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Mr. Speaker, it looks like Conservatives want to change the channel. Yesterday, they were all about talking about capital gains. They were fighting for the rich guy and holding up plumbers and electricians, but not talking about waitresses or school bus drivers, when talking about how they are fighting for the little guy. On this side, we know that Conservatives do not care about people who are pu…
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Mr. Speaker, I agree with the member that this country has had a deplorable history of depriving indigenous communities of the things that they need to thrive. In fact, since we have taken office, spending on indigenous infrastructure and priorities has increased by 185%. It speaks to the lack of effort by those Conservatives, when they were in government, to actually prioritize the needs of indig…
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Mr. Speaker, every Canadian in this country deserves access to health care, and that is why we are working so closely with the hospital, with Ontario, to make sure that residents in the Moosonee area can actually access health care, just like every other person in Ontario. I met with the board yesterday, I met with Grand Chief Fiddler, and the Prime Minister has also written a letter confirming ou…
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Mr. Speaker, I agree with the member opposite. It is a tragedy that we are losing our brothers, our sisters, our mothers and our fathers to this toxic, polluted drug supply that we see all across the country, including in and predominantly among first nations. That is why our government has invested billions of dollars to support indigenous-led approaches to mental wellness. We will continue to wo…
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Mr. Speaker, after our House leader answered a question and spoke of the experience of troll swarming that occurs online, the member for South Shore—St. Margarets shouted out at him “Thank you for the ammo.” This violent language does not help in a climate where there is an 800% increase in threats of violence toward elected officials. I ask that the member apologize and retract his comment.
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Mr. Speaker, I thank the member for Pontiac for her work on access to safe drinking water. In 2015, the Liberal government completely discarded Stephen Harper's paternalistic approach. Now, we listen to indigenous leaders and work closely with them. We have lifted 144 long-term drinking water advisories, and we are not stopping there. We also introduced Bill C-61, the first nations clean water act…
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Mr. Speaker, it is important to recognize that there is not one perspective on the best way forward to this toxic drug supply that is facing the country. That is why this government is focused on providing tools that meet the needs of communities. In fact, if communities are not comfortable with safe supply, then they are not using safe supply. To allege that this approach writ large across the co…
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Mr. Speaker, while we are talking about the United States, let us just take a moment to reflect on what women in that country are going through: a lack of access to reproductive choice. I read an article in The New York Times yesterday about the number of women who are dying because they cannot access abortion care in their states. That is the kind of future that the Conservatives want for Canadia…
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Mr. Speaker, as I was looking at the current statistics on who is dying from toxic drug poisoning here in this country, I was really surprised to find that two-thirds of them are young men. In fact, of those young men, 30% to 50% are employed in the skilled trades sector. It strikes me as ironic that the Leader of the Opposition speaks a lot about standing up for the workers, when in fact those ve…
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Madam Chair, my last question would be for the Minister of Mental Health and Addictions. I would like to hear her thoughts about the stigmatization of people who use substances other than alcohol, yet the attitude of many Conservative members around further liberalization of alcohol use—
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Madam Chair, contraceptives are not universally accessible, despite being a mainstay of reproductive choice. I cannot imagine my life if I had not been able to choose when I would have children, and yet Conservative members of Parliament have voted against this measure, as well as many of them being greenlit by anti-choice organizations. Women are depending on the Canadian government to protect th…
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Madam Chair, my second question is about a shelter I ran in Thunder Bay. It offered a needle exchange program supported by the local health unit. We wanted to help with the program's goals of reducing HIV and hepatitis C transmission, and collect used needles more safely. Can the Minister of Mental Health and Addictions share why, despite the attack of federal Conservative members, provinces, incl…
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Madam Chair, it is such an opportunity to speak tonight in this important conversation about health care and health outcomes in this country. I have been listening all night to the questions and answers on a broad range of health-related issues, and the pattern of questions from the Conservative Party members all have a similar theme. On the one hand, Conservative members have questioned the feder…
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Mr. Speaker, this is the other thing that Ms. Last-Kolb wrote in her email to me. She said, “Every family I have met, [their] child died in a home, many in [their] family home or apartment where family helped care for them. The only family I know whose son was homelessness actually [overdosed] in treatment.” I checked on this, because I was curious to see if her experience with her colleagues and …
