Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, Ted, who is a constituent of mine in Parksville, came to me last week and most of his teeth had fallen out. I have since learned that all of his teeth have fallen out and he cannot eat. He is having challenges. He is one of the 6.7 million Canadians who do not have dental coverage and do not see a dentist on a regular basis. The member asked what the New Democrats honestly believe. We…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, a ship-breaking facility has opened up in the community of Union Bay in my riding. This process involves the disassembling of large vessels, container ships and barges for the extraction of raw materials, mostly for scrap. The lack of federal regulations to protect workers and the ecosystem is apparent and has caused huge concern for local residents, governments and first nations. Whi…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, we keep hearing about inflation. We have heard about the housing crisis. Right now in my riding housing has gone up over 40% in value just in one year, especially in Port Alberni. People are being pushed out. We need non-market housing. There have been several applications made to the federal government, but it continues to give them the shuffle. More and more people are displaced or …
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, it is a privilege to rise and table this petition on behalf of residents of Courtenay, Cumberland, Bowser and Royston in my riding. They are citing that 83% of Canada's total firefighting essential first responders are volunteers. In addition, 8,000 essential search and rescue volunteers respond to thousands of incidents every year. The tax code of Canada currently allows volunteer fi…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, the member commented earlier about the NDP and the Liberals working together. This is what it looks like: It is actually the Liberal-Conservative coalition that cut and gutted the national housing strategy over 25 years ago. We have lost over 500,000 units because of the Liberal-Conservative coalition to not invest in non-market housing and to come up with incentives for developers to…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, we can all agree on condemning President Putin, and we stand in solidarity with Ukraine. However, I am deeply concerned. The member talked about things we should be talking about, such as visa-free travel for Ukrainians coming to Canada, and ensuring that there is more money going through the Red Cross and matching those funds. Instead, what do the Conservatives do? They decide to e…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, I also would like to congratulate my friend and colleague on his newborn. I liked a lot of what he had to say when it came to human rights, and his work around human rights is certainly something we need to commend. What I am deeply concerned about, and I will not be as nice as my friend from Fredericton, is that I believe this motion is disingenuous in terms of time and building mo…
Read full speech →Private Members' Business
moved that Bill C-216, An Act to amend the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act and to enact the Expungement of Certain Drug-related Convictions Act and the National Strategy on Substance Use Act, be read the second time and referred to a committee. Madam Speaker, it is a huge honour to draw third in the order of precedence this Parliament to be able to move such an important piece of legislation. …
Read full speech →Private Members' Business
Madam Speaker, I do believe we need to work together, and I look forward to working with my colleague. When we talk about thresholds, the concern is that if they are too low they exclude people. They also incentivize people who use drugs to use them more. Typically, thresholds exclude the people who use drugs the most. That is a concern, of course. When I think about the quantity of substances, I …
Read full speech →Private Members' Business
Madam Speaker, I want to thank my colleague for always pushing really hard to increase health transfers to provinces, which is so important because we know the system is underfunded. People need immediate access to treatment. They cannot get that right now. Regarding the amount of money that has been spent, when we compare COVID-19 with the overdose crisis, the stigma is there. It is pretty clear.…
Read full speech →Private Members' Business
Madam Speaker, I want to thank my colleague for supporting this bill. I am disappointed I am not getting a question from the Conservative Party today on such a critical issue, because people are dying. If we do not take action and we continue on the path we are going down, it is a death sentence for drug users. I have to say that the status quo is not working. Ideology cannot get in the way of exp…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, here we are debating concerns about the threat to democratic representation in the House of Commons and the lack thereof. We know proportional systems have better representation in terms of democracy. The Prime Minister ran on a platform in 2015 that it would be the last unfair election and that we would get rid of the first past the post system, which we know does not work very well.…
Read full speech →Orders of the Day
