Routine Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 36(8)(a), I have the honour to table, in both official languages, the government's response to 28 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, I very much appreciate the words the member has spoken. Through the debate already this morning, one of the greatest concerns I have is that the Conservative Party seems to be saying Justice Arbour's recommendations are limited and have timed out, in essence, and that there is no obligation for us to respond to that report. Justice Arbour did an incredible job for members of the CAF, …
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Mr. Speaker, can I get the member's perspective on the recommendation brought forward by Justice Arbour to do that complete transfer, and can the member acknowledge that there would have been a great deal of effort in coming up with that recommendation? Is it the Bloc party's position, as it for the Conservatives, that they should just disregard that recommendation?
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Mr. Speaker, it is a pleasure to rise and express some thoughts on the amendments and the tactics we see the unholy alliance between the Bloc and the Conservatives is taking on this issue. The degree to which they try to give the false impression that the government is not listening to members of the CAF and that the government is not sensitive to the issue before the House today is really unfortu…
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Mr. Speaker, I suggest not only that the member has an obligation to listen to what was said at the standing committee, as the standing committee dealt with the legislation, but that there is also an obligation to look at what has been taking place over the last few years, based on a recommendation by Justice Arbour with regard to this very issue. I can assure the member that she, as a justice, ha…
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Mr. Speaker, the nice thing about standing committees is that everything is recorded. We do not have to physically be there. There is a Hansard. Let me read a quote from a standing committee. This is a quote from Charlotte Duval-Lantoine: I want to underline what Madam Arbour said about recommendation five, which is that giving the choice to victims to choose the jurisdiction in which they find th…
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Mr. Speaker, the member stood up on a point of order and interrupted another member. I would like to be able to finish my quote. I notice you are going to another speaker. I would like to be able to finish the quote.
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Mr. Speaker, I believe Justice Arbour has done an excellent job in making a statement that is very simple and easy to understand. At the end of the day, I would ultimately argue that the effort and work that the Canadian Forces did, along with what Justice Arbour did, should be respected within the chamber, and we should be getting behind it.
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Mr. Speaker, I am not sure if the Conservatives have really thought the amendments through. What they are doing is making the suggestion that we should have a dual system, one that provides a choice. Justice Arbour would no doubt have reviewed that particular option. She has done her homework in the consultations, in working with literally hundreds of victims and others, to come up with a recommen…
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Mr. Speaker, Justice Arbour came up with a recommendation to transfer cases to the civilian process. A previous standing committee of the House put forward a report, which the member indicated that she voted for, that said to do exactly what this legislation purports to do Justice Arbour would have met with literally hundreds of victims. Combined, we are probably talking about well over 1,000 peop…
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Mr. Speaker, I fundamentally disagree with the member's assessment. I think that he undervalues the many discussions that Justice Arbour would have had with victims. We are not talking about a few dozen; we are talking about hundreds, directly, and indirectly through the Canadian Forces, we are talking about thousands. I believe that the Conservative Party has marginalized those victims. There is …
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Mr. Speaker, the legislation does have substance and it does meet the reality. What is absent is any sort of Conservative rationale for what the Conservatives are doing to the bill. Justice Arbour's recommendation five is the essence of the legislation. Justice Arbour worked with literally hundreds, going into thousands, of people, either directly or indirectly, with CAF to ensure that we had the …
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Mr. Speaker, I rise on a point of order. I believe the member said we had a known prime minister who was a groper. It is highly inappropriate and definitely unparliamentary to make assertions of that nature, and I would ask that you have the member either apologize or retract the comment, at the very least.
