Government Orders
Madam Speaker, once again, we have an “axe the facts” day. I want to know some facts. I want to know why the leader of the Conservative Party is avoiding getting security clearance at a time of foreign interference. I want the facts on that, instead of another day where the Conservatives spin and axe those facts.
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Madam Speaker, we know that the government has a lousy record in terms of dealing with the climate emergency. The Liberals did buy a pipeline, if we want to talk about wasting taxpayer dollars, but they have tabled the report, which is what the whole opposition day motion by the Conservative Party is about. I am wondering if my hon. colleague agrees that because the government has done what has be…
Read full speech →Private Members' Business
Mr. Speaker, I am honoured to rise today to speak on the issue of coercive control, something that I know jeopardizes the safety and well-being of countless women and gender-diverse people across Canada, an invisible violence that has been ignored for far too long. I really want to thank my colleague, the member for Victoria, for tabling this important piece of legislation that seeks to alleviate …
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, the Liberals are jeopardizing affordable child care by refusing fair pay and benefits for child care workers. In Alberta, experts say child care workers earn less than a livable wage, driving many away from the sector. However, this is an issue across Canada, as low pay and benefits are common for child care workers, most of whom are indigenous and women of colour. When will the Liber…
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Mr. Speaker, big telecom companies are adding to the struggles of women and gender-diverse people fleeing violence. While telecom CEOs lay off staff and give themselves huge bonuses, a recent report found that Bell, Rogers and Telus forced extra fees and long wait times on victims trying to change their phone numbers or leave shared plans with their abusers. When will the Liberals stop being soft …
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Madam Speaker, I am honoured to rise to present three petitions today. The first is in support of volunteer firefighters, who account for 71% of Canada's total firefighting essential first responders. Approximately 8,000 essential search and rescue volunteers respond to thousands of incidents every year. The petitioners state that the tax code of Canada currently allows volunteer firefighters and …
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Madam Speaker, I am rising on a point of order to discuss a serious incident that occurred in this chamber on Tuesday night. As you may recall, the House was sitting late on that evening to debate Bill C-20, the public complaints and review commission. Bill C-20 is a very important piece of legislation, which is a long time coming. The purpose of the bill was to put in place an independent oversig…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, this is very important context about why—
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, the statement of the member for Saskatoon West, which I read into the record a few moments ago, was very clearly said by the member. It was audible when re-examining the video of his intervention, and that was recorded in the blues. I am going to read it again into the record—
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Madam Speaker, the member did not really apologize. He gave the reason he changed the word. He is not taking responsibility—
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I will come back to it later.
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, I took the advice of the Deputy Speaker this morning, and approximately one hour ago, I wrote to the Speaker to provide notice of a matter of privilege regarding the troubling statements made in the House on Tuesday evening by the member for Saskatoon West. As outlined in my letter, and as I had started to say this morning, there are two issues at play. First, there is an issue of a…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, are you suggesting that this be a question of privilege and not a point of order? I want to make sure, out of respect to you, that I understand you correctly.
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, in terms of the blues, we are allowed to change things, but the change by the member entirely takes away what was said in the House. The edit made to the blues changed it entirely. Changing the record from “because of his racial background” to “regardless of his racial background” might seem like a small change, but it fundamentally alters the meaning of what was said. The former li…
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Madam Speaker, I would like to thank the member for Edmonton Griesbach for his absolutely brilliant speech and deep wisdom on the bill before us. You have raised a couple of concerns about the bill, and one is proper consultation. It seems that, with indigenous people, we are always given candies and are supposed to be glad and joyous about it. I sense that you have a different perspective on the …
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Madam Speaker, it is very clear, certainly from the news, that there is a need for independent oversight. The National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls called for systemic change, particularly relating to calls 9.1 to 9.11. It is not shocking to me. We know there is systemic racism in policing. We know it is not effective for police to police themselves. To the minister…
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Madam Speaker, when I asked the minister a question about systemic racism, I heard Conservatives heckling. I bring this up because we know there is an overrepresentation of excessive force used against Black people, indigenous people and people of colour. We have a serious issue of systemic racism in this country, which informed part of the TRC final report and the National Inquiry into Missing an…
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Madam Speaker, this is not surprising coming from the member. We are talking about violence against indigenous people, and it is clear that there are residential school denialists in his party. I am assuming he is one of them. One of the last speeches he gave—
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Mr. Speaker, I know that the Conservatives like to pride themselves on being the law and order party, the ones who stand up for police, but I just want to talk about Coutts, Alberta. Two of the four men charged with conspiracy to commit murder at the Coutts border blockade in southern Alberta have now been released from custody. There were arrests, and there were crimes committed. Can we guess who…
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Madam Speaker, it is such an honour to rise and talk about this subject matter, as much of what is happening with Bill C-20 relates to the calls for justice that came out of the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls. Before I start, I have to honour the work of the member for Cowichan—Malahat—Langford, who is a true diplomat. He is able to work across party lines, e…
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Madam Speaker, I know the member has very big feelings about indigenous people. I know he has a history of disregarding any discussions on indigenous people. I have articles and facts about what else the Conservatives said was a false claim. I would be very happy to quote articles with residential school denialism comments that came from the member for Carleton, the leader of their party. I know t…
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Madam Speaker, absolutely, we need oversight to deal with systemic racism in policing, as well as other systems. I know that there is concern about me talking about colonial violence but there is a lot of racism, with all due respect, that persists in the House, an erasure of history. There is the fact that we are talking about residential schools and people are chuckling on that side of the House…
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Madam Speaker, I will not apologize. With all due respect to you, I will not apologize for telling the truth about this place.
