Private Members' Business
Mr. Speaker, it is a pleasure to rise to speak to the issue of multiculturalism. Many years ago I was appointed the responsibility of tourism in the province of Manitoba. One of the challenges I was provided was to attend all the pavilions Winnipeg offers in the summertime during Folklorama. It was like visiting 40-some nations in a two-week period. The reason I say that is that it showcased what …
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Mr. Speaker, the Conservatives fail to recognize that there is a difference between someone who says they want to be able to immigrate to Canada and someone who wants to get their citizenship reaffirmed. For example, a foreign bureaucrat, who has done years of service for Canadians but who has done that service in an embassy, wants to be able to see some form of their descendants being able to hav…
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Mr. Speaker, there are a couple of things that come to my mind. First and foremost, the Conservatives seem to not want to recognize that there is a difference in what this legislation would do for someone who immigrates to Canada. When a person immigrates to Canada, the individual becomes a permanent resident and then certain things have to be adhered to before they can become a citizen. For examp…
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Mr. Speaker, I do not think I will be given enough time to respond fully to the statements that have been made. I can tell the member that we had an election not that long ago, during which the Prime Minister made a commitment to deal with the immigration issue. That means stabilizing it. We are well on the way to doing that. There is a reason we are at this stage. Yes, the federal government has …
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Mr. Speaker, if we were to apply the same principle the member is arguing for right now to all legislation that goes before the standing committee, we would not be able to bring in any amendments to legislation. All legislation has to go to committee. What is important to recognize in this debate is that the Conservatives and the Bloc did not work with members who do not have official party status…
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Mr. Speaker, I question the motivation behind bringing forward this particular report. I will have a chance to provide some more detailed comments shortly, but the question I have for the member is this: Given that we have bail reform legislation we are hoping to start to debate, that we have a budget coming up and that there is a superior court deadline in regard to Bill C-3, something that we we…
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Madam Speaker, over the weekend, because of a constituent, I did an inquiry using the Internet. I had asked the question of Brookfield Asset Management and Conservative members who had investments in it. It has everyone from the deputy leader to, and I like this one, the leader of the Conservative party. It says that while not directly holding Brookfield stock, he holds an indirect investment thro…
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Madam Speaker, there is a lot to go over here. I can say that much. What I find truly amazing is that anyone following this debate, which I hope does not have to go all afternoon, will see the hypocrisy that is oozing out of the Conservative Party of Canada. It is really quite amazing when we stop and think about it. The current leader of the Conservative Party was one of the staunch defenders of …
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Madam Speaker, the member says I sound upset. I am a tad bit upset because I want to deal with the issues that Canadians are concerned about first and foremost, as opposed to playing these destructive games that the Conservatives want to play, putting their own political partisan party issues ahead of the interests of Canadians. I am a bit upset. Why? It is because at the end of the day, we had a …
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Madam Speaker, he reaffirms it by saying “absolutely”. There is so much here. The member for Medicine Hat—Cardston—Warner said, “there is a disconnect between upper management and [the rank and file]. There are operational issues that are not being addressed by...leadership.” The member for Peace River—Westlock said, “The actions of the leadership of the RCMP, I think, are indefensible in many ins…
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Madam Speaker, I did not ask him to ask that question. Can members imagine if we were to apply the same question to the leader of the Conservative Party? There is a book, “The Evidence Compiled”, that lists off dozens and dozens of scandals. Let me give a few of them: the anti-terrorism scandal of $3.1 billion, the Phoenix scandal of $2.2 billion, the G8 spending scandal, the ETS scandal, the F-35…
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Madam Speaker, first of all, I would have personally much preferred to be debating Bill C-3. What I believe members of the Liberal caucus came to hear and to participate in is Bill C-3. This debate is being imposed upon us by the Conservatives. I suspect they are going to get the Bloc, as it supported the amendments at committee, to support the motion now on the floor. If I am wrong, I will person…
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Madam Speaker, I really appreciate the question because, in essence, it captures the message I was hoping to send, which is that we have a very limited amount of time on the floor of the House of Commons, and there are a lot of issues, which are all in the best interest of Canadians, that need to be addressed. We have the bail reform legislation, which Canadians and stakeholders from coast to coas…
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Madam Speaker, the Conservatives decided to have a debate on this particular issue, and members will notice that they did not use an opposition day, where a full day could have been allocated to the topic. We would have had a vote on it, and so forth. Rather, they wanted to use a concurrence motion to eat into the government's time. In doing a very simple Google search, I counted seven Conservativ…
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Madam Speaker, I made the assertion that the Conservatives have worked closely with the Bloc on that particular committee to bring the report forward and that the Conservatives have made the determination to talk about it for three hours as opposed to talking about Bill C-3. The member opposite said that the Bloc was not necessarily working with the Conservatives and that he feels this is a legiti…
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Madam Speaker, as I have indicated, it really is amazing how the Conservatives have reversed their whole thinking on the issue. Former prime minister Stephen Harper put into place the rules. The current Prime Minister is following the rules. One of the biggest defenders of the blind trust was none other than the current leader of the Conservative party. If they want to talk about a chief of staff,…
