Government Orders
Madam Speaker, respectfully, my position regarding this bill is that it needs to be scrapped. It needs to be defeated and the government needs to go back to the drawing board. On the issue of systemic racism and the impacts the criminal justice system has on marginalized Canadians, yes, it is an issue that needs to be addressed. One of the things that was noted at committee is that many of the vic…
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moved that the bill be concurred in.
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Mr. Speaker, it would be retroactive in the sense that former jurors would be able to disclose all aspects of their jury service with a medical professional even if the trial concluded years ago. One thing I do want to add is that some of the former jurors who did appear before our committee, Mark Farrant and Tina Daenzer, who are here in Ottawa, have done incredible work to support jurors through…
Read full speech →Private Members' Business
Mr. Speaker, one of the key recommendations was to see that former jurors who are suffering from mental health issues can access as many counselling sessions as required. Another important component was to see that former jurors have information packages so they have a better idea of what jury service entails, because a big stressor is that of the unknown. Many jurors, until they are summoned, hav…
Read full speech →Adjournment Proceedings
Madam Speaker, despite empty words of concern, the government has simply washed its hands clean of issues of noncompliance with the so-called safeguards that were brought in by the government. These are matters under the Criminal Code. They fall within the jurisdiction of the government, and the government has a responsibility to ensure that safeguards are adequate and that vulnerable Canadians ar…
Read full speech →Adjournment Proceedings
Madam Speaker, I recently posed a question to the Prime Minister regarding abuse and non-compliance under the medical assistance and dying regime. Abuse and non-compliance are not hypotheticals. They are happening, and they are well documented. Vulnerable Canadians are falling through the cracks. Quebec's commission on end-of-life care, as well as the Ontario's chief coroner's office, identified m…
Read full speech →Statements by Members
Mr. Speaker, jury service often comes at a considerable sacrifice. Many jurors go through difficult trials and are exposed to horrific evidence, yet they are unable to talk about what is often the most stressful aspect of jury service, the deliberation process, due to the jury secrecy rule. Yesterday, the justice committee voted unanimously to send Bill S-206, of which I am the House of Commons sp…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, Brian Ilesic and two other victims were murdered in an armed robbery. They were shot point-black in the back of the head. A fourth victim survived with serious brain injuries. Brian's parents, my constituents Mike and Dianne, feel completely betrayed that this cold-blooded killer will be eligible for parole years sooner, along with other mass killers. What assurance can the Minister o…
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Madam Speaker, every day in this place we see the Liberals play COVID theatre with their masks, only to remove them as soon as they leave the parliamentary precinct, at bars, restaurants and receptions. This is as they insist on continuing never-ending mandates and restrictions. When will the Liberals stop their hypocritical theatre and end the mandates?
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Madam Speaker, I have to say that the issue this motion relates to is to address a lack of planning on the part of the government from the standpoint of it providing sufficient resources at the airport and, most especially, to address restrictions that are increasing processing times by up to four times what they otherwise would be. That is the root of the problem. That is precisely what we are as…
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Madam Speaker, I rise in strong support of our Conservative opposition motion calling on the Liberals to immediately lift remaining travel restrictions, which leaders in the tourism and hospitality sector and the airline industry say are harming business, damaging Canada's international reputation and resulting in chaos at our airports. Let me say that, while the government certainly needs to lift…
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Madam Speaker, what we have is a mess of the government's own making. It is a government that has refused to provide a timeline. It has kept in place these travel restrictions, which are clearly having a negative impact, evidenced by the enormous concern raised by industry leaders. Given that that member sits on the government's side and represents a riding near the Canada-U.S. border, I would put…
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Madam Speaker, I say very respectfully to the hon. member that I do not know how much slower the Bloc wants the government to move because it has only been two years. The rest of the world is learning to live with COVID, but the government refuses to live with COVID. Further, when we are talking about measures that are having an impact upon mobility rights, causing this level of disruption and imp…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Madam Speaker, I am encouraged by the parliamentary secretary's words of support for Taiwan's participation at the WHO and the WHA. The Chinese Communist regime, in addition to trying to block Taiwan's meaningful participation in international fora like the WHO and WHA, has also insisted upon the mislabelling of Taiwan in which certain Canadian government institutions are currently actively partic…
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Madam Speaker, the world is not benefiting from the exclusion of Taiwan. It is straight-up bullying by the Chinese communist regime, and we need to stand up against that.
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Madam Speaker, would the hon. member concur that the effort by the Chinese Communist regime to block democratic Taiwan is part of a broader campaign of aggression perpetrated by the Chinese Communist regime?
