Routine Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, as much as I would like to do the back-and-forth here, I am hearing from constituents in my riding who are deeply concerned about the privatization of health care. They expect health care to be based on need, not the thickness of their wallets. We saw in Alberta the scheme to let doctors jump between the public system and a pay-to-access private stream that shreds the spirit of our un…
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Mr. Speaker, coastal communities are running out of time. Key federal programs to protect wild salmon and restore critical habitat expire in March, and they were not included in this budget. The government still has not confirmed their renewal, and communities cannot wait for a spring economic statement. On the west coast, wild salmon are vital for food security, culture, the ecosystem and the eco…
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Mr. Speaker, I am tabling this petition that was collected by Doctors Against Genocide. They state that under common article 1 of the Geneva Conventions, Canada is required to respect international humanitarian law. The petitioners highlight that under article 59 of the fourth Geneva Convention, Israel as an occupying power must allow and facilitate humanitarian aid by impartial organizations. Can…
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Mr. Speaker, it is critical that we plug economic leakages right now. In 2010, the Conservatives scrapped the 25% tariff on foreign-built ferries, claiming Canadian shipyards could not compete. The Liberals made that mistake permanent in 2016. Since then, ferry contracts and good jobs have gone overseas while communities like Port Alberni on Vancouver Island lack the dry dock capacity for shipbuil…
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Madam Speaker, we see how these trade deals have played out, and we want to make sure we have trade deals that support workers. We see right now big oil, big banks and big grocery posting record profits while people get squeezed at the till and at the pump when they try to cover their costs. The Brits charge an excess profit on the runaway greed of oil and gas companies. Will the Liberal governmen…
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Mr. Speaker, our health care system is already stretched, yet the federal government piles on needless work. The College of Family Physicians warns that the disability tax credit form is worsening the strain and costing patients access to care. Instead of fixing it, budget 2025 allocates $10 million to help people navigate the same broken system. Provinces already determine disability eligibility.…
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Mr. Speaker, coastal communities are running out of time. Key federal programs that protect wild salmon and restore critical habitat expire in March, and they were not in the budget. The federal government has not confirmed their renewal, and communities cannot wait for a spring economic statement. On the west coast, wild salmon are vital for food security, culture, the ecosystem and the economy. …
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Mr. Speaker, in 2021, the Zim Kingston lost over 100 shipping containers. In 2016, the Hanjin Seattle spilled dozens, and now a barge off Bella Bella has nearly gone down with a full load. Each time, first nations and local communities are left to respond and face lasting impacts. The Transportation Safety Board says that Canada still has no system for cargo unit or marine debris spills. When will…
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Madam Speaker, I rise on behalf of petitioners for my riding of Courtenay—Alberni. I am honoured to table this petition today. The petitioners say that Prime Minister Carney made the “elbows up” promise to defend Canadian sovereignty and democracy, and distinguish Canada from the dangerous politics of the United States. Bill C-2, they highlight, appears as a Trojan Horse for sweeping surveillance …
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Madam Speaker, I apologize. It is an honour to table this petition on behalf of petitioners from my riding of Courtenay—Alberni. They highlight that the Prime Minister made the “elbows up” promise to defend Canadian sovereignty and democracy, and distinguish Canada from the dangerous politics of the United States. They highlight that Bill C-2 appears as a Trojan Horse for sweeping surveillance pol…
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Madam Speaker, I appreciate my colleague's talking about how the health care system is overburdened and there is too much bureaucracy. The College of Family Physicians of Canada has cited that approximately 250,000 disability tax credit forms were processed in 2022. It estimates that this amounts to about 250,000 hours of physician time lost, and a million patient visits as well, just for physicia…
