SoVote

Dec/7/21 3:12:13 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the people of Calgary Skyview for the honour and privilege of serving as their member of Parliament after serving as their city councillor. Throughout the campaign, I heard from many seniors about the struggles they have endured due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Northeast Calgary seniors are community leaders and beloved members of our families. Their health, social and financial well-being must continue to be a top priority for our Liberal government. Can the new Minister of Seniors tell the seniors I represent about what we are doing to support them in their communities?

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Hon. Kamal Khera (Minister of Seniors, Lib.)

Dec/7/21 3:13:00 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I would first like to congratulate my new colleague on his election. I think he will make a fantastic representative for his constituents. I would also like to thank him for giving me the opportunity to highlight an important program that benefits seniors across Canada. As the Minister of Seniors, I am very excited to announce this year's—

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The Speaker

Dec/7/21 3:13:23 p.m.
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I am sorry, but I have to interrupt the hon. minister. I am trying to hear her answer. She is very close, but I still cannot make it out. I know that I am getting old and my hearing is starting to go, but I do not think that is the problem today. I would ask the hon. minister to start from the top.

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Noise/conversations/heckling, interrupting Member speaking

Hon. Kamal Khera

Dec/7/21 3:13:36 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I would first like to congratulate my new colleague on his election. I think he will make a fantastic representative for his constituents. I would also like to thank him for giving me the opportunity to highlight an important program that benefits seniors across Canada. As the Minister of Seniors, I am very excited to announce that this year's New Horizons for Seniors program call for proposals is now open. I encourage all members to connect with organizations in their own ridings that serve seniors to apply. I would like to thank in advance all organizations for the work they do to support seniors.

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Mr. Don Davies (Vancouver Kingsway, NDP)

Dec/7/21 3:14:18 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, only 6% of people in low-income countries have received a COVID-19 vaccine. The African continent needs hundreds of millions of doses just to get 40% of its people vaccinated, yet deliveries were slashed because of supply shortages, putting us all at risk. Global vaccine production must expand immediately, but Liberals are blocking WTO efforts to get this done. Will the government finally support the TRIPS patent waiver to help countries produce desperately needed vaccines, yes or no?

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Hon. Harjit S. Sajjan (Minister of International Development and Minister responsible for the Pacific Economic Development Agency of Canada, Lib.)

Dec/7/21 3:14:55 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the COVID-19 pandemic does not recognize borders and will be overcome through coordinated global action. We have been clear from the start that no one is safe until everyone is. That is why we committed over $2.6 billion to the global COVID-19 response in 2020 and we have an additional $1 billion for the International Monetary Fund. We will work with our allies and international partners to get this done.

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Ms. Heather McPherson (Edmonton Strathcona, NDP)

Dec/7/21 3:15:21 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, that was not an answer. It certainly was not the answer we were looking for. The Liberals say they are proud of the actions delivering vaccines globally, but this is the government that pledged 200 million doses for countries in need by the end of next year and they have not even delivered 20% of that. This is the government that refuses to waive the vaccine patents to allow poor countries to vaccinate their populations. We will continue to see dangerous COVID-19 variants until everyone is vaccinated. When will the Liberals do their part to end the global health pandemic?

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Hon. Harjit S. Sajjan (Minister of International Development and Minister responsible for the Pacific Economic Development Agency of Canada, Lib.)

Dec/7/21 3:15:57 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I look forward to working with the hon. member on this issue and other topics as well. As I stated, the pandemic does not recognize borders and we will only overcome this with coordinated global action. We have donated the equivalent of 200 million COVID-19 vaccine doses. I have had discussions with my other COVAX colleagues. We will work with our international partners and our allies to get this done.

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Ms. Kristina Michaud (Avignon—La Mitis—Matane—Matapédia, BQ)

Dec/7/21 3:16:36 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, there have been discussions among the parties and if you seek it, I believe you would find unanimous consent to adopt the following motion: That, given the increase in gun violence and the numerous deadly shootings in the streets of Montreal and the metropolitan area in recent weeks, and notwithstanding any standing order, special order or usual practice of the House: (a) the Standing Committee on Public Safety and National Security be instructed to undertake as a priority a study on gun control, illegal arms trafficking and the increase in gun crimes committed by members of street gangs; (b) the members to serve on the committee be appointed by the whip of each recognized party depositing with the Clerk of the House a list of his or her party's members before the adjournment of the House; c) the Clerk of the House shall convene a meeting of the committee on a priority basis no later than Wednesday, December 8, 2021; and (d) the Minister of Public Safety, as well as representatives of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, appear before the committee as witnesses for a period of three hours each as the committee sees fit.

