Statements By Members
Mr. Speaker, at the Relay for Life, we show those we love that life is bigger than their diagnosis and that no matter where they live, they do not have to face cancer alone. I relay for those we have lost. I relay for those who have fought cancer and won. I relay for those who are in the fight today. I relay for those left behind. I relay because I believe there will be a day when a cancer diagnos…
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Mr. Speaker, for 70 years now the Canadian Mental Health Association has recognized Mental Health Week, and today marks the beginning of yet another. Thankfully, the conversation around mental health, mental illness and mental injury has evolved over the last 70 years. The stigma associated with mental illness has been reduced, but this is not good enough. Ultimately, the stigma must be eliminated…
Read full speech →Orders of the Day
Madam Speaker, our previous Conservative government set up the Mental Health Commission. We need to do more. We are failing Canadians when it comes to mental health. There is no health without mental health, and until we actually view mental health in parity with physical health we are failing Canadians.
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Madam Speaker, my hon. B.C. colleague from Courtenay—Alberni also reminded me of another thing. Absolutely, I have heard the exact same thing. We are failing small business owners and we need to do more for them. The member reminded me of something I failed to mention in my speech, and that is the opioid crisis in British Columbia. We are facing dire times, not only here in our province but right …
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Madam Speaker, I get fairly emotional when we talk about our veterans and those who serve our country and our community. Our freedom is not free. It comes at a very real cost and a very real sacrifice to those who serve our country and their families. Sadly, what we have seen is that time and again they are forgotten. They are told to go to the back of the line instead of being told, “Thank you, y…
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Madam Speaker, it is a pleasure to rise this evening to speak to the concurrence motion for the first report of the Standing Committee on Finance, entitled “Investing in Tomorrow: Canadian Priorities for Economic Growth and Recovery”. There is a lot in the 378-page report that I am sure the minister did not have a chance to look or did not even look at. For the sake of time, I would like to focus …
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Madam Speaker, two years and another political scandal later, the Prime Minister finally tabled a budget. For Canadians across the country and British Columbians in my region, this budget was a massive letdown. Workers in our forestry, tourism, seasonal industries; workers who have lost their jobs or had their wages slashed, were abandoned and left behind once again by the Liberal government. For …
Read full speech →Emergency Debate
Mr. Speaker, I want to thank my hon. colleague from Saanich—Gulf Islands for moving this emergency debate. In her letter to the Speaker, she points out that across Canada, we've had 8,400 cases a day on average this week, and Ontario cases have surged to a new all-time high. In her own province of British Columbia, the P.1 variant from Brazil is becoming dominant, and the province has hit a new re…
Read full speech →Emergency Debate
Madam Speaker, I heard my hon. colleague talk about comparing apples to apples in earlier interventions when people were talking about Taiwan, Australia or New Zealand. Here is a fact: Only 2% of Canadians are fully vaccinated. That fact right there lies squarely at the feet of this Liberal government.
Read full speech →Emergency Debate
Madam Speaker, absolutely, I think we need to be doing everything we can to support our small businesses. There are so many businesses that have fallen through the cracks, such as our tourism businesses and seasonal operators. I have major events in my riding that our municipalities depend on, such as the Williams Lake Stampede, Billy Barker Days, the British Columbia Northern Exhibition, and the …
Read full speech →Emergency Debate
Madam Speaker, I think there is fault that can be laid at a number of governments' feet. However, the failure to secure the vaccinations that were needed on a timely basis to make sure that we could continues lies squarely at the feet of our Liberal government. We needed those vaccines for our northern, rural and remote communities to be safe and secure, and we know they have been unfairly punishe…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, there is a lot to unpack in this 754-page document, which is basically an election platform. It is not really a budget. I would offer that a lot of what is said in those documents is in year two and year three. If we read the fine print, the spending is over five years. We are in the middle of a mental health crisis, and not only a mental health crisis, an opioid crisis as well. Whi…
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Mr. Speaker, I rise today to highlight an international disaster response organization, made up of 70,000 incredible volunteers: veterans, first responders, medical professionals and kick-ass civilians who continue to make an impact at home and across the globe. With the driving force of service above self, Team Rubicon was founded by two U.S. brains in 2010. Six years later, Team Rubicon Canada g…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, last weekend the Prime Minister had the opportunity to acknowledge Canada’s mental health crisis and the ongoing opioid crisis as he addressed his Liberal colleagues. Not once did he mention mental health or opioids. A hundred and forty days ago, parliamentarians voted unanimously to implement 988 as a three-digit national suicide hotline. Where is it? Liberal amendments to MAID, unbe…