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Madam Speaker, I know the member has trouble talking about the bill because it has to do with dealing with systemic racism and addressing systemic racism in policing for Black people, indigenous people and people of colour. It is unfortunate that at a time when we are talking about making systems better, the member consistently chooses to talk about things that have no relevance to the discussion,…
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Mr. Speaker, I find it really, I guess, peculiar that the member is worried about that. He represents a riding, Winnipeg North, that has tons of small local grocery stores owned by very diverse communities. It is where I shop. I actually go to shop there because I find that the food prices are better. I went to, for example, a local place on the weekend to buy my vegetables. I go to a local meat m…
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That's the problem, Mr. Speaker. Although I have enjoyed working with my colleague throughout the years, the Conservatives do not have a climate plan. If we want to talk about the rising cost of food, then we need to deal with the climate emergency. I mentioned what is happening in Manitoba. Manitoba farmers are speaking up because they are concerned about the climate emergency. What is happening …
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Mr. Speaker, it is just so nice to be here again this evening. I know the Conservatives have tried to adjourn the House, calling quorum time and time again, because they really do not want to talk about the fact that people are starving, even though very often in the House they demean folks living in tent cities in poverty, folks who happen to live in my riding, actual human beings who are often s…
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Mr. Speaker, this is an example of what I was talking about. I am glad of it, because I am going to put it on the record that the Conservatives do not care that people are starving. They certainly do not care about people in my riding, who are some of the poorest people in Canada. In fact, the Conservatives are trying to stop a debate on fighting for the human rights and dignity of the most margin…
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Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank my hon. colleague from Nunavut for her advocacy around improving human rights and material conditions for her constituents. She has been a tremendous champion. In saying that, nutrition north is just one example of how Conservatives and Liberals have turned their backs on indigenous people. It is 2024, and we are still talking about clean drinking water. We are f…
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Madam Speaker, in fact we are studying this in the status of women committee, and just how women's legal groups, particularly, want to actually get rid of claims about parental alienation because they have no scientific basis, which is what they are saying. It actually results, very often, in women and gender-diverse people who are experiencing violence being more victimized. This is well research…
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Madam Speaker, quite frankly, most women, historically, have gotten their tubes tied, which is a very major surgery, when we know that vasectomies are much easier. We are not asking people to get vasectomies. We are just saying, if we want a birth control pill, can someone give it to us? There is not just the fact that it is still up to women, in terms of the primary responsibility to consume the …
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, it has been five years since the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls released its 231 calls for justice. Only two are fully implemented, and the Liberals continue to ignore this ongoing genocide. Commissioners who led this inquiry are giving the government a failing grade. Rates of violence are up. Families are left looking for answers. It has been fi…
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Madam Speaker, the Conservatives seem to fight against anything for women, whether it is menstrual hygiene products or, now, free contraception. This includes some of their backbenchers who are fighting against the right to access safe trauma-informed abortion care. Why are the Conservatives so anti-feminist and anti-women?
