Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the hon. member for his commitment and passion to the national pharmacare program. In my riding of Davenport, having a national pharmacare program is very popular. Constituents are very excited about phase one with the introduction of diabetes medication being covered, as well as contraceptives. I know that they are looking for an expansion of this program, which is so…
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Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the hon. member for his leadership on the pharmacare act. I will say that the impact of this legislation on my community would be huge. It is particularly very popular within the senior population, but I know that it is something that would be very helpful.
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, this is a national pharmacare program. We know that there are a number of provinces that offer different levels of pharmacare support right now, but what we are trying to do is provide a national pharmacare program based on the four principles that we have been consistently talking about, which are accessibility, affordability, appropriate use and universality. We are trying move beyo…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, while our government works to provide pharmacare, expand child care, introduce a national school food program and build housing, Conservative MPs are giving speeches at anti-abortion rallies. Reproductive health is health. Women have the right to choose when and if they start a family. With members of the House threatening to take this right away from Canadians, what is the government…
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Madam Speaker, I did mention in my speech that it absolutely is a health issue. I do not think it is a criminal issue. One of the things I did not get a chance to mention when I was giving my prepared speech is that a lot of our $200 million of funding is also going into expanding the indigenous engagement platform to engage with first nations, Inuit and Métis people, including urban and indigenou…
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Madam Speaker, my riding is in downtown west Toronto, and I am an avid walker. I walk the streets all the time, and when I notice things, I raise the issues with the local superintendent of police. One of the key things we have talked about was whether there were discussions or any knowledge of the City of Toronto being interested in a similar program as to what is existing in Vancouver. One of th…
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Mr. Speaker, women's reproductive rights across the world are under assault, and we are hearing the same rhetoric and tactics used by anti-choice advocates in the United States, leaking into Canada and into this Parliament. Could the Deputy Prime Minister speak to the women, the girls and all those who care about them in our country, and assure them what their federal government is doing to stand …
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Madam Speaker, I will be sharing my time with the very hon. member for Don Valley West. It is a real honour, as always, for me to be speaking on behalf of the amazing residents of my riding of Davenport. I am speaking to today's Conservative opposition day motion on the opioid crisis we have in this country. We have an opioid crisis. There are far too many deaths, and we have completely different …
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Madam Speaker, I want to thank the hon. member for her participation and leadership on the Canadian NATO Parliamentary Association. With respect to her question, there is indeed an issue with illegal and toxic substances crossing our border. We have put in over a billion dollars to reinforce officials at the border, the CBSA, and we have had to put in far more money because the Conservatives, when…
Read full speech →Statements by Members
Mr. Speaker, CHOQ FM is the only fully francophone local community radio station in Toronto. It is located in my riding, Davenport. On May 1, 2024, it celebrated 18 years of service to francophones, sharing their history, participating in current affairs and building a solid francophone community in our city and across the country. CHOQ FM offers francophone citizens, leaders, companies and organi…
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Mr. Speaker, I will say the following: I sit on the finance committee, and it is a privilege to do so. We hear, all the time, from experts across the country about how to resolve the housing crisis. One thing we hear, time and time again, is that it will not be resolved at just the federal level. All three levels of government need to work together to resolve the housing crisis. For about 30 years…
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Mr. Speaker, I am going to be sharing my time with the member for Sackville—Preston—Chezzetcook. As always, it is a true honour for me to be speaking in the venerable House on behalf of the residents of my riding of Davenport. Today I am going to be speaking to federal budget 2024. It is a very important budget. It is 416 pages. I will not be able to go through all of it, but I will focus on a few…
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Mr. Speaker, here is what I would say: I think that sometimes we have to remind ourselves of this, even though we want to forget it. We, not just Canada, but also the world, have come out of a massive pandemic. I think all of our economies have been struggling to recuperate. Very blessedly, here in Canada, we have been very lucky that we have been able to bring back over 100% of all the jobs that …
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Mr. Speaker, if the member is asking whether I would have wanted it to have been fully funded to what the Canadian disability sector had asked for, I would say a resounding yes. However, I was proud that this is one of the largest line items in our entire budget. We have absolutely made this a priority. I will also say that it is not the only thing that will be helpful to Canadians with disabiliti…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, the people of Davenport are concerned about the fact that the Conservative Party wants to cut their Canada carbon rebate. For the majority of Canadians, every penny counts. The people in my riding rely on these cheques. Can the Minister of Environment and Climate Change tell the House how carbon pricing is lowering our emissions and how these cheques are helping Canadian families?
