Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, let me remind the opposition member from Newfoundland and Labrador that the people in his riding reach out to me on a regular basis. They reach out to say, “Enough with the fear and enough with the obstruction. Let's work together.” Let me remind the member that there will be $50,000 in savings or direct payments to a family of four in affordability measures. This matters. I ask the C…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, it is another week of the same tired notes and the same rhetoric that is intended to be nothing but obstruction. I can tell the opposition member from Newfoundland and Labrador that I hear from her constituents regularly. They want us to continue to work on the supports that are important not just to my province of Newfoundland and Labrador but to the entire country, the true affordab…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, that is an absolute example of political rhetoric. What will help families is when we support workers, when we build this country, and when we support rural communities and infrastructure. These are real supports. The $10-a-day child care allows women to get into the workforce. The child family benefit puts dollars in the pockets of parents. Let us stop the nonsense. People, Canadians…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, here we go again with another round of canned notes that do not address what the government is actually doing. It is another example of obstruction. I have heard from the member's constituents. They support what the government is doing: building this country, investing in provinces and investing in rural communities, such as those the member represents. Let us stop the nonsense. Let u…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, I wish the opposition member from Newfoundland and Labrador a happy new year. I want to just give a couple of stats regarding the Canada groceries and essentials benefit, specific for our province. This year, a family of four will get over $1,890, and over the next four years, they will get $1,400 a year. A single person will get $950 with the top-off and $700 going forward. Her const…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, I will tell members what is recycled. It is the tired notes that the Conservative members, including this member from Newfoundland and Labrador as well, continue to repeat. The point is that they consistently vote against supports that help families and the people in their ridings that they talk about, who I hear from and who want them to support them. They should stop the nonsense, w…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, I am so pleased to stand and address their misinformation, their imaginary taxes and their general disengagement from what matters in the province of Newfoundland and Labrador. Budget 2025 is about investment. It is about building this country. It is about investment in rural Newfoundland and Labrador, like the rest of the country: roads, bridges, schools and hospitals. It is about su…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, I am going to deal in facts. Supports for seniors are indexed to inflation. Housing supports help seniors find affordable places to live. There are supports for families and communities in Newfoundland and Labrador. The school food program, which another member from Newfoundland and Labrador called “garbage”, feeds children. There is $800 a year for a family of two in savings. I can g…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, I would say to the mom in the member's riding to please ask her member to vote for child care, dental care and the school nutrition program, where a family of two can save $800 a year, and to support the inflation-indexed Canada child benefit, as 46,000 families need that support, along with housing supports. I could go on and on. These are tangible affordability measures. I will neve…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, instead of repeating the same canned lines, I would ask the member from Newfoundland and Labrador, a Conservative member, to think about what she voted against: $10-a-day child care; food for kids in schools, something that her colleague called garbage; dental care; and the family benefit, which 46,000 families in my riding take advantage of. I ask her to start to work for Newfoundlan…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, I think it is very important for me to point out that my colleague in the opposition from Newfoundland and Labrador has voted against every opportunity to help Canadians: housing, the school food program, $10-a-day child care, dental care, and on and on. This is nothing but a circle of tired notes. We need to work together. Canadians want us to work together. I will tell my colleague …
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, I am so proud to stand today, in reference to the question from the opposition member from Newfoundland and Labrador, and talk about the measures we are putting in place for young workers to train in construction, welding and the other work we need in order to build Canada strong. This is happening in my province, and I was so proud to make that announcement last week. That is just on…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, I want to say this to the opposition colleague from Newfoundland and Labrador: There is no fuel tax. It is an imaginary tax on food. What I want to say clearly is that the measures we have in place in our province, including $10-a-day child care, are allowing moms and dads to stay in the workforce. I was in my riding this weekend and spoke about the importance of the new program in th…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, I want to remind my colleague from Newfoundland and Labrador in the opposition that school nutrition programs are important to a province. We were the first to sign on to this program, because it mattered. The Conservatives voted against it. One Conservative called it “garbage”. It does feed children. It matters. I am asking the member if he is going to vote with us when the time come…
Read full speech →Government Orders
moved: That Bill C-3, in Clause 4, be amended by: (a) replacing lines 27 and 28 on page 7 with the following: at least 1,095 days before the person's adoption; or (b) by replacing line 38 on page 7 to line 15 on page 8 with the following: at least 1,095 days before the person’s adoption. (c) ...
