Emergency Debate
Mr. Speaker, I totally agree with my colleague, who I sit with on the fisheries committee. Our government has added $600 million additional to the budget of small craft harbours. It is still a drop in the bucket. Successive governments have cut the A-base funding to a level, and it is still the same, of $100 million for capital across the country. Quite frankly, it is not even a band-aid. I agree …
Read full speech →Emergency Debate
Mr. Speaker, at the outset, I want to indicate that I am sharing my time with the member for Saanich—Gulf Islands, and I welcome the opportunity to participate in this emergency debate. At this late hour in the House, I expect that I am the only member currently sitting who experienced this weather event in Atlantic Canada directly. There were some on this side. I was in the epicentre of it, along…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, recently, Canadian seafood and fishers have been targeted by an American organization questioning our efforts to protect the North Atlantic right whale. Can the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans outline the measures her department has taken working with fishers to protect North Atlantic right whales?
Read full speech →Orders of the Day
Mr. Speaker, I am, with mixed emotion, rising this morning to participate in the debate currently in the House. I say that because I have had many, many constituents of mine reach out to me about the troubling situation that was occurring here in their nation's capital. They were concerned about what was happening to the people living here in Ottawa, from the far distance of Prince Edward Island. …
Read full speech →Orders of the Day
Mr. Speaker, I was very specific. I referenced the leadership of this unlawful protest, not the combination of people on the street. I voted against the motion by the Conservative Party because I will not support motions that are, and this may be unparliamentary, hypocritical. I am saying that because the majority of the mandates have been put in place by the provincial governments. Let me clear f…
Read full speech →Orders of the Day
Mr. Speaker, the obvious answer is that there is due process. The government must follow due process. The primary police force was that of the City of Ottawa, with its municipal police force. Then it went to the Province of Ontario and then the Government of Canada. The Government of Canada followed that process until the situation was addressed by the Government of Ontario.
Read full speech →Orders of the Day
Mr. Speaker, as a parliamentarian, I will support all legislation that seeks out, terminates and uncovers illicit funds that are coming in from foreign bank accounts to create turmoil in a democratic country.
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, I have the honour to present, in both official languages, the first report of the Standing Committee on Human Resources, Skills and Social Development and the Status of Persons with Disabilities in relation to Bill C-3, an act to amend the Criminal Code and the Canada Labour Code. The committee has studied the bill and has decided to report the bill back to the House with amendments.
Read full speech →Statements By Members
Mr. Speaker, a few of the qualities that form the backbone of my community of Egmont are a sense of quiet competence, determination, hard work and deep respect for community. Those qualities have sustained Egmont over many years and have also built a deep sense that hard work will help to overcome any challenges. Some years ago, when I served in the Government of P.E.I., the federal government of …
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, my colleague has a valid question. I will simply respond by telling the member that the Prime Minister has been very clear that we will have the backs of Canadians and businesses for as long as it takes to get us successfully through the pandemic.
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, I acknowledge the question from my colleague, and having listened to many debates and speeches in the House of Commons since 2015, I am often perplexed when the opposition Conservative Party rails against our government on the key area of energy as it relates to the western provinces, where the member is from. I am often left arriving at the conclusion that every member from western…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, there are valid reasons we chose to increase the OAS program for those over 75. Those are well documented, but I would draw the member's attention to the record of this government. One of the first actions we took after being elected in 2015 was to raise the guaranteed income supplement for all seniors across the board. At the same time, we have to remember that a Conservative polic…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, I am pleased to respond to Bill C-30, the budget debate. I first want to reflect on my constituency's strengths and its ability to adapt to these changing times. This is because Egmont is a place where people take care of one another. First, there is a great respect for family, and in a tight-knit community that means the residents are very conscious of both the successes and the ch…
Read full speech →Statements by Members
Mr. Speaker, hundreds of young Islanders in my district are now looking forward to graduation and heading into a new phase of their lives. They are proud of their accomplishments, as they very well should be. This past year has been difficult. In many cases, students were required to learn distantly. This disrupted the usual interactions that are so important. The young people I know understood th…
Read full speech →Statements By Members
Madam Speaker, I wish to recognize the efforts made by first responders during a recent fire at La Coopérative Le Chez-Nous in Wellington, a seniors facility in my riding of Egmont. A fire at a seniors residence is extremely frightening. Volunteer firefighters from across the area, in particular the Wellington firefighters, responded quickly, provided comforting words and placing themselves in har…
Read full speech →