Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, overdose is the leading cause of death in my province of British Columbia. The NDP-Liberal Prime Minister's extremist drug policies have turned our neighbourhoods into war zones. Hard drugs are being used in playgrounds, coffee shops and even hospitals. Last week, a drug-addled man lit fires and consumed drugs in front of traumatized kids at the Prince George Aquatic Centre. The RCMP …
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Madam Speaker, it is interesting that we get these questions from the Bloc and others talking about the past when we are looking forward to the future. We are here today to talk about a bill, Bill C-29, which we all agree is important and needed. Unfortunately, we have parties who just want to continue to point fingers. They are doing everything to try to take a very non-partisan piece of legislat…
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Madam Speaker, today I rise to speak to Bill C-29, an act to provide for the establishment of a national council for reconciliation. What does the word “reconciliation” mean? After nine years of the current government, what we have seen is that it has become a buzzword. Reconciliation is about walking shoulder to shoulder, listening, learning and being open to admitting that wrongs were done. Bill…
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Madam Speaker, I am quite dismayed at the comment by our NDP colleague across the way, but I will leave that for another day. It is par for the course with the NDP team they have. Why were the Congress of Aboriginal Peoples, an organization that represents 800 status and non-status, off-reserve, urban indigenous peoples, and the Native Women's Association of Canada not included in this program?
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Madam Speaker, I am getting heckled from the other side, but the government has had nine years to get this done, and now, at the eleventh hour, with the last few shreds of power it has, it is putting this forward. It has taken forever for it to do this. That being said, as I mentioned, Conservatives will be supporting this bill. We hope that some amendments we put forward will be agreed to. We hop…
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Madam Speaker, it is disappointing to hear the comments from our colleague down the way. I always say that those in glass houses should not throw rocks, and I would say that it was our former prime minister, Stephen Harper, who started the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. However, I have never seen a prime minister be more indignant on one hand, and stand here whenever the cameras are on to sa…
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Madam Speaker, my hon. colleague knows full well that this is a discussion for House leadership and not one that I can speak to. It is disappointing, as this is a minister of the Crown and minister of this file asking the question, that it has taken the Liberals four years to get to this point. However, she is one that I have a great deal of respect for in the work that we did on 988 and on the me…
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Madam Speaker, we know that there is a very large community of indigenous youth, status and non-status youth, living off reserve and within the urban centres, as well as families who live off reserve. Our family is one of them. The government has chosen to leave out the Congress of Aboriginal Peoples, an organization that represents over 800,000 status and non-status indigenous peoples, as well as…
Read full speech →Statements by Members
Madam Speaker, it is an honour to rise today and to recognize the work of my friend Barb Ward-Burkitt, who is the executive director of the Prince George Native Friendship Centre. I also recognize an incredible program that started in my riding of Cariboo—Prince George. What started as a small grassroots movement, a movement to end violence against women and children, has grown into an internation…
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Madam Speaker, since 2016, over 40,000 Canadians have died from overdoses. Over a billion dollars has been spent, with zero results. B.C.'s deputy commissioner of the RCMP has confirmed that organized crime is indeed trafficking safe supply. It is going straight from the pharmacy to the hands of criminals, unleashing crime, chaos and disorder in our communities. After nine years of the Prime Minis…
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Madam Speaker, it is unfortunate that when we speak the truth here, those members take offence to it, because all they want on the record is their misinformation. They can say everything they want about the Conservatives, but when we fire back at them, they take offence to it. I hope I did not hurt the member's feelings by not answering, but I am sure we will speak off-line and hug it out afterwar…
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Madam Speaker, I have great respect for my colleague across the way. I believe my hon. colleague from Cumberland—Colchester, who is a former physician, mentioned this earlier. We have to, first, eliminate the wait times Canadians face. For example, six million Canadians cannot get a primary care physician. They cannot get their medication if they need that. We would work with the pharmaceutical co…
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Madam Speaker, it is an honour to rise today to speak to Bill C-64. We have heard some doozies over the last day. Of course, today is budget day, so we will hear some more doozies about the billions upon billions that will be spent and heaped on the backs of taxpayers. One of the reasons it is such a great honour to speak to Bill C-64 is that I get a chance to split my time with the newly minted C…
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Madam Speaker, most of that member's minute-and-a-half-long rant was incomprehensible. I could not understand what he was saying. However, on one comment that he did mention is that they like to point fingers at other groups and lobbyists. I will remind the member that his leader's brother is a lobbyist for a big grocer. They may not like the answer. They obviously do not like the answer, so they …
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Madam Speaker, yesterday the Bloc and NDP shamefully voted to save the Prime Minister from a carbon tax election. Instead, they voted in favour of a 23% tax hike on Canadians just 10 days from now. That is no April Fool's Day joke. Let us be clear. That vote was not about saving the environment. It was about saving their pensions. After eight years of the Liberal-NDP government, Canadians are stru…
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Mr. Speaker, I rise on a point of order. On page 75 of the most current B.C. budget, it does say that the Province of British Columbia is federally mandated to implement the carbon tax. Therefore, I would like unanimous consent—
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
moved for leave to introduce Bill C-386, An Act respecting the establishment and award of a Special Service Medal for Domestic Emergency Relief Operations. Mr. Speaker, I am honoured to rise to today and table my new private member's bill, an act respecting the establishment and award of a special service medal for domestic emergency relief operations. This bill would establish a service medal for…
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With regard to Statistics Canada's phone surveys on mental health service accessibility and effectiveness: (a) how many people have been contacted across the country from 2016 to 2023, broken down by year and by province or territory; (b) does Statistics Canada explain the nature of the survey before participants are asked to continue; (c) does Statistics Canada obtain informed consent from partic…
Read full speech →Private Members' Business
Madam Speaker, it is interesting our hon. colleague brings up transit workers and the issue of violence against them when there is legislation in place that does already protect transit workers. Whereas, Bill C-321 needs to be passed to protect those who protect us.
