Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, there are many things we can do. For example, we can eliminate the tax on oil and give the money back to the people. This is very important. It may not be that important to some, but right now there are many Canadians who cannot pay their debts. I think that is the kind of solution we need to put in place.
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Mr. Speaker, these are failed policies of the Liberal government for oil and gas. Canada should be independent. We have the most environmentally sustainable oil and gas products in the world, yet we prefer to buy from Saudi Arabia for $15 billion and send the jobs there, instead of building pipelines here, instead of supporting our oil and gas and instead of returning that economic growth here for…
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Madam Speaker, I am not surprised at all that the member opposite is so out of touch with Canadians. Is he unaware, for example, that his own Prime Minister said that higher gas prices are exactly what they want? Is he unaware that his government has put a carbon tax on that is 25% of that higher gas price, and that there is a tax on that? Is he unaware that when it comes to housing unaffordabilit…
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Madam Speaker, my thanks to the member opposite for her advocacy. Colleagues may know that I am the first female engineer in the House of Commons and began as an engineer when only 13% of engineers were women. There was significant systemic discrimination at that time. I experienced it throughout my career. Of course, as I was in construction, that was also quite a toxic environment. I was sad to …
Read full speech →Statements by Members
Mr. Speaker, I was really pleased when my private member's bill to create a framework to get consistent access to palliative care for all Canadians was unanimously passed. The health minister then created the framework and committed $6 billion over 10 years, in 2018, for palliative care. However, here we are four years later and only $200 million of the money pledged has been spent, and most of it…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, boaters in my riding have been impacted by the public safety minister’s decision to suspend service at several small vessel reporting offices of the CBSA. Boaters are now required to travel many kilometres out of their way to check in. The additional travel will be a significant cost for an individual's wallet, up to hundreds of dollars per trip with these gas prices. This accomplishe…
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Mr. Speaker, well, the Liberals' gun buyback program is doomed from the start. Gun crime in Canada is largely committed using illegal guns, but the Liberals want to use more taxpayer dollars to buy back guns from law-abiding gun owners. Can the minister explain why they are punishing law-abiding citizens instead of criminals and driving up debt while doing so?
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Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank the member for a great speech and for moving the amendment because I do have concerns about Bill C-18, especially when we heard the parliamentary secretary talk about how there would not be any discrimination. In every other media policy that the government has brought, there has been discrimination along the political spectrum and, as the member correctly pointe…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, I am presenting a petition today in support of Bill S-223. The people who have signed this are encouraging the government to support the bill, which is being debated this afternoon. It has passed the Senate three times. It has passed in the House in 2019 in the same form. It seeks to combat forced organ harvesting and trafficking. It would make it a criminal offence to go abroad and r…
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Mr. Speaker, Canadians are suffering. People in my riding are seeing the escalating price of gasoline. It has nearly doubled, and it is driving the cost of food and everything else up. The Liberal environment minister promised that the price of the carbon tax would not go above $50 a tonne. That promise was broken. Now we have had multiple increases to the carbon tax in the middle of a pandemic, w…
Read full speech →Private Members' Business
Madam Speaker, it is a pleasure to rise and speak to Bill C-252. This is a well-intentioned bill that is trying to address a serious issue in Canada, obesity in children. In one of the previous Parliaments, I was actually the health critic when the former version of this bill came forward from the Senate. We know that Senator Nancy Greene Raine had brought that bill forward. In fact, she received …
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Mr. Speaker, we are in a different place, but there are nearly four million Canadians whose charter rights are still being violated. They cannot leave or enter the country and cannot even travel domestically, even though all of the provinces have lifted their vaccine mandates. They are being prevented from visiting relatives, who in some cases are dying. Will the transport minister admit that vacc…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
With regard to the COVID-19 vaccination requirement for federal public servants: (a) how many employees have (i) been placed on unpaid administrative leave, (ii) had their employment terminated, as a result of not meeting the requirement; and (b) what is the breakdown of (a) by (i) province or territory, (ii) each of the government's designated Employment Equity Groups, including women, aboriginal…
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Mr. Speaker, my riding has a lot of seniors who are struggling to make ends meet with the rising costs of food, gas and home heating. There is no affordable housing left in my riding, and the government has done nothing to address the rising cost of inflation that is making everything worse. Why is the government taking from grandma and young people, and when will the NDP-Liberal government give t…
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Madam Speaker, I want to expand on the question from the previous member. When I look at Toronto, we have more than 20 members representing a riding that, arguably, as I have driven from one side of it to the other, is not that different. Is there a question we should be asking at this time about that? Certainly we need more people to support that many individuals regarding services, but do we rea…
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Mr. Speaker, sharing market-moving information could be illegal. When I look from the NDP to the Liberals and the Liberals to the NDP, it is already impossible to tell the difference. Maybe that is why the NDP leader got a budget update yesterday. One of the most important parts of the budget is the projected revenues, so to the finance minister, did the leader of the NDP get an update on the proj…
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Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague. That is a good question. I think that people living in Quebec are well aware of the situation and of the solutions they need. The government must work with the provinces and territories, not against them. The goal is to have services, to add training and to help immigration, which is really a problem in Quebec.
