Orders of the Day
Mr. Speaker, central infrastructure and our Parliament buildings were put at risk. Ontario declared a state of emergency and, despite that, was not able to clear these occupiers from the streets of Ottawa. The city was not able to do it on its own. Tow truck companies have said they have received death threats, so they will not tow. That is why there is a time, a place and a need for such legislat…
Read full speech →Orders of the Day
Mr. Speaker, as we have seen, without this legislation there has been chaos. In fact, the day this was invoked, just before midnight the Surrey border crossing was cleared. Fortunately, this does not take away the powers and laws already in place. This supplements them. It gives extra powers and tools on top of those we already have. This is territory-specific, so when we have an issue, we can inv…
Read full speech →Orders of the Day
Mr. Speaker, my colleague is absolutely correct. When some members of Parliament on the other side, particularly the Conservatives, are aiding and abetting, as she states, by sometimes telling protesters to go away, sometimes saying, “Stay”, and sometimes saying, “We are for you”, while their aspiring leader supports the convoy, things become very difficult. The government has done an impeccable j…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Madam Speaker, this week we saw the Canadian Environmental Protection Act introduced in the Senate. CEPA is the cornerstone of federal environmental protection legislation in Canada, which aims to protect Canadians and the environment. Can the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Environment and Climate Change inform the House on how this bill will further protect our environment?
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, I see a lot of very smart people on the other side, but my daughter asked me the other day, “What is this trucker convoy? What is this protest about?”, so I explained it to her. She is 12 years old. She is studying the divisions of power within this government in this country. I said, “The truckers cannot go across to the U.S. without being vaccinated.” She said, “Well, isn't that the…
Read full speech →Statements by Members
Mr. Speaker, in honour of Black History Month, I want to acknowledge the great work of organizations that highlight Black voices and support the Black community in Surrey. Solid State works with local youths to build co-ops with support from professionals, providing training and employment opportunities. Co-ops like Daily Dose of Blackness use various platforms to share stories that centre around …
Read full speech →Speech from the Throne
Madam Speaker, friends and colleagues, I am very happy to be here in the House of Commons to reply to the Speech from the Throne. Canadians have faced a great deal of hardship over the last two years as a result of the unprecedented times we are living in. I continue to be in awe of the resilience, compassion and sheer tenacity that has been shown. Even though for much of the last two years we in …
Read full speech →Speech from the Throne
Madam Speaker, I want to assure my colleague opposite that I grew up on a blueberry farm, and every summer my maternal grandparents and uncles are still blueberry farmers. They have faced struggles and they know the struggles that many of their colleagues have faced during this time, specifically in Abbotsford, as well as in Mission and Matsqui. I can assure him that this government is going to be…
Read full speech →Speech from the Throne
Madam Speaker, I too want to commend your ravishing presence, as the translator alluded to and as I forgot to say earlier. In response to my colleague across the aisle, I would like to say that sometimes we want to have our cake and eat it too. I know the provinces want the health transfers, but if we actually implement any programs or encourage programming, they are critical of it. I can say that…
Read full speech →Speech from the Throne
Madam Speaker, I first want to wish Maddie a happy birthday also. Hopefully she has a great birthday today. Madam Speaker, I cannot comment on an individual application in my colleague's riding, but I can say that when I became the representative for Surrey Centre, we had 160 people on the street in a tent city on the strip, as they call it, in Surrey Centre. One hundred and sixty people were hous…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Chair, I am pleased to rise in committee of the whole. This evening, I will speak to Global Affairs' international assistance and the estimates as they relate to the international development portfolio before asking questions. The international development landscape has evolved significantly in the last two years. The pandemic has highlighted and exacerbated inequalities and reversed decades…
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Madam Chair, could the Minister of Health tell this House how our government has supported vaccinations throughout the country and what we are doing to increase vaccination rates?
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Chair, over the last few weeks, we have seen the emergence of the omicron variant. Could the Minister of Health please tell this House what actions we have implemented to stop the spread of this variant in Canada?
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Madam Chair, could the Minister of Health please tell this House how the government has been there to support provinces and territories during COVID-19?
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Madam Chair, could the Minister of Health please tell this House the importance of protecting sexual and reproductive health rights here in Canada?
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Chair, could the Minister of Health tell us what the government has done directly to support the mental health of Canadians during COVID-19?
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Madam Chair, the omicron variant has shown us that having a fast and coordinated genetic sequencing capacity across Canada is essential, and to make sure that we can keep Canadians safe and aware of new COVID-19 variants circulating in our communities. What has the federal government done to support building up Canada's capacity to detect new variants of concern?
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Madam Chair, thank you. That is all.
