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Context: House Hansard - 148 - Dec/14/22

Dec/14/22 3:12:28 p.m.
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The hon. member for West Vancouver—Sunshine Coast—Sea to Sky Country.

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Mr. Patrick Weiler (West Vancouver—Sunshine Coast—Sea to Sky Country, Lib.)

Dec/14/22 3:12:32 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, in my riding of West Vancouver—Sunshine Coast—Sea to Sky Country, many have long struggled with the high cost of housing. More recently this has been extended to high costs for those who are renting. That is why it is so important that our government introduced a $500 top-up payment to the Canada housing benefit, which passed in the House last month. Can the Prime Minister please tell us about when folks can expect to receive this benefit?

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Right Hon. Justin Trudeau (Prime Minister, Lib.)

Dec/14/22 3:13:01 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank the member for West Vancouver—Sunshine Coast—Sea to Sky Country for his hard work for his constituents. We know that higher rental costs are impacting so many Canadians across the country. That is why we brought in a $500 top-up to the Canada housing benefit, which will help almost two million Canadians who need it most. Just recently I had the pleasure to announce that applications for the payment are now open. I encourage those eligible to apply. Our government will always have the backs of Canadians.

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Ms. Leah Gazan (Winnipeg Centre, NDP)

Dec/14/22 3:13:37 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, yesterday family members and indigenous leaders wrote an urgent request to ministers. They are asking the government to provide resources for searches of the Prairie Green and Brady landfills to find the remains of loved ones, and to invite the UN Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples to oversee the searches after the Winnipeg Police said indigenous people are “on their own”. The Prime Minister admitted the crisis of murdered and missing indigenous women, girls and two-spirit people was a genocide. Will he respond to these demands and make federal resources available now?

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Right Hon. Justin Trudeau (Prime Minister, Lib.)

Dec/14/22 3:14:16 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, Canadians' hearts are breaking for the terrible news coming out of Winnipeg on more missing and murdered indigenous women. This is absolutely unacceptable. We have received the letters from the families. We see the level of pain, and the federal government will look to do whatever it can to support the province, the city and whoever needs support in terms of getting closure and justice for these families.

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Mr. Mike Morrice (Kitchener Centre, GP)

Dec/14/22 3:14:44 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, in the last election the Liberals promised a new $4.5-billion mental health transfer to the provinces. To date, they have not funded a single cent of it. Mental health advocates across the country are calling for these funds. In my community alone, almost 4,000 people are waiting for mental health and addictions care right now. Will the Prime Minister follow through on his election promise and fund the mental health transfer in budget 2023?

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Right Hon. Justin Trudeau (Prime Minister, Lib.)

Dec/14/22 3:15:19 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, we made the commitment to funding mental health supports across the country because we saw and heard clearly from Canadians that more needs to be done and that they need to have better access to mental health supports, whether they are students, whether they are seniors, whether they are working Canadians or whether they are farmers who are facing real challenges. We know that being there for Canadians is essential. That is why we are working with the provinces to make sure they are delivering those mental health resources. Yes, we will be there with funding. We need to see results and better outcomes for Canadians.

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

Dec/14/22 3:16:13 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, there have been discussions among the parties, and I believe if you seek it, you will find unanimous consent to adopt the following motion. I move: That, notwithstanding any standing order, special order or usual practice of the House, following the completion of today's routine proceedings: (a) a member from each recognized party and a member from the Green Party may make a brief statement regarding the end of the sitting; and (b) after the statements, the House shall stand adjourned until Monday, January 30, 2023, provided that, for the purposes of any standing order, it shall be deemed to have been adjourned pursuant to Standing Order 28 and be deemed to have sat on Thursday, December 15 and Friday, December 16, 2022.

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The Speaker

Dec/14/22 3:16:52 p.m.
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All those opposed to the hon. member's moving the motion will please say nay. It is agreed. The House has heard the terms of the motion. All those opposed to the motion will please say nay.

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The Speaker

Dec/14/22 3:18:40 p.m.
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Pursuant to order made on Tuesday, December 13, the House will now proceed to the taking of the deferred recorded division on the motion to concur in the second report of the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Development. Call in the members.

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The Speaker

Dec/14/22 3:30:32 p.m.
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I declare the motion carried.

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The Speaker

Dec/14/22 3:32:05 p.m.
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Pursuant to order made on Thursday, June 23, the House will now proceed to the taking of the deferred recorded division on the motion at third reading stage of Bill C-18. The question is on the motion.