Read full speech →Private Members' Business
Madam Speaker, I am not familiar with Bill C-46, the bill that he is referring to. If he wants to talk about that further, perhaps as a PMB bill, another PMB he would like to put forward, I will work with him on that as well.
Read full speech →Private Members' Business
Madam Speaker, I want to thank my hon. colleague from Calgary Heritage. I have known him only a short time, but I value his friendship and truly respect the work that he does alongside all of us in this House. We had an opportunity here, from all sides of the House, at report stage, where all parties unanimously supported Bill C-321. The bill is not the be-all and end-all, but sends a clear messag…
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Madam Speaker, I do not think we can say thanks enough to those who put their uniforms on every day knowing full well they are going to experience absolutely the worst of society. They put their uniforms on to serve us and our families. With the increasing rates of violence, they now have to be worried whether they are actually going to be able to return home to their families. Imagine the traumat…
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Madam Speaker, I request a recorded vote.
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Madam Speaker, the Takla First Nation is a rural and remote community in northern B.C. It has been asking the government for a safe and sustainable road into its community for eight years. The existing road is often impassable, leaving Takla without access to critical emergency services like fire and ambulance. Were the two ministers of indigenous affairs aware that the radical Minister of Environ…
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moved that Bill C-321, An Act to amend the Criminal Code (assaults against persons who provide health services and first responders), be read the third time and passed. Madam Speaker, it is a great honour to rise once again in this chamber to speak to a bill that is near and dear to my heart. I rise today to speak on behalf of the hundreds and thousands of brave men and women who are our hometown …
Read full speech →Private Members' Business
Madam Speaker, just the strength alone of all the associations that have come on board will help carry that message once this bill passes. However, let us not look too far past even today. We know that this bill, if passed here in this House, has to go to the other chamber. We need this bill to pass as soon as possible. The next critical step is to ensure we get swift passage at the Senate and roy…
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Mr. Speaker, I thank my hon. colleague for the shout-out. I will remind the House that it was not just me who did this; it was a team effort. We all chipped in to bring 988 to Canada. Throughout our committee work on MAID, we found that countries that offered psychiatric medical assistance in dying had an almost a 2:1, where women applied for MAID more than men. More women are seeking MAID than me…
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Mr. Speaker, I rise to present two petitions. The first petition is on behalf of the good residents of Skeena—Bulkley Valley, the riding adjacent to my beautiful riding of Cariboo—Prince George. The petition states that the undersigned citizens and residents of Canada draw the attention of the House of Commons to the following: Whereas the current government has attempted to ban and seize the hunt…
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Mr. Speaker, I also rise to speak regarding the thousands of correctional workers, guards, within our prison system. I ask this today, on behalf of the correctional officers in Mission—Matsqui—Fraser Canyon and surrounding areas who are concerned about the prison needle exchange program currently being operated by Correctional Services Canada. I have met with these officers and those who are on th…
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Mr. Speaker, to our hon. colleague for Kingston and the Islands, our colleague for Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan only said that when speaking of MAID for those with mental illness, how do we differentiate between suicidal ideation and MAID? Indeed, it is what we are hearing from the experts who said, “There is no evidence that shows we can predict irremediability in mental illness and it is vast…
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Mr. Speaker, on a point of order, I would like to correct my hon. colleague. I note, in his zest for this intervention, he misread the number. It is not 811; it is 988.
