Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, as I have heard in the House tonight, I know the Conservatives think providing free contraception is communist, but I would like to say this to the hon. member across the way: They talk about reproductive rights, but in New Brunswick, one cannot even access a trauma-informed abortion at care. We have a Canada Health Act that they have to uphold, and I am glad that the member supports …
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Mr. Speaker, I am proud to rise today to support what the NDP has fought for. It is the beginning of a pharmacare plan that will start with one of the things the NDP has championed for years: the reproductive rights of women and people who menstruate. It is a significant step forward to promote reproductive rights for women and gender-diverse people in Canada; we know, for far too long, leaders ha…
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Mr. Speaker, my apologies, but I am actually reading, and my understanding in the House is that we are allowed to read from notes. The article states, “The Abortion Rights Coalition of Canada (ARCC) keeps a list of anti-choice members of Parliament and has always rated Pierre Poilievre as anti-choice and continues to do—
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Mr. Speaker, the member for Carleton. I am so sorry. That is totally my fault, and I take responsibility. My apologies, but I am reading verbatim. The article reads that the coalition has always rated the member as “anti-choice and continues to do so.” It continues to say, “he has consistently voted in favour of anti-choice private member bills and motions, with just one exception”. Here are some …
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Mr. Speaker, I will give some examples. We are talking about facts, so I am going to give some examples. This is from rabble.ca. It is entitled, “The inconvenient anti-choice record of 'pro-choice' Pierre Poilievre”. The Abortion Rights Coalition—
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Mr. Speaker, I would also like to apologize for my misreading when I was reading the article. I do apologize. I was not trying to be cheeky, but I was reading directly from an article. We know that certain provinces, provinces his colleague called “communist”, are providing free contraception care—
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Madam Speaker, I find it hilarious that the Conservatives are protecting big insurance companies. I find it particularly entertaining that the member and his party, which would not be affected by this, including with contraception, fight so diligently against the reproductive rights of people. I find it funny. Does the member support access to trauma-informed abortion care and access to reproducti…
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Mr. Speaker, I know that it was the NDP who pushed for the beginning stages of this pharmacare plan. I am very proud that the NDP government in Manitoba already has free contraception in place. I am glad that the Liberals are finally coming on board, after a lot of coaxing. However, despite the Liberals saying they support the right to choose, they have not done their due diligence in ensuring acc…
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Mr. Speaker, the Liberals' child care plan forgets child care workers, 96% of whom are women, and many are facing a burnout crisis. The recent Liberal announcement falls short of what experts are calling for. Childhood educators need better wages and working conditions to improve retention and recruitment. Meanwhile, the Conservatives are pushing privatized child care, which would hurt workers eve…
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With regard to access to abortion care funded under the Canada Health Act, broken down by province or territory from 2015 to present: (a) how many hospitals provide safe abortion care services funded by the federal government; (b) how many clinics provide safe abortion care services funded by the federal government; (c) which municipalities with a population of 50,000 or more (i) did not have acce…
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With regard to funding included in the National Action Plan to End Gender-Based Violence, broken down by province or territory since the program was initiated: (a) how much of the allocated $539.3 million in funding has been committed to date; (b) how much of the allocated $539.3 million in funding has been spent to date; (c) which organizations have received funding from this program; (d) how muc…
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With regard to Reaching Home: Canada's Homelessness Strategy, broken down by province and territory from its inception in 2019 to present: (a) how much of the funding allocated to the program has been committed to date, broken down by its four funding streams, the (i) Designated Communities stream, (ii) Rural and Remote Homelessness stream, (iii) Territorial Homelessness stream, (iv) Indigenous Ho…
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With regard to childcare workers spanning from 2017 to present, broken down by province and territory: (a) what was the total number of childcare workers, broken down by (i) self-identified gender, (ii) self-identified racial background, (iii) self-identified status as Indigenous, (iv) status as immigrant or refugee, (v) self-identified Two-Spirit, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, Inter…