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Mr. Speaker, absolutely, the commissioner must have more powers. There must not be just one fine. If someone violates the act twice, the fine should be increased. I will work with my colleagues to find solutions to ensure that people comply with the act.
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Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank the hon. member for his speech. He talked about the Treasury Board and how the Treasury Board is going to have the responsibility over all the departments to make sure they are complying with the official languages and that they will be the ones with the plans. How do we make sure that the Treasury Board, which has a lot of different priorities, keeps this as a p…
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Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to rise to speak to Bill C‑13 to modernize the Official Languages Act. Let me be very clear at the outset. French is very important to Canada. When I was young, from my first year of school through to high school, I took French. It was mandatory. I think that is probably why I can speak French today. I also worked in Quebec for 15 years. It was a great experience for lear…
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Mr. Speaker, I think that it is very important to have people who can speak both of Canada's official languages. When I was a member of the Standing Committee on the Status of Women, we heard from women who were victims of sexual harassment. There was no justice for the cases presented and services in French did not exist. I will therefore support any effort to obtain far more services in both off…
Read full speech →Private Members' Business
moved that Bill C-228, An Act to amend the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act, the Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act and the Pension Benefits Standards Act, 1985, be read a second time and referred to a committee. Madam Speaker, today is April Fool's Day, so I could not start this speech without saying that one would have to be a fool not to support my private member's bill. My private member's bill…
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Madam Speaker, I thank the hon. member for her speech. Another bill was introduced in the last Parliament, specifically Bill C-32. What is the difference between that bill and Bill C-13?
Read full speech →Private Members' Business
Madam Speaker, absolutely I am open to discussing this. I like the idea of the superintendent having some powers to actually act, but I also know that there are voices who want to have their input heard when this is discussed. Therefore, let us have those discussions at committee. I look forward to that.
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Madam Speaker, the NDP-Liberal government continues to try to destroy the oil and gas industry in Canada. First it had the carbon tax, then the clean fuel standards and now a call for a 42% emissions reduction. My riding of Sarnia—Lambton, which produces a third of the petrochemicals in the country, will be hard pressed to remain competitive under these punishing rules that do not apply to foreign…
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Mr. Speaker, we have a real problem with the enforcement of the Official Languages Act in this country. We had the Commissioner of Official Languages come to committee. He said that although there was a huge increase in the number of complaints about people not complying with the act, there is not much he can do about it. He reports to Treasury Board but does not have to update the Minister of Off…
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Madam Speaker, I would like to thank my colleague opposite for an excellent speech and for his work on official languages. I would like to know whether he thinks the sanctions that are now able to be imposed on those who do not comply with the act are adequate to drive the right behaviour.
Read full speech →Private Members' Business
Madam Speaker, I want to thank the member for Manicouagan because she is the one who did the hard work of bringing the bill forward with the priority part in the first place and went through committee with it. That said, in terms of the discussion of how long people should wait, there was concern that if there are situations in which pension funds are not solvent already, the priority thing may st…
Read full speech →Private Members' Business
Madam Speaker, I want to thank the member for Whitby for putting forward his e-petition, which I encourage all Canadians to sign. I think this is an issue that everyone in this chamber and all Canadians are concerned with. In terms of the priority, there has been discussion about “super priority” and where it should go on the list. When we look at all of the things that need to be paid out from th…
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Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the member for her incredible work on the official languages committee. The member spoke about the importance of the Treasury Board being in charge. I am a bit concerned about that, because the Treasury Board has a lot of different priorities. I am concerned that maybe official languages will fall to the bottom of what it is doing. Would it not be better for the Minist…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, President Biden made exemptions to the vaccine mandates for truckers who drive solo and for companies with fewer than 100 employees. As part of the road map that the Prime Minister signed with the president, they agreed to match requirements at the border. Will the Prime Minister look for that match to get exemptions for unvaccinated Canadian truckers in order that we can address the …
Read full speech →Statements By Members
Madam Speaker, Russia's aggression against Ukraine and the bombing of innocent civilians has touched the hearts of Canadians across the country. In my riding of Sarnia—Lambton, the outpouring of generosity has been overwhelming. As we speak, I am working with Pastor Tim from Bethel Church, a sponsor organization; Ed Dickson from Loads of Love, who has people helping on the ground in Ukraine; and L…
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Mr. Speaker, the Charter rights of three million unvaccinated Canadians have been violated over the past year. They cannot board a plane or train or cross the border. Does the member think this is one measure that could be lifted right now?
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Mr. Speaker, I thank the member for the question. I think that we do indeed need to have a plan. The Liberal-NDP government does not have one at this time. I believe that we must get rid of the requirements that are currently in place, for example the ones at the border for people who lost their jobs. We must put an end to these requirements immediately and set out a plan for all the rest.
