Private Members' Business
Mr. Speaker, I would like to open by saying what an honour it is to be back where I started, on the environment file. I was the environment critic for the Liberal Party back in British Columbia as an MLA. Back in 2003, my main goal was to remediate the environmental damage done to my territory by industrial development. That led me down different pathways. It led me to aboriginal rights and title,…
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Mr. Speaker, the Liberal government cannot make up its mind. On one hand, it says it is unjust, and then it says it is the greatest deal in the world. It needs to make up its mind. There are mills closing all across B.C., including Skeena Sawmills in Terrace and Canfor in Houston. West Fraser's shutdown left hundreds of my constituents out of work in an already weak economy. Our communities are hu…
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Mr. Speaker, I referenced the approval of LNG Canada, but we have met with the departments, and it is clear that there are no outstanding permits or authorizations needed for LNG Canada. I am assuming that phase 2 needs an approval in terms of emissions. Is this why LNG Canada phase 2 has been added to the major projects list? Is there going to be a decision on the emissions from phase 2, from pha…
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Mr. Speaker, Canada has the fastest-shrinking economy and the second-highest unemployment rate in the G7. B.C. forestry workers have already been hard hit, but it is going to get worse. The Prime Minister promised to negotiate a win with the U.S.A, but softwood lumber tariffs have doubled since he took office. Instead of keeping his promise to Canadians, he is promising to invest $1 trillion in th…
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Mr. Speaker, I thank the member for an incredible speech regarding deficits. I think the Liberals missed the point of what he said. I was in the situation of remedial management and third party management, and it was very humiliating. It was for one year of unmanageable deficits. It was very humiliating, and that is why I went after an economic base. What is third party management, and what would …
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Mr. Speaker, that was a great question. In fact, it was the Liberals' speeches that actually guided me toward economic development issues, such as forestry, mining, and oil and gas. I agree with my colleague that, over the last 10 years, I have not seen the Liberal government giving respect to first nations members regarding their rights. By the way, I am talking about the rights as defined in the…
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Mr. Speaker, basically, yes, we supported it, but we wanted to put protections in, which we debated and we got in. By the way, I do not blame the first nations for their distrust of this, because one day, the government said first nations do not have a veto. I suspect it got that out of the case law, specifically, the Haida court case of 2004. However, the very next day, when it got political push…
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Mr. Speaker, as I said in my speech, the provisions of a treaty already define what the government is supposed to do, not only in terms of the federal government but also in terms of the provincial government and the first nations as well. It defines what their roles and responsibilities are now. This has always been a one-way street, though. First nations have always gone to governments and asked…
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Mr. Speaker, that is basically what the Haida court case of 2004 clearly defines. I will make it clear: It is the community that owns the rights and title; it is not a collective of first nations. It is not even their leadership, unless the community itself decides who the leadership will be. By the way, the Liberals talk about respecting aboriginal rights and title interests. Why did you approve …
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Mr. Speaker, development of resources, such as forestry, mining and LNG, has actually brought in a lot of revenue, employment and training. I already mentioned that, to me, the Indian Act has become irrelevant and archaic, except for the funding agreement. We segregated Indian Act programs and funding into Indian Act bureaucracy through departments of my band council. However, we created a new str…
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Mr. Speaker, the principles are important, but not to the point of ignoring the Haida court case from 2004 or ignoring treaty first nations. The government is using UNDRIP as a cover to say that Bill C-48 is basically needed. It is not needed, especially when first nations are trying to resolve poverty. I put this back to the member: How does the government's UNDRIP legislation resolve poverty?
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Mr. Speaker, we are here talking about the creation of a treaty implementation commissioner. Here is some background. I was the chief councillor of the Haisla Nation Council for six years, and prior to that, I was a councillor for eight years. During that eight-year period, I was treaty chairman under the B.C. treaty process; I was negotiating the treaty, so I read all the announcements over the l…
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Mr. Speaker, I am glad to hear the member talk about economic issues tied in with social issues, because that is what first nations have been talking about for the last 20 years, at least. It is nice to see the Liberals kind of waking up. We are talking about Canada's economy as well, which the member also mentioned. The Nisga'a have had a treaty with the government for 20 years. They opposed Bill…
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Mr. Speaker, I was a negotiator for my small native band, as well as a chief councillor, so I understand the frustration of the leaders. However, it seems to me that the first nations leaders are saying that the government-to-government relationship is not working because the government is not listening and not implementing a treaty. The government's response is, “Let's create a treaty commissione…
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Mr. Speaker, treaties have evolved. Foundationally, defining aboriginal rights and title is a main part of treaty negotiation, versus extinguishing them. Given that the Liberal government is going to appeal the Cowichan court ruling, is there a reason aboriginal rights and title are not mentioned in Bill C-10?
