Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, I welcome the member's question, but I am a little confused by the thought of incoherence. If we were to look at our investments in the national supply chain corridor alone, we would be looking at solutions for those issues. I am a little confused by the question.
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, as the opposition is aware, Canadians across the country are facing more and more dramatic impacts from climate change, and farmers are on the front line of all the challenges. They deal with droughts, intense rainfalls, flooding and wildfires, which is very evident in my home province of British Columbia. At the same time, Canadians are struggling with sharp increases in the cost of …
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Mr. Speaker, I am glad the member enjoyed my speech. I was talking about relief for farmers and all the measures we have already exempted, such as gas and diesel for farm use from pollution pricing, and all the measures we have already taken to help the farming community. Being from British Columbia and my riding of Steveston—Richmond East, I have spoken to farmers, and they want to be a part of t…
Read full speech →Statements By Members
Mr. Speaker, yesterday, I joined friends and colleagues from the House for a remembrance ceremony at Mount Hope Cemetery in the Waterloo region to commemorate the service of Private Buckam Singh. His grave is one of the only resting places of a Sikh Canadian soldier from World War I. In 1907, Buckam Singh Bains came to Canada at the age of 14. In 1915, he enrolled in the Canadian Expeditionary For…
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Mr. Speaker, I am going to be speaking about strengthening the board governance of Canada's strategic ports. My riding of Steveston—Richmond East is home to all of the above: rail, air and sea. It is an island city by nature, one which I look forward to the Speaker's visiting sometime. The governance model that underpins Canada's port authorities was designed to establish responsible stewardship o…
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Mr. Speaker, there is quite a bit in there, and yes, it is important. I talked about Steveston—Richmond East, where I am from, which is surrounded by water and has all the supply chains, being the gateway city that it is. We do take all of those things into account, and we have seen the leadership of the boards and the consultation that I spoke about, which are needed in order to make all of these…
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Mr. Speaker, I am a little surprised. This is about collaborating, listening to local communities and understanding the unique needs they have. The speech was about consultation, taking advice and listening to communities and what their needs are to make these decisions. They are important decisions. I do not know why the member would not want to work with the community that is so important to the…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, the work we do here is for the people. It is about the people. We need to listen and collaborate. In no way does the bill say they have to be from one party or another. What I said was they need to represent the communities that are impacted by the supply chain. We saw the negative impacts of this during COVID. We need to see to the needs of the people who are operating on these corri…
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Mr. Chair, much like the member opposite for New Westminster—Burnaby, I have numerous religious institutions in my riding. My friend and colleague from Brampton East spoke about the Highway to Heaven, which he had an opportunity to visit with me. It is a five-kilometre stretch with over 20 different religious institutions located right beside one another and living in harmony. Many people are trou…
Read full speech →Statements by Members
Mr. Speaker, as we near the end of our session, students across Canada are graduating and opening a new chapter in their young lives. I congratulate all Richmond students from Palmer, McNair, McRoberts, Cambie, McMath and MacNeill secondary schools. I give a special mention to my fellow Super Colts from Richmond high; the grade 7s from Kingswood, my old elementary school; and all graduating studen…
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Madam Speaker, I am really pleased to be speaking on the hybrid provisions today. In 2021, I was honoured to be chosen by the people of Steveston—Richmond East to serve as their member of Parliament. However, that same fall, as I began work as an MP in Ottawa, I became very fatigued and my symptoms worsened. I was born with a solitary kidney, and upon my return to B.C., I was informed that my only…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, that is exactly why I think this is an important piece. I mentioned this while I was speaking, but to really understand the priorities of a region, members sometimes have to be there longer than they are here. When we go to events, we see the mayor and the council, but do we get an opportunity to speak to the people who are operating within the municipality, the people who are build…
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Madam Speaker, I have heard a lot about tradition, and I know other members have talked about tradition as well, but it was a break from tradition to bring cameras into the House of Commons, and that changed in 1977. This is a meaningful discussion, and I understand the concerns, but we are having a debate and raising these questions. Members have had an opportunity to raise them for a few years n…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, I think one of the key things here is that what he is suggesting, the pairing of someone, actually takes the voice of the elected member who is there to serve the community that elected them.
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, temperatures in western Canada remain high and so do the fire risks. Thousands remain evacuated in Alberta, and we have seen more evacuation orders in recent days from communities in the Northwest Territories and in my home province of British Columbia. We have seen the government step up when Alberta reached out for help, providing CAF and other federal support, but this is just the …
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, over the last decade, 81% of violent crimes have increased with the use of guns. The member mentioned future generations being impacted by this. I would ask him if this bill would help alleviate the concerns around an American-style gun culture in the future of Canada.
Read full speech →Statements By Members
Mr. Speaker, March 9 is World Kidney Day. World Kidney Day promotes preventative education and advanced screening to improve kidney health around the world. After a year of serving my constituents locally, in person and virtually in Parliament, this week also marks my in-person return to Parliament. Hybrid Parliament played a crucial role in my health journey. It allowed me to fulfill all responsi…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, as I mentioned before, this is precisely what we are working for. The council will be independent. It will need to engage with provinces, territories and different jurisdictions on all 94 calls to action, and it will report its findings and recommendations back to the government. It will be an independent process. We will be accountable for supporting the council's needs.
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Madam Speaker, that is precisely what we are working toward, and we are taking into consideration the hundreds of years of bills not being paid by the Crown. That is the work we will make sure the council does. It will be independent of government and will bring solutions and recommendations forward and hold the government accountable.
