Routine Proceedings
[For text of questions and responses, see Written Questions website]
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Mr. Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 36(8)(a), I have the honour to table, in both official languages, the government's response to 16 petitions. These returns will be tabled in an electronic format.
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Mr. Speaker, I would ask that all questions be allowed to stand.
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Mr. Speaker, today I am tabling a petition from a number of individuals. Actually, over 1,000 people have signed the petition. The petitioners are looking for a sense, from both the provincial Government of Manitoba and Ottawa, of working together to try to come up with a solution to deal with Manitoba's unique situation related to our workforce and how temporary workers could potentially fit in.
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Mr. Speaker, I would like to pick up on my friend's comment that we live in the real world. The real world is looking pretty good in terms of where Canada has been since the last federal election. We have a Prime Minister who has been out and about, attracting literally billions of dollars in commitments of investment. We have 20 trade and defence agreements. We have passed trade bills. We have pa…
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Mr. Speaker, I want the member to recognize the degree to which the Conservative Party always wants to talk down the economy. It brings me to yesterday, when we found out that thePrime Minister went to the G7 and that 13 new deals were signed off, with countries such as Japan, Italy, Denmark, France, Germany, Netherlands and Portugal, five billion dollars' worth of agreements. Take a look at the m…
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Mr. Speaker, since the last election, just over a year ago, when Canadians voted for our current Prime Minister and a new government, we have been listening to the people of Canada. Members will see that listening in every aspect of our legislative agenda and our budgetary measures. People are genuinely concerned about the economy, tariffs and trade, and President Trump. They are concerned about c…
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Mr. Speaker, I appreciated to a certain degree the member's comments when he made reference to the issue of the process. However, I would ask him to realize that, over the years, things have changed considerably. We saw time allocation used during Stephen Harper's government a record number of times. If the opposition were to get its way regarding legislation, we would never, ever be able to pass …
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Mr. Speaker, as I have indicated, when we take a look at this particular legislation, or any other piece of legislation or budgetary measures that the government has brought in since the last election, when Canadians elected a new Prime Minister and a new government, we will find that listening to Canadians is the top priority. Every measure we have brought in is a reflection of what our constitue…
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Mr. Speaker, we request a recorded division.
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Mr. Speaker, I ask that all remaining questions be allowed to stand.
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Mr. Speaker, I ask that all notices of motions for the production of papers be allowed to stand.
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Mr. Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 36(8)(a), I have the honour to table, in both official languages, the government's response to 14 petitions. These returns will be tabled in an electronic format.
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Mr. Speaker, if the government's responses to Questions Nos. 1164, 1165, 1166, 1167, 1168, 1169, 1170, 1171, 1172, 1173, 1174, 1175, 1176, 1177, 1178, 1179, 1180, 1181, 1182, 1183, 1184, 1185, 1186, 1187, 1188, 1189, 1190 and 1191 could be made orders for return, these returns would be tabled in electronic format immediately.