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Mr. Chair, you have my apologies. President Zelenskyy and the Prime Minister have reaffirmed the strength and importance of our bilateral relationship time and time again, including during the President's visit in September and in his address to the House. On February 24, 2024, just a few weeks ago, when the Prime Minister, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of National Defence visited Kyiv to mar…
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Mr. Chair, bringing home Ukrainian children is a key part of the 10-point peace plan Ukraine has put out. I am really proud that Canada has decided to take leadership on this key point. Indeed, thousands of Ukrainian children have been deported, forcibly transferred and displaced from Ukrainian territory. Fewer than 400 of those children have actually been returned. That is why I am so proud of ou…
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Mr. Chair, it is a real honour for me to be speaking on behalf of the residents of the riding of Davenport on the agreement on security co-operation between Canada and Ukraine. Many people might not know, but within my riding of Davenport there used to be a fairly significant Ukrainian population. I actually went to grade school there. I went to a Ukrainian school. It is called St Josaphat. It is …
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Mr. Chair, while I respect the member's passion and her support for Ukraine, I do not agree. We have done a tremendous amount for Ukraine. We started out being recognized for our training of the military within Ukraine, which proved instrumental with this latest full-scale invasion by Russia. Since then, we have provided military support, economic support, sanctions and international aid. Today we…
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Mr. Speaker, I thank the hon. member for his passion. We both care a lot about climate change. We both care about moving aggressively toward a net-zero future in Canada. I will always consider all new research and information. For me, what is most important is our objective of getting to net zero and doing it in an affordable, sustainable way for Canadians.
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Mr. Speaker, in my riding of Davenport, we are huge supporters of the Canada disability benefit. We know that federal budget 2024 will be announced in the House on April 16, and I am hoping for good news for a Canada disability benefit. In the meantime, starting fiscal year April 1, under the Canada carbon rebate, a family of four will receive $1,800 in Alberta; $1,200 in Manitoba; $1,120 in Ontar…
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Mr. Speaker, I will be sharing my time with the very hon. member for Kings—Hants. It is my absolute pleasure, as always, to be speaking on behalf of the residents in my riding of Davenport. I will be speaking to today's opposition day motion that was put forward by the Conservatives on affordability and pollution pricing. I will start with a few of my own comments and then I will go into a bit of …
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, it is a great pleasure for me to present a petition to this respected House on behalf of the members of Spanish-speaking communities in Canada, including those in my riding of Davenport. Canada is proud to be home to over 1.2 million Spanish-speaking individuals, representing a huge cultural and ethnic diversity. For those of Hispanic and Latin American descent who have chosen Canada …
Read full speech →Statements by Members
Mr. Speaker, it is exciting news that tax season is here. When Canadians file their taxes, they will receive the Canada carbon rebate. In the provinces where it applies, such as my home province of Ontario, the Canada carbon rebate will put even more money back in the pockets of most Canadians than they pay into the carbon pricing system. Affordability is top of mind in everything our federal gove…
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Mr. Speaker, climate change is real. We have to take as many steps as possible to move to a low-carbon future and a low-carbon economy. The most efficient and affordable way for us to do is to put a price on pollution, which is also known as a carbon tax. We, as a government, are not keeping any of the money. We are directly giving it back to Canadians, to small businesses and to farmers. That is …
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Madam Speaker, misconduct of any kind in our procurement processes is never acceptable. For about 10 minutes, I gave a speech about all the things we have in place that will protect processes. They do everything they can to inform our bureaucracy and our government officials, who act on behalf of our government, to ensure that they have processes in place such that we are doing our best to spend o…
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Madam Speaker, it is always an honour to speak on behalf of the residents of my riding of Davenport. It will be my pleasure to share my time with the hon. member for Mississauga—Lakeshore. I have some prepared remarks, but first I want to provide a bit of context for those who might be listening. I want to go into a few details about the motion that is before us today. In terms of context, we are …
