Debates of Feb. 1st, 2022

Homophobia

[Rob Oliphant, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Foreign Affairs]

Mr. Speaker, there have been discussions among the parties and if you seek it, I hope you will find unanimous consent to adopt the following motion. I move:

That the House affirm that there is nothing peaceful about harassing residents of Ottawa for displaying pride flags in their homes and in their neighbourhood; and agree that harassment, transphobia and all forms of homophobia seen this weekend are an insult to truth and our democracy.

[The Speaker, Liberal, Anthony Rota]

All those opposed to the hon. member moving the motion will please say nay.

Hearing no dissent, it is agreed.

The House has heard the terms of the motion. All those opposed to the motion will please say nay.

(Motion agreed to)

Decorum

[Elizabeth May, Green, Saanich—Gulf Islands, BC]

Mr. Speaker, I rise on a point of order that relates to Standing Orders 16 and 18.

I rise on this occasion because I think the noise levels in the House and what those of us participating virtually experience must be different. I noted that you thanked participants in the House today for keeping things respectful, but I could not hear the Deputy Prime Minister when she was trying to answer questions because of the heckling in the background. I note that I remember sitting with her when she won a by-election in Toronto Centre back in 2013, and it seemed to me even then that Conservatives particularly heckled her more than others. I found that to be the case today, and I could not hear her properly, so I wanted to bring that to your attention.

[The Speaker, Liberal, Anthony Rota]

I thank the hon. member for that point of order, and I want to remind all members that we do have people watching from around the country trying to see what is going on in Parliament. In all fairness to them, even though it is in the chamber that we want people to hear us, we want to make sure the people who are watching hear the questions and the answers so that they understand what is being done here in Parliament.

I thank all the members for their co-operation, as today was a very good day, but there is always room for improvement.

The hon. member for Peace River—Westlock is rising on a point of order.

[Arnold Viersen, Conservative, Peace River—Westlock, AB]

Mr. Speaker, if you seek it, I hope you will find unanimous consent for the following motion: “That the House deplores the use of blackface and denounces its use at all times.”

[The Speaker, Liberal, Anthony Rota]

All those opposed to the hon. member moving the motion will please say nay.

[An hon. member]

Nay.

[The Speaker, Liberal, Anthony Rota]

We do not have unanimous consent.

The hon. member for Winnipeg North is rising on a point of order.

[Kevin Lamoureux, Liberal, Winnipeg North, MB]

Mr. Speaker, from our perspective, we do not have a problem. I think the member was reflecting and saying no because we did not get any advance notice. Had we known about it, no one on this side would have said no to the motion.

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh!

[The Speaker, Liberal, Anthony Rota]

Order, please.

The hon. member for Kingston and the Islands is rising on a point of order.

[Mark Gerretsen, Liberal, Kingston and the Islands, ON]

Mr. Speaker, when somebody rises and says “Mr. Speaker, there have been discussions among the parties and if you seek it I believe", it implies that discussions have actually happened. Discussions had not happened. What we are seeing here is a blatant attempt to try to throw people off and catch them off guard.

I did not even get to hear—

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh!

[The Speaker, Liberal, Anthony Rota]

Order, please.

The hon. member can continue.

[Mark Gerretsen, Liberal, Kingston and the Islands, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I did not even get to hear the entire motion because of the fact that—

[The Speaker, Liberal, Anthony Rota]

The hon. member for Leeds—Grenville—Thousand Islands and Rideau Lakes is rising on a point of order.

[Michael Barrett, Conservative, Leeds—Grenville—Thousand Islands and Rideau Lakes, ON]

Mr. Speaker, if you consult Hansard, you can verify that the member for Peace River—Westlock expressed in his intervention a hope. He said, “Mr. Speaker, I hope you will find unanimous consent for the following”.

The member for Kingston and the Islands said that the member for Peace River—Westlock had said that there had been consultations. All the member for Peace River—Westlock had asked for was the consideration of the House to condemn the wearing of blackface, and the member for Kingston and the Islands denied that and voted against that condemnation.

[Some hon. members]

Shame.

[The Speaker, Liberal, Anthony Rota]

I am afraid there was no vote, and the hon. member for Peace River—Westlock did say “hope”. That is what I heard. We can check the blues and see what that was, just to make sure.

The hon. member for Kingston and the Islands is rising.

[Mark Gerretsen, Liberal, Kingston and the Islands, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the member for Leeds—Grenville—Thousand Islands and Rideau Lakes has actually misrepresented what happened.

What I voted against was entertaining a motion; it was not against a subject. We had not even introduced it. Nonetheless, it is important to point out that even the terminology of “I hope you will find unanimous consent”, by tradition of the House, implies that discussions have happened among the party leadership, and they had not.

[The Speaker, Liberal, Anthony Rota]

I want to remind all members that normally for unanimous consent, out of courtesy, one checks with the other parties, but that is just a tradition we have adopted and have been using. It is not necessarily something that has to happen, but in any case, let us just call this one a day. The motion was turned down, and we will continue from here.

[Chris Bittle, Liberal, St. Catharines, ON]

Put your mask on, Cheryl. Put your mask on.

[Cheryl Gallant, Conservative, Renfrew—Nipissing—Pembroke, ON]

I can't hear you.

[The Speaker, Liberal, Anthony Rota]

I encourage the hon. member for St. Catharines and the hon. member for Renfrew—Nipissing—Pembroke to go into the hallway if they want to have a conversation, and not do it across the chamber. We would like people to be able to hear what is going on.

We will now resume debate.

The House resumed consideration of the motion for an address to Her Excellency the Governor General in reply to her speech at the opening of the session.