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The Speaker

Dec/7/21 3:17:33 p.m.
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All those opposed to the hon. member moving the motion will please say nay. Okay. The House has heard the terms of the motion. All those opposed to the motion will please say nay. I declare the motion carried.

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Mr. Peter Julian (New Westminster—Burnaby, NDP)

Dec/7/21 3:18:00 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, there have been consultations among the parties and if you seek it, I believe you will find unanimous consent for the following motion: That, notwithstanding any Standing Order, special order or usual practice of the House, Members, Senators and departmental and parliamentary officials appearing as witnesses before any standing, standing joint, special or legislative committees may do so in person.

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The Speaker

Dec/7/21 3:18:29 p.m.
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All those opposed to the hon. member's moving the motion will please say nay. Hearing no dissenting voice, it is agreed. The House has heard the terms of the motion. All those opposed to the motion will please say nay. Hearing no dissenting voice, I declare the motion carried.

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Mr. Gérard Deltell (House leader of the official opposition, CPC)

Dec/7/21 3:18:52 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I rise on a point of order. I want to point out that the House is governed by rules that we are all called upon to follow. For example, when we ask a question, we stand up. We must also abide by a certain code and listen to the answer given, if any, of course. We must always respect that. Since the House resumed sitting, there has been a lot of background noise, as there are more members present in the House. We recognize that. That was not the case in the last six months of the previous Parliament, from January to June, when there were only a handful of government members and a few dozen opposition members. We admit that the noise was less intrusive then. We also recognize that when someone rises to answer a question and we hear some heckling, the Speaker frequently rises to call members to order, as he should. Mr. Speaker, I would urge you to be very careful about inviting members giving an answer to start over from the beginning. Inevitably, their speaking time is much longer, allowing members to repeat exactly the same argument. However, the people at home have heard the answer because the microphones picked it up, particularly when the question comes from someone who is not physically present in the House. I therefore invite everyone to follow the Standing Orders very strictly, which state that we should not heckle and that we should listen carefully to the person speaking. Unfortunately, breaches can occur, because we are human. People who have things to say must be able to say them, provided that we hear them properly. If, unfortunately, there is too much noise at the start, we can stop and start again at the beginning, but not at the end.

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The Speaker

Dec/7/21 3:20:31 p.m.
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I would like to thank the hon. member for his observation. He is right that members of the House need to listen to each other. That is something we have to do. We must show respect. It creates problems when the answer cannot be heard. The House proceedings are for the benefit of the House. This is not a show for the people at home. I want to make sure that the members of the House can hear the question and the answer. That way, we will all be on the same page. The Leader of the Government in the House of Commons.

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Hon. Mark Holland (Leader of the Government in the House of Commons, Lib.)

Dec/7/21 3:21:00 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I would just posit that there is a very simple solution. If the member is concerned with the matter that he has raised for my hon. colleague, of course they could just listen to the question that was posed and not scream and yell at the person trying to answer and create a ruckus in the House. It is among the Standing Orders that somebody is supposed to be given the opportunity to speak. There have been many instances where I can barely hear the answer myself because there is so much screaming and hooting and general buffoonery happening on the other side, and I would suggest that is not good for this place.

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The Speaker

Dec/7/21 3:21:36 p.m.
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I will repeat what I just said. Business of the House is to take place in the House and people here want to hear the question and the answer so we all understand what is being said. Therefore, I want to ask all members to respect each other and not shout when someone else is either asking or answering a question.

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Ms. Elizabeth May (Saanich—Gulf Islands, GP)

Dec/7/21 3:22:13 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I only want to add that the rules do not state that people be allowed to hear. Rather, Standing Orders 16 and 18 specifically forbid people from interrupting and speaking disrespectfully. Therefore, the onus of our rules is on the individual to not interrupt or speak. That may be for the purpose of allowing other people to hear, but the rules are violated whenever someone is interrupted or treated disrespectfully.

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The Speaker

Dec/7/21 3:22:48 p.m.
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I thank the hon. member for pointing that out. The hon. member for Edmonton—Wetaskiwin.

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Hon. Mike Lake (Edmonton—Wetaskiwin, CPC)

Dec/7/21 3:22:54 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I would not have risen on this, but I will because the Liberal whip stood up on it. Precedence is important. I was on the government side for many years and while I was trying to answer questions, I could not hear because the Liberal whip was one of the people yelling at me. The precedent at the time was that sometimes the Speaker would stand to ask people to be quiet, but never once in that time was I given the opportunity to repeat my answer to the question.

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The Speaker

Dec/7/21 3:23:29 p.m.
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I am sorry that the previous Speaker did not give the member that opportunity. Once again, I would like to remind hon. members that we are here trying to do Parliament's business. I want to ensure that everyone can hear each other, both the questions and the answers, so we can all work with information that is well heard and well planned out.

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