Read full speech →Statements By Members
Mr. Speaker, Canadians living in coastal regions from east to west have been hit hard by extreme weather in the last few days, from Nova Scotia and Newfoundland, all the way to British Columbia. I send my sincere condolences to everyone from coast to coast who has been impacted by the flooding, who has had damage to homes, farms, livestock, business and infrastructure, and who has had to leave the…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, that was a great question from my colleague across the aisle. Bill C-2 covers all of the industries that are hard hit. It is based on the economic hit that the industry has had and whether it has reached the threshold. Those that are hard hit will receive the wage subsidy, as required, and we know that the tourism and hospitality sector have been the hardest hit currently and the sl…
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Madam Speaker, I would like to thank my member of Parliament who is representing me in my riding and my neighbouring riding, which I represent. The faster we vaccinate and the quicker we encourage others to get vaccinated, the country will be a much safer place, and leadership starts right here in the chamber. Those who are still trying to decide whether they should be vaccinated should show leade…
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Madam Speaker, our government has created over one million new jobs well ahead of schedule. In fact, the economy is turning on so many cylinders that we have a vacancy of almost 750,000 to one million jobs. That is a good and healthy sign, but we must resolve that a lot of that is because many of the immigrants that we would bring to the country have been unable to come due to travel restrictions.…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, I am very pleased to be here today to speak to Bill C-2, an act to provide further support in response to COVID-19. Our government is moving into the next phase of the recovery, with more targeted support for Canadians, as our economy continues to reopen. The benefits outlined in this bill are and will continue to be essential for Canadians who will be impacted by the pandemic in th…
Read full speech →Emergency Debate
Mr. Speaker, it is absolutely essential. As we know, the environment does not pick borders or see boundaries and we have to work with our American and global counterparts for many things. In this particular place, we have to work with our partners to the south to make sure they make the same mitigation efforts, the same diking and restoration efforts, so that this does not happen again. Deep colla…
Read full speech →Emergency Debate
Mr. Speaker, there is a lot of work to be done, absolutely. It is essential to control the growth of the temperature rising. As my colleague from Cloverdale—Langley City alluded to earlier, we must do more. Canada is warming faster than many other countries around the globe. We have a huge watershed in our Arctic that we have to preserve, which is kind of the coolant of the globe, and therefore we…
Read full speech →Emergency Debate
Mr. Speaker, I congratulate the member on his election and representing the constituents of Edmonton Griesbach. The government will do whatever it takes. This is a very essential time. As we have seen, even without natural climate disasters, due to the COVID situation globally, supply chains have been even more imperative. They have to be examined and ensured, particularly for indigenous communiti…
Read full speech →Emergency Debate
Mr. Speaker, I am very grateful that this emergency debate is taking place tonight to discuss the devastating flooding in my home province of British Columbia. As we anticipate more heavy rain coming this week, the actions that we take and the preparations that are made in the coming days will be very important to support those who will be impacted by future storms. I would like to take this oppor…
Read full speech →Private Members' Business
Madam Speaker, I am pleased to join the second reading debate on Bill S-204, An Act to amend the Criminal Code and the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (trafficking in human organs), which came to us on May 10, after having passed in the other place. This important bill proposes to protect vulnerable persons who have organs extracted through exploitation of their vulnerabilities by creating …
Read full speech →Statements by Members
Mr. Speaker, British Columbians recently lost pioneer and centenarian, Gurdial Kaur Oppal, at the age of 104. She came to Canada at the height of the Depression and became widowed at the age of 30, but her tenacity and strength to never give up remained with her until the end. As a Sikh-Canadian pioneer and devoted member of society, she was also a feminist. She was always speaking out if women we…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Madam Speaker, the Surrey region was hard hit by the coronavirus this spring. Nurses, doctors, respiratory therapists and other health care providers have worked around the clock to care for patients and administer vaccines. As we see a decrease in cases across the country and an increase in vaccines administered, I would like to ask the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Public Services a…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, I agree in part with my colleague. There are many other very important things happening right now, not to mention what we just discovered at a residential school in British Columbia, in Kamloops, which is heartbreaking. We have a climate change challenge right now that we have to deal with. There are many other things we should be debating. The all-party National Security and Intell…
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Madam Speaker, I absolutely think that there should be layers of screening and layers of protection ongoing. This is something we will always have, where we have to be ahead of the game and we have to have layers of protection for our laboratories, our research centres, whether it is epidemiology or other scientific research. We must protect our interests. We shall continue to do so. That is why w…
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Madam Speaker, I think the member for Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan is kind of infatuated with this one fixation, that we should not and cannot share with others. We have several layers of protection that Canadians rely on. We have CSIS, we have the Canadian Centre for Cyber Security, we have the RCMP and various other protocols to protect Canadian interests. We have to share research with count…
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Madam Speaker, I am thankful for the opportunity to rise in the House to speak to this motion before us today. Science and research play a key role in supporting a dynamic society and a thriving economy. Science and research expand our understanding of the world, lead to new ideas and create a better tomorrow by providing solutions to many of the issues that are most important to Canadians. Scient…
Read full speech →Statements by Members
Mr. Speaker, I would like to take a moment and recognize the achievements of Jatinder Singh Randhawa, a Surrey local and friend who championed Punjabi arts and culture across Canada. Since 2008, the Shan E Punjab Arts Club he founded has taught thousands of youth in the Lower Mainland the art of Punjabi bhangra and giddha dance. From the Olympics to Parliament Hill, Mr. Randhawa’s students deliver…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, today the Prime Minister and the Minister of Natural Resources announced the launch of the Canada greener homes grant to enable Canadians to retrofit their homes for a low-carbon future. From the beginning, our Liberal government has said that economic growth and the fight against climate change must go hand in hand, and this announcement brings this policy into the homes of every Can…
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Mr. Speaker, it has never been more important to support Canadians in achieving home ownership. We know that many young families are ready to buy their first home but face financial challenges to doing so in cities like greater Vancouver. Can the minister please update the House on the first-time home buyer incentive and explain how it is helping put home ownership in the reach of young Canadians?