Madam Speaker, we can agree, my colleague and friend and I, that all levels of government had failed here in Ottawa. The occupiers had been asked to leave. They were asked to leave by the Anishinabe and Algonquin people. The City of Ottawa and the Conservative Premier of Ontario had also tried to use their tools to move the people from Ottawa. Even a court injunction could not end this occupation.…
Read full speech →Orders of the Day
Madam Speaker, we have heard a lot of division and rhetoric throughout the occupation. We heard that the Leader of the Opposition said she did not think we should be asking the protesters to go home, that we need to turn this into the Prime Minister's problem and more divisive action like that. Also, one of the top four leaders of the convoy was a former Conservative candidate. On the other side, …
Read full speech →Orders of the Day
Madam Speaker, first, I want to thank my colleague, on behalf of all Canadians, for his service to our country. We are supporting this measure reluctantly, and we have made that very clear. We have heard from other members of the Conservative Party: Doug Ford, himself a Conservative and the Premier of Ontario; Peter MacKay, the former defence minister and minister of justice under the Stephen Harp…
Read full speech →Orders of the Day
Mr. Speaker, the member knows that the NDP is reluctantly supporting this motion, and we will use all the powers at our disposal to hold the government to account while this Emergencies Act remains in place. I support his denouncing of the gaslighting of the Conservatives, and of the occupation and the convoy itself. However, I do believe there are many Canadians who have been pushed to the margin…
Read full speech →Orders of the Day
Mr. Speaker, I want to acknowledge the important interventions of my colleagues across all political lines throughout the weekend and today. We are all tired. Canadians are tired. I want to make sure it is unequivocally clear that NDP members are taking the use of the Emergencies Act very seriously. We have been unequivocally clear that if we vote in favour of the government's request, as we will …
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, the sense of urgency is so real. These are the lowest-income seniors in our country who have had clawbacks because of the failure of the Liberal government. As the New Democrats, we are here to get help for seniors now. I want to give a shout-out to my colleague, the MP for North Island—Powell River, for being vigilant and pressing the government to fix this problem. We are here to …
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, I first want to thank my colleague whom I have a great respect for. However, my concern is the lack of urgency from the Conservative bench. These are the lowest-income seniors in our country who have had their GIS clawed back. They cannot afford their rent, food or medicine. Some of them are cutting their pills in half. That is unacceptable. Today, we are talking about an urgent sit…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, I want to go back to my colleague for the question about a guaranteed annual livable income. He did not answer it. We know that seniors are living in poverty, and I want to know if the Conservatives support ensuring that no seniors are living below the poverty line. A guaranteed livable income would ensure that will not happen. We are all disappointed about the Liberals dropping the…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, my colleague talked passionately about the need to support seniors. Clearly this is an urgent situation. These are the most vulnerable seniors in our country that the government has gone after with clawbacks. I really want to thank the member for North Island—Powell River for the important work she did on pressuring the government to respond to this situation. Does my colleague agree …
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, first, the member for Elgin—Middlesex—London talked about her parents watching, and she must be very proud. They have a wonderful daughter, and I always appreciate her interventions. However, I have an issue the member's party when it comes to seniors. Conservative members voted against really important NDP proposals, such as pharmacare to help seniors make sure they get access to med…
Read full speech →Statements by Members
Mr. Speaker, the Nuu-chah-nulth people lost a hero last fall. Willard Gallic Sr. was a respected elder of the Tseshaht First Nation. He passed at the age of 81, following a life of joy and accomplishment. He dedicated his life to standing up for Nuu-chah-nulth rights, treaty negotiations and language and culture. He worked on the docks and was an active member of Local 503 of the International Lon…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Madam Speaker, last week, reports emerged that the government has been polling to see if it could get away with cutting back the Canada Post services Canadians rely on. Across the country, hundreds of thousands of people including seniors and people with disabilities rely on door-to-door delivery. While he says he is a friend to labour, the Prime Minister continues to undermine union rights and go…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, since the government was elected, 25,000 lives have been lost in this country due to a poisoned drug supply. There was no mention of this in the Speech from the Throne, and nothing in the mandate letter to the health minister. It ranked sixth in the Minister of Mental Health and Addictions's mandate letter. The courageous answer to this crisis is full decriminalization, regulated safe…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, it