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No, I am not kidding. It is true. Mr. Speaker, we see that, and I will give a good example. Last week, the Conservatives finally, after years, agreed that they would sit late. A few hours later, they moved a motion to adjourn the House, and it was not the first time. It is not about wanting more time to debate. It is more about preventing the legislation from passing. I can say to the members oppo…
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Mr. Speaker, I suspect if you were to canvass the House, you would find unanimous consent to call it 6:37 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, it is a pleasure to rise and speak to Bill C-22 and to just how important lawful access is to our country. Bill C-22 is important legislation. I say that to members across the way, in particular, and those who have been following the whole debate and discussions that have been taking place in the House of Commons not only since the last election but also during the last election, when…
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Mr. Speaker, one of my colleagues asked what Joe Clark would do. Do members remember what Joe Clark, the former Progressive Conservative prime minister of Canada, said? He said that he never left the party; the party left him. Since he said that, the party has gone even further. That is fine. The Conservatives are the ones who will determine their future. However, for me, when the actions of the C…
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Mr. Speaker, these are actually quotes from emails that come from the Conservative Party of Canada. Here is another one, and members will like this one: “the Liberals are waging a war on religious freedom.” Wow, that is truly amazing. It states, “Their goal is to expose people of faith to criminal prosecution for the simple act of quoting their own sacred texts.” It goes on. This one has, “Donate …
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Mr. Speaker, I will let the name of Joe Clark, one of Canada's prime ministers, a Progressive Conservative, stand pretty high. I can tell the member opposite that never before, at the doors, have as many people told me that they voted Conservative in the past but were voting Liberal this time around. I truly believe it was because there is a great deal of contrast between the leader of the Conserv…
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Mr. Speaker, the question allows me to highlight what we have seen taking place on the floor of the House of Commons over the last week or so. Not only is an excessive amount of filibustering or wasting time taking place in standing committees, as has often been witnessed, but it has also happened here in the House. Last week, a motion was agreed upon by the Conservatives that allows us to sit Mon…
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Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the member's comments. Back home, I am often told that when I am addressing groups, I speak loudly. I tend to speak loudly. That is my normal. I do not mean to cause issues by it. I believe that there has been a great deal of collaboration between the minister's office and different ministers. We have seen collaboration working with the many different stakeholders in many…
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Mr. Speaker, let us imagine this. The Government of Canada, through its ministries, worked collaboratively with provincial jurisdictions, municipal jurisdictions and law enforcement agencies, and it built a consensus, which is very easy to do, on lawful access. The bill came to the floor of the House of Commons in September year. It was brought to the Conservatives, and they said, “No way. We are …
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Mr. Speaker, I really do appreciate the question. I think it is best answered by recounting what one of our senators said in addressing the bill. She talked about having a wonderful dinner at home and then going for a walk, during which she was harassed by some people in a truck who were saying some fairly harsh things. They actually had a noose in the truck. In order to really appreciate the hatr…
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Madam Speaker, I completely disagree with the leader of the Green Party, because I do not think she is reflecting on the reality of change that we have seen over the last 15 years. If we follow the logic of the leader of the Green Party, it would be the Conservative Party of Canada that would determine what legislation passed, because she does not believe that time allocation should be used. The m…
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Madam Speaker, the member cannot change what was decided in the last federal election, when Canada elected a new Prime Minister and a new government. Under the administration of the new Prime Minister, we brought forward a legislative suite of crime legislation, and the biggest barrier to passing that legislation, which would make our communities safer, is the Conservative Party of Canada. That is…
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Mr. Speaker, it is unfair for the member to make the kinds of comments that she has. She knows full well that lawful access has been debated and talked about. We brought in legislation back in September of last year. The Conservative Party opposed it; they did not want anything to do with it. That is the reality. If it were up to the opposition, it would never pass. Without time allocation, it wou…
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Mr. Speaker, I suspect if you were to canvass the House, you would find unanimous consent to call at 12:49 at this time so we can get to the late show.
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Madam Speaker, it is a pleasure for me to rise and to speak to the bill. I would like to start by providing a comment on both the question I posed to the member who just spoke and some of the discussion that was taking place late last night around midnight on the floor of the House. I will quote specifically Senator Bernard from comments she has made, because there has been a lot of talk on the fl…
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Mr. Speaker, we request a recorded vote, please.
