Canada-United Kingdom Trade Continuity Agreement Implementation Act  Madam Speaker, international trade comes under the jurisdiction of the federal government, but, that said, for negotiations to be successful and for there to be broad acceptance of any international agreement or treaty, there needs to be broad consultation with provinces, stakeholders, unions and everyone who might be involved and might be affected by that agreement.

Canada-United Kingdom Trade Continuity Agreement Implementation Act  Madam Speaker, as I said in my intervention, free trade has never been the government's strong suit. Liberals knew about Brexit just like the rest of the world knew about Brexit. These negotiations could have started much earlier, but that does not seem to have been the government's emphasis.

Canada-United Kingdom Trade Continuity Agreement Implementation Act  Madam Speaker, today we have a rare opportunity in this parliamentary session to advance freer trade between age-old friends, two democratic nations, two advanced societies, that share so much history, culture, legal and parliamentary structures, and also language. Some years ago, President Kennedy said this with respect to another great friendship, the one between Canada and the U.S.: Geography has made us neighbours.

Questions Passed as Orders for Returns  With regard to medical equipment, excluding personal protective equipment, purchased by the government related to the government's COVID-19 response: (a) what is the total amount spent, broken down by type of equipment (ventilators, syringes, etc.); (b) what is the total number of contracts signed for medical equipment; (c) what is the breakdown of the amount spent by (i) province or territory, (ii) country where the vendor is located; and (d) what is the total number of contracts signed broken down by (i) province or territory, (ii) country where the vendor is located?

Questions Passed as Orders for Returns  With regard to personal protective equipment (PPE) purchased by the government since the COVID-19 pandemic began: (a) what is the total amount spent on PPE; (b) what is the total number of contracts signed for PPE; (c) what is the breakdown of the amount spent by (i) province or territory, (ii) country where the vendor is located; and (d) what is the total number of contracts signed broken down by (i) province or territory, (ii) country where the vendor is located?

Health  Madam Speaker, amid the COVID crisis Canada is facing another health crisis: opioid overdoses. There are over 100 illicit drug toxicity deaths in British Columbia every month. That number has been going up due to the COVID pandemic. These are ordinary Canadians, hard-working people, moms, dads, brothers, sisters, and every one with a heartbreaking story to tell.

Criminal Code  Madam Speaker, I have to admit that the Audrey Parker argument is very compelling. Nobody wants Canadians to die earlier than they should. I believe the best argument against the Audrey Parker principle, as it is sometimes referred to, is that last year alone, and we have hard evidence of this, 263 people changed their minds during that 10-day waiting period.

Criminal Code  Madam Speaker, that question gives me an opportunity to distinguish between the Carter and the Truchon decisions. I have the greatest respect for the Supreme Court of Canada. There is great scholarship coming out of there. The Carter decision underlined the importance of a scrupulous regime of protection and safeguards for the disabled.

Criminal Code  Madam Speaker, the real reason we are not supporting the legislation is because it does not provide adequate protection for the disabled. It is not just members from the Conservative Party stating that, but many disability groups that have come to committee to represent the opinions of their members.

Criminal Code  Madam Speaker, I will be sharing my time with the member for Cypress Hills—Grasslands. Here we are on December 8, 2020, only 10 days away from a deadline imposed on Parliament by the Quebec Superior Court from the Truchon decision. The Liberal side of the House is suggesting that perhaps it is the fault of members of the Conservative Party for delaying progress on this very important topic.

Questions Passed as Orders for Returns  With regard to information held by either Health Canada or the Public Health Agency of Canada: (a) on what date did the government become aware that specific rapid tests for COVID-19 were approved by other governments in the G7, broken down by country and by specific test; (b) of the rapid tests approved by other G7 governments, which ones have been approved for use in Canada, and on what date was each test approved; and (c) for each test in (b) that has not been approved for use in Canada, why has the test not been approved?

Infrastructure  Mr. Speaker, that was good to hear, but what was missing was a commitment for the $550 million to be invested by the federal government into phase 2 of the Fleetwood to Langley project. Is that ready to go? It has provincial support. The provincial government has promised to fund its portion of it.

Infrastructure  Mr. Speaker, I am here to talk about public transit in Metro Vancouver. It is a follow-up to a question I asked a couple of weeks ago, which I do not think I got an adequate answer to. I will provide a bit of background. Metro Vancouver is located in the Lower Mainland area of British Columbia, which is a relatively small piece of real estate compared to the province and the country, but it is huge when it comes to strategic importance.

Judges Act  Mr. Speaker, this legislation should have happened a long time ago. This must be done quickly. Ninety-five percent of people who experience sexual assault do not even report it, because they do not have confidence in the judicial system. It needs to be fixed. It is a high priority.

Judges Act  Mr. Speaker, that is a very important question. Judges influence society; therefore, they must understand the society within which they work and within which the people who appear before them in court live. Sadly, indigenous people are overrepresented in our court system and in our prisons.