Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, the member based the premise of his speech on auto theft in the province of Ontario, which I assume is the province he was referring to. In 2007, Manitoba's automobile theft rate was the highest in the country, virtually three times as high as in Ontario. I do not need to tell the member that it was the Conservatives in government in Ottawa then, but that is a secondary issue. The pri…
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Mr. Speaker, the member said that Conservatives have been listening. I would like the member to clearly demonstrate that. We have now fulfilled the Prime Minister's commitment to bring in substantial bail reform legislation, which would make our communities safer. We will continue to work with provinces and municipalities. Let there be no doubt about this. We have widespread support for Bill C-14 …
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Mr. Speaker, when I reflect on the desires of my constituents when looking at bail reform, I note that the Prime Minister made a commitment to bring in bail reform. That is what we are debating today. I understand the comments that NDP members have put on the record. I have a very straightforward question. Does the member and the NDP support the principles of bail reform in Bill C-14?
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Mr. Speaker, I was encouraged by the previous speaker's making reference to the fact that the bill needs to go to committee. Even the member opposite, although he has lots of concerns about the bill from his perspective, appears to be saying that in principle he is supportive of it. The Prime Minister, as an election platform promise, established bringing in substantial bail reform to Canadians. T…
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Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the comments. It is important that we make a commitment to pass the legislation before the end of the year. Again, I would ask the member to provide his thoughts. Does he believe his constituents would like to see the bail reform law in place before the end of the year?
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Mr. Speaker, I really appreciate the member talking about our working together, recognizing that it is, in fact, a minority government. The Prime Minister made a commitment to genuine bail reform legislation. The only way we are going to be able to pass this legislation and give Canadians what they want is if we can get the Conservatives to make the commitment to do so. After it goes to committee,…
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Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the many thoughts the member has shared with us this afternoon on such an important piece of legislation, legislation that was a commitment made by the Prime Minister and Liberal members in the last election. It is great to see we have Bill C-14 before us today, and I am very hopeful we will actually see it become law before the end of the year. I know the member has a ve…
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Mr. Speaker, there is no doubt about how important bail reform is. I have mentioned on numerous occasions today a commitment that was made to Canadians in the last election. It would appear that all political entities in the House want to see some form of bail reform take place. We have a golden opportunity to have something in place before the end of this year. A lot of that is going to depend on…
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Mr. Speaker, the question to pose is, why? I can assure the member that after talking to constituents and listening to the mayor of Winnipeg, the premier and individuals who are directly involved with the justice system, I believe that not only is the demand for bail reform very real and tangible, but it is necessary. In the last federal election, there were commitments to make changes. That in it…
Read full speech →Private Members' Business
Mr. Speaker, I have gone through a number of elections since 1988, at both the provincial and federal levels. I have been a health care critic. I have had the opportunity to knock on literally tens thousands of doors, and I can honestly say that there has never been an election in which the issue of health care has not come up. Canadians take their health care services very seriously. I appreciate…
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Mr. Speaker, first off, let me thank the member for Surrey Newton for bringing forward this legislation. He has recognized a very important issue. I think all members should recognize it. When we think of our health care system, no one in this chamber should be denying at all the true value it has to each and every one of us through the constituents we represent. I have now campaigned in a dozen-p…
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Mr. Speaker, I will give the member the answer. It is credentials. When the member said there are tens of thousands of people whose credentials are not recognized, he is right in that assessment. However, I respect provincial jurisdiction. Just as the member who introduced the bill made very clear, the level responsible for the recognition of credentials is not the federal government, nor should i…
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Mr. Speaker, the member is right that we do, but so did Stephen Harper. Every government I am aware of, over the years I have been a parliamentarian, has talked about the benefits of Canada's health care system. I would challenge the member opposite to tell me of any prime minister who has not been boastful about health care to people who want to come to Canada. Conservatives try to give the impre…
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Mr. Speaker, I would ask that all notices of motions for production of papers also be allowed to stand.
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Madam Speaker, if the government's responses to Questions Nos. 284 to 297 could be made orders for returns, these returns will be tabled in an electronic format immediately.
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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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Mr. Speaker, I would ask that all questions be allowed to stand.
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Madam Speaker, I rise on a point of order. There has been some consultation, and I hope you will find unanimous consent for us to go back to questions on the Order Paper for less than a minute.
