Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, this member spent a half hour in a video going after Tim Hortons for converting to paper lids. Paper lids are her contribution to this discussion. She talks about Liberal policies. Liberal policies are squarely focused on the economy, on jobs, on youth, on child care, on dental care and on pharmacare. They are focused on making sure we have a prosperous environment and a prosperous so…
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Mr. Speaker, more than 4,000 Canadians live with ALS, and June is ALS Awareness Month. ALS has been called a rare disease, but that does not take away from the very real impacts it has on people who are living with it. ALS attacks the nerve cells that are responsible for movement; therefore, basic human functions such as walking, speaking, breathing and much more are impacted. While the effects ar…
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Mr. Speaker, we continue to entrust law enforcement, in particular the men and women of the Canada Border Services Agency, to do what is necessary to keep Canadians safe. As I said before, since 2024, the IRGC has been recognized as a terrorist entity. Everything we do will be in accordance with public safety. Individuals who break the law are absolutely the focus of the government and the CBSA, a…
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Mr. Speaker, yesterday in the House, we heard from the Conservatives and the government. In a rare moment of unity, we expressed sympathy with what has happened. We condemned what has happened, and we continue to condemn what has happened. The hon. member knows very well that the IRGC has been listed as a terrorist entity since 2024 in this country, and we will always continue to act in accordance…
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Madam Speaker, this member is doing outstanding work, first of all, on the committees for environment and for defence. He brings with him years of experience as a city councillor and as a journalist. He has been a pillar of his community. Of course, just like every Liberal MP, the member has advocated for the groceries and essentials benefit, a benefit that that will allocate up to $1,900 for a fa…
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Mr. Speaker, time and again throughout the parliamentary session, the Conservatives have stood in the way of genuine, real and historic criminal justice reform. They will continue to do so, I suppose, but they should listen to their constituents, who want to see real reform. They should review the comments of police chiefs across the country, who have spoken in favour of exactly what the governmen…
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Mr. Speaker, I will say what we will not do for seniors. We will not propose, as our central seniors policy, cutting pensions, for which the Leader of the Opposition fought for 20‑plus years. Housing is a very legitimate issue to talk about. We need more housing. That is why the government is seized with exactly that objective, working with provincial and municipal governments toward that end. If …
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Mr. Speaker, there is a pattern here with the Conservative questions on immigration. I have great respect for that member. We work together on the immigration committee. However, instead of putting meaningful reform forward that is constitutional, they go back to refugees constantly. That is not an illegitimate issue, but the way they frame it rings familiar. It is right-wing populism. He knows, b…
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Mr. Speaker, as we know, Canada has been especially dependent on the relationship with the United States. That relationship is experiencing a rupture. The global economy is experiencing a rupture. The result is that, if we are going to be serious about these matters, we must work together to better this country. If they do not want to listen to the Liberals, that is fine; they should listen to Ste…
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Mr. Speaker, the member knows, because he works on the House of Commons committee responsible for immigration, that for some time now, hotels have not been used to resettle refugee claimants. We are certainly working with municipalities to assist in a variety of ways. We know that the global displacement crisis that has been in effect since 2015 has certainly created challenges for Canada and othe…
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Mr. Speaker, that was almost on cue. I guess the member did not have time to revise the question. There the Conservatives go again about refugee claimants. The members knows or should know that the interim federal health program has been in existence since the 1950s, supported by successive Conservative and Liberal governments. Let us also continue with the facts. Refugee claimants comprise less t…
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Mr. Speaker, I rise to mark the remarkable legacy and contributions of Arbour Glen Day Nursery, a child care centre in our community of London, Ontario, that will soon mark its 60th anniversary. I say it is remarkable because I speak from experience. Our daughter Ava took her first few steps there, formed her first friendships there and learned her first words there. What is true of Ava and our ex…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Chair, it is always an honour to address the House of Commons, particularly on the matter of immigration as parliamentary secretary responsible for immigration. We have a discussion tonight that has unfolded, and unfolded sometimes in unfortunate ways. The issue has been politicized over the past few years. Regardless, we have an opportunity now to seize the moment and be serious about a funda…
