Routine Proceedings
With regard to the used F-18 fighter jets the government purchased from Australia: (a) what have been the total costs related to aircraft maintenance since the jets were acquired, broken down by (i) year, (ii) type of expense; (b) what are the projected costs to maintain the aircraft, broken down by fiscal year from present until 2032-33; (c) how much has been spent on improvements, either directl…
Read full speech →Private Members' Business
Madam Speaker, as always, it is a pleasure to rise in the House of Commons for the people of Kamloops—Thompson—Cariboo, especially on an issue such as this. Make no mistake. Heritage is very important to me. When people ask me where I am from, I may say that I grew up in north Kamloops, British Columbia, but my heritage comes from so much farther than that. Both of my parents came from southern It…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
With regard to the backlog of disability benefit claims at Veterans Affairs Canada: (a) what is the number of first applications where veterans are also waiting for a positive decision that will allow them access to delivery of health care treatment, as of March 29, 2022; and (b) where did the 16-week service standard related to the process for receiving disability benefits come from?
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
With regard to the backlog of applications at Veterans Affairs Canada: what are the average and median wait times of (i) first applications, (ii) second applications, (iii) "red-zoned" applications?
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, it is always a pleasure to rise on behalf of the people of Kamloops—Thompson—Cariboo. My colleague from Louis-Saint-Laurent has shown himself again to be a brilliant orator. The Liberal Party has called on the Conservatives to expedite this matter, ostensibly because democracy demands it and that is the will. What does my colleague say to the fact that the Liberal Party has curtailed …
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, it is always a pleasure to rise on behalf of the people of Kamloops—Thompson—Cariboo. Kamloops—Thompson—Cariboo encompasses a somewhat urban centre in Kamloops, but it also has a number of smaller communities, such as Vavenby, Clearwater, Barriere, 100 Mile House and 70 Mile House. I wonder if the member can comment, based on his experience, about the importance of remembering the rur…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, Afghan interpreters are dying. The ministers says that many have arrived, yet only 31% of the number the government assured us would come have arrived. However, the government gave a standing ovation just last week to the immigration minister. Shame on them. The government called an election as Kabul was falling. People were dying, and people continue to die. Shame on them. What do we…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, the only thing they are delivering is less prosperity. When it comes to housing, the housing minister likes to talk about what he has invested. What he does not like to talk about, though, are results. Why is that? It is because there are none, when housing prices have doubled over the last seven years. If this housing minister had a radio show, it would be entitled “All Talk, No Rock…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, it is always a pleasure to rise on behalf of the people of Kamloops—Thompson—Cariboo. The hon. member made a number of points in her speech. One of the points, as I understood it, and these are my words, is that media is at the heart of democracy. Debate is also at the heart of democracy. What did the hon. member's party do, with the help of the NDP, the party that used to stand up fo…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Pardon me, Madam Speaker, there are two. I appreciate my colleague for Winnipeg North pointing that out. Is this really one of the top two issues we want to debate and discuss? There are issues around the House's support for Ukraine, social issues and housing issues. Is this really one of the top two issues to take up our time today?
