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Ms. Lena Metlege Diab (Halifax West, Lib.)

Jun/7/23 7:04:57 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I rise in the House to raise a point of order for the first time. I was scheduled to speak to my private member's bill tonight. It is a bill that I believe everybody in the House favours, and it is to declare November as Lebanese heritage month. I would like to second the motion from the member for New Westminster—Burnaby to investigate these ridiculous tactics, which are wasting resources and impeding important legislation from going forward.

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Mr. Brad Vis (Mission—Matsqui—Fraser Canyon, CPC)

Jun/7/23 7:05:37 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, on the third to last vote, I believe, I stepped out for a moment, and the member for Mississauga East—Cooksville referred to me as a rat. I think the member is an hon. member, and I would ask him to kindly retract his comment.

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Mr. Kevin Lamoureux (Parliamentary Secretary to the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons, Lib.)

Jun/7/23 7:06:01 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, on a point of order, to support the New Democratic House leader, I would like to read a quote that I think should be taken into consideration in investigating this matter. The Leader of the Conservative Party said that they have announced they are going to use every parliamentary tool in their tool kit to block this risky and inflationary budget from passing until the PM makes the commitment to balance the budget in order to bring down inflation and interest rates. He then said, “I will keep speaking and keep speaking and keep blocking...until the Prime Minister rises with a plan”. I would suggest that we have witnessed something that is being orchestrated out of the Conservative leadership's office. I think it is worthy for us to investigate it. It is a very serious matter. One could say the behaviour we have seen from the Conservative Party, both on Friday and today, is in borderline contempt of our rules.

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The Deputy Speaker

Jun/7/23 7:07:15 p.m.
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I do believe I have as much information as I need for that point of order. I see the hon. member for Timmins—James Bay has his hand up.

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Mr. Charlie Angus (Timmins—James Bay, NDP)

Jun/7/23 7:07:23 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I did want to weigh in on this. I have no opinion on whether the hon. Conservative is a rat or not. That is not something I want to speak to. However, I do feel that we are watching tactics by the Conservative leader, who lives in Stornoway. I am very concerned that this is undermining confidence, and it is very important that we have confidence, particularly when my region is burning and people are being evacuated. I am asking the Speaker to look into this because Canadians expect us to do our jobs and not to interfere and act like we are juveniles. I am asking if the Speaker would agree to look into this—

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The Deputy Speaker

Jun/7/23 7:08:07 p.m.
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Let us get to the end of the list of folks who want to speak. The hon. member for Battle River—Crowfoot.

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Mr. Damien Kurek (Battle River—Crowfoot, CPC)

Jun/7/23 7:08:13 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, on the point of order, I find it tragically ironic that they want an investigation into voting, but they refuse to allow an investigation into votes by the Communist dictatorship in Beijing. What a shameful— Some hon. members: Oh, oh!

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The Deputy Speaker

Jun/7/23 7:08:29 p.m.
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I will just remind members that, when we are talking to points of order, a Standing Order request might be good as well. The hon. member for Prince George—Peace River—Northern Rockies.

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Mr. Bob Zimmer (Prince George—Peace River—Northern Rockies, CPC)

Jun/7/23 7:08:47 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, on the same point of order, I would recommend that, if there is any investigation that really needs to be done, they should ask the same special rapporteur to investigate.

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The Deputy Speaker

Jun/7/23 7:08:59 p.m.
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We will review what happened today because we do try to provide the application for the use of members when they are travelling and when they are going to committees. We want to make sure it works correctly so that we do not have these kinds of problems. Do not forget, if a member has trouble voting, when the member's hand goes up on the screen, a team of individuals will be trying to call them to make sure the app and the phone are working correctly. There is a number of resources that get activated the second a member's hand goes up. We will review to see how the system worked. We will go back to see the statements that were brought forward, and we will try to report that back to the House as soon as possible.

