Routine Proceedings
Madam Speaker, I would ask that all questions be allowed to stand.
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Madam Speaker, I rise on the same point of order. I think it is important to recognize that the meeting was actually scheduled for the Thursday, not the Tuesday. The member apologized, and I appreciate and thank him for raising the incident, but in his concluding remarks, he still suggested that the Liberals did not show up. The Liberals did not show up because there was no meeting scheduled; it w…
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Madam Speaker, I think we should have some concern and thoughts about this not being just a Quebec issue. This is an issue that affects all provinces. It would be reasonable for us to pose the question my colleague asked: Are there any situations in which the Bloc believes the notwithstanding clause should be used? Back in the eighties, I was very proud to witness our nation signing the Charter of…
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Madam Speaker, I appreciate the many words the member has put on the record. My concern is the issue of using the notwithstanding clause in a pre-emptive fashion. A good example of this at the national level is that, for the very first time in Canada's history, we have the Leader of the Opposition saying he will use the notwithstanding clause in order to bring in and support legislation. I believe…
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Madam Speaker, it is a bit of a stretch, I must admit, in terms of the speech and what we are supposed to be talking about today, but let me continue with that stretch. The member opposite is exceptionally biased, and I am sure he will acknowledge that. The reality is actually quite the opposite. We would love to be able to talk more about the things we are actually doing. We could talk about the …
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Mr. Speaker, when I hear the leader of the Bloc speak, I often like to refer to my ancestral roots in the province of Quebec. I am very proud of the fact that Quebec is such a distinct society in the way it has contributed to making Canada the best country in the world, from my perspective. Having said that, as a parliamentarian who served in the Manitoba legislature for just under 20 years, I was…
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Mr. Speaker, l will have the opportunity to address, in more detail, the concerns that I have, but the question I have for the member is fairly specific. First of all, I would say that this is not about the province of Quebec. The issue of the notwithstanding clause applies to all provinces and to Parliament. Does the member have any concerns whatsoever about using the notwithstanding clause as a …
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Mr. Speaker, in my speech, I could have talked about the many different uses of the notwithstanding clause, but to go through and start itemizing them, I would then be criticized for provincial autonomy. I respect that the provinces do and should have the ability to access and invoke the notwithstanding clause. My primary concern is the potential of automatically hitting the renewal button every f…
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Mr. Speaker, I have been here throughout the day, listening to the debate, and a couple of things come to my mind right at the beginning. I want to give a bit of a background with respect to why I want to be able to speak to the motion before us, because I have witnessed a lot of things that make me question why people are motivated to speak to the legislation. I look at the Conservatives, as the …
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Mr. Speaker, I do not see that at all. When I reflect on the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, which was signed in 1982, I believe the essence of what is there is to show, through the notwithstanding clause, that Parliament is supreme, that the legislatures are supreme, in the laws they are making and passing. That was assured by the notwithstanding clause, but there was a sense that this was a clau…
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Mr. Speaker, the notwithstanding clause has been in place for 43 years. It is going before the Supreme Court of Canada. The Attorney General of Canada, and I would like to think everyone in this chamber should support this, has a role to play in defending Canada's interests. By Canada's interests, I mean those of every woman, man and child, no matter their age, their sex or what language they spea…
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Mr. Speaker, I think there are phenomenal members who advocate for their regions, their provinces and their municipalities. Different people come to the House of Commons for many different reasons. When we talk about the national interest, having something of this nature elevated to the Supreme Court of Canada dictates that the Attorney General of Canada has to express the interests of all Canadia…
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Mr. Speaker, I want to build up the prairies because I believe it would make Canada stronger and healthier. I want and advocate for the province of Quebec to be built up. Where I take exception to the member's comments is that he is trying to give a false impression, but the federal government does not do what he is trying to imply. We have the five major projects. The port of Montreal will benefi…
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Mr. Speaker, I have some personal thoughts on that issue. Maybe one of these days, when I attempt to visit where my ancestors grew up in Saint-Ours, Quebec, the member will join me for coffee and we can talk about it. That is not what today's debate is about, nor is it about singling out any specific province. It is a constitutional issue, an obligation Canada's Attorney General has a fiduciary re…
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Mr. Speaker, allow me to make reference to the factum that the member refered to. He talked about the issue of labour, and he kind of ridicules the government, asking why one would include that as an example. If we look at the usage of the notwithstanding clause and who has actually used it, we will see that labour was a part of it. Does the member not recognize that having the Attorney General of…
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Mr. Speaker, I am sensitive to when the member says the Quebec legislature or parliament passed a motion unanimously. The unanimous passage of motions in provincial legislatures occurs. In Manitoba, unanimous resolutions are passed. Is the member conceding that if any legislature in the province unanimously passes a motion, it should become national policy? Do I not represent Manitobans to the sam…
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Mr. Speaker, throughout the day, I have found that if we want to promote and encourage healthy debate on the issue, we should be looking at it, in a very serious fashion, from the perspective that it is not all about Quebec. The notwithstanding clause is about the Parliament of Canada and any provincial or territorial jurisdiction. The Bloc insists on wanting to make it about Quebec, but I believe…
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Mr. Speaker, I suspect if you were to canvass the House, you would find unanimous consent to call it 6:41 p.m. so we can get to the late show.