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Mr. Speaker, I want to share with the minister an email I got from a member of Moms Stop the Harm. It is too long to read in its entirety, but I wanted to give a couple of elements of the letter, and I am sure the minister has heard these stories before. This mother said that after her son died, it was a very difficult time, and that she watched me give a response to the Conservatives, who were us…
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Mr. Speaker, the loyal opposition has a very important job, and that is to work with all members of Parliament to make sure that the laws that we pass and the spending that we undertake actually benefit Canadians. The Conservatives have an opportunity today. We can get this bill to committee. The questions that their constituents have, the comments that they have themselves, the experts they've co…
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Mr. Speaker, I would propose this question: Why are Conservatives so much in the way of actually making life more affordable for Canadians? In the budget measures that we have proposed, there are many things the Conservatives themselves have called for that would make it more affordable for Canadians. In fact, we see a highlight of, yet again, misinformation that is being shared around the carbon …
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Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the member for her elocution of her constituents' concerns and of their thoughts. In fact, this entire budget is wrapped around the concept of fairness for every generation. There are many exciting measures in the budget that would actually bring down the costs for Canadians, that would support Canadians, no matter what stage of life they are in, and, in fact, that wou…
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Mr. Speaker. the hon. member noted that, in fact, we have a gap here in Canada, and that is feeding hungry children in school. We know that brains actually need that nourishment to develop and that Canada needs every ounce of potential if we are going to meet the challenging conditions of today and tomorrow. We hear the members opposite in the Conservative Party speak about the need, on one hand, …
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Mr. Speaker, I am surprised to hear my colleague opposite speak about their concerns around the budget. In fact, the Conservative leader, without a second thought, said he would vote against the budget to support fairness for every generation. It includes many measures that the Conservative Party has been calling for, indeed, for example, more aggression on getting houses built across our country.…
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Mr. Speaker, I find it interesting to be standing in this place talking about democracy with a member of the loyal opposition who voted against the support that Ukraine needed to defend democracy. It is ironic that as we talk about whether Liberals defend democracy, it is actually this side of the House that works with other countries that are working so hard and, in fact, that are losing lives to…
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Mr. Speaker, I am very excited about the national school food program, which we estimate is going to lift 400,000 children out of poverty across this country. It is something we will work on with the provinces, territories and, of course, indigenous communities. We know that developing brains need good nutrition, and Canada needs everyone to be able to reach their full potential. That is why it is…
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Mr. Speaker, one thing that I am very excited about in Bill C-69 is that 25% of the new spending is proposed for indigenous priorities, including a major loan guarantee for which indigenous partners have been calling for economic reconciliation, to ensure that when natural resource projects or other major projects in the country go forward, indigenous people also prosper, stopping what I would say…
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Mr. Speaker, I am glad the member opposite mentioned kindergarten, because it reminds me of a time when I was a lunchroom monitor. It was a lowly position, but a very important one. I went to the school every day to help ensure that students were safe in the playground and safe in the lunchroom. One of the hardest things to see as a lunchroom monitor were the number of children who did not have en…
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Mr. Speaker, I agree. The Conservative Party's obstruction in the House is sad to watch. We have to work together. Canadians are waiting for us to implement many of the measures in the budget. In fact, the Conservatives have called for many of those same measures. Let us talk about housing for a moment. The Conservatives have talked about the need for ambition on housing. This budget proposes a lo…
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Mr. Speaker, I think what Canadians expect is for parties to work together in the House, to find compromises to ensure that things can move forward that will benefit them and their families. That is why the NDP works closely with the Liberals to ensure that there are measures in the budget that actually meet the needs of constituents in their ridings. The Conservatives have an opportunity to do th…
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Mr. Speaker, I thank the member of Parliament for highlighting the importance of the parts of the budget implementation act that address indigenous priorities. Indeed, the red dress alert is an indigenous priority. It is something indigenous families have been calling to have for a very long time. It is a pleasure to work with members in the House to ensure we can get that alert up and running. I …
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Mr. Speaker, every item in this legislation appears in the text of this year's budget, either in its chapters or in the legislative annex. We look forward to the robust debate that will happen through this debate and certainly at committee. It is important we ensure we work together. As I said, Canadians are expecting us to work quickly together to ensure they have the measures they need.