is a huge honour to table this petition on behalf of residents of Cumberland, Courtenay, Parksville and Port Alberni. The petitioners want to draw the attention of the House of Commons to the estimated 235,000 people in Canada who experience homelessness every year. Canada's commitment to reduce homelessness right now by 50% over 10 years would still leave 117,500 Canadians homeles…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, I want to thank my colleague for her speech. It is great to see us working together. This started in the Saskatchewan legislature, led by the Saskatchewan NDP. I met with Dr. Katharine Smart from the CMA yesterday. She cited that there are pre-existing shortages. We need $3.2 billion for 7,500 new doctors and nurses. We need $6 billion to end the wait-lists in our health care system…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, I really appreciate my colleague talking about the deficiencies when it comes to health care transfers to the provinces. As I said earlier, I met with the Canadian Medical Association's Dr. Smart yesterday. She cited that $6 billion is needed right now just to end waiting lists. We know that health care workers are stressed. They are tired. We know there is money out there, and that…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague for his important speech. As he outlined, this is a company that had $3 billion in profits last year. It paid taxes for 100 years and now, because it sees that there is a loophole, it wants to go back and claw back $300 million. This would have a huge impact on education services and health services in the province of Nova Scotia. Could my colleague speak about …
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, I have heard this member talk about the NDP voting against the Liberals' omnibus bill when they were going to impose some taxes, a very small amount, on the 1%, but they failed in that bill to make sure that Amazon, Google and Facebook would pay their fair share. They failed to close tax havens and end CEO stock loopholes. We have a health care system that is starving right now. We …
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, I will be splitting my time with the good member for Edmonton Griesbach. Last year, the government's Health Canada expert task force on substance use, with 18 esteemed experts in this field, came together. They cited in their recommendations and report that bold actions are urgently needed, including decriminalization and the development of a single public health framework to regulate…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, that is a great question. I appreciate my colleague's bringing up that point. Not only do we have fentanyl on our streets, we have carfentanil. Carfentanil is 100 times more potent than fentanyl. It is 4,000 times more potent than heroin and 10,000 times more potent than morphine. It is killing people. People who use drugs and people who are addicted to drugs need a regulated safe sup…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, my colleague has been at ground zero of this fight from the beginning. They fought for Insite, and not a single person has died at Insite in its 20 years. It is remarkable It is because politicians are so worried about votes. They are so worried about getting re-elected instead of doing the right thing. That would be my answer. I also believe that these lives do not matter to those …
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Chair, one thing the member talked about, which I was glad to hear him say, is that this is a health issue, not a criminal issue. He recognizes that. However, in this country today, the personal possession of drugs is still a criminal issue. We heard this from the member for Vancouver Centre, and she said the same thing: The police are not enforcing it. People who use drugs are worried about…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Chair, first, I want to thank my friend and colleague from Northumberland—Peterborough South for his passion and compassion. He talked about the lack of support for treatment. Clearly, that is an issue. I am really glad to hear Conservatives advocating for that. About 15% of people who are suffering with opioid disorder, with addiction, want to get treatment, but people cannot access treatment…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, I am going to read a quote from February 13, 2020, from the member for Carleton. On the protesting of indigenous land defenders, he said, “These blockaders are taking away the freedom of other people to move their goods and themselves. That is wrong and the government has laws and tools in place to combat it.” Right now we are seeing an occupation in a Canadian city, and the member …
