Orders of the Day
Mr. Speaker, following up on the comment by my Conservative colleague, we have heard from experts who have said that it will not prohibit the leader from speaking on this issue. The member says that his leader would be gagged. If that is the case, why has the leader been silent? If the Conservative leader has all this freedom that he supposedly requires to hold government to account, why is he not…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Madam Speaker, it is a huge honour today to table this petition calling on the government to take urgent issue impacting the health and safety of firefighters across our country. I want to thank my colleague, the member for New Westminster—Burnaby, for pulling together this petition, which is so important. It calls for immediate action to ban pre- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, also known as PFAS…
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moved for leave to introduce Bill C-414, An Act to amend the Canada Health Act (mental, addictions and substance use health services). Mr. Speaker, it is an honour and privilege to rise today to table this landmark legislation, the mental health and substance use parity act, on World Mental Health Day. If passed, the bill will amend the Canada Health Act to expand the definition of insured service…
Read full speech →Adjournment Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, here I am again at the end of the night, the last person here, fighting again for coastal people. Well, it is me, you and the parliamentary secretary, but I would rather be doing other work. For three years, the Liberal government has allowed a company in Union Bay to break apart not a boat but a massive ship that is extended into the water, over the high tide line, and onto land. Thi…
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Mr. Speaker, the oceans protection plan they are talking about sure is not protecting Union Bay or Baynes Sound, which produces 50% of B.C.'s shellfish. It is like some kind of bad joke. This is not about abandoned and derelict vessels. This is a massive ship being broken apart in the water, on the high tide line, on the shore. This is a massive boat without a self-contained floating dry dock. Thi…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, for three years the Liberals have allowed a company in Union Bay to break apart a massive ship in the high tide zone without its being in a self-contained floating dry dock. This is despite objections of the province, local communities and first nations. Nowhere else in the world would this unregulated chaos be allowed to take place. A recent provincial inspection found that the opera…
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Mr. Speaker, the Nuu-Chah-Nulth Tribal Council has declared a state of emergency in every single one of its 14 nations' territories. The lack of mental health support, treatment, recovery and harm reduction services is causing irreparable harm. The Liberal government has failed to deliver the urgently needed supports, and young and older people are paying the price. Indigenous people continue to d…
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Mr. Speaker, young Canadians are in survival mode and rates of anxiety and depression have gone through the roof with the high cost of living and youth unemployment. Many are struggling just to meet their basic needs, like food and shelter, making paying for therapy out of pocket seem like a luxury. The Liberals promised to ensure that mental health is treated as a full and equal part of Canada's …
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Madam Speaker, just so the folks at home completely understand, we are doing this concurrence debate on a finance committee report, a pre-budget report, for a budget that has already been passed. If people at home are wondering what is going on, we are spending approximately $70,000 an hour because the Conservatives have decided to block debating legislation that would help people and block debate…
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Madam Speaker, my colleague talked about the by-election in Elmwood—Transcona. He talked about small business people. For seven years, the NDP led the charge to cap credit card merchant fees and forced the government to do something. The Conservatives sat silent for seven years while small business people paid some of the highest credit card fees in the world. Leila Dance, who won in Elmwood—Trans…
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Madam Speaker, I have worked with my colleague for many years. I really appreciate him. He always comes to the House trying to bring forward ideas on tax fairness. He is doing that again today. We know seniors are feeling the pinch when it comes to the housing crisis and inflation. What is being proposed, and what he is talking about in his speech, is about making sure that those who are 65 to 74 …
Read full speech →Adjournment Proceedings
Madam Speaker, we have now lost 47,162 people to a poisoned drug supply. That is between January 2016 and May 2024. That is more people than we lost in World War II, yet we are not seeing a war-type effort to save lives in this country and to fight this crisis. We have heard from the experts: the First Nations Health Authority; the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police; the chief medical health…
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Madam Speaker, actually, the minister has a point. My colleague simply asked the member a question in relation to what he said on the floor of the House of Commons, and he took the time to insult her. That is totally unacceptable. He should be apologizing to the House.
Read full speech →Private Members' Business
Madam Speaker, first, I want to thank my colleague from Shefford for putting forward this bill. It is such a great bill dealing with inequity. We know that when Conservatives were in government, they raised the age of retirement from 65 to 67. They went after seniors. When the current government came forward with an increase, it wanted to create a two-tiered system, ignoring those between 65 and 7…
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Madam Speaker, I am urgently calling on the government to treat this as a wartime-like effort and to come up with a plan with resources and a timeline. The Liberals have spent less than 1% of what they did during COVID in responding to the crisis. They keep saying jurisdiction is a barrier, but they found a way through it during COVID. They need to listen to local communities and indigenous people…
Read full speech →Private Members' Business
Madam Speaker, it is an honour to rise to speak to Bill C-319, an act to amend the Old Age Security Act. I want to thank the sponsor, my colleague from Shefford for moving this bill. The bill before us today is about increasing old age security by 10% for those who are between the ages of 65 and 74. These people were initially excluded by the Liberal government when the government decided to incre…
Read full speech →Private Members' Business
Mr. Speaker, it is a privilege and honour today to rise to speak to Bill C-378, an important bill. It recognizes that the impacts of workplace harassment and violence endure after employees have left a job, and extends their ability to seek recourse and accountability. As the mental health critic for the NDP, it is important and critical that we advocate for the rights and well-being of workers, e…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, does my colleague believe that it is not just the content online that can be harmful to our youth but also the addictive design features incorporated into social media platforms? Does he also believe that those design features need to be regulated to protect our youth?
