Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, either they cannot hear or this is willful ignorance of their own past behaviour. What we see repeatedly is the Conservative Party voting again and again against families. Whether it is the Canada child benefit, the national school food program or dental care, which are providing support to families all across the country while alleviating costs and improving the health of Canadians, …
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Mr. Speaker, how is it acceptable that, when a government offers the Canada child benefit, which lifts almost 500,000 children out of poverty, the opposition votes against it, and that they muse about cutting that program if they were ever to gain office? It is no wonder that Canadians chose us in the last election. They know who has their backs. They know who is fighting for them. These kinds of …
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Mr. Speaker, maybe the member opposite missed the announcement where the government already took action to change EI to make it easier for workers that are impacted by unfair and illegal tariffs to access EI, including waiving the one-week period, keeping their earnings and making sure that people can access EI in areas where unemployment is growing. We will continue to work on EI and make sure th…
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Mr. Speaker, we have talked about the reduction in child poverty, but for adults between 18 and 65, it has gone down by 26% since 2015. That is in large part because of the programs that we have put in place to help families. We want to talk about reducing costs of food. The Canada school food program reduces costs of groceries on average by $800 a year for every family. Let us see if the Conserva…
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Mr. Speaker, that member is fully endorsed by the anti-abortion organizations that look for candidates, indeed, a full 40 of them over there, who bully women when they want to make choices about their own reproductive freedom. It is a little rich for members of Parliament from the opposition to get up and say they stand up for women when on the back side they are working as hard as they can to res…
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Mr. Speaker, that woman might feel like a token, but I never do. I earned my seat in the House of Commons, and I am proud of it. Why do the Conservatives not like numbers? It is because the numbers do not speak in their favour. There are 30% of seats that are taken by women, and fully 17% of the seats are on this side. More than half the women elected are Liberals; the other half are in the rest o…
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Mr. Speaker, here is something tangible the Leader of the Opposition could do: In the next election, he could have more women run and get more women in the seats if he really wants to prove his credibility in terms of standing up for women. Let me give some statistics. Currently in the House of Commons, 16.9% of the women elected sit on the Liberal benches. How many are there on the Conservative b…
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Mr. Speaker, what is so encouraging, and I would say that it is not often that I find something encouraging from the Conservative Party, but what is encouraging to hear is their staunch support for indigenous procurement. I agree with the Conservative Party that we have to work hard to make sure that indigenous businesses are the ones that actually profit from indigenous priorities. I want to than…
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Mr. Speaker, it is great to see so many questions on indigenous priorities in this House. I want to thank the member opposite and hope that she will work with her party to ensure the safe passage of Bill C-61, a clean drinking water act for first nations, which was co-developed with first nations in this country. There are many opportunities for the party opposite to support indigenous priorities,…
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Mr. Speaker, it seems apparent that the Conservatives only want to talk about reconciliation when it is an allegation. They do not want to talk about reconciliation when we are talking about investing in first nations housing or helping indigenous people ensure their opportunities to have economic success or procure from the government in Canada. Why do they not want to talk about that? Their reco…
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Mr. Speaker, just moments ago I was speaking with the national chief about the shenanigans that are happening at INAN committee as the Conservatives attempt to undermine the study of the water legislation that so many first nations have poured their heart and soul into. They are preventing it from getting to this place and hopefully eventually to Senate. They talk about standing up for first natio…
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Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the members of the INAN committee, who passed a government amendment declaring it a human right to clean drinking water on first nations. That is historic for this country. I really hope the member opposite will help ensure that we have a smooth passage of the bill through the House and into the Senate, so we can get this law in place and protect water for generations …
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Mr. Speaker, this morning we heard the sad news of the passing of the Hon. Murray Sinclair. Let me take a moment before we begin today to say a few words about him. As a former judge, senator and chair of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, Murray was determined to help Canada reckon with its colonial realities and bring healing to this country. He was a visionary and a leader, and his kind a…
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Mr. Speaker, the member opposite is right. We all have to do more to protect the lives of indigenous people, in particular first nations children who are many times more likely to die in a house fire than their non-indigenous counterparts. That is why we have invested over $136 million for first nations' self-determined projects to reduce the risks of fire, including making homes safer and ensurin…
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Mr. Speaker, after a decade of nothing happening under the previous Conservative government, we launched the national housing strategy, and we have been working with communities, with first nations leaders and with indigenous organizations to ensure that people have access to the kinds of housing they need. We are not going to stop until every person in this country knows that there is someplace t…
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Mr. Speaker, that is exactly the path that our government has been on, working hand in hand with first nations and indigenous leaders to ensure that programs and services delivered by first nations and indigenous people are available to their members so that people can heal from the trauma of colonization, something that just yesterday our government stood up with many survivors across the country…
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Mr. Speaker, it is really heartening to hear the member of Parliament from the NDP speak so eloquently about the need to move quicker on alleviating long-term boil water advisories across this country. Since we have taken office, we have lifted over 145 long-term boil water advisories and prevented well over 200. We are going to continue that hard work. I assume her comments mean she is going to s…
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Mr. Speaker, that is exactly what the government has done with the renewed health transfers, separate money and $2 billion dedicated to first nations leaders who are working on health transformation and self-determined health care services across this country. On top of that, there is another 10 years of funding for the First Nations Health Authority to continue to plan and deliver health services…
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Mr. Speaker, I am so proud to be part of a government that understands by indigenous, for indigenous housing, and that is exactly what we are doing by launching the $4 billion urban, rural and northern housing strategy. Already $300 million have been dispensed through an organization led by indigenous leaders determining how best to use those funds so that first nations, Inuit and Métis people hav…
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Mr. Speaker, that is a question for the Ontario government. On this side of the House, what we have been focused on is ensuring that every indigenous child in this country has a fair chance to succeed in their educational journey. In fact, when we took office 10 years ago, we saw a chronic underfunding of first nations education systems so that education rates were appalling across the country, le…
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Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague from Pontiac for her work on access to education. Since 2016, we have increased funding for education by 80%. Budget 2024 will help us build and renovate more than 200 schools in first nations communities for 35,000 students. The evidence is clear. Students are more motivated when they see themselves reflected in their learning.
