Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, I wonder if the member could just reflect on how important the issue has been for the government, which is the primary reason for bringing this legislation forward. In contrast to the Conservatives, we believe that the national government does play a strong leadership role in making housing more affordable in Canada and in working with our partners.
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Madam Speaker, upon reflection, it was the Liberal Party of Pierre Elliott Trudeau that brought in the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. In the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, freedom of religion and its practice are very clear. We are not going to censor people sitting in a Bible club or practising their faith. The arguments the Conservative Party has brought to the floor on Bill C-9 are absolutely…
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Mr. Speaker, I would ask that all questions be allowed to stand.
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Mr. Speaker, it is important to recognize that this is substantial legislation designed and meant to support Canadians in all regions of the nation in regard to housing by working with different levels of government and the many stakeholders out there in an attempt to increase Canada's housing stock and make it more affordable in many different ways. I wonder if the member opposite would not conce…
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Mr. Speaker, I would like to make a contrast, if I may, to when the leader of the Conservative Party was the minister responsible for housing. He will likely go down in Canadian history as the worst minister for housing. He contributed to six homes being constructed. Having said that, we have seen, within a year, significant progress in terms of affordable housing. We have seen stakeholders of all…
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Mr. Speaker, I ask members to imagine, if they will, a new Prime Minister, elected less than a year ago, and thousands and thousands of homes, from non-profit to affordable housing, being built. We have a government, a Prime Minister and a Liberal caucus committed to support and care about, as much as possible, more homes being built at rates we have never witnessed before in Canada. The Conservat…
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Mr. Speaker, I know my colleague understands the benefits of the Province of Quebec and Ottawa working together. I just want to read from a press release, if I may. We were talking about it a little earlier. This was done in January, when we had both the Province of Quebec and the Government of Canada sitting at a table. This is the press release: “In order to ensure the harmonized deployment of B…
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Mr. Speaker, I agree with one thing, which is that Canadians would love to have hope. We have a Prime Minister who was elected less than a year ago. Take a look at the number of initiatives that this new Prime Minister, along with the government as a whole, has taken in order to provide that hope. There are number of initiatives and thousands of homes. It is a plan that is accepted by other jurisd…
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Mr. Speaker, just to show some contrast, we have the mayor of Winnipeg, the premier of Manitoba and different stakeholders in Winnipeg all recognizing the valuable contributions that the federal government is making in terms of expanding affordable housing. It is all public information. Would the member not at least recognize that we do have a government that is working with the different stakehol…
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Mr. Speaker, from my perspective and the way that I look at it is that it does not matter what region of the nation one is coming from. I truly believe that people want to see opposition and government members working together, not only here in Ottawa but working with other jurisdictions in order to be able to deal with the serious issues that we have to face. The Province of Quebec has signed off…
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Mr. Speaker, I disagree with the member in general, but I like his first comment about providing hope. We have a newly elected Prime Minister, from less than a year ago, and we have been working with different levels of government. We have been working with many different stakeholders. We have a substantial piece of legislation to support Canadians in every region of the country. It is not a dupli…
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Mr. Speaker, I must say that I always enjoy listening to the member opposite. I know she puts a great deal of effort into her speeches, and I suspect there are many Conservatives in the back room who take note of what she says so they can add it to the Conservative spin they put out on a daily basis. Let us get down to the very root of the difference. I remember when I was the housing critic in Ma…
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Mr. Speaker, here is the bottom line. Less than a year ago, Canada elected a new Prime Minister and a government that made the commitment to achieve 500,000 homes being built per year within the next 10 years, to get to that goal. We are working with provinces of all political stripes, from Progressive Conservative governments to New Democratic governments. We are working together in order to be a…
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Mr. Speaker, in recognizing the very serious nature of what is happening in the Middle East, the Minister of Foreign Affairs made very clear the government's actual position on what is taking place. It seems to me that the Conservatives have the motivation of trying to portray misinformation to Canadians, when in fact the government is being clear. Does the leader of the official opposition recogn…
Read full speech →Statements by Members
Mr. Speaker, it is about a team Canada approach. Every Liberal member of Parliament understands the importance of the Canada-U.S.A. trade. Every Liberal member of Parliament does. While the leader of the Conservative Party is trying to reset his trade position, we have a Conservative member of Parliament who travels to the U.S.A., meets with the President and meets with the Vice-President. What do…
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Mr. Speaker, what is very clear, coming out of the last election, less than a year ago, is that Canadians elected a new Prime Minister with a mandate to build a strong and healthy Canada. That is exactly what we are doing. Whether it is budgetary motions or legislative measures, this is exactly what Canadians want, and it is exactly what this caucus continues to deliver. Contrary to what Conservat…
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Mr. Speaker, contrast the Conservatives with the government of the day and the Prime Minister. We believe in Canadians. We are investing in Canada's infrastructure. We are investing in Canadians. All the Conservatives want to do is talk down Canada. Have I got a news flash for the members opposite: You have a choice. You can either come onside and be a part of team Canada, or continue what you are…
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Mr. Speaker, I would ask that all questions be allowed to stand at this time, please.
