Government Orders
Madam Speaker, my biggest concern with this legislation is that it is lazy. I do not think the government even tried to adapt to the 21st century with this bill. It took outdated and anachronistic terms and definitions that have been in place since 1991 and is trying to apply an outdated and unworkable formula for the reality we live in in the 21st century. As I mentioned in my speech, the consequ…
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Madam Speaker, today I am so pleased to speak to Bill C-11, an act to amend the Broadcasting Act and to make related and consequential amendments to other acts. This bill is big, and this bill it really big news. When a lot of Canadians where I come from think of what the government does well and does not do well, it often relates to what we might watch on TV or what we might stream on the Interne…
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You know what? I love this blue tie. Thank you, Mr. Lamoureux.
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Madam Speaker, how do I define freedom of expression? Well, there are a lot of definitions of freedom of expression, but of course it is always going to be subject to the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
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Madam Speaker, I am just going to fix my tie because a constituent said that the last time I spoke I did not fix my tie. It was the first thing I heard at Tim Hortons when I returned home—
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Madam Speaker, what I am supporting is the right of Canadians to decide what they want to do on the Internet with their own free time. Frankly, when a Liberal member tells me that the Liberal Minister of Canadian Heritage has given us a guarantee, all we have to point to is Bill C-10. The former minister of the environment frankly lied to Canadians over and over again about the impact the bill wou…
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I retract the words, Madam Speaker, and that is a fair point. My apologies. In the debate, I should not have said that.
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Madam Speaker, I would encourage the member opposite to take a look at Canada research chair Michael Geist, who commented extensively on the exception to the exception and the parts from proposed section 4.1 that I quoted in my speech. I think that says enough about what the bill would do.
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Madam Speaker, my hon. colleague from Vancouver Island raises a valid point, and I do believe that provisions related to promoting indigenous culture and language are in fact good. I am always reticent to give power to regulators to determine winners and losers, but I do support, in general, more supports for some of the rural indigenous communities that I represent to get their fair share of fund…
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Mr. Speaker, each year, British Columbia faces numerous wildfires that devastate communities and wildlife. With every wildfire, lumber prices, job availability, the risk of mill closures, mudslides, home insurance increases and damage to critical habitat are all affected. During the Lytton fire, residents were told to stay away and not try to put out fires as water bombers were coming. In many cas…
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Mr. Speaker, at the end of 2021, Canadian home prices were 19% above the borrowing capacity of medium-income households. By summer 2022, it is expected to reach a level that is 38% higher than what most borrowers can afford. This is despite the fact that the government has earmarked $72 billion for housing. When there are no real outcomes we can point to except an affordability crisis, why is the …
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Mr. Speaker, it dismays me that I need to stand again and raise a point a order. The Minister of Housing stated again that there was no mention of affordable housing in the Conservative platform from the last election. I am seeking unanimous consent to table that plan and outline that we did have a plan to address affordability.
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Mr. Speaker, on February 24, 2022, the Russian Federation launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine, a peaceful, democratic and sovereign nation that did nothing wrong. In the weeks since, we have witnessed an outpouring of support for Ukraine from Canadians. Today I rise to present a petition on behalf of constituents in Mission—Matsqui—Fraser Canyon calling on the Government of Canada to increas…
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Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to stand here today to congratulate one of my constituents upon her retirement at the end of March, Debra Arnott. As a strong first nations leader with deep roots in the Fraser Canyon, for the last 30 years Debra served the region as the general manager of Community Futures Sun Country. Throughout her tenure, her passion and business acumen bolstered local entrepreneurs a…
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Mr. Speaker, earlier in question period the Minister of Housing said there was no mention of affordable housing in the Conservative platform. I would like to seek unanimous consent to table that platform and outline that we have a plan for indigenous housing—
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Mr. Speaker, I am presenting a petition from my constituents in Mission—Matsqui—Fraser Canyon calling on the government to stop targeting licensed, law-abiding firearms owners and to cancel its plan to confiscate their legally obtained private property through its arbitrary firearms ban. The petitioners are calling for the limited resources that do exist to focus on anti-gang enforcement, reducing…
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Mr. Speaker, Canada and Mission—Matsqui—Fraser Canyon are home to a vibrant community of more than one million Punjabi Canadians. Each year many travel to the Punjab region to visit family, friends and religious landmarks like the Golden Temple. Right now, they must fly into Delhi and make the long journey by train, bus or other means. Canadians are asking for direct flight service from Vancouver …
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Mr. Speaker, the member for Saint-Hyacinthe—Bagot talked about the Quebec nation and making sure that Quebec has enough representation in the House. First, if Quebec wants to have another referendum, the National Assembly should go for another referendum. Based on the language he has been providing today, it seems that is what they want to do. I would encourage him to talk to his premier to do tha…