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Mr. Speaker, this government has been investing in historic ways to close the infrastructure gap for first nations communities across the country. I do not know where the member is getting her information from, but it is incorrect, quite frankly. We have spent all of our housing allotment every year. In fact, we have accelerated our expenditures in housing, and we are working with first nations on…
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Mr. Speaker, I am so proud to be part of a government that puts indigenous children first. First nations children are getting the services they need after a decade of neglect, with the previous Conservative government ignoring their needs, leading to historic lawsuits and, of course, the compensation required to make up for such a terrible omission. We are making it right. We are ensuring that no …
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Mr. Speaker, I thank the member for Brampton South for her advocacy. She is right that for too long indigenous people have been facing discrimination as they access health care. However, everyone in the country has the right to quality health care. In 2018, our government contributed $158 million to plan the replacement of the Weeneebayko hospital in northern Ontario. As I said in the House last m…
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Mr. Speaker, we have come a long way since 2015. In fact, we have seen an increase of 185% in spending on indigenous priorities. Just today, I stood with a national chief, who talked about the improvement of the relationship between Canada and first nations people. We made an announcement that we would support Ontario to deliver health care in the Weeneebayko health area for $1.2 billion. We will …
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Mr. Speaker, I am honoured today to be working with our indigenous partners. We work with first nations people every single day to do the kinds of things that the member opposite is talking about, closing infrastructure gaps and lifting boil water advisories. Ninety-six per cent of first nations now live in communities with access to clean water, and we will not rest until it is done.
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Mr. Speaker, I agree with the member that this country has had a deplorable history of depriving indigenous communities of the things that they need to thrive. In fact, since we have taken office, spending on indigenous infrastructure and priorities has increased by 185%. It speaks to the lack of effort by those Conservatives, when they were in government, to actually prioritize the needs of indig…
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Mr. Speaker, it looks like Conservatives want to change the channel. Yesterday, they were all about talking about capital gains. They were fighting for the rich guy and holding up plumbers and electricians, but not talking about waitresses or school bus drivers, when talking about how they are fighting for the little guy. On this side, we know that Conservatives do not care about people who are pu…
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Mr. Speaker, every Canadian in this country deserves access to health care, and that is why we are working so closely with the hospital, with Ontario, to make sure that residents in the Moosonee area can actually access health care, just like every other person in Ontario. I met with the board yesterday, I met with Grand Chief Fiddler, and the Prime Minister has also written a letter confirming ou…
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Mr. Speaker, after our House leader answered a question and spoke of the experience of troll swarming that occurs online, the member for South Shore—St. Margarets shouted out at him “Thank you for the ammo.” This violent language does not help in a climate where there is an 800% increase in threats of violence toward elected officials. I ask that the member apologize and retract his comment.
