Government Orders
Madam Speaker, I have looked at and watched the proceedings of the European Parliament. When we actually look at the chancellor in Germany, that country has just invested in two LNG facilities to be able to backstop the fact that they know there is going to be energy insecurity. Am I in support of making a transition? I absolutely am, but let us not mistake that Europe is asking not only for energ…
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Madam Speaker, I agree with my colleague. When we look at the situation Germany was in, given its reliance on Russian natural gas and the complete foreign policy change Germany has taken, which is fundamentally a change, there are vulnerabilities to our allies in the world regarding food security and energy security. For colleagues like me, who agree on the need to transition to a low-carbon econo…
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Madam Speaker, I would like to acknowledge that I will be splitting my time today with my hon. colleague, the member for Toronto—Danforth. I would like to thank the member for Wellington—Halton Hills for bringing forward this conversation today. I have sat in this House and listened to the debate, and I do agree with some of the colleagues who have expressed their displeasure with how the actual t…
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Madam Speaker, notwithstanding my respect for the member for Wellington—Halton Hills, as has been noted in the House, it is unfortunate and there has been an obvious condemnation of the idea to support Ukraine through the use of pipelines for natural gas. I take note that, yes, the situation in Ukraine is going to have bigger geopolitical dynamics in Europe on energy security. Would the member agr…
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Madam Speaker, I have had the opportunity to have some interventions in the House before this one, and I have lamented the idea that the text of the motion is focused quite narrowly on pipelines and natural gas. I think this House should be having a conversation more broadly about food production, energy and critical minerals, because those are what will be extremely important in Europe in a chang…
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Madam Speaker, I agree with my hon. colleague in the sense that the text of this motion could have actually been a bit better, with all due respect to my colleague for Wellington—Halton Hills. I think that now is a pivotal time for us as a country to look at the endowments we have, and how we partner with our allies to provide the tools that are needed. This member talked about, for example, the t…
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Mr. Speaker, I thank my hon. colleague for his speech. I am going to ask my question in English to make sure I get the words right. I am sympathetic to the idea that we have to preserve, promote and continue to support particularly the French culture, the language and the dynamic in Quebec. As I listen today, there has been a notion in this House that Quebec is the first province ever to lose a se…
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Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague for her speech. This is a very important topic. I will ask my question in English to ensure I choose the right words. I am not against the principle of trying to protect francophone culture and language. The fact that I have tried to use the French language is indicative of that. However, what I take issue with regarding the Bloc Québécois, recognizing that they…
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Madam Speaker, the way I see it, there are a couple of different ways we could come at this issue. The member for Saanich—Gulf Islands has suggested that we actually cap the number of members of Parliament. The Quebec representation right now makes up about 23% of the seats in this House. Quebec does have a constitutional protection of 75 seats, so there will never be fewer than 75 seats for Quebe…
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Madam Speaker, I apologize, but I am going to ask my question in English to make sure I word it correctly. I am interested in why the Bloc will not take up the idea of actually capping the number of seats in the House of Commons. They are constitutionally protected in Quebec to have 75 seats in the House. If the Bloc were to suggest that 338 is where we should leave the number of representatives i…
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Mr. Chair, the pension board is independent of government, but I think now is the time for government to be looking at all tools available to limit the ability for Russia, for Putin, for the oligarchs to finance the war that we are seeing in Ukraine. If that were something that was available and there were ties, that is something the government could look at, particularly given the circumstances t…
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Mr. Chair, first of all, one of the points the member raised in her intervention was the fact that there is a separation between the regime in Russia and the Russian people. We have seen that in the demonstrations in cities across Russia. I want to go on record as saying we have to separate the Russian regime from the Russian people. As to her question on immigration, I know our minister, as he me…
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Mr. Speaker, it is great to see the hon. member back in the House. Some things my hon. colleague touched upon are actually going to be in what I say later today. This gentleman, my colleague, has served in our Canadian Armed Forces. He has defended and protected our country, and I thank him for that. My question is actually around the military presence. The United States and Canada have ruled out …
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Mr. Chair, it is an absolute privilege to be here tonight, albeit I just have five minutes to talk about a subject that is much more nuanced than time allows. I will try to make my remarks proportionate to what we have seen. I would like to thank the member for Etobicoke Centre and other colleagues in the House who pushed for this debate. It is extremely important and timely that we are having it …
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Mr. Chair, I thank my colleague for his question. I think it is totally reasonable for our government to consider measures and economic sanctions against Belarus. Belarus is just as guilty, since it helped Russia attack Ukraine. I think this discussion will continue in the House and I agree with the principle of the question.