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Madam Speaker, it was funny for me to listen to my colleague across the way talking about Conservative scandals. It is like they are in competition. The Conservatives are not even elected yet and they have Jenni Byrne already caught up in the scandals as a lobbyist. However, I want to get to a really important question, because this is a total mockery of the House. I know that an ice cream cone fr…
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Madam Speaker, I actually find this really disingenuous from both sides. The Auditor General just spoke out about the Liberals' not investing enough in indigenous housing, calling the situation deplorable. On Monday I was in committee, and we were talking about child welfare. The Conservatives were in the committee trying to obstruct the study of Bill C-92 on reconciliation, on providing and uphol…
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Madam Speaker, my hon. colleague just mentioned Bill C-15. I know that one of the first steps in Bill C-15 was actually to put in place an action plan. We are now very far out from the deadline of that, and I am wondering where the action plan is. I ask because every time I try to apply Bill C-15 to current legislation, the government keeps talking about an action plan, yet that should have been o…
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Mr. Speaker, the Liberal government continues to fail women, including care workers in women's shelters. The cuts to women's shelters have impacted not only women fleeing violence but also shelter workers, who are facing a burnout crisis, consistently overworked and underpaid. Seventy-five percent of the care economy is women. This is a gender equality issue. Why do the so-called feminist Liberals…
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Mr. Speaker, I just want to acknowledge, as somebody with a similar history, that what is going on right now in Palestine and in Israel is very painful and brings up for me a lot of intergenerational trauma. I want to acknowledge that as a fellow human being in the discussion. One of the comments the member made was in response to providing military arms and technology to Israel on a case-by-case …
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Mr. Speaker, I have to say, as a Jew, listening to my colleague across the way talk about our view as Jews as universal, in terms of our position on Israel, is extremely painful. I know that his position comes from a place of deep intergenerational trauma and the experience of genocide, including what my family went through. I acknowledge that, but I want to ask the member across the way this: Whe…
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Mr. Speaker, I rise today to speak on a human rights and humanitarian crisis in Palestine and Israel. I thank my colleagues for tabling this motion. I encourage all members in the chamber to not turn a blind eye to the current ethnic cleansing happening and the serious violations of international law in Palestine. As members of Parliament, we cannot forget that our decisions have wide-reaching con…
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Mr. Speaker, I actually visited Anne Frank House when I was in Amsterdam. My dad was a Dutch Jew from Holland, and when I went, a number of years ago, to visit Anne Frank House, I was really moved. Human rights are human rights; human beings are human beings, and the suffering of one is the suffering of all. I cannot discriminate between whose suffering was worse, that caused by the Holocaust or w…
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Mr. Speaker, that is one of the reasons we are calling for an immediate arms embargo. Why are we providing arms to a state that is being investigated for a potential genocide? I know what genocide feels like. I know what genocide feels like because of my father, because of my grandmother, who survived Auschwitz. It destroys families. It rids people of histories. I know what genocide looks like in …
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Madam Speaker, I agree with my colleague. There has been a total lack of funding for nutrition north. I want to ask about the economic reconciliation I often hear the Conservatives talk about. I just want to translate what that means: It is economic reconciliation if one believes in their economic and political agenda, but if one does not, they will send in militarized police, as many people recom…
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Mr. Speaker, we talk about how a national child care strategy benefits women. I totally agree, and I find it troubling how the Conservatives are trying to stall the legislation. However, I ask where the worker strategy is. If we want to talk about being a feminist government, we know that the majority of ECE workers are women, primarily from immigrant and other BIPOC communities, but we also know …
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Mr. Speaker, I thank the hon. member for Edmonton Strathcona for her very pointed intervention. I also want to thank my hon. colleague for Nunavut for her previous intervention. The member for Edmonton Strathcona just spoke about a workforce strategy. The current government talks about being a feminist government, yet it continues to fail to put good workforce strategies forward for professions th…