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Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank my colleague for Surrey Centre for raising what I believe is a very important subject. He mentioned during his remarks about 250-300 LMIA temporary foreign worker cases. My riding is very similar to his in that respect. One of the big concerns, when those applications come to my office, is the reality of abuse with foreign workers. Many of them have to pay their …
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Mr. Speaker, it has now been eight months since a wildfire completely destroyed the community of Lytton in my riding. My constituents still need help to get back home. Nearly two years ago, the government provided blank cheques without applications to select cities for housing projects under the rapid housing initiative in the major cities stream. What specific assistance will the minister provide…
Read full speech →Orders of the Day
Madam Speaker, I thank the member for Ottawa Centre for some good points. I disagree with some of them, but he is debating in a strong parliamentary fashion. I disagree with some of the things he said. As mentioned, under the Emergencies Act, the key test is whether or not existing laws in Canada can solve the problems we face. In the case of Ottawa, and I have been in and out of the city since th…
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Madam Speaker, I liked the points in the member's speech that focused on section 58 of the Emergencies Act. However, I disagree with the member based on the fact that adequate evidence has not been provided to the chamber to determine that no other law in Canada could deal with this. I encourage the member to look at the Emergencies Act NOA submitted by the Canadian Civil Liberties Association, es…
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Madam Speaker, one of the problems I had with the member's speech is that he seemed to assume that the implications we are dealing with in respect to the Charter of Rights and Freedoms and its relationship to the Emergencies Act have somehow already been tested. I would encourage the hon. member to look at the Debates from April 1988, when MP Blackburn, a former NDP member from Brant, stated that …
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Mr. Speaker, for my constituents in Mission—Matsqui—Fraser Canyon, today we are debating the Emergencies Act and the motion for confirmation of a declaration of an emergency, pursuant to section 58 of the act. There is a lot to be said and I cannot cover everything in 10 minutes. Under section 58, the government is required to provide a motion for confirmation of the declaration of an emergency an…
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Mr. Speaker, the hon. member opposite raised a valid point about extremism, having confidence in our institutions and what Canadians see and read online and how that applies to our jobs as parliamentarians, but I think he missed the points raised by the Government of Canada, which largely focused on infrastructure, on the economy and on protecting our supply chains. There is no justification for u…
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Mr. Speaker, I want to thank my colleague from Beauport—Côte-de-Beaupré—Île d'Orléans—Charlevoix for her question. The government decided to use the act for several reasons. I agree with the hon. member that one reason is that the government wanted to change public opinion about its actions and about the bad decisions it has made over the last four weeks.
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Mr. Speaker, I think she missed the quote of Peter MacKay saying that the Emergencies Act might be a push too far. The quotes I gave from previous members of Parliament related to the actual debate taking place in here. There was all-party consensus in this chamber when we decided to pass the Emergencies Act: Members of Parliament from all political parties were concerned about government overreac…
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Mr. Speaker, on the day the Prime Minister called a federal election, Afghanistan's capital fell to the Taliban. In the chaos of that evacuation, many of our brave Afghan allies were left behind. My constituents call on the Government of Canada to partner with the Veterans Transition Network and others to launch an immediate evacuation effort for our remaining allies left in Afghanistan and to saf…
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Mr. Speaker, the second petition I am presenting today is from Canadians who also hold citizenship in the U.K. Approximately 127,000 Canadians receive state pensions from the United Kingdom. While British expats living in some countries, notably the United States, receive annual inflationary increases, the pensions of those residing in Canada are frozen. My constituents are calling on the Governme…
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Madam Speaker, I thank the hon. minister for her work on this file and the agreement in the House of Commons. I would be remiss if I did not acknowledge the fact that we are only here today debating a motion of closure because the government screwed up. It is because the government did not allow for the due process of committee. We rushed through legislation, and now we have to make up for the mis…
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Madam Speaker, on a point of order, we are debating in the House the closure of a bill. We are debating whether we are going to move forward with this legislation or not, yet the minister, in all of her responses, continually refers to a policy decision made over six years—
Read full speech →Statements by Members
Mr. Speaker, almost eight months ago, Canadians watched in horror as a devastating wildfire destroyed Lytton. Sadly, there are still no permits issued to rebuild homes or businesses. We are still waiting on debris removal. Residents are still waiting to hear if the land they once called home is ready to rebuild on. Many are worried that the living expenses covered by their insurance companies and …
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Mr. Speaker, throughout the member for Calgary Skyview's speech, he said that the minister held a consultation. During the minister's remarks throughout the debate, she talked frequently about the previous Conservative policies. The first policy she failed to mention was that fixing this mistake was actually in her platform. It is the second time this week that the government has invoked closure o…
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Madam Speaker, I would like to thank the member for Nunavut, because I learned something tonight in this debate. That was one of the best speeches I have heard this entire evening. It goes to show what the member outlined in terms of the miscommunication from the government on what programs were accessible to Canadians and speaks to why I wish closure had not been enacted on the bill. I do support…