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Madam Speaker, on a point of order, I suspect if you were to canvass the House, you would find a willingness to call it 6.54 p.m. so we can begin Adjournment Proceedings.
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Mr. Speaker, I believe that the Prime Minister has actually been very clear to Canadians and to members opposite about how Canada is going to continue to build a strong economic economy that, at the end of the day, factors in energy. I would like to contrast even just the beginning of what the current Prime Minister did with what Stephen Harper did when the member was sitting in the Speaker's chai…
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Mr. Speaker, that is the reality. The member opposite might say that is not true, so then he should give us the pipeline that went directly from Alberta to B.C., Churchill or Atlantic Canada.
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Mr. Speaker, I can appreciate the concerns the Conservatives have today with regard to the issue of pipelines. It is interesting. What we have heard from the Prime Minister are nothing but positive, encouraging signs, for the Prairies in particular, in the energy field. We have to provide the Prime Minister the opportunity to demonstrate how well he has been working with the premiers of the differ…
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Mr. Speaker, it is a pleasure to rise and speak to a very important issue. Being from the Prairies, having grown up or lived in all three of our prairie provinces, I understand the importance of our commodities, such as oil, and their potential. I am actually fairly excited about the future. I look forward to seeing how Canada will continue to evolve to be an energy superpower. That is something w…
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Mr. Speaker, what I would suggest is that the member look at the actions that are currently being taken. The Prime Minister is working very closely with the premiers of Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Alberta and British Columbia, where many of the resources are. Doug Ford, on the nuclear file, is working with the federal government. There is a high sense of co-operation. All those politicians combined un…
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Mr. Speaker, what I said is that the Prime Minister and, in essence, the leadership of the government have in fact been working with indigenous community leaders because we cannot advance energy projects without doing so. At the end of the day, it is a solemn commitment that has been made. If we take a look at the projects that have been approved, we will see a very strong indigenous influence, to…
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Mr. Speaker, just to amplify, from a Prairies perspective, as a member of Parliament, I was really pleased. I think it sends a very strong message to the Prairies that the office was, in fact, located in Calgary. Having said that, I believe that no matter where we are in Canada, any stakeholder will have access to that particular office to ensure that the projects being designated will in fact mat…
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Mr. Speaker, I can appreciate the concerns the leader of the Green Party would have. I believe we had a discussion once in the chamber, and the Green Party would not have any problem in terms of decommissioning pipelines where it could, at least that is what I can recall, and the member is nodding her head in the affirmative. I believe that sustainable economic development that shows economic grow…
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Mr. Speaker, with all honesty, I could not provide the details the member might be looking for. I can appreciate that the general political will, which is that different levels of government have expressed the desire to see the projects sped up. I believe it is within the two-year time frame. I would expect the necessary regulatory work or any other work that is necessary would be done in order to…
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Mr. Speaker, I am going to choose to answer within the framework of Bill C-5 and the relationship I have with indigenous community members, in particular the grand chief, Cindy Woodhouse. I have always had an open door policy in terms of listening to what they, whether it is a premier or a chief, would have to say in regard to developments. In particular nowadays because of the passage of Bill C-5…
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Mr. Speaker, I took a look at the motion that is before us today, and I think the priority for Canadians, even Conservative voters, is to see a higher sense of co-operation within the House. A part of that would be taking a look at what the government has been proposing through the new Prime Minister. These five major projects are critically important to the advancement of Canada's national econom…
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Mr. Speaker, I would ask that all questions be allowed to stand.
