Government Orders
Madam Speaker, we agree. We do not know why the government has taken so long to retable this bill, which was first introduced in the last Parliament, especially given the circumstances. We know there is a huge backlog in Canada's justice system. It is not a new issue. As a means of addressing court backlogs, why did the government oppose recommendation 1 of the 2017 report of the House of Commons …
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Mr. Speaker, I want to thank my colleague for his speech. We sit on the Standing Committee on Government Operations and Estimates together. My colleague knows that the backlog in Canada's justice system is not a new issue. The government has known that the system has needed an overhaul since before the Liberals first took office after the previous Harper government. I am wondering why they took al…
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Madam Speaker, winter is coming, and many Canadians are worried they will not be able to afford to heat their homes. Conservatives suggest removing the carbon tax from home heating as a way to make life more affordable for Canadians. The New Democrats know that in provinces and territories that have their own carbon pricing, like in British Columbia, and the carbon tax in B.C. was brought in by th…
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Madam Speaker, I do appreciate my colleague talking about lapsed spending and ensuring the men and women who serve in Canada's military get the right equipment. When he talks about lapsed spending, I remind my colleague that the Conservatives left $1.2 billion unspent that was dedicated to veterans. He just scolded the Liberal government when it was the Harper government that cut a third of Vetera…
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Madam Speaker, in relation to diseases caused by mental illness, compared to G7 and OECD peers, Canada is underspending on mental health. France spends 15% of its health care budget on mental health and the U.K. spends 13%. My colleague, whom I respect a lot, talked about having no strings attached on mental health transfers, but currently, mental health spending makes up between 5% and 7% of heal…
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Madam Speaker, I am confused. I am hearing Conservatives talk about democracy and say they want to have an opportunity to speak. The whole premise of this is to ensure we sit later, so they all get a chance to get up and speak on a bill. We want to work later.
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, I rise on a point of order. There have been consultations and I believe, if you seek it, you will find unanimous consent for the following motion that, given that, first, the mental health of Canadians has been negatively impacted by the COVID–19 pandemic; second, the toxic drug crisis has worsened during the COVID–19 pandemic and continues to have a tragic impact on communities; thir…
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Madam Speaker, it is true. That is exactly what we are doing here. We are trying to ensure that everybody gets an opportunity, by sitting to midnight. We want to work hard. We came here to work. I came 11 hours to get here from my door, from a riding that has 31 communities and is three time zones away. I am willing to sit here until midnight. I am willing to get the work done. Maybe the governmen…
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With regard to the recommendations made by the Expert Task Force on Substance Use to Health Canada in its May 2021 and June 2021 reports: (a) which recommendations does the government fully accept; (b) which recommendations does the government not accept in whole or in part; (c) for recommendations the government does not fully accept, what is the rationale for the disagreement; and (d) what steps…
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Mr. Speaker, the Liberals said they would ensure that mental health care would be treated as a full and equal part of Canada's universal public health care system. They promised to fund mental health supports. However, that funding is again nowhere to be found in the fall economic statement. With rising costs and long wait-lists, struggling Canadians have been left with nowhere to turn but crowded…
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Mr. Speaker, I am honoured to table a petition on behalf of constituents from Courtenay, Cumberland and Royston in my riding. The petitioners cite that the current electoral system in Canada states that a party can win a majority of seats and all the power with less than half the popular vote; that proportional representation ensures majority governments have an actual majority of the voters' popu…
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With regard to the Substance Use and Addictions Program, since its creation in 2016: (a) what applications for funding have been denied, including, for each proposed project, the (i) organization, (ii) project title, (iii) description, (iv) primary focus, (v) location, (vi) contribution amount sought from the Government of Canada, (vii) project duration, (viii) reason the funding was denied; (b) w…
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With regard to the creation of a Canada mental health transfer to assist provinces and territories expand the delivery of mental health services: (a) what stakeholders have government representatives met with since November 22, 2021; and (b) on what dates were meetings in (a) held?