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Mr. Speaker, it is a pleasure to rise today. I will be splitting my time with the member for Peterborough—Kawartha. I am glad to have an opportunity to speak to our Conservative motion, which reads: That, given that Canada has one of the world's highest vaccination rates and every province across Canada has lifted or has a plan to lift vaccine mandates, the House call on the government to immediat…
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Mr. Speaker, I thank the member opposite for recognizing that the best university is in his riding of Kingston. Actually, I was informed in previous debates by the Liberal members who are actually members of the bar on the Oakes principle, which is applied when looking at section 1 of the charter in trying to determine whether or not the threshold has been met for being able to infringe upon peopl…
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Mr. Speaker, the member pointed out a couple of things that are worth noting. First, there are a lot of numbers out there and the bar just kept getting changed from the beginning of the pandemic. At the beginning of the pandemic, the concern was to prevent deaths and to prevent our ICUs from being overcapacity. Once the ICUs were not overcapacity, then it became tracking the number of cases and th…
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Mr. Speaker, I hear a lot of talk in the debate about science and how we need to follow the science. I just want to let people know that I am a chemical engineer. I did work in science and research, so I do have some understanding of the issue. One of the facts that I want to talk about is how the 90% of people who are vaccinated in Canada can get and transmit COVID-19. We know this. The Prime Min…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, those are empty words, because the government's record is of being slow to act in these situations. With the Wet’suwet’en and the Coastal GasLink rail blockades, it took weeks for the federal government to intervene. With the Port of Montreal, it took over a week. Forty-five hundred railcars, and nearly half a billion dollars' worth of goods getting to market, are in jeopardy every da…
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Mr. Speaker, when I previously asked the Minister of Transport what he was doing to prevent a CP Rail strike, he said, “Let me assure my colleague we are monitoring the situation. I have met the CEO. I have met with the Teamsters. It is really important that we maintain the fluidity of our supply chain.” The strike is on and damage is already happening. The agriculture sector is already seeing it,…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 52, I am seeking leave to adjourn the House for the purpose of discussing an important and urgent matter. On Saturday, March 19, the Teamsters Canada Rail Conference commenced a strike in advance of a lockout by CP Rail. This is having immediate and serious consequences in our country. Those in the agricultural sector, in advance, had people not sending them…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, I am extremely concerned that at a time when we see seniors and people on a fixed income really struggling to survive, the government has put three carbon tax increases on them, an increase in CPP premiums and the escalator tax on wine and beverages. To add insult to injury, that carbon tax comes with a tax on a tax. This is really crushing the ability of people to afford to live. I t…
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Mr. Speaker, I thank the member for his excellent speech. This bill includes measures to provide funding for health care and COVID-19 tests. Every day, the Bloc asks for an increase in health transfers for Quebec. What does the member think of these measures? Will he support them?
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Mr. Speaker, it is a pleasure to speak today on Bill C-8 at report stage. I may also include some general comments, as I did not get a chance to speak to the bill when it was in the House earlier because the Liberals shut down debate on it. Let me go through the different parts of the bill. As always, I am not here just to criticize the government; I like to make helpful suggestions as to what wou…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, I have a petition from people concerned about Canadian companies that build in other places but contribute to human rights abuses and environmental damage in those places. They are calling on the House of Commons to adopt human rights and environmental due diligence legislation to make sure that companies properly protect human rights and the environment, that there are appropriate co…
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Mr. Speaker, I agree that we are seeing concerns with respect to inflation, food inflation and affordable housing, all due to the failed policies and lack of action from the current Liberal government. What I do not understand is why the member and his entire party continue to prop up the government and support these failed policies that are causing inflation and this burden on the people of his r…
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Mr. Speaker, certainly, they do need help right now. When we talk about affordable housing, we know it is supply and demand. The government, its actions and its bills have not increased the supply appreciably. It has not kept foreign buyers from the market. It has not done anything to address the vacant buildings. The measures in this act are small, yet the member and his party are going to prop u…
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Madam Speaker, I would like to thank my colleague for her great words. It is not just that we will do everything that we can to help Ukraine at this time; I think our allies and friends in Europe would also really appreciate something to back up the threat to their gas dependence and oil dependence, which is now jeopardized. Would the member not agree?
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Mr. Speaker, I am concerned about the possibility of a work stoppage at CP Rail that would shut down the supply chain across the country. CP Rail and the teamsters have been negotiating, but strike action is possible as early as March 16. Could the government tell us what steps it is taking to ensure that Canadians do not experience another supply chain crisis that would drive the cost of everythi…
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Mr. Speaker, sanctions against Russia are important. On Monday, I asked why the Liberals keep bringing in oil from dictatorships. The Minister of Natural Resources said I was incorrect and it was not happening, but that same day, the Prime Minister said he was going to ban oil imports from Russia. The next day, the Minister of Natural Resources said he was asking his department to design a ban. Th…
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