Oral Questions
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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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, 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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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, 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…
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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, 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?
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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…
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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—
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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, 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…
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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, 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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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—
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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…
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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…
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Madam Speaker, I would invite the member opposite to Halton Hills to see what comes out of a gas-powered electricity-generating station. I can see colour just fine. It was brown effluent. I would invite him to come. I know the member's community still burns coal to create electricity. That is the dirtiest way known to make electricity, and natural gas is not far behind. There are net-zero ways of …
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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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Madam Speaker, nitrogen dioxide and sulphur dioxide are gaseous air pollutants composed of nitrogen, sulfur and oxygen. They are one of the groups of related gases called nitrogen oxides and sulphur dioxides. The health effects of nitrogen dioxide pollution include increased inflammation of the airways, worsening coughs and wheezing, reduced lung function and increased asthma attacks. They are, in…
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Mr. Speaker, it is an honour to be here for adjournment debate with my friend and colleague from Courtenay—Alberni. Before I start, I would like to extend my sympathies to Peggy, who has experienced this fraud in her life. I have had constituents in my riding as well who have lost sizable amounts of their life savings to these heartless scammers. It is a disgusting practice and we certainly need t…
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Mr. Speaker, in my opening, I went as fast as I could to get through the eight pages of details on all the actions this government has taken. As to the 1.6 billion calls that were prevented, we have all experienced the duct cleaning calls and the CRA scam calls. Fortunately, most young people have the wherewithal just to hang up, but victims are increasingly seniors who are unfamiliar with technol…
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Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank my friend and colleague from Saanich—Gulf Islands for her advocacy for killer whales tonight. I know that she has been a steadfast champion of mammals that do not vote. It is important to recognize that many aspects of our environment depend on us to be their stewards and their stakeholders. Killer whales are very intelligent animals, but obviously they do not ha…
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Madam Speaker, I would like to thank my hon. friend and colleague for his work on his private member's bill. I have met with stakeholders who feel very strongly that we ought to pass legislation to ban fossil fuel advertising. Before I commit to supporting it, I will say that when I was an Olympic athlete, many of our activities were sponsored by Petro-Canada, which is owned by Suncor. I am not go…
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Madam Speaker, I would like to thank my hon. friend and colleague for the debate today. Not all Greens agree with the hon. leader of the Green Party. I know many Greens who believe in nuclear energy. I consider myself an environmentalist and know many environmentalists, and many of us agree with the notion that nuclear energy is green, renewable and necessary to power our green revolution and inno…
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Madam Speaker, to answer the question from my hon. colleague, I do in fact clean it up quite often. I host cleanups in my community with kids and we pick up garbage, but picking up garbage is not going to solve climate change. The members think it is hilarious that a politician might actually get dirty every once in a while and pick up some garbage, but I would invite my colleagues to try to get e…
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Madam Speaker, unfortunately it is true. The three- or four-week Conservative-led filibuster in the House of Commons has extended to committee as well. The Conservatives open most meetings by saying they would like to see the minister at committee. I presented a motion today that would see the minister come to committee on Wednesday to discuss Bill C-73. Of course, they would be more than welcome …
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Thanks very much, Madam Speaker. I hope members opposite have not used up all of their clever heckles while they are sitting down, because I want to hear what they have to say when they stand up and it is their turn to speak. Sometimes, when I do school visits, teachers have to remind their students they should not speak out of turn. They are usually in grade 5, so 10 years old and 11 years old. I…
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Madam Speaker, it is absolutely astonishing that when the member gets up and shares the tabloid-style rhetoric she always does in the House, other Conservative members clap. It is also disgusting that the member would insinuate that our government, or any government, would encourage a park to burn intentionally, where a brave firefighter lost their life and thousands of Canadians lost their homes.…
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Madam Speaker, I want to thank my friend and colleague from the Standing Committee on the Environment and Sustainable Development for her speech. I want to say that I am proud of Ontario's electricity system because our system is clean and it includes nuclear energy. Nuclear energy is safe and important. I am going to get into it in my speech, but in 2005 in Ontario we still burned coal for electr…
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Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague for her question. It is important to note that that Quebec is very lucky to have a strong electricity generation system thanks to hydro power. That is, of course, a major asset for Quebec, but the other provinces are not in the same boat. Not every province in the country has a system like that. Nuclear power may not be an option or necessity in Quebec, but it i…
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Madam Speaker, it is a privilege to rise today to talk about nuclear energy and some other associated important issues. The issues are related to carbon neutrality, net zero and all the efforts our government and various other governments across this country are making to encourage and join a green and clean revolution when it comes to how we generate electricity and how we get our energy in Canad…