Read full speech →Orders of the Day
Mr. Speaker, I am curious to know what the Bloc Québécois's position is, after polling shows that 72% of Quebeckers support the government's measures. Furthermore, this is not only a problem in Ottawa. As the member for Windsor West just explained, the threat to our borders and key infrastructure is not over. The Ottawa police chief explained this weekend how important the emergency measures were …
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Mr. Speaker, my colleague from Victoria was not wrong when she was talking about the gravity of what we are debating today. Ultimately, on future legal tests, jurists will look back to our words here on Hansard to help them understand why the precedent was set. My rationale is not unlike hers, which is the national capital being occupied and the fact that individuals had talked about overthrowing …
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Mr. Speaker, I listened intently to the member opposite's speech, and what I find concerning, and what I have heard from the Conservative bench for the last couple of weeks, is this. They are equating the idea that, although there are some individuals who have been involved in this occupation who are being peaceful, it is somehow lawful. We can have people who are peaceful, but I would argue that …
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Madam Speaker, I will present three facts, followed by one question. First, the charter rights are not affected by our measures. Second, this act is very different from the War Measures Act. We are not calling in the army. This is very different from the October crisis. Third, according to a recent poll, 72% of Quebeckers support our measures. On Monday, my opposition colleague asked the federal g…
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Madam Speaker, no charter rights are being infringed upon here. It is very clear in the public order that that is the case. This is not the War Measures Act. It is a much more specific application of federal laws that are being made available to provincial and municipal authorities to be able to address the issue. Indeed, 72% of Quebeckers actually support the government's measures on this. On Mon…
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Mr. Speaker, I was quite gobsmacked while listening to the member's speech, particularly because the member started by saying that the Government of Canada should have acted sooner. The Bloc Québécois normally has a lot of respect for jurisdictions. We were there to support municipalities. We were there to support the provincial governments that asked for our assistance, with additional forces and…
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Mr. Speaker, the member opposite likes to talk about leadership. However, his party is trying to both support and condemn the illegal blockades. The hon. member for Lambton—Kent—Middlesex suggested that the Prime Minister should show leadership and give the illegal protesters everything they want. What measures should the government have taken? Should the government simply give in to the demands o…
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Mr. Speaker, the leader of the Bloc Québécois compared a public emergency order to the War Measures Act, which is not the case. His public safety critic suggested that this measure takes away the rights guaranteed by the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, which is not the case. This order merely gives police and provincial authorities additional powers to do their jobs, which includes tracki…
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Madam Speaker, I will be sharing my time with the hon. member for Outremont. Today I rise to deliver what may be the most important speech I have given since having the privilege to serve the people of Kings—Hants in the House. Today, we as parliamentarians are debating whether the government's decision to invoke the Emergencies Act on Monday was justified. I submit, for my colleagues in the House…
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Madam Speaker, I was anticipating the question, because I have noticed that members on the opposite side of the House are trying to create that narrative. I find that they have been inconsistent in their own way, in that they were very quick to call for government action back in 2020, but were silent for nearly two weeks with what we have seen in Ottawa and elsewhere in the country. The difference…
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Madam Speaker, “in the absence of federal government leadership, ordinary people, brave as they may be, put themselves in harm's way because of this government. Protecting the people is the cornerstone of the contract between citizens and the government. Does the government understand the consequences of its lack of leadership?” That was from the critic from the Bloc Québécois four days ago. What …
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Madam Speaker, the member talks about leadership. What type of leadership would he have liked to see? Would he have liked to see federal overreach in the first few days, and the imposing of federal powers? Would the member suggest that leadership looks like acquiescing to what the Conservatives have said? No. What we have done is wait until the situation warranted a federal response. Here we are. …
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Madam Speaker, my hon. colleague and I have the privilege of working together on the agriculture committee. I always find him to be balanced, reasonable and quite eloquent in his remarks. I did not catch all of his speech, but I did catch the tail end. I have often heard members in this House, particularly Bloc Québécois members and Conservative members, say that they want to see more leadership f…
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Mr. Speaker, I have two quick questions for my hon. colleague. The first is around powers. Just a few minutes ago I had the opportunity to speak to a constituent who was concerned that this was a broad overreach by the government. When I explained the different measures within the public order, he understood and said that it was reasonable because it was giving tools to the police to be able to ad…
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Mr. Speaker, I thank my hon. colleague for his remarks and for speaking in French. It is wonderful to see parliamentarians work on improving their skills in both official languages. With respect to freedom of expression, the Minister of Canadian Heritage made it clear in his remarks that Bill C‑11, like the bill in the previous Parliament, is designed to make digital giants contribute to Canadian …
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Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank my colleague, the Minister of Canadian Heritage, for his remarks today and his work on this bill. This bill was presented, or certainly the spirit of it was, in the 43rd Parliament. I had conversations with constituents who were confused because they thought the government was trying to regulate free speech. Of course, we just heard the member for Carleton with h…
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Mr. Speaker, I will be sharing my time with the hon. member for Mississauga—Erin Mills. I have the privilege of rising today to speak to Bill C‑12, which seeks to support low-income seniors whose guaranteed income supplement was affected by pandemic benefits. I will use my time today to speak about the measures in the bill and the reasons why the government has introduced them to support vulnerabl…
