Parliamentary Speeches

Government Orders

Mr. Speaker, I have two minutes. I will be continuing after question period, after a delay of about an hour, which is better than a situation I once had where I started a speech and then was delayed by a two-week break. There is nothing like having two weeks between the first two minutes and the remaining eight minutes of a speech to allow one to refine those remarks. The second half of the speech…

Government Orders

Mr. Speaker, I cannot imagine what the rush is. I appreciate the kind comments of my hon. colleague. We have always had good relations. She has good relations with many people on this side of the House and elsewhere, and that is something to be encouraged. After being here 22 years, I can say that, although there never was a golden age where we all got along, it is much worse now. However, we shou…

Government Orders

Mr. Speaker, I think that is more of a comment than a question. However, my hon. colleague is right.

Oral Questions

Mr. Speaker, based on an email I received yesterday from his parliamentary secretary, I understand that the Minister of Public Safety will, for the first time since the Liberals took power in 2015, be initiating a discussion with the RCMP on the subject of putting defibrillators in police cruisers. Placing defibrillators in cruisers would save over 300 lives a year. That is 30 a month, so time is …

Oral Questions

Madam Speaker, last week the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Public Safety said the following with respect to the placement of defibrillators in RCMP vehicles, which would save 300 lives per year: “If the hon. member had a private company that wanted to donate AEDs to all RCMP vehicles, I would be happy to work with him on that.” My question is this. In the event that one or more outsid…

Adjournment Proceedings

Mr. Speaker, I thank my hon. colleague for that very informative answer. There were a number of pieces of information that I was unfamiliar with. One thing I picked up was her reference to what she calls contract partners, which really means the provincial and territorial governments. I am going to ask her if she is saying the following, that if the initiative were taken, say, by the government of…

Adjournment Proceedings

Mr. Speaker, today's question relates to the number of lives that could be saved if the government would instruct the RCMP to install automated external defibrillators, also known as AEDs, in each cruiser. I have been raising this issue since the Liberal government came to power in 2015, but the government unfortunately has taken no action. By my calculation, about 300 lives would be saved every y…

Oral Questions

Madam Speaker, in June I asked the public safety minister about equipping RCMP cruisers with defibrillators, which would cost only $10 million and save 300 lives per year. He responded that the RCMP have “invested hundreds of millions” in life-saving equipment, which begs the question why the government does not take 10 million of those dollars and use them for the device that would, dollar for do…

Statements by Members

Madam Speaker, many Afghans who bravely helped our military are still stranded in Afghanistan. One such case has been brought to my attention by a retired Canadian serviceman. A former Afghan police colonel, whose courage and competence helped save Canadian lives, has been unable for months to get confirmation from Canadian authorities as to whether his application to come to Canada has been fille…

Statements by Members

Mr. Speaker, equipping each RCMP vehicle a decade ago with an automatic external defibrillator, or AED, would have cost under $10 million and would have saved roughly 3,000 lives over the 10-year life of the AED units, at a cost of $3,000 per life saved. However, this Liberal government has done nothing and those lives are gone forever. I first raised this issue in the House in 2015 and again in 2…

Routine Proceedings

With regard to the Universal Broadband Fund and other funds relating to the government's various commitments since October 2015 to provide broadband and high-speed Internet services to rural and underserved communities: (a) how many applications for funding have been received for projects located in whole or in part in Lanark County or Frontenac County, Ontario; (b) of those applications in (a), h…

Routine Proceedings

With regard to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP): (a) how many Automated External Defibrillators (AEDs) does the RCMP possess, (i) in total, (ii) by location, province or detachment; (b) since January 1, 2011, how many AEDs has the RCMP purchased, by year of purchase; (c) since January 1, 2011, what has been the total amount spent relating to the purchase, use, and maintenance of AEDs, brok…

