Routine Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, who am I to pop the bubble of the member? Even the committee chair indicated he had just been put into the chair's position, and he wanted to take a couple of days just to understand the nature of the discussions and the debates that were taking place. It is always nice to see committees having good, positive debate that ultimately sees the advancement of legislation, and I would hope…
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Mr. Speaker, I appreciate that the member recognizes the makeup of a committee can determine the productivity of that committee. In committees that work well together, we see a higher sense of co-operation. However, in some committees, and I am sure he would admit this, there is a high sense of politicization that takes place. That is where we will often see filibusters occurring. As a specific ex…
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Mr. Speaker, if the government's responses to Questions Nos. 497, 498, 499, 500, 501, 502, 503, 504, 505, 506, 507, 508, 509, 510, 511, 512, 513, 514, 515, 516, 517, 518, 519, 520, 521 and 522 could be made orders for return, these returns would be tabled in an electronic format immediately.
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Mr. Speaker, the secretary has been a very powerful advocate in the area of bail reform. If we do a flashback to the last federal election a number of months ago, the Prime Minister made a commitment to Canadians to bring forward bail reform legislation and to work with the provinces, law enforcement and many different stakeholders to have bail reform legislation. As a minister, I know full well s…
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Mr. Speaker, I ask that all remaining questions be allowed to stand.
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Mr. Speaker, as I am sure the member is aware, years ago the Conservative Party actually developed a book on how to obstruct committee work. I wonder if he might want to just reflect on that. I do not know if Conservatives have brought the book back, but I suspect they have. The current leader was part of the former book. They might have an updated, more modern book. Could the hon. member share wi…
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Mr. Speaker, I rise on a point of order. I am hoping and believing there will be unanimous consent that would allow me to table some questions for return.
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Mr. Speaker, I am sure that the member would acknowledge that, at times, we get things that come out of committees. We have a committee that says it wants to try to travel, at taxpayers' expense, to talk about and promote what I would suggest is misinformation or misleading information. Why should the taxpayers have to pay for it? Why would the government want to support an initiative like that?
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Mr. Speaker, what has not been lost on me regarding the debate that has been taking place to date is what should have been taking place today. We should have been talking about the budget implementation bill. However, the Conservatives, once again, are using this debate to filibuster instead of talking about the budget. There is a lot of irony there. I would suggest to the members opposite that, i…
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Mr. Speaker, I stand on a point of order. The member is trying to walk a fine line in terms of talking about members being present or not present, and I just want to caution that he is not supposed to be doing that.
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, the Government of Canada and the Prime Minister do care about Canadians. That is one of the reasons we have the budget that we presented. It does a lot of the things the member says that it does not do. Whether it is the issue of affordability or building a stronger and healthier Canada, there is lots of stuff in there for the Conservatives to recognize and vote in favour of. Of cours…
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Mr. Speaker, this is ironic coming from a member who sat around, along with the leader of the Conservative Party, with Stephen Harper. When we look at Stephen Harper's record of low productivity, he will recognize that it was a disaster. He did not do anything for the productivity of Canadians during that miserable 10 years, and the member sat around in that caucus. On the deficit situation, we ar…
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Mr. Speaker, there has been a lot of good news that has been coming out over the last few months related to jobs. If members take a look at the month of September, there were over 50,000 jobs created. Most of that was in manufacturing. In the month of October, there were over 50,000 jobs created. Most of that was in the province of Ontario. Today, we got an announcement of 60,000-plus jobs. In tot…
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Mr. Speaker, talk about fake outrage. Time and time again, we get the Conservative Party of Canada preventing legislation from being able to pass, even the budget legislation and the implementation of the budget. Day after day, we hear Conservative bafflegab, as opposed to them allowing legislation to go through. Day after day, we hear obstruction on important legislation, such as bail reform legi…
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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 responses to seven petitions. These returns will be tabled in an electronic format.