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Mr. Speaker, it is disappointing, and I say that representing the people of Winnipeg North, that the Conservatives have made the decision to start a filibuster, as opposed to dealing with the real issues that Canadians are concerned about, whether it is Bill C-3, bail reform, securing the borders or many other things. These are issues the standing committee could continue to deal with. After all, …
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Mr. Speaker, it is really important to recognize that there are many different opportunities to have the type of debate the Bloc and Conservatives, working together, want to have today, at a significant cost. We could be talking about the importance of bail reform for Canadians. We could be talking about border security for Canadians. We could be talking about the citizenship bill, which a superio…
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Mr. Speaker, this is beyond me. I have put many challenges to the members opposite, but never have they taken me up on the issue of their filibusters, their waste of time or the disgrace in which they often handle the affairs of this chamber. Not one has actually taken me up on the debate. Let me put this challenge to the member. Will he come to Winnipeg, or I can to his riding, to any university …
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Mr. Speaker, I know that the member for Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan is going to be the next speaker. I look forward to his indicating very clearly that he is going to come visit the beautiful city of Winnipeg. We will make some arrangements at either the University of Winnipeg or the University of Manitoba, maybe get a first-year political studies class or something of that nature, and let us …
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Mr. Speaker, first of all, I will definitely work with the member to get something set up at one of the two universities in Winnipeg. I very much appreciate it and look forward to it. I will pick the member up at the airport so we can get to the right venue. As for the question I have for him, what about Bill C-3, the budget, the border control bill and bail legislation? Does the Conservative Part…
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Mr. Speaker, we request a recorded division.
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Mr. Speaker, I ask that all questions be allowed to stand.
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Mr. Speaker, there was a report that came out when Stephen Harper was in government. A committee, during the time of the Harper government, made a recommendation beginning, “Background checks are only appropriate for candidates seeking a grant of citizenship as opposed to those for whom citizenship is a birthright.” I am wondering if the hon. member would say that—
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Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the passion that the member has expressed on the issue. I know it has been a very important issue for her personally for a good length of time. We know there have been individuals like Mr. Chapman and many others who have really been fighting for the cause, advocating that we recognize the value of our citizenship and the people who should have citizenship, and they are p…
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Mr. Speaker, one thing we know about the Conservatives is that they do not know shame. When I sat in opposition when the leader of the Conservative Party was a part of the government, they actually cut the summer student jobs program. How dare they try to say that we as a government do not support youth, when he sat around the cabinet table and did nothing but make cut after cut? The young people …
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Mr. Speaker, let me show the contrast of a caring government and what a caring government does. The Prime Minister, just a week ago, made an announcement about the national school food program, saying it is going to become a permanent program. Children in every region of the country will benefit from that program. We can contrast that to the Conservative response. As late as yesterday, we had a me…
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Mr. Speaker, I would ask that all questions be allowed to stand.
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Mr. Speaker, this is the very first I have heard of anything of this nature. I will come back to the House with comments if it is deemed necessary.
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Mr. Speaker, I was a bit surprised at the Bloc's take on the issue. The member's argument seemed to be that, because the majority of the standing committee allowed the amendment the Bloc and the Conservatives worked together on to pass at committee, the House of Commons does not have the right to make a change. As we know, the House of Commons does have a right to do that. Even though the governme…
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Mr. Speaker, it is a pleasure to rise to address the legislation through its amendments. I hope I can provide some clarification as to why we are here today having this particular debate. It is important to recognize that amendments and changes were made to the Citizenship Act under the former government, a Conservative government that the leader of the Conservative Party was very prominent in. Th…
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Mr. Speaker, I am absolutely confident in Elections Canada's ability to ensure that we have fair elections in every region of our country. I would like to think that the collective confidence we should have in Elections Canada would allow us to proceed with what Bill C-3 is proposing without concern about any impact it would have on the election, because of some sort of fear factor. I believe that…
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Mr. Speaker, the legislation requires a substantial connection to Canada with respect to the 1,095 days. That is not necessarily within the five years. I have had the opportunity to work with literally hundreds if not thousands of individuals who are permanent residents and who contribute immensely to our economy in every significant way that matters. At the end of the day, having that substantial…
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Mr. Speaker, I would caution the member about diminishing the importance and the sense of equality among members of Parliament who are on the floor of the House. He might not necessarily like it, but there are five political entities inside the House, and all individual members of the House are due equal respect.
