Government Orders
Madam Speaker, I do not know if there is any evidence you have that says that handguns—
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, I do not know whether the member has any evidence that supports legal handguns being used in the commission of an offence. In fact, I would say it is zero, as one member already talked about. Does the member agree that to get to the root problem here, there has to be crime prevention to prevent people from being involved in illegal gun crimes? Doing that is going to cost billions, s…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, the member's speech was an evidence-based speech from investigators who have been investigating criminal activity, especially with firearms. How or why did the government start using evidence from, maybe, politicians to start looking at seizing legal firearms from legal firearms owners when that is not the problem, as he clearly stated?
Read full speech →Statements by Members
Mr. Speaker, the city of Cranbrook is family friendly, but that reputation is under threat because of Bill C-75's existing offender release legislation. Bill C-5, now being studied at the justice committee, would remove mandatory minimum penalties and introduce new catch-and-release conditional sentencing orders. This would make the existing situation worse. In fact, the Attorney General of B.C. h…
Read full speech →Statements by Members
Mr. Speaker, we are celebrating National Volunteer Week in Canada, and I would like to take a moment to acknowledge and thank the many volunteers in Kootenay—Columbia who give their time for the betterment of our communities. Recently, I had the honour of visiting the annual rod and gun dinner in Fernie, British Columbia. The event, attended by over 700 anglers, hunters and conservationists, was a…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, this petition is in support of Bill S-223. Bill S-223 seeks to combat forced organ harvesting and trafficking. It would make it an offence for a person to go abroad and receive an organ taken without the consent of the person giving the organ. Bill S-223 has passed in the Senate unanimously three times, and MPs from multiple parties have been putting forward a form of this bill for ov…
Read full speech →Orders of the Day
Mr. Speaker, I can say it depends, but on a serious note, I have always been that way for rights and freedoms. That is where I have been and, since I have been elected, that is where I will stand.
Read full speech →Orders of the Day
Mr. Speaker, I never said it was not important. For example, just before COVID we had the railway blockade where $6 billion was lost for our economy and we did not react to that. When she asks that question, I will say I do care and I think we should be doing something. I do believe we do not need the Emergencies Act to keep our streets safe.
Read full speech →Orders of the Day
Mr. Speaker, it is really up to the police to respond to those issues and they could have responded. I believe they have already talked with the government and they responded as they felt appropriate.
Read full speech →Orders of the Day
Mr. Speaker, the question really is why the Prime Minister or members of the government did not go talk to the individuals who were here and organizing those events to see what they wanted and what they were going to do, rather than sit in here and do nothing. I said that is an option the Prime Minister had. He also could have sent the public safety minister or the emergency preparedness minister.…
Read full speech →Orders of the Day
Mr. Speaker, the government has cited a public order emergency throughout Canada as its justification to invoke the Emergencies Act. It is wrong. In this chamber, the Prime Minister said he invoked the Emergencies Act because the situation could not be dealt with under any other law in Canada. That is false. The leader of the NDP talks about tools available, should the government abuse the power p…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, gasoline is up 34%, housing is up almost 27%, sugar is up 20% and Canadian bacon is up 17%. Inflation has increased two times faster than the wages of those working in my riding of Kootenay—Columbia. Families in Canada are being stretched too far. When will the Prime Minister get off his MacBook at his cottage and fix skyrocketing home prices, supply chain shortages and the cost of li…
Read full speech →Statements By Members
Mr. Speaker, Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal recipient and long-time Kootenay resident Carmen Purdy passed away on November 24, 2021, at the age of 82. He will be missed. Carmen was a fierce supporter of wildlife management and the Kootenay way of life. He founded and was co-chair of the Kootenay wildlife heritage fund, whose mission was to conserve wildlife through land acquisition and w…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, the cost of living is getting worse by the day. Inflation has reached a 30-year high, grocery store shelves are empty and Canadians are understandably tired of the government's constantly moving goalposts. They are struggling to make ends meet, yet the Prime Minister decided this would be a good time to pick their pockets with a payroll tax. Will the Prime Minister commit right now to…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
With regard to the economic impact of the COVID-19 negative molecular test requirement for fully vaccinated travellers on the tourism industry in British Columbia: (a) what was the number of foreign international travellers who arrived at the land border crossings in British Columbia, broken down by month since the border opened for non-essential arrivals on August 9, 2021; (b) what is the breakdo…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, that is not exactly what I said. Just to clarify, it was a comment in The Globe and Mail. I am an evidence-based individual and believe in following the evidence as to how we move forward. I would ask the member to show me the evidence on how this bill would help people who are marginalized right now.
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, this is the first time that I have been able to rise in debate in the House of Commons in the 44th Parliament and I would like to begin by thanking a few people. Throughout my career I have been a public servant and I am honoured to once again be serving the good people of Kootenay—Columbia. The past 20 months have been a difficult time. Many have answered the call to assist fellow …
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, having been a former member of the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police, I am very familiar with where they are going and I agree that right now we are in decriminalization of most drugs because the courts cannot handle that. That is at the discretion of the members and that is where they are working right now. I believe that we need to do a lot of work to support people with ad…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, yes, absolutely we do need to help our youth. The opioid crisis is a great example. If we were to have a program that could help them and get them on the right track, a rehabilitation program that would get them through this so that they were being helped rather than continuing in the criminal justice system that would be a huge bonus.
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, I want to thank the member for his emotional speech. I have been in Kabul many times and have sent members of the RCMP into the area to rebuild, build on law enforcement and build schools for children. I have seen young girls laughing and having fun. Does the member really see a sense of urgency here, knowing how brutal the Taliban is? Why are we not acting on this right now?
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, labour shortages in the Columbia Valley are tied directly to issues with the temporary foreign worker program and the lack of affordable housing. Our economic recovery in Kootenay—Columbia depends on the government doing more than talking when it comes to fixing these issues for tourism and hospitality operators like Pavi Khunkhun in Golden, British Columbia. When will the government …
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, an elderly couple visited my office recently to explain that CPP and OAS was not enough to cover the rising cost of living caused by inflation. They are being forced to choose between food and rent, while also trying to balance medical, dental and prescription expenses. CPP and OAS are not coming close to keeping up with hyperinflation. When will the government stop its inflationary p…
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