SoVote

Mr. Don Davies (Vancouver Kingsway, NDP)

Feb/11/22 10:25:56 a.m.
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Re: Bill C-10

Madam Speaker, we have known since the beginning of the pandemic that testing and tracing were key components of dealing with COVID. We knew that back in early 2020, yet by the end of 2021 the federal government had procured only 120 million rapid antigen tests for that whole time. That sounds like a big number, but it is not when we consider we have 38 million Canadians. That is about three or four tests per Canadian. In January the government announced that it would deliver 140 million tests by the end of the month, but as of January 21, it had only delivered about a third of that. I am in favour of having many more tests, but as Canadians across the country know, they are having difficulty accessing rapid tests and PCR tests. This is a large amount of money. The government's spirit is in the right place, but how can it assure Canadians that these big numbers will actually result in tests being procured and distributed to Canadians where they need them?

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Context: House Hansard - 29 - Feb/11/22

Mr. Don Davies (Vancouver Kingsway, NDP)

Feb/11/22 11:04:00 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, during the recent election, many issues were raised by the great people of Vancouver Kingsway, but none came up more often than the housing crisis. To respond to this, I recently held a town hall to focus on one concrete measure to provide affordable homes to Canadians: co-op housing. This was born out of my visits to the many thriving co-ops in my riding that were built through the federal co-op housing program of the 1970s and 1980s. I was joined by several outstanding members of our community who shared their experience, knowledge and vision as to how we can expand this incredibly successful housing model into the 21st century. Bernie Foyle of Still Creek Co-op, Cassia Kantrow of Trout Lake Co-op and Nancy Hannum of Falls Creek Co-op provided their first-hand perspectives, and UBC professor Patrick Condon lent excellent economic advice. What is clear is that we can and we must get all levels of governments working together now to build many more of these secure, affordable, community-building gems.

180 words

Context: House Hansard - 29 - Feb/11/22

Mr. Don Davies (Vancouver Kingsway, NDP)

Feb/11/22 12:10:45 p.m.
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Re: Bill C-254

moved for leave to introduce Bill C-254, An Act to amend the Parliament of Canada Act (change of political affiliation). He said: Madam Speaker, I am pleased to rise today to address the issue of floor crossing, with great thanks to the hon. member for Skeena—Bulkley Valley for seconding this bill. Elections are an essential opportunity for voters to express their democratic preferences, but when parliamentarians cross the floor they unilaterally negate the will of their electors. This is a betrayal of trust of the first order. For example, in my riding of Vancouver Kingsway, David Emerson ran as a Liberal in the 2006 election, only to cross the floor to sit in the Conservative cabinet within weeks of being elected. Kingsway citizens of all political persuasions were incensed. They know that the only people who have the right to determine which party represents them in the House of Commons are the voters themselves. This legislation would not prevent MPs from leaving their caucus or changing their political affiliation, but it would require members who wish to join another party's caucus either to obtain the consent of their constituents or sit as an independent until the next election. I urge all members to support this important measure to protect the fundamental democratic rights of Canadian voters to choose how they wish to be represented in their House of Commons.

233 words

Context: House Hansard - 29 - Feb/11/22

Mr. Don Davies (Vancouver Kingsway, NDP)

Feb/11/22 1:55:32 p.m.
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Re: Bill C-12

Madam Speaker, as my hon. colleague pointed out, we are talking about the most vulnerable citizens in the country. We are talking about retirees, people in their twilight years and people who make so little money that they qualify for the GIS, which is reserved for seniors at the lowest income level. These are people who still have to work to make ends meet. The NDP was very proud of the fact that in the last Parliament, we made something like 16 separate improvements to the CERB and kept closing loopholes in the government's programs. I am reminded of 2008, after the economic collapse, that the government of the day made, I think, $120 billion of credit available to the banks overnight. Does my hon. colleague agree that the government has the resources and should have the ability to fix this problem to make sure that seniors who are hurt by this do not lose their GIS simply because of a flawed design in the CERB?

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