Government Orders
Madam Speaker, I will respond to that with a couple of things. Obviously, as I mentioned, the tribunal had suggested the government had to do a better job of trying to drive diversity and inclusion. The hon. member mentioned that some people, such as women in indigenous groups, have a double challenge. At the end of the day, what I take notice of in this Bloc Québécois motion is that it almost rea…
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Madam Speaker, I thank my hon. colleague for his question. I am a bit confused, because when I read the text of the motion, I did not see anything about provincial jurisdiction. I think that Quebec probably respects the principles of diversity and inclusion. If the goal is for the federal government to work with Quebec to incorporate the principles of inclusion and diversity into the field of rese…
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Madam Speaker, I have the privilege of rising today to speak to an opposition motion. I will be sharing my time with my hon. colleague from Vaughan—Woodbridge. I usually get the text of an opposition motion the night before the debate and take the time back at the hotel to read it over and review the principles. Two weeks ago, I got the text of the Bloc Québécois's opposition motion on the prayer …
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Madam Speaker, I think the parliamentary secretary has hit it right on the head with the question. I will certainly just elaborate a little bit further. Regardless of what profession one might seek to take on in the future, one wants to see oneself reflected and have mentorship in that role. Whether or not that is the diversity that the parliamentary secretary talked about, or indigenous communiti…
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Madam Speaker, friendship centres provide important culturally informed employment, youth and housing programs for indigenous people across the country. Friendship centres are important for indigenous and non-indigenous people to come together and learn from one another. The Mi'kmaw Native Friendship Centre has been providing essential programs and services to indigenous people from across Nova Sc…
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Madam Speaker, I will be sharing my time with my hon. colleague from Vaughan—Woodbridge. As usual, it is a privilege to rise this afternoon to speak to the NDP opposition motion moved by my hon. colleague from Victoria. In principle, the motion has three elements. It recognizes that the price of gas is high, at more than $2 a litre in some regions in the country, and that that is affecting afforda…
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Madam Speaker, my hon. colleague made it very clear that she is against any type of public financing for the oil and gas sector. The way I view it is that this particular tax credit is meant to incentivize a reduction in emissions, but I respect her point and her view on this. My question is a bit broader. Does she feel the Government of Canada has a role in working with private-sector entities to…
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Madam Speaker, I would normally respond in French, but I will speak in English so as to be very clear. It is very easy for that member to suggest that Canada being the fourth-largest oil producer is a bad thing. That is the way he framed it. This is a resource that has been extremely beneficial from Victoria to Newfoundland and Labrador, and everywhere in between, including in his home province. W…
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Madam Speaker, in a world where we are going to see a smaller role for oil and gas, and I think the International Energy Agency has said that, my thoughts are we actually need to work with the Canadian energy sector to make sure its emission intensity per barrel is some of the lowest in the world. That comes back to the CCUS and how important that is. We also, undoubtedly, need to make a transitio…
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Madam Speaker, indeed, we are very blessed to have deep connections to Windsor. It is a beautiful township, which I have the privilege of representing. I will try to address the question twofold. The member opposite talked about some of the tax credits and incentives this government is putting in. I have said in this House before that I believe there will be an oil and gas industry in 2050. The oi…
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Mr. Speaker, when I look at the text of this motion, I think it is particularly narrow. Yes, the foreign policy concept and the landscape have changed, particularly with the war in Ukraine. As I have said before to the member for Wellington—Halton Hills, there is actually an important conversation to be had about a changing foreign policy landscape. Would the member opposite welcome the idea of br…
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Madam Speaker, today we are debating a Conservative Party opposition motion moved by the member for Wellington—Halton Hills that would create a parliamentary committee to study the Canada-People's Republic of China relationship. I have read the motion and will share my thoughts about it and about global affairs, as they relate to China. I will start with the provisions of the motion. Overall, they…
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Madam Speaker, let me first address the member's opening comment on the opioid piece. Our Minister of Mental Health and Addictions, our government and our Minister of Health are working directly with the province the member resides in, British Columbia, to find ways to address the opioid crisis. We know that this is important. I know that there is—
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Madam Speaker, this question gives me the opportunity to thank my hon. colleague, the former member of Parliament for Halifax West, Geoff Regan, who was the chair of that committee. I had the opportunity to speak with him a number of times. My issue does not lie in the importance of the relationship between Canada and China. It is that we are going at this too narrowly. Now, indeed, if the House v…
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Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague for his question. First, I think that I am an MP who generally recognizes that there are a lot of good ideas coming from everywhere in the House, including the opposition in some cases. I absolutely feel that the issues affecting Canada-China relations are important, but there are other important issues too, including Canada's relations with other countries and …
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Madam Speaker, the initiatives that we are bringing forward were in our platform promise in the 2021 election. The member opposite talked about some of the past government choices to not invest in housing, but we are stepping up and making sure that they are there. It is very similar to child care. For a long time, it was talked about. We are the government that stepped up and delivered it, and no…
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Mr. Speaker, it is a privilege for me to rise this morning to discuss budget 2022 and to share the views of my constituents from Kings—Hants. I will be sharing my time with the hon. member for Ottawa Centre. The budget contains many initiatives. Since I have only 10 minutes, my speech will focus on the following three areas: initiatives that are of particular importance to my riding of Kings—Hants…
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Madam Speaker, yes, I did give my colleague opposite a beautiful bottle of Nova Scotia wine. I am glad he enjoyed it. I want to talk about a couple of initiatives that I did not have the chance to address. Our government is tripling the agriculture clean tech program. This is going to be extremely important for farmers across the country. We are also working on the on-farm climate solutions. I bel…
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Madam Speaker, I would like to thank my colleague for his question. In the previous Parliament, under the rapid housing initiative, nearly 40% of the funding was allocated to Quebec. We have a strong partnership with the Government of Quebec to propose and deliver housing in Quebec. I am confident that this partnership will continue in the future.