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Madam Speaker, I have sat through much of this debate, on the committee as well. The provinces and territories did not ask for a three-year pause; they asked for an indeterminate pause because they are not ready. Industry is not ready. The health care professionals cannot come to any conclusions. As a matter of fact, Dr. Gaind, a professor of psychiatry at U of T, summed it up best at the committe…
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Mr. Speaker, I have spoken and shared, probably a little too much at times, in this House, regarding my own family's struggles and my own struggle with suicide, and why I fight so passionately on this issue and others. I want to say a heartfelt “thank you” to my colleague across the way. I have only known him for eight and a half years, but for me that is perhaps the most profound speech or interv…
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Madam Speaker, that is my motto. It is “never give up”. In our darkest days and our darkest moments it is easy to find a permanent solution to a temporary problem, and that is suicide. I believe with every fibre in my body that life is worth fighting for. We just have to be able to have those moments of clarity. Sometimes it is hard to find those moments of clarity. Sometimes it is hard to see the…
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Madam Speaker, I have sat with many people who have struggled for their lives with mental illness and mental health challenges. The greatest issue many of them have is that they do not have adequate access to help and that they constantly are waiting for help. I think we need to first go down the path of doing everything in our power to remove the barriers for care so that we can help those who fe…
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Madam Speaker, at the outset, I would like to say that I am splitting my time with my hon. colleague from Calgary Rocky Ridge. This is a weighty issue. Over the course of this debate, I have listened intently to all of our colleagues. I am brought back to when we debated this as new members of Parliament in 2016. I said, at that time, that this is perhaps one of the most important pieces of legisl…
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Madam Speaker, my hon. colleague is absolutely right. We do not treat mental illness in parity with physical illness. If I have a broken arm, we can see that injury and will offer all our assistance to it, but if I am struggling with mental illness or mental health challenges, it is an invisible illness and an invisible injury, and we do not do enough as a nation to put those supports in place. Th…
Read full speech →Private Members' Business
Mr. Speaker, it is a pleasure to stand and speak to my friend from Oshawa’s bill, Bill C-320. Nowhere could 10 words and an explanation of how the date has been determined make such a difference, such a profound impact on so many Canadians. I have stood in the House so many times over the last eight years to talk about victims' rights. We talked about the Paul Bernardo case. We talked about the To…
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Mr. Speaker, I want to congratulate the hon. colleague and thank him for his perseverance in putting forth Bill C-320. This is, after all, if my math is correct, the third iteration of it. He has worked for over a decade on this type of legislation. Much the same as soon-retiring Senator Boisvenu, the member has been a tireless advocate for victims' rights, and I want to congratulate him and thank…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, earlier this week, 17 Belleville, Ontario residents died from overdose in a span of 24 hours. Fourteen of those deaths were in a two-hour span. Since 2016, 42,000 Canadians have died from opioid-related overdose. The Prime Minister has spent $1 billion making it easier for Canadians to get drugs but harder for them to get into recovery. After eight long years, the Prime Minister is ju…
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moved that the bill be concurred in.
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Madam Speaker, congratulations. I rise with respect to the newly elected premier from Northwest Territories, R.J. Simpson, who has asked for a carve-out from the government's penalizing—
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Madam Speaker, the level of hypocrisy coming from the NDP is staggering. At every step of the way, NDP members support the Liberal government; then, when it is convenient for them, they stand up and say, “Shame on the Liberals.” When it comes down to the vote, they toe the line. One can hear the echo of the whip from the Liberals whipping the NDP. They vote to support the Liberals, whether it is c…
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Madam Speaker, I rise on a point of order. Through you to our hon. colleague, I would say that the conversation that is taking place at the Speaker's chair is indeed louder. It is not offending me, but it is indeed louder than the one that our colleague is being called out for—
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
With regard to government financial forecasting: what is the projected interest rate and the range of possible interest rates that the government is using to make its forecasts, broken down by year, for each of the next five years?
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With regard to government contracts with Avascent, since January 1, 2016, broken down by department, agency, Crown corporation, or other government entity: (a) what was the total value of the contracts signed with Avascent, broken down by year; and (b) what are the details of each contract, including, for each, (i) the date, (ii) the vendor, (iii) the amount, (iv) a description of the goods or ser…
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With regard to the Benefits Delivery Modernization programme: (a) what are the total expenditures through the programme, broken down by year, since 2020; and (b) what are the details of all external contracts signed by the government as part of, or in relation to, the programme, including, for each, the (i) date, (ii) vendor, (iii) amount, (iv) description of the goods or services, including the s…
Read full speech →Statements by Members
Mr. Speaker, I am heartbroken and angry. I am angry that yet another family has lost a loved one to suicide. Carson Cleland was just like any other 12-year-old boy from Prince George. He was involved in sports; he was active in his community. However, he felt prey to a sadistic predator whose only motivation was to do harm. Ryan, Carson's dad, has urged us all to do better, to be better and to mak…
Read full speech →Statements by Members
Mr. Speaker, suicide is a deeply personal issue that impacts us all. Years of hard work and advocacy are finally paying off. On November 30, more than 1,000 days after the House unanimously passed my motion to bring 988 to Canada, and after relentless pressure by Conservatives, Canadians struggling with their mental health will finally have access to a simple, easy-to-remember three-digit suicide …
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