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Madam Speaker, there may be a point in the future when it would be appropriate to re-collect some of those funds back from contractors. However, what I would say right now is that there are a number of investigations under way: the investigations through the RCMP and the investigations through the other independent bodies through the House. They might, in the end, make some conclusions to say ther…
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Madam Speaker, I recall that, during the pandemic, there was a series of votes that came to the House about audits for small businesses and the various things we were spending on while the pandemic was under way. I recall that there were a number of times that I did not vote for those audits to take place, and the reason was that we were still heavily into the pandemic and we needed to make sure t…
Read full speech →Statements by Members
Mr. Speaker, Toronto has always been a safe city, yet over the last year there has been a marked increase of stabbings and shootings. In my riding of Davenport, residents have really begun to worry about their safety and the safety of their children. After meeting with a number of local police superintendents, one thing they asked is for us to continue to focus on stopping guns from illegally ente…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, our federal government has always shown support for Ukraine as it defends itself against the illegal and unprovoked attack by Russia. In fact, this House, and indeed this country, has always been unanimous and steadfast in its support; however, two weeks ago, Conservatives voted against the modernized Canada-Ukraine free trade agreement, and just last Friday, they voted against $500 m…
Read full speech →Statements by Members
Mr. Speaker, over the past weekend while in Halifax, I visited Pier 21. I wanted to look up the records of my grandparents, my dad and my uncles who came to Canada on a boat called the Beaverbrae II after World War II. Proud Ukrainians, they came to Canada because they were looking for a safe place to call home and raise their family. My grandparents, if they were alive today, would have been prou…
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Mr. Speaker, the residents of my riding of Davenport are proud of Canada's unwavering support for Ukraine and our proposed modernized Canada-Ukraine free trade agreement, also known as CUFTA. It is becoming increasingly clear, though, that the Conservative caucus does not support CUFTA, criticizing it in committee. The opposition leader had no shame in filibustering CUFTA in this House. While the …
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Madam Speaker, I will say a couple of things. The new affordability package we announced late last week really talks about ensuring that we provide more supports to rural Canadians, because we know that transitioning is costing them more money to reduce their costs. It is also an affordability plan that makes sure we are providing supports for those who have the highest-polluting type of energy, w…
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Madam Speaker, as always, it is a wonderful opportunity for me to speak on behalf of the residents of my riding of Davenport in the debate we have before us today. The debate is on an opposition motion, which I will read out so people who watch this will know what I am talking about. It reads: “given that the government has announced a ‘temporary, three-year pause’ to the federal carbon tax on hom…
Read full speech →Statements by Members
Mr. Speaker, Canada has always been a country that has needed immigrants to grow our economy. They enrich our country from coast to coast to coast. Our diversity has become our strength, with Canada continuing to be ranked as one of the top countries in the world to live. I am proud to let this House know that as of this week we have formally welcomed 40,000 Afghans to Canada, a promise we made an…
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Madam Speaker, this is what I would say to the hon. member. I live in downtown west Toronto. That is where my riding of Davenport is. My constituents want the federal government to keep moving as aggressively and urgently as possible to reduce our emissions to meet our targets. I think they understand that the transition costs money. I think that they are very pleased with our plan for a price on …
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Madam Speaker, it has been very disturbing to see that our oil and gas companies over the last few years, particularly during the years of the pandemic, have accumulated record profits, much of which went back to the U.S., and then have come back to Canada to ask for subsidies to decarbonize their production. What I would say to the member is that I agree this is something we should look at. I am …
Read full speech →Statements by Members
