Government Orders
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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Madam Speaker, it is wonderful for me to have the opportunity to participate in today's opposition day debate on behalf of the residents of my riding of Davenport. The topic touches on Canadian debt levels, inflation and mortgages. It is not a surprise, as I am sure it is the case right across the country, that inflation is top of mind for Davenport residents. Affordability is a huge issue, so it …
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Mr. Speaker, October is Latin American Heritage Month, a time to celebrate the vibrant cultures, traditions and contributions of the Hispanic and Latin American communities in Canada. Over one million Hispanic and Latin Americans, coming from more than 20 countries, now call Canada their home. They come from many different countries, but they are one community. At the beginning of the month, I had…
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Madam Speaker, as always, it is a true honour for me to speak on behalf of the residents of my riding of Davenport on Bill C-56, an act to amend the Excise Tax Act and the Competition Act, though I will note that the short title is the affordable housing and groceries act. It is an important piece of legislation. It would help build more rental homes that would be affordable for Canadians and help…
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Madam Speaker, I will say a few things. One is that we have introduced 82 billion dollars' worth of programs, and we will, as a government, always be thinking, every single day, of what more we can do to make sure that we are providing housing for Canadians, deeply affordable housing, and the ability of Canadians to buy their very first house. Every day, we should be thinking and looking at all op…
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Madam Speaker, I would say to the hon. member that I would like to respectfully disagree with him. I had mentioned that I have been on the finance committee for four years. Over the last year and a half, we have disproportionately, and rightly so, spoken about housing and inflation, about how we get started. I will tell members that the rebate of the GST has been one of the top recommendations tha…
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Madam Speaker, I will answer the second question first, as it is more relevant to the bill at hand. On the second question, it will help all Canadians. It will help rural Canadians and urban Canadians. That is because it is meant to be a game-changer. It is meant to incentivize far more building of rental housing, whether it is in an urban setting or a rural setting. As I mentioned before, I quote…
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Madam Speaker, it was an honour to meet Portuguese President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, his foreign minister João Gomes Cravinho and other members of the Portuguese Parliament, who were all formally welcomed to Canada by our Prime Minister. They were in Canada to celebrate 70 years of Portuguese immigration to Canada and to strengthen Canada-Portugal relations. It was an outstanding visit, which hig…
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Madam Speaker, I will say that this bill has come together as a result of numerous consultations with a number of stakeholders and industry leaders across the country. It incorporates a lot of their suggestions. I can equally have a full page of all the people who are very happy to see this legislation move forward and believe that it is critical for us to have in order to improve our safety, the …
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Madam Speaker, it is always an honour for me to speak in this venerable House on behalf of the residents of my riding of Davenport, which, for those who do not know, is in downtown west Toronto. I am here to talk on Bill C-33. The formal title is very long, but I am going to say it. It is an act to amend the Customs Act, the Railway Safety Act, the Transportation of Dangerous Goods Act, 1992, the …
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Madam Speaker, as I said, it was absolutely awful on July 6, 2013, when 47 people perished from the derailment of the 72-tanker-car train transporting crude oil. I mentioned that our government had already taken some actions, and this bill would provide further, additional measures. I would say a couple of things to the member. In my riding of Davenport, where we have a CP Rail line that also carr…
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Madam Speaker, I think we all remember the absolutely awful tragedy that unfolded in Lac-Mégantic, where 47 lives were lost because of a tragic rail incident. We have taken a number of measures to strengthen the safety of our rail network, and this bill would provide additional measures, including the registry of dangerous goods and additional authorities for the Minister of Transport to ensure th…
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Mr. Speaker, on May 13, 1953, a group of Portuguese immigrants arrived on a boat named Saturnia, docking at Pier 21 in Halifax. These new immigrants started the first of many waves of Portuguese to start a new life in Canada. Now, 70 years later, Portuguese Canadians are almost half a million strong. Living in communities right across Canada, they are builders, musicians, athletes, business leader…
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Mr. Speaker, on May 13, 1953, 70 years ago, the first boatload of Portuguese migrants reached Pier 21 in Halifax. This marked the beginning of what would become large-scale immigration from Portugal to Canada. ln the ensuing years and decades, tens of thousands of Portuguese came to escape poverty, a dictatorship and the colonial wars they did not want to participate in. By this year, Portuguese C…
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Madam Speaker, I thank the hon. member for raising this. When we heard about this in the finance committee, we were all very concerned about it. My understanding is that we are looking at it right now. We are studying it, and many of us are advocating for immediate and urgent changes.
