44th Parl. 1st Sess.
June 15, 2023 10:00AM
- Jun/15/23 2:27:33 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I look across at the Prime Minister's seat. I know that he is in Ottawa today, and if he had the courage, he would be standing to answer these questions directly—
Some hon. members: Oh, oh!
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- Jun/15/23 2:41:26 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister is in Ottawa but, strangely enough, he is not rising to answer questions.
The Minister of Public Safety feigned surprise last week when the criminal Paul Bernardo was transferred from a maximum-security prison to a medium-security prison, yet he had known about it for three months. In fact, even the Prime Minister's Office knew about it.
No one did anything. Everyone looked the other way. This is Liberal incompetence in all its glory.
When will the Minister of Public Safety resign?
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- Jun/15/23 2:56:18 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister and cabinet have never taken responsibility for their many acts committed in bad faith.
For example, the Minister of Public Safety alone has misled the House no less than seven times. He even misled a judge by backdating documents. He should have been fired for that, but he is still here. The Liberals have also never showed empathy or compassion for the victims of Paul Bernardo.
The Prime Minister is in Ottawa. Can he rise today and tell us whether he is going to fire his public safety minister?
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- Jun/15/23 3:14:23 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, Pacheedaht First Nation in my riding does not have a school for kids from grade 6 to 12. Every day, children as young as 11 have to take a bus 75 kilometres each way between home and school on a windy and narrow highway. That is three hours a day. Chief Jones came all the way to Ottawa to plead with Indigenous Services and Infrastructure Canada to help.
Will the minister honour reconciliation and start working with the Pacheedaht to get this community the school they desperately need?
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- Jun/15/23 6:59:38 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, there is another example. Last year, the government did the same thing in June, with the NDP's help. They did it right before Canada Day. They said that if we did not vote, we would be staying here.
They are using this issue as a hostage-taking exercise. This is why we are ending up at the end.
However, on the point of not discussing, we have had consensus around this place on changes to the Standing Orders. That has been the convention, but obviously the government knows that it has NDP members in its hip pocket and it is using them to make these changes.
I ran as an MP knowing the issue, knowing that I would be here in Ottawa, and I would suggest to anyone that if they do not understand the obligation of a member of Parliament to sit in Ottawa, in this seat of power, the constitutional place of power in this country, and if they cannot conform to that, then maybe they should run for mayor or maybe they should run for councillor or maybe they should run for public school trustee.
I understand what my obligation is, as do many of the members, not just on our side but I suspect on the Bloc Québécois side as well. This is where people need to be.
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- Jun/15/23 7:26:45 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I agree with the member opposite, and I wrestle with this every week when it is a choice of whether I should stay at home with my family and my kids and participate virtually or come to Ottawa. I decide to come to Ottawa because I think I can do a better job here. On the other hand, we have to balance that desirability of having close proximity to and being able to talk to people with the fact that not allowing it is a real, significant impediment to people with kids, especially women, being able to partake in the democratic process.
Without that, we have a Parliament with a bunch of older males or older women or people who do not have families, but we are missing a certain demographic of our population who are not here to vote and make decisions because they do not want to come to Parliament because they cannot both have a family and be in Parliament. With the hybrid system, they can.
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- Jun/15/23 7:30:33 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I agree with the member. Ultimately, we are all accountable to our electorate. I think those of us who decide not to come to Ottawa or are seen always up in their bedroom on a Zoom call, participating virtually in Parliament, perhaps will suffer as a result at the ballot box. There is a certain element of accountability there that will keep us honest and keep us from abusing that—
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- Jun/15/23 10:54:01 p.m.
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- Re: Bill C-9
Madam Speaker, I am pleased to rise at this late hour in Ottawa, where it is almost 11 p.m., to speak to the Senate amendments to Bill C-9.
I would like to start by saying hello to my constituents in New Westminster and Burnaby. In British Columbia it is almost 8 p.m. and so the sun is still up. I know that is also the case in the ridings of the member for Langley—Aldergrove, the member for Kelowna—Lake Country and my colleague from Skeena—Bulkley Valley. For the people of British Columbia and for everyone listening to the debates in the House of Commons, we are in the thick of things. I know that there are some constituents listening and I applaud the fact that they are listening after supper to what is happening in the House of Commons.
The NDP will support Bill C-9 and the recommendation on the amendments. I will come back to that in more detail later. First of all, I am concerned that the Conservative Party is once again trying to block a bill. This has been going on in the House systematically for years. As I have said before, there are two blocks in the House: the Bloc Québécois and the block-all Conservative Party, which never misses a chance to block a bill, even the ones it says it supports.
We just heard an excellent speech by my colleague from Langley—Aldergrove who spoke about—
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