Private Members' Business
Madam Speaker, before I get started with my speech on Bill C-321, I hope you will indulge me for about 30 seconds. All colleagues know that we were supposed to have a late-night sitting tonight. I was supposed to travel home tonight to speak at my best friend's niece's wedding. I cancelled the flight and cannot get home, so I would love to say a few words. To Chunpreet and Jushin, there is only on…
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Madam Speaker, pardon my voice, as the smoke in this area is bothering me. Also, pardon my feelings of skepticism toward all sides here regarding the importance of what is going on. For eight years we have been waiting for the government to take action. In 2017-18, the province of British Columbia experienced the very same smoke that we are experiencing in Ontario and Quebec. Now the forest fires …
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Mr. Speaker, if we were to do things the right way, we would not need these advisory panels. Local airports and port authorities are made up of experts within the industry: experts on the financial side of it, community members, and people who have experience running businesses with the challenges they have. It is a regulatory environment. Our government sees them as cash cows, not the economic en…
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Mr. Speaker, I know a bit about that, as I was part of the executive team that transferred our last national airport system in Canada, the Prince George Airport. We went from a Transport Canada federally operated airport to a local airport authority, the Prince George Airport Authority. The challenge with that is that once it stands alone, it is standing alone. There are very few opportunities for…
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Mr. Speaker, my hon. colleague is absolutely right. Our rail companies are picking and choosing the winners in this game. They pick the high-value commodities and the others sit by the wayside. I have fought time and again with our largest rail company, CN. They talk about winter operations, saying it is winter that caused this. As long as I have been alive, winter has happened at the same time ev…
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Mr. Speaker, well, my hon. colleague can sure read that question well from the lobby. I applaud her for that. Clearly she was only listening to what she wanted to hear. She did not listen to my entire speech. The bill fails in all aspects. There is not enough there. As I said, even the stakeholders are saying that it is a nothing bill; it is a nothing burger. That is from the stakeholders, the peo…
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Mr. Speaker, I will ask forgiveness again from my colleagues in the House and those who are watching. I have asthma, and the smoke is killing me today. It is a pleasure for me to rise today to speak to Bill C-33. As many of my colleagues know, I spent a lifetime in the transportation industry prior to being elected, doing everything from owning and operating a small ground-handling business to ser…
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Madam Speaker, I will ask for some forgiveness from my colleagues, as my voice has been impacted by the smoke we are encountering in Quebec and Ontario and on this side of the country. I will remind colleagues that British Columbians in my riding of Cariboo—Prince George and I have been experiencing it for a long time. I am glad that in the last couple of days and the last week, if there is a posi…
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Mr. Speaker, one cannot do directly what one can do indirectly. What I would offer is that our colleague is struggling with the smoke, had a mask on and was struggling to actually speak. What she was merely trying to clarify was that the Speaker had heard her and that she had enunciated clearly with the technical issues we have been having with this act.
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Madam Speaker, it is on a separate but similar point of order.
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Madam Speaker, in your investigation for the technical event that took place, I would ask you to consider that the member from the NDP who rose, when the New Democrats were in the official opposition, used dilatory motions and stall tactics—
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Madam Speaker, I have to take a breath and calm down a bit. This debate is a powder keg. People on all sides of the House have incredible feelings toward this. Our colleague from the Bloc, the member for Beauport—Limoilou, spoke passionately about this. Our colleague from Saskatchewan spoke passionately this. My colleague for Kelowna—Lake Country spoke passionately about this. We all know someone,…
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Madam Speaker, I listened to this debate intently for the last couple of hours, and this is controlled frustration, anger and seething. I have been vocal and very upfront about how this crisis has impacted my family personally. I lost a brother-in-law. My brother is on the street, gripped with addictions. The Liberal Party's talking point today is that their program has saved 45,000 people. Safe c…
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Madam Speaker, the feelings are likewise. I truly appreciate when the member for Nunavut stands up and represents her community. In our previous election, our platform talked about culturally based treatment programs working within our indigenous communities, funding beds and treatment centres within those communities that were culturally related, and working with indigenous leaders and elders to …
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Madam Speaker, my hon. colleague talks about indicators. Indicators involve two different things. Indicators are what is working and what is not working, but there are measures we can take that will help. Let us put dollars and cents into recovery, making sure beds are available when they are needed, whenever they are needed. Let us make sure that we have trained professionals available at all tim…
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Madam Speaker, my hon. colleague obviously has selective hearing. I talked about this being non-partisan and then I took offence to the dogmatic comments that we heard from the Bloc. I did talk about the promise from the Liberals prior to the election for a $4.6-billion mental health funding transfer that they forgot about once they became government. This is about doing the right thing for Canadi…