Read full speech →Government Orders
moved: That Bill C-3, in Clause 1, be amended by: (a) replacing lines 36 and 37 on page 3 with the following: 1,095 days before the person’s birth; or (b) replacing line 28 on page 4 to line 6 on page 5 with the following: 1,095 days before the person’s birth.
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, I want to remind my opposition colleague from Newfoundland and Labrador that Newfoundland and Labrador was the first province in Canada to sign on to the school food program. The Conservative Party was the first party in Canada to not vote for that program. Newfoundlanders and Labradorians value this program. Moms, parents and school educators know what this program means. This is aff…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, while my colleague from Newfoundland and Labrador and the opposition want to talk down programs and humiliate Newfoundlanders and Labradorians and all Canadians, I will reassure Canadians that the school food program is feeding children. It is saving families up to $800 a year. This is a policy that works. I will always stand for Newfoundlanders and Labradorians and Canadians.
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, illegal fishing is unlawful. It threatens conservation and has an impact on the livelihood of people in coastal communities. That is why we have strengthened enforcement and added more patrols on the water and at wharfs. We are also working with enforcement partners. This summer, in southwest Nova Scotia, fisheries officers seized vessels and traps. They returned thousands of lobsters…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, I would like to again remind my colleague of the benefit of the school food program. I have spoken with moms who are absolutely grateful. Their children now have food in their belly and are not separated from all the other children who can expect the basic right to have food in the morning. I also want to remind my colleague of the importance of the dental program, the child benefit a…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, I welcome this opportunity to share with the member across the way from Newfoundland and Labrador that a single mom in her riding who earns $15,000 a year can now access up to $25,000 because she will automatically get the benefits for her and her children. This is good news, this is affordability and this is not a slogan.
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, I want to thank my colleague in the opposition from Newfoundland and Labrador for the opportunity to celebrate a very successful fishery in Newfoundland and Labrador: northern cod with increased quotas. I visited communities, spoke with harvesters, visited processors and spoke with plant workers. This is an economic boost for rural Newfoundland and Labrador. I would invite the colleag…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Madam Speaker, I will repeat what I said earlier, because I do not know if my colleague heard me. It is imperative that we balance the future of stocks. We need to have a fishery to pass on to the next generation. At the same time, we need to understand that this is people's livelihood. We can do both, but we also need to ensure that we have a stock going forward.
