Routine Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, congratulations and welcome back. I rise to present this petition on behalf of my constituents who live in the towns of Fox Creek and Swan Hills. These two towns are in northern Alberta, and they have some of the highest elevations in Canada. The petitioners note that there are extended travel times, and that increased heating costs and other expenses make life more expensive in these…
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Madam Speaker, the next petition I have to present is from Canadians across the country who are calling on the government to recognize and safeguard human life at all stages of human development. They are calling for the government to recognize human life from conception to natural death.
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Madam Speaker, the next petition I have to present is from Canadians across the country who are concerned about the impacts of violent and degrading sexually explicit material online and the impacts on public health, especially on the well-being of women and girls. They recognize that we cannot say we believe in preventing in sexual violence toward women while allowing pornography companies to fre…
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Madam Speaker, the next petition I have to present today is from Canadians across the country who are concerned about the equal application of the law. The petitioners are indigenous members in my riding and are concerned that the First Nations Financial Transparency Act, which is supposed to enhance financial accountability and transparency, is not being enforced. The petitioners also point out t…
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Madam Speaker, the last petition I am presenting today is from Canadians across the country who are concerned about the increases to the carbon tax. They are supportive of Bill C-206, which will be voted on soon. The petitioners note that there was no carbon tax increase in the Liberals' election platform, and that increasing the carbon tax severely impacts and penalizes those living in rural and …
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Madam Speaker, I have several petitions to present today. The first petition was originally brought forward by the late MP Mark Warawa, who was very passionate about protecting the conscience rights of health care professionals. This petition is from Canadians across the country wanting protections for doctors and medical professionals. They are calling on the House of Commons to adopt conscience …
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Madam Speaker, the second petition I am presenting today is from Canadians across the country who are calling on the House of Commons to support the health and safety of Canadian firearms owners. The petitioners recognize the importance of owning firearms, and are concerned about the impacts to hearing loss caused by the damaging noise levels of firearms and the need for noise reduction. The petit…
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Madam Speaker, we are trying to ban degrading and harmful practices when we say we want to ban conversion therapy. The bill would not do that. Therefore, I will be voting against it, as I did at second reading. We want a bill that bans conversion therapy, not this definition of it. Many people asked for amendments to bring clarity to the bill. Once again, I will reference the over 300 briefs that …
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Madam Speaker, one of the things that was notable in the committee was the 300 briefs that were just ignored. I was wondering if the member has any comments about that.
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Mr. Speaker, one of the things I am quite concerned about, and it is unprecedented, as we have never seen this before, is around the secret amendments at committee. The minister went on and on about how Conservatives spoke favourably about the bill when it was originally introduced and quoted us before the bill went to committee. However, amendments happened at committee. I saw on Twitter that Mr.…
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Madam Speaker, I want to thank my hon. colleague for his great speech on this important topic. He spoke a bit about cutting the knees out of our economy. Perhaps he was talking about the lack of pipelines getting built in this country. I wonder if he can talk a little more about that.
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, as I resume my speech from over a week ago, I want to echo the concerns that many people have brought forward about Bill C-6 and its definition of conversion therapy. Canadians from across the country have expressed concern and asked parliamentarians to fix the definition as they are concerned about private conversations and freely chosen, voluntary counselling being criminalized. L…
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Madam Speaker, I want to thank the hon. member for her hard work in this place. I agree with her. I have heard from Canadians from across the country who are concerned about the definition of conversion therapy, particularly around the word “practice”. The word “practice” is not clearly defined in Canadian law, so what is a practice that would be covered by this law? This law would be banning a tr…
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Madam Speaker, the Conservative Party has been extremely clear, and I have been as well, that we are opposed to conversion therapy. We are opposed to what people think of as conversion therapy. “[P]ractice, treatment or service” is not a clearly defined definition of conversion therapy. Particularly, counselling that changes behaviour is a concerning part of the definition. A lot of counselling is…
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Mr. Speaker, the second petition I have to present is from people across Canada. In Canada, almost one-quarter of the people who leave our correctional system reoffend within two years of being released. The petitioners are calling for a new system to ensure that victims are at the heart of our justice system and that we have a system to prevent recidivism and reoffending. The petitioners call upo…
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Mr. Speaker, the fourth petition I have to present—
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Mr. Speaker, I would ask for the unanimous consent of the House to finish presenting petitions today.
