Cathy McLeod

[Public Safety, March 26th, 2018]

Mr. Speaker, I have a very simple and straightforward question.

Did the national security adviser give classified information to the media, yes or no?

[Fisheries and Oceans, March 22nd, 2018]

Mr. Speaker, the minister committed to give surf clam quota to companies that partnered with multiple first nations, yet the Liberal company that actually got the contract did not have multiple first nations partners until after it was awarded a contract that was worth hundreds of millions of dollars. In fact, the company did not even exist until after the contract was awarded.

I am no pescatarian, but something is fishy here. Maritime politicians, the Mi'kmaq First Nation, and many others are asking if this is just a kickback for Liberal Party donors.

[Business of Supply, March 22nd, 2018]

Mr. Speaker, when the government came to office, I clearly remember it saying it was going to do things differently and that it was going to respect Parliament. When we heard about the media getting a briefing that the government will not allow parliamentarians to get, it was completely offensive. Clearly, we are looking forward to the Speaker's ruling in terms of a possible breach of our privilege.

Is my colleague living up to the standards he told Canadians he would live up to in terms of respect for Parliament, or is this simply another fail?

[Bills of Exchange Act, March 20th, 2018]

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to join this important debate on my colleague's private member's bill, Bill C-369, which proposes to turn National Indigenous Peoples Day into a statutory holiday.

Conservatives have proudly marked National Indigenous Peoples Day annually, both in government and in opposition. We have encouraged Canadians to take part in local celebrations to learn our history and also celebrate the immense contributions of indigenous peoples to Canada.

The leader of the official opposition has stated that National Aboriginal Day is a celebration of the cultural heritage, achievements, and contributions made by first nations, Inuit, and Métis peoples in Canada. National Indigenous Peoples Day is not considered a national federal holiday. Bill C-369 seeks to change that. As such, it would amend the Bills of Exchange Act and the Interpretation Act in order to take this new holiday into account in the computation of time. It would also amend the Canada Labour Code in order to include the National Indigenous Peoples Day in the definition of a general holiday.

We certainly heard from the speaker just prior to me that this would not be a holiday for all Canadians. This bill would actually impact 6% of the labour force. There are issues with the provinces and territories. It is important to be very clear that this is not something that would happen across Canada.

We believe in reconciliation with all indigenous peoples. The opportunity for poverty reduction should be a key priority. First nations people should expect and have the right to a transparent and open government. We respect and appreciate National Indigenous Peoples Day, but we are not sure that creating a federal statutory holiday is the approach to take.

As I look over time, we have had many additions to our national holidays, but we have never actually talked about taking any away. I know private industry becomes increasingly concerned as more challenges are put on them, but what we never do is look at what might be more important than an existing holiday. If the House is going to support a measure like this to go forward, we need to look at existing holidays and talk about if all of them still make sense.

Quite frankly, when the non-partisan Library of Parliament was asked to consider what the costs would be to Canada's economy, it said that there did not appear to be any empirical studies. We will actually be voting on something, adding something, not taking anything away, and we will not have any real understanding of what the costs would be related to that. This is a private member's bill that would have significant impact, and I think we need to have a pretty clear understanding of what that impact would be.

We also know that we currently have a government that is spending lots of money. The Liberals are spending more money than they said they would spend. The deficit is going to be significantly higher than what was committed to Canadians. The Liberals' spending is out of control. To add more costs in terms of what the government is doing means we need to find out where it is going to start being sensible about its expenditures. More importantly, there is the issue of whether there is a holiday that should be taken away if we are going to look at adding one on. There is a significant impact on federally regulated businesses, but also potentially in terms of the federal public service.

I go back to the Royal Canadian Legion and the whole discussion around Remembrance Day and whether it is a statutory holiday. It is very different across the country. Legion officials have always expressed their worries that having the day off does not encourage people to attend the celebrations. The War Amps of Canada officials explicitly stated, “Our stance is that it should never be a holiday; you take away the uniqueness of being able to educate the younger generation on the horrors of war.”

In terms of the National Indigenous Peoples Day, I have had the privilege and honour to be both in my riding and in Ottawa on June 21. In McDonald Park in Kamloops, people come together and the celebration is amazing. Teachers come with their students to the park. Parents come to the park. It is truly an honour and a celebration. It is a recognition, locally, of the incredible contribution. Later that day, we gather on the grounds, and they have another celebration. These are very well-attended celebrations. The schoolchildren who come, and many do come and join us, are particularly enlightened, in terms of having the opportunity to benefit.