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Madam Speaker, first of all, I do not think it was Donald Trump who put forward the 2% benchmark. I think that was established in 2014 at the Wales Summit. To the member's question, whether or not it is 2%, I think it is a benchmark for governments and countries that are involved in NATO to aspire to. To continue to support that type of investment in our security, on that principle, I agree with i…
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Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague for her question, or rather her questions since there were several components. First, I have confidence in the leadership of the Minister of National Defence, and we will work with the Canadian Forces to change the internal culture. Of course, as I said, as far as investments in the Canadian Forces are concerned, it is also about supporting them on the human res…
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Madam Speaker, I do not pretend to be a policy expert in the domain the member just asked the question about. On the principle of working with the United States, particularly, in a continental approach, in terms of approaches on coastal elements, I think cybersecurity is an element we also have to be focused on. I believe that now is the time to be looking at these investments. We still have to ma…
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Madam Speaker, I thank my hon. colleague from Scarborough—Guildwood for sharing his time with me today. I am pleased to rise this afternoon to speak to the opposition motion on national defence spending. I have said it before, and I will say it again: February 24 was the end of the post-Cold War era. While nobody can claim to know exactly what will happen next, I expect the foreign policy landscap…
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Madam Speaker, I want to thank the member for Calgary Nose Hill for bringing this important discussion to the House. She articulated in her speech how we really do need to have important conversations about cryptocurrency in the future and how it works. Again, in that spirit of trying to be not partisan, I have read through the bill. I think, by and large, the framework and the idea of forcing tho…
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Madam Speaker, I have to ask what we are doing here. Honest to God, what are we doing here? Yes, today we are debating a concurrence motion on a report from the finance committee. In three days, we are going to table a budget, and there will be a whole host of debates on the different elements in it.. Every time I have come into the House in the last two weeks and tried to figure out what is going…
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Madam Speaker, I rise on a point of order. The member for Central Okanagan—Similkameen—Nicola rose to ask a question and said that the government had taken away the 100% excise. It was actually deemed ineligible, as per the World Trade Organization. I thought—
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Madam Speaker, I would like to thank my hon. colleague for Edmonton Griesbach for his remarks today. I think this is the first time we have had to engage each other in the House, and I congratulate him on his election. Certainly, as we are two of the younger members of Parliament in the House, it is great to see another young face here. I have been thinking a lot about energy and its future in Can…
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Madam Speaker, I want to thank my colleague for her speech today. I have three quick questions for her. First, does my hon. colleague believe that there will be an oil and gas industry in 2050? Second, does she believe that Canada has a role to play in providing its products to the whole world, assuming we can reduce the amount of greenhouse gas emissions per barrel? Third, does my colleague belie…
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Mr. Speaker, it is a privilege to rise in the House of Commons, even in a virtual manner, to address the opposition day motion today on what I think is an important element for us to talk about: economic and fiscal policy. What I am going to do in my 10 minutes is to try to tackle some of the elements in the actual text of the motion and also to provide some of the recommendations and thoughts I h…
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Mr. Speaker, there are a couple of things I would agree with in the member's remarks. The importance of Canada vis-à-vis its role in agriculture is a value that he and I share, as well as our respect for Scott Brison, my predecessor. I will certainly second him on his work over 21 years, and let me go on the record to thank him for his public service. The member opposite talked about inflation and…
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Mr. Speaker, likewise, I always enjoy the interventions from the member for Kenora and his insight. This government recognizes that for certain industries and certain individuals, depending on where they live in the country, there are fewer options. Being in a rural area myself in Nova Scotia, I know that my constituents may not have the same access to public transit and different elements as othe…
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Mr. Speaker, I know the particular housing situation in Nunavut would be more nuanced than the one in my riding of Kings—Hants. However, the government certainly has committed publicly to investing in indigenous housing specifically in the days ahead, and I take notice that this is important to the member opposite and her constituents, as well as to many others across the country. In perhaps a les…
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Mr. Speaker, my understanding is that the government is contemplating those types of policies. Let me say, though, which I often say to my NDP colleagues, that there is merit in looking at individuals who have the propensity to pay more to help contribute to social programs, but we need to do so in the sense that we are in a global economy. The best way to move forward is working in a multilateral…
