Government Orders
Madam Speaker, the feelings are likewise. I truly appreciate when the member for Nunavut stands up and represents her community. In our previous election, our platform talked about culturally based treatment programs working within our indigenous communities, funding beds and treatment centres within those communities that were culturally related, and working with indigenous leaders and elders to …
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Mr. Speaker, I rise in the esteemed chamber to present a petition calling for an end to the use of glyphosate and to stop the spraying of Canada's most widely sold pesticide. There have been many studies on the harm it can cause to people and the environment. The use of glyphosate harms aquatic and terrestrial species. It causes a loss of biodiversity, thereby making ecosystems more vulnerable to …
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Madam Speaker, my hon. colleague brought up a very important part of the bill in terms of the red and yellow flag provisions. It is my understanding that both the red and yellow flag provisions could potentially put victims of violence at further risk and have a profound impact on our indigenous communities as well. I am wondering if my hon. colleague could expand on the potential risks of the red…
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Mr. Speaker, I am asking for clarification. If my memory serves me correctly, Clearwater was a company or organization that the government just about bankrupted, with over 500 jobs of the people in Grand Banks, when the former fisheries minister took a surf clam quota away from that organization, giving it to a false corporation, one with which the fisheries minister had close family ties. A forme…
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With regard to the information leaks about the contents of the budget by senior government sources to multiple media outlets on March 27, 2023, prior to the budget being released on March 28, 2023: (a) did the government launch an investigation to uncover the identity of those who leaked budget information, and, if so, what are the details of the investigation; (b) if no investigation was launched…
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Madam Speaker, that goes to the main point in my intervention, which is this. The Liberals do not care about the safety of parliamentarians or the families of those who serve, so they are either negligent in their duties with malicious intent, grossly incompetent or grossly negligent. I worked in China for a long time in my previous career and I know about the threats and intimidation. As soon as …
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Madam Speaker, I agree with the hon. member. If I ever have the opportunity to be prime minister, regardless of where the threat came from and against whom, that diplomat and that country would know, exactly, that the government would not tolerate that. It is NHL hockey playoffs right now. Evander Kane, from the Edmonton Oilers, said something that is a saying in my riding as well, which we say to…
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Madam Speaker, that is kind of the modus operandi we have seen from the Prime Minister, at least in the seven and a half years that I have been a member of Parliament. Whether it is “elbowgate”, Jody Wilson-Raybould, SNC or the WE scandal, it is always, “There is nothing to see here.” Then they blame Stephen Harper or the previous government. It just goes on and on. The Prime Minister reminds me o…
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Madam Speaker, I am going to respectfully disagree. This is a matter of national importance and of the safety and security of a sitting member of Parliament. I will go back to what I said during my intervention. CSIS does these reports and investigations only at the request of the Minister of Foreign Affairs, the Minister of Public Safety or the Minister of National Defence. I just cannot see it h…
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Madam Speaker, the best way to deal with this would have been two years ago when the government first had the report. I do not believe for one minute that the Prime Minister, his ministers or those around him did not know about it. I think it is unacceptable that this member of Parliament continues to stand up here and gaslight with respect to the 49 elected officials who were briefed on this. He …
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Madam Speaker, in listening to the debate last night and today, which has been quite something, I am at a loss for words as to how to frame what we are hearing from the other side and the costly coalition down the way. They are scrambling to the defence of the one member of the government who continually stands up to speak to this very important issue. How did we get here? For months, Canadians ha…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, Beijing operative Zhao Wei sought information on the whereabouts of the family of the member of Parliament for Wellington—Halton Hills so that Beijing could make an example of him. This is a direct threat against a sitting member of this House and his family. Zhao Wei is still in this country. The response from the Liberals today is to blame a sitting member of Parliament, victim blam…
Read full speech →Private Members' Business
Madam Speaker, the why is very simply that message I received from the paramedic who wrote to me telling me about the assault that happened to her, as well as the work that we have done through Bill C-211, the people we have lost who were first responders, who were health care workers, who we lost to suicide. This contributes to post-traumatic stress disorder. It contributes to compassion fatigue …
Read full speech →Private Members' Business
Madam Speaker, my hon. colleague and I have talked about this. I agree. It was a mistake on my part at drafting. I should have had “health care worker” to encompass all of those who work in the health care setting. Also, during the work of my bill, Bill C-211, we came to the understanding that there was no definition of “first responder”, but we used “public safety personnel”. I would work with my…
Read full speech →Private Members' Business
Madam Speaker, I would agree with my hon. colleague. Definitely, people are angry. People are frustrated. The rates of violence against our frontline heroes have been increasing in recent years and we must put a stop to it. That is why it is so important that we work together, collaboratively, and pass Bill C-321.
