has the department done an assessment, and will she table that assessment?
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Chair, from that answer, the minister's department has not done an assessment on the U.S., whether or not it is a safe third country, with the travel ban being imposed today. My next question is this: Will the minister grant Jimmy Lai honorary Canadian citizenship?
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Chair, in light of Trump's travel ban that came into effect today, does the Minister of Immigration agree that the U.S. is still a safe third country?
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, Canadians are struggling and many of them are turning to food banks for support, yet the member is silent on the tax rates and the excess profits big corporations are receiving. Since the 1980s, the corporate income tax rate went from 36% to 15%. In 2023, corporations recorded $664 billion—
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Chair, it is not a personal question. It is a simple question on whether or not the minister is willing to grant him honorary citizenship. The government put in the program for caregivers, and many of them were actually unable to to finish the process when the system crashed. Will the minister provide alternatives for those applicants?
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 52(2), I am seeking leave to propose an emergency debate regarding the discriminatory U.S. travel ban announced by President Donald Trump, which came into effect at 12.01 a.m. today. The sweeping travel ban bars entry to the United States from 12 countries: Afghanistan, Myanmar, Chad, Congo-Brazzaville, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, the throne speech indicates that the government is going to cap spending, the rate of increase of 9%, at 2%, so that is a 7% reduction. In light of the government's commitment to raising military spending to 2% of NATO, that is a $20-billion gap that needs to be made up, so my question to the member is this: Is he at all concerned that there will be service cuts to Canadians, many of …
Read full speech →Statements by Members
Mr. Speaker, for over 150 years, Canada Post has been a cornerstone of our national identity, connecting Canadians in every region. It is more than a mail carrier; it is a vital public service. It is as Canadian as maple syrup, yet today that service is under threat. Canada Post is considering cuts to door-to-door delivery, closing post offices, outsourcing jobs and even privatizing. These moves w…
Read full speech →Emergency Debate
Mr. Speaker, in my colleague's comments, she talked about resource extraction, fast-tracking and the implications, of course, for indigenous communities on free, prior and informed consent. In addition to that, in the face of the climate crisis and what is going on, I wonder if she can expand on that comment about what her concerns are with the climate crisis, with the fast-tracking of resource ex…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister, out of the left side of his mouth, said his first focus is on deeply affordable housing. Then, out of the right side, he said they will fundamentally rely on the private sector to build it. As a banker and former chair of Brookfield Asset Management, he should instinctively know that big developers' first priority is to maximize profit. Deeply affordable homes will…
Read full speech →Emergency Debate
Mr. Speaker, we have faced an increase in extreme climate events in Vancouver, British Columbia, where we experienced a heat dome and where over 500 people died. We had Lytton, where a whole city burned down, and Jasper. We now have, of course, extreme weather occurrences in Winnipeg, Saskatchewan and even Quebec. This is a reality that Canadians face. In the face of that, my question for the memb…
Read full speech →Emergency Debate
Mr. Speaker, I rise on a point of order. I wonder if you can clarify for me if a member can ask a question outside of their seat.
Read full speech →Emergency Debate
Mr. Speaker, one of the things we know is that these kinds of wildfires and climate emergencies are happening more and more. One of the things we do rely on is the military to come and assist. They have done a tremendous job in the past, and they continue to do so. However, what happens is that they often lack the resources necessary, the equipment, to face up to and assist in these types of natur…
Read full speech →Speech from the Throne
Madam Speaker, congratulations to the member on his election. The throne speech unilaterally announced that the government would cut development cost levies by 50%, which would impact local governments. Local governments often rely on that money to build the community infrastructure to support new development, yet the throne speech did not offer any infrastructure dollars to local governments. The…
Read full speech →Speech from the Throne
Mr. Speaker, I absolutely agree with the member. We have to face the climate crisis head-on, not pretend it is not here and not having an impact on our community. Sticking our head in the sand is not going to solve the crisis. We have a forest fire going on in our communities right now, and people are losing their homes. In my own community of Vancouver East, during the heat dome, people died. Peo…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, I rise to table a petition on behalf of Vancouver East constituents who took part in the peace train journey to Ottawa to promote a culture of peace and resist the culture of war. The petitioners note that Canada is a signatory to the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and Canada's adoption of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples further reflects our commitm…
Read full speech →Speech from the Throne
Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the opportunity to enter into debate on the throne speech. I was not anticipating that I would get to speak until tomorrow, but nonetheless, the opportunity arose, and I am at the ready. Looking at the throne speech, the real question is, what is not in the throne speech. More to the point, when I was out campaigning, when I was talking to people in Vancouver East, there …
Read full speech →Speech from the Throne
Mr. Speaker, with respect to housing, the reality is this: There is a continuum of need, and trying to focus on the model of just relying on the private sector to deliver the housing that Canadians need has failed. For the last 30 years, that is what successive Liberal and Conservative governments have relied on. Guess what, Mr. Speaker? We have a major housing crisis in Vancouver East and all acr…