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Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the many words that my colleague has said. Could the member amplify something? A few months ago, our new Prime Minister brought in legislation to build one Canadian economy. We now have five significant projects. The member just made reference to LNG. That project is virtually going to double the production of LNG, which is a positive thing. Canada can be an energy superp…
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Mr. Speaker, part of the problem for the member opposite is that I was actually here for part of the years Stephen Harper was the prime minister, in 2015. If we were to be honest, what we would say is that Stephen Harper could not even build an inch of pipeline to our coastlines. The member talks about the east-west pipeline proposal, which is something that was determined by the economics, and th…
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Mr. Speaker, we cannot trust Conservative policy. The member is being critical because the United States is taking our oil and then making a profit from it. However, when I was questioning the critic, I mentioned that the Conservatives had not built any pipelines. Stephen Harper did not build any pipelines to the west coast. The response was that they built four. Those four pipelines went to the U…
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Madam Speaker, I listened to the member for Victoria, and he talked about witnessing oil exports going out of Burnaby as a result of a pipeline that was built by the Trudeau government. That was a very strong and positive thing. The Conservatives opposed it. I can look at Bill C-49. The member, I am sure, is familiar with Bill C-49. It allowed for additional energy development in Newfoundland and …
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Madam Speaker, I am interested in getting the leader of the Green Party's opinion on two things. The first is that she has talked in the past about the decommissioning of pipelines. The second is with respect to the consequences of Canada not having pipelines, and the impact, not only in terms of the current ones but also what may come in the future. I am thinking specifically about jobs and gover…
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Madam Speaker, we would request a recorded vote, please.
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Mr. Speaker, provinces need to do a better job of recognizing the skills that immigrants bring to the country, in particular in health care. That has been a chronic problem since I was first elected back in 1988. Provinces must take the lead. The member made reference to immigration and tried to blame immigration for the capacity problem in health care today. Some of the greatest shortages among d…
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Mr. Speaker, I take exception to that. At every opportunity I get, I advocate for recognizing the credentials that immigrants bring to Canada. The member and the Conservative Party need to realize that we cannot just say we will have a blue seal program. There is no depth whatsoever to that program. This is something we have to get the provinces to agree to and participate in. Has the Conservative…
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Mr. Speaker, the hon. member cited immigration in 2002 as being really good. I acknowledge that. What he does not do is cite the many years in which Harper's administration was a disaster for immigration. They, for example, deleted applications, with literally hundreds of thousands of individuals who were in the process of coming to Canada. They had seven-year waiting times to sponsor a parent, an…
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Mr. Speaker, they are neither. They are factual.
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Mr. Speaker, that is just factually incorrect. I was the critic at the time. If the member was there, he would know that, actually, the waiting times to get a spouse through was years in the Harper era. The Harper government literally cancelled the parent and grandparent sponsorship program. The reason they cancelled it is that it was such a disaster that it took up to seven years to sponsor a par…
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Mr. Speaker, I would like to give a hypothetical example that reflects the reality in many ways. Let us say we have Anna, a member of the Canadian Forces posted overseas. During her posting overseas, she has a child. Then she comes back to Canada with her child. As the years go by, her child gets a job opportunity in Europe. As a direct result of that, if her daughter has a child, questions about …
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Mr. Speaker, I want to go back to the hypothetical example that I gave to the member. Often, when we look at legislation, we reflect on the need for that legislation based on what is happening abroad or in our communities. I have a legitimate question and I ask the member for, at the very least, his own personal opinion. In the case that I raised about Anna, should her grandson or granddaughter be…
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Mr. Speaker, my question for the member is with regard to the importance of the legislation, in particular with respect to lost Canadians. Lost Canadians should have Canadian citizenship, which I think all members agree on; at least I believe that to be the case. I would ask him to comment on the importance of passing the legislation so those individuals in particular would be able to get their ci…
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Mr. Speaker, I would ask that all questions be allowed to stand at this time.
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Mr. Speaker, given that debate on Bill C-3 was able to conclude this morning, I suspect if you were to canvass the House, you would find unanimous consent at this time to see the clock at 2:30 p.m. so the House may adjourn.
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Mr. Speaker, I would ask that all questions be allowed to stand at this time. I thank members for allowing leave earlier.
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Mr. Speaker, I wonder if there would be willingness to allow leave for the Minister of International Trade to quickly table a report that we were hoping to table a little earlier.
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Madam Speaker, I question a number of the motivations and some of the facts the member has put on the record. What we know is that in the last federal election, Canadians elected a new Prime Minister who understands community concerns in regard to crime and safety. The new Prime Minister has made it very clear that we will be seeing bail reform legislation this fall. Members know that full well, b…
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