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Madam Speaker, I have been listening to this debate for the last few days now. I hear the other side of the House talk about this when Conservatives talk about the rapes of children and toddlers, the murders and assaults, and women not wanting to walk the streets at night, including members of the Liberal government. The response is always the same. They say we are always sensationalizing or drama…
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Mr. Speaker, the Liberals now want to change the story. They want to deflect. They want to talk about grocery prices by looking at what analysts say, what farm yields are and what the weather is doing. That was not what the Prime Minister promised. The Prime Minister did not say he would follow the analysts, the yields or the weather patterns. He said to judge him by the prices at the grocery stor…
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Mr. Speaker, the Liberal promise was to reduce or control grocery prices. That was the promise. The government printing money or producing deficits and, as a consequence, borrowing money to cover those deficits increases inflation. Does the member agree that increasing the government deficit and debt will increase affordability pressures, including grocery costs, which the Liberals promised to con…
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Mr. Speaker, I definitely can. We need to stop the politics with LNG because it provides benefits to aboriginals and non-aboriginals alike. It increases GDP. I will say, there are no permits or authorizations needed by the federal government to approve phase two. It is all approved, and we just found that out today in committee. What is Canada fast-tracking? There is nothing else to approve.
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Mr. Speaker, yes, and I am not the only one who thinks that Canada already has the highest environmental standards in North America, if not the world. As I have said for the last 10 years, we cannot have this conversation in isolation. We are not the biggest polluters in the world. China, Russia, the United States and emerging economies have no environmental standards. They have no emissions cap. …
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Mr. Speaker, I recognize all the work that has been done by first nations all across Canada. It is very progressive, but it all comes down to what the benefit is to the people. My colleague from Alberta knows the benefits as well. There are a lot of first nations in Saskatchewan. If we want to take a look at the real benefits, we can take a look at the status quo of first nations that do not have …
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Mr. Speaker, I invite members to Kitimat, and I will show them the benefits that have accrued not only for first nations members in my community, but also along the pipeline route and down channel. One of the concerns we had, and one of the decisions we made when we started getting into real LNG development, was that we wanted to get away from the Indian Act. We wanted our people to build their ow…
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Mr. Speaker, the current regulatory authorities have no idea how projects would get assessed through the Major Projects Office. They have no idea whether or not the standards and regulations that are formed inside the impact assessment authority, for example, are going to get implemented. Is there a plan to implement the current environmental standards through the Major Projects Office, and if not…
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Mr. Speaker, it is an honour to be here on behalf of Skeena—Bulkley Valley. I have not had the chance to do this, so I would like to thank all the people of Skeena—Bulkley Valley, the EDA for all its work and all my supporters and volunteers. I would especially like to thank my family. I have been doing this kind of work for 20 years, as a councillor, chief councillor, an MLA and now an MP, and it…
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Mr. Speaker, I was an MLA as well. Seven years ago we started to hear about the crime in our communities, and that is when I first started to hear the blame game: B.C. and the provinces blaming Ottawa. Now I come here and the Liberals are blaming the Conservatives. The Liberals have been in government for ten years. I also hear the idea that somehow they need a consultation to relax their soft-on-…
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Mr. Speaker, as an aboriginal, I face the same issues that the member is talking about in my own community and in a lot of different first nations communities all across Canada. Really, what we are talking about is a long-term commitment to doing something better. I presume the hon. member is talking about a stopgap measure in the meantime. “In the meantime” means toddlers getting raped in their b…
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With regard to the Northwest Regional Airport Terrace-Kitimat’s request to the Canada Border Services Agency to be designated as an Airport of Entry: (a) what is the current status of this request; (b) when will the Canada Border Services Agency make a decision regarding the request; (c) has the Canada Border Services Agency, Pacific Economic Development Canada, or Destination Canada conducted any…
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With regard to national data on opioid-related harms, since January 2021, broken down by year and by province or territory: how many opioid-related (i) deaths, (ii) hospitalizations, (iii) emergency department visits, have occurred?