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, the U.S. surgeon general recently called for a warning on social media platforms because they contribute to the youth mental health crisis. The Minister of Health dismissed that idea and suggested that parents just need to talk to their kids about social media. That is clearly not working, and it ignores the fact that platforms have been intentionally designed to be addictive. Does my…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, this summer, the fisheries minister announced that she was closing both the Pachena and Carmanah lighthouses. These lighthouses sit between the West Coast Trail, which sees thousands of hikers per year, and the graveyard of the Pacific, a famously treacherous stretch of water. Automating these lighthouses simply will not suffice. This decision puts lives at risk and was made without c…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, I have enjoyed working with my colleague on so many different issues over the years. She talked about the protection of children. The U.S. Senate recently passed the kids online safety act with bipartisan support, and it would be great to be able to do something like that here on parts of the bill. However, the U.S. bill contained provisions to restrict design features that contribute…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, my colleague talked about the accelerator fund, and we heard also from my colleagues on the other side about communities not getting access to that money. The government rolled out $4 billion, and it was oversubscribed. Communities like Courtenay and Cumberland, which applied, were denied. Communities like Port Alberni, Parksville and Qualicum did not even have a chance to get their a…
Read full speech →Statements by Members
Madam Speaker, on July 12, Port Alberni lost a champion with the sudden passing of its city councillor, former mayor and community activist John Douglas. Before settling in Port Alberni, John worked as a paramedic in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside on the front lines of the toxic drug crisis. He moved to Port Alberni in 2004 and served another eight years as a paramedic before running for public off…
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Mr. Speaker, one of the first recommendations in the report is to develop a work plan to accelerate the availability of national shelters to address homelessness. However, I will tell the member how this plays out on Vancouver Island. In Parksville, the only community of over 10,000 people, the mayor fought B.C. Housing, which was going to build a shelter in the community. Now the mayor is running…
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Mr. Speaker, I will tell the House what it is like in Parksville, British Columbia, where we had a Conservative mayor. He accelerated development permits. We built more development in Parksville than at any other time in history and probably more than any other community on Vancouver Island. However, rents did not come down; they actually went up. What we need and what Canadians need is affordable…
Read full speech →Adjournment Proceedings
Madam Speaker, I am coming here tonight in reference to a question I asked on April 10, when I was calling on the government to honour its commitments to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission calls to action on indigenous languages. I would be remiss if I did not talk about a legend, Oh hakuum, which references a lady of high standing. Really, it means a queen in Nuu-chah-nulth language. Last mo…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, the NDP has been fighting for meaningful legislation to be brought forward since government first announced the transferring of cases, but the government's delay in bringing this legislation forward has had the tragic consequence of survivors being robbed of justice by concurrent jurisdictions causing cases to be stayed. We want this legislation to reach committee quickly, we are he…
Read full speech →Adjournment Proceedings
Madam Speaker, I am actually calling for the government to right this wrong at the earliest opportunity and commit to including adequate long-term funding for first nations language programs in British Columbia in the fall economic statement. An essential part of reconciliation is addressing the enormous harms first nations have experienced throughout their 200-year history of colonization, includ…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, communities across the country are in crisis. They do not have the resources they need to support people who are struggling with trauma, mental health and substance use disorders, but the Liberals keep delaying support. Today, the Nuu-chah-nulth nations declared a state of emergency. They are pleading for federal help. This comes after every single substance use and addictions program…
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With regard to Parks Canada, for each fiscal year between 2010 and 2024: (a) in which national parks did the agency operate life guard and surf guard programs; (b) how much funding did each park receive to administer these programs; (c) how many staff worked in each park in support of these programs; (d) how many visitors accessed each park, broken down by year; and (e) how many rescues or contact…
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With regard to federal funding and the communities which comprise the federal electoral district of Courtenay—Alberni, between the 2005-06 and current year fiscal year: (a) what are the federal funding and capital investments related to the areas of arts and culture, environment and climate change, and higher education, broken down by these areas, including direct transfers to the municipalities a…
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With regard to federal investments and the communities which comprise the federal electoral district of Courtenay—Alberni, between the 2005-06 and current fiscal year: (a) what are the federal investments in innovation, science, economic development, and forestry, including investments in and direct transfers to the municipalities and First Nations, for the communities of (i) Tofino, (ii) Ucluelet…
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With regard to funding for disability management, accommodating people with disabilities in the workplace, and related training and education programs, broken down by fiscal year and department or agency since 2005-06: (a) what funding streams have been made available to help accommodate people with disabilities and for disability management, including related training and education programs; (b) …