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Madam Speaker, I well know the historical importance of cod to the province, as well as the cultural importance. I also remember the moratorium 30 years ago and remember the absolute devastation to so many communities and individuals. As we begin to move forward and see the stock return to a more healthy zone, it is imperative to ensure that we balance the future generations of fishers in the prov…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, illegal fishing is appalling, and that is why Canada has taken a key role in the fight through Operation North Pacific Guard. Our expertly trained fisheries officers and Canadian Coast Guard crew are currently working to ensure that we disrupt the activities that lead to illegal fishing. I am also pleased to say that the crew of the Sir Wilfrid Laurier is currently engaged in this mis…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, it is very important in St. John's, and in Newfoundland and Labrador, that we protect children. The school food program was such an important initiative, and I found it so disappointing that the opposition voted against it. I hope that, when there is an opportunity to vote to support this program, which puts food in children's bellies, the opposition and the member across will vote to…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, last week the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador and the Government of Quebec announced a historic agreement on Churchill Falls, as well as an agreement to develop the Gull Island project and upgrade other hydroelectric assets. This deal has the potential to transform Newfoundland and Labrador and create tens of thousands of jobs and sweeping economic spinoffs. Can the Minister o…
Read full speech →Statements by Members
Mr. Speaker, I can tell us what every Newfoundland and Labrador family talked about at the dinner table last week, because on December 12, the future of our province changed and a new course was charted. The 1969 Churchill Falls deal was infamous, unfair and forever contentious. It has now been ripped up with the announcement of a new deal between Quebec, Newfoundland and Labrador, and the Innu Na…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, our government announced new measures to put more money back in the pockets of Canadians to help them afford the things they need and to save for the things they want. Unfortunately, some members on the other side of the House are spreading misinformation about our tax cut, like the member of Parliament for Central Okanagan—Similkameen—Nicola, who described it as “sending people penni…
Read full speech →Statements by Members
Mr. Speaker, I say this every year, but I cannot believe it is December already. When I was a young girl, Christmas was a time of magic, lights, foods that we rarely got to taste, the school nativity program, and early Christmas morning mass when I really wanted to be home with my toys. Then and now it was a time of joy, new beginnings and peace, and a season to remember acts of kindness. I thank …
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Madam Speaker, today we remember the 14 young women who were killed during the École Polytechnique massacre. As the 16 days of activism against gender-based violence come to an end, we are reminded that our work must continue until we achieve a Canada free of gender-based violence. Could the Minister for Women and Gender Equality and Youth update Canadians on the work our government is doing to pr…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Madam Speaker, I want to pick up on the notion of how women's rights are being undermined in slow and insidious ways. As a nurse, who went to nursing school in the 1970s, I saw the impact of a lack of choice for women far too many times. I also saw it in my work in the community with the most vulnerable. I wonder if my colleague could speak to the many ways the government is working to enhance wom…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, I rise to present a petition to the House of Commons in which Canadians are concerned that the Leader of the Opposition continues to refuse to get a security clearance. The undersigned residents of Canada are calling on the leader of the Conservative Party to get his security clearance and take action to help stop foreign governments from interfering in Canada and targeting Canadians.
Read full speech →Statements By Members
Mr. Speaker, Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens Children's scarves and warm woolen mittens Books and newspapers tied up with strings These are a few of my favourite things. Restaurant meals and crisp apple strudels Snacks and candy and schnitzel with noodles Toys and board games and the joy that they bring These are a few of my favourite things. These things will be exempted from GST, star…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, last week, our government announced new measures to put more money back in the pockets of Canadians, to help them afford the things they need and save for the things they want. Unfortunately, some on the other side of the aisle have the wrong impression about the measures, like the member of Parliament for Central Okanagan—Similkameen—Nicola, who described it as “sending people pennie…
Read full speech →Statements By Members
Mr. Speaker, I rise today to acknowledge the tireless work of the Crow's Nest Officers' Club in downtown St. John's. It is a living museum that overlooks the National War Memorial, where Newfoundland's unknown soldier was recently laid to rest. The Crow's Nest is sharing stories and artifacts on the role that St. John's played in the victory of the Battle of the Atlantic, the longest continuous ba…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, today is National Seniors Day, a day to celebrate and thank seniors across the country. Our government knows the importance of promoting the health and well-being of seniors. That is why we make investments toward programs and services for them. Can the Minister of Health update Canadians on what we are doing to protect and support the health of seniors across this country?