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Madam Speaker, Norway has $1.9 trillion in its sovereign wealth fund. It earned over $200 billion last year in dividends alone. That equates to about $340,000 per citizen. Alberta's heritage fund looks like it is making sure that nurses and teachers are not getting the fair wages they deserve. It attacks their private health care system. Last year, Imperial Oil earned $5 billion, and it laid off 9…
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Mr. Speaker, the Liberal government is trying to revive a failed bitumen pipeline from Alberta through B.C. that went nowhere under Stephen Harper's Conservatives and still has no first nation consent. Talks about ending the oil tanker ban to enable this scheme in an MOU without B.C. at the table and without coastal first nations involvement is harming a critical relationship in getting things don…
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Mr. Speaker, we heard the Prime Minister in the time before the budget. He said it was going to be a transformational and generational budget, but when he tabled the budget, he failed to address the critical issues that Canadians are facing today: the affordability crisis, the cost of living crisis and unemployment. We have seen the highest unemployment in a decade. There is a failure to deal with…
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Mr. Speaker, I want to thank my colleague, who has been working closely with me on mental health issues for many years. We both understand that the Canadian government has a document for a Canadian substitute strategy. It says we have a coordinated, integrated, compassionate approach, but guess what. There is no plan with a timeline and no money behind it. It means nothing without that, absolutely…
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Mr. Speaker, I want to thank my colleague for showing such passion on a critical issue that is costing the lives of Canadians. We have heard from chief medical health officers, chief corners, chiefs of police, the First Nations Health Authority and Moms Stop the Harm. They have all been consistent in saying that we need to get politicians out of the way. We need to support evidence-based and exper…
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Mr. Speaker, it is an honour to table what I hope is my final petition calling for a national aerial firefighting task force, which was included in the budget. The petitioners call on the government to work in partnership with the private sector to retrofit a portion of Canada's retired Lockheed CC-130 Hercules fleet; turn them into large air tankers for use in wildfire suppression across Canada; …
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Mr. Speaker, clearly this was not an NDP budget. I promised I would go home and listen to the constituents. I talked to all nine mayors in my riding, three regional district chairs and 17 elected chief councillors in my riding. All of them were unanimous in that they said not to vote against the budget and not to bring down the government. That was what they said, although almost all of them oppos…
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Mr. Speaker, my concern is not about the influence over the official opposition, but over the government. The government is the one who brought in draconian legislation like Bill C-5, which the Conservatives would never even have dreamt of bringing forward. Of course they support it, because they know that it tramples indigenous rights and it overrides provincial governments and their aspirations.…
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Mr. Speaker, it is an honour to rise today to table a petition on behalf of Canadians who are deeply concerned about the future of indigenous languages. The petitioners draw the attention of the House to the fact that reconciliation requires urgent action to address the devastating loss of language and culture that indigenous peoples have experienced. Petitioners note that while more indigenous pe…
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Mr. Speaker, on its website, the College of Family Physicians of Canada cites that over 250,000 hours of family physicians' time, equivalent to about one million patient visits, is spent doing the disability tax credit form. In this budget, the Liberals would put $10 million aside to help pay for that. Would it not be easier if, instead of wasting $10 million of taxpayer money and a million hours …
Read full speech →Statements by Members
Mr. Speaker, coastal communities are running out of time. Key federal fisheries programs that protect Pacific salmon and repair critical habitats are set to expire in March, and the federal government has still not confirmed their renewal. Communities cannot wait until the next budget for answers. Across the coast of British Columbia, remarkable work is happening. First nations are leading salmon …
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Mr. Chair, in my home province of British Columbia, we are asking the government to treat forestry like the other sectors, such as the auto sector and the steel and aluminum sector, when it comes to relief, but right now that is not happening. There is a $1.2-billion bailout that is as slow as molasses rolling out the door. There is $50 million allotted for workers, and there are 200,000 workers i…
