Private Members' Business
Madam Speaker, why do we need to do this? It is because each and every day, nurses, doctors, paramedics and firefighters put their uniform on and go to work, but trust me when I say that there will be lives lost. Somebody will lose their life; it could be a nurse, or it could be a paramedic in the back of an ambulance. The challenge we have right now is that there is not enough meat in the Crimina…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, it is interesting. The Liberals always stand up and say that Conservatives are obstructing. I will remind our colleagues, as they heckle me, that the House does not belong to them. It belongs to the constituents of the 343 members of Parliament, those who voted us in to be their voices in the House. Regardless of what they want to say, we will ask the questions that we need to. We wil…
Read full speech →Private Members' Business
moved that Bill S-233, An Act to amend the Criminal Code (assault against persons who provide health services and first responders), be read the second time and referred to a committee. Madam Speaker, before we get going, my granddaughter is at home watching as we speak. If you will indulge me, I would love to say hello to my granddaughter, Ren, and to tell her that I love her and will see her soo…
Read full speech →Private Members' Business
Madam Speaker, as a matter of fact, we worked with the ministers of public safety and justice at that time on Bill C-3. In their own words, they said that Bill C-321 was complementary to Bill C-3, because Bill C-3 did not go far enough. The two bills, between them, covered exactly what we needed to do. It is not a single line; it is a stand-alone paragraph when it comes to assaults. Bill C-3 did n…
Read full speech →Statements By Members
Mr. Speaker, Conservatives are united for hope. After 10 years of Liberal failure, Canadians are struggling just to get by. Groceries cost more, housing is out of reach, energy bills are up and crime is out of control. The Canadian promise that if someone works hard and plays by the rules they can get ahead has been broken. Conservatives are united to restore that promise. While the Liberals offer…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, I rise on a point of order. There have been discussions among the parties, and I believe that if you seek it, you will find unanimous consent—
Read full speech →Statements by Members
Mr. Speaker, five years ago, in December 2020, the House came together to support my motion to bring a simple, life-saving idea to Canada: A three-digit suicide prevention crisis line, or 988. One thousand days later, 988 launched in November 2023. Since that time, over a million calls and texts have been made to 988. Every one of those calls or texts represents someone reaching out instead of giv…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, the simple answer is yes. It is going to be higher because the Prime Minister does not answer to Canadians; he answers to the shareholders of Brookfield. For sure that spending is going to go higher. He has to answer to the shareholders of Brookfield.
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, that is probably one of the most frustrating things that we see and hear. In our regions, our forestry workers are proud by nature. Canadians are proud by nature. They do not want handouts, EI or welfare; they want a job. It is really frustrating. Imagine being 55 or 56 years of age and having worked a lifetime in an industry only to wake up one day and be told that job is no longer t…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, I am going to start with a happy bit. It was five years ago on Sunday that I stood in the House and announced to the whole nation that my daughter's water broke and I was going to be a grandfather for the first time. This past weekend, we celebrated my granddaughter Ren's fifth birthday. She is the light of my life, and I never knew that someone's heart could grow so big. She is incre…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, for 10 years, the member has been spewing the same talking points from the government side. For nine years, he defended their track record in terms of bail and not jail. Ten years, and now all of a sudden it is a priority for him. We will take no lessons from that colleague. There are 170 other members of Parliament on the other side. I dare any one of them to stand up.
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, I will go with the words of our colleague from Skeena—Bulkley Valley, who was the chief councillor for the Haisla Nation for six years and was a councillor for eight years. During that period, he was the treaty chairman and also led his community through massive economic projects, like the one with LNG Canada. He stewarded them through economic prosperity. Obviously, there are first…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, I will take no lessons from the hon. colleague across the way. For nine years, he stood behind a leader who dismissed the first female indigenous attorney general and absolutely ran her right out of his government. When first nations protesters came to one of his events, the previous prime minister yelled at them and said, “Thank you for your donation.” At every turn, he pitted firs…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, I am going to be blunt. The relationship between the Crown and indigenous peoples is not built on fancy titles or shiny new offices. It is built on honour and keeping our word, and the Liberal government has a real problem with that. Bill C-10 is just another level of bureaucracy that is not needed. We do not need another office in Ottawa to tell us again that the government is not …
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, here is my concern with having yet another layer of bureaucracy, which I am sure my colleague can appreciate. This building, this hall and parliaments all across our country are filled with studies and commissioner reports saying that government does not listen. If the government has ministers at the table speaking directly with leadership from all across our country, maybe they can…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Madam Speaker, in 2006, our Conservative government negotiated an end to the longest softwood lumber war. We negotiated a 10-year agreement with a one-year grace period, which the government squandered. The Liberals have failed to do this in 10 years. This is thousands of jobs. Over 30 mills have closed in the province of British Columbia. The Prime Minister ran an entire election on the false pre…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Madam Speaker, if they want a flipping idea of what to do, the could get a flipping deal done. It has been 10 years. It is another week, and there has been another mill closure in my riding. That is 100 direct and indirect jobs lost. That is hundreds of thousands of dollars in taxes for our municipalities. That is $1 million of taxes from our community of 100 Mile House. Do the Liberals want to kn…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, my hon. colleague spoke a lot about indigenous youth and other Canadian youth. I believe that if he really wanted to help, he would know that Canadian youth are experiencing record-high, 30%, unemployment. He would know that almost everything he has voted for in the government has made things worse for Canadian youth and that Canadian youth, both indigenous and non-indigenous, do not …