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With regard to Health Canada's exemption granted to British Columbia under the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act, which allows for adults to possess up to 2.5 grams of certain substances: has the government received a request from British Columbia to extend the exemption past the January 31, 2026 expiration date, and, if so, (i) what are the details of the request, (ii) does the government plan …
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Mr. Speaker, this is basically federal Liberal legislation, and we all understand there is a crisis. I will speak on my own behalf. I voted for it because I believe in the economy and I believe in a strong country, but I need to see more details. I have to go back to my riding and explain why there will be exemptions coming to environmental assessments. I have to explain why there will be no envir…
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Mr. Speaker, I will be dividing my time with the member for Saskatoon—University. This is my first speech in the House, and I would like to thank all the supporters from Skeena—Bulkley Valley. This takes me back to how I got started in politics in the first place. It is ironic, because as a first nations member in Kitimat, where I come from, I got my start on the environment file, meaning that we …
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Mr. Speaker, first nations, under the Indian Act, are forced to understand good governance, and that includes transparency and accountability. In fact, under the funding agreements, if there is a deficit in first nations territory, they get punished. If there is a surplus, under the Indian Act they get punished. When we are trying to understand self-governance and trying to understand self-determi…
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Mr. Speaker, that is a great question. I know my colleague has already questioned consultation and accommodation duties. In terms of this bill, either the Liberal government understands the case law and ignores it or does not understand the case law to begin with. Consulting on a bill has a specific definition of process for over 600 first nations. It is not simply a matter of sending an email or …
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Mr. Speaker, it is no secret that tariffs actually made Bill C-5 as presented to the floor. None of this really matters until we streamline all the legislation, regulations and jurisdictional issues currently in place. My question is on process. As the government negotiates with the U.S.A. on trade, does the government negotiate provincial resources first, and then consult with provinces, or does …
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Mr. Speaker, economists and most bankers know that investments go to countries where they are welcomed. For 10 years, the Liberal government has sent clear messages that investments in oil pipelines are not welcome in Canada unless they are destined for the United States at a discount. What is next, Canada's mineral resources? Surely the Prime Minister knows that no one is building a pipeline in C…
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Mr. Speaker, diversifying our trade has been the goal of the current Liberal government, but an article posted last night by The Economist states that the United States will be granted first right of refusal on Canadian minerals. Before going to Washington, Mr. Carney asked officials to list the Canadian products that Mr. Trump needs the most. Rare earth elements and critical minerals topped that …
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Mr. Speaker, on June 11, 2008, Conservative Prime Minister Stephen Harper apologized to indigenous people for Canada's past role in the residential school system. Residential schools were a component of a system that created the issues that we are still trying to resolve today. I spent years reading Haisla archives on how first nations were treated and excluded conditionally from Canada's society …
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Mr. Speaker, before we get started, I want to notify the Chair that I will be dividing my block up three ways. Roughly 97% of Canadian oil gets to the U.S.A. by pipeline. Does the environment minister agree that Canada should build new pipelines to get Canadian oil to non-U.S.A. markets?
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Mr. Speaker, decarbonization will be a requirement for oil exports in non-U.S.A. markets. Will this decarbonization requirement be applied to oil exports going to the United States?
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Mr. Speaker, the Liberal government would reduce project approval from five to three years, but the environmental assessment already states that certificate decisions will be decided upon within one year of environmental assessment commencement. Is there a reason that the one-year approval process laid out in the environmental assessment is being ignored?
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Mr. Speaker, I know the Liberal government does not believe in a first nations veto, but does this apply to the approval of an environmental certificate under the “one project, one review” model or even Bill C-5?
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Mr. Speaker, will the Liberal government require consensus from first nations for an environmental certificate to be issued?
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Mr. Speaker, British Columbia has already said no to oil pipelines, and it seems the Liberal government will obey that demand, regardless of the tariff crisis. Is this a veto?
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Mr. Speaker, national consensus will be required from all provinces for pipelines to be built in Canada. Will consensus be required by all federal ministers as well?
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Mr. Speaker, even the B.C. NDP has removed its decarbonization policies for LNG export facilities. This is not politics. Even Canada's Parliamentary Budget Officer forecast a $20.5-billion reduction in GDP and potential job loss of 54,000 full-time jobs under this energy production cap. Canada's loss is America's gain. Again, will the Prime Minister scrap the Canadian job-killing and Canadian econ…
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Mr. Speaker, over nine years, the Liberals' anti-energy laws have weakened our country, to the benefit of the United States. Canadian oil and gas piped to the United States provides jobs and revenue for Americans, not Canadians, and get this: It is at a discount. Canada's energy potential has been stalled by anti-energy laws from the Liberal government for close to a decade. Will the Prime Ministe…
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