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Mr. Chair, before I get started, I just want to respond to a comment by my colleague from New Brunswick, who talked about the impact on forestry workers and communities. He talked about his family connection to the forestry sector. I also have a family connection. My great-grandfather and my great-grandmother lived in Ocean Falls, where my great-grandfather was a papermaker. My grandmother and my …
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Mr. Chair, we have seen the Liberals retaliate. We have seen them come back and fight back, but they are not leveraging when it comes to the forest sector and softwood lumber. Maybe the U.S. will target steel or go after auto and we will see the government fight back, but we are not seeing the same attitude when it comes to the softwood lumber industry. This dispute has been going on since 2017. I…
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Mr. Chair, the federal government has created a federal industry national working group when it comes to steel and aluminum, but it still has not done that for forestry. It does not have a round table that includes workers and forest producers. That is completely ridiculous at this point in the game. We are asking for the federal government to create a softwood working group, a table that has the …
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Mr. Chair, right now Donald Trump is actually claiming that Canadian forest products are a national security threat to the United States. It is absolutely absurd. In fact, British Columbia and Canada are now facing higher softwood lumber tariffs at 45% than Putin's Russia. Clearly, we need a more comprehensive, high-level negotiating framework, similar to what the European Union achieved. Would my…
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Mr. Chair, I want to thank my colleague. He has been an incredible champion for the forest products sector in Quebec. I work with him on the all-party forestry caucus on this very important issue. It has been a real pleasure. In terms of what we need to do and look at, we need to take an all-out approach. That could mean mass timber, ensuring that when we build houses in this country, we use Canad…
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Mr. Chair, my colleague and I share mills on Vancouver Island that actually are integrated in their supply, whether in Crofton or Port Alberni. This is really important. The Prime Minister is going down to Washington and talking about the auto industry, steel and aluminum. I am not saying these are not important, but we never hear about the Prime Minister's talking about forestry and the softwood …
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Mr. Chair, first I want to thank the parliamentary secretary for talking about working together for the establishment of a biomass tax credit, which will support the paper mills in Port Alberni and Crofton on Vancouver Island. However, we need more of that collaboration. Steel, aluminum and energy all have working tables to mandate fast-tracking solutions when it comes to duties. What we need is f…
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Mr. Chair, we saw during COVID that we can move quickly. The government announced $1.2 billion in relief, but that is not getting to the companies in real time. We are hearing that there is a huge disconnect when it comes to the banks and the liquidity that is needed right now. Will the parliamentary secretary and will the government act in the same urgency as we did with COVID in getting relief o…
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Mr. Chair, in 2017, when Donald Trump was in his first administration, he took aim at Canada when it came to steel tariffs. What did we do? We created a team Canada approach. We flooded Washington, across party lines. Our regional caucuses in the Pacific Northwest Economic Region were down in Spokane. We were working together. Right now, that is not happening. We are not seeing the government work…
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Mr. Speaker, it is an honour to table e-petition 6675, signed by petitioners primarily from Union Bay, British Columbia. They highlight that the B.C. Ministry of Environment and Climate Change Strategy conducted a study in Baynes Sound. They found discharges of effluent with toxins, of both acute and chronic concentration, exceeding the provincial water guidelines. The petitioners highlight that c…
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Mr. Speaker, I rise on a point of order. There has to be some decorum in the House, please. The insults are not acceptable. Canadians are counting on us to have good debate about important issues. I think the member's comment is out of line. I have a deep respect for both members. I want to highlight that.