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With regard to the federal electoral district of Courtenay—Alberni, between the fiscal year 2012-13 and the current year: what are all the federal infrastructure investments, including direct transfers to municipalities, regional district associations or First Nations, national parks, highways, other entities, broken down by fiscal year?
Read full speech →Private Members' Business
Madam Speaker, as pleased as I am to join the debate this evening to speak on Bill C-290, an act to amend the Public Servants Disclosure Protection Act, I am sad I have to be doing it from my home. I have had to come back to the unceded land of Tseshaht and Hupacasath and the homelands of the Nuu-chah-nulth people to attend the funeral of the Tla-o-qui-aht Chief Muuchinink, also know as Bruce Fran…
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Madam Speaker, I am pleased to rise today to discuss the motion regarding the ballooning costs of the ArriveCAN app. In a time when too many Canadians are struggling just to make ends meet, it is critical that the government ensure we have sound stewardship of tax dollars. I share the concerns of Canadians and frontline CBSA officers that the ArriveCAN app has cost way too much and delivered too l…
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Madam Speaker, we are here every day, calling on the government to do the right thing and provide support to Canadians. What we have are gatekeepers from the Conservatives and the Liberals protecting big corporations that are having record profits. Every day we are standing up for Canadians. Today, we are calling for transparency when it comes to outsourcing. Both the Conservatives and the Liberal…
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Madam Speaker, I will just start with the government financing oil and gas. It makes these huge investments in industries that had $147 billion in profit last year, and here the government is subsidizing building the Trans Mountain pipeline, which is skyrocketing out of control. Outsourcing is built into this whole regime. It is a waste of taxpayers' dollars. It could all be going to help improve …
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Madam Speaker, that fits the whole story, the whole regime of the Conservatives and the Liberals. It is about them bailing out their friends, whether it be big oil, big grocery or the big banks. This is what they do. They do not want to go after them and make them pay their fair share. Instead, they leave Canadians hung out to dry. This outsourcing that we are talking about today is again part of …
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Madam Speaker, this needs a deep dive, and it needs support from all parties. We need to work collectively on this. Right now, there have been 18 complaints out of 500 that have come through and made it to the commissioner to look at. Not one has made it to the tribunal. This is not okay. It is actually impossible to imagine that not one whistle-blower complaint would have gone through to the trib…
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Mr. Speaker, people in Canada are struggling with their mental health and accessing help is almost impossible. Yesterday, a report found that almost all Canadian workers have experienced mental distress, and for many it is only getting worse. Years ago, the government said it would amend the Canada Labour Code to protect workers, but the Liberals have failed to follow through, just like they have …
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Mr. Speaker, I rise on a point of order. There have been consultations and I hope that if you seek it, you will find consent for the following motion: That given that: one, that the mental health of Canadians has been negatively impacted by the pandemic; two, that economic conditions are exacerbating financial barriers to mental health supports; and, three, that our public health care system is un…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, it is an honour and privilege to table a petition today on behalf of constituents from Comox Valley, Courtenay and Cumberland in my riding and those of my colleague from north Vancouver Island. The petitioners cite that 27,000 Canadians have died since 2016 due to preventable drug poisoning resulting from a toxic drug supply. The war on drugs has resulted in widespread stigma toward t…
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Madam Speaker, I know my colleague is passionate about the environment. I have witnessed her at OGGO. This is the first time I am rising since learning of the passing of the Tla-o-qui-aht Nation hereditary chief, Muuchinink, also known as Bruce Frank. I would like to pay my condolences to his wife Iris, their daughter and all Tla-o-qui-aht and Nuu-chah-nulth people and the surrounding communities,…
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Madam Speaker, I know the member spoke a bit to the bill and also talked about the carbon tax. My concern when it comes to the carbon tax is that all parties, everybody who is sitting in the House, ran on a platform to put a price on carbon. That is unequivocal. That is what happened. People voted for everybody to be here to deliver that. My bigger concern is that we get here and then parliamentar…