In Ottawa, it is the same thing. Many of us here have gone to the ceremony when the sun comes up and have enjoyed the Inuit music. We have enjoyed the celebrations, the dancing and singing of the Métis and the first nations. We all come together.

I am not always convinced that giving a day off is the best way to celebrate and honour this, and for people to learn. Again, I look at the experience in the community of Kamloops and across British Columbia. The evening newscasts on June 21 show amazing celebrations across the country.

I recognize the important intent of what my colleague would like to do. I think it needs some really important discussion to see if this is the best way to honour and recognize this, or whether continuing as we are is the best way forward.

I noticed that when my colleague was talking about the people who support this, she actually did not talk about the people who are going to be directly impacted, in terms of the federally regulated industries also providing their support for this particular bill. That is certainly something that is important, to see that federally regulated institutes across this country are on board. To date, we have not seen that.

In conclusion, we are having an important debate right now. I think we need to make sure it is a very fulsome debate.

[Bills of Exchange Act, March 20th, 2018]

Mr. Speaker, I, too, would like to thank my colleague for her passion and commitment. I worked with her on the indigenous affairs committee and I know how passionately she advocates in many areas of importance.

We have had this debate in the House on many occasions. I will use Remembrance Day as an example. On Remembrance Day, the legions, in particular, feel that having a statutory holiday, a paid day off, is not the best way to recognize and celebrate Remembrance Day. In the riding I represent, Kamloops—Thompson—Cariboo, when we have celebrations, schoolchildren come with their classes and their parents join them.

Again, I am not sure, in spite of the member's good intentions, that we would not have a more effective celebration in which we commit to come together, but not necessarily on a day off. Quite frankly, sometimes people prefer to go shopping as opposed to really reflecting on the spirit of the day.

[Committees of the House, March 19th, 2018]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to note that the official opposition did attach a dissenting report. We recognize that Canada's processes for comprehensive and specific claims are in need of revision. However, we felt this report contained many lofty words and very few practical suggestions. Witnesses specifically said that they did not want another report that sat on the shelf. They asked for an action plan. We do not believe this report lives up to the standards of an action plan.

Therefore, we have included a number of actionable items that we believe will make things better with respect to the resolution of these important issues.

[Prime Minister's Trip to India, March 2nd, 2018]

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister’s trip to India is best described as the theatre of the absurd.

Mr. Atwal has deep connections with the Liberal Party. The Liberals blamed a backbench MP for inviting him to dinner. Then they brought out this preposterous theory that the Indian government was responsible, trying to embarrass the Prime Minister. The result is a serious diplomatic incident and a punishing tariff on our pulse products, hurting our Canadian farmers.

What is the Prime Minister going to do to fix his mess?

[Impact Assessment Act, March 2nd, 2018]

Mr. Speaker, the Liberals like to put out lofty promises and words. They went to the UN and proudly declared they were going to implement the UN declaration, which really required certain things of them. I would ask my colleague if he sees any evidence of that commitment they made so proudly in this bill particularly around the issues of how they are going to receive consent.

[Indigenous Affairs, March 1st, 2018]

Mr. Speaker, the chair of the First Nations Financial Management Board said last year that the need for housing and infrastructure is between $20 billion and $30 billion. Then he said:

Where is all of that money going to come from...if we don't engage in business and economic development?

The Liberals' response is tanker bans, drilling moratoriums, taxes, and increased red tape. Investment is fleeing and they have impeded the opportunity for investment.

Why are the Liberals putting up so many roadblocks for indigenous economic prosperity?

[Foreign Investment, February 27th, 2018]

Mr. Speaker, last February, we warned the government that putting our senior care facilities in the hands of Anbang, a company with murky Chinese ownership, was dangerously naive. Wall Street even had concerns about it but the government just blindly went ahead and did it. What has happened? Anbang has collapsed, the chairman was arrested, and our senior care facilities are now in the hands of communist China. We warned the Prime Minister and our fears have come true.

Does the minister believe that it is appropriate that our senior care homes across British Columbia are owned by communist China?