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Mr. Speaker, I have a very specific example of a foreign diplomat who serves abroad and has a child. That child makes the determination, after a number of years, to stay in another country and starts a family. They are still passionate about Canada, they still travel to Canada, they demonstrated that they do have an interest and meet that 1,095 days, but the parent of that child now has a child, s…
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Mr. Speaker, I would ask that all questions be allowed to stand.
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Madam Speaker, I understand that the New Democrats are having difficulty with the legislation, but I think we need to recognize that the Prime Minister and the Liberal Party have made a commitment to Canadians to strengthen our borders, and the legislation is a very important aspect. They also made a commitment to stabilize immigration-related issues, and asylum is one of those issues. There is a …
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Madam Speaker, I will just pick up on the asylum issue. If we look back at 2010-2011, we see that there was a bump in the number of asylum seekers, and the government at the time recognized the need for some change. We have gone through a pandemic; there are issues surrounding international students, led by private institutions and different levels of government; and there is a need for us to resp…
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Madam Speaker, we have had a great deal of debate, first on Bill C-2, with well over 18 hours, and now with over six hours, maybe seven or eight hours of debate on the bill that is before us. I bring that up because today is a fantastic day in the sense that the minister introduced bail reform, something that has been anticipated across Canada for months now. There is a very strong desire for bail…
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Madam Speaker, throughout the debates and discussions on Bill C-12, we have heard a lot of criticisms toward Bill C-2. The question I have for my friend across the way is this: Do the Conservatives have any amendments that they would like to see for Bill C-12? Are there aspects specific to Bill C-12 that they would like to see amended? If so, would the Conservatives be prepared to share some of th…
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Madam Speaker, the member's response to the previous question about the RCMP was that the Liberals needed a mirror. The leader of the official opposition said that the RCMP was “despicable”. I am using the words of the leader of the official opposition. He owes Canadians an apology. Liberals do not need to look in the mirror. What we need from the leader of the Conservative Party is a public apolo…
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Madam Speaker, one of the things I have noticed from Conservatives is that they like to make a statement. It is somewhat misleading, and I am being kind. Let me give a specific example. The member makes reference to safe injection sites, which are under the jurisdiction of provincial governments. Other Conservative members have made reference to injection sites' being around, for example, schools …
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Madam Speaker, the Prime Minister made a commitment to Canadians to deal with strengthening Canada's borders and to deal with immigration and the area of stabilization, in particular dealing with asylum seekers. Bill C-12 would do just that. It is a fulfillment, in good part, of a commitment that was made. We are looking for co-operation from opposition members, because this is a minority governme…
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Mr. Speaker, I am actually encouraged. The member seems to have a deep amount of respect for the RCMP. He cited statistics and so forth, and he talked very positively about the RCMP. I want to share with him something that appeared in the Winnipeg Free Press last week, on October 17. It references how the leader of the Conservative Party called the leadership of the RCMP “despicable”. This is some…
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Mr. Speaker, less than an hour ago, we had the Conservative member from Peace River—Westlock say, “The actions of the leadership of the RCMP are indefensible in many instances.” We have had the member for Bow River say “management weakness” in reference to the RCMP. We have the leader of the Conservative Party being quoted in the Winnipeg Free Press as saying, “the leadership of the RCMP is...desp…
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Mr. Speaker, just months ago, there was a national election, and the Liberal Party, in particular the Prime Minister, received more votes than have ever been cast for the Liberal Party in the history of our party. A very solid mandate was delivered. To the member's comments on “tiny” projects, there is $60 billion for five of them, one being a multi-billion dollar project in the province of B.C. T…
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Mr. Speaker, I have deep respect for the member opposite in being a former law enforcement officer. We have already had a great deal of discussion about the RCMP today. This is a statement that was made by the member's colleague from Peace River—Westlock. He said, “The actions of the leadership of the RCMP, I think, are indefensible in many instances.” Another one of his colleagues from Bow River …
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Mr. Speaker, we have had many hours of debate on the issue, and one of the things coming out of the issue is something that has been talked about today. I would like the member to listen to a quote from one of her own Conservative colleagues, the member for Peace River—Westlock: “The actions of the leadership of the RCMP are indefensible in many instances.” Another colleague, the member for Bow Ri…
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Mr. Speaker, the RCMP is recognized around the world as a first-class organization and institution. That is how I am looking at this. I would like to quote an article from the Winnipeg Free Press. In it, the leader of the Conservative Party said the leadership of the RCMP is “despicable”. He is reflecting on a Canadian institution that holds the highest amount of respect. I believe the leader of t…
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Mr. Speaker, the member spent a lot of time talking about youth and jobs. I am sure he recalls, because he was around then, when Stephen Harper cut the the summer jobs program for youth. If we were to contrast the overall number of jobs, more than double the number of jobs have been created in the last 10 years than were created in the 10 years the member was part of the Conservative regime known …
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