Routine Proceedings

With regard to Correctional Service Canada’s (CSC) penitentiary farms and related CORCAN operations, related to the Joyceville and Collins Bay institutions: (a) what are the total amounts spent to build, repair, maintain, and operate all related infrastructure since January 1, 2016, broken down by (i) year, (ii) location, (iii) purpose, (iv) source of funding; (b) what are the total amounts spent …

Madam Speaker, at Her Majesty's coronation on June 2, 1953, the following sublimely optimistic, traditional formula was repeated: “God bless Queen Elizabeth. God save Queen Elizabeth. May the Queen live forever.” So long was our late Queen on the throne that it felt almost as if her reign really never would end, and it seemed possible to hope that the Queen really could live forever. She became so…

Adjournment Proceedings

Madam Speaker, I have a very brief question for the parliamentary secretary. I am aware that he is not in a position to make a statement on behalf of the government, so I will simply ask him to take this back to the Minister of Public Safety. It is the question that I ended with. Will the government commit to instructing the Correctional Service of Canada that no second Joyceville construction con…

Adjournment Proceedings

Madam Speaker, a strange sort of slow-motion sparring match has been taking place in the Commons since March 22, when I first rose to ask the Minister of Public Safety about the government's plans for a potential goat farm at Joyceville Institution. I have asked questions over and over again on a very specific matter: Will the government guarantee that it will not permit CORCAN, the profit-making …

Oral Questions

Madam Speaker, my question is for the public safety minister. Just before the pandemic, I met with his predecessor on the subject of placing defibrillators in every RCMP cruiser. He agreed with me that this would save 300 lives per year, and he expressed personal pride at the fact that earlier in his career he had placed defibrillators in every city of Toronto police cruiser. Could the current min…

Oral Questions

Mr. Speaker, in April, in response to questions regarding a possible goat farm in Joyceville, the parliamentary secretary stated: “Correctional Service Canada does not intend to do any goat milk production.” In May, she told the House: “they were not moving forward with goats.” However, on June 2, CSC stated that, while it clearly had no plans for dairy operations, it would “reassess at a later da…

Adjournment Proceedings

Madam Speaker, in defending CORCAN's plan to rebuild the dairy herd at Joyceville and Collins Bay institutions, the minister and his parliamentary secretary have made claims that are completely divorced from reality. Let us start with the minister's claim made in April. He said, “offenders who participate in [CORCAN] programs are three times less likely to reoffend and find themselves back in cust…

Adjournment Proceedings

Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague for his comments. It was very strange hearing him reciting back to me the same statistics I had just given to him. I pointed out that they been decontextualized by the minister. He simply repeated them. He repeated the same claim about being three times less likely to offend when one has been in a CORCAN program, which is just not true. Someone is one-third as l…

Statements by Members

Mr. Speaker, a year ago today, five members of the Afzaal family, out for an evening stroll in London, were struck at high speed, and with deliberate malice, by a pickup truck. Four family members were killed; only the youngest child, then age nine, survived. As the suspect’s trial has not yet taken place, we cannot know with certainty whether he was motivated primarily by racial hatred, by religi…

Private Members' Business

Madam Speaker, we are talking today about Bill C-246, which provides that the total number of members from the province of Quebec can never be less than 25% of the total number of members in the House of Commons, regardless of whether Quebec's population decreases. However, if Quebec's population increases and its percentage of representation exceeds 25% of the total number of members in the House…

Government Orders

Madam Speaker, first of all, I did not know that the hon. member was denied the ability to speak on the passing of Alexa McDonough. That is a real shame, in and of itself. Alexa McDonough was a great Canadian. I think the answer to this would be something like this. On the issue of what constitutes a recognized party, the number is settled at 12. I know that my colleague would say it should be set…

Government Orders

Madam Speaker, as part of the debate on the Standing Orders, which takes place once in every Parliament pursuant to Standing Order 51(1), I will today be making a suggestion as to how to address the growing misuse of unanimous consent motions, or, more accurately, the growing number of disingenuous requests to seek the unanimous consent of the House by members who know that no such assent will act…

Government Orders

Madam Speaker, I do think more debate is helpful. The great struggle we have here is between the desire to have fuller debates with more potential for meaningful exchange and the fact that this takes time. We are constantly time-starved here. There are a number of different possibilities. I am not sure I want to recommend one or even suggest that only one is the right thing. The issue of a dual ch…

Government Orders

I do not think so, Madam Speaker. The difference between our proposals is that mine would give the Speaker the power to stop the member before they share an opinion and move a motion. If the proposed motion does not have the consent of the House leaders, it will have no chance of being unanimously adopted in the House.

