Statements by Members
Mr. Speaker, I could not be more proud that Durham College is helping shape Canada's future through innovation, talent and technology. Under the leadership at Durham College's centre for innovation and research, its AI Hub and Mixed Reality Capture Studio are helping Canadian businesses adopt emerging technologies, improve productivity and bring new products to market. As members of Tech-Access Ca…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, to be honest, I felt sort of embarrassed for the Conservatives because they were on camera in public meetings, embarrassing themselves as they were filibustering a bill and wasting parliamentary resources. They then stood up in this House and claimed they needed more time for debate as those bills had not been studied. Again, the programming motion was from the Conservatives. We agree…
Read full speech →Government Orders
No, Mr. Speaker, what I am saying is the truth, which is that the motion that we agreed to to program our time at the finance committee to study Bill C-30 was proposed by the Conservatives. The committee came to consensus on how many hours it was going to spend on how much witness testimony, what ministers were going to come. That is exactly what we followed through with.
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, I would have to get back to the member opposite on that particular question, but I know our minister has spoken to this in question period and answered the member's questions.
Read full speech →Adjournment Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, it is good to be here in the very last moments before the House rises for the summer. I know that there are a large number of farms in the member opposite's riding. There are farm succession plans all across this country, and farmers do struggle with succession, so I understand the issue the member is speaking about. We have done some things recently, in the spring economic update imp…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, I definitely sympathize with the member's predicament. The motion that was used to program our time at the finance committee came from the Conservatives. We agreed to a programming motion.
Read full speech →Adjournment Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, I would just say that it has become apparent in the House, through question period and many of the proceedings, that the Conservatives claim that they are about protecting and supporting vulnerable people, but in fact, they just seem to use those people's hardship for political gain. They see them as a political opportunity, whether it is young people, seniors or other vulnerable peop…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, before I get started, I will just let you know that I will be sharing my time with the member for Beauport—Limoilou. I am pleased to rise today to debate Bill C-30, which is an act to implement certain provisions of the spring economic update tabled in Parliament on April 28. It gives me pleasure to rise to speak to this bill. It has a number of very important economic measures that w…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, I do not know where the member opposite lives exactly or what world he is living in, but to say that global shocks to the Canadian economy that put challenges on Canadian families are the government's fault is just lunacy, since he asked me. I think Canadians out there know the reality is that the world is going through a number of global shocks. Every single country that I have talke…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, on a point of order, that is not what I said. With all due respect to the member, whom I greatly respect—
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, I have spoken to the police chief of Durham Regional Police Service, as well as to members of the association that represents the frontline officers, and they have all supported our government's legislative agenda on public safety, including lawful access, bail reform, combatting hate, the protecting victims act and more. The member has pointed to all those bills. What I find really c…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, let me start by saying how much I respect the hon. member for Saanich—Gulf Islands, for her patience but also for her attempt, always, to operate in good faith. I recognize that with bills like this, it is about striking the right balance, and I think the member mentioned that in her speech. I feel like we are getting the balance right. Maybe she does not feel that way. What was not…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, my understanding is that the components of Bill C‑22 were in a previous bill that was debated in committee and studied, just as Bill C‑22 was, which was also studied for at least eight or nine hours in committee. As I have mentioned in the House today, I have not gotten one clear answer from any Conservative on why they chose to filibuster a spring economic update implementation act…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, I know the member. She and I share a border, being from Oshawa and Durham region, respectively. I know that our chief of police and the Durham Regional Police Service have been asking for lawful access. This is a tool that our government was elected to give police officers, police forces and law enforcement agencies across Canada to be able to do the investigative work they need to …
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, although I disagree with much of the speech of the member opposite, what I wanted to know from her is, since this bill proposes a stand-alone hate offence in the Criminal Code, which essentially doubles up on other offences, if someone in her community were to commit a theft, for example, of a convenience store, but they did it based on a hate motivation, does she believe that perso…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the member opposite's speech, although I fundamentally disagree with some of his arguments. The previous Conservative member who spoke in the House could not cite an example of the religious defence's being used. I wonder if this member could. What I do not understand is that the Conservatives talk a lot about wanting to protect communities and protect people's rights, bu…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, who here does not believe that all Canadians should live free of hate? I cannot fathom how the Conservatives cannot support this legislation, how they can position freedom of expression and freedom of religion against combatting hate, as if this bill would not defend and protect people's charter-protected rights to freely express themselves. Hate is the very thing that has people af…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, I come from a community in the Durham region, which has Chabad, a Jewish community centre. It has active members of the Jewish community who exercise their faith, go to their synagogue and have their own community centres and places of worship. They have asked for this legislation. In fact, they have supported it from day one, because they have experienced acts of hate in our communit…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, I fail to understand the relevance of the member's speaking to a completely different bill, which has nothing to do with Bill C‑9.