Read full speech →Private Members' Business
Madam Speaker, my thanks for your guidance today as I start my speech on Bill C-318. This is a very important bill. I want to congratulate the member of Parliament who put forward this bill, as well as all the family members and advocates who pushed to make this a reality today. This was a very good bill in its original form. However, I was deeply disappointed that the amendments to the bill, whic…
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Mr. Speaker, it is an honour to rise today in support of this bill, Bill S-205, which was first introduced by Senator Boisvenu in 2021. First, I want to acknowledge his hard work and effort in putting this bill forward, as well as his courage in sharing his story about how gender-based violence impacted his own family. With that in mind, I think it was critical for him to ensure this bill passed t…
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Mr. Speaker, I am always humoured when I see some of the Conservative males talk about the plight of the single mother. I actually was one. In any case, he spoke a lot about unpaid care work that is done by women, and primarily by women, as I would agree, such as child-rearing and looking after aging parents. One of the reasons I put forward a guaranteed livable basic income was to provide income …
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Madam Speaker, it has been two weeks since I asked the health minister for his plan to address the closure of Clinic 554, Fredericton's only health care provider offering safe abortions. This government has done nothing. While Conservatives push backdoor legislation, violating the right to a safe abortion, the so-called feminist Liberals failed to address access. Why is the government denying acce…
Read full speech →Statements by Members
Madam Speaker, I rise today during Sexual and Reproductive Health Awareness Week to emphasize the importance of menstrual equity, access to contraception and abortion rights for Canadian women and gender-diverse people. I am happy to see my colleagues join me in celebrating the critical gains made by Canada's feminist movement in its fight for women's sexual and reproductive rights, but we cannot …
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Mr. Speaker, it is not about getting past it. History is important, but I would say that this history continues with the child welfare system, and it is about justice. We cannot get past things when things are still in our way that impact our ability to receive justice. For example, the fact is that we still have a crisis of murdered and missing indigenous women and girls. Where is the justice? We…
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Mr. Speaker, I am just pointing out that the member did mention Winnipeg Centre. I assumed the comments were made toward me when he said my riding, but let us leave that. Going back to what I was saying, the fact that he felt a need to defend himself in the middle of my speech is another example of what I had requested in my point of order, which was for him, through you, Mr. Speaker, to leave his…
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Madam Speaker, my hon. colleague from Winnipeg North tried to boast about how much progress his government has made, especially when talking about the crisis of murdered and missing indigenous women and girls. By the way, the Yellowhead Institute just reported that the government completed zero calls to action in 2023. I will go back to the amendment I proposed in committee, which would make sure …
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Mr. Speaker, again, I will give him the same response. I do not know what the motive was or who burned down the churches. Second, because I do not know that, I cannot call it anti-indigenous violence. I have not heard him debate anti-indigenous violence when he talks about residential school denialism. I know what the motivation is for that. I know where it is coming from. They are very public abo…
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Mr. Speaker, we passed legislation in the last Parliament. In fact, I worked with the current Minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations, amending it, putting this bill forward. We have something, in fact. It is not a lack of legislation. It is now a fact of pushing for a change of colonial behaviour. We have the TRC's 94 calls to action. We have the 231 calls for justice of the National Inquiry into …
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Mr. Speaker, it is such an honour to rise today to talk about Bill C-29. I want to let the House know that the NDP wants the bill to pass. I am always very honoured to work with my good colleague, the member for Nunavut. She has put a lot of effort in to amend the legislation to make it much stronger. If we want to reconcile in this country, we must focus on children and families. I say that becau…
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Mr. Speaker, I am kind of concerned with this question, because there seems to be a presumption of who has done it. I am not sure who is burning the churches and why the member is relating it to this speech, but is he insinuating that it is indigenous people? Does he have proof of that? If he does not, I would say that is a stereotype. I would also call that racist. I would first ask the member if…