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Mr. Speaker, the legislation, as proposed, would affect many of the constituents I represent, so I know there is a fairly keen interest in the subject matter. I also know and recognize that this is something that must be indigenous-led. I really appreciated the introduction by our minister earlier this morning. She brings a very strong personal touch to the issue. The question I have for the membe…
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Mr. Speaker, we ask that it be carried on division.
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Mr. Speaker, I rise on a point of order. I suspect if you were to canvass the House, you would find unanimous consent to call it 1:30 p.m. so we could begin private members' hour.
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Mr. Speaker, I suspect if you were to canvass the House, you would find unanimous consent, as discussed with the official opposition, to allow the bill to pass unanimously but to allow it to go to committee. This way, individuals that might want to present at committee are afforded that opportunity.
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Mr. Speaker, I would ask that all questions be allowed to stand at this time.
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[For text of questions and responses, see Written Questions website]
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Madam Speaker, I would be interested in hearing the member's understanding or appreciation of the importance of trade to Canada and why, whether it is the Prime Minister, the cabinet or so many of our colleagues, they are pursuing ways in which we can increase exports. It is a very important aspect of the economy. Canada makes up about 0.5% of the world population, yet we participate in 2.5% of wo…
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Madam Speaker, there is a fundamental flaw in the member's argument when he talks about the deficit. Surely to goodness he would recognize that of the G7 countries, countries like the United States, France and England, there are only two countries that have a AAA rating, Canada being one of them. We, the government and the Prime Minister, are using our financial capacity to build a stronger, healt…
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Madam Speaker, the member is concerned about some exemptions in regard to ministers and he is not recognizing what the budget would do for technology, building and promoting economic growth. It is not to take away from the powers of the House of Commons. We could be using our standing committees in many different ways than we currently use them, ensuring more accountability and transparency. My co…
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Madam Speaker, let me attempt to address the member's concerns head-on. As the member knows, it was a unanimous consent motion that ultimately allowed us to get the process to where we are today. Prior to that unanimous consent motion, if we just flash back to a couple of months ago, there was a great deal of filibustering taking place on the floor of the House of Commons. This legislation was int…
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Madam Speaker, first off, let me comment on the previous speaker's concerns. I was trying to quickly find the quote on this by the managing director of the IMF, a very important world organization. This is what the managing director had to say about Canada: Both Germany and Canada recognize that in this very testing time, they need to use their fiscal space. She continued: In the case of Canada, t…
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Mr. Speaker, absolutely, it was. The member can listen to it. He was questioning the Alberta premier and the Canadian Prime Minister and whether the MOU they signed was of any real value. It is interesting that even the far-right Conservatives here are starting to criticize the Premier of Alberta. They opposed the MOU. On the one hand, they say they want pipelines, and then on the other hand, they…
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Mr. Speaker, first of all, I am not going to concede that it is against Canadian accounting principles. I have more confidence in the Prime Minister of Canada, who has been the governor of the Bank of Canada and the governor of the Bank of England. He has impeccable economic credentials. We can contrast that to the leader of the Conservative Party, but it is probably better if I just leave it at t…
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Mr. Speaker, first and foremost, let me suggest to the member that as a political entity in the House, it would appear at times that the only party that truly believes in sustainable development is in fact the party that happens to be in government today. We have, on the one hand, the Bloc, which wants to shut down all of oil. We then have the Conservatives, who say one thing, until it comes to de…
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Mr. Speaker, I really appreciate the question, especially from one of my Atlantic colleagues, because I can remember having discussions with some of my Atlantic colleagues in regard to the potential of legislation we passed that recognized wind and waves and how that could be converted into energy. I believe it was two provinces, Newfoundland and Labrador along with, I think, Nova Scotia. Do not q…
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Mr. Speaker, first of all, I believe the leader of the Green Party made the right decision to go to Tumbler Ridge. I would not question that particular decision. In that situation, she was likely the only member of Parliament who did not support the process, because all other members of Parliament clearly supported it. If we had not had the unanimous consent motion, the filibustering would, in all…