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, I appreciate my hon. colleague's support of this bill. I know that all members on this side of the House take this bill very seriously. In my community of Whitby, we have seen acts of hate, including a swastika burned into the playground lawn in a local park behind a school. We saw a woman wearing a hijab almost get set on fire in a local library. These acts of hate are things that ou…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, let me first thank the member opposite for his years of dedication and service. My father was a police officer for Peel Regional Police for 30 years, and I deeply respect our members of all police forces. The law enforcement leaders in our communities on the front lines have been asking us for additional tools. The tough-on-crime agenda the Conservatives purport to support every singl…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, there are many examples of legal experts who say this bill would not do what the member opposite claims, such as chipping away at religious freedoms or others. In fact, this bill would step up, and the government is acting to enhance the Criminal Code to ensure that communities are safe, to ensure that people can express, can worship the way they choose to in their communities. This i…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, the Conservative propaganda machine has gone from technical to full-blown almost overnight because the negative economic paradigm that they exist in has them not able to face the truth that there are broad indicators of strength and resilience in the Canadian economy. Every single bank's chief financial and economics adviser has come out—
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, the cost of food is definitely something that Canadians are concerned about. The Conservatives do not seem to understand causation. They do not seem to understand how food prices are affected by global factors such as oil price shock, wars in Europe or a trade war where tariffs are being placed upon Canadian companies. What is interesting is that, when we step up to offer immediate re…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, we have stepped up time and time again to offer packages of support for tariff-impacted industries, whether it is with liquidity or for companies to pivot, change direction and modify their business models to essentially still thrive in the economy. We have offered support. We have diversified our trade. We are building the infrastructure we need to ensure those industries can survive…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, I wanted to ask my hon. colleague to comment on the hypocrisy that we are hearing today from members opposite, who complain about debate being contracted here in the House when they wasted almost 30 hours of time in committee, filibustering with eight subamendments just on lowering CPP contributions. That kind of behaviour is a waste of time, taxpayer money and the resources of this…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, I wonder if the member could speak to the over 30 hours that the Conservative members of the finance committee spent filibustering Bill C‑30, which offers a number of affordability measures, economic measures that would help Canadians. For example, there is the labour mobility tax deduction, which is being enhanced from $4,000 to $10,000 for a skilled trades worker who would have to t…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, I will be sharing my time with the member for Saanich—Gulf Islands. It gives me great pleasure to rise in the House today to participate in the debate on a very important piece of legislation, Bill C-30, an act to implement certain provisions of the spring economic update tabled in Parliament on April 28. We are debating the government motion today, which is very important. It is unfo…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, it is great to have my colleague aboard the team asking so many good-faith questions in the House. As I responded to the previous member's question, our government has stepped up. We do recognize that tariff-impacted industries are where the concentration of job losses has been most persistent. That is why we have stepped up with supports and packages, while we are in ongoing engageme…
Read full speech →Private Members' Business
Madam Speaker, I appreciate the opportunity to take part in the debate on private member's bill, Bill C‑269. I thank the member for Calgary Centre for putting it forward. I appreciate all members' private member's bills. They are an opportunity for us to work on projects and ideas and bring things forward. I appreciate the hard work that goes into that. As we know, the bill proposes a set of amend…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, I have good news for the member opposite. Just yesterday, Canada announced the first‑ever national food security strategy, with over $3 billion in investments, and investments that are strategic. They are smart investments in building regional supply chain capacity, ensuring that we can have shorter and more resilient supply chains in Canada, that we can support independent grocers an…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, the member opposite should recognize that the expertise of the International Monetary Fund and the OECD is well recognized across the globe. They say that Canada's economy has the strongest fiscal position in the G7. It is expected to have the second-highest growth. That is good news for our country. I know it sounds like bad news to Conservatives, but it is good news for Canada. We h…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, I know the member opposite has the Holland Marsh in his riding, a lot of fruit and vegetable growers who are growing great produce for Canadian and Ontarian families. I know that his riding and people in his riding would support a national food security strategy that invests in seasonal extension and that builds processing and distribution capacity in regions across Ontario and across…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, we have seen the Canadian economy prove to be much more resilient than anticipated. We had $11.5 billion less of a deficit. The economy, in the last job numbers, added 88,000 jobs, 800%, exceeding expectations, recovering 80% of job losses due to the trade war with the United States. That is good news for our country, but it is not the only good news. We also had a 1.5% increase in co…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, if Conservatives are so concerned with supporting Canadians' affordability and the economy and wanting to keep people employed and supported, why did they spend 25 hours this week filibustering a bill that would support workers across Canada? That bill has tax deductions, the labour mobility tax deduction, which would support workers who travel for work, and would put $6,000 more in t…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 32(2), I have the honour to table, in both official languages, the 2025-26 annual report of the Office of the Taxpayers' Ombudsperson, entitled “In Pursuit of Better Service—Taxpayers Deserve More”.
