Private Members' Business
I was hearing the interpretation earlier, Mr. Speaker, and I am not seeing any technical issues on this side.
Read full speech →Private Members' Business
Mr. Speaker, as always, we also wish to express our thanks and our appreciation to the Lekwungen-speaking peoples of southern Vancouver Island, the Songhees, Esquimalt and W̱SÁNEĆ nations, whose stewardship and care for these lands and waters since time immemorial set a high bar for our communities and our governments to uphold today—
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Mr. Speaker, today I am pleased to speak as the member of Parliament for Victoria in support of the clean coasts act, put forward by my colleague, the hon. member for West Vancouver—Sunshine Coast—Sea to Sky Country. Those of us who live in and represent coastal communities know that the ocean is our lifeline but also our responsibility. Even before being elected to the House, I heard from people …
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Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the opportunity to continue. I want to start again by expressing the thanks and appreciation that everybody in my community has to the Lekwungen-speaking peoples of southern Vancouver Island, the Songhees, Esquimalt and W̱SÁNEĆ nations, whose stewardship of and care for the lands and waters that we live on today since time immemorial sets a high bar for our governments an…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, I understand what a challenge the extortion crisis is in my colleague's community, and I understand the passion that he brings to this issue speaking on behalf of his community members today. My colleagues on this side of the aisle, especially those of us from British Columbia, have spoken extensively about the extortion crisis. We understand what a challenge this is in many communiti…
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Madam Speaker, it is a bit like living through an episode of The Twilight Zone to hear the opposition talk about carbon pricing in this country. Being from British Columbia, I know that the first consumer price on carbon in North America was introduced in British Columbia in 2007 by a right-of-centre government that some members of the opposition benches supported at the time. There is no historic…
Read full speech →Private Members' Business
Mr. Speaker, I thank my hon. colleague for Cumberland—Colchester for the touching and personal remarks she shared with all of us in the chamber today. I also represent a riding that has a significant number of Canadian Armed Forces and Department of National Defence properties. While the hon. member opposite's point is taken that many members, I am sure, do have an idea of what we might do in our …
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Madam Speaker, it is again disappointing to hear that the leading strategy of the opposition party is nothing less than pitting Canadians against each other, trying to convince rural Canadians and Canadians from across the prairie provinces that the government does not care about them. The insistence by opposition members that only they speak for real Canadians is one of the core divisive pieces o…
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Madam Speaker, I think we should all in this chamber sympathize because our Conservative colleagues are having a bad week. The polling clearly shows Canadians are rallying behind the leadership of the Prime Minister. The polling clearly shows most Canadians do not have confidence in the Leader of the Opposition. To add insult to injury, just today the last Conservative to serve as prime minister w…
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Mr. Speaker, I was greatly encouraged to hear the member refer to the need for us to maintain robust and effective climate and environmental policies in this country. I could not agree more. I think it is fair to say that many Canadians, at least for the last 35 years or so, have not associated the Conservative Party with a strong environmental record, although there is a rich lineage of Conservat…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, in 2011, the Harper Conservative government created the conditions for Driver Inc., an illegal scheme where trucking companies misclassify drivers as independent contractors to avoid paying payroll taxes. This has hurt workers, distorted competition in the market and deprived the federal government of important revenue that it should be able to use to invest in Canadians. In budget 20…
Read full speech →Statements by Members
Mr. Speaker, I rise today to acknowledge the passing of one of Canada's great military historians, my stepfather, Donald Edmund Graves. Don served as a military historian with the Government of Canada before later founding his own firm and advising governments, private organizations and filmmakers in Britain and North America. He was the author or editor of nearly two dozen books on many topics, b…
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Mr. Speaker, I appreciate my colleague's drawing such focused attention to the fiscal disaster that the previous Progressive Conservative government left to the Liberals in the 1990s, which necessitated the very challenging fiscal decisions that were made at that time. That is clear; that is the historical record, and the member seems well aware of that challenge. In the context of our colleagues'…
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Mr. Speaker, my hon. colleague, who is also from B.C., omitted the good news that the crime severity index in our province has decreased by 11% year over year, according to Stats Canada. At the heart of the Conservatives' complaints about this matter is the fact that Canadians fundamentally chose our party to form government. Are Canadians confident that the government will reduce crime? That is t…
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Mr. Speaker, everybody agrees that the government has a responsibility to continue to reduce crime in this country. We have heard from several Conservative colleagues just this morning about the high rates of crime, in particular in the province of Saskatchewan. Indeed, unfortunately Saskatchewan does have the highest crime rate of any province in Canada, according to data released by Statistics C…
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Mr. Speaker, as a newer member of this House, I wonder if the Speaker could speak to whether it is appropriate to use personal adjectives and describe other members as “very annoying” in comments made on the floor.
