Routine Proceedings
Madam Speaker, I have two petitions to present today, both on the same subject. One is signed by members of the North Addington Education Centre in Kingston, and the other is signed by the St. Marguerite Bourgeoys Catholic School community. These petitioners are calling on the federal government to implement a national school food program through budget 2024 for implementation in the fall of 2024.…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, there is another Standing Order that says we are not allowed to sing in the House, yet the member for Mission—Matsqui—Fraser Canyon, when introducing a petition earlier today, was singing. I think it would only be appropriate that the petition be removed from the record, because he presented it in a way that goes against our Standing Orders. As a member, I would like to call that ou…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Madam Speaker, I rise on the same point of order. Please forgive the Conservatives. They are about to make a very important decision on a vote. That is why they are on edge. You have asked him to apologize. He has not apologized and his own members are telling him—
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, I am very glad to see that the Conservatives chose not to debate the short title. I would ask for a recorded division.
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, I listened with interest to my colleague's speech. I noted, when he was talking about the Canada-Ukraine free trade agreement, that he was positioning it as though the government's position were to somehow one-up the Conservatives with respect to our commitments to free trade. I have been very vocal on this issue. For me, this is not about bringing attention to one side's being bett…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, on the same point of order, it is very clear to see that between midnight and 6 a.m., fewer than 49% of the Conservatives were actually voting.
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Madam Speaker, I am trying to listen to the member's intervention. I think she has some insightful stuff to add to this debate, but the Conservatives are trying to shout her down while she speaks. Perhaps you could ask them to settle down, so I could—
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, I would request a recorded division.
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, there is a provincial Conservative government in Alberta that also put a moratorium on renewable energy projects. Can people imagine, in the year 2023, when the entire world is moving toward renewable energy, that a provincial government would put a moratorium on the innovation and the progress of where the world is moving to? That is not going to benefit Alberta in the long run. It…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, this vote is to directly provide military aid to Ukraine through Operation Unifier. I definitely request a recorded division, and I encourage Conservatives to change their vote.
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, the premise of the question is wrong. The member is suggesting that it was just for Atlantic provinces. It is not. The carve-out for home heating with oil is across the entire country. In my province of Ontario, there are twice as many people who use oil as in Atlantic Canada. I will say, though, that I believe that this is not the case in Quebec, because Quebec actually has a very …
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, I would note that, just moments ago, the Ukrainian Canadian Congress once again called out the Conservatives for their shameful—
Read full speech →Government Orders
Welcome to the show, Madam Speaker. The Speaker should know, because she is sitting in the chair now for the first time, that this is the eighth point of order Conservatives have brought up on my speech trying to shut me down. We are going to see more of it. My 20-minute speech is probably going to be about 45 minutes. I take pleasure in knowing at least one Conservative will not be able to speak …
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, we are aware that, certainly while we go through this transition, energy is going to be a struggle for Canadians. That is why we are trying to work with Canadians to give them the resources and the tools they need to be able to transition away, in particular, from the very expensive fossil-fuel-based forms of energy that create a lot of carbon emissions and, as a result, the tax. Th…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, did members hear that? The member did again literally what I complained about in my entire speech. He said that the price on pollution is going to quadruple, but what did he forget to include? The rebate is going to quadruple, and 94% of Canadians get back more than they put in. The member refuses to stand up stand up and say that. Why will he not? It is the reality. Even if one mak…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, we heard another one of the member's colleagues earlier today say that he had asked the grocery store retailers who would end up paying the carbon tax that farmers and the grocery stores pay. According to one of the member's colleagues, and he can look it up in Hansard, it would be paid by consumers, as the costs would be transferred to them. All I have been trying to say for 20 min…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, I have 16 minutes left because, when I started at 10 minutes to two o'clock, I should have only had 10 minutes left, but Conservatives continued to rise on points of order during my speech. It veered into a place of actually trying to prohibit me from speaking. As you sit there and listen, if they attempt to engage in that same tactic again, perhaps you will have to call them into ord…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, the reality of that member standing up in the House and accusing me of not telling the truth is absolutely ridiculous when one considers that this member will tell people they are paying a price on pollution and will tell people they are paying a carbon tax without bothering to tell them that, oh, by the way, if one makes less than $250,000, one is definitely getting more money back t…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, I am really looking forward to when we get to the votes on Ukraine, but I will ask for a recorded vote on this one.