Read full speech →Private Members' Business
Madam Speaker, I am truly honoured and humbled to rise in this House to speak to my private member's bill, Bill C-321. However, before I go further, I want to send, which I think I do for all parliamentarians, heartfelt condolences and well wishes to the friends, families and colleagues of the two firefighters missing in the Charlevoix region, who were doing what firefighters do: putting themselve…
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moved that Bill C-321, An Act to amend the Criminal Code (assaults against health care professionals and first responders), be read the second time and referred to a committee.
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Madam Speaker, I request a recorded vote please.
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Madam Speaker, the problem we have on this side is this. I will reiterate what our hon. colleague from Prince George—Peace River—Northern Rockies brought up earlier on. When he had the minister and the officials before committee, he asked the minister how many houses had been built in the Yukon and how many houses had been built in the Northwest Territories. The minister could not answer that and …
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Madam Speaker, I respect my hon. colleague greatly, as he knows, but I have to challenge the relevance. He has gone on now for almost five minutes and has not mentioned housing once.
Read full speech →Statements By Members
Mr. Speaker, today marks the beginning of the Canadian Mental Health Association's Mental Health Week. This year's theme is “My Story”. The goal is to shift beliefs and perceptions about mental health, while shining a spotlight on community mental health programs and stories. Storytelling is a fundamental part of what makes us human. It connects us and helps us feel less alone. In any given year, …
Read full speech →Statements by Members
Mr. Speaker, every day, news reports and social media feeds are filled with stories of yet another violent attack on a first responder or health care worker. In our time of need, it is our frontline heroes, our police forces, our nurses, firefighters, paramedics and other health care workers who come to our aid. Without hesitation, these incredible Canadians are there for us any time, any place. S…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, let us be straight with Canadians. It takes a special level of incompetence to have increased spending of $21 billion on bureaucracy and an additional $22 billion on outside consultants and still end up with the largest federal public service strike in history. Despite all of those billions of dollars being spent, Canadians still have no proposals, no plan and no passports. How much w…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Madam Speaker, I rise this morning to present a petition on behalf of the village of Lytton and the businesses in Lytton, British Columbia. As has been mentioned previously, the village of Lytton was decimated by fire on June 30, 2021. The village remains under an evacuation order, with construction not yet started on homes and buildings. Since rebuilding has yet to begin, doors cannot open and bu…
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Madam Speaker, never in the history of our country has a prime minister spent so much to achieve so little. He has added more money to our national debt than all previous prime ministers combined, and he is not done. With this spending, our national debt is projected to rise to $1.3 trillion, meaning Canada now spends more money servicing our debt than we spend on our military, child care or socia…
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Madam Speaker, our hon. colleague from Davenport, in her comments on budgetary policy, spoke about mental health. As many of my colleagues know, I have dedicated the last seven and a half years, my political tenure, to championing mental health within our country. National mental health transfers were something that the government, the Liberals, ran on in 2021. They promised a $4.5-billion mental …
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Madam Speaker, Conservatives put forth three items we were looking for in this budget, and, sadly, this budget fails to capture any of them. The provincial governments and mental health organizations are all saying that what the government has promised is not enough. It promised $4.5 billion for the mental health act transfer and walked it back. It cannot be trusted. The provinces are waking up to…
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Madam Speaker, we are short millions upon millions of homes for Canadians. The goal of home ownership has gotten farther and farther away. As a matter of fact, the average down payment was $20,000 when the Liberal government was first elected, and it is now over $45,000. Canadians cannot afford that. Rent has gone up from $1,500 to almost $3,300 under the Liberal government. More needs to be done,…
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Madam Speaker, my riding of Cariboo—Prince George is right along the route of the Highway of Tears. I have sat with so many families that have lost loved ones: murdered and missing indigenous women and young girls, and young men as well, as a matter of fact. It is absolutely heartbreaking. We need to do more. My worry is that the government has pledged it, but will it follow through with it? We ha…
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With regard to the government’s commitment in budget 2017 to provide $5 billion over 10 years to support mental health initiatives: (a) how much of the money has been spent to date; and (b) what is the breakdown of how the money in (a) was spent, including which initiatives have been funded and how much has been spent on each initiative?
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Madam Speaker, they misled Canadians on such a vital promise during the 2021 election. I would like to ask our hon. colleague what she has to say about that.
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, I appreciate our colleague across the way, but I do not think that he understands that every time they raise the costs for small business owners of doing business, there is a direct impact. Restaurants Canada has said that this tax increase would cost individual restaurants more than $30,000 per year on average. That is one staff member. That is a full-time equivalent or maybe a cou…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, I appreciate our hon. colleague's speech, because for the first four minutes he entered into Hansard the names all the microbreweries and breweries in his riding. I think he owes a care package to all member who are currently present in the House. When the escalator tax was introduced and brought in back in 2017 before COVID, Finance Canada officials testified at committee that the …
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, our hon. colleague is a good soldier. He goes on and on and quotes lots of things. I would like to quote something from the media that is breaking news, and perhaps he would like to check his phone. The breaking news right now is that a “Liberal MP...secretly advised Chinese diplomat in 2021 to delay freeing Two Michaels”. I would like to ask my hon. colleague for a comment on that.
