- Member of Parliament
- Member of Parliament
- Green Party
- Saanich—Gulf Islands
- British Columbia
- Voting Attendance: 61%
- Expenses Last Quarter: $201,868.20
- Government Page
- Jan/29/24 3:50:07 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, it is a great honour for me to rise this afternoon to add my comments to the extraordinary words of our colleague, the dean of the House of Commons. I thank him for his speech.
I want to also say thank you for the strong words and memories shared by the hon. member for Beauséjour. I was particularly moved by the hon. member for Oshawa, who expressed so clearly the sense of what politics used to be like. At yesterday's state funeral, Brian Topp, in his address, referred to Ed Broadbent's time in politics as being a place where he continually displayed that one could disagree without being disagreeable.
I had the honour to know Ed Broadbent before I got into politics. I did not even join a political party until 2006, but I was kind of noisy from my role as an environmental activist. I can remember times when Ed Broadbent and I got along fabulously well. Once I entered politics, we had the occasional moment when we disagreed. Famously, though, I never did get to debate Ed Broadbent in any leaders' debates, but in 1988 he actually referred to my resignation from the government of the day over a point of principal to rather make a point of the failures on some of the aspects of environmental policies. He put it to Brian Mulroney. Nothing quite alerts someone who is watching a long leaders' debate like finding themselves mentioned by Ed Broadbent in the midst of the debate. I was deeply grateful then for his support for the stand I took, and I am grateful to this day.
I want to say thank you to the Prime Minister for the decision to have a state funeral. It is not easily done and is rare, but as said by the hon. member for Burnaby South, we all appreciated the opportunity to share with Ed's family in expressing our deep sorrow at his loss and our gratitude for a life well lived.
In the course of yesterday's funeral, I think it was Jonathan Sas, the co-writer of Ed's new book, who referred to Ed Broadbent's first speech in this place. I remember his last speech, and I went back and found it to see whether I remembered it accurately. It was on May 5, 2005. I recommend it to people who want to watch something wonderful. I watched it on YouTube. He was surrounded by so many other people I really loved, such as Bill Blaikie and Alexa McDonough.
Ed Broadbent's last speech shared some advice I think is worth repeating for all of us who remain working in this place. It has been mentioned already that he served in this place as the member for Oshawa from 1968 to 1990 but came back in 2004 as the hon. member for Ottawa Centre. In his speech, he reflected on how many people had asked him whether, in the interregnum between leaving the House of Commons in 1990 and returning 14 years later in 2004, he saw a difference. He reflected in that speech on the decline, which will sound familiar to the Speaker, in decorum and the increasingly partisan nature of debate. He said he noted “the decline in civility in the debate”.
He said, on May 5, 2005, that if he were a high school teacher, he would not want to bring his students here anymore. He said, “There is a difference between personal remarks based on animosity and vigorous debate” and urged the members of Parliament present, and those words should extend to us here right now, “to restore to our politics...a civilized tone”. In closing he turned to the words of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights to say that they apply in this place. He read the words that we must, as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights says, recognize “the inherent dignity and...the equal and unalienable rights of all members of the human family”. That recognition of inherent rights is the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in this world.
In honour of Ed Broadbent, in honour of his legacy and for all those parliamentarians who have served in the House of Commons before us and those who will follow after us, let us try to listen to our better angels, as the Premier of Manitoba, the Hon. Wab Kinew, said yesterday. Let the quality and the character of our debate be elevated as we recognize in each other our shared humanity, our common commitment to Canada and that we agree on far more things than we disagree on and serve our god, our country, our community and our planet by expressing ourselves, grounded in mutual respect and recognition of our shared humanity.
Thank you for your leadership, Ed Broadbent. May you rest in peace.
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- Oct/5/23 3:52:50 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, it is an emotional time for everyone. We know full well that our deputy clerk has worked hard for everyone and for the good of our Parliament.
For myself, as leader of the Green Party, of course we are not on the Board of Internal Economy, but, Michel Patrice's work has not gone unnoticed. We are all so grateful.
My colleagues have already said it. I want to acknowledge the tributes given by the members for Gatineau, West Nova, and Salaberry—Suroît, and by my colleague and friend, the member for New Westminster—Burnaby. It is clear that Mr. Patrice worked hard during this unprecedented, challenging time.
Obviously, the pandemic and the move of Parliament itself from Centre Block to West Block, as my friend from New Westminster—Burnaby recalls, were not easy. Rather, they were massively challenging.
Michel Patrice, you did your work with a generous spirit.
As colleagues have said, one wonders when you got some rest, given the challenges faced by the administration.
The services on the Hill are incredible, as are all the staff and their teams. These services are nearly invisible, but not to us, the MPs.
The work that is done by our table clerks and the team that works on Parliament Hill in many functions can be invisible to most Canadians, but not to us. As members of Parliament, we owe you so much for your 30 years of service, first in the Senate and then in the House of Commons. As all my colleagues have said, you definitely deserve a very good retirement, so I will not take you away from what I hope is a lovely party event.