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The Speaker

Dec/14/22 3:42:58 p.m.
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Re: Bill C-18

I declare the motion carried.

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The Deputy Speaker

Dec/14/22 3:44:40 p.m.
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Pursuant to order made on Thursday, June 23, the House will now proceed to the taking of the deferred recorded division on the motion at third reading stage of Bill S-223 under Private Members' Business.

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The Deputy Speaker

Dec/14/22 3:56:35 p.m.
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Re: Bill S-223

I declare the motion carried.

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The Speaker

Dec/14/22 3:56:54 p.m.
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There have been discussions among the representatives of the parties in the House, and I understand that we will now proceed to tributes to our late colleague, the Hon. Jim Carr. I recognize the right hon. Prime Minister.

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Carr
Jim

Right Hon. Justin Trudeau (Prime Minister, Lib.)

Dec/14/22 3:57:14 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, on Monday, we lost Jim Carr. We heard the news a couple of hours later here in the House and held a moment of silence. It is news that none of us wanted to hear, news that we were not expecting. Jim was fighting multiple myeloma and kidney failure, but he always had energy and was able to bear a heavy burden. Jim stood in the House last week and talked about how much he loved his country. He said, “I love this country, every square metre of it, in English, in French, in indigenous languages and in the languages of the newly arrived.” He said this as part of one of his final moments in the House, which were marked by the triumph of passing his private member's bill, the building a green prairie economy act. It is an act that is about preserving a way of life in the Prairies and unleashing a new potential. It is an act that makes sure prairie people see themselves represented in national policy, and not just political leaders but workers' unions, indigenous people, farmers and businesses. It is an act that seeks to leave behind a healthier environment. It is an act of hope for the future and an act of love for his country. It is also an act of courage. Jim understood that this would not be his future, but that it was ours, his kids' and his grandkids'. In October, Jim told me that he was stopping treatment. It was a private moment in his hometown. Jim knew it was for the best, but he never let up on his commitment to serving Winnipeggers, western Canadians and all Canadians and to building a better future. Each of us has only one life. Jim showed us how to live it right, how to live it with decency and integrity, how to give of ourselves to others and how to leave the world a better place than it was when we came into it. We will miss Jim in caucus and at the cabinet table, but his family are the ones who will miss him most. Jim embodied the unique set of characteristics that distinguish people from the Prairies: his clear-headedness, his pragmatism and his decency. Our government will forever be better for it. All the staff who worked for him were drawn in by his warmth, and the members of the public service too. Jim was a gentleman. He was a mentor. Jim was a friend to many. Jim was a great Canadian. Jim dedicated himself to public service right up until the very end of his life, but Jim lived many lives and distinguished himself in many ways. He was an oboist in the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra and he was passionate about music. He was a journalist and a strong believer in the essential role that a free press plays in a strong democracy. He was a devout believer of Jewish faith and a leader in his spiritual community. Most importantly, he was a husband to Colleen; a father to Ben, Rachel, Rebecca, Kiernan, Daniel and Jesse; and a grandfather to Michelle, Sophia and Markian. To his family, I hope that the gratitude of all Canadians for Jim's service, thoughtfulness, kindness and generosity up until the very end can comfort you as you grieve. May his memory be a blessing.

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Mr. Marty Morantz (Charleswood—St. James—Assiniboia—Headingley, CPC)

