Government Orders
Madam Chair, I rise this evening not as the critic for Crown—indigenous relations, not as a member of Parliament, but as a father horrified by the tragic discovery in Kamloops of the 215 children buried and forgotten at a residential school in Tk’emlúps territory. I want to acknowledge the deep sadness and grief that all indigenous peoples and survivors of residential schools are experiencing at t…
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Mr. Speaker, as a reminder, I am the member's next-door neighbour in the riding. I thank my friend from Nova Scotia for his comments. He does great work on the committee, and it is always a pleasure listening to his experiences and knowledge. I really appreciate the education that all members on the committee continue to receive from him and others. I agree with the member that we all need to work…
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Mr. Speaker, I thank my friend from British Columbia and offer my sympathies to the people of his riding, British Columbia and all across Canada as we learn the details regarding the news from Kamloops, which is so tragic and horrific that words cannot explain. With respect to his question, as he will see very shortly, Conservatives will be continuing to support Bill C-5. We obviously had a few qu…
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Madam Speaker, I rise today to speak to Bill C-5, an act to amend the Bills of Exchange Act, the Interpretation Act and the Canada Labour Code, a the national day for truth and reconciliation. Before I begin, I would be remiss if I did not take a moment to speak to the very horrible discovery made yesterday afternoon in Kamloops. The news yesterday of the remains of 215 children found buried at a …
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With regard to cheques or payments made to individuals with addresses outside of Canada and to a CTV news report of April 2021 on a Canadian family who has been living in New Zealand for the past 18 years and received a COVID-19 benefit cheque addressed to their disabled daughter who died in 2009, despite never applying for any financial aid: (a) how many cheques or payments were made to individua…
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With regard to the ban on the importation of goods made with coerced labour since January 1, 2020: (a) how many times have such goods been seized by the Canada Border Services Agency; and (b) what are the details of each seizure, including the (i) date, (ii) description of goods, including the quantity, (iii) estimated value, if known, (iv) location where suspected coerced labour occurred?
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Madam Speaker, I share the concern on this side of the House at the way the government is ramming through this piece of legislation. We heard at committee many times from indigenous groups themselves that said they have not had the opportunity to be consulted. We still have the outstanding question about the very important piece of FPIC, free, prior and informed consent, and what it means, and the…
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Madam Chair, again, we are hearing over and over the fact that the government cannot seem to manage its legislative agenda. Again, we are being forced to undergo a closure motion, yet this bill has barely been debated in the House. Of course, the Liberals, which they do best, play the blame game, saying it has to be someone else's fault. No matter what goes wrong, it is never their fault, which is…
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Madam Speaker, I have to agree with my friend from London and disagree with my friend from Kingston. That was a pretty long speech and I am glad you did step in. However, I want to talk about the conversation around anything that actually disagrees with the Liberal narrative and of course, the member opposite was making comments that if we disagree with the Liberals, they are all right and list we…
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Mr. Speaker, I want to speak to the member's comments regarding day care. Day care is largely under provincial jurisdiction, and the Liberals have promised it in every federal election up until 2006. Unfortunately, the federal government is running most of its expenses now with structural deficits that are mostly on the credit card. Given these facts, would the member not agree that it would be ea…
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Madam Speaker, I want to continue with what my friend was talking about, which is how the budget is created and why the Liberals continue to structure endless amounts of deficit spending around the COVID pandemic. The member spoke to programs that are now being created. Even though the government is continuing to fail on a number of files, including clean water for first nations, veterans and the …
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Madam Speaker, I want to talk about my colleague from the Bloc's comments on day care and how the federal government continues to intrude into areas of provincial jurisdiction. This Ottawa-knows-best approach that the federal government seems to have is something that I think should be concerning. I think we can all acknowledge the fact that there is an issue with the availability of spaces and th…
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With regard to the Development Finance Institute Canada (FinDev) and M-KOPA holdings, since May 1, 2017: (a) what is the total in dollar terms FinDev has invested in M-KOPA; (b) did any cabinet member approve the M-KOPA investments, and, if so, who and on what date; (c) how many M-KOPA shares were purchased, on what date, and at what unit price; (d) what percentage of all shares does FinDev own; (…
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Mr. Speaker, we keep hearing the blame game that the minister tries to put forward. I do not think anyone is buying it. We all know it is the government House leader who controls the House schedule and decides what we vote on. The minister earlier alleged that the Conservatives keep bringing up the same things. Here is some new information that was brought forward since we last met. Treaty Six fir…
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Mr. Speaker, I find it kind of ironic that the government continues to use time allocation on a bill that purports to provide indigenous Canadians with free, prior and informed consent and that the Prime Minister has chosen to ignore the multitude of indigenous leaders who have yet to have their voices heard. We support the aspirations of UNDRIP, we have been perfectly clear about this, but there …
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Mr. Speaker, this year marks the 15th anniversary of Kraft Hockeyville, an exciting event that celebrates family, community and the spirit of hockey. This year, the historic village of Bobcaygeon is one of the four finalists. Many across Canada will recognize Bobcaygeon from, of course, the Tragically Hip song written about escaping the hustle and bustle of the big city for the quiet country life.…
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Mr. Speaker, I look forward to the day when the Prime Minister finally recognizes that reducing emissions is more than just increasing taxes and virtue signalling. We have a real plan. This project, Kitimat LNG, would reduce 40 million tonnes a year, while at the same time displacing the influence of the bad actors right across the world. Not only that, capital is fleeing Canada. We are seeing tha…
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Mr. Speaker, maybe the Prime Minister could update us on his two-billion-tree promise. Also, the Prime Minister talks a good game about supporting reconciliation, yet indigenous families, businesses and communities are all being deprived by the Liberals. There are 16 first nations communities that have lost agreements in training, employment, contracting, environmental stewardship and many more ar…
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Mr. Speaker, I would recommend a recorded division.