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Mr. Kevin Lamoureux (Parliamentary Secretary to the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons, Lib.)

Jun/7/23 7:09:55 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 36(8)(a), I have the honour to table, in both official languages, the government's response to two petitions. These returns will be tabled in an electronic format.

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Mr. Kevin Lamoureux (Parliamentary Secretary to the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons, Lib.)

Jun/7/23 7:10:46 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 111(1) and section 39(1) of the Public Servants Disclosure Protection Act, I have the honour to table, in both official languages, the biographical notes and the certificate of nomination for the appointment of Harriet Solloway as Public Sector Integrity Commissioner. Pursuant to Standing Order 111(1), I request that the certificate of nomination and biographical notes be referred to the Standing Committee on Government Operations and Estimates.

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The Assistant Deputy Speaker (Mrs. Alexandra Mendès)

Jun/7/23 7:10:46 p.m.
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I wish to inform the House that, because of the delay, pursuant to Standing Order 37, there will be no Private Members' Business hour today. Accordingly, the item will be rescheduled for another sitting.

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Hon. Bardish Chagger (Waterloo, Lib.)

Jun/7/23 7:11:24 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I know constituents in the riding of Waterloo, and all constituents in Ontario, will be happy to know that I have the honour to present, in both official languages, the 46th report of the Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs, entitled “Report on the Report of the Federal Electoral Boundaries Commission for the Province of Ontario, 2022”. As the procedure and House affairs chair, I would just also state that committee members have been looking at how we make this place function, and I do want to say thanks to the NDP today for raising the concern to interpreters. I know that during votes, interpretation does not take place, but I do notice that their headsets are on because they never know when they might need to interpret. I would say that their health and safety is of the utmost importance. People applaud and say it often, but sometimes their actions do not demonstrate that, and that is a concern for me. I really hope that we rectify the matter. With that, here is our report.

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Mr. Michael Cooper (St. Albert—Edmonton, CPC)

Jun/7/23 7:12:33 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I rise on behalf of the Conservative members of the procedure and House affairs committee to table a Conservative dissenting report to the main report of the committee, in respect of the boundary redistribution for the Province of Ontario. Conservatives support and respect the work of the commission and therefore do not support most of the boundary objections. However, we do respectfully request that commission favourably consider the targeted boundary objections of the member for Don Valley West, the member for Wellington—Halton Hills and the member for King—Vaughan. We also respectfully ask the commission to favourably consider proposed boundary name changes put forward by the member for Niagara Falls, the member for Thornhill and the member for Barrie—Springwater—Oro-Medonte.

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Mr. Randeep Sarai (Surrey Centre, Lib.)

Jun/7/23 7:13:29 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I have the honour to present, in both official languages, the 13th report of the Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights, entitled “Reforming Canada’s Extradition System”. Pursuant to Standing Order 109, the committee requests that the government table a comprehensive response to this report.

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Mr. Taylor Bachrach (Skeena—Bulkley Valley, NDP)

