Oral Questions
Madam Speaker, certainly emotions run high here when we are debating. September 30 is the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, and I find it really abhorrent that we are using this time, when we are supposed to be lifting up survivors, to get into petty political arguments on the backs of survivors. I am encouraging members to stop this behaviour.
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Madam Speaker, New Democrats are going to continue to use our position in Parliament to push for a sustainable future rooted in clean technology and good-paying union jobs. We are not going to give up until the government delivers. Although we welcome this legislation, under the Liberals' watch, we are watching the country burn down as they continue to invest in the fossil fuel industry. We are in…
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Madam Speaker, I am very saddened by what is occurring. Again, I am going to urge all parliamentarians, if they have any level of decency, to stop using residential school survivors for political games. This is inappropriate and it is violent.
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Madam Speaker, I agree with my hon. colleague that we need a just transition that brings workers along. Something I have offered to put forward is a guaranteed livable basic income, which could certainly be paid for if we stopped funding big oil and instead put that money into funding people. I am wondering if the hon. member agrees that we need to start supporting people. I have said very often t…
Read full speech →Statements by Members
Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize the work of Project EmpowHER and other women’s health organizations that have come to Ottawa to advocate for universal coverage of contraception in Canada. It is time that we end financial barriers that limit access to contraceptives. I heed Action Canada’s call for “universal no-cost prescription contraception”, which is “predicated on everyone being able to…
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Madam Speaker, it is no secret to anyone that we are in a very serious climate emergency, and I am sure people across Canada sent thoughts and prayers to Atlantic Canadians as they experienced some of the worst environmental crises and damage as a result of the climate crisis. While all of this has gone on, although we see a bill today, the Liberals have sat on their hands while the country burns …
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Mr. Speaker, on Monday, families and advocates took to Parliament Hill to demand that the government search the landfills in Winnipeg. This is a human rights issue. It is a dignity issue. While the Manitoba Conservative government and the Liberal government sit by, human remains of loved ones remain in a garbage dump. Will the government stop playing jurisdictional games, uphold its international …
Read full speech →Private Members' Business
Mr. Speaker, I would like to start out by congratulating Adopt4Life, the Child and Youth Permanency Council of Canada and the time to attach campaign for their tireless advocacy, which has led to Bill C-318 today. I also congratulate my colleague from Battlefords—Lloydminster for putting this bill forward. It is an important first step in providing adoptive parents with the parental time they need…
Read full speech →Statements by Members
Mr. Speaker, I rise today to speak about the urgent need to address the toxic drug crisis, which is costing lives in Winnipeg Centre. Yesterday, I joined local frontline organizations, advocates and elected officials in calling on the federal government to work with Manitoba to increase the number of naloxone kits in Winnipeg. The situation is so dire that some organizations have been forced to so…
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Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank the member for Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan. He has a very long riding name but I remember it. I remember it because I know the member spoke a lot about process. I know the member is famous for filibustering in committee. One example is when the member for Edmonton Strathcona put forward a study to look at women's reproductive rights globally. The member obstr…
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Madam Speaker, my hon. colleague spoke a bit about workers. One demographic he spoke about was the many immigrant families that choose to become child care workers. Some 98% of early childhood educators are women, and one-third are immigrants and non-permanent residents. More often, workers within early childhood education are also racialized. We know those systems are exploitive. We know that wor…
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Mr. Speaker, I thank everybody who has contributed to this debate, a debate that feels like it is going to go on forever with the Conservatives' stalling tactics. I certainly agree that we are in a child care desert. The Conservatives made note of the CCPA report time and time again. It was never about privatization of child care, however. It was about a worker shortage and the need to ensure that…
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Madam Speaker, I would like to thank my hon. colleague for her speech, although, with so much about House goings-on, it shifted away from early childhood education. This is concerning to me as a former early childhood educator who spent many years working hard for wages that were not livable. We know the facts are on the table. Early childhood organizations are very clear. If we do not have a work…
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Madam Speaker, I found it very shocking that the member, when referring to women who stay home with their children, said they are not working. In fact, that is probably, as a mother, one of the hardest jobs I have had. I just want to remind the member that most unpaid care work is done by women. Getting back to respecting women, I would also like to remind the member that 98% of early childhood ed…
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Madam Speaker, I congratulate my hon. colleague on her new family addition. I have been talking a lot about workers. We are talking about a crisis, a child care desert, which came from the CCPA. It was very clear about what this was about. It did not say to privatize day care and put more money into private spaces. It said that we have a worker shortage, and the way to deal with it is to pay fair …
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Madam Speaker, my hon. colleague brought up the study from the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives. She is absolutely right. It is called “Child Care Deserts in Canada”. I agree with her. We have a child care crisis. One of its key recommendations in the report to address this kind of child care desert was to guarantee decent wages and benefits for child care workers. It did not recommend crea…
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Madam Speaker, it was a pleasure working with the minister on the bill, and with other members of the House trying to improve the bill. One of the concerns I brought forward, and continue to bring forward, is about workers. I was an early childhood educator, as I have indicated in the past. Workers are fighting the same fight. We are not going to have a national child care strategy unless we have …
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Madam Speaker, one of the benefits of the Quebec child care system is that more women are able to participate in the workforce. Does the member agree that access to affordable, quality child care is a gender equity issue?
