Debates of Oct. 16th, 2023

Canada—Newfoundland and Labrador Atlantic Accord Implementation Act

[The Assistant Deputy Speaker, NDP, Carol Hughes]

Before we continue, I want to remind members of a couple of rules of the House, which are that, if they wish to speak, they should stand to be recognized, and if they wish to ask a question or make comments, they need to be in their seat.

[Kody Blois, Liberal, Kings—Hants, NS]

Madam Speaker, on a point of order, I would like to seek unanimous consent to table a document from Premier Houston in relation to a comment that he made on calling on—

[Some hon. members]

No.

[The Assistant Deputy Speaker, NDP, Carol Hughes]

It appears that the hon. member did not consult to get unanimous consent. I already hear that there is no unanimous consent.

[Churence Rogers, Liberal, Bonavista—Burin—Trinity, NL]

Madam Speaker, it is certainly an honour for me to stand in the House and speak in support of Bill C-49. It has had a great history behind it, with much debate that took place in the 1950s and 1960s about resources off the coast of Newfoundland and Labrador and Nova Scotia. Typically, as we see in Canada, compromises were made, and the Atlantic accords were put in place to deal with the jurisdiction off Newfoundland and Labrador's coast and followed by Nova Scotia a year later.

The original agreement was, as Newfoundland and Labrador's then premier, Brian Peckford, stated, consistent “with a strong and united Canada”. The day the first of the two accords was signed, the agreement between Newfoundland and Labrador and Canada, the prime minister at the time, the Right Hon. Brian Mulroney, said in his speech, “It is unquestionably an historic Accord, probably the most important agreement reached between Ottawa and St. John's since Newfoundland entered Confederation”.

Stan Dromisky

[Marcus Powlowski, Liberal, Thunder Bay—Rainy River, ON]

Madam Speaker, I am sad to be standing and acknowledging the passing of my friend Stan “Staush” Dromisky. He grew up in the east end of what was then Fort William. He first became an elementary school teacher and then went back and got his Ph.D. and ended up teaching at Lakehead University in education.

In 1992, he was elected to Parliament, where he served until 2004. He loved this place. He was a proud parliamentarian. Stan also loved kids. During the House of Commons Christmas toy drive, Stan used to dress up as Santa. Apparently, one night during an evening vote, he came in full Santa regalia in order to vote on behalf of the people of Thunder Bay—Atikokan. That was the quintessential Stan, a guy who always had a glimmer in his eye and a sense of duty for his country, and who always put others before himself.

Stan will be missed by many people, but by none more than his loving wife, Peggy, who was his soulmate; his three daughters; and five grandchildren.

Spochyvay z myrom. Slava Ukraini.

World Egg Day

[Kelly Block, Conservative, Carlton Trail—Eagle Creek, SK]

Madam Speaker, this past Friday was World Egg Day, a day to mark the importance of eggs as the critical protein that they are, while also celebrating the positive impact of our egg farming sector in Canada. For over 50 years, our local egg farmers have supported their rural communities and ensured that Canadians have consistent year-round access to fresh, local, affordable, and high-quality eggs from coast to coast. Egg farmers and farm families serve as a strong, stabilizing economic force within our communities and contribute $1.3 billion to Canada's GDP annually.

This year, World Egg Day was an opportunity to recognize the role of egg farmers in building strong and vibrant rural communities across Canada, supporting small businesses and investing in their local economies. I ask all members to join me in wishing Canada's egg producers a belated happy World Egg Day.

14th Lieutenant-Governor of Newfoundland and Labrador

[Joanne Thompson, Liberal, St. John's East, NL]

Madam Speaker, Newfoundland and Labrador has a long history of strong women leaders, and Her Honour Judy May Foote clearly sits within this group. After over 20 years in public life, both in the House of Assembly and here as a member of Parliament, she became the 14th Lieutenant-Governor of Newfoundland and Labrador. She was the first woman to hold this post and served in an inclusive, open and caring way. Referencing Government House as “the people's house”, she opened the grounds with yoga on the lawn, horticulture therapy and accessible walking trails. Her Honour also worked to support and expand reconciliation, with the new heart garden serving as a powerful feature. She is a cancer survivor, humanitarian, and a friend.

I am thankful for Her Honour's service to the province and the country. Her care for the common good has transformed how we view the role of a lieutenant-governor. We look forward to her next role in public service.

Former Parliamentarians

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

Mr. Speaker, it is an honour to take the floor this afternoon to recognize four extraordinary Canadians, all of whom were Parliamentarians and all of whom passed away between when we adjourned in June and resumed in September: the Hon. Stephen Owen, the Hon. Pat Carney, Hugh Segal and the Hon. Monique Bégin.