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Madam Speaker, it is an honour to stand in this venerable House to speak on behalf of my residents of the riding I am very proud to represent, which is Davenport, and to speak to the Conservative opposition day motion on inflation and housing. My remarks are going to cover three key areas. The first is the issue of inflation and housing and how it is impacting Davenport residents. The second is wh…
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Madam Speaker, at the finance committee, which I have the privilege to serve on, we did a study on inflation and housing. We heard from a number of advocates saying that we really have to look at the REITs, which have a particular mechanism that allows companies to buy apartment buildings. What we are hearing, in many cases but not in all cases, is that apartment buildings are being bought and sli…
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Madam Speaker, I do not know if I totally understood the question, and I apologize for that. However, on whether there are appropriate funding levels to go with immigration levels, I think that maybe the core of the issue is probably that we are bringing in a lot more immigrants and those immigrants need housing. We have revised our immigration policies and numbers, while being very much aware tha…
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Madam Speaker, we are doing a lot, but I will mention two key things. One is rapid housing, which is getting a lot of housing for our most vulnerable, for new Canadians, and they are built very quickly. If we talk to mayors right across this country, they will tell members that this is a very successful program, which is why we are about to introduce the third stage. The second thing is the $4-bil…
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Mr. Speaker, it is my absolute honour and pleasure to be hosting over 40 Hispanic and Latin American leaders to the House of Commons today, including, for the very first time, a member of the Latinx LGBTQ2 community. With representatives from Victoria to Nova Scotia and four provinces, they are in Ottawa to build relations with parliamentarians, to exchange knowledge and information, and to networ…
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Madam Speaker, I want to thank the hon. member for his amazing leadership in advocating for more mental health support. I do not think there is anybody in the House who does not agree that we need to have far more investment in mental health services. At all levels, we have not provided enough in the past. I will say there is an enormous top-up and an enormous investment in federal budget 2023. In…
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Madam Speaker, I would say to the hon. member that actions speak louder than words. We are very proud of the fact that we have worked with the NDP on the supply and confidence agreement. The supply and confidence agreement is about what we can work on together that we both agree on. More money for health care was a key part of that, so I am very proud that we are introducing a dental care plan by …
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Mr. Speaker, it is a true honour for me to speak to federal budget 2023 in the House on behalf of the residents of Davenport. It was really wonderful for me to be back in the riding over the last two weeks, to get a chance to go out and talk to the various Davenport residents, organizations and businesses about the different measures that we have in the budget. Before I go on, I want to say a huge…
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Madam Speaker, as I mentioned at the beginning of my speech, we have a very targeted budget with very targeted supports for our most vulnerable, but these should be taken in concert with all the other measures we have introduced. Seniors who are aged 75 and older in my riding were very happy to have an increase of 10% for their OAS. They were very happy for past GST rebates. That has been very hel…
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Mr. Speaker, climate science must be at the heart of our decision-making process to fight climate change. The latest UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change scientific report adds to our global knowledge and understanding, and shows the indisputable fact that humanity continues to warm our planet to dangerous levels. The science is clear that only urgent and sustained emissions reductions wil…
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Mr. Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 34(1), I have the honour to present to the House, in both official languages, the following reports of the Canadian NATO Parliamentary Association, respecting its participation at the bureau and standing committee meetings in Athens, Greece, from April 9 to 10, 2022, and the spring session in Vilnius, Lithuania, from May 25 to 30, 2022.
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Mr. Speaker, I rise to pay tribute to Peter Herrndorf, a giant in the Canadian arts and culture community and a beloved leader, who died on February 18. Peter spent a lifetime devoted to nurturing our artists, storytellers, journalists and administrators to tell the stories of Canada. Among many accomplishments, Peter was instrumental in creating The Journal at the CBC and The Agenda at TVO. Durin…
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Mr. Speaker, as the death toll continues to rise because of the tragic earthquakes in Turkey and northern Syria, our thoughts and prayers are with the families of the victims. There are over 36,000 dead and 90,000 injured; the numbers climb every minute. Nothing can be done to bring loved ones back to their families, but we can step up to do everything we can to help. Canada has committed $10 mill…
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Madam Speaker, I am pleased to rise today to speak on behalf of the residents of Davenport in support of Bill C-34, an act to amend the Investment Canada Act. The Investment Canada Act, for those who may not know, is designed to encourage investment, economic growth and employment in Canada. It is a very important act for our federal government, because as we continue to try to create a stronger c…
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Madam Speaker, I want to thank the hon. member for his important work on this file. As I mentioned, it is not the first time we have updated the Investment Canada Act. We have taken a number of actions to ensure that we have the right tools and flexibility to protect Canada's national security interests. Assuming the bill passes seconding reading in this House, it will go to committee, and there w…
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Madam Speaker, as I mentioned before, the Investment Canada Act provides for net benefit and national security reviews of foreign investments in Canada. We have proposed a number of changes in this particular act. Assuming the bill passes second reading in the House and goes to committee, there will be many opportunities to consider amendments that might strengthen it.