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Madam Speaker, I did not have the opportunity to speak to the member for Wellington—Halton Hills on an opposition motion that he brought forward a couple of weeks ago. I will pose that question today, because I think it is relevant to the remarks that he made today in the House. It is around natural gas. I know that the member opposite believes that it is an important pathway, and that this govern…
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Mr. Speaker, for Canadians watching at home, Bill C-8 was the fall economic update. We are almost through March right now. There are important measures in this legislation that matter to farmers. I know my hon. colleague has farmers in his area, in the interior of British Columbia. There are elements around rapid testing. There are a lot of different measures in this bill that matter, and it is th…
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Madam Speaker, at 19 times the size, I can appreciate the challenges of getting to every corner of his riding and what that would represent. Even 5,000 square kilometres in Kings—Hants can sometimes feel daunting. I do not have specific information to answer his question vis-à-vis the intergovernmental aspect of Saskatchewan versus New Brunswick. I will talk about affordability writ large. I think…
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Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague for his question. I had just 10 minutes to talk about the text of the motion and some of the government's priorities, so I did not have an opportunity to discuss another mistake in the motion as written, which has to do with the Quebec tax. This motion would in fact interfere in an area under provincial jurisdiction. That is yet another error in the Conservative…
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Madam Speaker, that is a lot to try to answer in 30 seconds. Let me just say, as one of the younger members in the House at 31 years old, I have friends in that same situation of trying to be able to own a home and start a family. That resonates with me. I do not have time to properly address the question vis-à-vis the larger policy context of whether or not it is prudent to continue to spend to t…
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Madam Speaker, just a quick note, I have many constituents who have either made their start in life in Fort McMurray or are still residing there, so I think there are a lot of common connections between our two provinces. In my remarks earlier today, I thanked the member for Abbotsford for bringing forward a conversation about affordability, but I did say that I was concerned about the text of the…
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Madam Speaker, I would first like to say that I will be sharing my time with my hon. colleague from Kingston and the Islands. Today, we are here to discuss the opposition motion moved by my hon. colleague from Abbotsford, which addresses the price of oil and gas. The wording of the motion is non‑binding on the government, but I am glad we are having this conversation about affordability for Canadi…
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Mr. Speaker, Canadians know how important rail service is to be able to move essential goods across the country, whether or not it is inputs for farmers and ranchers or being able to get the bountiful harvest of those ranchers and producers to export markets. We watched with concern the ongoing situation with CP Rail and the union in terms of what a disruption could mean to Canadians. I had the op…
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Mr. Speaker, I would like to be able to finish my question to the member, if the member for North Island—Powell River could stop heckling me in the background. My question is simple. My colleague did a great job highlighting some of the government programs around affordability, the measures that the government has undertaken. This motion, at its core, is about affordability. I had the opportunity …
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Mr. Speaker, like the member for North Island—Powell River, I will thank the member for the fact that he is usually on his feet here and he is usually talking a lot of important sense.
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Mr. Speaker, my hon. colleague touched upon grocery outlets and big-box stores, as did her colleague for Winnipeg Centre who spoke before her. One of the things that we are studying right now at the agriculture committee, and which was brought up today, is that sometimes retailers are unfair to suppliers in terms of their expectations and some of the additional costs. That has given rise to the id…
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Madam Speaker, near the end of my hon. colleague's speech, he touched on a point that I think is extremely important. He mentioned the development capacity in Vaughan—Woodbridge and working to actually expedite and move forward with development agreements at the municipal level. I think we would all agree in the House that housing is a complex challenge. It is actually going to involve all three l…
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Madam Speaker, I have sat in for about a half hour of the discussion so far in this debate. I think the member opposite is missing the point that this is not just about Ukraine. For the last week, we have seen an invasion by Russia into Ukraine that completely changes the geopolitical dynamic we have seen over the last 30 years of the post-Cold War period. Of course, I love to sometimes chide my C…
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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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