Parliamentary Speeches
1,030 speeches by Adam van Koeverden — Page 3 of 21
Routine Proceedings
Madam Speaker, I would like to thank my colleague for her climate advocacy. It is absolutely horrid to imagine all the devastation that has occurred in Canada. We know that Canada is warming at three or four times the average rate of the rest of the world due to climate change, and it is indeed a crisis. However, I am very proud of the fact that Canada is not only the oil and gas-producing nation …
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Madam Speaker, I would like to thank my colleague and friend for his question. We are committed to building the future by shifting our economy toward electricity and greener energies. There have been a lot of investments in Quebec as well. I spoke about the investments in Ontario because that is where I live, but there is a lot of green and sustainable investment in Quebec, particularly in the cri…
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Madam Speaker, I will be sharing my time today with the member for Kings—Hants. Nine years ago, under the Conservative Party, Canada used to be one of the worst performers. Organizations such as Climate Action Tracker now recognize that Canada's plan is credible and transparent. The latest UNEP gap report says that Canada has the first comprehensive road map for how to achieve the 2030 target. Thi…
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Madam Speaker, I am thrilled to talk about the net-zero accelerator fund, because one of the largest emitters in southwestern Ontario is our critical steel sector. We know that steel is an important product for various things right across the country, from automotive to construction and many other practical applications, but, until now, it has always required thermal coal for its production. Thank…
Read full speech →Statements by Members
Madam Speaker, today is the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People, and today, I am reaffirming my support for Canada's recognition for Palestinian statehood. Canada recently voted in favour of two UN resolutions to signal our deep concerns over the expansion of Israeli settlements into the occupied Palestinian territories and to express our unwavering support for Palestinian …
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Madam Speaker, let us stick to the facts. Over 10 years of Stephen Harper, we saw GDP per capita grow by $1,810. After eight years of this Liberal government, we have seen it grow by over $11,000. Not only are we better for economic growth in this country, we are also introducing mechanisms that are really leading to affordability for Canadians, like P.E.I.'s new school food program. We introduced…
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Madam Speaker, I think the Conservative photocopier must be out of toner because they have asked the same question 15 times today. I will say it again. GDP per capita, under Harper, rose by $1,800 in a decade. In the last decade, under this Liberal government, it has risen by over $11,000. I hope their batteries in their calculators are okay, as $11,000 is more than $1,800. Yesterday, the Conserva…
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He is making stuff up, Madam Speaker. This is coming from an MP who sent homophobic mail to households during an election to attack an opponent. This is coming from an MP who published a deepfake video and a misinformation campaign that caused the London Free Press to say the same tactics are being mirrored on a larger scale by Russian disinformation campaigns. This is coming from an MP who has sa…
Read full speech →Orders of the Day
Mr. Speaker, I move: That the debate be now adjourned.
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, I agree that this is a broad spectrum. It is meant to help Canadians buy presents. I remember, when I was a kid, there was a Nintendo under the tree one year. It really surprised my brother and me because we came from a modest household. If this will help bring joy to young kids, then I support it.
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Mr. Speaker, I thank my friend for his great question. It is an important question because, as I said earlier, it allows us to examine which products should or should not be taxed. It is a good opportunity to discuss some of the items out there in the market that have tax on them. They are not the same across jurisdictions. We have all been looking into this recently and we are all surprised to no…
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Mr. Speaker, that member should get on the list to speak tonight. He has probably already done three speeches about the previous thing on the agenda. If he wants to speak, he can ask me a question. I hope he would learn to wait for his time. If he wants to speak, he has to get a tie. He is going to sit in the back row and complain. There are things we can do to help Canadians. The Conservatives ha…
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Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for the question. Restaurants Canada supports this measure. In my opinion, and according to Restaurants Canada, this measure encourages people to go out to eat and gives Canadians an opportunity to spend their hard-earned money. I would say that measures like this will help every single Canadian. That is why it is unique. It is an opportunity for us all to get beh…
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Mr. Speaker, we are acknowledging that, not by using them as props, and standing in front of people who are facing challenges in Canada and suggesting some group of people is not doing anything, but by actually doing something. The Conservatives cannot claim to have helped Canadians once in the last nine years. Other parties have put forward private members' bills, ideas, amendments and changes to…
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Madam Speaker, it is nice to be here late into the evening talking about an important measure to support affordability for Canadians. Before I start, I would like to say that I will be sharing my time with the member for Beauport—Limoilou. I would like to just say that I think this is a good measure to support affordability at the right time. Measures like this are all about timing, and if we go b…
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Mr. Speaker, I apologize to the member. It has been a long day in the House of Commons. Yes, I know Erin O'Toole was never the prime minister, but he was the leader of the Conservative Party. When Erin O'Toole was the leader of the Conservative Party back in the fall of 2021, when inflation was over 4%, he recommended a GST holiday in Canada to provide some tax relief to Canadians. That was bad ti…
Read full speech →Orders of the Day
Madam Speaker, on a point of order, I move: That the debate be now adjourned.