Adjournment Proceedings

Madam Speaker, that is very refreshing. It is actually a substantive answer, unlike the random insults we got from the parliamentary secretary. I appreciate that. I am not sure all the information is correct, but I think the member has answered the question. It sounds like the slaughter facility will remain open. For that, I thank him. With regard to the comments about slave labour, I have some re…

Adjournment Proceedings

Madam Speaker, I rise to follow up on a question I raised earlier this month with the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Public Safety. I asked her why she had contradicted her minister on the subject of the closure of the slaughterhouse or abattoir at the Joyceville penitentiary. She made no attempt whatsoever to actually answer this question, so here we are again this evening. Let me exp…

Government Orders

Madam Speaker, I request a recorded division.

Oral Questions

Madam Speaker, two days ago the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Public Safety stated, in reference to the prison farm in Joyceville, “To my knowledge, there is no slaughterhouse.” This would appear to contradict the response given on April 8 to another MP by her minister, who stated that the existing slaughterhouse would remain in operation. We are all a bit confused. Has the parliament…

Adjournment Proceedings

Madam Speaker, on a point of order, it is inappropriate for the member to impute motives. At no point did I impute motives to her. How can she assert that I do not care?

Adjournment Proceedings

Madam Speaker, I am returning to a question that I raised and that had an unsatisfactory answer by the Minister of Public Safety, who is responsible for Corrections Canada, relating to the prison farm proposals for Joyceville and Collins Bay. CORCAN, Corrections Canada, has indicated an intention to establish a for-profit prison farm, with initial plans to establish a 12,000-goat commercial operat…

Adjournment Proceedings

Madam Speaker, I would very much like to take up the parliamentary secretary on her kind offer. The parliamentary secretary has talked about all the cuddly activities that take place, bottle feeding, calves that have been recently birthed, and so on. That is not when I want to go. I want to go on a Thursday, when there is slaughter activity going on, and I want to make sure I can see what it is li…

Government Orders

Madam Speaker, one of the things that has always troubled me is that the foundational deal under which Canada was set up was equal representation for regions in the Upper House and representation by population in the Lower House. We have seen a very significant departure from representation by population, or rep by pop, in the Lower House, but in the Upper House we have seen a departure as well in…

Adjournment Proceedings

Madam Speaker, this evening I am returning to a question I asked respecting the Correctional Service of Canada prison farms located at the Joyceville and Collins Bay institutions. On April 8, I asked the following question of the Minister of Public Safety: ...even though no contract has yet been signed to use the milk from its proposed 2,200-goat prison farm, the government continues to build dair…

Adjournment Proceedings

Madam Speaker, I may very well take the parliamentary secretary up on that very kind offer, which she has also made to me privately. I do want to say, however, that in her response she abandoned the clarity that she showed on April 29, and moved to the fuzzy language used by the Correctional Service of Canada, which I presume wrote those remarks for her, leaving open the opportunity to move to an …

Government Orders

Mr. Speaker, being over in the corner here, I have to make dramatic hand gestures to get your attention. Thank you for noticing me. I, too, want to correct the member for Calgary Shepard. He stated boldly, but I think incorrectly, that it is the Liberal government House leader who is at fault for this. I notice that there have been a number of government House leaders over the past six or seven ye…

Oral Questions

Madam Speaker, on April 8 I asked the Minister of Public Safety about proposed prison dairy farm operations at Joyceville and Collins Bay. The minister told this House that a contract had been signed. I think he was talking about a contract unrelated to the concerns I raised, but I cannot know for sure, because he neglected to provide any details about that contract. What exactly was the contract …