I particularly want to pay tribute to Pat Carney, who has not had a round of speeches in this place to recognize her roles as an MP, a cabinet member, a senator, a trailblazer for women's rights and a dear friend. She was also my constituent. Her closest home place was always Saturna Island. She contributed to this country in many ways, including being the first MP to put forward a bill to eliminate discrimination based on sexual orientation. She fought for women's rights and opposed legislation that restricted abortion rights. She was an extraordinary woman, a good friend, a great leader and a Canadian who contributed to this country in so many ways.

Guy Latraverse

[Claude DeBellefeuille, Bloc, Salaberry—Suroît, QC]

Mr. Speaker, producer Guy Latraverse, nicknamed the “father of Quebec show business”, passed away last Saturday after a lengthy illness.

The unforgettable Saint-Jean sur la montagne in 1975, the legendary 1 fois 5 show, Diane Dufresne's Magie rose at the Olympic Stadium, we owe them all to Guy Latraverse. We must also acknowledge the courage he had to speak publicly about mental health issues, having lived with bipolar disorder all his life.

In this, as in so many other areas, he was a trailblazer. As an outspoken separatist, his first passion, as his sister Louise so eloquently pointed out, was Quebec. Propelling our artists a little higher, a little further, was his way of promoting Quebec. As such, his contribution to our national pride is unparalleled.

Our thoughts are with his family and loved ones. Thank you for everything, Mr. Latraverse; Quebec owes you so much.

World Food Day

[Ryan Turnbull, Liberal, Whitby, ON]

Mr. Speaker, today is World Food Day, a day when we are reminded that we must work together to confront the issue of food insecurity here in Canada and around the world. With the rising cost of living, 24.6% of Ontario kids live in a food-insecure household, a sharp increase from last year. Whether breakfast or lunch, healthy school meals play a vital role in alleviating household food insecurity and providing the essential nourishment for children's growth and development.

Last Wednesday, the Minister of Families, Children and Social Development and I held a productive meeting with almost 30 MPs from four political parties. We heard an insightful presentation from the Coalition for Healthy School Food and the Breakfast Club of Canada outlining the importance of a national school food strategy as we ensure that every child in this country receives the food they need to reach their full potential.

I thank all the participants for their continuing support and advocacy.

Terry Fox Run in Weymouth

[Chris d'Entremont, Conservative, West Nova, NS]

Mr. Speaker, I am honoured to rise today to recognize and commend an outstanding individual in our riding of West Nova, Wayne Bell, who is the sales manager at Belliveau Motors in Church Point. For several months, Wayne has been raising funds for a good friend, Dean Jones, who is battling cancer, and has organized 43 of the Terry Fox runs in Weymouth, Nova Scotia. The most that the Weymouth Terry Fox Run had ever raised was about $3,300. When Wayne heard that his friend Dean was putting together another fundraiser in this year's run, he wanted to help. Wayne got creative and started an online campaign where he put out a challenge to the entire community that if he raised over $10,000, he would jump off the wharf at Belliveau Cove in a Speedo. Surprisingly enough, Wayne was able to raise just over $11,000 for this year's Weymouth Terry Fox Run, and the rest, of course, is history.

No one should ever have to endure cancer alone, and especially to fight against it alone. This is a perfect example of our community coming together to support an important cause to help one another.

Chinese Freemasons 160th Anniversary

[Chandra Arya, Liberal, Nepean, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I wish to recognize the Chinese Freemasons of Canada on its 160th anniversary.

In the 1800s, tens of thousands of Chinese arrived in Canada to work on railroads and in forestry and gold mines. They played a crucial role in Canada's nation building. Separated from their families, they worked under harsh conditions. In 1885, they built the Chee Kung Tong Building, now a Canadian national historic site. The Chinese Freemasons of Canada provided immigrants a support system and allowed them to pay homage to their ancestors. It also mediated disputes.

I wish to recognize and thank the long service of Ottawa residents, 92-year-old Mr. Bing Chan and 91-year-old Mrs. Yim Han-Fong; grandmaster Lap-Chun (Sunny) Law from Toronto; grandmaster Fred Ying Wah Kwok from Vancouver; and the current national chair, Albert Tang.

Latin American Heritage Month

[Julie Dzerowicz, Liberal, Davenport, ON]

Mr. Speaker, October is Latin American Heritage Month, a time to celebrate the vibrant cultures, traditions and contributions of the Hispanic and Latin American communities in Canada. Over one million Hispanic and Latin Americans, coming from more than 20 countries, now call Canada their home. They come from many different countries, but they are one community.

At the beginning of the month, I had the chance to walk in the downtown Toronto Latin Parade and Fall Fiesta, and people could see the rhythm, colours and alegria, as well as the diversity of the community out in full force.