Read full speech →Statements by Members
Mr. Speaker, in recent years, Pakistan's democracy has faced some serious challenges, including limited space for dissent, media suppression, judicial manipulation and others. As Milton is home to the largest Pakistani community in Canada, this issue affects many of my neighbours, friends and constituents back home. Human Rights Watch has noted that the military's strong influence over politics un…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, Sport Canada acknowledges the history of the use of drugs and banned practices intended to increase athletic performance throughout the sport system and the resulting health impacts, and acknowledges the maltreatment of athletes associated with these practices. The Commission of Inquiry into the Use of Drugs and Banned Practices Intended to Increase Athletic Performance held public he…
Read full speech →Adjournment Proceedings
Madam Speaker, it is nice to be at adjournment debate with my friend and colleague from the Green Party and Kitchener Centre to discuss how we fight climate change, not just if we fight climate change, which is the conversation we always have with the Conservative Party because it wants to ignore the impacts of climate change. I will say I was a bit struck by the fact that my friend did not mentio…
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Madam Speaker, these are really important issues, but I honestly think that my friend and colleague is conflating two issues. We are taking strong climate action, and we are holding big oil and gas companies to account. All of those big profits that I mentioned, and which he referenced as well, are taxed; they are funding these programs. It is important to recognize that we do travel on modes of t…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, Canada's emissions are lower now than they have been for all of Connor McDavid's life. The last time they were this low was in 1997. Our emissions are down because of industrial carbon pricing, the pricing on consumer fuels and the over 100 measures the government has undertaken to lower our emissions and protect the environment. What have the Conservatives done over that same time? T…
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Madam Speaker, the member's ability to fit misleading and untrue rhetoric into a short question is remarkable. Let us stick to the facts. First of all, Alberta has 10% of Canada's population. I love Alberta. I have tons of friends there, and I go to Edmonton, Calgary and Canmore all the time. I absolutely love Alberta and Albertans. I also know that Canada relies heavily on Alberta for energy, and…
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Madam Speaker, the member is right on one thing. I did ignore all of the misleading and mis-characterized allegations he made against the minister. All documents requested by the Parliamentary Budget Officer were 100% delivered on time in full, unredacted. That is why we got a good report from the Parliamentary Budget Officer, which indicated exactly what we have been reiterating in the House of C…
Read full speech →Adjournment Proceedings
Madam Speaker, it is a great pleasure to be here for the late show tonight. I know that the plant is in Quebec, but I will answer in English. I thank my friend and colleague, the hon. member for Saanich—Gulf Islands, for her ongoing advocacy for all environmental causes in Canada. She really is a legend. This past June, the Government of Canada delivered on its promise to quickly and meaningfully …
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, it is disingenuous for the Conservatives to continually link the food bank situation in Canada with carbon pricing. A 108-page report produced by Food Banks Canada made four recommendations around Canada's social safety net. Not once in that 108-page report did it mention the carbon tax or carbon pricing, because it knows that Canada's carbon rebate, which comes out four times a year,…
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Madam Speaker, the Impact Assessment Act is designed to protect the environment, ensure that sustainable projects can move forward safely, and instill public confidence in how the Government of Canada makes decisions concerning major resource projects. As is the case with any designation request, the portion of the request pertaining to the battery recycling plant is being reviewed by the Impact A…
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Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank my colleague for his very important question. The climate change performance of Canada and Canadian industries is important. It is also really important to recognize that the oil and gas sector is the one that is continually increasing its emissions, and we are challenging the oil and gas industry with a pollution cap. We are asking it to invest some of its aston…
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Madam Speaker, let us talk about GDP per capita over time in Canada. Between 2006 and 2016, Canada's GDP per capita under Harper grew from $40,504 to $42,134. That is about $1,800 over 10 years. Under the current Liberal government, it has grown from $42,000 a year to $53,372 in 2023. That is more than $11,000. Conservatives do not need to pull out their calculators: $11,000 is more than $1,800.
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Madam Speaker, we are working on the challenges Canadians face with real solutions. At the current time, inflation is down, interest rates are down, unemployment rates are down and greenhouse gas pollution rates are down. Despite what these climate change-denying Conservatives say, CO2 is not plant food. That absurd Conservative claim that reducing our carbon emissions would somehow be bad for cro…
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Madam Speaker, let us stick to the facts. Canada's overall emissions are the lowest they have been since 1997, the year Connor McDavid was born, and they are going down thanks to climate action undertaken by this Liberal government. The Alberta oil sands are by far the largest source of greenhouse gas emissions in Canada, and the Conservatives want to turn a blind eye to unlimited pollution in the…
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Madam Speaker, that is not true. Under the Harper government, pollution went up and up and up. In million metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions, it went 716, 721, 738, 753. Under this government, we have brought it down under 750 million metric tons, after it was rising under the Harper government, to an average of under 700 million metric tons over the past three years. Under a Conservative gov…
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Madam Speaker, let me get this straight. Is the member opposite saying he would like the minister to resign because he is a climate action expert and he has put in place a price on pollution across this country to lower emissions, which is effectively lowering emissions?
