SoVote

Context: House Hansard - 212 - Jun/13/23

Jun/13/23 6:38:02 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, given the question that was just asked and the comments associated with it, and, likewise, what the minister asked before, I expect they will be supporting the amendment put forward by the opposition House leader. What that does, pure and simple, is ensure that Parliament continues to look at this and its impacts on our ability to do our work in this place. Never once have the Conservatives said that we should not endeavour to increase inclusion, that accommodations should not be made. To suggest that is blatantly untrue. What we need to do, however, is ensure that we maintain and treat carefully, with the utmost respect, the democratic infrastructure we have. Let us treat this place, this House of Commons, however one participates in it, with the utmost respect to ensure that we are ultimately respecting Canadians. That needs to be our focus. That needs to be our emphasis. We need to be focused on ensuring that Canadians can be represented in this place.

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Context: House Hansard - 212 - Jun/13/23

Ms. Christine Normandin

Jun/13/23 7:38:07 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague from Esquimalt—Saanich—Sooke. I am sorry that I misquoted him. He has become a member of the big club of misquoted members. I believe we are all unwilling members of that club. On the issue of protecting interpreters, if it had not been urgent and if we had had this discussion about the substance and form, we could probably have put in place more mechanisms to protect the interpreters. One that comes to mind is the communication of complaints concerning the misuse of electronic equipment by parliamentarians. When there is feedback, do we really have a good way of ensuring that the interpreters let us know so we can fix it? Even worse, the Bloc Québécois made a recommendation at the Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs. It recommended that rigorous measures to protect the health and safety of interpreters be implemented as follows: by improving working conditions to prevent injuries, by providing good equipment, by having a rigorous protocol for the use of technology, by having a better process for reporting technical difficulties. That recommendation was not even put to a vote in committee, let alone included in the motion before us today. They could have taken the time to ensure better protection for interpreters. As I said, there was no need to rush this motion. Doing so will hurt the people who help us do our job well every day. That is absolutely deplorable.

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Context: House Hansard - 212 - Jun/13/23

Mr. Mark Gerretsen

Jun/13/23 8:39:08 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, on the first point, this certainly is not about me trying to get control or seize power. We are using this system right now, and this system will be here for the foreseeable future. The member says that I am conflating electronic voting with the use of Zoom. I am talking about the two of them. I have made it very clear which I am talking about. If the Bloc's position is it supports the app but does not support Zoom, I have yet to hear that in this House. I have yet to hear the Bloc suggest anything otherwise, and it could be that I did not hear that part of the debate so far, but that is the reality. When it comes to the interpretation services, I agree, and this goes back to my answer to the member for Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan, that we should not spare any expense in ensuring that the right resources are in place to provide the right supports, not just to our interpreters, but to all the support staff we have here. If that means investing more in their well-being and providing more resources, then we should do that. I do not think it should be an impediment to the democratic process we have set up in this place, so that we can bring more people from diverse backgrounds, and in particular more women, into this chamber. An hon. member: You don't care about them.

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