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Madam Speaker, it is such an honour to rise again to speak about the very important bill before us to put in place the beginnings of a pharmacare strategy, particularly as it relates to free contraception and diabetes medication. As the critic for women and gender equality, I want to focus my comments more on contraception and the fact that this is long overdue if we want to talk about reproductiv…
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Madam Speaker, absolutely it would have a really positive impact, but the Liberals are not off the hook here. They might talk about the right to access safe abortions and the right to a safe abortion, but they have failed in terms of providing access, and this does not include the number of Liberal MPs who are listed as anti-choice. I am glad that the Liberals are on board with the NDP pharmacare …
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Mr. Speaker, this morning I heard the Conservative leader on his nonsense plan and the fact that the Conservatives want to axe the facts. First of all, we heard an attack on media, one of the pillars of democracy, and then we heard an attack on academic institutions. We know that climate change is real, for those who actually believe in science, and we know that the Conservatives' plan is just to …
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Madam Speaker, my hon. colleague spoke in her speech about the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. The Conservatives talk a good game about economic reconciliation, which I will translate: “We will support your free, prior and informed consent if you support our economic and resource agenda and, if not, we are going to brush you aside.” It is a clear position that does …
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Mr. Speaker, we have heard a lot about common sense in opposition to this bill from the Conservatives. Meanwhile, I see a lack of common sense. We know that there are places in B.C. that are being evacuated. I know that in northern Manitoba, there are places that are being evacuated as a result of catastrophic climate change. Every time there is a bill put forward that even attempts to address the…
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Mr. Speaker, I get concerned every time I hear the Conservatives speak, especially right now, hearing the news. There are communities in B.C. that are being evacuated. Any time we talk about a plan to deal with the climate emergency, the Conservatives have a problem with it. I am not saying that the bill is perfect, but what I am saying is that the Conservatives are consistent in their climate den…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, while Winnipeg Centre has one of the highest rates of youth poverty in Canada, Resource Assistance for Youth, Inc.'s level up job placement and education program has been placed at risk by the Liberals' funding delays. After seven months of waiting, this has forced RaY to discontinue vital programming for youth and lay off staff. It is shameful. Will the minister restore the funding, …
Read full speech →Statements By Members
Mr. Speaker, many youth in Winnipeg Centre face unimaginable hurdles to success. We have one of the highest rates of child poverty in the country, at almost 40%, but Winnipeg's frontline organizations are leading the way and rising to this challenge. This includes Resource Assistance for Youth Incorporated, otherwise known as RaY, which provides support, services and training programs to youth who…
Read full speech →Statements by Members
Mr. Speaker, abortion rights are human rights, but the Liberals continue to deny equal access to that right. In New Brunswick, the Prime Minister has done nothing to address the total absence of abortion clinics throughout the province, and in Manitoba, we are at risk of losing our only abortion clinic. A right is only as good as the ability to access it, but this is merely a dream in many rural a…
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Mr. Speaker, it is an honour to have an opportunity to speak to the budget today. I would like to start with the positives. I know that my NDP colleagues and I achieved a number of good things in the budget. Certainly, the national school food program is an absolutely historic shift. It is something that the NDP has fought for and that we pushed to make sure was part of the budget. We are ensuring…
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Mr. Speaker, I love working with the member from King—Vaughan. My answer to that is no, I will not vote against the school meal program, dental care, pharmacare and a national child care program. These are things that have been moved along and that the NDP fought for. I will not vote against a red dress alert, something that I got in, along with advocates, with the support of the leadership of the…
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Mr. Speaker, I love working with my colleague from New Westminster—Burnaby. He is such a wonderful House leader and colleague. In saying that, he is absolutely right. The Liberals are talking about fairness. They need to go after offshore tax havens and rich CEOs, and they need to take that money and spread it out to those who are being left behind. Every day, I have to sit in the House of Commons…
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Mr. Speaker, like my colleague, I did have some concerns about the budget. We know that currently there is an attack on trans kids. We know that currently, certainly according to what I have seen in the House of Commons, there is an attack on the right to choose to have access to safe, trauma-informed abortion care. I am wondering whether my colleague supports me and millions of Canadians around t…
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Mr. Speaker, one of those ideas is a guaranteed livable basic income. This has been researched and studied, and it is something that is being facilitated in some of the happiest countries in the world right now. We know that, when we look after people, it is good economics. I hope that my hon. colleague across the way supports good economics, supports ensuring that people can live in human rights …
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, reproductive rights are under attack, including by Conservatives who voted against free contraceptives, have pushed back-door legislation and tabled petitions attempting to violate abortion rights. However, the Liberals are no better. They failed to uphold access to abortion care, including in New Brunswick, where there is not a single abortion clinic. When will the government enforce…
Read full speech →Private Members' Business
Madam Speaker, I would like to correct the record, because that is not factual. The fact is that the NDP government was in power and it was then taken over by the Conservative Party, which cancelled the program. It is not that the Manitoba government did not want it go forward at the time. Unfortunately, it was stopped by a Conservative government. I would like to remind the member that it is an N…
Read full speech →Private Members' Business
Madam Speaker, this bill is very clear that a guaranteed livable basic income would be in addition to other supports and services meant to meet specific and special needs. That would include things like extra supports that may be required by certain communities. The disability community often has higher expenses. Their cost of living is often much higher than for other folks, so we cannot get rid …
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