Read full speech →Speech from the Throne
Mr. Speaker, judging from that speech, I guess it explains the member's position and why Pierre Poilievre actually called community housing and co-op housing “Soviet-style” housing. I get that, because, according to the member's speech, he seems to be alleging that anything to do with supporting the community on the whole is communism. The member says he supports tax cuts, so let me ask him a ques…
Read full speech →Speech from the Throne
Mr. Speaker, there is one thing I am very worried about in the throne speech. The Prime Minister actually talked about reducing spending and capping it at 2% increases. That is a 7% cut, which would mean cuts to public services. There is no question about it. No amount of efficiencies will make up that gap. That is on top of the Prime Minister making the comment and the commitment that Canada woul…
Read full speech →Speech from the Throne
Mr. Speaker, let me congratulate you on taking the seat in the Speaker's chair as Deputy Speaker. We saw in the throne speech that there was a lot of discussion about the threat towards Canada from the Trump administration, and rightfully so. Canadians and, I believe, every member of the House will be very focused on taking that issue to heart and on protecting Canada and our sovereignty. At the s…
Read full speech →Speech from the Throne
Mr. Speaker, we are seeing double digits in unemployment for youth, yet in the throne speech, there is no mention of programs such as the youth climate corps, which would ensure that a new generation of young people would get employment opportunities building Canada's infrastructure. Will the member support a youth climate corps for Canada?
Read full speech →Speech from the Throne
Mr. Speaker, I congratulate my colleague on her re-election. I know that these issues are near and dear to her heart as the former minister of democratic institutions. What I heard in the campaign during the election period from Vancouver East constituents was the need for electoral reform. Many people wanted to make sure their vote is respected and counted so they do not have to be pressured to v…
Read full speech →Speech from the Throne
Mr. Speaker, I congratulate my colleague on his election. New Democrats will be here to hold the government to account, of course, and collaborate where possible, notwithstanding that we do not have official party status. On the issue around housing, and we all heard it on the ground during the election campaign, there is nothing in the throne speech that talks about renters. There is nothing in t…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, the caregivers pilot programs expired in June. The minister promised caregivers permanent residence on arrival. Six months later, no information, no application process, has been released about the new pilot. Given the Liberals' about-face on regularization and their scapegoating of migrants for their failures, caregivers are really concerned that their hard-fought promise of landed s…
Read full speech →Statements by Members
Mr. Speaker, Canada's settlement sector is the foundation for social cohesion, nation building and newcomer integration. Over 800 agencies are funded by IRCC to deliver a range of services, such as language classes with child care support, employment and career training, trauma-informed programs, family centres, and so much more. Last year, over 700,000 unique newcomers, primarily made racialized …
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, settlement services agencies have received notice of massive funding cuts of up to 70% to their budget. This will decimate the delivery of critical services to help integrate newcomers. Two NDP provinces, B.C. and Manitoba, seem to be targeted with the deepest cuts. As a case in point, after three decades of providing essential language training to newcomers, Vancouver Community Colle…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, my colleague, the NDP House leader, raised a lot of really excellent points. Most of them actually highlight the fact that the Conservatives consistently say one thing and then do another. Persistently, they vote against critical services for the community, in support of the community. Even though they make the argument that they are there to support ensuring that border security is i…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Madam Speaker, the House needs to hear this again, that some 600 people died during the heat dome in British Columbia, some of them in Vancouver East. Some of my constituents lived in a SRO, where the air is absolutely stifling, and they were forced to become unhoused. There are now encampments as a result of that. Now we have the Liberal government and the Prime Minister who, during a climate cri…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Madam Speaker, I am compelled to rise to share this additional information with you. With respect to the day of the vote, what happened was that my colleague, the member for London—Fanshawe, walked up to the Speaker to register her concern for not being recognized and not being able to do her job because of the jeering and the loud noises that were coming from the Conservatives side. This was orch…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Madam Speaker, the member who just walked out of the House, the member you asked to respect the rules of the House, just made a gesture towards me in a threatening way. I want to note that so it is on the record. I will just close with what happened on that night. When I was in the lobby, I thought the lobby smelled like a brewery. That is a fact. I hope the truth will prevail because I know there…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, I am rising to add my perspective on the question of privilege raised on Friday by my colleague the member for London—Fanshawe. The opposition deputy House leader explicitly named me and put completely false information on the record regarding my conduct in the lobby as an attempt to deflect from the deliberate, premeditated plan to disrupt the voting proceedings in the House. I am ri…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, I heard the member talk about supporting communities. The NDP proposed giving a tax break permanently on essential items. Why did the Liberals not choose to give a permanent tax break to communities that are desperate for help, and why did they leave out home heating?