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Mr. Speaker, there are Canadians, certainly, who are experiencing hardship, but they will not find a plan for their future on the Conservative side, with all due respect. The member talks about food prices. The hon. Leader of the Opposition talked about food prices. There is no plan, in fact, on that side. They want to cut every support that goes towards that: the school food program, the Canada c…
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Mr. Speaker, the International Monetary Fund has affirmed, as we know, the sound fiscal framework that the government has embraced. That is also true of the key rating agencies. My colleagues keep talking about a credit card. Yes, there are Canadians, young Canadians included, who do have credit card debt. Conservatives want to make it worse by forcing Canadians to not receive the Canada child ben…
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Mr. Speaker, as I have shared with the House before, personal attacks speak for themselves. What do we see on this side of the House? We are working for Canadians, putting in place the platform that every single Liberal MP ran on, which is being executed now: a decline in the number of temporary residents, a decline in the number of people seeking asylum, working toward and improving the internati…
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Mr. Speaker, the use of the interim federal health program has declined by 43% quite recently. We will continue to see that, because we are seeing a dramatic decline in the number of people seeking asylum in this country. It is down by a third, in fact. Let us go one step further, though, and question the premise of the question. Refugees make up 1% of the country's population. Are Conservatives t…
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Mr. Speaker, the member is referring to the interim federal health program, a program that has been in existence since the 1950s, a program that has been supported by successive Conservative and Liberal governments. Yes, this program does provide health care for people seeking asylum. What have we seen since 2015? We have seen a mass displacement crisis across the world. Canada has seen a mass inc…
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Mr. Speaker, I will give the Conservatives credit. They are on message. The script does not change. They talk about being in touch. I remind my colleagues that it was their leader who stood in front of the home of a waitress and called it a shack. What do they want to cut? The members on that side have never answered us. Would they cut the child benefit? Would they cut the food program in schools?…
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Mr. Speaker, there has been a 60% decline in the number of international students coming to Canada and a one-third decline in those claiming asylum. We are restoring control and integrity in the immigration system. There are a number of other examples I could provide, but for the benefit of the member, who is an honourable member and a good colleague on the immigration committee, he knows very wel…
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Mr. Speaker, he is often mining for clips, as we know, today more often than usual. I wonder why. He might be nervous about something. He is the champion of Brexit and the guy who wanted to cut the pensions of seniors. He talked about being out of touch. He stood in front of the home of a waitress and called it a “shack”. On this side of the House of Commons, we will be sincere. We will be hard-wo…
Read full speech →Statements by Members
Mr. Speaker, I rise to honour the incredible life of my dear aunt, Gregoria Roubeka Merziotis, who passed away recently at the age of 97. She was the mother of Vassili, the mother-in-law of Kim, the devoted grandmother of Gregory and Leonida, the sister of Costadino, and of course, the extremely devoted wife of Leonida. She was born in 1928 in Halki, Greece, and came to Canada in 1957. She worked …
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To govern is to choose, Mr. Speaker. I want to commend the member. She is a relatively newly elected member. I want to commend her for her propensity to do what Conservatives do, which is to constantly cite problems but never solutions. What would the Conservatives do? We see what we are doing. We are embracing the resource economy. We are ensuring a foundation for the future so that young people …
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Mr. Speaker, London certainly does have the talent and the potential for a great future. For too long, our region has been dependent on trade. We are diversifying now. The unemployment rate he talks about is an immense challenge. We are focusing on, among other things, defence: $6 billion over the next few years will give us 125,000 jobs by 2035. Southwestern Ontario and London are a defence ancho…
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Mr. Speaker, the member speaks with passion for London. Every member in this House of Commons who represents London and the southwest has passion, so I invite my colleague. We need more investment in London. We will see that through the defence spending that I just mentioned before, among other things. However, let us open our hearts to the suffering that exists when we come to the analysis of wha…