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Madam Speaker, we all know that the Prime Minister made a solemn commitment to Canadians when he said that we would bring forward bail reform legislation. A phenomenal amount of work has been done in consultations with a wide spectrum of stakeholders, whether it was provinces, territories or indigenous leaders. There has been so much consultation on it. We now have substantial bail reform legislat…
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Madam Speaker, in terms of our first responders, I think that all members of this chamber understand, appreciate and value the work they do. In fact, the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of National Defence is an honorary member of the International Association of Fire Fighters and has been a very strong advocate. I remember her sitting beside me as the deputy House leader, constantly talki…
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Madam Speaker, earlier, I posed a question to the Conservative shadow minister with regard to the legislation. Here we have before us the long-anticipated bail reform legislation. It was a commitment given to Canadians by the Prime Minister coming out of the last election. Given the spectrum of support from the many different stakeholders, would the member not agree that the House should seriously…
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Madam Speaker, I have a point of order, and it is in regard to the need for a royal recommendation for the Bloc Québécois amendments to Bill C-4. Bill C-4, an act respecting certain affordability measures for Canadians and another measure, was reported from the Standing Committee on Finance earlier today. I would like to draw to the Speaker's attention 11 Bloc Québécois amendments that were adopte…
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Mr. Speaker, I would ask that all questions be allowed to stand.
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Madam Speaker, one thing our Prime Minister talks a great deal about is the importance of trade and broadening Canada's opportunities by looking elsewhere, outside the United States, for example. In recent days, he has talked a great deal about trade relations and the potential for trade relations between Canada and the Philippines. There are just over one million people in Canada of Filipino heri…
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Madam Speaker, I found the last question interesting. I would emphasize to the member across the way that over the last 10 years, our government has signed off on more trade agreements than any Conservative government ever did. That is an absolute fact. We have a Prime Minister who, in a short period of time, has been negotiating all forms of additional trade opportunities. We already have a deal …
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Madam Speaker, it is interesting that the member tried to give what I would suggest is a false impression. Stephen Harper divested Canada of its gold reserves. By the time we got to 2016, it was all done. The member gave the impression that the number one export to the U.K. is gold. The member is right that it is gold, but it is not because of depleting reserves; it is because we have gold mines i…
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Madam Speaker, the member knows full well, from the debates last week on the Bloc's private member's bill, that we are talking about literally hundreds and hundreds of treaties of all sorts, sizes and forms. It is just not feasible, let alone being able to use 300-plus members of Parliament, as a way to negotiate an agreement. Traditionally, it has worked exceptionally well for Canada. As has been…
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Madam Speaker, I am glad the Bloc will be supporting the legislation. That is a very strong and encouraging sign. When I was a provincial MLA, provinces often signed off on MOUs, memorandums of understand. Many of them were of an economic nature. Would the member apply the same principles, for example, to the province of Quebec? Should Quebec not sign off on something until it is thoroughly debate…
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Madam Speaker, if the member could reflect back on this, in the last federal election, the Prime Minister made a commitment to Canadians to look at ways in which we can expand trading opportunities that go beyond the United States. This is a good example of the commitment that the Prime Minister made to Canadians. I am wondering if he can provide his thoughts on that.
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Mr. Speaker, I would like to pick up on the member's comments in regard to the importance of world trade. We have a prime minister who made a commitment to expand beyond the American border, and we have seen an extraordinary amount of effort made by the Prime Minister and the Liberal caucus to move towards this. We have heard about discussions with India, which is a quickly growing economic superp…
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Mr. Speaker, quite frankly, the member is wrong; it is as simple as that. Obviously the understanding of trade and trade opportunities, and the concept of agreements, seems to be foreign to the Conservative Party. We have a Prime Minister who, coming out of the last federal election just six months ago, was first building internal trade within Canada, meeting with the premiers, bringing in legisla…
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Mr. Speaker, what I would like to amplify given the importance of trade is that Canada's trade in the world environment makes up about 2.5% of overall trade, yet the population base in Canada is 0.5% of the world's. To me, that speaks volumes to the importance of the trade issue to Canadians. It means jobs. It means the Canadian lifestyle. We have a Prime Minister who is out and about securing tra…
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Mr. Speaker, I agree with the member's last comment. Look at the level of expertise our Prime Minister brings to the table. He was the governor of the Bank of Canada and the governor of the Bank of England. By the way, we are talking about trade with the U.K. He understands the economics. Having gone through the last election, he understands the importance of expanding our trade beyond the U.S. Lo…
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Mr. Speaker, I look forward to the leader of the Conservative Party's election platform, where he costs out having a four-lane, divided highway from coast to coast in Canada. Why not throw in the other coast while he is at it? The member has littered all sorts of misinformation onto the record. He tries to give the false impression that people around the world do not want to invest in Canada. I re…