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Mr. Speaker, the first petition I have to present today comes from Canadians across the country, who were very concerned about allegations that came out in a New York Times article, entitled “The Children of Pornhub”. One story reported that a 15-year-old girl, who had been missing for over a year, had been found when 58 videos of her rape and sexual assault were discovered on Pornhub. The petitio…
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Mr. Speaker, the third petition I have to present today is from Canadians from across the country. The petitioners are concerned about coercion, intimidation and other forms of pressure intended to force physicians and health institutions to become parties in assisted suicide or euthanasia in the violation of their freedom of conscience. The petitioners call upon the Government of Canada to enshri…
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Mr. Speaker, I want to thank my hon. colleague from Alberta for his great speech on this topic and for coming to the defence of our colleague from Wellington—Halton Hills. He has been a long-time member of the House of Commons and one who really stands up for democracy. If there is anything that sums up the member for Wellington—Halton Hills, it is his hawkish attention to democracy and also his h…
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Mr. Speaker, I want to tell my hon. colleague that the all-party group to end modern day slavery and human trafficking heard yesterday from experts on whether Canada Border Services had stopped any shipments. Yesterday, they had not heard of any shipments being stopped. Could my hon. colleague comment on that?
Read full speech →Private Members' Business
Mr. Speaker, I feel like we are seriously getting gaslit on this, especially around the accusation of mischief. The whole point of this is the government is failing to answer to Parliament and the Liberals are accusing us of holding up this place. We have seen this not only with these documents, but also with the recognition of the Uighur genocide and calling the IRG a terrorist organization. The …
Read full speech →Adjournment Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Justice for his presentation on Bill C-302. He has a robust understanding of it. The one issue that I am addressing tonight is around the 24-hour takedown for CSAM. That is the frustration, and I am hoping that Bill C-302 will be the counter to that. I think a 24-hour takedown is important, but we need to prevent these ima…
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Mr. Speaker, two weeks ago, I asked the Minister of Canadian Heritage what he was doing to prevent child sexual abuse material, CSAM, and videos of rape and sex trafficking from being uploaded and distributed on the Internet. I also asked the same question of the minister at the ethics committee just this week. The minister's response was that he would be tabling, someday, an online harms bill tha…
Read full speech →Statements By Members
Mr. Speaker, there is nothing more beautiful in all the world than a new mother with her new baby. Yesterday, my friend gave birth to two brand new baby boys. The miracle of carrying a new person created with unlimited potential makes mothers tremendous. Being a mom can feel overwhelming and impossible, but today I want to recognize all the mothers who bring new life into this world and care for t…
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With regard to the Canadian Passport Order, since November 4, 2015, in order to prevent the commission of any act or omission referred to in subsection 7(4.1) of the Criminal Code: how many passports has the Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship (i) refused, (ii) revoked, (iii) cancelled, broken down by month?
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Mr. Speaker, the next petition I have to present today is from Canadians from across the country who are concerned about the treatment of the Uighur population in China. The Chinese Communist Party is using methods such as forced sterilization and abortion and birth suppression, and there is a mounting body of evidence that the Uighurs are undergoing anti-religious indoctrination, arbitrary detent…
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Mr. Speaker, the next petition I am presenting today is from Canadians from across Canada who are concerned about forced organ harvesting that happens around the world. The petitioners are calling on the Government of Canada to pass two bills: Bill C-350 and Bill S-240. These bills would make it illegal for a Canadian to go abroad to gain access to illegally harvested organs.
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Mr. Speaker, the next petition I am presenting today is from Canadians from across Canada, mostly from Alberta, who are concerned about the relationship with the RCMP and Canada. The petitioners are calling on the Government of Canada to work with Alberta to help Alberta introduce its own police force. They are calling on the Government of Canada to make a public statement that would encourage the…
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Mr. Speaker, the next petition I am presenting today is from Canadians from across Canada. They are concerned about the situation in Ethiopia, particularly in the Tigray region. The petitioners are calling on Canada to take the following actions: immediately call for an end to violence and for restraint from all sides in that conflict, call for an international investigation into credible reports …
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Mr. Speaker, the next petition I have today is from Canadians from across this country who are calling on the Government of Canada to impose Magnitsky sanctions on leaders in the Chinese Communist Party. The petitioners are calling for the recognition of the treatment of the Falun Gong using state apparatus, including the extrajudicial torture and killing of Falun Gong practitioners in large numbe…
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Finally, Mr. Speaker, I have a petition from Albertans from across Alberta calling on the Government of Canada to remove the per capita cap on the fiscal stabilization payments. The fall economic statement increased the per capita limit from $60 to $170, and that cap had not been changed since 1987. The petitioners are calling on the Government of Canada to remove that cap entirely, given that the…
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With regard to An Act respecting the mandatory reporting of Internet child pornography by persons who provide an Internet service, broken down by year since 2011: (a) how many reports has the RCMP received under section 3 of the act from a service provider or entity in Canada; (b) how many reports has the RCMP received under section 3 of the act from a service provider or entity outside of Canada;…