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Mr. Speaker, if the government's response to Questions Nos. 474, 475, 476, 477, 478, 479, 480, 481, 482, 483, 484, 485, 486, 487, 488, 489, 490, 491, 492, 493, 494, 495 and 496 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 all remaining questions be allowed to stand.
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Mr. Speaker, I want to emphasize that going out of the election, we made a commitment to Canadians on a number of different fronts. I want to highlight some very good news that came out today. We have now had three months in a row where we have had substantial job growth. In September, 60,000 jobs were created; 28,000 of those were in the manufacturing industry. We had 67,000 jobs in October. The …
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Mr. Speaker, I want to amplify the fact that the Canadian economy is doing relatively well, with a new Prime Minister and a government focused on building Canada strong through bringing down barriers so there is more trade within Canada. We have seen significant commitments going into the billions of dollars toward major projects. We have seen expanded trading opportunities. Today we heard the job…
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Madam Speaker, I can appreciate why they are a little sensitive to the truth. At the end of the day, this has no infringement on the freedom of religion. The member knows that. Why will he not say that?
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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 five petitions. These returns will be tabled in an electronic format.
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Madam Speaker, I am disappointed in the Conservative Party, and in particular the member, who has been involved in the judicial system, for planting fear in the minds of Canadians. That is all the Conservative Party of Canada is doing today. It is shameful. The member knows full well that this is not an infringement on the freedom of religion. If he had an ounce of integrity, he would indicate ver…
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Madam Speaker, there are a couple of issues I would like to bring to the attention of the House and the individuals who are following this debate. People should be concerned about two different things. First is the subject matter itself. If I had enough time, I would go through some of the things provided to me. I usually do not like to reference things provided to me in written format, but I migh…
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Madam Speaker, even the Conservative member applauds it, and justifiably so. The Charter of Rights trumps all the legislation we might want to pass. That is why we often ask if the legislation is charter-proof or if someone has actually done their homework and found out if it is charter-compliant. Otherwise, the Supreme Court of Canada will say that we messed up and we need to make a change. The H…
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No, that is not what it says. Madam Speaker, that just goes to show that the Conservatives are drinking too much of that blue kool-aid.
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They really need to get an understanding of the law—
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Madam Speaker, I can appreciate that members are really sensitive on this. After all, they just heard a speech of garbage, with all sorts of misinformation. I would suggest—
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Madam Speaker, may I start from the top?
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Madam Speaker, the members across the way should be a little courteous. I started off by saying that there are two concerns. The first was in regard to what type of information the Conservative Party of Canada is using. I have not verified it yet, but no doubt it will appear on social media, because the Conservatives are trying to give a false impression, based on fear, to people who are faithful …
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Yes, but now they have AI. They have ChatGPT. Those will help them with their speeches if they are running out of speeches to give. Madam Speaker, when it comes to the interests of Canadians, what we hear from the Conservative Party is something purely focused on one thing: what is in the best interest of the Conservative Party, not what is in the interest of Canadians. This is what we find unfort…
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Madam Speaker, we are supposed to be debating the budget implementation legislation today, but what we hear from the Conservatives is a bunch of crying: “waah, waah, waah”, to quote the member opposite. The member opposite might not care, but every Canadian in every region of the country cares, because this is a budget to support Canadians. It is a part of a plan the Prime Minister has presented t…
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Madam Speaker, the member says, “Come on.” I will challenge any member on the other side to stand up and tell me that they are prepared to work until midnight for the next two weeks in order for us have more debate on the floor of the House of Commons. I would ask for unanimous consent to allow the House to sit until midnight for the rest of this session. Can they—
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Madam Speaker, I would ask for unanimous consent to enable the House to sit until midnight for the rest of the session.