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Mr. Speaker, I have the honour to present, in both official languages, the second report of the Standing Committee on Agriculture and Agri-Food in relation to the motion adopted on Monday, February 14, 2022, regarding the illegal blockades at Canada's border crossings. The House of Commons Standing Committee on Agriculture and Agri-Food calls for the immediate end of the illegal blockades at Canad…
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Mr. Speaker, it is a great opportunity for me to differentiate in what he just said. I said in those remarks, and of course he has the Hansard in front of him, that it is an opportunity to look at private delivery while keeping it under a first-payer model, which means that the government, the public system, continues to pay for the cost. However, how do we look at innovative ways to use the priva…
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Mr. Speaker, although my hon. colleague might not have it on the record, I understand that he might identify as a progressive Conservative, and I may too suggest that those are rare on this side of the House as well. That is certainly what I have heard through the grapevine. I applaud him if he is and I hope he will continue to try to keep his party near the middle of the spectrum. With regard to …
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Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for his question. Once again, I want to say that I am proud to work with him on the Standing Committee on Agriculture and Agri-Food. As I said in my answer to the previous question, I believe that it is important to move this bill forward and to create space on the parliamentary calendar for other bills. The measure will go into effect in July, but it is also retr…
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Mr. Speaker, my colleague touched upon the idea of a guaranteed basic income. At the end of the day, I will put my own thoughts on the table and then ask the question. I think the idea of looking at the variety of social safety net programs, both provincially and federally, and consolidating those programs to have one guaranteed payment that would be available, as well as to get administrative sav…
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Madam Speaker, members will forgive me if I thought I was sitting in Queen's Park, because a lot of the elements that my hon. colleague talked about are within the provincial domain. Tying it back to this legislation, this is something that provincial and territorial governments are calling for. This is going to be a crucial measure. Unlike some members of this House who think there will just be a…
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Madam Speaker, I did not catch my hon. colleague's entire speech, but I did hear him, at the end of his remarks, talk about the importance of Canada having domestic supply chains to support vaccines, PPE and other things. It was his position that the NDP is in favour of a Crown corporation to drive these types of initiatives. I had the opportunity to speak with the Minister of Innovation, Science …
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Mr. Speaker, it is an absolute privilege to be here today to speak to Bill C-10, which is legislation that is being introduced to increase the number of rapid tests being sent to the provinces and territories by the Government of Canada. I cannot see this being a controversial piece of legislation. It is straightforward and it is needed, given we are still in the midst of COVID-19. Therefore, I wi…
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Mr. Speaker, I believe if we check Hansard, we will see that I have called on all parliamentarians, whether they be in this House, whether they be the Prime Minister, the leader of the official opposition or elected officials at provincial and municipal levels. It is incumbent on all of us to have a tone and discourse that is respectful and where we can agree to disagree. I would agree with the me…
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Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague opposite for her question. My microphone was not working because of technical difficulties before my speech. With respect to health transfers, the government made promises during the election campaign. It promised to increase funding and enhance health care systems across the country, especially in Quebec. The government's plan is to provide that help to the provi…
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Mr. Speaker, my hon. colleague raises the importance of making sure that we have supplies and rapid tests in the days ahead because, although, yes, we are on the other side of omicron, the reality is that this pandemic could perhaps stay with us in the days ahead. There is not going to be a moment in time where we simply throw down the gauntlet and say we are done with the pandemic. Notwithstandin…
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Madam Speaker, I always find that my hon. colleague is one of the most eloquent in the House, in his delivery style. Of course, he highlighted what we have heard today in the debate, which is some of the inconsistency from the opposition party in terms of their views. I am wondering if he might be able to opine on that. Furthermore, what I have noticed in the House is that there seems to be a desi…
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Madam Speaker, I thank my hon. colleague for his speech this afternoon. I especially want to thank him for having the courage to tweet about the blockade and about how important it is for all parliamentarians to work together to end it. I am not the government House leader, but I would like to ask my colleague a question about the urgency of this motion. The Prime Minister has announced emergency …
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Madam Speaker, I listened with intent during the member's speech and there are a couple of things I would like to comment on before I get to my question. The government has been there for seniors since it was elected in 2015, whether it was increases in the guaranteed income supplement or the emergency payments during the pandemic. We have brought 250,000 seniors out of poverty and we are also pro…
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Madam Speaker, I think we can all agree in the House that supporting seniors is an important initiative, and that is why this government has been working on a lot of different elements. I do not know what the member opposite's profession might have been before he came to the House, but the problem I have is that it is easy to get up and say he wants to increase old age security by $110. In fact, t…
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Madam Speaker, I would like to correct the record. I can certainly appreciate that Dr. Tam never suggested that we get rid of all vaccine mandates or protocols, but of course that there could be a revision and a look at the current measures. I think that is important to note. To the member opposite, today during question period, his colleague for Lambton—Kent—Middlesex essentially asked the Prime …
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Madam Speaker, I would like to pose a question to my hon. colleague. Obviously we are here talking about COVID protocols, but consider what we are seeing in Ottawa and, indeed, what we are seeing around the country. It is being reported that this is more than just a protest. This is a coordinated effort to occupy critical infrastructure across the country. It is having a major impact on our cross-…
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Madam Speaker, I will address the member directly. I think it is clear, as he mentioned, that jurisdictions are—
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