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Madam Speaker, the way the Conservative Party of Canada is marginalizing something that has touched the lives of thousands over the years, in regard to the whole noose debate, is somewhat sad. Let me give a specific example that the member might not be aware of but is the reality of the situation. Senator Bernard, out for a walk, was confronted in her home community by a group, particularly an ind…
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Madam Speaker, the member from across the way asked, “What's wrong with that?” If he does not understand the challenge in terms of ethical behaviour that the current far right within the Conservative Party has today, it is a very serious issue to use to ask for, to raise, money. There are other emails I have received, such as this one: “Kevin, for 10 years the Liberals have been trying to control …
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Madam Speaker, I am honest. I am actually quoting Conservative emails, and I can say that there are a lot more emails with regard to Bill C-9. With respect to what Bill C-9 actually would do, I provided a quote providing those assurances. It would deal with hatred in Canada in different ways. It would protect our institutions, whether they are community centres, Christian churches, Sikh gurdwaras,…
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Madam Speaker, absolutely. I wish I would be given the time to give a full answer on it. When people go to the voting booth, they exercise their vote, and the names of the local candidates are on the ballot. However, to deny the fact that people vote for the leader of political parties, the party itself and the local candidate is to deny reality. At the end of the day, people contrasted our Prime …
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Madam Speaker, I have had the opportunity, as has every member of Parliament I am sure, to address this issue, which has become fairly contentious because of the misinformation funnelled through the House of Commons by one political entity, the Conservative Party. However, I believe the majority of Canadians will become much more familiar with and see the benefits of the legislation as a whole. Th…
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Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague for the question because it allows me to highlight what Senator Bernard indicated. I made reference to it at the very beginning of my speech. It is a fairly long quote, but the essence of it is an individual who was sitting around a dinner table, then went out for an evening walk, where there was all sorts of language used by someone driving a truck toward her, …
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Madam Speaker, our secretary of state has highlighted Bill C-9, but it is not that alone. We also have Bill C-16, as the secretary of state knows full well, wherein we would be reinstating mandatory minimums and leading changes to criminal laws, dealing with femicide, as an example, by dealing with the issue of coercive behaviour from a partner. The Conservatives are opposing that legislation too.…
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Madam Speaker, we have seen today's Conservative Party continue to move further and further to the right. It has become an extreme right that is dominating the House leadership within the Conservative Party. We see that more and more, and I do not say that lightly. If we take a look at it, not one Conservative has stood up and asked me a question about my comments. I suspect it is because they are…
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Madam Speaker, to pick up on the first part of the member's comments, Canada is a diverse country. Our diversity is one of the greatest strengths that we have, and we can demonstrate leadership throughout the world by passing legislation of this nature and cherishing our diversity.
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Mr. Speaker, my colleague had previously asked the member if he could cite an example of the use of the religious exemption. The reason he cannot do that is that there are no examples, because it has never been used. Does the member genuinely believe that a pastor or a priest in a gurdwara would really be in difficult times by just quoting from the Guru Granth Sahib or a holy book? Does he really …
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Mr. Speaker, it is indeed unfortunate. We see the winding down of debate on Bill C‑9, an important piece of legislation that deals with hate. It is one of many pieces of legislation that this Prime Minister and this government have introduced since the last federal election, just over a year ago. Canadians will know, and realize, that the Government of Canada is serious about dealing with crime. O…
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Mr. Speaker, we request a recorded vote, please.
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Mr. Speaker, when I take a look at what happens in our environment today, unfortunately the reality is that there is a great deal of hatred that is out there. There is an expectation, and the Prime Minister and the government responded in the last election, to bring forward hate legislation. Bill C-9 is all about doing the right thing, along with fulfilling an election platform issue. I am wonderi…
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Mr. Speaker, we request a recorded division.
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Mr. Speaker, back in the day, Peter Van Loan sat a couple of desks in front of me. That was when the current leader of the Conservative Party participated in programming motions. They brought motions like what we have today well over 100 times. Earlier this year, we even saw Conservatives vote in favour of time allocation, or a motion of this nature, because they recognized that Bill C‑5 was an im…
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Mr. Speaker, I suspect if you were to canvass the House, you would find unanimous consent to call it 7:11 p.m. at this time.
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Mr. Speaker, we would request a recorded vote.
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Mr. Speaker, it is a pleasure for me to rise and acknowledge a very important piece of legislation. During private members' hour, we are afforded the opportunity to prioritize issues that are important to individual members of Parliament. I know my colleague and friend from Scarborough—Woburn has identified this and is working collaboratively with the Senate not only to raise the profile of an imp…
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Mr. Speaker, I am grateful to hear that the Bloc sees the merit in voting for Bill C-26. He might want to revisit the whole health equation and also factor that into discussions that have taken place where there were tax points transfers in favour of fewer cash transfers back in the late seventies or early eighties. I might be a little bit off on the years there, but that should also be taken into…
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Mr. Speaker, Manitoba also paid for its hydro development. The question is not Quebec versus Manitoba, not at all. That is not what I am trying to get at. What I am trying to get at is that one of the benefits of collaboration and being in the federation is that there is a higher sense of fairness and equity. The equalization payments are a good example of that. Manitoba has been a beneficiary eve…
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