Statements By Members

Madam Speaker, it is a fact that when heart attacks happen at home, police are often the first responders. It is a fact that equipping police cars with defibrillators saves one life per 1.7 defibrillators over the 10-year life of the unit. It is a fact that the RCMP has 5,600 cruisers coast to coast. It is a fact that equipping each one with a defibrillator would cost only $10 million. The conclus…

Oral Questions

Mr. Speaker, for it to comply with all of our international agreements, we would have to pay prison labour market wages. We would have to ensure that the workers have all the benefits that are provided to free labour. The question that arises, now that we have learned the contract has been signed, is this: Has the government guaranteed that prisoners will be paid market wages? Alternatively, has i…

Oral Questions

Mr. Speaker, even though no contract has yet been signed to use the milk from its proposed 2,200-goat prison farm, the government continues to build dairy facilities at the Joyceville and Collins Bay institutions. Given the absence of a contract, it is strange the government continues to act and to spend as if it still plans to use prison labour to produce goat milk for export. Will the government…

Government Orders

Mr. Speaker, I rise on a point of order. As we know, it is not permitted under our rules for members to take photographs in the House of Commons. I have here a photograph taken about an hour ago by the member for Saint John—Rothesay and posted on his Instagram account. I wonder if perhaps the member and all members can be reminded not to take photographs in the House.

Routine Proceedings

Madam Speaker, I think it is inappropriate for a member to suggest that the Speaker will not allow fulsome answers to questions. I see no evidence that this is true of this Speaker or any other occupant of the chair. I am sure that my colleague will want to reconsider that use of language.

Oral Questions

Mr. Speaker, Canada is a signatory to the conventions of the International Labour Organization. They prohibit international commerce in prison-made goods unless the prisoners are paid market wages. This leaves me wondering how the Correctional Service of Canada justifies its plan to open a factory farm at Joyceville penitentiary, where prisoners would milk 2,200 goats to produce infant formula for…

Oral Questions

Mr. Speaker, my question is for the justice minister or the finance minister. First, how many bank accounts have been frozen under the authority of the emergency proclamation? Second, will the government commit that no further funds will be frozen without a court order verifying that a rational connection exists between the funds and the unlawful blockades? Third, will any currently frozen account…

Orders of the Day

Madam Speaker, the member has stated his reasons for voting for this motion and I take him at his word. I will mention two other members of his caucus, the member for Louis-Hébert and the member for Beaches—East York. The member for Beaches—East York indicated that he will be voting for it because it has been made into a confidence motion. I believe the member for Louis-Hébert indicated that he is…

Orders Of The Day

Madam Speaker, the former speaker, whom I respect and esteem greatly, was mistaken in one respect: He said that he would disappoint everybody, but he has not disappointed me. I think his analysis is accurate. The actions were unlawful. It was appropriate to end the blockades. He also correctly states that it was perhaps not necessary to use the Emergencies Act. He is entirely correct that if we vo…

Orders of the Day

Mr. Speaker, they are not the only Conservatives who have been in favour of it. Premier Ford has been in favour of it. This is the same Premier Ford who got rid of an entire level of government because of a vindictive desire to keep a rival, predecessor Conservative leader from having a chance at elected office. It is the same Premier Ford who, last year, engaged in shutdowns in which he made it u…

Orders of the Day

Mr. Speaker, I am not advocating unlawful action. However, let us be clear about this. This was civil disobedience. Most of the people out there, in front of the House of Commons were engaged in an act of civil disobedience. Using martial law to crush civil disobedience is a terrible idea. I do not think I have to explain why that is the case. It is just obvious, quite frankly. Before I sit down, …

Orders of the Day

Mr. Speaker, some of the protesters' actions, such as blocking bridges and staying in Ottawa too long, caused problems. However, it is not necessary to invoke the Emergencies Act to deal with the situation. I believe it would be preferable to use ordinary means.