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Madam Speaker, I am sharing my time with the hon. member for Lambton—Kent—Middlesex, a great colleague. I probably should have announced this earlier. The plan our leader announced can be transformative. We will increase funding to the provinces and work with them on a mental health action plan. We will lead, not obfuscate, not push it aside and say that it is not our problem. We will implement th…
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Madam Speaker, it is an honour to speak to our Conservative opposition day motion. I struggled a lot with what I was going to say in this 10-minutes speech. The reality is that I probably have had enough experience over the last year and, indeed, the last three decades dealing with mental health and the challenges our most vulnerable communities deal with to probably fill an hour or even more with…
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Madam Speaker, that is a typical Liberal response. We are well over 400 days into this pandemic, yet Canadians have failed to see any semblance of a plan. There was no plan for vaccinations. There was no plan to close our borders or to secure them. There was no plan to get us back to normalcy. All we hear is excuse after excuse. I agree that we are in a pandemic, but we know more than we did back …
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Madam Speaker, my hon. colleague from Langley is bang on. We need to create hope. Moreover, we have to not just create hope but have action, a real plan to open the doors to get Canadians back to normalcy of some sort, to get them back to work and to allow them to see their loved ones. It will go a long way in the mental health of Canadians, the mental well-being and wellness of Canadians, but the…
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Madam Speaker, my colleague raised a very interesting point. I have to admit that I did not hear the amendment so I cannot comment on that. However, we must be doing everything in our power for our workers, for our front-line heroes, like the doctors, nurses, firefighters, police officers and paramedics, the grocery store stockers, the people who have been on our front lines like the truckers, ens…
Read full speech →Statements By Members
Mr. Speaker, this last year has only worsened Canada’s pre-existing mental health crisis. Sadly, as this crisis worsens by the day, the Liberal government shamefully continues to ignore it. Canadians who have hit their breaking point have been put on hold when they reach out for help, because the Liberal government has failed to prioritize a national three-digit suicide prevention hotline. Canadia…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, we are facing a mental health crisis that is worsening by the day. Lives and livelihoods have been lost, suicides rates have spiked, and depression and anxiety are at unprecedented levels. This crisis is real, and Canadians need real mental health resources now. They do not need another government website. They do not need to be placed on hold because of the government's failure to im…
Read full speech →Statements By Members
Mr. Speaker, today is Bell Let's Talk Day, and it is time to talk about mental health. Moreover, it is time for action. As leaders, we must do everything in our power to break the stigma and break down the barriers for Canadians seeking help. We can leave a legacy of action by being the change that is needed. We can lead the way by having honest and frank discussions. Let us show Canadians that it…
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Madam Speaker, we are speaking on Bill C-14, and I want to thank my hon. colleague from Northumberland—Peterborough South. He reminded me of my beautiful granddaughter, and I know I am not allowed to show those photos, so I will not do that again, but if any of my colleagues want to see them, I can do that. We are here to actually speak on serious terms, but I have to say that in troubling times a…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, in a time of a global pandemic and a global emergency, it behooves all of us to put away our personal agendas, our provincial agendas and our national agendas, and work together on a team Canada approach. There has to be leadership seen from the top, but what we have seen is no plan from the Liberal government: no plan to help the provinces, no plan to assist in getting those vaccin…
Read full speech →Statements by Members
Mr. Speaker, I rise today to celebrate and recognize an incredible constituent. Over 30 years, Jim Terrion has raised over $800,000 for the Terry Fox Foundation, and he is on track to reach his goal of $1 million for 2024. Jim's extraordinary efforts began when his hero, Terry Fox, could no longer pursue his Marathon of Hope. Jim took up the cause and in 1990, he walked across Canada to honour his…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, our country is battling a mental health crisis. It has been over one month since the House unanimously passed my motion calling on the government to consolidate all provincial suicide prevention hotlines into an easy-to-remember national suicide prevention hotline using a simple three-digit number. With the passage of my motion, it is now up to the government to work with the province…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, I am glad that my hon. colleague mentioned something about the last year being a little bit tumultuous and that it is an anniversary. I will also let Canadians in the House know that today marks another anniversary. Today marks the very first time I stood in this House to raise the increasing concerns of COVID coming into our country. I suggested that we perhaps look for a plan like…
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