Routine Proceedings
Madam Speaker, I have two petitions to table. The first is related to the spousal sponsorship application process and the TRV application process. The petitioners note that as it stands right now, the government has a section called 179(b), which basically prevents people from uniting their loved ones if they have a spousal sponsorship application in place. They call on the government to suspend t…
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Mr. Speaker, the Privacy Commissioner indicated that there are concerns about Bill C-11's new commercial activity definition and consent rules. The concern is that it would open up the door to new commercial uses of personal information without consent. There seems to be an approach that people are suggesting, and it is to restore the language that was in place previously. Would the minister suppo…
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Mr. Speaker, I am tabling two petitions today. I am also tabling a petition regarding the opioid crisis. As members know, the opioid crisis is taking the lives of so many. They are preventable deaths, and the petitioners recognize that this crisis needs to be dealt with and the Canadian government needs to declare it a national health emergency. The petitioners call for action. They call on the go…
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Madam Chair, I absolutely agree that the federal government needs to invest in, and partner with, the provinces and the territorial governments as well as with the non-profit communities and indigenous governments. On the issue of housing, the federal Liberals cancelled the national affordable housing program in 1993, and we now have a major housing crisis on our hands. We need to actually step up…
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Madam Chair, there are still very many sex trade workers who are in very dangerous situations. What has been done, frankly, is not enough. The reality is that they continue to be criminalized. That is their reality right now, and it puts them in danger. We have to set aside our judgment to say, “What do we need to do to ensure that those women are safe?” We need to look at that and take it serious…
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Madam Chair, that is the crux of the issue, which is that we need to get at the structural issue. Yes, those organizations need funding, no question about it. They need core funding, by the way: many non-profits do not have access to core funding. More than that, we need to change the laws to address the issue and change the structural barriers there, including addressing poverty, racism, stigma, …
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Madam Chair, I thank the member for Vancouver Centre for sharing her time with me as we acknowledge and highlight the risks and violence women are exposed to in the face of the pandemic, but, of course, not just during COVID-19. Many members spoke about intimate partner violence, toxic masculinity and offered statistics about the situation. I really do appreciate their heartfelt words. I would rea…
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Madam Chair, the member talked about societal issues, institutional barriers and changes. Sex trade workers often face some of the gravest situations, yet our society continues to segregate them and treat them in a way that puts them in even greater danger. I wonder whether or not the member will support the call for action to decriminalize the sex trade.
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, of course, the motion also deals with the sexual misconduct issues in the Canadian Armed Forces. I know that the former Conservative government appointed General Vance as chief of the defence staff and that the then prime minister, Prime Minister Harper, and the former minister of national defence Jason Kenney, who is now the premier of Alberta, were aware of the allegations and inves…
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Mr. Speaker, of course the issue before us is a serious one. We, as parliamentarians across all parties, need to make sure there is accountability, transparency and answers for all Canadians. That is really the crux of the issue here. I fail to understand why the Liberals would not want to ensure there is clarity provided at committee. To that end, what is the justification from the member to say …
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, the other petition I am tabling is with respect to indigenous housing. The petitioners recognize that over 80% of indigenous people live in urban, rural and northern communities and that indigenous peoples are 11 times more likely to use a homeless shelter. They recognize that the 2017 national housing strategy did not include any specific funding, strategies or policies for urban or …
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, imagine what it is like being confronted by racial slurs, being spat on, being kicked and punched and being killed. Racist verbal and physical attacks for Asian Canadians are on a sharp rise. In Vancouver, anti-Asian hate crimes went up 717%. Every attack is aimed at stripping us of our sense of safety and dignity. It is a clear message to say that we are not wanted and we do not belo…
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Mr. Speaker, there have been discussions among the parties and if you seek it, I hope you will find unanimous consent for the following motion. That, in addition to the measures in the motion adopted on March 22nd, 2021 condemning the rise of anti-Asian racism, in the opinion of the House, the government should also include anti-Asian racism in Canada's Anti-Racism Strategy 2019-2022, and all anti…
Read full speech →Private Members' Business
Madam Speaker, I would like to thank the member for Cumberland—Colchester for bringing forward this important bill to address environmental racism. The bill tabled by the member requires the Minister of Environment and Climate Change to develop a national strategy to promote efforts across Canada to redress the harm caused by environmental racism. I certainly hope that the government will support …
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Madam Speaker, I am honoured to second this motion and rise to speak in support of it. As we heard from the leader of the NDP, the motion basically calls for the federal government to act now to take profit out of long-term care, put people before profit and say that we, as a society, value the lives of seniors more than money. Seniors in long-term care facilities have been especially hard hit by …
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Madam Speaker, fundamental to this motion and the issue we have seen with the pandemic is that for-profit long-term care facilities have resulted in a much higher rate of COVID infections and deaths of seniors. Does the member support taking profit out of care for seniors?