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Madam Speaker, I rise today to speak about Bill C-35, the Canada Early Learning and Child Care Act. Let me take this opportunity to first of all thank all of the advocates, experts, parents, child care providers, workers, unions and others who took the time to make presentations or write submissions to the committee. Their passion and their knowledge about quality, affordable and accessible child …
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Madam Speaker, I am happy we have a $10-a-day national child care strategy being put into place, but it will not be a successful program. It will not be rolled out properly without a comprehensive workforce strategy, which includes ensuring that early childhood educators are paid livable wages and benefits and have some sort of income security in retirement. If we do not respect the workers who ar…
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Madam Speaker, it goes back to legislation. We need to negotiate a piece of legislation to enshrine it into law. This is about law. I was very happy to see support from the Conservatives, the Bloc and members of the Liberal Party, in fact, for my amendment to include “free, prior and informed consent” on all matters relating to the children of indigenous peoples, something we know historically has…
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Madam Speaker, I think it is very simple. It is very clear. Certainly the sector leaders like Child Care Now and all the major child care organizations have been very clear that if we want a successful national child care strategy, we need to ensure that we have a strategy for workers. That includes ensuring that early childhood educators are provided with livable wages and benefits and have incom…
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Mr. Speaker, it has been nice working with the member across the way. I know I am insistent on this, but we do not have a workforce strategy in this plan. Early childhood educators deserve respect. I remember how much I loved being an early childhood educator but how disrespected I felt. I was only making eight dollars an hour, yet I was with kids from morning until night. I was doing noble work, …
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Mr. Speaker, I enjoyed working with my colleague on the HUMA committee, as a visitor. I agree that we have a child care desert, but I have been asking the same question over and over again tonight. We have what the CCPA called a worker shortage, caused by poor wages, no benefits and no pension plan. We are not going to have a national child care strategy if we do not have a worker strategy that en…
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Mr. Speaker, the member for Winnipeg North has had a track record, since this issue has come up, of minimizing it. Today we hear him competing on who has been worse on foreign interference, the Liberal Party or the Conservative Party. I think they are in clear competition. That was followed up by what I just heard, which was an award-winning mansplaining to the Bloc member. The NDP is offering sol…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, the federal watchdog for housing rights has called for an investigation into the government's failure to prevent and eliminate homelessness among women and gender-diverse people across Canada. Those who are especially at risk are indigenous women and two-spirit people. Instead of addressing it, the Liberals refuse to reverse their cut of $150 million to women's shelters, while barely …
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Madam Chair, I will be splitting my time with the member for Port Moody—Coquitlam. The minister sat and watched Manitoba's largest lowest-income seniors housing complex, Lions Place, be sold off to a for-profit company. Gerald Brown, chair of the Lions Place residence council senior action committee, wrote two letters to the minister, but he has never responded. Is the minister planning to respond…
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Madam Chair, that is not true. I was not asking about the minister. I was asking about an actual senior, Gerald Brown. Maybe the minister needs to look at his emails. The Women’s National Housing and Homelessness Network has called the crisis “so severe for women and gender-diverse people that the advocate will be addressing it as one of the top human rights issues in Canada.” Will the minister ac…
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Madam Chair, does the minister acknowledge that housing is a major human rights crisis?
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Madam Chair, clearly he does not want to answer the question, because the minister has spent only 1% of the $438 million of the CMHC portion of the violence prevention strategy that has been in place since 2020. People are dying. Why is it taking so long?
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Madam Chair, actually, the government does not care about gender-based violence. In fact, it is planning to cut $150 million from shelters. Is the government willing to revoke the $150-million cut to shelters in September?