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, I have a lot of respect for our colleague across the way. We have done a lot of work together on mental health. He spoke about mental health in his intervention. What a garbage question from a Liberal colleague. It just shows they are afraid of actually asking tough questions, because they know what is going to come back to them. Over 50,000 Canadians have died in the opioid crisis si…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, my hon. colleague broke out “check yourself before you wreck yourself.” I want to say how rich that was coming from our colleague from Winnipeg North, who never misses a chance to gaslight anybody who opposes any Liberal policy. He is a good Liberal soldier. Make no bones about it. Although we may differ on policy and suggestions, I respect that he is always here, every day, fightin…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, our colleague mentioned health care workers and our frontline workers, who, as he has said, seem to have been forgotten since COVID. He is new to the House and to Parliament, so perhaps he does not know the work I have done over the last 10 years in standing up for the people who stand up for us, save us and are there to heal us. There is a bill before us, Bill S-233, that is the exac…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, I think we heard very clearly the attitude the Prime Minister has toward Canadians, when this past weekend, when asked about the ongoing trade discussions with the U.S., he said, “Who cares?” He said it is not a burning issue and that it does not matter. I have been very clear that it matters in my riding, where yet another mill announced a closure yesterday, with the loss of 100 mo…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, there have been discussions behind the scenes, and I believe if you seek it, you will find unanimous consent—
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, first responders, nurses and health care workers serve and protect our communities every day. They put their uniforms on every day knowing that their lives will be on the line. They run toward danger. They mend our broken bones. They hold our hands as we take our last breaths. What we have just seen from this Liberal government is shameful. Just before QP, I rose and asked for unanimo…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, we have a bill before us, Bill C-14, that takes into account a number of policies on bail reform. Included in Bill C-14 are parts of Bill S-233, or my private member's bill, Bill C-321, which would have made it an aggravating factor in sentencing if the victim of violence was a firefighter, health care worker or first responder. Would it not send a message to the firefighters on the…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, on a point of order, I know that all members appreciate the sacrifice that firefighters, first responders and nurses have—
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, I do not have a crystal ball in front of me. I deal in facts. We do not know what next week will bring, but we have Bill S-233 here, which is a complete bill, has gone through all the process and could be passed today. That is a good-news story for this House. Whatever happens next week or in the near future, who knows? However, what we can say is that we came together, we valued ou…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, it is great to see you in the chair. It is great that we are having this debate today. I want to thank our hon. colleague from Brantford—Brant South—Six Nations for sharing his time with me. I believe its name has changed, and I hope that is the new name. Today, we rise to talk about Bill C-14. However, if members will pardon me, I am going to talk about those the bill has an impact…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, we have a piece of legislation before us, Bill S-233. It has gone through all levels of committee. My comment to our hon. colleague is to work with me; let us get Bill S-233 passed as soon as tomorrow. It does not have to go through a lengthy process. We can then send that message to the firefighters, paramedics and health care workers who are watching this debate right now. They fe…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
moved that Bill S-233, An Act to amend the Criminal Code (assault against persons who provide health services and first responders), be read the first time. Mr. Speaker, I am honoured to rise today to introduce Bill S-233, an act to amend the Criminal Code for assault against persons who provide health services and first responders. I would be remiss if I did not thank my hon. colleague from Oshaw…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, I have worked collaboratively across all sides of the House for the last three years in the work on Bill C-321, an act to amend the Criminal Code as it pertains to first responders and health care workers. I worked collaboratively across all sides to get it passed unanimously in the last Parliament at all stages. It did, but the dissolution of Parliament made it fall off the Order P…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, it would have been law. The sad thing is that it would have been law. However, I can say that all sides of the House, both here in Parliament and in the Senate, worked tirelessly to get this done during the last Parliament. Colleagues who are in the House right now worked tirelessly to get this done. It is a plea, because this is weighty stuff, hearing the stories of another firefig…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, it seems that the only opportunity that our hon. colleague across the way is looking for is to gaslight this side of the House and gaslight Conservatives. He again brings up comments that were made by our leader when, in fact, he himself is on record as calling our national police force racist. Our current Minister of Public Safety commented, “We've seen a continuous issue of racism t…
Read full speech →Statements by Members