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Mr. Speaker, I enjoyed working with the minister very much on the Red Dress Alert. I have to say that I have appreciated, since he has been appointed, that in very short order he has actually pushed things forward. That is reconciliation to me. That is justice. The Red Dress Alert will save lives. However, it needs to be implemented. We have had a number of consultations to date, and we need to ge…
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Mr. Speaker, I would like to congratulate my hon. colleague publicly on the arrival of an addition to her family. There was a lot of discussion in her speech about resource extraction. I have said many times in the House that I firmly support the human right to free, prior and informed consent. Often, I hear the Conservatives talk about nations that choose to participate in resource extraction. I …
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Madam Speaker, on a point of order, the member for Winnipeg North is referring to me, and I will take the time to respond during questions. I would just like to remind the member of his colonial behaviour. He is telling an indigenous woman that I should be thankful for his government's continued violation of our rights, including not respecting and fighting against EI amendments that would make th…
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Madam Speaker, I would also ask, in terms of decorum in the House, that as a white male, maybe he needs to check his privilege at the door. He is lecturing an indigenous woman about how we should feel about bringing our kids home, but maybe because he represents a riding with the highest number of kids in care, and he drops names of women in our community that I also work with, he should not objec…
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Mr. Speaker, I rise to intervene on a point of order raised by the member for Winnipeg North this morning respecting Bill C-318, an act to amend the Employment Insurance Act and the Canada Labour Code, adoptive and intended parents. My colleague, the member for Winnipeg North, mentioned the committee process, where I tabled crucial amendments to this legislation that would bring the bill into comp…
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Madam Speaker, I know the Conservatives are always focused on tough-on-crime approaches and they are calling it common sense, but I think it is nonsense, and I will tell members why. We know that recidivism rates for people who are incarcerated are higher than 80%. It costs over $225,000 a year to incarcerate one woman in a federal penitentiary. It costs well over $125,000 to incarcerate one male.…
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Mr. Speaker, parents deserve affordable, quality child care, and child care workers need livable wages, but the Liberals are letting the $10-a-day child care program fail by not giving workers fair pay and benefits, leaving parents without child care spots. What about the Conservatives? They want for-profit child care. This means—
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Mr. Speaker, parents deserve affordable, quality child care, and child care workers need livable wages, but the Liberals are letting the $10-a-day child care program fail by not giving workers fair pay and benefits, leaving parents without child care spots. What about the Conservatives? They want for-profit child care. This means higher fees for parents and lower wages for workers. Liberals and Co…
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Mr. Speaker, the government says it respects reproductive rights, but the closure of Clinic 554 means that Fredericton is without a single provider for safe, trauma-informed abortion care. Despite the Prime Minister campaigning on keeping this clinic open, he has failed to protect the charter right to abortion, and Conservatives are actively threatening this right through backdoor legislation. Abo…
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Mr. Speaker, I know it is really hard for the Conservative men to control their toxic masculinity. They do support “men gotta go their own way”. My colleague is trying to ask a question, and—
Read full speech →Statements by Members
Mr. Speaker, the legacy of Canadian policies designed to kill the Indian in the child still impacts our families. There are more indigenous kids in child welfare today than at the height of residential schools. In Manitoba, over 90% are indigenous. That is why I was proud, along with my colleague Bonita Zarrillo and the NDP, to amend—
Read full speech →Statements by Members
Mr. Speaker, the legacy of Canadian policies designed to kill the Indian in the child still impacts our families. There are more indigenous kids in child welfare today than there were at the height of residential schools. In Manitoba, over 90% are indigenous. That is why I was proud, along with my colleague from Port Moody—Coquitlam and the NDP, to amend Bill C-318 to provide EI benefits for kinsh…
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Madam Speaker, I have such a good time working with the member on committee. What I have heard from the Conservative leader is that he plans to cut the CPP. That would place seniors in greater poverty. My question is in regard to a guaranteed livable basic income, particularly for women. We know a lot of women work their whole lives in unpaid care work, and they are now becoming seniors living in …
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