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Mr. Speaker, I thank the member for his hard work on many of the measures that he outlined and that are, in fact, featured in this budget. I cannot answer why it is that Conservatives oppose measures that help their own constituents, but it is a good question for their constituents. I think that is why it is important that we get this bill to committee because we will hear a variety of perspective…
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Mr. Speaker, we hear two parties in the House talk about the obstruction of the Conservatives in the House. Therefore, it is a little rich as the members opposite get up and name-call and yell at members of the opposition, who are just doing their job as well. We all have a job here, and I would encourage us all to stay focused on what that job is, which is to ensure that we work for Canadians, th…
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Mr. Speaker, earlier we were talking about a national food program. We cannot starve our way to prosperity, but that is what the Conservatives seem to want to try yet again. They want to starve their way to prosperity, and that is not how we get ahead as a country. We get ahead as a country by taking care of each other, and this budget is about that. It is about fairness for every generation. I th…
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Mr. Speaker, it is disappointing that the member opposite does not realize that, in fact, after a decade of not spending anything in indigenous services equity, including, for example, keeping indigenous education suppressed below the provincial average, meaning that children in indigenous communities did not have the same fair chances to graduate and that graduation rates were abysmally lower tha…
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Madam Speaker, I am extremely grateful to the law enforcement officers who work every single day with people who use substances. They are the hardest working members of a community, and we can all thank them. In fact, I had an opportunity to go on a ride-along with law enforcement members just a couple years ago, and it was at Christmastime. Out of the 14 calls for help, 12 of them were for substa…
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Madam Speaker, I rise on a point of order. I was really disappointed with the use of the word “addicts” to describe people who are struggling with substance use. In her question to the House, the member for Peterborough—Kawartha used this pejorative term again, as her leader has many times, to undermine the value and worth of people who use substances. I would ask that she withdraw it and apologiz…
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Mr. Speaker, it is all of our grief. That is what it is. It is every single parent in the country who has lost a child. That is what it is about. It is about the people who are on the street today, hoping they are going to make it to tomorrow. Their parents who are far away from them are also hoping they will make it to tomorrow. That is why we work with scientists and doctors, because we are focu…
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Madam Speaker, we see the same kind of stigmatization with the language used by the member opposite. They talk about horror movies, which is invoking the fear of people who are really struggling in their circumstances, whom I feel such tremendous sadness for. I would ask the member about her premise, which is really to return to a failed war on substance users. It has been the approach. Indeed, it…
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Madam Speaker, I thank the hon. member for his ongoing work in this field and for his obvious depth of knowledge and relationship with individuals who are working to save lives. I am glad that he raised Moms Stop The Harm. I have met with Moms Stop The Harm and various spinoff organizations comprised of parents. “Moms” is in the name, but there are certainly dads involved in those groups, and othe…
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Madam Speaker, first, it will not only be health care that will get us out of this mess. It is building up community, which is the process of reconciliation. It is about equity and education. It is about better supports for people to reach their full potential, through the many ways we have delivered as a government. I will refer directly to the member's question and say that I am not walking away…
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Madam Speaker, far too many families and communities in this country are affected by this very sad situation. I am glad the member asked what we could do. I am also glad for her call to vote against this motion. If we vote against the motion, we are telling those families that are struggling, doing anything to keep their loved ones alive to see another day, that they matter. Every substance user i…
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Mr. Speaker, I am really happy that we are having this debate because, today, I am thinking of so many loved ones across this country who are grieving the loss of their family member or friend, people like Carolyn Karle in Thunder Bay, who lost her daughter Dayna almost a year into her recovery. Dayna relapsed one night with alcohol. Then she took one dose of a substance that she thought was cocai…
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moved that Bill C-69, An Act to implement certain provisions of the budget tabled in Parliament on April 16, 2024, be read the second time and referred to a committee.
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Mr. Speaker, let me thank the member opposite for his years of advocacy and reassure him that I spoke with Grand Chief Fiddler just last week about this very project. We are working with the province and with the region to make sure that everyone can access quality health care, no matter where they live.
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Madam Speaker, I thank the member opposite for her ongoing advocacy. Since 2015, we have increased spending on indigenous priorities by 180%. That is right. That is the abysmal state in which we received this file in 2015 from the previous Harper Conservatives, who gave zero cares about the lives of indigenous people. In fact, budget 2024 dedicates over $9.5 billion to indigenous priorities. A ful…
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Madam Speaker, I listened to the member's speech with interest. I would, first of all, say that it is encouraging to hear that the Conservatives are considering supporting this legislation, given that they did not support the passage of the UN declaration act. Having heard that from this member and other members in the Conservative Party, would the member commit to allowing the bill to carry on th…
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Mr. Speaker, I thank the member opposite for his years of advocacy for the rights of indigenous people, including for the people of Attawapiskat. As the member notes, Attawapiskat is currently landlocked. Indeed it is looking for more land to build the necessary houses to help the community grow. I have been communicating with the Province of Ontario, which is currently the owner of the land. We w…
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Mr. Speaker, let me first say that I fully agree with the member opposite about the need to preserve indigenous languages and restore them when they have been so cruelly ripped away from first nations communities for decades. Indeed, in my own riding, Matawa tribal council provides first nation language training and support for first nations communities all through northern Ontario, supported by t…
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Mr. Speaker, for decades and decades, Canada has underinvested in indigenous communities, and the Liberal government is putting a stop to that. We have increased funding for housing on first nations by 1,100%. While we know there is a long way to go, I want to thank the AFN for co-writing this report with us. It is very important to understand the size of the gap so that we can work even more quic…
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Mr. Speaker, I thank my hon. colleague from Ottawa—Vanier for her allyship to indigenous reconciliation and peoples. It is a well-known saying that when people show who they are, believe them. A few lines at a press conference does not change the Conservative track record on reconciliation, including just a few days ago, when we look at the stereotypes the member of Parliament for Saskatoon—Grassw…
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Mr. Speaker, let us roll the tape back to when Conservatives were in power, where they changed the Canada drug strategy, stripped out harm reduction and refused to meet with community organizers, like me, about saving the lives of people who were struggling with substance use. They refused to support communities in the way that communities knew they could work together to save lives and to help pe…
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Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the member for Cloverdale—Langley City for caring so much about access to clean water for first nations, something about which we should all care. It was very disappointing yesterday, on the first day of the second reading of the bill, that the Conservative member blamed first nations for their lack of drinking water. I guess it is easier to do that than to look in the…
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