Parliamentary Speeches
73 speeches by Nathaniel Erskine-Smith — Page 1 of 2
Statements by Members
Mr. Speaker, for the past 10 years, Aurora House has provided safe transitional housing and critical supports quietly, intentionally and necessarily from a confidential location in Beaches—East York for women and families who have experienced human trafficking, exploitation and gender-based intimate partner violence. Operated by the Mennonite New Life Centre, Aurora House residents regain their fo…
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Mr. Speaker, first, I would like to recognize the loss of Olga Crombie in my community. She was a devoted wife, mother and pillar of her family, known for her fierce love, strength and selflessness. Her legacy will live on through her family. I want to give a special mention to her son, Steve. I appreciate the member's remarks. Public safety can be complex, especially around pretrial detention. Wh…
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Mr. Speaker, Joeyband is an incredible story of Canadian innovation and entrepreneurship. Hayley Mullins, Ashley Wade and Sarah Cox are co-founders of the company whose medical device Hayley invented and globally patented in 2013. Joeyband is a data-backed device used by hospitals around the world to safely support skin-to-skin contact and bonding for thousands of newborns. Hospitals that use it h…
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Mr. Speaker, I hate to be the exception, but I vote yes.
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Mr. Speaker, I might ask the member the same, because he voted for the motion. With respect to a closure motion on a government motion, we should not spend unlimited debate on a government motion. I think we are fairly and fully debating the government motion. The vote that matters is on the government motion, and the member will see how I vote.
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Mr. Speaker, I will be sharing my time with the member for Mission—Matsqui—Abbotsford. I just want to give my thanks to my neighbours in Beaches—East York. Trust is everything in our democracy. It means a lot to be given their trust, and I am going to work hard to earn it. Against the economic threat posed by President Trump, Canadian politicians have rightly renewed calls to build up our country.…
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Mr. Speaker, of course, the member can post anything I say to his Facebook page. His constituents, I think, would welcome most things I say at least. The second thing is that we should not take the duty to consult lightly. Of course, legislation cannot oust the duty to consult. That is a constitutional obligation, and the courts have well defined it. There are some good things in the bill, and I s…
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Mr. Speaker, I thought I was clear on this; I apologize if I was not. The vote we just had was to shorten the debate on the government motion; it was not a vote on the motion itself. I said I would support the bill at second reading. Of course, I agree with the object of building this country up. Everyone should agree with the object of the bill. I will support getting it to committee. I will supp…
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Mr. Speaker, it is in all of our interests to remove barriers to interprovincial trade. The challenge, obviously, is that it would come at a particular cost to one province in one case and a different province in another case. The federal government has to show leadership, and through the bill, in part 1 in particular, we are showing that leadership, and that leadership should be welcome.
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Mr. Speaker, as I said in my speech, the devil is in the details of what “comparable” means. I agree that we do not want a race to the bottom, but we definitely want a removal of interprovincial trade barriers that are unreasonable and that hinder our economy.
Read full speech →Statements By Members
Mr. Speaker, I rise to honour and remember three incredible kids whose lives have been cut short in an unimaginable tragedy: Ramone, Jace and Mya Laviña-Galve. They are victims of a drunk driver, such an inexplicably reckless and awful crime that we should do more to prevent. They will be remembered for the wonderful kids they were, all of them with such a bright future. Ramone, an athletic 15-yea…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, I rise to present petition e-4038, signed by over 3,000 Canadians and led by the efforts of Ayaan Virani. It notes that a majority of millennials lack an adequate work-life balance. It recognizes that research shows that more paid vacation is beneficial to the health, happiness and productivity of workers. It points to the fact that peer nations of Canada have long had more than two w…
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moved that the bill, as amended, be concurred in.
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moved that the bill be read the third time and passed. Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the support to get the bill through report stage. I am confident we will be sending the bill to the Senate. It is very important that we do so and that the bill becomes law. We have lived through a pandemic that no one wants to live through again, and it is important we put measures in place here today, as parliamenta…
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Mr. Speaker, I ask for unanimous consent to change my vote on Motion No. 79 from no to yes.
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Mr. Speaker, Dr. Anne Innis Dagg, the woman who loved giraffes, was a pioneering zoologist, groundbreaking biologist, animal rights activist, feminist and professor. She earned worldwide recognition for her studies of giraffes in the wild in 1956, wrote the bible of giraffes still used by scientists to this day and authored dozens of articles and books, on giraffes of course, as well as on gender …
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Mr. Speaker, I really appreciate the member's mentioning those people in desperate need and the need to help them. I co-chair the all-party anti-poverty caucus, and that has been a major focus of mine since 2015. We know by the numbers that the price on pollution has a very small impact on the cost of living, especially food inflation. Food inflation has been 20% over the last two years, which is …
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Madam Chair, I rise on a point of order. In accordance with Standing Order 43(2)(a), I would ask that all periods of debate for Liberal members be divided in two.