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, it is always a pleasure to rise on behalf of the people of Kamloops—Thompson—Cariboo. I am fairly new to this place, but as I understand it, there are only three opposition days that are accorded to my colleagues from the Bloc Québécois—
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, it is always a pleasure to rise on behalf of the people of Kamloops—Thompson—Cariboo. I would like to thank my colleague for his intervention and thank my colleague for Nepean who spoke before him, as well. While I agree with him that this should have been brought up at the Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs, I do have a question. When this is eventually debated at th…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, I can be critical of imprudent spending. When my colleagues stood up we were in the midst of a pandemic, and I admit that at this point we are still in an endemic. However, as the colleagues across the aisle like to point out, we have recovered all of the jobs and our economy, according to them, is roaring. We are here debating what is happening today, not the spending that happened…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, it was a pleasure to spend time with my hon. colleague. He is someone who really does care about what happens in the chamber. I had hoped to talk about housing, but I just did not get there. We need shovels in the ground. This is a supply and demand issue. I have frequently heard the housing minister talk in the chamber about the fact that they have spent money and done this and tha…
Read full speech →Government Orders
First, Madam Speaker, I reject the premise that Conservatives are holding this up. The House of Commons is predicated on rigorous debate, and we debate things as part of the democratic process. I have heard from teachers about this. I actually was speaking with one of my colleagues today and learned that if the government had chosen otherwise, as in the choice between a refundable versus a non-ref…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, it is always a pleasure to rise on behalf of the people of Kamloops—Thompson—Cariboo. At the conclusion of her speech, she talked about Conservatives and procedural delays. It seems to me that when the Liberals were in opposition, the same would occur. Be that as it may, let us talk about the fact that there was a pandemic election, as British Columbia literally burned and as Kabul …
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, I will note at the outset that I will be moving an amendment to the amendment at the end of my speech to Bill C-8. As always, it is a pleasure to rise on behalf of the people of Kamloops—Thompson—Cariboo. Out of respect for the four young men who lost their lives recently in Kingston, I will be taking a brief moment of silence to recognize their service and sacrifice, and to honour …
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, as a former Crown prosecutor and somebody who taught at a law school, I note that an investigation can be reopened years after if new evidence surfaces. In the case of a fraud in hundreds of thousands of dollars, this may result in a penitentiary sentence on conviction. My question for the Attorney General is this. Would he support the reopening of an investigation into a serious crim…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, my second petition looks at human rights abuses and environmental damage. The petitioners ask us to require companies to prevent adverse human rights impacts and environmental damages, to require companies to do their due diligence to prevent human rights abuses and damage abroad and to require meaningful consequences for a failure to do so, including criminal justice redress in Canad…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, I rise to present two petitions. The first petition I will present asks us to make it a criminal offence for a person to go abroad and receive an organ taken without the consent of the person giving the organ.
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, I would like to thank my colleague for raising a very important point. I too was disheartened not only when I learned about the allegations but also when I saw that General Vance received a conditional discharge in relation to a finding of obstruction of justice. I will not disparage the brave women and men who put on the uniform each and every day. I agree with the hon. member that…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, it has been a pleasure getting to know my hon. colleague over the past few months, and I look forward to hearing more. Reconciliation applies here too. Part of what we have to do is involve our stakeholders and rights holders in the Arctic. When it comes to maintaining Arctic sovereignty with the Inuit, they should have not just a seat at the table, but the primary seat at the table…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, what happened is that the member's party said it would not buy the jets, rather than entertaining buying the jets. It is a decision that should have been made. It was an election promise that was followed through on. In my view, that was an election promise that should not have been made. Now we have a reckoning in 2022 that it was the wrong decision. That is why 2015 is the magic n…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, it is always a pleasure to rise on behalf of the people of Kamloops—Thompson—Cariboo, especially on such an important issue as this one. I am going to be speaking in favour of this motion. This is an important issue not just generally, but because we are in a different world. The world changed in 2014. The world also changed again a couple of months ago. We are debating here today a…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, in 2009 we had 1.37%. Let us talk about 2022, not 2014 or 2013. For one moment, can we please just park the partisan sanctimony?