Read full speech →Statements By Members
Mr. Speaker, today I would like to recognize an outstanding member of the Surrey community for his generosity during the COVID-19 pandemic. Tony Singh, the founder and president or Fruiticana, recently donated 23,000 pounds of food in two 10-tonne trucks to the Surrey Food Bank, and last fall donated $100,000 to the Surrey Hospitals Foundation to support the Children’s Health Centre at the Surrey …
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, today I present e-petition 2990 on behalf of 5,529 online signatories from across the country, plus thousands more on paper, asking the Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship to address issues around foreign workers, specifically more access to permanent resident status and work permits, and a special program to help support migrant workers and their families in Canada.
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Mr. Speaker, we have been working hard on this since forming government in 2015. We committed to the Paris accord, and there now is a government south of the border that has reinstated itself in it. We have even committed to increasing the targets of the Paris accord. The Liberal government has been committed ever since it has been in government. Challenges have happened in the past, and as the me…
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Mr. Speaker, I live in a province that has accepted the science, and folks on the other side of the aisle are now thinking carbon pricing is a great idea. Imitation is the best form of flattery, so I thank them for that. In my province of British Columbia, climate pricing has been in place for over a decade now, and we have been seeing the results of it. Almost one out of every 10 vehicles sold is…
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Mr. Speaker, I will strongly disagree with my neighbour and colleague, the member of Parliament for Cloverdale—Langley City. Our handling of the pandemic has been noted by magazines, newspapers and media around the world. Canadians have had the most vaccinations procured for them, as compared with any other country in the world. This week we have 20 million vaccinations. I got calls today from our…
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Mr. Speaker, with the introduction of the Canadian net-zero emissions accountability act, our government is introducing legislation that will help address the extreme risks of climate change. The science is clear: Human activities are causing unprecedented changes to the earth's climate. Climate change also poses significant risks to human health and safety; the environment, including biodiversity…
Read full speech →Statements by Members
Mr. Speaker, I would like to acknowledge the heartbreaking news we are hearing from India in its fight against the coronavirus. India has seen a critical increase in the number of coronavirus cases in the last few weeks with upward of 350,000 cases a day and around 3,000 deaths recently due to the virus. My sincere condolences go out to everyone impacted by the virus, to those struggling for survi…
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Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the hon. member for her passion for those with disabilities and those in need. We have had great legislation brought forward to give more access for those who have disabilities, under the accessibility act. We have given compensation for those who were in need, those who have lost their jobs during the pandemic, many disproportionately due to disabilities. As my collea…
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Mr. Speaker, that is a great question from my hon. colleague across the way. Our approach has differed from the Conservatives' approach. What the member and members of his party proposed would have meant people taking on huge debts through their credit cards and lines of credits and borrowing against their homes at higher interest rates than are available to governments, or the provinces would hav…
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Mr. Speaker, I will start by acknowledging that budget 2021 was presented in the House by Canada's first female Minister of Finance. I congratulate the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance for continuing to break down the barriers faced by women in the workplace. I thank everyone involved in the creation of this budget, including the Minister of Middle Class Prosperity and the Parliamenta…
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Mr. Speaker, Canadians in Quebec, just like those in British Columbia, all expect their federal government to be there for them in their times of need. If Saskatchewan gave us health care, British Columbia gave us carbon pricing, and Quebec gave us a great role model and a great model for child care. Our Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance has already said that we will be reimbursing its…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, as we enter the third wave of the pandemic, tremendous advances have been made in the past 12 months with the creation and distribution of vaccines. Our government has worked tirelessly to procure and distribute millions of doses of vaccines. In my home province of British Columbia, residents as young as 40 years old are eligible to book their appointments. Provinces across the countr…
Read full speech →Statements by Members
Mr. Speaker, today is a day to celebrate, reflect and observe. Sikhs across Canada are celebrating Vaisakhi, a celebration of the creation of the Khalsa and the Sikh Articles of Faith. On this day and for the entire month of April, we are also celebrating Sikh Heritage Month and the accomplishments and contributions of Sikh Canadians across the country. Today, Muslim Canadians will begin a month o…
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