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Mr. Speaker, I rise in the esteemed chamber to present a petition calling for an end to the use of glyphosate and to stop the spraying of Canada's most widely sold pesticide. There have been many studies on the harm it can cause to people and the environment. The use of glyphosate harms aquatic and terrestrial species. It causes a loss of biodiversity, thereby making ecosystems more vulnerable to …
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Madam Speaker, my hon. colleague brought up a very important part of the bill in terms of the red and yellow flag provisions. It is my understanding that both the red and yellow flag provisions could potentially put victims of violence at further risk and have a profound impact on our indigenous communities as well. I am wondering if my hon. colleague could expand on the potential risks of the red…
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With regard to the information leaks about the contents of the budget by senior government sources to multiple media outlets on March 27, 2023, prior to the budget being released on March 28, 2023: (a) did the government launch an investigation to uncover the identity of those who leaked budget information, and, if so, what are the details of the investigation; (b) if no investigation was launched…
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Mr. Speaker, I am asking for clarification. If my memory serves me correctly, Clearwater was a company or organization that the government just about bankrupted, with over 500 jobs of the people in Grand Banks, when the former fisheries minister took a surf clam quota away from that organization, giving it to a false corporation, one with which the fisheries minister had close family ties. A forme…
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Madam Speaker, that goes to the main point in my intervention, which is this. The Liberals do not care about the safety of parliamentarians or the families of those who serve, so they are either negligent in their duties with malicious intent, grossly incompetent or grossly negligent. I worked in China for a long time in my previous career and I know about the threats and intimidation. As soon as …
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Madam Speaker, in listening to the debate last night and today, which has been quite something, I am at a loss for words as to how to frame what we are hearing from the other side and the costly coalition down the way. They are scrambling to the defence of the one member of the government who continually stands up to speak to this very important issue. How did we get here? For months, Canadians ha…
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Madam Speaker, I am going to respectfully disagree. This is a matter of national importance and of the safety and security of a sitting member of Parliament. I will go back to what I said during my intervention. CSIS does these reports and investigations only at the request of the Minister of Foreign Affairs, the Minister of Public Safety or the Minister of National Defence. I just cannot see it h…
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Madam Speaker, that is kind of the modus operandi we have seen from the Prime Minister, at least in the seven and a half years that I have been a member of Parliament. Whether it is “elbowgate”, Jody Wilson-Raybould, SNC or the WE scandal, it is always, “There is nothing to see here.” Then they blame Stephen Harper or the previous government. It just goes on and on. The Prime Minister reminds me o…
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Madam Speaker, I agree with the hon. member. If I ever have the opportunity to be prime minister, regardless of where the threat came from and against whom, that diplomat and that country would know, exactly, that the government would not tolerate that. It is NHL hockey playoffs right now. Evander Kane, from the Edmonton Oilers, said something that is a saying in my riding as well, which we say to…
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Madam Speaker, the best way to deal with this would have been two years ago when the government first had the report. I do not believe for one minute that the Prime Minister, his ministers or those around him did not know about it. I think it is unacceptable that this member of Parliament continues to stand up here and gaslight with respect to the 49 elected officials who were briefed on this. He …
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, Beijing operative Zhao Wei sought information on the whereabouts of the family of the member of Parliament for Wellington—Halton Hills so that Beijing could make an example of him. This is a direct threat against a sitting member of this House and his family. Zhao Wei is still in this country. The response from the Liberals today is to blame a sitting member of Parliament, victim blam…
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Madam Speaker, the why is very simply that message I received from the paramedic who wrote to me telling me about the assault that happened to her, as well as the work that we have done through Bill C-211, the people we have lost who were first responders, who were health care workers, who we lost to suicide. This contributes to post-traumatic stress disorder. It contributes to compassion fatigue …
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Madam Speaker, my hon. colleague and I have talked about this. I agree. It was a mistake on my part at drafting. I should have had “health care worker” to encompass all of those who work in the health care setting. Also, during the work of my bill, Bill C-211, we came to the understanding that there was no definition of “first responder”, but we used “public safety personnel”. I would work with my…
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Madam Speaker, I would agree with my hon. colleague. Definitely, people are angry. People are frustrated. The rates of violence against our frontline heroes have been increasing in recent years and we must put a stop to it. That is why it is so important that we work together, collaboratively, and pass Bill C-321.
Read full speech →Private Members' Business
Madam Speaker, I am truly honoured and humbled to rise in this House to speak to my private member's bill, Bill C-321. However, before I go further, I want to send, which I think I do for all parliamentarians, heartfelt condolences and well wishes to the friends, families and colleagues of the two firefighters missing in the Charlevoix region, who were doing what firefighters do: putting themselve…
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moved that Bill C-321, An Act to amend the Criminal Code (assaults against health care professionals and first responders), be read the second time and referred to a committee.