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, I rise to table a petition adding 827 names to the thousands of signatures that have already been added to a petition I tabled previously. The petition is about the situation in Hong Kong, and more particularly with respect to the fact that Hong Kong's basic law has completely been eroded and that the national security law imposed by China and adopted in Hong Kong has gotten rid of ev…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Madam Speaker, I rise to table e-petition 5137. The petition gathered 3,497 signatures. In addition, on a previous occasion, I tabled a similar petition that had 152 signatures on it. There are another 717 signatures to be certified from Toronto and another 247 signatures to be certified from Vancouver, for a total of 4,613. The petitioners note that on August 12, Hong Kong's top court upheld the …
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, a “breeding ground for contemporary forms of slavery” is what the United Nations called the Conservative-Liberal temporary foreign worker program. It is an immigration program that uses closed work permits that trap people to one employer. It abuses, exploits and underpays migrant workers to help big businesses. It drives down wages and hurts everyone. It is just another initiative of…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to table a petition from a group of concerned citizens who are raising an issue related to foreign interference and the plight of Hong Kongers in Canada. The petitioners note that the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office in Canada enjoys diplomatic and immunity privileges. This is largely a result of the “one country, two systems” rule. Under the national security law in H…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, Canadians cannot find a family doctor, and labour shortages in construction are driving up the cost of housing. The Liberals betrayed migrant workers with their empty promises that they would give them full status, including those in construction and health care. To add insult to injury, the Liberals are allocating a pathetic 50 spots for regularization in their 2025 levels plan. It i…
Read full speech →Statements by Members
Mr. Speaker, after three decades of Conservative and Liberal government failures, Canada's community housing stock is the lowest among the G7 countries. There are about 5,000 people in the Lower Mainland who do not have a place to call home. They have little choice but to try to survive on the street or in encampments. However, what is abundantly clear is that forced evictions do not fix anything;…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
With regard to the inventory of immigration applications in the Humanitarian and Compassionate (H&C) and other categories: (a) in which month and year were applications received, broken down by country of origin; (b) what is the average processing time from application submission to final decision, broken down by country of origin; (c) what are the total resources or staffing levels dedicated to p…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, abortion care is under threat in Canada. Women do not want more Liberal talking points. They want protection. Women and gender-diverse people are seeing hateful anti-choice rhetoric creep into Parliament, spread by the Conservatives under their leader's watch. Clinic 554 closed in New Brunswick and abortion care across Canada has been chipped away at. While the Liberals' words are nic…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
moved that Bill S-235, An Act to amend the Citizenship Act and the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act, be read the first time. Mr. Speaker, I am very pleased to introduce Bill S-235, an act that would amend the Citizenship Act and Immigration and Refugee Protection Act. I would like to thank my colleague, the member for Edmonton Griesbach, a determined champion for the rights of the child, for…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, the Conservatives created the low-wage temporary foreign worker stream, and the Liberals fuelled it to help rich CEOs. They restricted workers to one employer with closed work permits; subjected migrant workers to abuse, wage theft and exploitation; and suppressed wages for Canadians. Chain CEOs are ramping up exploitation and abuse. Workers like Rowell Pailan have said that their bos…
Read full speech →Emergency Debate
Mr. Speaker, I have been listening all night to the debate. As members can imagine, I am deeply engaged with the foreign interference file as someone who has been targeted. One main disservice was done through testimony at the Hogue inquiry. It actually came from Erin O'Toole, the former leader of the Conservatives. The name that was tied to the testimony was actually that of a retired Conservativ…
Read full speech →Emergency Debate
Mr. Speaker, we heard over and over again from the Conservatives in the debate tonight that there is a simple way for the leader of the Conservative Party to get the information. They suggest that all that has to be done is for the Prime Minister to walk across the aisle and whisper in the Conservative leader's ear to tell him who might be implicated in wittingly or semi-wittingly compromising Can…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, Sudan now has the world's worst displacement of children anywhere, and 17 months into this devastating humanitarian crisis, not one single Sudanese Canadian loved one has gotten to safety in Canada. A family member in Vancouver was desperate to bring his sister and her two daughters to safety. With months of inaction, the sister has now perished. The two children are alone. Will the m…
Read full speech →Statements by Members
Mr. Speaker, as the catastrophic war rages on in Sudan, thousands of children are facing imminent death from malnutrition. Gender-based violence targeting women and girls, including sexual assault, is being used as a weapon of war. To date, not one single person has been brought to safety, and the minister is not expecting any arrivals this year. Lives are being lost as people wait for their appli…
Read full speech →Statements by Members
Madam Speaker, it has been months since the UN Secretary-General first referred to Gaza as a “graveyard for children”. Civilians continue to face indiscriminate bombing and starvation. Now the people of Lebanon face unimaginable danger in the deadliest escalation of violence between Israel and Hezbollah since 2006. The threat of war between Israel and Iran looms over all in the region. The starvat…
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