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As soon as you guys got into Parliament.
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Madam Speaker, 88% of the beer Canadians enjoy is brewed and created here in Canada by over 20,000 hard-working Canadians employed by these breweries, whether microbreweries or large breweries like Pacific Western Brewing in my town of Prince George. They are worried. The unions are worried and labour is worried. The breweries are saying they cannot handle a 6% tax increase. I want to ask if my ho…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Madam Speaker, for weeks now, the Prime Minister and his front bench have misled Canadians about what they knew and when they knew it. We know the Trudeau Foundation took money from the Chinese Communist Party. We know Beijing Communist operatives were directly funding Liberal nominations and elections. The facts are indisputable, yet they continue to try to sweep the scandal under the rug to cove…
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Madam Speaker, the national security community told the Liberals about foreign interference and briefed Katie Telford and the Prime Minister weeks before the election. About 48 hours before the nomination deadline, CSIS urged them to rescind the nomination of a Liberal candidate. Foreign operatives funded their candidates, and the Prime Minister did nothing. The Prime Minister and his bench contin…
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Mr. Speaker, after eight long years of the Liberal government, housing rates and the cost of living are skyrocketing for Canadians. The average rate for a studio apartment in my home province of British Columbia is $2,200, and mortgage rates are doubling, all because of the Prime Minister's out-of-control inflationary spending. Families cannot afford to eat, heat or pay their mortgages, and he cou…
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moved for leave to introduce Bill C-321, an act to amend the Criminal Code (assaults against health care professionals and first responders). Mr. Speaker, I am heartened to see that the Minister of Public Safety is in the House to hear the first reading of this—
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, I am heartened that the Minister of Public Safety is paying attention. I am truly honoured and humbled to rise in the House to introduce this bill. I thank my hon. friend and colleague from Chilliwack—Hope for seconding the bill. Simply put, my bill will amend the Criminal Code to make assaults against health care workers an aggravating factor during sentencing. If we have learned any…
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Madam Speaker, the hon. colleague has said that the Conservatives are taking the side of tech giants. However, there are legal experts, as well as other experts in the field, including former CRTC commissioners, who have serious concerns with Bill C-11. Who is really misleading Canadians? Is it that member of Parliament, those legal experts or the former CRTC commissioners?
Read full speech →Private Members' Business
Mr. Speaker, it is my honour to rise today to speak on Bill S-222, an act to amend the Department of Public Works and Government Services Act, use of wood. I thank the member for South Okanagan—West Kootenay for his sponsorship of this bill and his continued effort in championing this important industry in our province and, indeed, our country. This legislation would require that the minister of p…
Read full speech →Private Members' Business
Madam Speaker, the Cariboo region was at one time British Columbia's largest lumber-producing region; however, I am not sure we can say that anymore. The forestry industry is a vital sector not only for Cariboo—Prince George but for the Canadian economy, supporting thousands of jobs in countless communities across our country and creating many positive spinoff effects in related industries and ser…
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Madam Speaker, I rise today to speak to Bill C-39, an act to amend the Criminal Code with regard to medical assistance in dying. It is a bill I will be supporting to protect the most vulnerable Canadians from the Liberal government's reckless expansion of medical assistance in dying to Canadians who are suffering solely from a mental illness. Unbelievably, if Bill C-39 does not pass, Canadians str…
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Madam Speaker, the intervention of our hon. colleague across the way and others from the Bloc today have absolutely frustrated me to no end, but I appreciate their points of view. I believe recovery is always possible. As our colleague from Thunder Bay—Rainy River has said, even the experts do not agree with what our Bloc colleague is saying. There are some who can recover and lead healthy and via…
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Madam Speaker, I believe that we should be viewing mental health in parity with physical health. Yes, there are a lot of different things that contribute to one's mental health, such as affordability, access to food and homelessness. We should be making sure that we are doing everything to raise people up and offer the supports that they need. First and foremost, the government needs to follow up …
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Madam Speaker, that is a tough one for me. I would have to actually work with the experts who are out there. Right now, as it sits, I could never support medical assistance in death for those who are struggling with mental illness because I believe recovery is always possible.
Read full speech →Statements by Members
Mr. Speaker, heaven has another angel. On Saturday, November 5, Richard Ross Wilson returned to be with God. Rick, as he was known to friends, was larger than life. He was intelligent, kind, compassionate and was always the first to step up when he saw the need. When diagnosed with ALS, he did not worry about himself. He worried about his family. He turned his attention to his fellow Canadians who…
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