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Madam Speaker, I rise in strong support of the concurrence motion that the House support Taiwan's participation at the World Health Organization and the World Health Assembly. The 75th World Health Assembly is set to convene in less than a week, from May 22 to 28, in Geneva. Without more, there is no legitimate reason for Taiwan's exclusion from this international health forum. It should be noted …
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Madam Speaker, it could not be more timely. The WHA is set to convene in less than a week. Once again, the Chinese communist regime is thumbing its nose at global public health. Our allies have been clear and consistent in their support. We have seen resolutions passed in other parliaments, including the European Parliament. Just last Friday, President Biden signed into law legislation to direct t…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Madam Speaker, my friend for Cypress Hills—Grasslands is quite right that Taiwan has been excluded from participating as an observer at the ICAO. It is again part of the broader strategy on the part of the Chinese communist regime to isolate and delegitimize Taiwan. It is important that Taiwan participate at the ICAO, the WHA and the WHO from a global health standpoint and a global aviation safety…
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Madam Speaker, this is an opportunity for the House to speak with one voice. That is the purpose of this debate and the vote that will be triggered as a result.
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, the Canadian Institutes of Health Research require Taiwanese funding applicants to falsely specify their nationality as “Taiwan, Province of China”. Taiwan is not a province of China; Taiwan is Taiwan. Six months ago, I wrote to the Minister of Health and six months later this mislabelling continues. Why has the minister failed to intervene to stop this blatant mislabelling of Taiwan?
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Mr. Speaker, it is an honour to rise to present a petition signed by Canadians in support of Bill S-223, introduced by Senator Ataullahjan and championed by the member for Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan. This bill would make it a Criminal Code offence to go abroad and receive an organ without the consent of the person giving the organ. The bill has passed the Senate three times and it passed the …
Read full speech →Private Members' Business
Mr. Speaker, my friend from Cowichan—Malahat—Langford is absolutely right. This bill has been studied at the justice committee twice. First, during the study on juror supports and then at the justice committee again when I put forward Bill C-417. It received a clean bill of health all the way through. There were, in fact, no objections from any witnesses, and as far as it being in place, it has be…
Read full speech →Private Members' Business
Mr. Speaker, it is great to see there is continued unanimous support for this bill. As the member for Cowichan—Malahat—Langford noted, this is a bill that has been studied exhaustively, twice at the justice committee. It has passed in both this House and in the other place, unanimously. I wish we could have sent it off to the Governor General this evening, but obviously that is not the case. We we…
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Mr. Speaker, the member for Shefford is absolutely right. There are jurors, and we heard from them at the justice committee. Mark Farrant, who is a leading advocate, suffered from PTSD. His life has forever been changed. Despite the enormous difficulties that he experienced, he is trying to put those challenges to good use to help other jurors so they can get support and they can get help. I do wa…
Read full speech →Private Members' Business
Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the member for Toronto—Danforth for her support of the bill and her support of Mark Farrant, who I know has engaged with her on multiple occasions. There is a long way to go in terms of providing juror supports across Canada. There has been some progress in recent years, but we still have a patchwork. The federal government does have a role to step up to provide fundin…
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, seconded by the member for Cowichan—Malahat—Langford, moved that Bill S-206, An Act to amend the Criminal Code (disclosure of information by jurors), be read the second time and referred to a committee. He said: Madam Speaker, it is an honour to rise to speak on Bill S-206, an act to amend the Criminal Code. It is a bill that will go a long way to supporting juror mental health in Canada, and it…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, there have been several well-documented cases of abuse and non-compliance under the Liberals' MAID regime. This has drawn rebuke from disabilities rights organizations and a UN special rapporteur, and now the RCMP has launched a criminal investigation into the questionable MAID death of a B.C. woman who suffered from depression, and until now there has not been a word of concern from …
Read full speech →Statements By Members
Madam Speaker, every day, four Canadians are killed at the hands of an impaired driver, yet the Liberal government wants to go soft on impaired drivers with its soft-on-crime Bill C-5. The bill would allow criminals convicted of impaired driving causing death to serve their sentence from home. At the justice committee, the director of victim services of MADD Canada characterized Bill C-5 as hurtfu…
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Madam Speaker, several horrific cases have recently been reported of vulnerable Canadians who have ended their lives by medical assistance in dying for reasons such as inadequate housing and lack of access to care. That is precisely what the Liberals claimed would never happen. When will the Liberals acknowledge that so-called MAID safeguards are not being enforced, putting the lives of vulnerable…
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Madam Speaker, one such case involved an Ontario woman who ended her life by MAID after she could not find adequate housing. Her condition was not irremediable, as required by law. Rather, she was vulnerable and desperate and had lost all hope. Do the Liberals believe that inadequate housing is an acceptable criterion for MAID?
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
moved: That it be an instruction to the Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights that, during its consideration of Bill C-5, An Act to amend the Criminal Code and the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act, the committee be granted the power to divide the bill into two pieces of legislation: (i) Bill C-5A, An Act to amend the Criminal Code, containing clauses 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, …
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Madam Speaker, I was a little surprised to hear the member for New Westminster—Burnaby talk about petitions. The reason petitions have not been presented is because, every day, the Liberals have moved a motion to move to orders of the day, backed up by the NDP. With regard to the parliamentary secretary, it is quite ironic that he is the one who is holding up debate on the budget. He is the one wh…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, yesterday, the Prime Minister incriminated himself by admitting to the only element that the RCMP could not establish to charge the Prime Minister with fraud. Will the Prime Minister share that information with the RCMP? If not, is it because he is afraid he will be charged?