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, he ran on it in 2021. It is in the platform, and I have the Conservative Party platform right here. If he had a problem with it, he is going to have to direct me to where—
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, the member is operating under good instruction from his whip's desk to keep calling out points of order on me. Congratulations to him. However, in the document, “The True North Strong and Free”, Stephen Harper's plan for Canadians, there is actually reference to pricing pollution in here through the cap-and-trade model that Ontario, Quebec and a number of states in the United States a…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, perhaps I will pick up on where that last question and answer left off. The member was informed that, in committee, committee members were told by grocery chains that the carbon tax would be passed on to consumers, but I would inform those members that this is why we give the rebate to consumers so that they end up benefiting from it, and this is where I will focus my comments today. …
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, the member is referring to when the member for Selkirk—Interlake—Eastman stood up and I said, “Would you like me to bring up Ukraine?”, but I was not going to do that until the second half of my speech after question period. I will hold off and I will be judicious in my timing, but if the member for Selkirk—Interlake—Eastman would like to hear that, I invite him to stick around after …
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, who definitely gets back more than they put in? The Leader of the Opposition. This is an individual who lives in a government-funded house. This is an individual who has a private driver. I would like to know—
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, I rise on a point of order. My colleague across the way just heckled, “You guys are literally brain dead.” That is exactly what the member for Dufferin—Caledon just said. I am wondering if you could perhaps ask him to retract that comment to at least have the perception of there being some decorum in this House.
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, all of the Conservatives ran on that platform. Now, if some of them decided sometime during that election campaign that they chose—
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, I would ask for a recorded division.
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, I just want to know if the Leader of the Opposition cashed his rebate cheque that he would have received. Would he like to table his bank statements to prove to us whether he did?
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Madam Speaker, I rise today to present a petition on behalf of the community around Enterprise Public School in Kingston. The petitioners call on the Minister of Finance, the Minister of Families, Children and Social Development and the Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food to prioritize funding for a national school food program through budget 2024, for implementation in schools in the fall of 20…
Read full speech →Orders of the Day
Madam Speaker, I actually do not disagree with a lot of what the member said, and in particular, when he talked about the fact that people can have opinions and still be influenced. That is absolutely correct. The error here was in the member for Red Deer—Lacombe stating that publicly. The perception now is that the member cannot be objective. Whether or not he has an ability to do that, he has ma…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Madam Speaker, I have two petitions to present today. The first has to do with the environment. I believe this is the 17th or 18th petition to this effect that I have been asked to present on behalf of Canadians. It calls attention to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change's most recent report, which warns about the next two decades and the widespread devastation and extreme weather that wi…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Madam Speaker, the second petition I am presenting today comes from the Lord Strathcona Public School community in my riding of Kingston and the Island. The petitioners are specifically calling upon the Minister of Finance, the Minister of Families, Children and Social Development and the Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food to develop and prioritize funding for a national school food program thr…
Read full speech →Orders of the Day
Madam Speaker, I do not disagree. I learned early in my political career never to try to answer hypothetical questions, but the member raises a good point. I actually do not have an issue with Conservatives who have already made up their mind. What I have a problem with is that Conservatives have already made up their minds but are simultaneously tabling a motion sending this to a committee, so it…
Read full speech →Orders of the Day
Madam Speaker, one thing that committees struggle with quite a bit is having those resources. I recognize the fact that the amendment to the motion instructs the House to put all the resources necessary towards the committee, and I hope that is enough; it is a short timeline. The chair of the committee would know how difficult it is, sometimes, to get witnesses to come when they are given a two we…
Read full speech →Orders of the Day
Madam Speaker, I rise today to speak to this amended motion, a motion that I voted in favour of amending earlier today. Now we are speaking to the main motion, which I also plan to vote in favour of. For full disclosure, I will say that I am also a member of the procedure and House affairs committee. I spoke to this yesterday, and I discussed during my time speaking yesterday how I do feel there i…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Madam Speaker, did I hear correctly that you are going to be coming back to the House with something on that? If so, I would like to contribute.