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Mr. Speaker, I really appreciate the member's comment that a sexual assault is a sexual assault. I think that does need to be reinforced. As parliamentarians, we have an obligation to seek the best advice possible. The Arbour report contained 48 recommendations, I believe, the vast majority of which have been implemented. The essence of its primary recommendation is in the bill, which is to conver…
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Mr. Speaker, I can appreciate that the member is trying to appeal to all members in the strongest way he can. However, the reality is that the government is listening to survivors. The government's actions reinforce reports that have been brought forward. We can talk about the Justice Arbour report. He seemed to be offended that it is the report we reference. In June 2024, the Standing Committee o…
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Mr. Speaker, I am wondering if the member can speak to the principle of parliamentary tradition throughout the years where, when there is a majority in the House, there has consistently been a majority on the standing committees. That is what we have seen historically. There is a valid argument for the reason that takes place. Does the member support that principle and would he not agree it would …
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Mr. Speaker, it is a pleasure to rise and maybe add some value to the discussion we are having this afternoon on a very important motion. I advise members opposite to not necessarily be too fearful from the perspective of being in opposition. In my political career, I have actually spent more time on the opposition benches. I understand the important role members of the opposition play when it com…
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Mr. Speaker, I do not have a problem with saying my desire is to be collaborative. I want to be able to see the advancement of good, sound public policy. Two examples come to mind right offhand. The first is Bill C-14, the bail reform legislation. There was absolutely no reason whatsoever that we could not have passed that legislation at the end of last year. There was absolutely no reason. The re…
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Mr. Speaker, while I appreciate the member's question, I do not necessarily agree with his overall assessment. If members look at the legislative agenda of the government, there is a very limited amount of time for debate under government business. There is no programming in place. Over the last 15-plus years, there may have been an argument to start talking about programming. I would like to see …
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Mr. Speaker, I truly appreciate the question. I think that is the core of it for me, personally. We have had discussions related to lawful access virtually since last June. It was a priority for the Prime Minister. It deals with things like child sexual exploitation, severe repeat crimes and organized crime. It deals with issues like extortion, public safety and terrorism. There is absolutely no r…
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Mr. Speaker, in the last federal election, Canadians gave a very clear indication that they want to see more collaboration, and we are going to see that collaboration. Since the last federal election, the Government of Canada has done what it can to advance a legislative agenda that truly reflects what we heard from the electors on platform issues in that election. I have had to stand in this very…
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Mr. Speaker, I think it might be more of a reflection of how the member opposite handles himself in a standing committee. If the member genuinely believes that all standing committees are dysfunctional, I would invite him to attend different standing committee meetings. I have been in committees when there have been majorities, and it does change the optics; I will give him that much. However, I w…
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Mr. Speaker, let us take a look at some of the comments. We have the principle of a majority government, which should also apply to the standing committees, and that is within our rules, and we have the Conservative and Bloc members saying no. A compromise, to the Bloc and the Conservatives, is to say the Liberals cannot have a majority on committees. Is there another suggestion the member would l…
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Mr. Speaker, it is not about power at all costs. It is, as the Prime Minister has indicated, about delivering for Canadians, building Canada strong for all. That is what we are advocating for. The principle and parliamentary tradition are very clear. Even our Standing Orders state that when a party has a majority of seats in the House, it has a majority of seats in our standing committees. Does th…
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Mr. Speaker, it is a pleasure to rise and speak to private member's bill, Bill C-266, brought forward by the member for Richmond East—Steveston. It is quite encouraging to see a member of Parliament recognize an issue that has been around for many years. I am not too sure which individuals he consulted in regard to bringing this bill forward. I have been looking at this particular issue for a numb…
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Mr. Speaker, I will be sharing my time with the member for Winnipeg Centre. I want to pick up on a couple of points that my colleague and friend from the Conservatives raised. I believe we are at a very significant moment in time. Just yesterday, we were talking about modern treaties. We were talking about how important it is that we advance modern treaties. We have before us a modern treaty that …
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Mr. Speaker, I ask that it pass on division. (Motion agreed to)
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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 22 petitions. These returns will be tabled in an electronic format.
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Mr. Speaker, if the government's responses to Questions Nos. 915, 916, 917, 918, 919, 920, 921, 922, 923, 924, 925, 926, 927, 928, 929 and 930 could be made orders for return, these returns would be tabled in an electronic format immediately.
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Mr. Speaker, I ask that the remaining questions be allowed to stand.
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Mr. Speaker, I would ask that all notices of motions for the production of papers also be allowed to stand.