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, I am honoured to rise today to present petition e-6770, signed by over 2,000 Canadians in solidarity with survivors and victims of intimate partner violence. I present this petition on behalf of B.C. resident and survivor Carrie Wiebe, in memory of Bailey McCourt, who was tragically killed in an act of heinous violence by her ex-partner earlier this year. The reality is that across Ca…
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Mr. Speaker, I have been listening to many of our colleagues opposite speak today, and the frustration of many of the Conservative members is palpable. After 10 years of their sitting in opposition, there are numerous issues in which they are more or less in alignment with the government, yet for their own purposes they will get up and attempt to find differences or to criticize the government, wh…
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Mr. Speaker, the hon. member correctly noted in her speech that high-trust societies are typically more safe and more prosperous. It is indeed the type of society that works the best, and one which Canada and all members of the chamber should aspire to be. I wonder if the member would comment on whether or not she thinks it contributes to producing a high-trust society in Canada to support groups …
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Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague opposite for his remarks and for expressing sentiments that many Canadians share. We have challenges in our cities that require focused attention and require policy revisions, and that is what the government is taking on board. That is exactly the set of commitments that has already been announced and will be released in legislation forthcoming this week. Does t…
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Madam Speaker, I thank the member opposite for his comments and for expressing some sentiments we hear in communities across the country. Canadians are aware there are challenges in our cities and they have turned to the government and the leadership of the Prime Minister—
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Mr. Speaker, indeed, just in the last week, I and many other British Columbians have been embarrassed at the travesty of the shambolic conduct of Conservatives in the province of British Columbia with respect to the question of reconciliation and indigenous rights and title. We have seen overt and unabashed residential school denialism. We have seen a flagrant attempt to whitewash history. We have…
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Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for the question. It is an excellent question and an important one that speaks to the vital role that independent agents of Parliament play within our political system. They are not answerable to any government. They are answerable to this body, the Parliament of Canada. That is the source of their authority, and that is precisely why their role is so important. I…
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Mr. Speaker, I find myself confused by the Conservatives' position on this matter. They say very vocally that they support the implementation of modern treaties and they say they support the recognition and implementation of indigenous rights in this country, yet they are vociferously objecting to the establishment of an agent of Parliament who would be mandated to track the government's progress …
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Mr. Speaker, I will be sharing my time with the member for Pickering—Brooklin. Kwe kwe, ulaakut and tanshi. Let me start by acknowledging that Canada's Parliament is located on the unceded territory of the Anishinabe Algonquin people, whose presence here reaches back to time immemorial. I am pleased to speak today about the proposed commissioner for modern treaty implementation act and to highligh…
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Mr. Speaker, it is frustrating to hear my hon. colleague, who is also from British Columbia, repeating some of the selective amnesia of his fellow members on the other side of the aisle around just how much development has happened in our province over recent years. Despite the member's assertions otherwise, there have been at least four major energy projects, including two major pipelines; a majo…
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Mr. Speaker, I am very encouraged to have heard both the hon. member and his Conservative colleague who spoke earlier refer to the impacts of climate change in their addresses before the House. It is a refreshing change. We hear a great deal of criticism from our Conservative colleagues about, more or less, every climate change and emissions reduction policy that the government has undertaken. I w…
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Madam Speaker, there are a number of tools that the Government of Canada has introduced to ensure that people in the business and industry sectors have the signals and the regulatory framework necessary to drive down their emissions. One of the most important tools is the industrial price on carbon. This is the cornerstone of how it is that heavy emitters in this country, very much including the o…
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Madam Speaker, my colleague and I represent ridings on opposite sides of the country, and there is a lot of space between Newfoundland and Vancouver Island, and my riding of Victoria. I understand that the member may not be entirely familiar with what we have lived through in British Columbia over the last 10 years. I will share that we have seen a huge amount of economic development, growth and r…
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Madam Speaker, I will be sharing my time with the member for Saanich—Gulf Islands. I am pleased to rise today to speak to the motion submitted by the member for Battle River—Crowfoot. To succeed in a more competitive world, Canada must define and invest in its competitive strengths. This includes our energy sector, which remains a major driver of our economy and jobs across the country. In 2023, o…
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Madam Speaker, as the member for Carleton said earlier in his remarks, the world is in the midst of a clean-energy transition. This is a revolution in the way human beings produce the energy that we need to live our lives, and it is well under way across this planet. When I hear concerns about stranded assets and when I hear concerns about making poor investments, what my mind goes to and what the…
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Madam Speaker, I am not sure that the hon. member directed a question to me in his remarks. He referred to the member for Carleton. I was an excellent student and never spent any time in the principal's office. I will defer to my hon. colleague for his time in detention, which undoubtedly exceeds my own.
