Paul Manly

[Canada Elections Act, May 10th, 2021]

Mr. Speaker, I would hope that we do not have a pandemic election. I was hoping we would see some other changes to the Canada Elections Act, given the promise in 2015 that it would be the last first past the post election.

Does the hon. member think it is fair that a party that received 1.3 million votes got three seats, while a party that got five times as many votes, the Liberal Party, got 50 times more seats? Each Liberal represents about 37,000 constituents or voters and each Green Party member represents 380,000 voters. Does the member think that is a fair representation of democracy and should we have a fair vote system—

[Petitions, May 10th, 2021]

Mr. Speaker, it is an honour to present this petition initiated by seniors advocates in my riding of Nanaimo—Ladysmith. The petitioners call upon the Government of Canada to: include long-term care in the public health care system under the Canada Health Act; work with provinces to develop national standards for person-centred relational care, which includes the Registered Nurses' Association of Ontario's basic care staffing guarantee formula; eliminate profit-making by government-funded, corporate for-profit chains by ensuring funds provided are spent as allocated and by banning subcontracting; provide standardized, equitable living wages and benefits and implement single-site employment for all staff; ensure government oversight and initiate strong penalties and clawbacks for facilities not complying with standards and regulations; and require independent family councils with protected rights.

[Committees of the House, May 10th, 2021]

Mr. Speaker, back when the Kalamazoo spill happened and 840,000 litres went into the Kalamazoo River in Michigan, environmentalists were already flagging the problem with Line 5 crossing the Straits of Mackinac. I saw an underwater video of that pipeline flagging this issue way back then. Why did the Harper Conservative government do nothing about this? Why have we waited so long when we knew that this could be a potential problem? We need to hold companies, like Enbridge, responsible for their infrastructure, especially when we are reliant on that infrastructure for our economy.

Does the hon. member think we should have stronger regulations on these pipeline companies to make sure that they adhere to environmental standards?

[Committees of the House, May 10th, 2021]

Madam Speaker, a lot of speakers have outlined the importance of this pipeline to our economy. Enbridge has proven itself to be grossly incompetent in a number of areas, and Michigan's governor has serious reasons to be concerned. In a 15-year period, Enbridge has had more than a thousand spills, with 7.4 million gallons of oil spilled into the environment, including the 843,000 gallons that were dumped into the Kalamazoo River. People have a reason to be concerned.

Should we not be holding this company to more account when our economy is so dependent on this one pipeline?

[The Economy, May 10th, 2021]

Mr. Speaker, when we use GDP as the measure of our economy, the emergency response to an oil tanker spill or a major car accident counts as economic growth. When we use GDP as the measure of our economy, an old-growth forest sequestering carbon and supporting biodiversity has no value until it is converted to lumber.

Instead of measuring the accumulation of wealth, a well-being economy measures success through the health of people and the planet.

Will the government stop using GDP and measure our success by well-being?

[Petitions, May 7th, 2021]

Mr. Speaker, in the second petition, the petitioners note that natural time-tested immune system essentials and holistic health practices do not receive enough attention for their role in preventative health care. They are calling upon the government to educate and empower Canadians on holistic approaches to optimize and maintain their natural immunity and well-being; cover practices for health sustainability and wellness care under the Health Act, including chiropractor care, massage therapy, acupuncture and naturopathic medicines; and support, promote and enhance Canadians' access to holistic health services and natural products.

[Petitions, May 7th, 2021]

Mr. Speaker, it is an honour to present two petitions today that were initiated by constituents in Nanaimo—Ladysmith.

In the first petition, the petitioners are concerned that the British Columbia government has not followed through on promises, on an expert panel to protect old-growth forests in British Columbia. They are calling upon the government to work with the provinces and first nations to immediately halt logging of endangered old-growth ecosystems; fund the long-term protection of old-growth ecosystems as a priority for Canada's climate action plan and reconciliation with indigenous peoples; support value-added forestry initiatives in partnership with first nations to ensure that Canada's forestry industry is sustainable and based on the harvesting of second- and third-growth forests; ban the export of raw logs and maximize resource use for local jobs; and ban the use of whole trees for wood pellet biofuel production.

[Budget Implementation Act, 2021, No. 1, May 6th, 2021]

Madam Speaker, the member's speech covered a lot of ground and a lot of programs that were needed to help people. I appreciate hearing her talk about the social programs we need to help people at this time. I know a lot of small businesses in my community are having a hard time. They are disappointed with the amount of money that came in for tourism dollars, because a lot of small businesses rely on tourism.

One of my concerns again is about the profiteering that has happened during this pandemic. We now know some 47 billionaires have a quarter of a trillion dollars of the Canadian wealth. They have gained $78 billion during this pandemic and they need to pay their fair share. Does the hon. member think they should pay their fair share as well?

[COVID-19 in Alberta, May 5th, 2021]

Madam Speaker, I agree that we need to focus on the things that need to be done right now. Paid sick leave is one of those things that we should do, and it seems like the federal government needs to step up on this because the governments of B.C., Ontario and Alberta have not stepped up as they should. They are the ones in charge of the Labour Code.

Where we see pandemic outbreaks right now are at large construction projects, such as Site C and LNG Canada, and in the oil sands. What does the hon. member think should be done with these construction projects? Are they urgent? Should they be shut down while there are outbreaks going on, or how do we deal with outbreaks at these large construction projects for energy extraction?

[COVID-19 in Alberta, May 5th, 2021]

Mr. Speaker, the one thing that really disappoints me about this debate, and about the ongoing debate on this pandemic, is the partisanship. It does not really matter which political party is running a province; we have all seen problems. Whether it is the NDP in B.C., the Conservatives in Alberta or the federal government, there are issues we need to deal with. We have not acted like a federation during this pandemic, and it is really disappointing. We look at Australia, where there are political differences between the states and the federal government, but they have managed to work it out and get to zero. We have not, and we continue to play this blame game.

I do not have a question. I am just saying I am disappointed. It is hard to listen to this ongoing, toxic, partisan debate.