Dec/14/22 4:03:02 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, “I am encouraged, excited and optimistic about how we can strengthen our federation in ways we have strived to achieve as a nation for decades.” These were words from the speech delivered just this year on his private member's bill. Jim was a nation builder and a gentleman, but most of all, Jim was a true mensch. It is not easy for members to get their bills passed around here. It is a rare accomplishment. It is a blessing Jim lived to see his bill pass the House. His bill was the building of a green economy in the Prairies act. It just passed the House last week. Although it is a rare accomplishment for any MP, for Jim it was one of many great accomplishments in his life. Jim was a husband, a father, a politician, a journalist and an accomplished musician. In fact, he was an oboist who played with the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra. He would always greet people with a great big smile, and he was always interested in how he could help them. As a politician, he was first elected to the Manitoba legislature in 1988 as the MLA for Fort Rouge and then Crescentwood in Winnipeg, where he served as the deputy leader of the official opposition for the Manitoba Liberals. Jim left provincial politics in 1992 to become a well-respected editorial writer and columnist. In 1998, he co-founded the Business Council of Manitoba, where he served as its president and CEO until 2015. It was in 2011 when he and I first met. I had decided to run in the 2011 provincial election, and I asked to meet with him in his capacity as head of the Business Council of Manitoba to discuss its policies. He immediately agreed to the meeting, and I am pretty sure we met for over two hours that day, debating the nuances of the Manitoba economy and the importance of well-developed policy. In fact, I remember a long discussion over whether the provincial sales tax should be increased from 7% to 8%. Of course, as a good Tory, I argued against this increase. In the end, a gentleman throughout, Jim agreed to disagree with me on that one. During that meeting, Jim and I also discussed his admiration for former Manitoba premier Duff Roblin. Jim admired Roblin for bringing in transformative education reform in the 1960s, and of course everyone admired Premier Roblin for getting the Red River Floodway built, what Manitobans affectionately call “Duff's Ditch.” During that meeting, Jim told me that he and Premier Roblin were in fact close friends. Premier Roblin had just passed away. Jim also told me he had assisted Premier Roblin in the writing of his memoir and was a close confidant of the former premier. Even then, Jim was building bridges. Premier Roblin was a Progressive Conservative and Jim was a Liberal, but it did not matter what one's political party was for Jim. What mattered was what could be accomplished together. When Premier Roblin passed away in 2010, Jim gave the eulogy, saying “throughout his long stint in public life, Roblin never had an ill word to say about anybody...Civility and respect were never compromised.” Today, I am saying that about Jim. In 2015, 23 years after he left the Manitoba legislature, Jim was elected as the member of Parliament for Winnipeg South Centre, a role he cherished. He loved serving his constituents and he loved solving problems. He served in cabinet as Minister of Natural Resources, Minister of International Trade Diversification and special representative for the Prairies. It goes without saying that Jim had the respect of all members of the House regardless of their political affiliation. He was a fearless advocate for the interest of Winnipeg, Manitoba and Canada. Just three weeks ago, I was with him at the grand opening of The Leaf at Diversity Garden in Assiniboine Park in Winnipeg, where he spoke optimistically about the future of Winnipeg. Jim was always an insightful and thoughtful speaker, and I always enjoyed very much listening to his words. Jim was also a strong supporter and well-respected member of Winnipeg's Jewish community. He would regularly attend community events and give remarks. He was a fighter against all forms of racism, including anti-Semitism, but in true form, always the bridge builder, he joined Winnipeg's Arab Jewish Dialogue, where members of both communities would meet regularly together to discuss and try to solve issues. In the speech Jim gave about his bill, he started it by talking about how he had won the private member's bill lottery. He said, “one does not plan in life to win the lottery, but when one does, one is left with decisions about how to take advantage of the good fortune.” I think it is safe to say that all Canadians won the lottery for having Jim share his life with us. It was our good fortune. On behalf of my Conservative colleagues, I want to offer our sincerest condolences to his spouse, Colleen Suche, his children, grandchildren and his extended family. In Judaism, there is a concept called tikkun olam. It literally means repair the world to make it a better place. There can be no doubt that Jim Carr left this world a far better place. May his soul be bound up in the bond of eternal life and may his memory be a blessing. [Member spoke in Hebrew and provided the following translation:] Blessed are you, Lord, our God, king of the universe, the judge of truth. [English] Jim will be missed.