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Mr. Speaker, that is a great question because the answer is no. In fact, the Financial Times had an article the other day that said that insurance premiums are a hidden carbon price and that we are going to pay for climate action one way or the other. What I would put to my Conservative friends is, if we are going to pay one way or the other, surely we want to harness the power of the free market …
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Mr. Speaker, as I mentioned in my speech, there is a comprehensive climate plan. It touches on many different areas. The price on pollution is responsible for a huge number of emission reductions when we look at the plan up to 2030, and it is responsible for between 23% and 30% of the overall plan. If we were to axe the tax, it would cost a lot to replace those significant emission reductions. Tha…
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Mr. Speaker, in my last two budget submissions, I spoke to excess profit taxes. We have seen them on banks and insurance companies. We have seen them from U.K. Conservatives on oil and gas. It is absolutely a conversation we should have in the House. U.K. Conservatives were, I think at one point, models for Conservatives here until they lost their way, but if U.K. Conservatives have put this in pl…
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Mr. Speaker, there is that other 10%, and there is a credible debate to be had as to whether that 10% should be allocated the way it has been allocated. I would argue that, if there were a vote in the House, and members are free to bring forward the motion, I would vote for 100% revenue neutrality, but when they want to axe it entirely, it is a joke of a motion. I will vote that down every time.
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Mr. Speaker, as I said in my remarks, 90% of the dollars go directly back to households. On the revenue neutrality, 100% of revenues go back to provinces of origin: 90% goes to households directly and the other 10% goes into businesses, municipalities and—
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Mr. Speaker, I will get to the conversation around pricing pollution, but I want to start with a threshold question that we all have to answer: Do members care to take action to save our planet? Do they care to reduce emissions for our kids? Do they care? If the answer is yes, then we get to a different question, which is how we are going to reduce emissions in the most efficient way. If we want t…
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Mr. Speaker, it is good to see the member. I appreciated his speech. He mentioned the PBO and asked why the PBO exists if it gets it wrong. Perhaps he could speak to the difference between fiscal and economic impacts. When I read the fiscal impacts, and that means cash transfers in and cash transfers out, they are in fact positive for 80% of Canadian households. Then when I read the economic impac…
Read full speech →Private Members' Business
Madam Speaker, I appreciate my colleague's remarks and the amendment. It follows from the debate we had at second reading. I was clear at second reading when I said that the core of this bill is the plan. We need legislation passed in this House to ensure that all future governments take every step possible to prepare for the next pandemic and, ideally, take steps to reduce pandemic risks to preve…
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Madam Speaker, I would dispute the idea that the government is not looking at non-market options. It was not in this budget, but in previous economic statements and budgets we certainly committed to an expansion of co-op housing, for example, one of the largest investments in co-op housing in decades. There is a commitment to non-market-based options, but I will agree that we are not delivering at…
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Madam Speaker, technology being what it is, I missed the preamble to the member's question. I only heard the last 15 seconds of it.
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Madam Speaker, I just had the opportunity to visit Kapuskasing, and many people said wonderful things about you. I want to start with a positive view of the budget, and then go toward where there is some improvement required. Unfortunately there is a missing element that I think ought to be emphasized as well, but let us start where there are clear and incredibly important priorities. The federal …
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Madam Speaker, it was not, by the way, a matter of selecting the right channel. It was simply a matter of my home Internet. I am committed to supporting the budgets that the government puts forward. In this case, I do not support the idea of transfers that are not coordinated, that are not properly negotiated and that do not have adequate strings attached. The idea that some inadvertence is being …
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Madam Speaker, I thank the member for his work, especially his work in looking at housing options and partnerships with community organizations like legions. There is no question that provinces need to lead on this. I will speak to Ontario specifically. Its housing affordability task force has said that we need to do more on housing and enshrine a 1.5-million supply target in planning guidance to …
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Mr. Speaker, Jessica Rotolo is an actor, artist, dancer, model and role model, Beaches—East York constituent, Humber graduate and a big Blue Jays fan. She is also a relentless advocate for her Down Syndrome community. In addition to her award-winning PSAs and countless media appearances, Jessica is the winner of Down Syndrome International's LotsOfSocks competition. Her heart design was chosen amo…
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Madam Speaker, I was mostly listening for the Yogi Berra quotes, but I think there is one the member missed that speaks to Bill C-27, which is, “The future ain't what it used to be”, and that is exactly why we need Bill C-27. The former member for Timmins—James Bay, Peter Kent, and I worked together on the ethics committee and the privacy committee a number of years ago, and we all shared a sense …
Read full speech →Private Members' Business
Madam Speaker, I ask everyone to consider what the role of a member of Parliament is with respect to private members' business. I am not a member of the government. This is a private member's bill. For all of us across party lines who have introduced private members' bills, we know how much work goes in to them, the guidance we receive as a parliamentarians and the convention, as it were, if we re…
