Oral Questions
Madam Speaker, it was interesting, this summer, to see our athletes compete at the Olympics. When our gymnasts at the Olympics stick a landing, all of us cheer. I think we should do the same this week with the Bank of Canada and the Government of Canada sticking the economic landing of inflation coming down to 2%, which is the Bank of Canada's target rate. Only the Conservative Party in this House…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 32(2), and consistent with the policy on the tabling of treaties in Parliament, I have the honour to table, in both official languages, the treaty entitled “Agreement between Canada, of the one part, and the European Union, of the other part, on the Participation of Canada in Union Programmes”, which includes the “Protocol on the Association of Canada to Hor…
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Mr. Speaker, it is a shame that the NDP's recent hard right turn has taken them down the wrong path. It is too bad that they have caved to Conservative pressure. We worked collaboratively for many months to introduce numerous rounds of changes to Canada's competition laws. These are significant signs of progress that would amount to better prices and more options for Canadians and include more pow…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, I had a very hard time listening to the member referencing support for Ukraine in his speech. He stood up multiple times in the House and voted against more support for Operation Unifier, support for Ukrainian refugees coming to Canada and an updated free trade agreement between Canada and Ukraine, which President Zelenskyy himself asked us to pass. I cannot understand. The BIA has ad…
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Mr. Speaker, I always appreciate my hon. colleague's remarks. Every day we hear in the House the Conservatives talk about the cost of living pressures that Canadians are under. Obviously, they continually make it sound like global inflation has been caused by our government. We know that is not true, and it is misleading to imply that. We see in this budget numerous measures that would help Canadi…
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Mr. Speaker, it was great to hear the member recognize climate change. It is not often we hear Conservatives speak about stress on prairie grass or heatwaves, wildfires or droughts, which the member opposite mentioned, so he is recognizing the impacts on our climate and on the Prairies, which is great to hear. The member also mentioned numerous other things that our government is doing in the fede…
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Mr. Speaker, I too have a passion and love for agri-food businesses, especially the ones in Quebec, like the microenterprises that produce high-quality products in Quebec that are to be savoured and enjoyed. When I travel through the region, I really appreciate that about Quebec. In the federal budget this year, the BIA, we have the Canada carbon rebate for small businesses, which supports a rebat…
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Madam Speaker, it is clear that this question has been answered numerous times, but it is no surprise that Conservatives do not want to talk about their embarrassing vote against tax fairness. Conservatives believe that, if someone is flipping burgers, they should pay more tax than if they are flipping stocks or houses. With our plan, we are standing up for tax fairness, and let us just be clear t…
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Madam Speaker, let us review the Conservatives' record. In 2015, when our government proposed to raise taxes on the wealthiest 1% and cut them for everyone else, the Conservatives voted against it. When our government implemented carbon pricing that put more money in eight out of 10 families' pockets, ensuring everyone but the wealthiest were better off, the Conservatives voted against it. When ou…
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Madam Speaker, it is clear the Conservatives do not care about the future of the planet. They do not care about tax fairness. They do not care about investments that Canadians need and rely on. They believe that, if someone is flipping burgers, they should pay more tax than if they are flipping homes or flipping stocks to make a living. Under our plan for tax fairness, if someone does not profit b…
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Madam Speaker, it is clear that the Conservatives do not care about the future of our planet. They will not stand up for our children and our grandchildren. On this side of the House, we are advancing tax fairness for Canadians with our new capital gains regime. That means people earning their hard-earned incomes on their paycheques will not pay a penny more, unless they earn over $250,000 a year …
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Madam Speaker, maybe we will just start on a very collaborative note with, I am sure, a comment that all members in the House will be unified on. I want to say, “Go, Edmonton Oilers”. They have tied it up in the Stanley Cup, in the third game of the series. It is good to see the Oilers score a goal and tie it up. I am really hoping that they come out on top tonight. I am very pleased to rise in th…
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Mr. Speaker, this government has done more to support our local economies than any government I have ever seen in Canadian history. We are stimulating jobs and increasing productivity. We have made major investments in the research ecosystem within our economy, which is promoting innovation and creating more jobs for a sustainable future. I could not be more proud of this government. I know the me…
Read full speech →Statements By Members
Mr. Speaker, I rise today to give a shout-out to Whitby's graduating class of 2024. These students are the generation that is going to change the game. They should not just dream big; they should dream bold. They should dream like they are the only ones who can change the game, because they can. They should think about how they can make a difference, how they can leave their mark. They are the one…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, I know that Conservatives often have trouble understanding that the world changes and things evolve over time. I would answer the member's question by saying this: Our government has paid a lot of attention to refocusing government spending, which amounts to a refocusing of $15.8 billion in spending by 2027-28. That is a pretty significant amount of refocused government spending, wh…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, I appreciate the question from the member opposite. We both served on the Standing Committee on Agriculture and Agri-Food for quite some time, and I always appreciated working with him. At the time, we had talked about international trade and the impacts on the supply-managed sector. I note that, in the study we did, we saw that there was very little impact at the time. I think ther…
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Madam Speaker, I will say that our government certainly stands behind wanting to preserve a publicly funded health care system. Obviously, we have renegotiated the Canada health transfer, which was increased quite significantly, to the tune of approximately $200 billion. It is a significant increase from past iterations of that agreement. I note that we also signed bilateral agreements with provin…