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With regard to procurement practices applied to contracts during the COVID-19 pandemic: (a) what constitutes a COVID-19-related contract or supplier; (b) what policies or requirements have been paused, removed, suspended, or deferred for contracts related to COVID-19; (c) have integrity checks been downsized or compacted to accommodate tighter supply timelines; and (d) what policies or requirement…
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Mr. Speaker, I rise today as chair of the Canada-Nordic-Baltic Parliamentary Friendship Group in recognition of Lithuania's Day of Restoration of Independence. On March 11, 1990, at 10:44 p.m., Lithuania threw down the manacles of Communist oppression and declared its independence from the Soviet Union. Moments later, parliamentarians stood in the Seimas and sang their national anthem for the firs…
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Madam Speaker, the tourism and entertainment industries are being devastated by COVID and more than a few in my riding are on the verge of shutting their doors for good. The government extended the Canada emergency wage subsidy until June, but the eligibility rules for the extended period have not been announced. The old rules will expire on March 13, and the lack of certainty is quickly becoming …
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Mr. Speaker, I want to reiterate that on this side of the House we do support free rights and the process of reconciliation with the indigenous peoples of Canada, and we also believe that the path to reconciliation lies in taking meaningful action to improve the lives of indigenous peoples and ensure that they are able to fully participate in Canada's economy. I listened to the minister's speech a…
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Mr. Speaker, I thank my friend across the way for that question, and I do mean “friend” in the true sense of the word. I appreciate his work on the file as well. However, there are a number of indigenous communities that are concerned about the wording of Bill C-15. We have even had letters from provincial ministers responsible for those files saying the exact same thing. As we come out of this pa…
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Mr. Speaker, I rise today to speak to Bill C-15, an act respecting the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. This is a bill that has had seven iterations since 2008. Right from the beginning, Conservatives have seen the value in UNDRIP as an aspirational document that provides guiding principles toward reconciliation. We also recognize that many of the articles of UNDRIP …
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Mr. Speaker, there is a lot to unpack there, and I will try to get through it as quickly as possible. On his first point regarding free, prior and informed consent, if what he is saying is true, then why is it not included in the bill? If it is that simple and clear, why not put it in the bill and get unanimous support for this bill? The problem is that it is not there, which is causing issues. We…
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Mr. Speaker, that is a big part of it, but, as I said, we are not opposing UNDRIP per se. We are opposing the government's lack of due diligence. When it comes to free, prior and informed consent, that is a big piece of it. We saw, as the member rightly mentioned, this with the Wet'suwet'en community. The elected chiefs and the band councils, which had just gone through an election process in whic…
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Mr. Speaker, I agree that everything has to be done in the proper way. Whether it be natural resources projects, or anything really, the rules have to be clearly defined and outlined, so people undertaking the application process understand the path forward and if there is a path forward. If we do not know that at the beginning, it makes it very difficult to continue on a project or even start one…
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Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to the mayor of Brock township, Debbie Bath-Hadden, who, on January 24, lost her battle with cancer at the young age of 61. Debbie was a champion for the community she served with such devotion. Her political career began in 1997, with her election as the ward 4 councillor. In 2018, she made history as the first woman elected as mayor for the township. Duri…
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With regard to the Canada Student Service Grant program and the original decision to have WE Charity administer the program: was an Official Languages Impact Analysis conducted on the program, and, if so, (i) who conducted the analysis, (ii) on what date was the analysis completed, (iii) what were the findings of the analysis, (iv) which Minister signed the analysis?
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