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Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the member's work; we have always worked in a really collaborative way. I would say I am open to a different approach in terms of how the review ought to be conducted and in terms of the powers of that review. Again, I started from a different perspective here. I looked at the SARS report, for example, from David Naylor, whom I consulted in the course of drafting this bil…
Read full speech →Private Members' Business
Mr. Speaker, I think that question drives at something really important, which is that we cannot move ahead until we have learned the lessons of what is behind us. We are still living with COVID, but much of the government's response, at all levels, frankly, has been seen through in a serious way, so there are still serious public health conversations to be had. There are major crises in Ontario w…
Read full speech →Private Members' Business
moved that Bill C-293, An Act respecting pandemic prevention and preparedness, be read the second time and referred to a committee. Mr. Speaker, as of today, we have lost over 45,000 Canadians to COVID, and millions of people around the world have died as a result of COVID. It has upended our lives in so many different ways, from isolation to school closures. It has upended businesses and caused m…
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Madam Speaker, the income supports the federal government provides make a world of difference to many different people. We see over $60 billion delivered to seniors between old age security and the guaranteed income supplement. The lowest poverty rate among any demographic we see in this country is among seniors as a result of that. Should we do more to help seniors? Of course we should, but the w…
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Madam Speaker, I was going to make a joke about figures of speech and the need to educate my friend about figures of speech after reading his Twitter feed, but what I want to ask him about is specifically around the quantum that he thinks should be realized. He spoke about the vagueness of the legislation, the punting of some of the eligibility criteria and the punting of the quantum to the regula…
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Madam Speaker, I want to pick up on that question of autonomy, because fundamentally this legislation is about dignity and ensuring that every single person in our society can live a life of dignity. That comes with ensuring that an individual has enough support to realize their own passions and to realize their own endeavours. It comes with that kind of autonomy. There is an old quote from Dostoy…
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Madam Speaker, I thank the member for the question. I certainly enjoyed working across party lines with him and others to make sure we would see the retabling of Bill C-22. I would say that the priority for all of us would be to write to the finance minister as part of the fiscal update, and especially as part of the next budget cycle, to say that this is one of our top priorities. If enough of us…
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Mr. Speaker, I will be sharing my time with the member for Châteauguay—Lacolle. Today is the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty. Poverty reduction is an issue I have worked hard to address in Parliament, including as co-chair of our all-party anti-poverty caucus. That notion of “all-party” on this issue has always been an important one because the idea of dignity and equality of oppo…
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Mr. Speaker, Dragons Abreast is an exercise and rehabilitation program for breast cancer survivors in the form of a dragon boat team, and it is celebrating its 25th year. Through a 125-kilometre paddle on the Trent-Severn, they are raising funds for the Canadian Breast Cancer Support Fund and honouring the 55 members of the team who have died since 1997. This remarkable journey began on June 16 wi…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
moved for leave to introduce Bill C-293, An Act respecting pandemic prevention and preparedness. Madam Speaker, I am introducing the pandemic prevention and preparedness act because the last two years have been impossibly hard for all of us. The costs of prevention and preparedness are insignificant in comparison with the significant human and economic costs of a pandemic. The purpose of this act …
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Madam Speaker, I know many colleagues have seen probably first-hand the importance of virtual Parliament in my own life, because my kids are often on the screen. I am a better father. I am also a better parliamentarian and certainly a better husband. I have spoken to colleagues about this, and I will continue to speak to colleagues on all sides of the chamber, but especially on my own side.
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Madam Speaker, in that case, I think I answered in the course of my comments, but I and others would be able to put pointed questions to the government in question period if we were able to be accommodated via the Speaker and not the whip's office.
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Madam Speaker, I want to speak to an idea that I think most would agree with, in general terms at least: We ought to modernize Parliament to enable all of us to better represent Canadians. What does that mean specifically? Well, many of us have proposed very specific examples, and I want to tackle this at a bit of a higher level because there are three general ideas we should be grappling with. Th…
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Madam Speaker, pairing has a long history, but it does not have a long history of being used in a very flexible way. When there is a procedural vote and it is more of a last-minute vote, I wish the best of luck to all of us to sort out a pairing mechanism to accommodate the members who need to be accommodated. It is fiction that pairing gets us to a place of flexibility that we need to get to.
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Madam Speaker, I am not certain that I am in a position to say we should replace question period. Question period has existed far beyond my time in Parliament, and for good reason. It can be used incredibly effectively. It can be used to effectively to prosecute a case; it can be used very effectively to put issues on the agenda; it can also be used very effectively to raise specific constituents'…
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Madam Speaker, I would say that there will be a role for oil and gas. I noted that by 2050, that role will be for non-combustion purposes principally. Certainly we are going to see a steady decline over the coming decades in the production and use of oil and gas, especially for combustion purposes. I suppose my answer is simply to say that I do not have the same challenges with our country as a pr…
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