Private Members' Business
Mr. Speaker, I appreciate this opportunity to participate in the debate on C-230, an act to amend the Financial Administration Act and to make consequential amendments to other acts. The Financial Administration Act is Canada's foundational statute governing public financial management. It establishes the legal framework and principles that guide financial management across all federal departments…
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Mr. Speaker, I rise today to speak to Bill C-245, an act to amend the Canadian Multiculturalism Act. It is a bill that seeks to exempt the province of Quebec from the application of the Canadian Multiculturalism Act. The debate is not merely legislative; it is a fundamental question about who we are as Canadians, how we live together and how we respect the rich tapestry of cultures that make up th…
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Madam Speaker, the member for Selkirk—Interlake—Eastman was denigrating the pipeline the Liberal government built to Vancouver. I ask the hon. member this: When the Conservative Party was in government, how many pipelines did it get built?
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Mr. Speaker, the early learning and child care program is already providing families across Canada with thousands of dollars of savings each year. In my home province of Manitoba, the program saves families an average of $2,800 a year. Last month, the Minister of Jobs and Families announced an extension of child care agreements with Saskatchewan and Ontario, ensuring that families in those two pro…
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Mr. Speaker, I rise today to acknowledge the vital role that Deer Lodge Centre plays in our community and to recognize the ongoing support of the Deer Lodge Centre Foundation. As the third-largest health care facility in Manitoba, Deer Lodge has long been a trusted place of care for families, offering rehabilitation, chronic care, dementia care, mental health and bariatric services. Its roots stre…
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Mr. Speaker, I rise today to highlight the progress our government is making in expanding dental care across our country, especially in Manitoba. The Canadian dental care plan now covers nearly six million Canadians. In Manitoba, over 150,000 residents are enrolled, and more than 85,000 have already received care. To build on this progress, our federal government is investing over $35 million, thr…
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Madam Speaker, I would like to point out that the supposition that Canada imposed a carbon tax on Ukraine from the Canadian press is demonstrably false. This was not imposed on Ukraine. Ukraine has had a carbon tax since 2011, and there was a clause that simply said it would co-operate. Will the member retract her false statement?
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Mr. Speaker, the government is constantly being accused of driving up inflation, yet according to the International Monetary Fund, Canada's inflation is consistently the second-lowest in the G7 and the fourth-lowest in the G20. How is this out-of-control inflation when, on the world scale of comparator countries, we are near the bottom for the rate of inflation?
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Mr. Speaker, on November 12, the Build Canada Homes program accelerated affordable housing projects across the country, including a major announcement at Naawi-Oodena in Winnipeg. Approximately 320 new homes, 40% of them below market and developed in partnership with Treaty 1 first nations, are now set to move forward. This is exactly the kind of progress my constituents in Winnipeg West are looki…
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Mr. Speaker, a member from the Bloc Québécois just made a point about how the federal government had initially been spending 50% of health care for provinces. However, the member from the Bloc does not seem to remember that when that was the case, the top marginal tax rate in Canada was 80%. Would the hon. member for Winnipeg South Centre agree that this is not a feasible solution for Canadians?
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Mr. Speaker, how does the hon. member reconcile his claim of this effect of inflation on our industrial carbon pricing when the Bank of Canada and the Institute for Research on Public Policy have stated specifically that this will have an effect of no more than 0.15% to, at most, 0.5% on inflation. Is the member honestly claiming that this 0.5%, at most, is making food unaffordable?
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Madam Speaker, I have one specific question regarding the reference the hon. member made to the budget of 10 years ago by former prime minister Stephen Harper, where the member reported that there was a surplus. We must remember that among the things that government had to do to create the surplus was to cut our military spending to less than 1% of our GDP. The current government has been spending…
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Mr. Speaker, with regard to industrial carbon pricing and the claims of what it does to inflation, how does the hon. member respond to a study by the Bank of Canada that says carbon pricing has contributed a maximum of 0.15% to the rate of inflation?
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Mr. Speaker, measles was eliminated in Canada in 1998 and we maintained that achievement for more than 25 years. Today, however, we are seeing a resurgence of this disease, driven mostly by misinformation and growing vaccine hesitancy. In 2025 alone, Canada has reported more cases than in the last 25 years combined, with over 5,000 cases, 169 hospitalizations and, tragically, three infants losing …
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Madam Speaker, an article in last week's Winnipeg Free Press described how Manitoba has been underfunding its Crown attorneys. This has been happening in other provinces as well. We all know that, in order to be denied bail, someone needs a bail hearing, and there are not enough Crown attorneys for timely bail hearings. Under law, then, they have to be released. Would you not agree that there is s…
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Mr. Speaker, we agree on this side of the aisle that we do need changes and improvements, which is why we are introducing this bill. However, as reported in the Winnipeg Free Press this week, Crown attorneys are desperately overloaded and understaffed. Many people are out on bail, not because of insufficient provisions in the law but because they do not have enough Crown attorneys to give them tim…
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Mr. Speaker, I share the member's concerns about why addressing crime is so important. My father was in the RCMP for 24 years, and I work in the emergency department, where I see the effects of crime. I found the statements in his speech rather incongruous. It is almost as though this is Schrödinger's government: at one point being too soft on the population and, on the other side, violating peopl…
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Mr. Speaker, the hon. member still has not answered the question. I agree that police officers miss family birthdays and Christmases, and they risk their life. I was raised by an RCMP officer, and I know this. Why have not any members on the other side of the House stood up against their leader's disgraceful statements disparaging the RCMP?