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, in Union Bay on Vancouver Island, a massive ship full of toxic chemicals is being broken up in the high tide zone, in the same waters that half of B.C. shellfish come from. Recent tests show that this area has become a toxic wasteland, with copper levels 15 times higher than they should be. Local government, first nations and the province are calling for the federal government to act,…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, it is huge honour and privilege to rise after the final speech of my friend from Halifax. We have done many things together. When he was the parliamentary secretary to the environment and climate change minister, he worked with me on a national strategy to combat plastic pollution and helped get his caucus to unanimously support that. We also worked together on cycling. I had a bill…
Read full speech →Private Members' Business
Mr. Speaker, it is an honour and a privilege to rise today to discuss Bill C-323, an act to amend the Excise Tax Act for mental health services. It is great to see the bill come forward. The bill would add psychotherapy and counselling to the list of health care services exempt from point-of-sale taxes, and as members can imagine, New Democrats are very much in support of this. My colleague from L…
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Madam Speaker, I am really glad to hear the minister talk about seniors. I received an email from Patricia from Port Alberni. She sent it on Friday. She talked about saving $532 at her dentist on Friday. She said that not only did she save that money, but also that this would enable her to pay the property taxes. She thanked the NDP for sticking to its guns for a Canadian dental care plan. We are …
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Madam Speaker, we continue to hear Conservatives today talking about the capital gains tax, when in fact in my riding it is going to impact 118 people. That is who we know the Conservatives are fighting for. They are fighting for the 118 people, just like my predecessors, two Conservatives in my riding. Over 32 years, between the two of them, the only PMB they got passed was for removing the excis…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Madam Speaker, I can tell you that I have presented petitions and been cut off at the one-minute mark multiple times.
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
With regard to the communities which comprise the federal electoral district of Courtenay—Alberni, since the 2005-06 fiscal year: (a) what are the federal housing investments, including direct transfers to the municipalities and First Nations, for the communities of (i) Tofino, (ii) Ucluelet, (iii) Port Alberni, (iv) Parksville, (v) Qualicum Beach, (vi) Cumberland, (vii) Courtenay, (viii) Deep Bay…
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Madam Speaker, this is a timely petition, given that the last five summers children in my riding have had to deal with smoky skies due to forest fires as we see a warming climate. The petitioners call on the government and all members of Parliament, regardless of party lines, to consult with secondary or elementary school leadership, student councils or environmental youth groups—
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, it was a reasonable question that came from my Bloc colleague. He just wanted to hear any ideas to come out of the Conservative bench on policy. However, in fact, the Conservative member did not provide any sort of possible solutions when it comes to housing. We know that the Conservatives are trying to block everything: block support for a school lunch program, dental care and phar…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, we heard my colleague talk about small business. As the former small business critic for the federal NDP, I know that the Conservatives were literally invisible during COVID-19. They did not bring any new ideas to help protect workers or to help small businesses survive. The NDP brought ideas to work with the government and to make sure that we protected jobs. In addition, when it cam…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, there has been a nearly 40% increase in fraud since 2021, and the Liberals clearly have failed to protect Canadians. The scams disproportionately impact seniors, and they cost people millions of dollars. One senior in my riding, Peggy, is selling her house after losing her life's savings to a phone scam. We urgently need better policies and regulations, including improved safeguards, …
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With regard to the communities which comprise the federal electoral district of Carleton, since fiscal year 2005-06: (a) what are the federal infrastructure investments, including direct transfers to municipalities and First Nations, broken down by fiscal year, total expenditure, and project; (b) what are the federal infrastructure investments transferred to regional districts, broken down by fisc…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, I will talk about someone who is insured. Sheila wrote to me and said that with two type 1s in the family, with one suffering from multiple complications from 50 years with the disease, their out-of-pocket medical expenses are about $18,000 a year, and that is with extended medical. Otherwise, it would be about $30,000. That is one paycheque just to keep everyone alive and well. Maybe…
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Madam Speaker, one thing that I am really grateful for is that, earlier on in this debate, we finally had a Conservative MP from British Columbia acknowledge that the federal carbon tax does not have jurisdiction in British Columbia. Actually, only the British Columbia government can decide whether it is going to remove or continue the carbon tax, despite the fact that we have the leader of the Co…
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Mr. Speaker, I find it pretty rich when Conservatives start talking about expanding pharmacare when they are doing everything they can to block it. Three years ago, they voted against pharmacare. They could have brought forward amendments to expand it to cover people with rare diseases. They did not do that. In fact, they are saying that people are already covered. Becky in my riding writes, “Our …
Read full speech →Adjournment Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, I am sad that I did not get an answer. I do not want to be dragging my colleague, my friend, in here at 12:35 a.m. to try to get an answer and still not get an answer. I will probably have to do this again, I hate to tell him and inform the House. We know polystyrene and plastic is literally choking our ocean. There was a movie just put out by Rick Smith called Plastic People. I recom…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, 523 people in Toronto died last year from toxic drugs, and still the Liberals rejected the City of Toronto's request to take a health-based approach to tackling this crisis without offering any other solutions. Then there are the Conservatives, who keep yelling out harmful disinformation and attacking real people. People are dying, and Canada needs to take a compassionate approach: tr…
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