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Mr. Speaker, page 56 of the RCMP's criminal brief into the Prime Minister said that the Prime Minister's actions were “more damaging to the Government of Canada’s appearance of integrity than would similar actions carried out by a lower-ranking government official”. Canadians expect the highest standard of integrity from the Prime Minister. Why does the Prime Minister believe that he is above that…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, my colleague from Edmonton is quite right when she speaks of the Edmonton—Wetaskiwin riding, which takes in the deep south of suburban Edmonton and has a farming and small-town component. That is something the boundaries commission of each province takes into account among the factors they consider in drawing boundaries, including having regard for communities of interest. They are …
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Madam Speaker, that is a good question from my friend, the member for Sarnia—Lambton. There are different challenges that members of Parliament face in representing urban and rural areas. They are taken into account, having regard for additional resources for the members who represent larger ridings by population and by virtue of their geography. However, I underscore that when we allocate seats a…
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Madam Speaker, in short, I absolutely concur with my colleague from Kings—Hants that we need to take into allowance issues of population and geography, as my friend, the member for Peace River—Westlock, outlined. He represents 100,000 square kilometres, an area that comprises 500 municipal, provincial and band officials, and that is taken into account in the Electoral Boundaries Readjustment Act. …
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Madam Speaker, I will be splitting my time with the member for Mission—Matsqui—Fraser Canyon. I rise to speak on Bill C-14, an act to amend the Constitution Act, 1867. More specifically, what this bill would do is amend what is known as the grandfather clause. By way of background, the grandfather clause has been part of our Constitution since 1986, with the passage of the Representation Act, 1985…
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Madam Speaker, let me say, in short, that I believe in principle that the voting age of 18 is the most appropriate age. However, I do look forward to debate on the bill.
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Mr. Speaker, the PBO has put to rest the NDP-Liberal government's bogus claim that the carbon tax is revenue-neutral. The St. Albert Legion wrote to me and said that the carbon tax will cost it $6,000 this year. That is $6,000 that could have been spent to support veterans in my community. When will the NDP-Liberal government just admit that the carbon tax is not revenue-neutral and axe the tax?
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Mr. Speaker, every single day 20 Canadians lose their life to an opioid overdose. That is 7,000 Canadians a year, yet in the face of an opioid crisis, Bill C-5, shockingly, eliminates mandatory jail time for producers and manufacturers of schedule 1 drugs like fentanyl and crystal meth. Why in the world is the government making life easier for the very producers and pushers of this poison that is …
Read full speech →Private Members' Business
Madam Speaker, I rise in strong support of Bill C-230, the protection of freedom of conscience act, introduced by my friend, the member for Carlton Trail—Eagle Creek. The bill before us is much-needed legislation to protect the charter rights of medical professionals who conscientiously object to providing or otherwise participating in medical assistance in dying. I want to commend the member for …
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Mr. Speaker, the Parliamentary Budget Officer provides objective analysis. The analysis that he has provided is that the current government gets an F when it comes to inflation.
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Madam Speaker, Justinflation is making life more expensive, yet instead of working to give Canadians a break, the NDP-Liberal government did the opposite, defeating a Conservative motion to give Canadians a gas tax holiday. With gas prices soaring by a third and with a 25% carbon tax hike, why does the NDP-Liberal government insist on punishing Canadians at the pump?
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, I rise this afternoon to speak on Bill C-8, which is another massive Liberal spending bill. It is legislation that seeks to spend $71 billion. This is $71 billion in new spending, and $71 billion that the government does not have. That is on top of some $600 billion that the government has spent over the past two years, one-third of which had nothing to do with COVID. This is at a tim…
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Mr. Speaker, the government has made life less affordable for everyday Canadians, from the Liberal inflation tax to payroll tax increases that came into effect on January 1 to a 25% hike in the carbon tax, which is only going to increase the cost of essentials even more, and then voting down a practical proposal put forward by those on this side of the House to give Canadians some desperately need…
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Mr. Speaker, I would remind the far-left member for Winnipeg North that much of the government's spending has been poorly targeted. My friend the parliamentary secretary spoke about supports for small businesses. Well, went it came to the wage subsidy, Statistics Canada analysis determined that big businesses were twice as likely to get the wage subsidy as small businesses. A lot of money was spen…
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Mr. Speaker, with respect to inflation, when the Parliamentary Budget Officer appeared before the finance committee, he said that all of the stimulus spending provided in Bill C-8 was unhelpful and was no longer necessary. He also acknowledged that the government's deficits and debt were fuelling the fire of inflation. With respect to the carbon tax, we have now learned, confirmed from the Parliam…
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