Read full speech →Adjournment Proceedings
Madam Speaker, like I said, I am in adjournment debates all the time, so I know there are no points of order or anything like that. We are here to discuss an issue, but this is not the issue that he sent in when he requested a late show. He talked about PBO documents and an access to information request. That is misleading Canadians. The commissioner of the environment's report came out today indi…
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Madam Speaker, getting heckled during adjournment debate is something special. The House is about to adjourn. Members do not need to be here into the wee hours to heckle. I answered the member's question and—
Read full speech →Adjournment Proceedings
Madam Speaker, our government has been unapologetically ambitious in lowering our emissions and fighting for the environment. The Minister of Environment has brought forward over 100 measures to lower our emissions. Canadians want us to focus on the environment. I went to the doors in 2019 and 2021, and young people, families and the elderly are concerned about climate change. Extreme weather is a…
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Mr. Speaker, what the Auditor General confirmed is that Canada's emissions are down below levels that we have not seen since the mid-1990s. We have proposed more measures to drive our emissions down, and the Conservatives want to work against us. What the Conservatives have confirmed today is that they do not work for Canadians. They do not care about the environment; they do not listen to science…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, I am glad that the Conservative members are paying attention to my speech. I was talking about the credit card transaction fees, the banking fees and the Interac charges that we all endure every single day. One of the things that budget 2024 aimed to do was cut down on those junk fees, like insufficient funds charges that are sometimes $35 or $50, which is just too much. Recently anno…
Read full speech →Adjournment Proceedings
Madam Speaker, I do not really know where to start to answer the member's question because that is not the question that he submitted for adjournment debate. I am here at the late show almost every evening, and this has become a trend with the Conservatives. I would point out to the member from the Conservative Party that he has already had 40 minutes in the House of Commons to speak to the SDTC i…
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Mr. Speaker, emissions have not been so low since before that member was born. He is the youngest member of Parliament, I believe, and I am very proud of the fact that the emissions that Canada and our economy are currently emitting into our natural environment are the lowest they have been in his lifetime. That is extremely significant. Kurt Cobain was alive last time the emissions were this low.…
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Mr. Speaker, it is a privilege to stand in the House today to talk about all of the measures with respect to banking regulations and fees that various organizations and companies charge consumers, and how the government is taking actions to reduce those fees and help Canadians through this challenging affordability crisis that so many people are experiencing. I would like to congratulate the small…
Read full speech →Adjournment Proceedings
You cannot have a point of order during an adjournment debate. You had your moment. Madam Speaker, the reality is that the member was talking about—
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, I did not say the emissions from the oil patch have decreased. In fact, I said the very opposite, so I appreciate the attention of the member. The emissions in the oil patch have gone up, the emissions from the oil and gas sector have gone up as has the production. That is why I am proud of this country and this government for being the first oil-producing nation, and indeed the first…
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Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for his question and his interest in this matter. It is true that a question on procedure in the House of Commons is important. It is also true that that was not the topic of my speech today. I made the choice to talk about things that are important to the people of my riding, in other words, the cost of living, interest charges, credit card fees and other things …
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Mr. Speaker, this is exactly what we should be talking about in the House of Commons, which is ways to help save our constituents money. This is a great idea. I am really proud of the fact that recently our government cut Visa and Mastercard transaction fees by 26% for small businesses. That is money small businesses can reinvest back into their communities or businesses. They can sponsor a soccer…
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Mr. Speaker, that is ironic coming from a member who has been up at least twice for 20 minutes to talk about recent events and has gone on, ad nauseam, tangentially about various things. However, one of the things people buy with their Interac card is gas at the gas station. When I use my credit card to fuel my vehicle with electrons from a local charging station, there are credit card transaction…
Read full speech →Adjournment Proceedings
Madam Speaker, it is nice to be here in adjournment debate. I would like to thank my friend and colleague from the Conservative Party, with whom I have co-hosted events here on the Hill. I would like to thank her for her work for parents, and I enjoy the opportunity to talk about poverty elimination measures because it is a policy topic I am interested in personally. I am going to focus my respons…
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Madam Speaker, I would like to go back to Saskatchewan resident and poverty elimination expert Mr. Gilmer, and I will again read from this article because I think it is quite informing. If the member opposite does not want to listen to Food Banks Canada, perhaps she could listen to food bank workers and poverty elimination experts from her riding, or at least from Regina. In this case, an advocate…
Read full speech →Statements by Members
Mr. Speaker, the Canadian Parks and Recreation Association is here on the Hill in Ottawa today with workers, advocates and professionals in the parks and recreational sectors right across the country. They are here advocating for public spaces, for access to recreational facilities, for active transportation and for operating costs. They want to make sure that parks and recreation and physical act…
Read full speech →Adjournment Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, once again I would like to thank the member for Saanich—Gulf Islands for her extraordinary work on the file, which goes back many, many years if not more than a decade. As the new Canadian clean-energy economy matures and oil and gas pollution measures are made toward Canada's net-zero target, stricter controls on protecting our waters and marine life are absolutely critical. In the e…
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