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Madam Speaker, everybody ran on a platform to put a price on carbon in the last election. My colleague asked a very clear question: Does the member believe that humans are exacerbating the warming of the planet and causing climate change and the impacts of climate change? We know his party voted that climate change is not real and is not caused by human impacts. I am hoping we can get a really cle…
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Mr. Speaker, I appreciate that the Liberals are finally listening to the NDP and ensuring that no child will go without getting their teeth fixed and that everybody who needs help will eventually have dental care and get the lift they need. I also appreciate the top-up for housing. However, it is not enough. We know that over 20% of housing in Canada is owned by corporations. Does my colleague agr…
Read full speech →Private Members' Business
Madam Speaker, I want to thank my colleague for trying to bring forward solutions to the crisis we are facing, the mental health care and substance use crisis the country is facing. We know the United Nations' Nelson Mandela rules provide that the quality of health care provided to incarcerated persons must be equivalent to that available to the general population. That is not happening right now.…
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Madam Speaker, I want to thank my colleague who tabled this bill for bringing it forward and for recognizing that we must do more to support people dealing with substance use disorders. As we know, Canada is experiencing multiple crises: a mental health crisis, a toxic drug crisis, a housing crisis and a worsening affordability crisis. There are links between these crises, and they are impacting t…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Madam Speaker, I am tabling a petition on behalf of people from my riding. They cite that over 27,000 Canadians have died since 2016 due to preventable drug poisoning from a toxic drug supply. They cite that our current drug policy has proven to be ineffective in the prevention of substance use and exasperates its harmful effects, and that the war on drugs has resulted in widespread stigma toward …
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Madam Speaker, I want to thank my colleague for talking about refitting buildings, especially, and lowering energy there, which is something we certainly agree on as New Democrats. Even the Conservatives had it in their platform, so it is something we all agree on. The government, through Natural Resources Canada, put out the greener homes grant so people could retrofit their homes, lower their em…
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Madam Speaker, one thing we do not talk enough about when we talk about the right to a healthy environment is indigenous people and food security, and the impact climate change is having on indigenous peoples. Where I live the headline in Chek News today was “Drought destroys wild mushrooms in Vancouver Island forests”. These mushrooms are chanterelles and various different mushrooms. We have neve…
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Madam Speaker, I want to thank my colleague for his speech. He is a good friend. I really appreciated working with him on OGGO when he was our previous chair. I am really grateful that my colleague voted for my Motion No. 51 back in 2018 to tackle plastic pollution and reduce plastics in our environment. He supported the banning of straws and different plastics. Does he not agree that we have a du…
Read full speech →Statements by Members
Madam Speaker, this summer, we lost Robert Evans Skelly, a great parliamentarian and a fearless champion for the rights of women and indigenous and working people. Bob's legacy will be everlasting. He was elected to the B.C. legislature five times as the NDP MLA for Alberni and to the House here as the member for Comox—Alberni for one term. He succeeded Dave Barrett as the leader of the NDP in Bri…
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Madam Speaker, I have a huge amount of respect for my colleague. He talked about police officers and tackling real crime, and I really appreciate him talking about those who are on the front line. We have heard from the police chiefs association. We have heard from police. I have travelled the country, going to 12 cities for my bill regarding the toxic drug crisis. They are very clear and unequivo…
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Mr. Speaker, it is an honour to table petition e-3881, signed by 676 constituents. They cite that Canada's electoral system, from its very inception, has been a first-past-the-post system, unfairly resulting in either a Liberal or Conservative government. Proportional representation is a principle that says the percentage of seats a party has in the legislature should reflect the percentage of peo…
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Madam Speaker, I have so much respect for my colleague. I work with her on the all-party climate caucus. One thing the Conservatives do not want to talk about is the record profits of the bank industry, of grocery chains and of oil and gas. To interpret that for the Conservatives, it is called triple, triple, triple greed. That is just to help them understand what I am talking about. I am going to…
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Madam Speaker, we know Conservatives are ideologically driven in their opposition to the carbon tax. We brought forward an amendment today to remove the GST on home heating because we know people are struggling. We are trying to find ways to work together. If there is a way we could converge and do something to help people right now, removing the GST on home heating would be an incredible opportun…