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, 11 people die every day in this country from death by suicide. A third of those deaths are of people between the ages of 45 and 59. Suicide is the second-leading killer of people between the ages of 15 and 34. Men are three times more likely than women to die from suicide. Our good colleague from Timmins—James Bay put forward a national suicide prevention action plan motion that was…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, I want to thank my colleague from Sturgeon River—Parkland for actually talking about a really important issue. We have seniors who are on GIS and whose money is getting clawed back right now and a promise from the government that the government does not want to talk about. This clawback affects seniors, the most impoverished seniors, those who are in a housing crisis and who have no…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, over the last five years, more than 25,000 Canadians have died of toxic drug overdoses and the pandemic has only made things worse. In my home province of B.C., drug toxicity is the leading cause of death for those aged 19 to 39. That is why I proposed the bill to decriminalize personal possession and increase access to harm reduction and treatment. It is essential to deal with this c…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, I want to thank my colleague for highlighting the Liberal-Conservative coalition to protect the financialization of the housing industry. We keep hearing about affordability and the Liberal and Conservative definitions of what is affordable. Maybe the member could speak about how there is nothing in this bill to fix the broken language they have used in their definition of what is t…
Read full speech →Adjournment Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, it is an honour to rise today to speak about one of the most important issues in our country, the public health emergency that is taking place in our country. We know that the Public Health Agency of Canada expects that more than 3,000 Canadians will die just in the first six months of 2022 from toxic overdoses. We know that they will be from all ages and all walks of life, but it wil…
Read full speech →Adjournment Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, since the government got elected there have been over 25,000 Canadians who have died from this toxic drug supply and overdoses. It is not in anyone's mandate letter. It is not in the Speech from the Throne. It has been six years. The government has ignored its own Health Canada task force on substance use and the recommendations they put forward that are reflected in my bill. Yesterda…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, it is an honour today to table a petition regarding the overdose crisis and the preventable opioid overdoses resulting from fentanyl-poisoned drugs. It is timely, as we lost people in my community over the weekend to a poisoned drug supply. The petitioners from Port Alberni are calling on the government to declare that the current overdose crisis and fentanyl poisoning crisis is a nat…
Read full speech →Speech from the Throne
Madam Speaker, my colleague talked about the government's world-class oceans protection plan. Members are well aware there was a marine debris spill off the west coast in October. That debris is landing on our shores, and the government has basically left it up to the contractor and the company to deal with the cleanup. Meanwhile, the stuff is showing up on the shore, polluting our ecosystem, and …
Read full speech →Speech from the Throne
Before I get started, I want to wish my oldest daughter a happy 22nd birthday: Happy birthday, Maddie. Madam Speaker, I appreciate my colleague's talking about mental health and addictions. People who are struggling, and it is getting worse for them, especially through the pandemic. The people who have the most complex issues and who require complex care certainly need a place to live to start wit…
Read full speech →Speech from the Throne
Mr. Speaker, it is always a delight to get up and talk about a speech from my colleague, because he does such important work, whether in bereavement or in work around suicide prevention. I have joined him every year on Father's Day to talk about men's mental health and suicide among men, because men are three times more likely to die by suicide than women are. It is important that we stand united,…
Read full speech →Speech from the Throne
Madam Speaker, I find it amazing that this member is now up for the third time on the reply to the Speech from the Throne, given there are over 100 members on that bench who have not spoken on it. I am going to follow up with my friend, the member for Abbotsford, who just asked about the three-digit hotline. This member says the government is keen on it, but that is not good enough. The House vote…
Read full speech →Speech from the Throne
Mr. Speaker, I have concerns right now. In the Speech from the Throne, it says the government is continuing to work on the reform of policing in Canada, yet we have not seen any action. In fact, right now we are hearing from land defenders, from indigenous communities, who see a double standard happening in Canada. We have a protest right now that is keeping Ottawa under siege. Seniors and people …
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
With regard to the level of government investments in mental health since 2017 through the Shared Health Priorities and the bilateral agreements between the federal government and provinces and territories, since 2017: (a) what is the status of the Canadian Institute for Health Information’s (CIHI) development and release of additional mental health and substance use health indicators to track sys…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
With regard to government investments in Indigenous mental health, since 2015: (a) what steps has the federal government taken to (i) establish measurable goals to identify and close the gaps in mental health and addictions outcomes with Indigenous peoples and non-Indigenous peoples, (ii) adopt common investment models and deepened integration among federal funding bodies and between federal, prov…
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