I wish you a very happy retirement. Thank you very much for your work, your career and your service to Canada's democracy.
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Mr. Speaker, I am grateful to all my colleagues for their tributes to our colleague and friend, Jim Carr. I am especially grateful to the Prime Minister, the member for Charleswood—St. James—Assiniboia—Headingley, the member for Avignon—La Mitis—Matane—Matapédia and the member for South Okanagan—West Kootenay for their words.
I think everyone felt the same feelings because we lost someone dear to us, someone we all loved very much.
I had the great honour to know Jim for quite a long time. We got to know each other through an organization that is playing quite a role here at COP15. The International Institute for Sustainable Development is based in Winnipeg. Jim was a member of the board, and I overlapped with him on the board for five years, beginning in 2000. He went on to be the vice-chair of the International Institute for Sustainable Development, and I saw the influence of that experience in working on sustainable development in his work in Parliament. It bound us together as friends before we met in the chamber as fellow members of Parliament.
There have been many words said about Jim's enormous depth of character and his range of interests, none of them superficial. Imagine being interested in music and being able to play oboe at a symphony orchestra; being concerned with the rights of people around the world and serving to meet those ends in Parliament.
In his work for the community, particularly to the member for Charleswood—St. James—Assiniboia—Headingley I want to mention knowing what a strong advocate for the Jewish community Jim Carr always was, with his Russian-Jewish ancestors having come to Canada in 1906. He never forgot those roots.
Jim was also, of course, a journalist. So much has been mentioned that I can think of only one thing that has not been shared yet, but I think a lot of us knew it. Jim was really funny. He had a killer sense of humour. He could perhaps have been a professional impersonator. I do not know how many members ever got to see his quite killing imitation of JFK. He had Kennedyesque looks, and he pulled off a Boston accent like nobody's business. He was enormously gifted, and he shared those talents with us all.
The president of the International Institute for Sustainable Development, Richard Florizone, said in the statement from that organization that Jim was “the rare polymath”. That is a tribute to the ways in which he was able to come into our lives, into policy, into politics, into the arts, into community, into business, and never superficially. He has left an enormous impact throughout his life on so many different facets of our society. No doubt, the Prime Minister is exactly right: He loved this country, every inch of it.
I will cherish the memory, but it is almost impossible to believe it was only seven days ago that I hugged Jim next to his desk when Bill C-235 passed. It was a distinct honour, and one I do not take for granted, that he asked me to be his official seconder. It is rare to ask someone who is not in one's own party to second one's bill, but I hold it as a cherished memory. I never would have believed that when I hugged him to congratulate him on Bill C-235, the building a green prairie economy act, it was the last time I would get to hug him.
We knew his days were not many, but each day made a difference, as he said every day he passed my desk to walk down to take his spot in the front row. I would say, “Jim, how are you?” He would say, “Every day is a blessing.” Let us remember his words and live our lives to be worthy of that knowledge, that every day is a blessing. Let us use each day as a blessing in the service of our Lord, whatever faith we follow. Let us remember that every day is a blessing.
We are honoured to have known Jim and to have loved him. I will miss him. I give my deepest condolences and sympathy to Colleen and all the family.
I thank all my colleagues for this opportunity to share a few words in honour of the great human, the great Canadian, the mensch we lost.
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- Oct/19/22 3:47:52 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I hope I can get through this. All of the tributes from all parties have been heartfelt.
I first met Bill Blaikie in 1987. I have been honoured for 35 years to call him a friend and to love him as a colleague and as a fellow Christian warrior for the things we believe in. I knew Bill since 1987. Obviously I was not elected when Bill was here. In 1987, Bill was the environment critic for the New Democratic Party. I was a senior policy adviser in the office of the federal minister of the environment, and that is how I had the amazing honour to get to know him and work with him.
I cannot tell the stories of all the adventures over the years. I am going to try to keep this brief; I will try hard. We had adventures. We marched together in the battle in Seattle, chanting, “Turtles and teamsters, together at last.” We were tear-gassed together. What is more binding than that? That is where I first met Rebecca, by the way.
We were also together at the first meeting of the World Trade Organization in Singapore. I was there at the first 1988 Robbie Burns night dinner when Speaker John Fraser, with whom Bill Blaikie was a grand friend, joined Bill. I can picture Bill to this minute marching in and piping in the haggis. There was something about Bill Blaikie's legs in a kilt, and I thought, “How could he be related to oak trees?” In any case, as we have heard, he was a bear of a man with a heart as big as he was.
I want to tell members one thing from being an eye witness to his talents. He had skills as an orator in this place, an enormous warrior heart, an ability to stay focused and never give up and, of course, a talent in parliamentary alchemy.