Mr. Speaker, first responders, nurses and health care workers serve and protect our communities. They run toward danger, they heal our broken bones and they hold our hand as we take our last breath. However, what we have seen in the last 48 hours by the Liberal government, which is using frontline heroes as political pawns, is shameful. I received a message from a first responder late last night w…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, it has been 10 years, and the Liberals have failed to secure a softwood lumber agreement. In the meantime, over $10 billion in tariffs and duties on Canadian lumber has been collected by the Americans. Thirty mills have been closed in B.C., and tens of thousands of Canadians have lost their jobs, over 2,700 in my riding alone. These are 2,700 families who cannot afford to put food on …
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, we are hemorrhaging jobs, and they are offering a band-aid. Canadians do not want handouts; they want jobs. The forestry sector supports over 200,000 direct jobs in 300 forestry communities nationwide. That is more direct employment than Canada's steel, aluminum and automotive sectors combined. The Prime Minister campaigned on negotiating a win with the U.S. Instead, since he took ove…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, that is the only way to get anything done. We have to have a multi-tiered plan to work on this. Because we have a nation filled with different jurisdictions, like the provincial jurisdictions, regional jurisdictions and others, we have to work with these groups and each province to make sure we are doing something. Moreover, we need leadership at the top. Somebody has to take the rein…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, I just read the notice that the government has taken up excerpts of our bill, Bill C-321, but I have not had a chance to look at whether they go far enough. We know the Senate just passed Bill S-233 last night. It is back in this House as we speak. My understanding is that Bill S-233 is complementary to the new bail reform bill. We also know that Bill C-321 passed at all levels in the…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, in Canada, we have a black hole when it comes to statistics. We know that those numbers are likely much higher. The numbers we have are only the ones that are reported. Due to the stigma surrounding addiction and suicide, many cases are unreported. I believe those numbers are actually higher.
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, we are here to talk about Bill C-12. I am going to focus my speech. As many of my colleagues in the House know, I do a lot of work with our first responders and our veterans. I do a lot of work dealing with mental health throughout our country, so I will be spending a majority of my time talking about fentanyl and how it has had just an incredible, devastating impact on our country. I…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, my hon. colleague is new here, so I will forgive him if he is not aware of my record. I am who I am. My stripes have never changed, and he can ask any of his long-standing Liberal colleagues that. My record stands for itself.
Read full speech →Statements by Members
Mr. Speaker, since 2015, 11 mills have closed in my region. That is over 2,700 jobs lost, with 2,700 families that cannot feed their kids, cannot pay their mortgages and cannot pay their hydro bills. Vanderhoof lost 500 jobs. Prince George lost 1,000 jobs. Williams Lake lost 1,070 jobs. Quesnel lost 150 jobs, and 100 Mile House lost 160 jobs. British Columbia used to be the largest producer of sof…
Read full speech →Statements by Members
Mr. Speaker, tomorrow, on World Mental Health Day, let us remember that there is no health without mental health. Every day, 12 Canadians die by suicide and a further 200 attempt suicide. That is 73,000 Canadians per year, and thousands more struggle in silence. Earlier this week, I received a message from the wife of a first responder who died by suicide. She asked me to remind my colleagues that…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, I take this very seriously. I believe the member for Winnipeg North is a veteran, so I understand he has skin in the game, too, and takes it seriously as well. For the last 10 years, I have been here, working respectively across all party lines. We know the government filibustered the defence committee for three months. We know the Prime Minister's Office covered up the investigation …
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, I appreciate our colleague for the work that she has done on these committees. During the 10 years I have been here, she has been a stalwart supporter of victims of military sexual trauma. I am going to ask the same question I asked earlier on. How will the victims be protected by CAF structures as they wait for justice? It is a concern as both systems have been split and we still hav…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, the hon. member for Winnipeg North has been here long enough. He knows he needs to be directing his comments through you, the Chair. He continues to answer and go through and say “you” and use those terms. I ask that he show respect to you, Mr. Speaker.
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, I know my hon. colleague has done a considerable amount of work on this. I sat through a lot of testimony when I served on the national defence committee and the veterans committee. All of the testimony was absolutely horrific and hard to hear. Many of the victims are still in the CAF as we speak. They were when they brought their cases and complaints forward. How do we ensure these v…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, I want to thank our hon. colleague for his service to our country. I know this member very well, and I know this is near and dear to him because of the time he served on the committee. He listened to the testimonies of the victims, as I have. Our hon. colleague Is a veteran, a committee member and a friend and colleague to some of these victims; I want to know just how important this …
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, I was going to ask a question about Bill C-11 today, but the minister brought up a number of points regarding veterans, Canadian Armed Forces members and personnel, their service and the PTSD related to their service. In 2017, I passed a bill here in the House, Bill C-211, which made Canada the first country in the world to develop a national framework with respect to post-traumatic s…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister promised bail reform, and he has broken that promise. Last fall, a senior in my riding, Bob Hubbard, returned home to find his home being robbed. When he tried to stop the perpetrators, they ran him over, dragged him down the road and left him for dead. They were caught that same day and released hours later, while Mr. Hubbard lay in hospital with life-threatening i…
Read full speech →