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Mr. Speaker, since being elected in 2019, I have been an advocate for individuals with disabilities and have advocated for the Canada disability benefit from day one. I have been in touch with my constituents living with disabilities, and I feel strongly about the $200 more per month, notwithstanding that provinces and territories have neglected to provide the supports necessary to individuals liv…
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Mr. Speaker, I understand that the Bloc Québécois regularly brings up interjurisdictional issues when it comes to the federal government making key investments to support Canadians. Whether they live in Quebec or any other province, all Canadians deserve investments in the kinds of supports they need to solve the affordable housing crisis, to create a stronger social safety net, to increase resear…
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Madam Speaker, I would note that there were many statements strung together in the member's speech that seem to be false. I am not sure who constructed that speech, but there are a lot of different things that I could take issue with. We know that Conservatives do not care about climate change. They voted hundreds of times in this House against any action on climate change whatsoever. The member's…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, I have to give the Conservatives some credit finally. I know it has taken me a long time to reach this conclusion, but they are exceptional at stringing together misleading and false statements into speeches. The member opposite talked about quality of life. He used that phrase in his speech. Our government's budget and the BIA invest in helping Canadians be able to save or to buy the…
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Mr. Speaker, I note that, when asked for solutions, the member offered a couple of gimmicky slogans. I cannot think of any term for them other than “slogan”. “Pay as you go”, was what the member said. It is interesting that this concept is a way of looking at our fiscal environment and saying that it is what the government needs to do, but the member opposite has not ever pronounced, as is the sam…
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Madam Speaker, I always am amazed at the passion the member puts into his oration in the House. Daily in the House, the Conservatives cite food bank lineups as being an issue they care about. However, when it comes to supporting children, when it comes to feeding hungry children, and I note Breakfast Club of Canada is very popular in Quebec and does a great deal of work supporting breakfast progra…
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Mr. Speaker, I thank the hon. member for his work at the finance committee. I have enjoyed working with him. I understand that there are interjurisdictional issues that the member has rightfully pointed out in the debate today in relation to the consumer-driven banking framework. He and I have had some good discussions about that, and I look forward to more. There are a lot of other things in the …
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Mr. Speaker, the member's speech was a bunch of slogans strung together with a lot of falsehoods scattered throughout. The main one I would take issue with right now is that the member blames the federal government for global inflation. Members in the Conservative Party do this on a daily basis. This is interesting because every country in the world, postpandemic, has been dealing with an inflatio…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, it is my sincere pleasure to stand before the House in support of the budget implementation act, 2024, No. 1, which would implement many of our government's key priorities in budget 2024, entitled “Fairness For Every Generation.” All children deserve a fair start in life, and I think we can all agree on that, yet nearly one in four kids in Canada lives in a household with too little i…
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Mr. Speaker, it is clear to me that the Conservatives have only slogans. They produce no solutions or offer any solutions of any kind for any of the issues that Canadians are facing today. Our government is busy putting forward solutions and implementation plans and making investments in Canadians. We know that we have to invest in people to create the kind of prosperity and country that we want. …
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Mr. Speaker, children are our future. I have young children. All of us with children certainly understand that they are the future of our country. We could make no better investment in the future generation than investing in children, whether it be food, dental care, pharmacare, child care, all the things that our government is doing to support families, so they can achieve and have a fair chance …
Read full speech →Adjournment Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, I thank the hon. member for his advocacy for families and children. It is good to see. I spent my whole career working with non-profits and charities; specifically, I worked on ending food insecurity. However, it is good to hear that Conservatives are finally noticing that food insecurity is a problem in this country. It is too bad they voted against a national school food program tha…
Read full speech →Adjournment Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, I want to start by thanking the hon. colleague for her question and her tireless advocacy. I also want to acknowledge that I am standing on the unceded traditional territory of the Anishinabe Algonquin people. The negative impacts of the legacies of colonialism are numerous and wide-reaching for indigenous peoples. Poor housing conditions, overcrowding and homelessness are just a few …
Read full speech →Adjournment Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, I can assure the hon. member that the Government of Canada takes the issue of housing for indigenous peoples very seriously. We know that indigenous people are more likely to experience poor housing conditions and overcrowding than the general population is. That is why housing in first nations, Inuit and Métis communities is backed by significant funding from the federal government, …
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, obviously we are very concerned as a government with any instances of online fraud that we see. I note that our recent budget implementation act has numerous measures to crack down on money laundering and crime related to fraud. We have done lots of work in this area, successively, in both the fall economic statement and the BIA, and we look forward to looking into the matter that the…
Read full speech →Adjournment Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, our government does not shy away from the facts, and the facts are that climate change is real. The Canadian Climate Institute points to how much climate change will cost our economy in the year 2025, which is $25 billion a year and 50% of projected GDP growth in one year. That is the estimated loss in damages due to climate change next year. I know the member opposite comes from a ri…