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Mr. Speaker, when I think of the Red River Métis Nation, I think of Louis Riel. A couple of years ago, we recognized Louis Riel as Manitoba's first premier. Further to that, I think about the Manitoba Métis Federation. I have been a parliamentarian for over three decades now. It has been such a wonderful thing to witness first-hand how the MMF has stood consistently to ensure that the Red River Mé…
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Mr. Speaker, it was interesting listening to many of the comments members put on the record today. There is a bit of an expectation that we would afford the opportunity to hear more comments, maybe answer some specific questions, by allowing the legislation to get to a standing committee. The time on the floor is wonderful, and we will get opportunities on third reading and so forth, but to see it…
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Mr. Speaker, the member brings up a valid point in terms of making sure that voices on all sides of the issue are being heard. The point I am getting at is that we are all very familiar with the finite amount of time here on the floor of the House. In allowing the bill to go to committee, we have more time for members to express themselves. The individuals that the member referenced would potentia…
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Mr. Speaker, I think there are many individuals, possibly even in the House, who would be better equipped to answer that specific question. I was quite impressed with the amount of knowledge the member had on the issue in his speech, and I compliment him on that. For me, it is about recognizing the value of the legislation that we have before us on a modern treaty and advancing something that shou…
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Mr. Speaker, a modern treaty, from my personal perspective, is so important because I love my city, my province and my country. In order for us to move forward and reach our potential, we need to get modern treaties in place. All we need to do is look at the footprint. A lot of the growth and a lot of the positive things that are happening in communities today are rooted in the MMF. If we are ever…
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Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the NDP's position on validating the need to allow the legislation to get to committee. I think that is a very strong, encouraging and positive word, which does not preclude everything in the legislation being ironclad. I look forward to seeing the amendments. I encourage the member to speak within the department, and maybe do other consultations in advance, so that we ge…
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Mr. Speaker, the member said to let us get it to committee. That is one encouraging remark I heard in his comments. The issue of membership comes up. I think of someone who is very proud of his or her Red River Métis nation heritage and, in fact, of their core identity. In order to identify themselves as Red River Métis, a proud man or woman, they do not have to live in the city of Winnipeg or in …
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Mr. Speaker, I want to commend the member for the manner in which he has identified an issue, he has stuck with the issue and he has garnered the support of virtually every member of the House of Commons. I know, no matter what region of the nation we are in, people are genuinely concerned about organ donation. It is more of a comment than a question. I want to thank all those who were involved in…
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Mr. Speaker, I would ask that it pass unanimously. (Motion agreed to, bill read the third time and passed)
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Mr. Speaker, it is somewhat unfortunate, and I will get the opportunity to expand on it, that the member opposite in the Conservative Party is playing mischief politics. We were supposed to be looking at our Parliamentary Budget Officer today and having that debate. The Conservatives talk about the importance of having the Parliamentary Budget Officer, and then we see the hypocrisy on the floor to…
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Mr. Speaker, I had the opportunity to ask the member's colleague a question. It is disappointing that the Conservatives do not recognize the importance of Canada's independent Parliamentary Budget Officer. It would appear that they do not support her appointment, and that is why they have chosen to move a concurrence report today. It is a form of filibustering in order to prevent that discussion. …
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Mr. Speaker, it is unfortunate that I have to rise today to speak to a motion brought forward by the Conservative Party, which is not to take away from the importance of young people in Canada. However, before I get into this, I think it is important to recognize the issues that young people face in Canada today. This Prime Minister, this government and all members of the Liberal caucus are keen t…
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Mr. Speaker, they say, “Name one.” I can name a lot more than one.
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Mr. Speaker, absolutely. I suspect I used the words “skill sets” and “youth” more than the member opposite did when he introduced the concurrence motion. If he was listening to what is being said, as opposed to being the mouthpiece for the leader of the Conservative Party in this game they choose to play, the House of Commons would be better served, quite frankly. The member opposite, my colleague…
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Mr. Speaker, I would love to give that example. Hopefully, there will not be another point of order to prevent it. There is a suite of legislative initiatives to deal with an important issue in the member opposite's riding, my riding and ridings across the country. The Government of Canada has been pushing hard for this since day one following the election, and that was to deal with the issue of c…
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Mr. Speaker, I believe fundamentally that any opportunity a young person has to enhance a skill set, in whatever format or venue it might be, is something that is worthy of us to pursue and encourage. We should be doing that because it is about giving young people a chance. Where we can enhance it, we should look seriously at doing so. What I would say to members opposite, in particular the Conser…
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Mr. Speaker, the mistake was made when the government House leader made it clear that we were going to be bringing in the motion and that we wanted to have that vote on the independent Parliamentary Budget Officer. By making it known to the opposition, because we were trying to be co-operative, the opposition then said, “We can prevent them from doing that by coming up with another motion.” The of…
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Mr. Speaker, in the past, with majority and minority governments, we were very familiar with concurrence votes on reports. This is a stalling game being played. On the whole idea of a majority versus a minority, quite frankly, we want to see co-operation. We want to encourage co-operation. That is what the Prime Minister has talked about since the last federal election, less than a year ago. We wa…
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