Read full speech →Private Members' Business
Madam Speaker, it is always a pleasure to rise on behalf of the members of Kamloops—Thompson—Cariboo. This legislation sounds like it is long overdue. I have one question, and perhaps I will invite my colleague to elaborate on it. I came from an occupation where post-traumatic stress disorder was something we saw in a lot of first responders, and I feel as though this is one step in recognizing th…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, it is always a pleasure to rise on behalf of the people of Kamloops—Thompson—Cariboo. Through translation, I heard the minister say, if I got it right, that this was tackling issues and offences that were not a threat to public safety. We have reckless discharge of a firearm: that means a drive-by shooting, potentially, of an occupied residence. First, how is that not a threat to publ…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, it is always a pleasure to rise on behalf of the people of Kamloops—Thompson—Cariboo. I will first address the hon. member for Kingston and the Islands. I challenge him to find one case where the maximum was imposed, if that was the case. If we are going to discuss mandatory minimum sentences, I note there are a lot of mandatory minimum sentences in the Criminal Code. There are mandat…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, it is always a pleasure to rise on behalf of the citizens of Kamloops—Thompson—Cariboo. My hon. colleague and I do agree on a number of points, one of which is that there is a necessity to keep and to lower incarceration rates for marginalized people. Now, where he and I part company is when he frames the discussion as one around retribution. The courts in this country have consiste…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Madam Speaker, this petition is in support of Bill S-223, seeking to combat forced organ harvesting and trafficking, making it a criminal offence to go abroad and receive an organ taken without consent. This bill has passed the Senate unanimously three times and passed unanimously in the House of Commons in 2019 in the same form. The petitioners hope that this Parliament will act on this petition.
Read full speech →Statements By Members
Madam Speaker, I rise to pay tribute to a 100-year-old World War II veteran: James Francis Edwards, also known as “Stocky” Edwards. A Saskatchewan native, Mr. Edwards joined the Royal Canadian Air Force out of college in 1942. Over the next three years, he became Canada's highest-scoring ace in the Western Desert campaign, attributed with 19 confirmed kills and many more unconfirmed. He served in …
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, the health minister has been asked about 15 questions today, but he has not answered a single one, so I hope he can answer this one from a young woman named Nancy from my riding. Nancy is an indigenous single mother. She works for the federal government, 100% from home. She is vaccine hesitant for personal reasons. Like members of our armed forces, she is now being told that she canno…
Read full speech →Statements By Members
Mr. Speaker, it is wonderful to be joined today by my family here in Ottawa. Juno Beach is one of the most sacred places in Canadian military history. The bravery of 14.000 Canadians who landed there on D-Day continues to inspire generations of Canadians and led directly to the liberation of Europe from tyranny and fascism. A condo development threatens not only the beach but the operations of the…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, it is always a pleasure to rise on behalf of the people of Kamloops—Thompson—Cariboo. I agree with some of what the member talked about with respect to principles, but where we part company is when we discuss the principles underlying libertarianism and individuality. I am going to put the question that I put to the health minister today to him. He talked about the efficacy of mandate…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, thank you for the clarification. With the greatest of respect to the member for Hamilton Centre, I represent real working people as well. My riding has seen a record number of sawmills shut down. My riding is even complaining about not being able to find workers when we do have industries there. With all due respect, I am not sure that simply capitalism is the problem here. The proble…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, I recently spoke with a veteran named Nicole. Day after day for many years, she was prepared to make the ultimate sacrifice. Nicole was medically discharged from the military after developing PTSD after being sexually assaulted. Caseworkers at Veterans Affairs Canada are overworked, and so much so that calls often cannot be returned, like Nicole's. Nicole's story is a sad one, but it …
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, I am deeply concerned about inflation. My friend and colleague for Vaughan—Woodbridge just mentioned that he was prepared to fight for the middle-class Canadian. I found that really interesting as I was listening to and reflecting on his comments, because Canadians are concerned about inflation. When we ask about this in the House, especially on this side of the House, we hear that in…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, I am certainly sympathetic to the people of Conception Bay South with gas at $1.91. I still remember when the gas stations were making room for the one in front of the zero, in Vancouver when I was an undergraduate university student. That was not that long ago, and here we are. I am certainly sympathetic. With respect to fewer goods or the same amount of goods, we have goods. Those g…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, I have learned a lot from the member for Central Okanagan—Similkameen—Nicola, as I have learned from members on all sides of the aisle, so I thank him for that. I am not sure why the Prime Minister would have voted against this. This is a pretty clear-cut right thing to do. When we have foreign money coming in, it will increase costs. Not only that, when we talk about money laundering…
Read full speech →Statements By Members
Mr. Speaker, I rise today to deliver a statement on behalf of a member of my staff, Mr. Michael Friesen: In the 1940’s, my grandparents were Ukrainian Mennonites, pacifist farmers caught in a war between two world powers. As the Soviet Red Army swept through Ukraine, they ruthlessly attacked these peaceful people. My grandparents fled with their families as refugees, through Holland, into Paraguay…
Read full speech →Orders Of The Day
Madam Speaker, I rise on a point of order. Twice I referenced the Comprehensive Ontario Police Services Act, and I referenced a specific provision that was in a schedule while the act is in force. I came to learn from a very sharp-eyed person that the schedule is not in force, so I withdraw my comments that were made with respect to section 21 in that schedule.