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Madam Speaker, I request a recorded vote please.
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Madam Speaker, the problem we have on this side is this. I will reiterate what our hon. colleague from Prince George—Peace River—Northern Rockies brought up earlier on. When he had the minister and the officials before committee, he asked the minister how many houses had been built in the Yukon and how many houses had been built in the Northwest Territories. The minister could not answer that and …
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Madam Speaker, I respect my hon. colleague greatly, as he knows, but I have to challenge the relevance. He has gone on now for almost five minutes and has not mentioned housing once.
Read full speech →Statements By Members
Mr. Speaker, today marks the beginning of the Canadian Mental Health Association's Mental Health Week. This year's theme is “My Story”. The goal is to shift beliefs and perceptions about mental health, while shining a spotlight on community mental health programs and stories. Storytelling is a fundamental part of what makes us human. It connects us and helps us feel less alone. In any given year, …
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Mr. Speaker, let us be straight with Canadians. It takes a special level of incompetence to have increased spending of $21 billion on bureaucracy and an additional $22 billion on outside consultants and still end up with the largest federal public service strike in history. Despite all of those billions of dollars being spent, Canadians still have no proposals, no plan and no passports. How much w…
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Mr. Speaker, every day, news reports and social media feeds are filled with stories of yet another violent attack on a first responder or health care worker. In our time of need, it is our frontline heroes, our police forces, our nurses, firefighters, paramedics and other health care workers who come to our aid. Without hesitation, these incredible Canadians are there for us any time, any place. S…
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Madam Speaker, I rise this morning to present a petition on behalf of the village of Lytton and the businesses in Lytton, British Columbia. As has been mentioned previously, the village of Lytton was decimated by fire on June 30, 2021. The village remains under an evacuation order, with construction not yet started on homes and buildings. Since rebuilding has yet to begin, doors cannot open and bu…
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Madam Speaker, we are short millions upon millions of homes for Canadians. The goal of home ownership has gotten farther and farther away. As a matter of fact, the average down payment was $20,000 when the Liberal government was first elected, and it is now over $45,000. Canadians cannot afford that. Rent has gone up from $1,500 to almost $3,300 under the Liberal government. More needs to be done,…
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Madam Speaker, our hon. colleague from Davenport, in her comments on budgetary policy, spoke about mental health. As many of my colleagues know, I have dedicated the last seven and a half years, my political tenure, to championing mental health within our country. National mental health transfers were something that the government, the Liberals, ran on in 2021. They promised a $4.5-billion mental …
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Madam Speaker, never in the history of our country has a prime minister spent so much to achieve so little. He has added more money to our national debt than all previous prime ministers combined, and he is not done. With this spending, our national debt is projected to rise to $1.3 trillion, meaning Canada now spends more money servicing our debt than we spend on our military, child care or socia…
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Madam Speaker, Conservatives put forth three items we were looking for in this budget, and, sadly, this budget fails to capture any of them. The provincial governments and mental health organizations are all saying that what the government has promised is not enough. It promised $4.5 billion for the mental health act transfer and walked it back. It cannot be trusted. The provinces are waking up to…
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Madam Speaker, my riding of Cariboo—Prince George is right along the route of the Highway of Tears. I have sat with so many families that have lost loved ones: murdered and missing indigenous women and young girls, and young men as well, as a matter of fact. It is absolutely heartbreaking. We need to do more. My worry is that the government has pledged it, but will it follow through with it? We ha…
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Madam Speaker, they misled Canadians on such a vital promise during the 2021 election. I would like to ask our hon. colleague what she has to say about that.
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With regard to the government’s commitment in budget 2017 to provide $5 billion over 10 years to support mental health initiatives: (a) how much of the money has been spent to date; and (b) what is the breakdown of how the money in (a) was spent, including which initiatives have been funded and how much has been spent on each initiative?
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Mr. Speaker, our hon. colleague is a good soldier. He goes on and on and quotes lots of things. I would like to quote something from the media that is breaking news, and perhaps he would like to check his phone. The breaking news right now is that a “Liberal MP...secretly advised Chinese diplomat in 2021 to delay freeing Two Michaels”. I would like to ask my hon. colleague for a comment on that.
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As soon as you guys got into Parliament.
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Madam Speaker, I appreciate our colleague across the way, but I do not think that he understands that every time they raise the costs for small business owners of doing business, there is a direct impact. Restaurants Canada has said that this tax increase would cost individual restaurants more than $30,000 per year on average. That is one staff member. That is a full-time equivalent or maybe a cou…
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