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Mr. Speaker, affordable housing is a priority for our government. The Conservative Party has no plan for affordable housing. It is very clear what the Conservatives want to do. They want to cut tax on million-dollar condos and then put in jeopardy truly affordable housing. We want to make sure everybody can afford a home, whether they are buying a condo. renting in a co-operative or needing to acc…
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Mr. Speaker, unfortunately with the Conservatives, the proof is always in the pudding and the details are in the fine print. It really comes down to what they are going to cut to pay for that GST cut. In this case, it is the housing accelerator fund, which dozens of Conservative MPs have written to our Minister of Housing about, pleading with him for money for their towns and cities. I would pose …
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Mr. Speaker, we already know the leader of the opposition does not know how to build affordable housing. When he was the minister of housing, he only built six affordable houses. The Conservatives do not even know the definition of affordable homes. They do not know that people actually need a place to rent before they buy. They do not know there are programs like rent-to-buy, or rent geared to in…
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Mr. Speaker, I am glad the Conservative member confirmed that the Conservatives' plan is to cancel the housing accelerator fund. I wonder how that makes the dozen or so Conservative members who have been pleading with our housing minister for the funding for their towns and cities feel. Speaking of feelings, we saw how the Conservatives felt about people who are underhoused and unhoused yesterday …
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Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank the member for his advocacy for Habitat for Humanity. I recently had a meeting with them as well because they opened a new ReStore in Milton. I congratulate Habitat for Humanity and thank them for building thousands and thousands of homes for Canadians. I would also like to thank the member from the Green Party for his advocacy on co-operative housing. Since this…
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Mr. Speaker, once again, the details are really important. This week, the leader of the Conservative Party admitted that he was going to pay for that tax cut by axing the national housing accelerator fund and other important programs that are supporting Canadians. In response to that, Saskatoon's mayor said that the recent pledge from the federal Conservative Party leader to cancel the national ho…
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Mr. Speaker, the hunger report from Food Banks Canada is an important document, and I hope my colleague opposite actually reads it, because it made four recommendations: rebuild the social safety net, invest in truly affordable housing, support lower-income workers and address the northern and remote food insecurity issue. It is 108 pages, but it does not mention the carbon tax once. Why? It is be…
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Mr. Speaker, on the topic of the housing accelerator fund, which the Conservatives have committed to cut if they form government, I wonder if the member has had a conversation with his colleague from Lambton—Kent—Middlesex or the member for Simcoe North or the member for Fundy Royal or the member for St. Albert—Edmonton or perhaps the member for Central Okanagan—Similkameen—Nicola. All those Conse…
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Mr. Speaker, do we know who else used to say “common sense” a lot? It was Premier Mike Harris from Ontario, in the early nineties. From that common sense, we got Walkerton. We got deaths from dirty water. We got dangerous cuts to community housing that put in peril my mom's job and where we lived at Chautauqua Co-op, when I was growing up. However, it is not just Conservative MPs asking the Minist…
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Mr. Speaker, on the housing accelerator fund, I just named five or six Conservative members of Parliament who have written to the Minister of Housing to ask for the housing accelerator fund, but I did not mention a former Conservative member of Parliament who is now the mayor of Barrie. In that member's constituency, former Conservative member of Parliament Alex Nuttall has actually written to the…
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Mr. Speaker, I could not have said it better myself. The member opposite is right. Barrie has cut red tape. It has improved wait times for approvals. It has done all those things because it received the housing accelerator fund. I want to congratulate the mayor of Barrie, the former Conservative member for Barrie, that member's predecessor. Alex Nuttall has been a great mayor to the people of Barr…
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Mr. Speaker, I do not know where to start. First of all, my father used to live in Saskatchewan. I like it very much there, but I think it is a bit rich to suggest that it is world-famous for its environmental stewardship, when the vast majority of its electricity is generated with coal. It is not 1905; we can do a lot better than burning coal to create electricity. Manitoba is right next door to …
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Mr. Speaker, for my rebuttal, I am just going to read from Trevor Herriot. He is a Regina-based writer, naturalist and grassland advocate. He wrote, “As representatives from around the world were starting to gather in Montreal at COP15 to work toward an agreement to stave off biodiversity collapse, Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe decided it was a good time to say a few things about his province’s e…
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Mr. Speaker, it is disappointing that we are back here despite the fact that Jasperites have actually pleaded now with Conservative politicians to tone down the political rhetoric on the disaster that claimed 30% of Jasper and the life of 24-year-old firefighter Morgan Kitchen. In committee and here in the House of Commons, the Conservatives have persisted in making this a political issue. I hate …
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Mr. Speaker, that is a little rich coming from somebody who worked in the government with Stephen Harper, which did absolutely nothing to prevent wildfires or to have mechanical thinning or prescribed burns. That left a long hangover of inaction that our government took action on. If the member wants to talk, we have a committee meeting on Monday. We can talk then. The reality is that our governme…
Read full speech →Statements by Members
Mr. Speaker, today, it is my honour to pay tribute to Hanshi Scott Hogarth, an 11-time world champion and black belt in seven martial arts disciplines, a champion of Milton's martial arts community, an inaugural inductee of our local Milton sports hall of fame, a dedicated sensei, a beloved father and husband, and a true master of his craft. Scott passed away peacefully on October 28, surrounded b…
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Mr. Speaker, it is nice to be here for this adjournment debate. I would like to thank my colleague and neighbour from Dufferin—Caledon for entertaining the opportunity for it this evening. I printed off an article for my friend, and I hope he chooses to read it. As I was telling him just a couple of minutes ago, I feel as though the art of thoughtful debate and real conversation in the House has s…
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