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

Dec/14/22 4:09:18 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, first of all, on behalf of the Bloc Québécois, I would like to offer our most sincere condolences to the family of the Hon. Jim Carr, to his friends and to his colleagues in the House, especially his colleagues in the Liberal Party. Some words are harder to speak than others. I wish our colleague Jim could have heard the kind words we had for him today, but life decided otherwise. It is with a heavy heart, but with the greatest pride, that we pay tribute to him. When I was asked to speak, I gave a great deal of thought about how to do it properly. I could begin by praising his poise, his sincerity and his sense of duty as a parliamentarian. I could highlight his early political career at the provincial level in Manitoba, where it quickly became clear that a formidable leader, proud of his roots and the people he represented, was emerging. I could highlight his work as the special representative to the Prairies, as minister of international trade diversification or as minister of natural resources, where he undertook extensive work to ensure that our country would develop its resources in a way consistent with our environmental targets and the challenges of climate change. In fact, he recently saw his own bill pass through third reading in the House and first reading in the Senate. He was determined that “his” prairies, which he held so dear, would become greener. In politics, we have debates. We see the problems and the challenges facing our society, and we look for solutions. We rarely agree, and that is a good thing. The multiple ideas at play and the different perspectives help us reflect. From time to time, when we listen to one another, when we speak to one another without partisanship and with goodwill, we can come up with good ideas that serve the public interest. Jim Carr was a politician who knew how to listen and who, as we saw last week in his last speech, respected his political opponents. We, in turn, respected him. I could have just spoken about his political journey in the House. However, I would have missed what was important. Jim was first and foremost an extraordinary person. He was a good, gentle, generous and brilliant man. He was a man whose heart was in the right place. Jim saw the human being behind the parliamentarian no matter their political stripe. I met Jim about a year ago. He had just been appointed chair of the Standing Committee on Public Safety and National Security, and he wanted to get to know the MPs he would be working with. We had a Zoom meeting one Tuesday in January, to talk about this and that, and to get to know one another. We talked about our lives, our backgrounds, our families and our interests. With how busy our lives are all the time, I found it amazing that this gentleman took the time to do that. I enjoyed that time and all the time we had together. When he stepped down as chair of the committee a few months ago, we became even closer. We were both in the House on Wednesday afternoons, so that became our time to check in with one another. Jim wanted to be in Parliament until the very end, and he was. He was truly passionate, but more importantly, he was a fighter. I see Jim as a model of honesty and kindness. The time I spent with him is etched in my memory, and I will think of him every time I set foot in the House. I will no longer see his focused and caring gaze, but I know he will watch over us. When we lose a loved one, we always immediately think of the last time we saw them and the last words we said to them. We want to turn back the clock and have more time. I will always cherish one of the last things he said to me. He said, “You are a rising star in Parliament, and it is fun watching you grow day by day. I will see you in the House.” To my dear friend Jim, you were a great inspiration to me and I will miss you terribly. Rest in peace. I will see you in the House. Once again, I offer my deepest condolences to all those who loved him.

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Mr. Richard Cannings (South Okanagan—West Kootenay, NDP)

Dec/14/22 4:14:28 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I rise this afternoon with sadness to pay tribute to our friend and colleague Jim Carr. Jim was very much a friend and colleague to everyone here. In my experience, he was the best kind of politician, someone who truly believed in serving his community, his province and his country. He was someone who was always trying to reach across the aisle to work together with all sides and who sought to bring people together. I think some of those characteristics came from his varied career path. He used to say he was a bit of a hippie in his youth. He was even a member of the NDP for a while. He was a professional musician, playing oboe with the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra and was a journalist with the Winnipeg Free Press. For a number of years he was a member of the Manitoba legislature. He was also the president of the Business Council of Manitoba and an early advocate for a clean energy strategy for Canada. That is the kind of background that really allows someone to see all sides of an issue and different ways of solving problems. I got to know Jim when I was the NDP critic for natural resources and he was the minister. We travelled together several times. I did not always agree with him, but he always treated me with complete respect. To my mild discomfort, he several times introduced me at conferences as his “nice critic”. I was a bit torn about that representation, but it really did reflect the collegial relationship we had. Jim was someone who really wanted to bring people together. In 2017, he organized the Generation Energy conference in his home town of Winnipeg. Jim was very proud of that conference and how it brought together people from all over North America and, indeed, the world in his home town to talk about the shift to clean energy. In the middle of the conference he invited many attendees to his own house for a party, which turned out to be his birthday party. I do not think the conference was planned to coincide with his birthday, but it was certainly a great way for us to meet interesting people who had come to tackle some of the difficult questions of our time, all the while enjoying Jim and Colleen's hospitality. The following year, I travelled with Jim to the G20 energy summit in Argentina. There, he was very proud of the hard work he and his team put in to bring the United States on board, with a communiqué that talked of the climate crisis and the need to shift to a greener, low-carbon future. We should remember that this was in the middle of the Trump presidency. Jim moved into the international trade portfolio later that year, so I did not see so much of him after that. By all accounts, he brought the same energy and conviction to that file as he did with natural resources, having faith that parties that seemed far apart on important issues could be brought closer together with honest dialogue. He was also a great chair at meetings and made sure that the honest dialogue actually led to meaningful action whenever possible. Jim was so happy to see his private member's bill on building a green economy on the Prairies pass through the House of Commons last week. Despite his long battle with cancer, he looked great and spent time thanking all of us who had supported him. He knew his cancer was terminal, but, as he often said, “Every day counts.” Jim loved his country. He cared about his community. He went out of his way to encourage new MPs of all parties. We need more people like Jim Carr in this place and at every level of government in Canada. On behalf of the New Democratic Party caucus, I would like to extend my deepest condolences to his wife Colleen and all of his family. I would like to thank them for sharing him with us these past seven years. To Jim, I would like to say, “Farewell my friend. God speed. Shalom.”

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