I will tell one brief story. In 1987, the hot topic was trying to save the southern third of Haida Gwaii from clear-cut logging. Our champion, in the seat now held by the hon. member for Skeena—Bulkley Valley, was another dear friend we lost too soon, Jim Fulton. We were all working, and the minister of the environment no less than everyone else, to save this area. There was an opposition day motion that came forward from Jim Fulton. In those days, opposition day motions were non-votable, but we had the whole day devoted to the campaign to stop the logging and protect this area, working in concert with the Haida Nation.
At one point in the proceedings, Bill got up and said to the Speaker, turning to his colleague John Fraser, who was just as much of an eco-radical as the rest of us, that there seemed to be a lot of unanimity in this place. No one had spoken against saving the area, although there were many against it. He then moved that, by unanimous consent, at the end of the debate the motion be deemed voted on and passed unanimously.
There was a fair amount of uncertainty throughout the room at that moment because no one had ever tried that before. John Fraser, as Speaker, then said the words “do we have consent?” The Liberal environment critic was Brian Tobin. The minister, Tom McMillan, was in the room too, as were, of course, Bill and Jim. There was unanimity. It was deemed to have passed unanimously at the end of the day. Miles Richardson, then president of the Council of the Haida Nation, told the media that the great spirit had hovered briefly over the House of Commons that day.
Those were things Bill Blaikie could do because he was universally respected and he knew his procedure. If Bill thought we could get away with it, well who knew? We did.
We have heard from many members here today about his many talents and skills and where he drew his strength. Yes, it was from family. However, the social gospel is something that we do not hear about very much in this place.
I went to find some of the things Bill said about it. He related that when he finished theology school he “found the prophetic tradition within the Bible, a tradition of challenging the ruling elite.” He called it this, and I proclaim the same: faith in Jesus Christ as Lord and saviour. Bill clarified that he is “our saviour from the idolatries...in the world.” Then Bill pointed his finger at the market as the “be-all, and the end-all” to which “everything is sacrificed”.
Bill knew we could not serve God and Mammon at the same time. I once heard him being interviewed on CBC Radio's Tapestry, and he said that we always hear about the Christian right; let us hear it for the Christian left.
The social gospel is with us because Bill will always be with us. I will never, ever stop being grateful for the chance I had to be his friend and to get to know the hon. member for Elmwood—Transcona and his sister Rebecca. I do not know Jessica and Tessa as well as I should, but I thank Brenda, his wife, for sharing him with us all these years.
It is the greatest loss, but one can cherish a life well lived. I just hope heaven was ready for Bill, but we will leave that for now.
He is, was and will always be a prophetic voice in Canadian politics that says we do not leave behind the downtrodden, we do not forget what it is to say we have faith and we believe that miracles are possible. Eternal rest be with him, oh Lord, and light perpetual shine upon him. May he rest in peace.
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- Jun/21/22 3:35:20 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I want to say a hi and give an affectionate hug to the hon. member for Portage—Lisgar. Some in this place may be surprised by that, but when I was first elected in 2011, I remember exactly the moment I first hugged the hon. member for Portage—Lisgar. It was right after I had said that we were all going away for Christmas now and preparing for the birth of our Lord, and there was a very genuine affection between us that was immediate.
We do not have anything else in common—yes, we do. We have something else in common that I want to mention.
I also hugged her on another occasion. We hug a lot. It was when the Conservatives succeeded in passing a bill I did not want to see passed, a bill that killed the long-gun registry. I ran over to congratulate the hon. member for Portage—Lisgar because she, unlike so many in this place, did not go into politics because she had been a career door knocker, a political nerd wanting to someday be an MP. Her career path was more like mine. She cared about issues and she let caring about those issues bring her into politics to make a difference.
I know how devastated the hon. member for Portage—Lisgar must have been back in the 40th Parliament when her private member's bill, Bill C-391, failed. It would have gotten rid of the long-gun registry, but it came back once the Conservatives had a majority. There is something about commitment and persistence that resonates with people, whether they agree with the goal or not. I respect the persistence. I respect the integrity. I respect the fact that the hon. member for Portage—Lisgar is here because she cares about issues, not because she seeks personal power. I reflect on that with genuine care and affection and hope that someday she will agree with me on climate change.
Thank you very much.
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- Jun/16/22 3:35:17 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I want to add our thanks to Mr. Dufresne and also say that I share all the sentiments of the other members of this place in thanking Mr. Dufresne for his extraordinary service as our law clerk.
I also want to say that in the future, we know he will face enormous challenges. The new technologies pose such threats to our privacy. This is not a retirement but the beginning of a new and challenging future and we wish him all the best. Privacy rights are precious and we trust in him to protect them for us.
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- May/4/22 3:46:08 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I move, having known Mr. Bosley, to add a few comments on behalf of the Green Party.
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- Jan/31/22 3:35:13 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I had the honour of being Alexa's friend for four decades. I request unanimous consent to allow me to speak and pay tribute to her legacy.
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