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Mr. Speaker, personal attacks again speak for themselves. I am honoured to work with every single member of caucus who time and again devotes themselves to their constituency. As far as London or any Canadian community is concerned, we continue to see immigration as a fundamental building block in this country. Of course, transformations and policy are needed. That is exactly what we are devoted t…
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Mr. Speaker, the member will be aware of the landmark 2013 Supreme Court decision, the Pham decision. That decision makes very clear that when it comes to assessing the criminal actions of individuals, whether they are foreign nationals or Canadians, public safety always takes precedence. If the individual has concerns with the decision of the court, that decision is a court decision. It is not a …
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Mr. Speaker, I have already gone over the achievements of the government on the immigration file. We will continue that work. Furthermore, Conservatives have a tendency, unfortunately, to count permits and not people. They will count the original permit that is issued and then the renewal, so a double counting often happens. As far as creative math is concerned, we will put that aside. Conservativ…
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Mr. Speaker, if the Conservatives want to talk about past policy, that is their prerogative. What we are focused on, from start to finish, is making sure that this country's present, and especially its future, is on a sustainable footing; that we build this country up; that we focus on the economy; and that we look to the immigration system as one way to make that happen. I will absolutely defend …
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Mr. Speaker, personal attacks speak for themselves. I have great respect, in fact, for the member. We have had the pleasure of working together on the House of Commons committee responsible for immigration. He understands that, fundamentally, immigration has played a very important role in the history of this country, and that needs to continue. He also understands, as our side does, that transfor…
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Mr. Speaker, obviously the jobs data that came out this morning is unfortunate, but the Conservatives can fixate on month-to-month data. They never mention, or their script never recites, anything on long-term trends. What did we see just a few days ago? It was a very clear announcement in Bloomberg. My colleague can go look at it. The largest amount of foreign investment that Canada has seen sinc…
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Mr. Speaker, my colleague is very well read. He will look at the recent reports of the International Monetary Fund, which has made clear that Canada stands as an example for the G7, and in fact for the entire OECD and beyond. What we have now is an opportunity to engage in serious policy to build up this country. I mentioned yesterday's investments in Canada's north. We have investments in Canada'…
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Mr. Speaker, members talk about the auto sector. What about the workers? What about a vision for this country? What about a plan? We have exactly that. They say they stand for working people. We have an opportunity now to rally around those working people with a serious approach to governance and policy. It is exactly what we are doing every single day. They quote unions in this House. We have the…
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Mr. Speaker, the member talks about seniors who are struggling in his community. They are struggling in my community, too. We have to acknowledge that. At the same time, what do we do to help those seniors? We put forward a serious plan for the future, an opportunities agenda, which is focused on getting our resources to market and building up the infrastructure to do it. That is how we build an o…
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Mr. Speaker, in her short time as a member of Parliament, the member is making outstanding contributions on the Standing Committee on Public Accounts. She is doing great work in the constituency, she brings great experience as a former town councillor, and importantly, as a lawyer, she stood up for women who had been abused in domestic relationships. The member points to Bill C-15. Of course, its …
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Mr. Speaker, the member talks about posturing and pretending. I hate to do this. Do I have to remind him, though, about just a few weeks ago? He is very big on labour issues, apparently. He made a whole thing in here about CAMI in Ingersoll and did not even talk to the union in question. He failed to talk to their members. He failed to talk to their leadership. He made this whole point about sever…
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Mr. Speaker, it is always interesting that when the Conservatives cite reports, they cite only part of the report. Of course it is unfortunate that we saw a contraction of 0.6% in real GDP, but what else does the report say? It says that consumer demand is up. It says that domestic business investment is up. As my colleague is very well read, I am sure he read in Bloomberg yesterday that, beyond t…