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Mr. Speaker, as my colleague knows, there are 1.6 million Canadians living with a brain injury in this country. In the last Parliament, Bill C-277 was passed unanimously to report stage. It was not in the budget to support a national brain injury strategy. Will she—
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Mr. Speaker, in British Columbia right now, all the salmon restoration enhancement programs are set to sunset in March. The fisheries are waiting to hear about renewal of funding. They cannot wait for the spring economic statement. Will my colleague ensure that the government gets to the table and announces to British Columbians what the plan is when it comes to the restoration and protection of w…
Read full speech →Adjournment Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, first, I want to begin tonight by honouring the courageous teachers and students from the Nuxalk Nation in Bella Coola who put themselves directly in harm's way to protect school children during a terrifying grizzly bear attack. This act of heroism reminds us of the strength and resilience of coastal communities. Our hearts are with the Nuxalk Nation and the people of Bella Coola at t…
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Mr. Speaker, my colleague talked about the new youth climate corps, and I am really happy to see the government do that, but the intention when the NDP advocated for the creation of the youth climate corps was not for young people to clean up catastrophic oil spills on the coast of British Columbia. When Bill C-5 was brought forward, the government made a commitment. The Prime Minister said he wou…
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Mr. Speaker, the Liberals might try to dismiss these concerns, but the facts are clear: Coastal first nations have repeatedly warned that any move to weaken the oil tanker moratorium puts communities, ecosystems and sustainable local economies at risk. If the government is engaging in closed-door talks about crude oil tanker traffic through the Great Bear Rainforest and Great Bear Sea without Brit…
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Mr. Speaker, it is an honour today to rise to table a petition on behalf of petitioners from Parksville, Qualicum Beach, Courtenay, Cumberland and Port Alberni in my riding. They are calling for urgent federal leadership regarding brain injury awareness, prevention and treatment. The petitioners note that brain injuries can occur in many ways, from accidents to illnesses and strokes, and that they…
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Mr. Speaker, we just heard at COP30 that Canada got awarded the fossil award. Here we have, right now, Liberals who are competing with Conservatives on who can out-pipeline the other.
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The Conservatives are saying they won. Mr. Speaker, they want to keep the fossil award, year after year. I do not doubt that they are going to get it, the way things are going. There is a proposal that is going to be talked about later in the week. The Prime Minister is meeting in private with Danielle Smith, the Premier of Alberta. He is not consulting with the Province of British Columbia, nor i…
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Mr. Speaker, I have a great deal of respect for my colleague. We know that friendship centres are lifelines for indigenous people in urban communities, providing food, housing, safety, culture and belonging. The pressure on them is beyond the breaking point. Their core funding runs out in March, and this budget does not talk about sunset programs like funding for friendship centres. Will my collea…
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Mr. Speaker, first I want to congratulate my colleague on his newborn baby. That is such a blessing. In 2010 the Conservatives temporarily scrapped the 25% ferry import tariff, sending Canadian shipbuilding jobs to heavily subsidized foreign yards. The finance minister at the time said that the tariffs did not serve any purpose because the ships to which they applied could not be built in Canada. …
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Mr. Speaker, I am rising today to table a petition from Canadians who are deeply concerned about the urgent need for humanitarian aid in Gaza. The petitioners note that according to common article 1 of the Geneva Conventions, Canada must respect international humanitarian law. They highlight that article 59 of the fourth Geneva Convention requires occupying powers to allow impartial humanitarian r…
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Mr. Speaker, it is a privilege to rise on behalf of constituents of mine from Courtenay, Cumberland, Errington and Parksville who have all signed a petition. They cite that when the Plant Breeders' Rights Act was amended in 2015, farmers rang the bell that the age-old right to save seed on their own farms was being reframed as farmer's privilege, which could be taken away by regulation. They warne…
Read full speech →Adjournment Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, as members are well aware, I am rising again, as I have on many occasions in the past, to raise the issue of mental health for Canadians and the government's failure to follow through on its commitments. I am flagging that again because mental health is health. Back on October 7, I asked the minister why the Liberals were abandoning their promise to make mental health a full and equal…
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Mr. Speaker, this month being Movember, I attended an event last evening on the topic of men's mental health, which included having the opportunity to chat with Michelle Terry, Movember's global CEO, about the importance of investing in the unique health challenges facing men and boys. This is something the health minister specifically referenced in her own remarks at the event last night. Two in …
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Mr. Speaker, my colleague and I may disagree on how we proceed to deal with the mental health and toxic drug crisis, but one thing we can agree on is that the Liberal government has failed to show any leadership. In the House yesterday, I raised the fact that over 52,000 Canadians have died of toxic overdoses. The response from the Liberal government was that it is a provincial and territorial res…
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Mr. Speaker, friendship centres are lifelines for indigenous people in urban communities, providing food, housing, safety, culture and belonging. The urban indigenous population is growing rapidly, and friendship centres are already stretched past the breaking point. Their core funding runs out in March. Budget 2025 offered nothing. Without stable permanent funding, programs will be cut, and doors…
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