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Madam Speaker, I would like to recognize that I am participating virtually from the traditional territories of the Musqueam and Coast Salish peoples. I would also like to inform you that I will be sharing my time with the member for Winnipeg North. I would like to thank the interim board of directors and the transitional committee for the council, which carried out extensive consultations to devel…
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Mr. Speaker, the member talked about electric buses. The riding of Steveston—Richmond East has made tremendous investments in businesses, such as Line Electric and Corvus Energy, and investments made in electric batteries. That is a $2-billion investment to make sure that electric batteries are developed domestically in Canada. Those are measures showing the investments we have made in clean energ…
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Mr. Speaker, I thank the member from Kamloops. It is a beautiful place in British Columbia, and I enjoy going there. We absolutely understand that times are tough for so many Canadians today. Over the last couple of months, our government has put forward plans to provide a $500 top-up to the Canadian housing benefit, provide up to $1,300 through the Canada dental benefit for low-income kids under …
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Mr. Speaker, I would like to recognize that I am appearing virtually and that I am very fortunate to live, work and play on the traditional territories of the Musqueam and Coast Salish peoples. I will be sharing my time with the member for Ottawa West—Nepean. We live in serious times. The world continues to grapple with the economic effects of the pandemic. The Russian invasion of Ukraine rages on…
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Mr. Speaker, I thank the member for all his great work in Calgary. If we look back at the unemployment rates we have historically hit, we are having all-time lows in these recent times, all-time lows in Canadian history. We have strong, good-paying jobs coming from a lot of the investments we have already made. We need the skilled labour, and the people we are looking at with the levels plan are t…
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Mr. Speaker, we are working closely to move forward on the climate change initiatives we are introducing to work with oil companies to transition to clean energy.
Read full speech →Private Members' Business
Mr. Speaker, I ask for unanimous consent to change my vote to “for”.
Read full speech →Private Members' Business
Mr. Speaker, I rise on a point of order. I had some technical difficulties. I would like to vote “for”.
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Chair, I would like to take this opportunity to speak to one of Public Services and Procurement Canada's most important responsibilities. This department ensures the ongoing delivery of defence procurement so that those who serve us so bravely have the equipment they need to carry out their important work. We are guided by “Strong, Secure, Engaged”, our government's defence policy, which set…
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Mr. Chair, we heard a little about the shipyards. My questions are coming from Richmond, British Columbia, so the marine sector is extremely important to us over here on the west coast. I am curious to know about some of the work that is being done at the Vancouver Shipyard, Seaspan and the economic impacts around that.
Read full speech →Statements By Members
Madam Speaker, as Sikh Heritage Month celebrations come to a close on this 125th year since Sikhs first set foot on Canada’s west coast, a tragic part of the Sikh story in Canada is the Komagata Maru, but today I wish to tell members about another ship that sailed in 1914, the SS Akbar. Aboard the SS Akbar were Punjabi soldiers rallied to war to reinforce the allied forces on the western front. Th…
Read full speech →Orders of the Day
Madam Speaker, I am speaking today in solemn but resolute support of the Emergencies Act. The past weeks have given me time to reflect on the words and actions of those who came to protest public health measures. One of the words we heard most from the demonstrators was “patriotism”. This frequently repeated word compelled me to consider its meaning. An act of patriotism is ultimately an act of se…
Read full speech →Orders of the Day
Madam Speaker, I would have to get a little more information on the FINTRAC involvement in this investigation. It is a great question, and I take it on notice.
Read full speech →Orders of the Day
Madam Speaker, weapons were found and weapons were seized. There was a threat to government. A manifesto was put forward threatening the government. In my comments, I did indicate that some people may have come peacefully to protest and patriots in Canada come in many forms. However, when there are people who are organizing to try to overthrow a government, I do not see the patriotism there.
Read full speech →Orders of the Day
Madam Speaker, it was quite clear. We have received caucus updates as national caucus members. It was very clear that the groups that were demonstrating put forward a manifesto to overthrow government. I think we need to look at the many facts that came forward and were well reported as indicators. Bomb threats, blockades, seized weapons; all of those things are quite evident and they are all befo…
Read full speech →Statements By Members
Madam Speaker, last week the Minister of Housing and Diversity and Inclusion participated in a round table with housing experts in my riding of Steveston—Richmond East. Together, we discussed the important initiatives from the federal government to develop affordable housing in B.C., such as the affordable housing innovation fund to encourage new funding models for affordable housing. The minister…
Read full speech →Speech from the Throne
Madam Speaker, congratulations on your appointment to the chair. Before I begin, I would like to recognize that I come from the unceded traditional territory of the Coast Salish, Musqueam and Tssawwassen first nations. As we have all seen, my home province of British Columbia is experiencing yet another atmospheric river rain event. I want to thank all the residents, organizations and gurdwara soc…
Read full speech →Speech from the Throne
Madam Speaker, congratulations to the member for Calgary Skyview for his election as well. It is an honour to serve with him here. With respect to projects in my riding, I am happy to say that as part of the Canadian national housing strategy, community partners like Habitat for Humanity have partnered in Richmond, and on Ash Street in my riding we have built purpose-built homes for eight families…
Read full speech →Speech from the Throne
Madam Speaker, I welcome the opportunity to continue the work they are doing in Quebec, and I look forward to working with the member to share ideas and make sure we can stop violence against women. We will work together toward rooting out any type of violence toward women. In terms of the length of the program, it has to be an ongoing effort and we have to ensure that those supports are always th…
Read full speech →Speech from the Throne
Madam Speaker, there are a tremendous number of measures in the throne speech to help the agricultural sector and small businesses. As well, during this very trying time for Canadians throughout the pandemic, this government was the only one that not only allowed for businesses to keep their doors open, but also made the investments to ensure that there is growth for businesses.
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