Read full speech →Statements by Members
Mr. Speaker, across St. John’s East this summer, what I heard was clear. We need to protect our progress. Parents want more $10-a-day child care spaces. Ten thousand Newfoundland and Labradorians went to the dentist, many for the first time in many years. Kids go to school now with full bellies because of the food school program investment. People want to see more climate action, not less, and hea…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, if we were creating our tax system from scratch, what choices would we make as Canadians? Would we give the greatest tax advantages to those who make the most money, or would we insist on paying a fair share to keep Canada strong? The next generation of young Canadians across the country are leading the way in telling us that they want a fairer and forward-looking Canada. Could the De…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, today, the House is debating Bill C-356, the Conservative leader's housing proposal. In the Conservative leader's bill, there is no mention of students, seniors, workers or the most vulnerable in the country. Could the Deputy Prime Minister please tell Canadians what our plan focuses on, how we are working to create more affordable homes faster across Canada and how the Conservative l…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, cutting the pollution that is fuelling costly climate change while building a strong, sustainable Canadian economy that creates jobs and invests in the competitive decarbonizing world is the key to success in the 21st century. The latest national inventory report confirms that Canada has bent the curve and is reducing emissions toward achieving the country's 2030 emissions reduction g…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, tourism is one of the most important pillars of Atlantic Canada's economy. In my riding of St. John's East, the Bell Island Heritage Society's #2 Mine and Community Museum is a hidden gem. Recognized as a world-class destination, it is helping attract tourists to experience for themselves what our community has to offer. This, in turn, supports our local economy. Could the minister fo…
Read full speech →Statements by Members
Mr. Speaker, kids who are hungry at school are not focused on learning. We can and we are going to fix this with a national school food program so that over 400,000 kids across Canada do not go hungry at school. It will give parents peace of mind and help kids reach their full potential with healthy lunches. I thought this would be one idea that we could all agree on, but the opposition just canno…
Read full speech →Statements by Members
Madam Speaker, more houses are going to get built in St. John's, thanks to the housing accelerator fund. St. John's is getting over $10 million, which will add over 4,000 homes in the next 10 years, incentivize rentals, allow for fourplexes, more secondary units and the use of city lands for affordable housing, and more. This is part of the $4 billion we are investing in housing across this countr…
Read full speech →Statements by Members
Mr. Speaker, tourism in my province of Newfoundland and Labrador exceeds $1 billion in annual expenditures, fuelling employment and prosperity across all communities. It embodies our identity, our traditions and the stunning natural wonders around us. Moreover, tourism fosters environmental stewardship, preserving our ecological treasures for future generations. This past week, alongside the Minis…
Read full speech →Statements By Members
Mr. Speaker, the facts are clear: We are there for Newfoundlanders and Labradorians. Ten-dollar-a-day child care saves families an average of $6,300 per child a year. Forty thousand Newfoundlanders and Labradorians received the enhanced Canada workers benefit, and over 47,000 parents received an average of over $6,000 from the Canada child benefit. More than 5,000 kids have accessed the Canada den…
Read full speech →Statements By Members
Mr. Speaker, with 2024 in full swing, our team is tackling head-on the issues Canadians are facing, with affordable housing, the Canada child benefit, child care, dental care, affordable home heating, green jobs and more money back in their pockets. For St. John's East, I am focused on supporting residents through my constituency office, ensuring that Newfoundland and Labrador's unique needs are h…
Read full speech →Statements by Members
Mr. Speaker, leading the country takes stamina. That is why our team, cabinet and leader were here, vote after vote, for 30-plus hours last week. Meanwhile, the opposition members could barely fill their benches, and their leader could barely show his face. When they did vote, they voted against our plan to help Canadians, including innovative Atlantic Canadian businesses, communities and business…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Madam Speaker, climate change is a global crisis that affects the entire world, but its devastating effects are not shared equally among countries. Developing countries that contribute the least to the pollution that causes climate change are the most vulnerable to some of its harshest consequences. Today, the real work begins at COP28 where the Minister of Environment and Climate Change represent…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, every day approximately 12 people die by suicide in Canada. Each life lost by suicide can have far-reaching effects, whether that is families grappling with the loss of a loved one or the effects that are felt in communities. It is essential for Canadians to have timely access to suicide prevention. They need to know that they are not alone, that there is someone there to help. Can th…
Read full speech →