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Madam Speaker, I agree with the question that just came from the Bloc. We know that oil companies have had record profits, $147 billion last year alone. We have seen that with grocery stores. We have seen it with the big banks. I agree with my colleague that we need to invest in clean energy and support people so they can be energy efficient, and we can lower costs on clean energy. The only way we…
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Madam Speaker, that is hogwash. The NDP has actually been wanting Amazon and the big corporations to pay their fair share. While people cannot afford to pay their home heating costs, which is the debate we are having today, the IMF is saying it is actually runaway corporate greed and CEOs who are making record profits in oil and gas, the banking sector and the grocery stores. To help interpret for…
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Madam Chair, I am really glad we are here to talk about the mental health emergency that is taking place. On October 5, I asked the Speaker if we could have an emergency debate and I was not granted permission to do that. I am grateful that all parties have come together to have this important conversation. I am going to read a quote from Ellen Cohen and Kim Hollihan from the Canadian Alliance on …
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Madam Chair, we know the mental health crisis has been referred to as the parallel pandemic. This House has not had a debate on how to respond to this. Earlier this month, I rose and sought an emergency debate on Canada’s mental health crisis, but unfortunately it was denied. I want to thank the minister, as she acknowledged tonight we have never had this conversation about mental health until ton…
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Madam Chair, that is an excellent question. I want to thank my colleague who had the courage to support my bill and listen to the experts on substance use, Bill C-216, a health-based response to substance use. We need to listen to the experts, listen to the local knowledge in this country and listen to indigenous knowledge about how we move forward. Those 67 leading organizations are ready to deli…
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Madam Chair, I want to thank my colleague for his really important work on the three-digit hotline and on PTSD. I worked with him on the PTSD bill right after we got elected. We are both from the class of 2015, and I really appreciate his leadership when it comes to mental health and working collaboratively. It is not something that I have not been a witness to. I do not have a lived experience of…
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Madam Chair, I have worked with my colleague. He as well had the courage to support moving forward on substance use with a health-based response and listening to Canada's leading experts. The Bloc voted for Bill C-216. I am very appreciative of the opportunity to work with my colleague, who cares. He is open to learning and working together. We may not agree on everything, but he is trying to find…
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Madam Chair, I think back to the community in my riding that was going through that crisis. It did not have mental health supports in place and was desperate. When I came here, I had to beg to get a mental health support worker for one year. The federal government and the minister at the time said it was not their problem and that it was the province's problem, but I explained that it was the mini…
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Madam Chair, I really appreciate my colleague speaking to the sense of urgency. I have a quote from Children's Mental Health Ontario, CMHO, which reads: Kids have borne the weight of this pandemic. They continue to wait on lists for care that were already too long pre-pandemic—some waiting as long as two and a half years in parts of Ontario. The longer kids wait for care, the worse their outcomes …
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Madam Chair, the member for Battle River—Crowfoot could attest that it is very rare that we get along or find common ground on issues, but this is one tonight on which I really do appreciate his speech. It was excellent. He talked about a sense of urgency. He shared his personal story and his vulnerability. It was very generous. We have an issue that we are seeing around this House, which is the n…
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Madam Chair, I cannot thank my colleague enough for her speech, but also for her work on the ground in the mental health sector and in addictions. She knows too well that non-profits are literally surviving on breadcrumbs. The government is delaying the transfer and is worried about getting everything right, but there are 67 national organizations that are saying they need resources as they are su…
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Madam Chair, I cannot thank my colleague enough for her work around mental health, especially for Inuit, first nations and Métis people. She talked about reconciliation. In the Truth and Reconciliation Commission's call to action number 21, it is explicit. It states: We call upon the federal government to provide sustainable funding for existing and new Aboriginal healing centres to address the ph…
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