44th Parl. 1st Sess.
May 3, 2024 10:00AM
- May/3/24 12:13:31 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, wildland firefighters have tirelessly kept our communities safe against devastating wildfires, but despite this dangerous and life-saving work, wildland firefighters are not considered firefighters under the national occupational classification, and this impacts their retirement and pensions. It is absurd that the Liberal government and the Conservatives before them have done nothing to fix this.
Will the Liberals immediately change this, so wildland firefighters can retire with financial security?
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- May/3/24 12:14:09 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I want to take this opportunity to thank all the wildland firefighters, who have done amazing work. We have been working very closely with provincial counterparts to address this issue, but one thing to make clear is that, in fact, we care very deeply about the work that they are doing. That is why we increased the tax credit for the volunteer firefighters as well.
We will do everything possible to make sure we support them.
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- May/3/24 12:14:37 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the Ontario government is proceeding with construction on the destructive and unnecessary Highway 413, a $10-billion waste of public money to pave through the Greenbelt. The government could have put a stop to it by requiring a thorough environmental assessment in a restored and repaired Impact Assessment Act. Instead, it has proposed a change in an omnibus budget bill that could still let projects such as Highway 413 off the hook.
Will the government strengthen the proposed IAA and reject Highway 413 to prevent paving over 2,400 acres of farmland and green space?
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- May/3/24 12:15:18 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I would remind my hon. colleague that the Supreme Court of Canada, in an opinion last year, told us that we had to revise the Impact Assessment Act. This is exactly what we are doing.
However, through an agreement with the Ontario government, we will make sure that federal laws, such as the Species at Risk Act or the Migratory Birds Convention Act, will apply to Highway 413. These elements will be assessed as part of this project.
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- May/3/24 12:16:02 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, earlier this week, a lot of noise was made about the Leader of the Opposition saying “wacko”, yet earlier, during question period, the government House leader used decidedly unparliamentary language toward me in an attempt to defend his colleague from Whitby.
I would like to ask, through the Speaker, that the government House leader apologize and withdraw his comment.
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- May/3/24 12:16:14 p.m.
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I did not hear it because there was lots of noise happening around that time. Maybe what we can do is go back and listen.
The hon. government House leader.
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- May/3/24 12:16:25 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I am happy to withdraw whatever comment the member is referring to.
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- May/3/24 12:16:44 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the government House leader acknowledged he did, in fact, use the term, which was captured by Hansard. It is customary, when this kind of language is used in the House, that an apology is offered by the offender. The offender in this case is the government House leader, and this was directed at one of the newest members in the House, which is not only a terrible example but completely unacceptable. The hon. gentleman should apologize immediately.
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- May/3/24 12:17:10 p.m.
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Like I said, I did not hear what the offending word was, but I would ask the member to maybe just retract it one more time and apologize.
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- May/3/24 12:17:20 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I have withdrawn whatever they are speaking about. I am happy to apologize for whatever they are talking about, too.
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- May/3/24 12:17:31 p.m.
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Just for identification, we will go back and have a look to see if there is anything on the tapes.
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- May/3/24 12:17:39 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I would like to confirm it was captured by Hansard, and it is very clear what the government House leader said. It was decidedly unparliamentary, especially for a government that made a lot of noise about the term “wacko” earlier this week.
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- May/3/24 12:17:50 p.m.
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We will have a look at that and come back to the House.
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- May/3/24 12:18:18 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I have the honour to present, in both official languages, the 30th report of the Standing Committee on Public Accounts, entitled “Main Estimates 2024-25: Vote 1 under Office of the Auditor General”.
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- May/3/24 12:18:57 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker. I rise to present a petition in which the petitioners are calling on the government to amend the Corrections and Conditional Release Act and for Parliament to pass Bill S-281, known as Brian's bill, which would do just that, such that convicted murderers would no longer be eligible to apply for parole after they served their minimum sentence. Rather, they would only be able to apply at the time of their automatic review as opposed to the current situation, where they can apply each and every year after their minimum sentence. This is in recognition of the significant trauma and harm it causes to victims' families to be put through repeated parole hearings.
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- May/3/24 12:19:50 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I am very proud to rise here today to present petition e-4673, a very important petition with over 5,000 signatures from across the country.
The petitioners point out that Canada and the world face a biodiversity crisis with one million species facing extinction globally, that Canadian governments have consistently failed to meet their international commitments under the Convention on Biological Diversity, that Canada demonstrated leadership in the Convention on Biological Diversity in Montreal in 2022 and the IMPAC5 conference in Vancouver last year, that the 2022 Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework signed by Canada sets binding international targets, that the Minister of Environment and Climate Change stated his intention to introduce by early 2024 legislation that enshrines accountability for achieving these goals and that such legislation should recognize and affirm indigenous rights and jurisdiction in alignment with the UN Declaration on Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
Therefore, petitioners ask that the government introduce legislation in early 2024, this year, to conserve nature in Canada by implementing the global biodiversity framework.
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- May/3/24 12:21:22 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, it is an honour to be able to stand in this place today and present a petition on behalf of Canadians who are raising concerns about the actions taking place in Pakistan.
Specifically, these are Pakistani Canadians who point out there is increasing political unrest that has led to the arrest of opposition parties and challenges free and fair elections in that country. The signatories of this petition are calling upon the government and the House of Commons to ask the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Development to immediately explore the feasibility of imposing sanctions on the Pakistani military members responsible for these egregious acts.
The signatories also ask the Government of Canada to use its membership on the IMF to require insurance of new and current loans and the extension of existing loans to the Government of Pakistan to be conditional on Pakistan's holding of true, free and fair elections. Finally, the signatories request that these measures be kept in place until freedom can be brought to Pakistan.
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- May/3/24 12:22:46 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I have two petitions to table today.
The first petition is a petition signed by many Canadians who are concerned about Canada's response during COVID-19 to vaccine equity. We know there is a potential for future pandemics.
These petitioners call on the Government of Canada to support the WTO TRIPS waiver and to work harder to ensure that, in future pandemics, vaccine equity is available to all people in the world.
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- May/3/24 12:23:19 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the second petition calls on the Government of Canada to provide additional support to Ukraine. The war in Ukraine, the illegal war by Putin and the Russian Federation against Ukraine and the Ukrainian people, is worrying for all Canadians.
Of course, we have an enormous number of Ukrainian diaspora members in this country. All Canadians want to see the government do everything possible to make sure that Ukrainian children are returned to Ukraine and to make sure that all supports we can provide to Ukraine at this time are done.
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- May/3/24 12:23:57 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, it is an honour to table a petition on behalf of constituents of mine from Tofino and Ucluelet on the west coast of Vancouver Island.
Petitioners highlight that lifeguards watched over Lovekin Rock at Long Beach, which is in Tla-o-qui-aht territory, in Pacific Rim National Park Reserve. It had a surf guard program for 40 years until the federal Conservative government cut the program in 2012. This beach probably has the highest concentration of people at any beach in Canada without a lifeguard. Emergencies are often being attended to by Parks Canada in collaboration with the Canadian Coast Guard, West Coast Inland Search and Rescue, the B.C. emergency response group, the RCMP, volunteer firefighter departments in Ucluelet and Tofino, and even CFB Comox. There have been multiple deaths since the closure of this program.
Petitioners are calling on the government to reinstate the surf guard tower and surf guard services and to extend the duration of the surf guard program to accommodate the growing number of emergencies, as well as visitors, at Long Beach national park reserve. There was a meeting about this in March. The petitioners are waiting for the results of that meeting and hopefully the reinstatement of this program.
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