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Mr. Speaker, we can think about this: Canada gets a new Prime Minister and 70 new Liberal members of Parliament, and a few months later, we make a major project announcement in B.C. regarding LNG. I see that as a positive thing. I was in a discussion just the other day, and we were actually talking about the Port of Churchill and saying that maybe it could play a role in LNG distribution. The Prim…
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Mr. Speaker, the reason the member opposite did not get a very specific answer is that I do not know offhand the very specific answer. That is why I generalized by indicating that, at the end of the day, I do believe there are opportunities for us to grow, whether with clean energy or fossil energy, at this point in time. There are the ways in which, as a government, we have to make some difficult…
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Mr. Speaker, on February 17 of this year, Conservatives sent out an email to thousands of Canadians. It said that the Prime Minister would be judged on prices in the grocery stores and that “Since then, food bank usage has doubled”. That is an outright untruth. The email then talks about food inflation and gives four examples. The number one example is a 37.4% increase for coffee. The reason coffe…
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Mr. Speaker, the Conservatives continue to use imaginary food taxes. My question is a follow-up to the member. He himself honestly said that coffee is not produced in Canada. He said that. Why then would the Conservatives use the fact that coffee costs 37.4% more as their lead item to get people upset? Why are they saying that when they know that Canada has very little, if anything at all, to do w…
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Mr. Speaker, I want to follow up on a statement the previous speaker made, the member for Richmond—Arthabaska. He made the statement that in certain situations, which he described, the Conservatives do not have any problem with renewing temporary work permits. Can the member give us a clear indication of whether the member for Richmond—Arthabaska was correct in his assessment of the Conservative P…
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Mr. Speaker, my question is in regard to the significant investments that are going into Quebec. I am thinking of the port of Montreal. Literally thousands of people are being affected. It is a wonderful development. We now also have the high-speed rail. If we put it in the perspective of investment, these are significant investments, and I believe that the people of Quebec would actually support …
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Mr. Speaker, I will not address the silliness of making accusations about funding criminal activity internationally. It is interesting, given the member is from the prairie region, that he does not recognize that when we go into an election, a major document we provide Canadians is our election platform. The Conservative Party had nothing in regard to agriculture in its own platform. That is an in…
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Mr. Speaker, it is interesting that the member says, “Follow the rules.” He might want to reflect on his own leader and the advertising he did. In fact, one incident was brought to the Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner. The minister at the time, the leader of the Conservative Party, was found guilty, that is with respect to following the rules. Yes, there has been a great deal ambition …
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Mr. Speaker, I go back to the end of last year, when the Conservative Party was doing a considerable amount of filibustering and did not even want the current bill to go to the committee stage, where maybe we would have had more discussion and more accountability with respect to asking and answering questions. I wonder if the member has any regret or remorse that there was so much filibustering be…
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Mr. Speaker, first and foremost, the member opposite has to take in the reality that there was an election and Canada does have a new Prime Minister. As much as they might want to go back, that is not the case. Let me give a quote. This comes from the IMF's managing director. The IMF represents 190 different countries, and this is what the managing director has to say: Both Germany and Canada reco…
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Mr. Speaker, we request that it be carried on division. (Motion agreed to, bill read the third time and passed)
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Mr. Speaker, the member was wrong when he made the assertion that veterans offices were not closed. There were nine veterans offices that were in fact closed. The government has worked and will continue to work closely with veterans to ensure we are there for them, not only for the short term but also for the long term. Can the member confirm and will he admit that there were nine offices that wer…
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Mr. Speaker, I rise on a point of order. I suspect if you were to canvass the House, you would find unanimous consent at this time to call it 5:30 p.m., so we could begin private members' hour.
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Mr. Speaker, you know, as the government moves to build Canada strong, there are members of the Conservative Party who have made it very clear that they oppose the Canada Infrastructure Bank in every way and that they oppose the fast-train project, which is a very important project for Ontario and the province of Quebec. Based on what the member has said in regard to that particular project, I am …
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Mr. Speaker, we request a recorded vote.
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Mr. Speaker, we request a recorded vote.
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