Jun/7/23 7:14:16 p.m.
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moved that the 5th report of the Standing Committee on Transport, Infrastructure and Communities presented on Thursday, June 2, 2022, be concurred in. He said: Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to rise in this concurrence debate regarding the 5th report of the Standing Committee on Transport, Infrastructure and Communities, entitled “Railway Safety and the Effects of Railway Operations on the Surrounding Communities in Which They Operate”. This is an issue and a topic that is close to the hearts of many people on northwest B.C. in the riding of Skeena—Bulkley Valley, which I am so proud to represent. At the outset, I would like to pay tribute to a couple of people. First is to a wonderful woman named Dawn Remington, who lived in the community of Smithers, where I live. She was deeply committed to the environment and to the safety of her community. She was concerned about the topic of rail safety. During the course of the committee's study, Dawn appeared before the committee to present the concerns of residents. Sadly, she passed away before the report was tabled. Tonight, I will be speaking in her memory. Second, I want to pay tribute to another incredible community leader in northwest B.C., a woman named Alice Maitland. Alice is one of the longest-serving mayors in all of Canada. She served as the mayor for the village of Hazelton for over 40 years, and today is her 90th birthday. I want to wish her a very happy birthday. Alice has passed the torch onto her daughter Julie, who is now her worship in the village of Hazelton and is doing a wonderful job. What Alice taught me about politics was the importance of bringing heart, of defending the places that we love and fighting every day for the people who live in our communities. I wish a happy birthday to Alice. Tonight, I will talk about the report from the standing committee. I am very proud of the committee's work. This is a report based on a study that we, the NDP, initiated. I also want to situate this around our experience in northwest B.C. The railroad is such a big part of our history, our economy and of people's daily lives in our region. I want to talk about workers. I want to talk about the people who work on the trains, like the conductors, the engineers and others who are so vital to our supply chains. They do dangerous work in all kinds of conditions, in Canadian weather on steep mountain grades, up and down the line. I want to talk about communities. The railway in Canada bisects so many communities and runs through so many communities. In the region I represent, the railroad was really the founding reason for many of the non-indigenous communities, including Smithers. It is a community named after Sir Alfred Smithers, who was the superintendent of the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway. It is a big part of who we are, yet at the same time, we have a lot of work to do to ensure that rail transport in our country is done safely and that the people who work in that sector are protected when they go to work. The concerns of workers was something that the committee heard quite a bit about in the testimony. We heard from Teamsters and other unions representing workers. In my job as a member of Parliament, I have talked to dozens of railroad workers who have brought forward their concerns. Their concerns are really about the safety of the job. I think that is the biggest thing. At the top of the list are concerns about fatigue, the scheduling of the rail companies and the way that impacts workers. These folks work under some pretty strenuous conditions. The railroads run 24-7, and the way the shifts are scheduled often puts a strain on these workers' lives. They have to be on call. They have to be able to jump at a moment's notice, get on a train and drive it somewhere. Certainly, many workers have expressed to me the challenges of fatigue and the challenges of getting enough rest. At the committee, we also heard about the condition of some rest facilities the railway companies utilize to ensure that rail workers are getting rest. Many of them are located directly next to the train tracks. Of course, when there are trains going by every hour, we can imagine how difficult it is to get the necessary rest. We need to ensure that those facilities are kept up to a standard where these important workers are able to get the rest they need so they can perform their work in a safe way. When we talk about workers, I am reminded of the tragedies in this country that have taken rail workers' lives. Most recently, there was a horrible tragedy in my home province of British Columbia. In February 2019, a Canadian Pacific grain train was parked on a steep mountain grade just outside the community of Field. It was very cold, and the brakes were set on the train. They were set overnight, and in the morning, a crew had to replace the previous crew, so a new crew was brought in. These three men climbed on board the locomotive. The parking brakes on the train failed because of the cold weather. The train ran away, and minutes later, all three were killed in a horrible derailment. Their names were Andrew Dockrell, the engineer; Daniel Waldenberger-Bulmer, the trainee; and Dylan Paradis, the conductor on that train. I had a chance to speak with some of the family members of these three men, and they described just how horrific and painful this incident was. They described for me their determination to ensure that no other families of rail workers go through what they went through. I am continually inspired by the work that they are doing in the memory—

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The Assistant Deputy Speaker (Mrs. Alexandra Mendès)

Jun/7/23 7:20:57 p.m.
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I apologize for interrupting the hon. member. The hon. member for Laurentides—Labelle on a point of order.

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Ms. Marie-Hélène Gaudreau

Jun/7/23 7:21:04 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, we lost interpretation a few moments ago.

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The Assistant Deputy Speaker (Mrs. Alexandra Mendès)

Jun/7/23 7:21:07 p.m.
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The interpretation is not working. Is the interpretation now working from English to French? It is working. The hon. member for Skeena—Bulkley Valley may continue.

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