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Madam Chair, they are clearly unwilling to answer my question. It is going to cost lives when the government cuts that $150 million from shelters across the country. Again, last week, the government reannounced funding for shelters, because I think that the government thinks the Canadian public is really stupid. When is it going to announce actual new funding for shelters for indigenous women, gir…
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Madam Chair, I do recognize that the Liberals have only spent 5% of the $724.1 million and have reannounced money from that funding from 2020. He is talking about credibility when I come from a riding where we are literally searching for women who have died from violence in landfills. That is pretty bold and really demonstrates the arrogance of the government. Going to the Winnipeg street census t…
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Madam Chair, I find it funny that the Women's National Housing and Homelessness Network has called this crisis so severe that it is calling it one of the great, most severe human rights crises in the country. Are we supposed to be thankful, in Winnipeg Centre, when women and girls are dying on the street, for a little tuppence that the Liberals are giving, when they are giving billions of dollars …
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Madam Chair, I can tell the minister what is a shame: All of my neighbours who are living in tents right by where I live. I am going to ask him again: Does his government plan on building housing for kids aging out of care? It is something that has been called a pipeline for murdered and missing indigenous women and girls, and gender-diverse people, or is he going to continue to watch kids age out…
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Madam Chair, I wish I was a fridge at Loblaws because it got $12 million. What was given to housing in Winnipeg Centre in the last round when people are dying on the streets? I am going to ask the minister again: Is he planning to invest in housing for kids aging out of care, or is the government going to continue to watch kids aging out onto the streets, something that has been called a pipeline …
Read full speech →Private Members' Business
Madam Speaker, the member for Carleton has a history of supporting anti-choice legislation that impacts a woman's right to choose, including, now, his support of Bill C-311. He also has a history of backing up and holding up folks such as Jordan Peterson, who has spoken out aggressively against the trans community and its members' right to bodily autonomy. This is about bodily autonomy and the rig…
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Madam Speaker, anti-choice organizations, on the other hand, are cheering on the introduction of the bill. They see it as a step forward in establishing legal protection for fetuses, which would pave the way for legal restrictions on abortion. If the bill passes, it would be a victory for those who want to limit abortion rights and would not do anything to meaningfully address gender-based violenc…
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Madam Speaker, I am not pleased to have to rise today to speak on Bill C-311, another attack on a woman's right to choose, another attack on abortion as health care, another attack on abortion rights as human rights, which is something that women, in particular, led the way to have so that we would not go back to the dark times of what has been mentioned so many times today: back-alley abortions w…
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Madam Speaker, I know my hon. colleague is very passionate about the issue, but I do not think it is the issue at hand. In fact, the Abortion Rights Coalition of Canada opposes this bill and is urging MPs to oppose the bill. At the same time, anti-choice organizations, including the pro-life coalition, are cheering on the introduction of the bill because they see it as a step toward establishing l…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, the government announced some funding for indigenous shelters and transitional homes that it first promised two years ago. No shovels are in the ground yet, and it could take years before the money is spent. MPs declared the crisis of MMIWG2S an emergency, yet the Liberals have only spent 5% of the violence prevention strategy funding since 2020, plus they are cutting $150 million fro…
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With regard to the Canada-wide Early Learning and Child Care Plan, broken down by province and territory since their respective agreements were announced: (a) how many new childcare spaces have been created, broken down by non-profit, public and for-profit child care spaces; (b) of the non-profit spaces created, how many are in family-based care; (c) how many early childhood educator (ECE) jobs ha…
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Madam Speaker, we are having a very important debate tonight. We have been discussing the topic of foreign interference for a couple of days and the importance of protecting democracy. During these days, I have heard heckling across the floor and name-calling. At a time when we see threats to our democracy, now is not a time for that. Now is a time for all of us to come together to protect democra…
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Mr. Speaker, this is the second time I have risen in the House today. We are talking about the state of democracy. My colleague just spoke about how what is going on is impacting her as a Chinese woman in this country and the importance of working together in a non-partisan way across party lines to deal with it. In the midst of this, I have to listen to members across the way name-call each other…
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Mr. Speaker, I am rising to ask a question, but I just want to point out that I appreciate the quiet in here. I am really worried about the state of our democracy. The NDP first put forward the need for an independent public inquiry. The member for Vancouver East urged all parliamentarians not to be partisan and to bring the leaders to the table to pick somebody independent, chosen by all party le…
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Madam Speaker, I rise on a point of order. I know it is the end of the season, but calling people “clowns” across the way and things like that, there needs to be limits here. There is nobody in the House pretty much right now. We are on duty and in the middle of debate. What we are debating right now is really serious. We are talking about threats to democracy. When we behave like this in the Hous…
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Madam Chair, I will be splitting my time with the member for Nunavut. It was a monumental day today having all members of the House recognize the crisis of murdered and missing indigenous women and girls and two-spirit transwomen, a Canada-wide crisis, because it is a crisis. How many tragedies do we have to endure before appropriate action is taken? We are seeing constant, unrelenting violence ag…
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Mr. Speaker, there have been consultations, and I hope that if you seek it, you will find consent for the following motion. I move: That, given that: (i) on October 27, 2022, the House unanimously recognized that what happened in residential schools was genocide, (ii) decades of insufficient action from all levels of government have failed to address the effects of this genocide, including the cri…
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Mr. Speaker, the ongoing genocide of missing and murdered indigenous women, girls, transwomen, gender non-conforming and two-spirit people is a Canada-wide emergency. Relatives of lost loved ones, human rights advocates and survivors are calling on the government to take action to end this unrelenting violence. We are not disposable. Our lives are precious and we deserve justice. Will the Liberals…
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Mr. Chair, I cannot say how touched I am tonight, because this is about being seen as human beings. I am sorry; I am emotional. It is a non-partisan issue. It is a human issue. Talking about funding announcements detaches the government from us, as indigenous women, girls, transwomen and non-binary people, as loving human beings. I want to thank my colleague for being such a marvellous chair on th…
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