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Mr. Speaker, there have been numerous comments about our overloaded court system, the lack of Crown attorneys and delayed bail hearings due to the lack of Crown attorneys. Would the member not agree that these things are totally under the jurisdiction of the provinces and that we have to hold our provincial governments to account to improve them so that this bill can be more workable?
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Madam Speaker, I would be the first to agree that many of the examples are of very horrendous things. I practise medicine, and one of the things we have learned in medicine, but this goes for all fields, is that when we describe individual occurrences and anecdotes, we know that the plural of “anecdote” does not equal data. According to Statistics Canada, the crime rate, the crime severity index, …
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Mr. Speaker, I rise to offer a tribute to a community advocate and close friend, Paul Stewart. For years, Paul was a tireless advocate for those affected by prostate cancer and a volunteer and participant in Ride for Dad, an annual motorcycle parade that raises funds for research and has improved treatment for prostate cancer. I have had the privilege of joining Paul and thousands of other riders …
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Mr. Speaker, the hon. member made reference to the warrantless opening of mail. I have to ask, what part of the police obtaining warrants to open mail, the same way that now happens with services such as FedEx and Purolator, did the member not understand?
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Madam Speaker, I live in Winnipeg. I have been inhaling the remains of much of northern Manitoba for the last two weeks, and I appreciate the catastrophic fires we are dealing with. We are not backing down on our climate commitments. We have made one change to our carbon pricing system. We are still holding large industrial polluters responsible by having them pay a carbon price, and we are going …
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Madam Speaker, we know that those in the lower tax brackets with the lowest incomes are the ones most disproportionately affected by affordability problems. This will give meaningful financial relief to people in the lowest income brackets to help them make ends meet. This is how we are going to continue to improve the lives of Canadians, particularly those who are struggling most.
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Madam Speaker, it is interesting to hear the member of the party across talk about conspiracy theories. I will say that it was a product of its time. At the time, it was doing what it was supposed to do. We have a changing economy, and we heard from Canadians that they want a change.
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Mr. Speaker, I will be splitting my time with the member for Burnaby Central. Today I rise in this House to speak to Bill C-4, the making life more affordable for Canadians act, a piece of legislation that stands at the heart of our government's commitment to build an economy that works for everyone, not just for the privileged few. During the election campaign, I heard a clear message from voters…
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Madam Speaker, in response to the heckling, it was not zero. I will admit I do not know the number.
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Madam Speaker, I share the hon. member's concern for the protection of civil liberties. These powers for increased surveillance are all under judicial oversight. Postal workers would not be opening mail. This would be done by the police with warrants. The changes to the immigration system would still be subject to review to make sure that people's fundamental civil liberties are protected.
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Madam Speaker, the carbon tax, in its time, was something I supported. It did what it was supposed to have done. It was a victim of misinformation, and we know—
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Madam Speaker, that is exactly what I said, and I stand by it. We knew that this policy could not recover, given the misinformation surrounding it.
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Madam Speaker, I was proud to have been part of some of the improvements made by this government in the 2015 mandate, including the report that was the building block of our pharmacare program. We have also gone forward with the co-operation and valuable help of our NDP colleagues with the Canada dental care plan. We also had the Canada child benefit, which decreased poverty across Canada. Poverty…
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Mr. Speaker, I will be sharing my time with the hon. member for Richmond East—Steveston. As I rise in the House today to deliver my maiden speech, I do so with deep humility and heartfelt gratitude. On April 28, the people of Winnipeg West honoured me by placing their trust in me once again and electing me to be their voice in this esteemed chamber. Having served from 2015 to 2019, returning to th…
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Madam Speaker, I was very supportive of many of the policies that were undertaken by former prime minister Justin Trudeau. I am certain he saved countless lives in Canada through the pandemic and brought us through one of the fastest economic recoveries in the G7. I make no apologies for that. However, it is a new time and new challenges, and I am here to continue working on these challenges.
Read full speech →Statements by Members
Mr. Speaker, it is a privilege to rise in the House today and highlight the remarkable contributions of Dr. Joss Reimer. Dr. Reimer is a force in Canadian medicine: a trailblazer, a change-maker and a proud Manitoban. Before stepping into her current role as president of the Canadian Medical Association, Dr. Reimer served as the medical lead and official spokesperson for Manitoba's provincial COVI…
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