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Madam Speaker, wow, that is truly amazing. I just finished challenging them to sit until midnight, and they all jumped up to say that they would sit until midnight. I called their bluff and asked if there was unanimous consent to sit until midnight. What did we see? The people who were jumping up then said, “No, no.” This proves the point. Do we not see it? The Conservative line is, “Do not allow …
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First of all, Madam Speaker, I appreciate the work the standing committees do. I recognize that, as a government, we are a minority. If the Bloc and the Conservatives choose to take certain actions, at times that could cause some issues where the government might need to see some sort of adjournment. I think there is a practicality in what takes place at committee. I do not sit on that committee. …
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Madam Speaker, one thing I love about Canada and about living in a federalist country is this: All areas have a high sense of uniqueness and a distinct character to them. I cherish, for example, the province of Quebec for the French language and the in-depth culture and arts programming it has. In many ways, it leads the country in different areas. Quebec and Manitoba share a lot in common. We bot…
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Madam Speaker, I do not know if Preston Manning would have liked the member calling the Conservatives “the Reform Party”. They are probably a little farther to the right than the Reform Party ever was, in many ways. Having said that, it was interesting. I will put it this way: Coming out of the election, I thought there might be a chance to see a different type of Conservative Party, especially wh…
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Madam Speaker, I know we are not supposed to use props, so I am going to put my Canadian Charter of Rights down. I would say to the member that every member of the Liberal caucus, from the Prime Minister to every member, supports the Charter of Rights. I highly recommend that the member read in the Charter of Rights where it guarantees the right of freedom of religion. I think of what a pastor, a …
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Madam Speaker, the best I can do is reinforce the Charter of Rights, which is something I believe in and every Liberal member of Parliament believes in.
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Mr. Speaker, I know the government House whip as a Christian, and it is distasteful for the member to say what he just put on the record. We would ask that he withdraw the comments and apologize.
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Then he should leave the chamber.
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Mr. Speaker, I am wondering if the member can provide his assurance when he talked about telling the truth. I think it is important that we tell the truth because misleading information causes a great deal of fear. Could the member provide his thoughts on that issue?
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Mr. Speaker, I really and truly appreciate the comments from the parliamentary secretary. The unfortunate reality is that the Conservative Party of Canada's behaviour around this legislation is affecting two pieces of legislation. One deals with hate crimes, and Canadians are not going to be able to see the hate crime legislation before the end of the year. The other deals with bail reform, which …
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Mr. Speaker, the issue of religious freedom is in the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, which guarantees religious freedom, yet we have members of the Conservative Party providing, I would suggest, misleading information that is ultimately causing a great deal of concern for those who practise a faith. Unfortunately, as a result, people might receive misinformation and then bring it to their attenti…
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Mr. Speaker, I do want to pick up on the issue of hate speech, which is very real. The member made reference to several examples of it. Unfortunately, as I pointed out, the legislation is not going to be able to pass, because of Conservative obstruction. I am wondering if she could once again provide her thoughts in regard to the sadness surrounding the legislation's not being—
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Mr. Speaker, on a point of order, I know that the member for Kingston and the Islands is a Christian himself and to make the type of allegation that the member just made, I believe he owes—
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Mr. Speaker, the amount of misinformation and misleading information pumped out through social media and emails by the Conservative Party really does a disservice to all Canadians. The member spoke about the committee. Now, the Conservative Party wants to use tax dollars to tour the country to spread even more misinformation. It is truly amazing. As opposed to dealing with hate messaging and the h…
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Mr. Speaker, I wanted my colleague to expand upon an idea. If we have a flashback to the election just a number of months ago, the Prime Minister and Liberal candidates across the country made a commitment to bail reform, which was supported by provinces, law enforcement officers and Canadians as a whole. Today we have bail reform legislation. The only thing preventing it from becoming law is the …
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Mr. Speaker, members of the Liberal caucus came here today in anticipation of debating the budget implementation bill. We are concerned about the issues that Canadians are concerned about. It deals with issues like, for example, the tax break for 22 million Canadians and the many ways in which the government is supporting Canadians and building a stronger Canada. I am wondering if the member can p…
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