Read full speech →Adjournment Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, I note the member opposite talked about food bank lineups again. It is really a shame that he would not vote in support of feeding hungry children. I do not know how he can say over and over again, as his party does every day in question period, that Conservatives care about the people in the food bank lineups, but they are not willing to support a national school food program. I just…
Read full speech →Adjournment Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, obviously, feeding children in schools through a national school food program, in which there is an investment of $1 billion over five years in this year's budget, is going to roll out in the coming years and months. It has not fed children in the past because it was not in existence in the past. School food programs exist all across the country, but they have needed an injection of a…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, it is appropriate for us all, as a government and members of Parliament, to demand the highest governance standards when dealing with public funds. That is what our government has done from day one. As soon as we learned about allegations of mismanagement in this independent organization, we ordered independent reviews done, fact-finding missions. We collaborated with the Auditor Gene…
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Mr. Speaker, we know that SDTC, for over 20 years, has done great work to support the clean-tech sector. Obviously, there were allegations of mismanagement. When those surfaced, the minister acted immediately to issue several independent reviews, both on HR practices and on governance practices. We know, and have always been unequivocal, about the fact that we need to demand the highest governance…
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Mr. Speaker, SDTC is an organization that has served the clean-tech sector for over 20 years. When we knew about the allegations of mismanagement, our government acted immediately. There are a number of steps over the last many months that our government has taken to get to the bottom of the issues in terms of the governance and HR practices of the organization. I think it is important to keep in …
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Mr. Speaker, let us review what the PBO actually said. On Power and Politics, Mr. Giroux said that carbon pricing is “seen by [most] economists as...the most cost-effective way of reaching...levels of carbon emissions [reduction].” Recently, on March 27, at the OGGO committee, Yves Giroux also said that “there is a wide consensus among economists—and I am an economist—that carbon pricing is an eff…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, again, from day one, when we learned of the allegations of mismanagement, our government has consistently taken steps forward to address the issues that surfaced, and I have outlined that very clearly in my speech. Our government has taken action time and time again to collect the facts. We have never denied the fact that these allegations are serious and that there are breaches to …
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Madam Speaker, part of my reason for getting into politics was to support small and medium-sized enterprises in this country and ensure that we unlock capital and investment to scale up the innovative solutions that entrepreneurs and small business owners are developing, so we can meet the challenges of today and tomorrow, one of the challenges obviously being climate change. I cannot tell members…
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Madam Speaker, I am pleased to rise today to speak to this motion. I would like to address the substance of the issues raised and present the government's action to address allegations at SDTC and the actions we are taking to restore public trust and restore funding to Canada's world-class clean-tech sector that is helping deliver climate solutions and create the jobs of the future. On Tuesday, we…
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Mr. Speaker, as soon as allegations of mismanagement of Sustainable Development Technology Canada surfaced, our government acted immediately. We triggered an independent review of the governance model and an independent review of the HR practices in the organization. We issued a management response action plan. We have done everything right along the way to address the concerns. Rightfully, Canadi…
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Mr. Speaker, what is not a secret is the Conservatives' climate denial. That is no secret. Canadians know that Conservatives continue to vote against any action on climate change. Our government is implementing solutions that work. The Parliamentary Budget Officer has confirmed multiple times that carbon pricing is the most cost-effective market-based mechanism. I would remind the Conservatives th…
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Mr. Speaker, Sustainable Development Technology Canada is an independent organization that has been around for over 20 years and that was supported by all members of Parliament at the time. I understand that the Conservatives' opposition to fighting climate change gives them an ideological bent against the organization. However, notwithstanding the governance structure of the organization, when we…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, we too feel it is very important to preserve a healthy work environment for the employees of SDTC. After all, they are not the ones at fault here. To the member's point, the board is no longer and will be reconstituted with new members under the new governance framework. As I said in my speech, employees who have worked at SDTC will be given opportunities within the new structure to…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, what that member just uttered is patently false. I have supported meetings on SDTC at committee, and our government has studied it at multiple committees. We have also taken action from day one to, as I said, do numerous fact-finding missions and independent reviews, all of which have provided the evidence and support for the actions we are now taking. We have taken those to heart a…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, I think the hon. member's question is a good-faith question. It is exactly what we hope to see. This organization has a legacy of really great strategic work in helping finance, seed and scale up financing for some of our most promising clean-tech entrepreneurs. To see that work continue is really where our commitment is. Obviously, we need to address the governance issues that have…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 32(2), and consistent with the policy on the tabling of treaties in Parliament, I have the honour to table, in both official languages, the treaty entitled “Arrangement between the Government of Canada and the European Space Agency concerning the Participation by the Government of Canada in the Space Safety Programme”, done at Paris on June 8, 2023.
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 36(8)(a) I have the honour to table, in both official languages, the government's response to 14 petitions. These returns will be tabled in an electronic format.
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