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Mr. Speaker, I agree with the member opposite. It is a tragedy that we are losing our brothers, our sisters, our mothers and our fathers to this toxic, polluted drug supply that we see all across the country, including in and predominantly among first nations. That is why our government has invested billions of dollars to support indigenous-led approaches to mental wellness. We will continue to wo…
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Mr. Speaker, I thank the member for Pontiac for her work on access to safe drinking water. In 2015, the Liberal government completely discarded Stephen Harper's paternalistic approach. Now, we listen to indigenous leaders and work closely with them. We have lifted 144 long-term drinking water advisories, and we are not stopping there. We also introduced Bill C-61, the first nations clean water act…
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Mr. Speaker, as I was looking at the current statistics on who is dying from toxic drug poisoning here in this country, I was really surprised to find that two-thirds of them are young men. In fact, of those young men, 30% to 50% are employed in the skilled trades sector. It strikes me as ironic that the Leader of the Opposition speaks a lot about standing up for the workers, when in fact those ve…
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Mr. Speaker, this is the other thing that Ms. Last-Kolb wrote in her email to me. She said, “Every family I have met, [their] child died in a home, many in [their] family home or apartment where family helped care for them. The only family I know whose son was homelessness actually [overdosed] in treatment.” I checked on this, because I was curious to see if her experience with her colleagues and …
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Mr. Speaker, I want to share with the minister an email I got from a member of Moms Stop the Harm. It is too long to read in its entirety, but I wanted to give a couple of elements of the letter, and I am sure the minister has heard these stories before. This mother said that after her son died, it was a very difficult time, and that she watched me give a response to the Conservatives, who were us…
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Mr. Speaker, I am very excited about the national school food program, which we estimate is going to lift 400,000 children out of poverty across this country. It is something we will work on with the provinces, territories and, of course, indigenous communities. We know that developing brains need good nutrition, and Canada needs everyone to be able to reach their full potential. That is why it is…
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Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the member for her elocution of her constituents' concerns and of their thoughts. In fact, this entire budget is wrapped around the concept of fairness for every generation. There are many exciting measures in the budget that would actually bring down the costs for Canadians, that would support Canadians, no matter what stage of life they are in, and, in fact, that wou…
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Mr. Speaker. the hon. member noted that, in fact, we have a gap here in Canada, and that is feeding hungry children in school. We know that brains actually need that nourishment to develop and that Canada needs every ounce of potential if we are going to meet the challenging conditions of today and tomorrow. We hear the members opposite in the Conservative Party speak about the need, on one hand, …
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Mr. Speaker, I am surprised to hear my colleague opposite speak about their concerns around the budget. In fact, the Conservative leader, without a second thought, said he would vote against the budget to support fairness for every generation. It includes many measures that the Conservative Party has been calling for, indeed, for example, more aggression on getting houses built across our country.…
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Mr. Speaker, one thing that I am very excited about in Bill C-69 is that 25% of the new spending is proposed for indigenous priorities, including a major loan guarantee for which indigenous partners have been calling for economic reconciliation, to ensure that when natural resource projects or other major projects in the country go forward, indigenous people also prosper, stopping what I would say…
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Mr. Speaker, I am glad the member opposite mentioned kindergarten, because it reminds me of a time when I was a lunchroom monitor. It was a lowly position, but a very important one. I went to the school every day to help ensure that students were safe in the playground and safe in the lunchroom. One of the hardest things to see as a lunchroom monitor were the number of children who did not have en…
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Mr. Speaker, I agree. The Conservative Party's obstruction in the House is sad to watch. We have to work together. Canadians are waiting for us to implement many of the measures in the budget. In fact, the Conservatives have called for many of those same measures. Let us talk about housing for a moment. The Conservatives have talked about the need for ambition on housing. This budget proposes a lo…
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Mr. Speaker, I think what Canadians expect is for parties to work together in the House, to find compromises to ensure that things can move forward that will benefit them and their families. That is why the NDP works closely with the Liberals to ensure that there are measures in the budget that actually meet the needs of constituents in their ridings. The Conservatives have an opportunity to do th…
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Mr. Speaker, I thank the member of Parliament for highlighting the importance of the parts of the budget implementation act that address indigenous priorities. Indeed, the red dress alert is an indigenous priority. It is something indigenous families have been calling to have for a very long time. It is a pleasure to work with members in the House to ensure we can get that alert up and running. I …
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Mr. Speaker, every item in this legislation appears in the text of this year's budget, either in its chapters or in the legislative annex. We look forward to the robust debate that will happen through this debate and certainly at committee. It is important we ensure we work together. As I said, Canadians are expecting us to work quickly together to ensure they have the measures they need.
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Mr. Speaker, earlier we were talking about a national food program. We cannot starve our way to prosperity, but that is what the Conservatives seem to want to try yet again. They want to starve their way to prosperity, and that is not how we get ahead as a country. We get ahead as a country by taking care of each other, and this budget is about that. It is about fairness for every generation. I th…
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Mr. Speaker, it is disappointing that the member opposite does not realize that, in fact, after a decade of not spending anything in indigenous services equity, including, for example, keeping indigenous education suppressed below the provincial average, meaning that children in indigenous communities did not have the same fair chances to graduate and that graduation rates were abysmally lower tha…
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Mr. Speaker, we hear two parties in the House talk about the obstruction of the Conservatives in the House. Therefore, it is a little rich as the members opposite get up and name-call and yell at members of the opposition, who are just doing their job as well. We all have a job here, and I would encourage us all to stay focused on what that job is, which is to ensure that we work for Canadians, th…
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Mr. Speaker, I thank the member for his hard work on many of the measures that he outlined and that are, in fact, featured in this budget. I cannot answer why it is that Conservatives oppose measures that help their own constituents, but it is a good question for their constituents. I think that is why it is important that we get this bill to committee because we will hear a variety of perspective…
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Mr. Speaker, I find it interesting to be standing in this place talking about democracy with a member of the loyal opposition who voted against the support that Ukraine needed to defend democracy. It is ironic that as we talk about whether Liberals defend democracy, it is actually this side of the House that works with other countries that are working so hard and, in fact, that are losing lives to…
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