Read full speech →Statements by Members
Mr. Speaker, in Whitby, a simple cup of hot cocoa became something much greater. At just 13 years old, Cohen Lane turned gratitude into action when SickKids hospital worked another miracle and saved his cousin's life. What began as a small, driveway hot chocolate stand grew into a remarkable effort, including ties and scarves, that has raised over $100,000 to support children and families facing s…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, it is times like this that remind me of the famous pragmatic philosopher William James, who famously said, “Pessimism leads to weakness, optimism to power.” Perhaps there is no quote that could better explain the misfortunes of the Conservative Party of Canada in the House. However, let us be honest. Despite the headwinds, there is much to be optimistic about in the Canadian economy: …
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, her party voted against the national housing strategy. It did not support those organizations. What about the national school food program? Our government put in $1 billion over five years and then made that program permanent. I have gone and seen that program deliver food to kids who badly need it in her riding—
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, I want Canadians to realize what the Conservatives choose to spend their time on in a time of great anxiety and uncertainty. They choose to amplify bad news in our economy. They choose to be pessimistic at a time when Canadians need optimism. Canadians need a government that lifts them up. That is what our government is doing by investing in 12 million Canadians with the groceries and…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, there are many signs of progress in the Canadian economy. There is a 1.5% increase in consumer spending, and GDP per capita is up almost 1%. Wages have outpaced inflation, and the new May job numbers came out just last Friday. I know the Conservatives want to completely and wilfully ignore those numbers, but there are 88,000 net new jobs in the Canadian economy, 800% beyond expectatio…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, this gives me the opportunity to point out many of the announcements I have happened to make in the member's riding. We have helped women's shelters in her riding. She was nowhere to be found—
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, we have heard from the banks, the C.D. Howe Institute and Desjardins. The Conservatives seem to love to talk down the Canadian economy and Canadian workers, and to jump prematurely into a narrative that they then, by the end of the week, find out is untrue. However, the Bank of Montreal has said that the solid May jobs report “should silence the recession crowd”. RBC has said there …
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, I cannot believe I was away from the House for a whole weekend. It is great to be back. I will be sharing my time with the member for Beauport—Limoilou, my hon. colleague. It is a pleasure to participate in today's debate and speak about the government's plan to maintain fiscal sustainability in Canada's outperforming economy. On Friday, Canadians woke up to good news on two fronts.…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, that is a great question, and I appreciate the opportunity to talk more about the affordability measures the government has put forward. Obviously, we have cut back and have found optimization within the federal public service. We have reduced operational spending by $60 billion over five years, creating fiscal room both to make generational investments and to offer tax deductions a…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, I was answering the hon. member's question. It pertained to the opposition day motion, which is claiming a number of things that are completely untrue. I am sure the member opposite is actually concerned with facts and figures given by Canadian financial institutions that do economics reports.
Read full speech →Adjournment Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, let me start by pointing out that the Government of Canada will be in a much better position to speak publicly once we have formally submitted our arguments for the appeal. The Cowichan case remains before the courts, and it is important that all members of the House, including me, speak carefully and responsibly while that process is under way. I will emphasize that keeping private p…
Read full speech →Adjournment Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the member's concern. As I said in the remarks I have given here tonight, we understand that the decision may cause uncertainty and concern for private landowners. People want to know what this means for their homes, their communities and their futures. We hear those concerns, and we take them very seriously. Keeping private property predictable and stable is fundamental,…
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