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, as a fellow member from Vancouver Island, I share the concerns about the crime that is affecting many of our communities, but under the previous Conservative government, many of the criminal justice reforms that were passed have since been struck down by the Supreme Court of Canada, so I wonder if the member could share with the House what measures or due diligence she and her colleag…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, my thanks go to the hon. member opposite for bringing attention, and her passion, to this very important and indeed deeply touching issue. I wish to bring to the member's attention, in case she is not yet aware, a petition that has been moved by the loved ones of Bailey McCourt from Kelowna, whom the member referenced. This tragic story, which occurred this summer in British Columbia,…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, I must say it is disappointing to hear our Conservative colleagues yet again attacking this government's environmental record, including policies that are vital to us in the real west, living on the Pacific coast in British Columbia, who have seen full well the government's commitment to both environmental protection and energy extraction. However, we know the Conservatives are not …
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, as a fellow member from British Columbia, I wonder if the hon. member for Cloverdale—Langley City would recognize the significant investments in infrastructure and fossil fuel development that have happened in our province in the last 10 years: not only the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion but also LNG Canada, the largest private sector investment in this country's history, of $40 bi…
Read full speech →Speech from the Throne
Mr. Speaker, I would like to congratulate the member opposite on his election. I look forward to working with him in this chamber. However, like we did from many of his colleagues, we heard in his maiden speech more hyperbole and exaggeration than actual fact or analysis of the reality of this country after a number of very difficult years due to major, historically world altering circumstances. T…
Read full speech →Speech from the Throne
Mr. Speaker, the Government of Canada, like the governments of all other countries, is not quite the same thing as a family. We are a Canadian family, but government finances look a little bit different. We will be seeing the government introduce a budget in the fall, and we look forward to being able to address the member's concerns then.
Read full speech →Speech from the Throne
Mr. Speaker, the impacts that Abbotsford experienced from extreme weather events and natural disasters show the vulnerability of British Columbian communities, and communities from coast to coast to coast, to the effects of climate change. The natural disasters and climate-related impacts in 2021 alone cost British Columbia between 3% and 5% of our GDP. That is exactly why we cannot afford to not …
Read full speech →Speech from the Throne
Mr. Speaker, the priorities that I have been sent here to Ottawa to advocate for by my community are very clear. As a community, we have deep concerns about the state of critical infrastructure across Victoria and across the south island. We need to invest in infrastructure that will make us more resilient in the face of climate impacts and extreme weather events, as well as the kind of infrastruc…
Read full speech →Speech from the Throne
Mr. Speaker, I would like to say hello to you and all my colleagues in the House. It is a great honour for me to be here today. I am very proud to have the opportunity to represent my community of Victoria. First and foremost, I thank my wife, Carolyn, and our daughter, Eleanor, without whom I would not be the person I am today. I love them both more than I can say, and I am so grateful for their …
Read full speech →Speech from the Throne
Mr. Speaker, there is no doubt about the impact that the trade war thrust upon us by the United States is having on Canada's economy. That is why the government is focused on ensuring and strengthening our domestic economy so that we can provide employment to all Canadians, including young Canadians.
Read full speech →Speech from the Throne
Mr. Speaker, as a coastal community, we in Victoria are surrounded by the evidence of climate change: rising sea levels, intensifying storms, smoke-choked skies and forests devoured by wildfires. We live it. We breathe it. We see the damage mounting with every passing season. As I speak, the province of Manitoba is under a state of emergency, and I extend my sympathies to the people being evacuate…
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