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Mr. Speaker, while the apparent new trade critic or maybe foreign affairs critic from Bowmanville—Oshawa North talks about a hissy-fit doctrine with the Conservative Party, what is this government doing under the Prime Minister's leadership? It is forging new trade relationships and forging new investment opportunities. We see the results in terms of foreign direct investment in a nation-building …
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Mr. Speaker, there are children living in poverty in this country, and we have an opportunity to fight for them. The government supports the Canada child benefit because it goes to six million kids. There are 3.5 million families that get the Canada child benefit, but the Conservatives have never supported it. We support child care. They do not. What about pharmacare, the beginnings of it? That he…
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Mr. Speaker, it is quite something to hear the Conservatives talk about household debt and the real concerns of middle-income and low-income Canadians but, at the same time call for, over the years, and I think it is still their position, the Canada child benefit to be eliminated and say that the school food program has no place in Canada. They do not want child care for kids. The list goes on and…
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Mr. Speaker, the debt and deficit are fiscally sustainable. The IMF has testified to that fact, and the Bank of Canada has testified to that fact. We continue to put in measures, of course, to build up the economy, and an opportunities agenda is exactly what this country needs right now. We have seen the government moving ahead to ensure that the resources of this country get to market, to build u…
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Mr. Speaker, it is interesting that the Conservatives never tell us what they would cut. If they want to pursue this line of questioning, it is logical that they would go to another issue. Would they cut the Canada child benefit? They would. Would they cut child care? They certainly would. Would they cut pharmacare? They certainly would do that. Would they cut the school food program, which we wan…
Read full speech →Adjournment Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, the member represents an area I know very well, just down the road from the constituency I have had the honour of representing for a decade. I have friends and family there. These are very real issues, to be fair, that he raises. Food is expensive; we know that. We go to the grocery store and see those prices, particularly when it comes to meat and vegetables. I genuinely wonder, thou…
Read full speech →Adjournment Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, I am smiling because I made a genuine good-faith effort to put it back to the member as to what general solutions could be put forward. He is well read and knows very well that there has been no credible evidence that says the Conservative talking points, and that is exactly what they are, would do anything to alleviate food prices at the grocery store for Canadians. Canada has import…
Read full speech →Adjournment Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, it is always an honour to address youth issues. I welcome the comments of my colleague. I will disagree with a number of points that he has raised, naturally, but I do not discount his passion on these issues. I know he has been a member for a long time, and he has made it his focus in the past few months, as I understand it, to take up the issue of youth. The member began with a poin…
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Mr. Speaker, I am more than happy to have a further conversation over coffee, tea or whatever the member wishes to have. He and I have worked together for over a decade now, so that is quite fine. It might be a bit too late with respect to the budget and an upcoming vote. Regardless, as I said before, he is interested in matters of education and those that pertain directly to youth. However, I did…
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Mr. Speaker, the member's question gives me the opportunity to say that Bill C-19 has received royal assent. It shows what we can do when we work together in the House of Commons. This is the groceries and essentials benefit, which will provide up to $1,900 for a family of four in what is, certainly, a difficult time for this country. I also urge the member to look past politics and to work with a…
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Mr. Speaker, in the short time the member has served as an MP, she has made an outstanding contribution, particularly regarding economic issues. She is, after all, a tech entrepreneur at not one but two companies. She understands the importance of putting in place a foundation for the Canadian economy. Bill C-19 did receive royal assent, and 12 million Canadians will benefit. We can go a step furt…
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Mr. Speaker, I was at the federal finance committee yesterday with the hon. member. He knows how the answer was put forward by Mr. Cory of the Infrastructure Bank. There is no deal with Lion Electric. What happened with Lion in terms of the bankruptcy obviously is regrettable, certainly, but the buses that were intended to be procured are on the road under the operation of another company. The com…
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