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Mr. Speaker, it always interesting when we have debates relating to trade. The last time we had a significant debate on international trade, it was the debate on Ukraine and the need for a trade agreement. New members, like the member who just spoke, may not be aware of this, but during a time of war, the President of Ukraine actually came to Canada, addressed Parliament and talked about a prior s…
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Mr. Speaker, no, they could not have. When we stop to think about the first trade agreement between Canada and Ukraine, we should remember that Canada was holding firm, and the Conservatives were complaining and capitulating, saying, “Just sign the agreement.” They were concerned we would not be able to get an agreement. Minister after minister stood to say that we were not going to sign just any …
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Mr. Speaker, the member is wrong. It is gold. It does not surprise me that she is wrong. Where does that gold come from? Here is a news flash for the Conservatives: It is not from the Canadian gold reserves. Harper took care of that by selling off a lot of it. By the time we got to 2016, it was all gone. However, if we look at it, gold is number one. That is what we export more of to the U.K. than…
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Very swift. It comes from the ground. The member is right. Mr. Speaker, at the end of the day, virtually all provinces are delivering the gold that is being exported. It creates hundreds of well-paying jobs. That is the gold that is being exported. What does a trade agreement actually do? It is one of the ways we can secure our markets for small and large companies alike. It enhances a relationshi…
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Mr. Speaker, true to form, the member tries to give misinformation. I have never called the RCMP racist. There was systemic racism that had taken place, which the RCMP itself has acknowledged, right from the very top to the bottom. That is maybe where the member is misquoting me. I have never said that. I love the RCMP and—
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Mr. Speaker, with respect to Bill C-13, the agreement we are talking about today, we can ask the question, what is the number one export from Canada to the U.K.? We see that it is gold. The two provinces that would get the greatest benefits from that gold export are the provinces of Quebec and Ontario. That makes up probably about 70%, which is literally billions and billions of dollars every year…
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Mr. Speaker, I appreciate that excellent question. We all need to recognize the true value of enhancing Canada's trading opportunities. It ultimately means more jobs, and more good jobs, for Canadians in all regions of our country. That means a great deal to the Liberal caucus. It means a great deal to the Prime Minister. That is the reason we have such a proactive Prime Minister, who is going aro…
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Mr. Speaker, being in the fragile state that I am, I can tell the member opposite that one had to be here to really appreciate how the Conservatives jumped ship and capitulated on the first round of negotiations with Donald Trump. Back then, we indicated that we were going to strive to get the best deal. I can assure the member opposite that we have a prime minister today who is committed to getti…
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Mr. Speaker, I want to go back to the question that was just asked. It is interesting; there was a committee report that came out when the Conservatives were in government. The CIMM committee report done at the time of the Harper government made this recommendation: “Background checks are only appropriate for candidates seeking a grant of citizenship as opposed to those for whom citizenship is a b…
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Mr. Speaker, we were supposed to be debating this yesterday, but for political reasons, that did not occur to the extent that it should have. With respect to Bill C-3, there is, as the member referenced, a superior court decision. There is a timeline of November 20. I wonder if the member could provide his thoughts. Does he sense any obligation of the House to meet that timeline?
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Mr. Speaker, Don Chapman sent me an email, and he is fairly well recognized as someone who understands and has an appreciation for lost Canadians. In it, he stated that a 1997 Supreme Court decision, Benner v. Canada (Secretary of State), declared background checks for lost Canadians to be unconstitutional. A report also came out in December 2007, when Stephen Harper was the prime minister and the…
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Mr. Speaker, it is interesting listening to members opposite when they reference the issue of why there are amendments and how they were at committee. The hon. member referred specifically to a so-called coalition that does not exist. The only coalition I have seen with respect to the legislation is the unholy coalition of the Bloc and the Conservatives, and yes, they were able to use their coalit…
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Mr. Speaker, the only coalition I see with respect to this legislation is the unholy coalition of the Bloc and the Conservative Party. Let us be perfectly clear on that. This is the reason variations have been made with respect to Bill C-3. I made reference to the Supreme Court decision dealing with the issue of background checks not being required for lost Canadians before they would be given the…
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Mr. Speaker, I am absolutely looking forward to November 12. Maybe we will talk about immigration then too. The member spent a great deal of time talking about immigration. The Conservative leader's approach to the issue today is very different from ours. The Prime Minister talks about stabilizing our numbers and working toward having the strongest economy in the G7. The Conservatives' answer to t…
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Mr. Speaker, the member does not appreciate the fact that they have a Conservative-Bloc coalition on this legislation going through the committee. Just because the Bloc-Conservative coalition makes a determination, that does not mean it should be able to override a potential Supreme Court issue. Just because the Bloc and the Conservatives decide that they want an election, by voting against the bu…
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Madam Speaker, at the end of the day, let us collectively, no matter what political entity we belong to, look at ways we can better serve Canadians with a higher sense of co-operation. All of us were given that role in the last federal election. No political party—
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