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Madam Speaker, what I see as an affront is what happened to seniors. What I see as a national shame is the very fact that we do not have national standards, and so many seniors lost their lives in the face of the pandemic. We know that for-profit long-term care facilities have contributed to the loss of lives. Report after report and expert after expert who have looked into the situation have said…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, I know the government often says that we cannot move forward on anything unless the provinces and territories are also in agreement. Of course, if we actually lived with that kind of suggestion, we would never have had universal medicare. I will just finish the quote by March Cohen, because it goes to the heart of the issue: The setting of clear standards in health care as a conditi…
Read full speech →Statements by Members
Madam Speaker, the world is facing a global climate emergency, and the IPCC has said wealthy countries like Canada must cut their greenhouse gas emissions by at least 50% by 2030. For the last 20 years, Canada has failed to bend the curve on its GHG emissions. As Tommy Douglas said in 1971: ...if we could mobilise the financial and the material and the human resources of this country to fight a su…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, I have a document that shows the Chinese Communist Party is at the heart of Canada's visa application centre in China. The subcontractor doing this work is a company owned by the Beijing Municipal Public Security Bureau. Under Chinese regulations, the chair of the company is the same person as the party's secretary, and the general manager is the deputy secretary. They must execute th…
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Mr. Speaker, Canada is the only high-income country with a universal health care system that does not include the universal coverage of prescription drugs. We also pay the third-highest prices in the world for prescription medications. All MPs have a chance to change that by supporting the NDP's universal public pharmacare bill. We need to put partisanship aside and work together for Canadians acr…
Read full speech →Adjournment Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, the Parliamentary Budget Office's information is clear. I had a private briefing with the office and it indicates the facts. The facts are clear. There is a lack of support for indigenous people from the government. With respect to the co-op program, I ask the parliamentary secretary to check with the minister regarding the letters I wrote to him. I have even raised the co-op sector a…
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Madam Speaker, a constituent wrote to me about this situation. He had lost his mother through MAID, and while the family was thankful that they were all there when she passed, he advised me that there is a fundamental flaw in the legislation. In his case, his mother wanted to stay for Christmas but had to choose beforehand out of fear that she would not have her faculties sharp enough to get permi…
Read full speech →Adjournment Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, the federal government chose to end the rental assistance program for co-ops and social housing projects whose operating agreements expired prior to April 1, 2016. They have been excluded from phase two of the federal community housing initiative under the national housing strategy. It is inexplicable why tenants whose co-ops happen to have paid off their mortgages are not entitled to…
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Madam Speaker, my constituent has been earning $5,000 to $7,000 each year as a busker. He has diligently declared his self-employment income on his income tax return for the last two years. The pandemic has seen his income reduced drastically. In applying for the CERB, he was told by the CRA that his income tax return was not good enough. The CRA wants to see receipts or bank deposits for the $20 …
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Madam Speaker, we recently learned that the Canadian government has contracted out the visa application centre work to a company called VFS Global, which in turn has subcontracted that work out to another company that is owned by the Beijing police. Given the situation of what is going on with the genocide of the Uighurs and the situation in Hong Kong with the national security law, does the membe…
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Mr. Speaker, Canadians are struggling with significant income loss due to the pandemic. Even with the CERB or CRB, many are unable to afford rent. Their debt load in rental arrears is staggering, and as provinces lift their temporary eviction bans, many Canadians are at risk of losing their homes. This is especially acute in large cities and has disproportionately affected women, people of colour …
Read full speech →Statements by Members
Mr. Speaker, the community continues to march yearly on February 14 to honour the lives of missing and murdered indigenous women and girls and to demand action and justice. This year is the 30th anniversary of the Memorial March. It truly shows that the issues faced by indigenous women and girls are not new but are part of Canada's colonial history. Issues of housing, food and income security have…
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Madam Speaker, a 70-year-old woman was fatally injured in a home invasion. The suspect was found at the homeless encampment at Strathcona Park. As the homelessness crisis continues, safety concerns for the campers and residents have escalated to a breaking point. Emergency action is needed to house the campers and end this dire situation. The province has requested fifty-fifty cost sharing with th…
Read full speech →Adjournment Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, it has been decades, and it is still all talk and no action. The Prime Minister criticized Harper's health care cuts to the provinces, but then kept the cuts to the funding. No wonder the provinces do not trust that the federal government will keep any commitment on pharmacare. The Liberals are running out of time and out of excuses. Later this month, every single MP will have an oppo…
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Madam Speaker, President Biden's decision recognizes that subsidizing big oil and gas companies will not save workers' jobs. An energy transition plan with a focus on job protection is what workers need. Maintaining subsidies to big business does not do the job. Does the member believe that he is helping shareholders, rather than protecting jobs, if we continue providing subsidies to big oil?