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Madam Speaker, this is such a riveting debate. I especially enjoyed the at-length comments from my friend from Battle River—Crowfoot on diversity and how we represent 338 unique corners of this world. I happen to think my riding is the number one riding in Canada. I have glaciers, ski hills and all sorts of great things. One of the things that we all come here to do as members of Parliament is go …
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Mr. Speaker, I have to say that the member for Kingston and the Islands is misrepresenting what I said. For much of the pandemic, when someone got COVID or thought they had it, they had to take time off work to get a PCR test. Frankly, we should have had rapid tests then, when that was the requirement of the Province of British Columbia. We are past that, but now the government is coming forward t…
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Mr. Speaker, I have a little more of a serious question. Members of all parties have outlined in the House that British Columbia will need additional funds to recover from the recent disasters and to plan for future disasters. B.C. is appreciative of the collaboration with the federal government thus far. Will the upcoming federal budget include specific line-item funds for dike and flood infrastr…
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Mr. Speaker, before I begin debating this motion, I will briefly comment on the opposition motion we just voted on. In my riding of Mission—Matsqui—Fraser Canyon and across this country, Canadians are losing hope. They do not know what to do anymore. They have been triple-vaxxed, they have followed all the rules and they are just looking for some transparency from the federal government so they ca…
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Mr. Speaker, it would be irresponsible of me not to look at what happened in the House earlier today with this motion for closure the Liberals put forward. For two years, Canadians have been living with COVID-19 restrictions. There have been two years of lockdowns, of not being able to visit loved ones and of not being able to travel. There have been two years of isolation that has inflamed a ment…
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Mr. Speaker, it is unfortunate that the New Democratic Party really does not think independently anymore. They just side with the Liberals on every single piece of major legislation. What is also important to point out is that Dr. Bonnie Henry in British Columbia is not even counting the number of COVID cases anymore because it would not be accurate, for some of the reasons I have already listed. …
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Mr. Speaker, the reality is that the Liberals have done everything in this pandemic to avoid accountability. I would be remiss if I did not recall one of their first acts in March, when the pandemic started two years ago. They wanted to shut down the House of Commons, because they did not want us to hold them to account. They threw it out there in the public, seeing what they could get away with. …
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Mr. Speaker, yesterday, I met with one of the largest sound companies in British Columbia. It was ranked the number one sound company in North America, Kian Sound and Universal Show Services. Two years ago, it had to lay off 280 people. It has lost 99% of its revenue. It has taken advantage of every single government program and said to me that our government is helping our private industries into…
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Madam Chair, let me begin by saying this is one of the most informed, incredible debates I have seen in the House of Commons since I was elected. I am going to be splitting my time with the member for Peterborough—Kawartha. A lot of the statistics I wanted to raise and some of the points I wanted to raise have been shared already. I have been focused recently on the Parliamentary Budget Officer wh…
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Madam Chair, regarding a safe supply, I know for a fact, when I spoke to Jesse at 5 and 2 Ministries today, that his organization and other similar ones are often called by Fraser Health and told about this new illicit pill that is being passed around. People can literally watch people being brought into hospitals who are having overdoses because our police officers and the Canada Border Services …
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Madam Chair, at the very least, organizations working with people experiencing the effects of opioids must be given the tools. I also believe we should give the provinces more money through health transfers to improve the situation.
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Madam Chair, I have not had an opportunity to review this recently tabled legislation, so I cannot comment on a bill I have not read. That said, the Province of B.C. already has de facto decriminalization, yet the deaths and the challenges are still present. I am not opposed to decriminalization necessarily or even a safe supply, but I would need to do more research and look at the bill. I would w…
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Madam Speaker, it is a real pleasure to be speaking tonight. I am going to be totally honest with members: Given all the great and wild events of today, I am going to be doing this speech extemporaneously and sharing my time with the hon. member for Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan. When I look at the bill, Bill C-8, in the context of where we are today in Canada, I have a number of key concerns. B…
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Madam Speaker, what a lovely night it is to be debating in Parliament. Yesterday, I had another exchange with the member for Kings—Hants, and I asked him why, since the government has spent so much money on supporting Canadians through COVID-19, we have not increased our ICU capacity or the number of hospitals we have in Canada to help treat COVID-19 and address the consequences of COVID-19 more b…
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Madam Speaker, the Province of British Columbia was able to handle its vaccination certificates just fine. That clause in this bill is a political clause more than anything else. We already have the technology in every province to implement that system. What we need to look at now is when we can move past that so that people can get their lives back to normal.
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Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague from Beauport—Côte-de-Beaupré—Île d'Orléans—Charlevoix. I agree with some of what she was saying. We need to let the provinces do what they want when it comes to managing our health care and education systems. The federal government needs to respect the provinces' jurisdictions.
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