Read full speech →Orders of the Day
Madam Speaker, the Conservatives are very sensitive. It is becoming a common theme. Every time I get up to speak, different Conservative members come out here, most likely at the direction of somebody sitting behind a desk in the lobby who is telling them to come out here and raise these pointless, ridiculous points of order. I will let the member know that I actually take great pride in knowing t…
Read full speech →Orders of the Day
Madam Speaker, the member has already made up his mind. He sits on the procedure and House affairs committee, like I do. I am going to vote in favour of the motion to send it to committee for committee to do the work. However, if he has already made up his mind, what is the point of even supporting the motion? He already knows what the outcome is going to be at committee. He is not going into it f…
Read full speech →Orders of the Day
Madam Speaker, my colleague from north of the 401 has properly pointed out that Mr. Milliken no longer resides in Kingston and the Islands. He now resides in Lanark—Frontenac—Kingston. However, Mr. Milliken was one of the people who felt so under-represented by their MP they demanded that with the new redistribution they once again be included in Kingston and the Islands. We are very excited to se…
Read full speech →Orders of the Day
Madam Speaker, I think it is very important that Canadians know exactly what we are voting on. We are voting on a motion that is asking the procedure and House affairs committee, which deals with issues relating to the House, to members and to the working of our Parliament for that matter, to look into this. As part of that, we will listen to evidence, hear from experts and, hopefully, hear from s…
Read full speech →Orders of the Day
Madam Speaker, my first question at the procedure and House affairs committee would be to understand the context in which the video was made. Did the Speaker know when he was making that video and sitting in that room that it was going to be broadcast to thousands of people on a big screen, or did he think it was going directly to the individual who was the recipient? I do not know. It is not that…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Madam Speaker, the exact same member is still heckling me.
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Madam Speaker, another member asked who it was, and I said the person's name. I should not have done that and I apologize. Back to the substance, what I was trying to say was that—
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Madam Speaker, what I find really interesting about this particular issue, which speaks to the political partisanship of it, is that when the member for Regina—Qu'Appelle, the House leader for the Conservatives, originally proposed his intervention this morning, he made no reference to calling on the Speaker to resign. Then in the next intervention, the Bloc Québécois called on the Speaker to resi…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Madam Speaker, I do not see the procedural error I made there. I certainly made an error with respect to the timing, but it was not a procedural error on which the member could stand up on a point of order. In any event, my point was to say that when the House leader for the Conservatives rose on his question of privilege, he never once made reference to the Speaker resigning. He did not do that u…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Madam Speaker, as political as I am, unlike that member and the member for Regina—Qu'Appelle, who were previously speakers and had to execute this impartiality, I have never been put in that position. I find it very interesting how some of the most hyperpartisan people from the Conservatives also happen to be former speakers. In any event, there is an opportunity here for the committee to do its w…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Madam Speaker, the member answered his own question. I will say this: Before coming to the House, I was the mayor of Kingston, and I had the opportunity to come to Parliament, to the House of Commons, on a couple of occasions. I actually remember meeting the former speaker, the member for Regina—Qu'Appelle, and reflecting on how calm and non-partisan this particular individual was. Now, 10 years l…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Madam Speaker, I will address the second part first. What the member is raising is exactly why this needs to go to PROC, so the committee can look at that. If I try to prejudge that now and say what I think the outcome is, as a member of that committee, I am showing that I cannot be impartial when I sit and listen to the evidence that comes. Therefore, I look forward to doing that. In terms of how…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Madam Speaker, I am getting heckled again. I respect that—
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Madam Speaker, my Conservative colleague who tabled the amendment that the parliamentary secretary references was heckling across the way, “I am open and transparent.” I am not going to disagree with him on that. He certainly is. He is very transparent. All I would ask is this: What is the point of the motion? Why is he even bothering sending this to committee if the objectives in this are very op…
Read full speech →