Mr. Speaker, in Canada today, nearly 1,000 patients are in need of life-saving stem cell transplants. Less than a quarter of those who are sick find a suitable donor in their family. The others count on unrelated volunteer donors to save their lives. Patients are more likely to find a suitable donor within their own ethnic group. That is why it is so important that our stem cell registry become as…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 34(1), I have the honour to present to the House, in both official languages, a report of the Canadian NATO Parliamentary Association respecting its participation at the joint visit of the Sub-Committee on Transatlantic Defence and Security Cooperation and the Sub-Committee on Resilience and Civil Security, held in Copenhagen, Denmark, and Nuuk, Greenland, f…
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Mr. Speaker, the residents in my riding of Davenport are proud of Canada's unwavering support of Ukraine as it is fighting an illegal, brutal invasion by Russia. The opposition is questioning the need for the important Canada-Ukraine trade legislation that is currently before this House, calling it “woke legislation”. This puts into question its support toward Ukraine. Can the Prime Minister infor…
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Mr. Speaker, the introduction of this legislation is an important milestone in the implementation of a modernized Canada-Ukraine free trade agreement. It is the first trade agreement Ukraine has signed since the onset of Russia's illegal war. I know it wants to use this as a model for signing other trade agreements, as it is trying to support its economy while undergoing an illegal, brutal war. It…
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Mr. Speaker, I want to correct the record. I am the member of Parliament for Davenport, which I am very proud of. I do not mind being confused with my wonderful colleague, the member of Parliament for Toronto—Danforth, as our ridings are often confused, but I wanted to correct the record on that. Canada and Ukraine I believe already had a foreign investment promotion and protection agreement. The …
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Mr. Speaker, I do not agree with the hon. member. I think there are a number of opportunities for members to provide their input. If the bill manages to get a vote in this House to move it to committee, there will be an enormous opportunity for comments from members of all sides of the House at that point in time. I will also say that none of these negotiations are ever conducted in secret. I thin…
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Mr. Speaker, I will keep my comments to the current trade agreement. We have stood with Ukraine forever. The Ukrainian diaspora is one of the largest diasporas here in Canada. We stand with them, as Ukraine fights this brutal and illegal war against Russia in their fight for democracy, because it is a fight they are also fighting on our behalf. For us, this is our way of helping to support their c…
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Mr. Speaker, on my side of the House I heard some of my colleagues say that that was a good question, which is really great. As I mentioned in my speech, there is a chapter that includes trade and indigenous people, which seeks to empower trade opportunities for this under-represented group. I think it is the first of its kind that either Ukraine or Canada has ever included in a free trade agreeme…
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Mr. Speaker, it is always a pleasure to speak on behalf of the wonderful residents of my riding of Davenport. Today I will be speaking to Bill C-57, an act to implement the 2023 Free Trade Agreement between Canada and Ukraine, but before I begin my formal written remarks, I want to take a few minutes to make a few comments. First, I am happy the bill has been introduced in the House. I am also gra…
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Madam Speaker, I mentioned $82 billion, which is a significant amount of money. I am very proud of that amount of investment in housing. We need to do more at all levels, including to help support more of the indigenous needs in our country. Last week, the Prime Minister was in the Northwest Territories. He did announce the construction of 50 new affordable homes in an apartment building in downto…
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Madam Speaker, I have not spoken to a farmer, but I will when I get the opportunity. Climate change is real. It is happening and the changes of climate are impacting our country and our society even more quickly than scientists had ever thought before. We have put a price on pollution, which is what the hon. member calls the carbon tax. We are returning all of the dollars that we collect from the …
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Madam Speaker, there were many questions in there and I could spend a lot of time responding to them. She first mentioned our deficit. I do want to mention that our deficit is down from a projected 1.5% of GDP last year to 1.4% this year. I know that the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance is going to give a fall economic statement, so we will get the latest numbers some time very shortl…
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