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With regard to documents prepared by the government departments or agencies about cyber trafficking, cyber-sex trafficking, organ trafficking, human trafficking, slavery, modern slavery, forced labour, sex trafficking or prostitution, since November 4, 2015: for any such document, what is the (i) date, (ii) title or subject matter, (iii) type of document (routine correspondence, directive, options…
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Madam Speaker, I rise today to speak to Bill C-6, which proposes a ban on conversion therapy. I want to say at the outset that I too am opposed to conversion therapy. Coercive and degrading practices should be banned, and I think my colleagues in the House would agree with me on that. We would not find anybody in this place who is supportive of conversion therapy. However, this bill proposes to cr…
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Mr. Speaker, I want to present a few petitions. The first petition I am bringing to the attention of the House is signed by Canadians from across Canada. They are concerned with the Senate amendment to Bill C-7 that would allow Canadians with mental illness as their sole medical condition to access euthanasia. The petitioners recognize that suicide is the leading cause of death for Canadians betwe…
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Madam Speaker, typically when we run across a standing order that is not regularly used and we are about to make new precedent with it, the Speaker gives a long ruling on whether this issue is in order or not. We have not heard the logic for this being in order. This is new to all of us. A text message from my staff last night said, “This is going to be interesting in the morning. We have never se…
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Madam Speaker, it is not your job to do the government's bidding but to work so that we have a functional House that we all agree on and that we move forward. When we end up in areas of the Standing Orders that are not regularly used, we typically would see an explanation before we move forward. I have heard from many of my colleagues who have said that they have concerns with this. They have spen…
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Madam Speaker, it is always a privilege to stand in the House of Commons and represent the good people of Peace River—Westlock. It is springtime and the crops are all coming up nicely. Bringing the plight of the Uighur people to the world's attention has been an important aspect of this, and I want to thank my hon. colleague for that. What are some of the things that Canada can do to increasingly …
Read full speech →Private Members' Business
Madam Speaker, it is my privilege to stand in the House of Commons to address the right to repair legislation that we have before us. Last week, I was on the phone with Mr. Jackson, who has a John Deere tractor. One of the things he was concerned about was the amount of electronics in the tractor and his inability to access the electronics and repair them. We had an extensive conversation about th…
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Mr. Speaker, the third petition I have to present today is from indigenous members of my riding. The petitioners note that everyone is equal before the law and without discrimination. They state that the First Nations Financial Transparency Act is supposed to enhance accountability and transparency. However, when receiving federal funding, official first nations band membership is counted, but off…
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Madam Speaker, one of the interesting things is that the Bloc member who was on the committee at the time raised the concern that he did not feel the definition was clear enough. He said: For example, I personally have not seen much done to clarify the proposed definition in clause 5 of the bill. I'm really concerned about that definition. All of the witnesses we heard from, regardless of their ba…
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Mr. Speaker, I have a number of petitions to present today. The first one is timely, given the situation we find ourselves in with the discovery of the mass graves of children in Kamloops. The petitioners call for Canada to bring in measures that would safeguard human life at every stage of human development. They call on the government to support measures that would protect human life. They note …
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Mr. Speaker, the second petition I have the honour to present today is from constituents across Canada. The petitioners are concerned about the accessibility and impacts of violent and degrading sexually explicit material online and the impacts on public health, especially on the well-being of women and girls. They recognize that we cannot say we believe in preventing sexual violence toward women,…
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Mr. Speaker, the next petition I have to present comes from Canadians across Canada who are opposed to the discriminatory practice of sex-selective abortion. The petitioners note that sex selection is completely legal and that 84% of Canadians, regardless of their views on abortion, think that sex-selective abortion should be illegal. The petitioners state that several organizations around the wor…
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Mr. Speaker, the next petition I have to present is on Bill C-6. This petition is signed by Canadians across Canada who are concerned about Bill C-6, which we are debating today. These Canadians oppose conversion therapy, but are concerned about the current definition of “conversion therapy” in Bill C-6. Like most Canadians, they want coercive and degrading therapies banned, however, the definitio…
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Mr. Speaker, I want to thank my hon. colleague for her speech. It was one of the more informative speeches we have heard here today. She really tackled the issues in the bill: key terms and concepts, unlike what we have seen from a lot of the Liberals. When the Liberals get up to talk about this they talk about banning conversion therapy, and everybody is in favour of banning conversion therapy. I…
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Madam Speaker, one of the things that was pointed out at committee is that there were over 300 briefs submitted. The clause-by-clause was finished before the translation was even done on those 300 briefs, so it feels like this bill is being rammed through without due consideration. Many people came and shared their concern around the definition of conversion therapy, particularly around the word “…
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Mr. Speaker, the final petition I have to present today is from Canadians across Canada who are concerned about the health and safety of Canadian firearms owners. The petitioners recognize the importance of owning firearms and are concerned about the impacts of hearing loss caused by damaging noise levels from firearms and the need for noise reduction. They acknowledge that sound moderators are th…
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