Read full speech →Adjournment Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, Canada is the only country in the world with a universal health care system that does not provide universal prescription drug coverage outside of hospitals. People in Canada pay among the highest prices in the world for prescription drugs due to our patchwork of 100 public and over 100,000 private drug plans. As a result, we lack purchasing power and many Canadians do not get access t…
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Mr. Speaker, housing co-ops whose operating agreements expired prior to April 2016 were left to fend for themselves by the Liberals. Meanwhile, those after the cut-off could receive funding until 2028. After ignoring their cries for help for five years, the government finally announced that they have one month to apply for up to one year of funding. This is not good enough. Using year-end budget s…
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Mr. Speaker, I agree with quite a number of the member's comments. With CETA, there were many components that the New Democrats were concerned about. The investor-state dispute settlement provisions were certainly one of them. The issue around the increased cost of drugs related to additional patent protections for pharmaceuticals was another. Restrictions on local content provisions for subnation…
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Madam Speaker, one of the key provisions in this trade deal is noted as problematic in CETA as well. The Minister of Finance, when she was the foreign affairs minister, actually opposed it. It is about the investor-state dispute settlement mechanism. It is a hugely problematic provision, but there are no changes with respect to it in this trade deal. Could the member advise me on why we would want…
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Madam Speaker, earlier I raised the issue that this U.K.-Canada trade deal does not address the ISDS provisions. That is not the only concern. It also does not address the upward pressure on pharmaceutical drug costs related to the patent issue. The government member responded by saying that this is a transitional deal, yet there is no sunset clause to this transitional deal. Does the member think…
Read full speech →Emergency Debate
Madam Speaker, the reality of course is that provinces are struggling to get vaccinations out because they do not have the vaccines. We are in a situation where front-line workers and first responders such as firefighters, teachers, and people who work in grocery stores and on farms to put food on our tables are not able to access the vaccines because the provinces do not have them. I hope the mem…
Read full speech →Emergency Debate
Mr. Speaker, I am wondering whether the Bloc will support the call for action to ensure that all migrant workers, documented and undocumented, also have access to the vaccine free of charge. As we know, many of them are front-line workers in the sense that they are providing food on the table and putting their lives at risk. I wonder whether the member will support the call for action to ensure ev…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
With regard to the National Housing Strategy: (a) what is the breakdown of the over one million Canadians helped to find affordable housing mentioned in the Speech from the Throne, broken down by year and province or territory; (b) what is the breakdown for the number of Canadians helped to find affordable housing since January 1, 2010, broken down by year and province or territory; (c) what is th…
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With regard to immigration: (a) how many post-graduate work permits have lost status since Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) shut down operations in response to COVID-19, broken down by month; (b) what is the average time taken for the issuance of an acknowledgement of receipt for Quebec skilled workers after an application has been received by IRCC since 2015, broken down by mon…
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With regard to Immigration, Refugee and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) processing levels since January 1, 2020, broken down by month: (a) how many applications have been received, broken down by stream and country of origin; (b) how many applications have been fully approved, broken down by stream and country of origin; (c) how many applications are in backlog, broken down by stream and country of orig…
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With regard to asylum seekers: (a) since 2020, broken down by nationality (including passport holders for the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region as its own category) and year, how many applications have been (i) received, (ii) referred to the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada (IRB), (iii) approved by the IRB, (iv) refused by the IRB, (v) had a request for a pre-remove risk assessment (P…
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