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Madam Speaker, the changes that are being proposed to the Investment Canada Act would provide more flexibility and agility for our minister to make these types of decisions in the future. My understanding is that he is always advised by our national security advisers. We will always take direction from those who provide us advice. There is a reason we are here: We are constantly modernizing our ac…
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Madam Speaker, I thought I had a minute left, but I just want to say to everyone who stood on a point of order that I very much outlined exactly what the bill is meant to do, why it is important to be part of the Investment Canada Act and why it is so important for both current and future economic success for Canada. As we create a culture around intellectual property, as we work to translate inve…
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Madam Speaker, I was highlighting some of the great investments we have already made, which are innovative and very much set Canada and Canadians up for success. At the end of January, the Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry announced an investment of $100 million through the strategic innovation fund to support Saskatchewan's BHP's $7.5-billion project to develop its world-leading, low-e…
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Madam Speaker, a few weeks ago, I was honoured to join the Prime Minister, along with the Minister of Foreign Affairs, the Minister of International Trade, Export Promotion, Small Business and Economic Development and the Minister of Public Safety, at the North American Leaders' Summit in my role as chair of the Canada-Mexico Parliamentary Friendship Group. During the summit, the leaders signed th…
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Mr. Speaker, every Canadian deserves a safe and affordable place to call home. By continuing to make substantial investments in affordable housing, we are creating new jobs, building an inclusive economy and strengthening our economies. We also know many employers need access to a pool of workers as labour shortages are felt across Canada. Could the Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenshi…
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Madam Speaker, I do think oil and gas companies are raking in the profits. They need to be using their profits and putting them toward reducing their emissions, to decarbonizing, to a just transition plan to help their workers continue to have well-paying jobs as we move forward to decarbonize and achieve our net-zero-by-2050 targets. I do not agree with the hon. member that we have not done enoug…
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Madam Speaker, I am happy to be sharing my time with the very hon. member for Vaughan—Woodbridge. I am very pleased to join in today's debate on the issue of the higher cost of living. It is one that is top of mind for our federal government and also for the residents of my riding of Davenport. It is also the top economic challenge facing our country right now. We have been speaking with Canadians…
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Madam Speaker, on the first part of the member's question, I said that we had to be very responsible in our spending, and that is exactly what we have been. We have been very responsible in our spending in our fall economic statement, in which we were very targeted in how we would actually spend money. We wanted to ensure we were providing targeted funding to those who needed it the most. I provid…
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Madam Speaker, fist, the supply and confidence agreement between the Liberals and the NDP was about us coming together and working on the things that we both believed in, such as the environment, housing, indigenous reconciliation, dental care and pharmacare. These are important priorities for Canadians and I am really glad we are working very hard together on achieving these objectives. With resp…
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Madam Speaker, I want to point out that we have been providing significant investment in critical cyber systems and cybersecurity. We did this in budget 2019 by providing $144.9 million for the protection of our critical cyber systems in the areas of finance, telecommunications, energy and transport. We also invested almost $400 million in the Canadian centre for cybersecurity, in the creation of …
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Madam Speaker, this question has come up all morning. I think it is a very big concern, not only for the opposition but for this side of the House. We want to make sure we get this right. We must ensure that we have very strong protections against cyber-attacks and have cyber-attack resiliency in this country. We also have to be very transparent about the additional powers and how they will be use…
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Madam Speaker, I will be sharing my time with the hon. member for Vaughan—Woodbridge. It is a true privilege for me to add my voice to the debate on Bill C-26, an act respecting cybersecurity, on behalf of the residents of my riding of Davenport, many of whom have written to me through the years about their concern around cybersecurity and the need for additional protections at all levels of gover…
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Madam Speaker, I think our Minister of Public Safety was very clear this morning. Without question, every time the government takes additional, decisive action and puts additional measures in place, there has to be corresponding transparency and accountability. We absolutely need to make sure there is enough of that in Bill C-26 so we have the confidence not only of the House but of Canadians with…
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Mr. Speaker, there are times when nations need to join together for the purposes of collective security, to defend our democracy and the international rule of law, as well as to ensure peace and stability in the world. Last week, NATO parliamentarians did just that with delegations from all 30 NATO countries meeting in Madrid for the 68th annual NATO Parliamentary Assembly. Over a five-day period …
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Mr. Speaker, I agree with the member 100%. New immigrants cannot be brought in without having a housing plan and without ensuring there is sufficient support for settlement services across the country. Both of those things are absolutely necessary. In the north, in my opinion, there is a need for additional IRCC resources in general just to support the population with respect to additional newcome…
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Mr. Speaker, it is a true honour for me to rise in the House today to speak to the fall economic statement, Bill C-32, on behalf of the citizens of my riding of Davenport. I would remind those who may be watching the speech that the fall economic statement provides insight into Canada's economic outlook and outlines the government's intentions moving forward. The fall economic statement also build…
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Mr. Speaker, I have lots more to say, but I know I only have less than three minutes left. The next thing I want to point out in the fall economic statement is because the residents of Davenport are very passionate climate activists. They really feel very strongly that we need to move as aggressively and urgently as possible toward meeting our net zero by 2050 targets, so the fact that there are s…
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Mr. Speaker, there are a number of measures that we have introduced. As I mentioned as a part of my speech, we have already introduced a doubling of the GST credit for the next six months. That is going to give individuals an additional $234 and seniors an additional $225. That is one of many measures. We also have a national housing strategy that has put billions of dollars more of investment int…
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Mr. Speaker, we are all concerned about our health care system. Not a day goes by that one of us does not hear stories about the backlog in our emergency systems. I want to remind the member that we have put a massive increase of funds into the health care system over the last few years and that we have made the commitment to put more money into it. I understand that while we want to put far more …
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