Read full speech →Orders of the Day
Madam Speaker, it is always a pleasure to rise on behalf of the people of Kamloops—Thompson—Cariboo. The hon. member took a very analytical approach in his speech and I do appreciate all that he said. Earlier in question period, the hon. Minister of Justice was asked about releasing any legal opinions in his capacity as Minister of Justice and Attorney General that were provided to him as minister…
Read full speech →Orders of the Day
Madam Speaker, it is always a pleasure to rise on behalf of the people of Kamloops—Thompson—Cariboo. I have noticed a trend as a sit here in the House of Commons on behalf of my constituents, and it is as though the speeches coming from the government benches are pretty much exactly the same. They cite the exact same rationale in just about the exact same order. In fact, section 21 of the Comprehe…
Read full speech →Orders of the Day
Madam Speaker, it is always a pleasure to rise on behalf of the citizens of Kamloops—Thompson—Cariboo. I respectfully depart from my colleague's analysis where he says that Canada has never been more united. Frankly, it has been divided, and it has been mostly divided by our Prime Minister and his rhetoric. I want to zero in on one thing the hon. member said. He mentioned two comments that were re…
Read full speech →Orders of the Day
Mr. Speaker, it is always a pleasure to rise on behalf of the people of Kamloops—Thompson—Cariboo. I take this member's remarks to be that in his view, the temperature really has to be dialed down and that we have to really watch that things do not become normalized. I wonder if he can comment, when it comes to normalizing things, on the Prime Minister's lack of apology to the member for Thornhill…
Read full speech →Orders of the Day
Mr. Speaker, it is always a pleasure to rise on behalf of the people of Kamloops—Thompson—Cariboo. I find it rather disheartening that we have an ode to hope here, but partisan rhetoric really couches it. One thing the hon. member said in his speech is that public opinion is on his side. I would like to ask him when the rule of law became subordinate to public opinion. He cited those two principle…
Read full speech →Orders of the Day
Madam Speaker, it is always a pleasure to rise on behalf of the people of Kamloops—Thompson—Cariboo. I would like to ask my hon. colleague something that really builds on the question that was asked of the member for Kingston and the Islands. The member for Kingston and the Islands asked this hon. colleague's colleague about the Emergencies Act. I really hope that this gets through. That is this. …
Read full speech →Orders of the Day
Mr. Speaker, it is always a pleasure to rise on behalf of the people of Kamloops—Thompson—Cariboo. My hon. colleague, the hon. parliamentary secretary, spoke about many lawyers in this House who have scrutinized this bill and have felt that the threshold is met. Well, I can tell him that after scrutinizing the bill, this lawyer does not feel that the threshold has been met. The member spoke about …
Read full speech →Orders of the Day
Madam Speaker, I will be splitting my time for remarks with the hon. member for South Surrey—White Rock. It is an honour to rise on behalf of the citizens of Kamloops—Thompson—Cariboo, not only in this House generally but in such important times. Sometimes we do forget what a tremendous honour it is. I am sad, though, to be here discussing emergency measures today. This has been a time, with respe…
Read full speech →Orders of the Day
Madam Speaker, the Criminal Code actually deals with all of those issues. When the hon. member speaks about the invocation of a state of emergency, I did not see a single thing change. He is right. I did not see a single thing change. I did not see any enforcement change. What was step one? What was step two? We cannot simply do this because we do not like how something is being enforced. It shoul…
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