This month, I invite everyone to celebrate the music, literature, food and culture of Hispanic and Latin American Canadians. Let us also take a moment to appreciate their extraordinary contributions to our country. We are a better and stronger country because of them.

Viva los latinos y los hispanos en Canada.

Small Business Week

[Scot Davidson, Conservative, York—Simcoe, ON]

Mr. Speaker, small businesses are the cornerstone of our communities. They are the supporters of local sports teams, small-town fairs and charities. They are the job creators. They provide valuable goods and services to the community every single day. Unfortunately, after eight years of this NDP-Liberal government, it is now harder than ever for hard-working small business owners to stay open. Tax hikes, red tape, crime, quadrupled carbon taxes and inflation are causing significant hardships.

I do not know who is left buying what this government is selling. Most small businesses are barely holding on by their fingernails. They are seeing fewer customers as the cost of living rises. Canadians need more common sense not nonsense from a Prime Minister who is just not worth the cost.

This Small Business Week, know that Conservatives will take care of business by taking care of small businesses. We will bring back hope and get government off their backs.

Foreign Affairs

[Anthony Housefather, Liberal, Mount Royal, QC]

Mr. Speaker, Alexandre Look, Ben Mizrachi, Adi Vital-Kaploun, Shir Hana Georgy, Netta Epstein and Judith Haggai are six Canadians who were brutally murdered in the war launched by the terrorist group Hamas against our friend and ally, Israel.

There are over 1,400 dead, scenes of sickening brutality, infants slaughtered and elderly survivors of the Holocaust butchered. Innocent civilians, Israelis, Americans and Canadians had their lives ended or forever changed simply because they were Jews.

I feel for the hostages being held in Gaza whose fate is unknown and the innocent Palestinian civilians who suffer because of Hamas. Yet, there are pro-Hamas demonstrations in our own country celebrating this depravity. I hope the entire House joins me in denouncing those who are celebrating the death of innocent Israelis and those who are inciting violence against Jewish Canadians.

My heart is broken. I am devastated. I stand with our ally Israel. I stand with the people of Israel.

Am Yisrael Chai.

Liberal Party of Canada

[Marilyn Gladu, Conservative, Sarnia—Lambton, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister said that he would get groceries prices down before Thanksgiving. Well, the turkey has come and gone, and groceries prices are not down. Another broken promise from a Prime Minister who is not worth the cost. Maybe he was talking about American Thanksgiving.

I can tell members that putting together a committee of Liberals to recommend how to bring prices down is a wasted effort. They have no plan. After eight years of this NDP-Liberal government, Canadians are out of money and this government is out of ideas.

Our Conservative leader would axe the tax, the second carbon tax, the tax on the tax and the tariffs on Canadian farmers, and cut the regulations that are adding cost to the food chain. Conservatives know how to talk turkey and Canadians need the hope that we are bringing.

Israel

[Pierre Paul-Hus, Conservative, Charlesbourg—Haute-Saint-Charles, QC]

Mr. Speaker, Hamas launched a number of terrorist attacks on Israel last week. Many civilians were killed or taken hostage. The terrorists committed rape, decapitated children and launched numerous rockets, hoping to kill as many Jews as possible. In response to the murders and violence perpetrated by Hamas, the Iranian foreign affairs minister warned Israel to stop defending itself, saying that the war could spread to other parts of the Middle East. In other words, Iran wants Israel to quietly accept the murder of its own citizens and do and say nothing.

Israel has the right to defend itself against the attacks and to respond to the attackers in kind. The Conservatives unequivocally condemn the Hamas terrorists' invasion of Israel. Furthermore, I find it appalling that anyone in Canada or elsewhere would express support for Hamas knowing that at least five Canadians, including Alexandre Look of Montreal, are among the victims. The glorification of terrorism has no place in Canada. In addition, not a single dollar of Canadian taxpayers' money should be used to support terrorism. It is time to bring common sense back to Canada's foreign policy.

Action Centre

[Emmanuella Lambropoulos, Liberal, Saint-Laurent, QC]

Mr. Speaker, last week, I visited an amazing new organization in my community. The work it is doing to meet the needs of Canada's most vulnerable population is incredible.

The Action Centre is addressing a serious shortcoming in our society that definitely deserves more attention. Its mission is to raise general awareness about the needs and rights of adults with physical disabilities.

They also strive to provide a safe and welcoming environment for adults with physical disabilities, so that they have access to and may participate in a variety of educational, social, cultural and recreational programs in a community setting. This includes field trips, cooking classes, social activities and wellness activities. For only $25 per year, adults between the ages of 21 and 65 years old living with a physical impairment can become members of the Action Centre and take full advantage of all that it has to offer.

I want to thank all of the members of the Board of Directors and the staff at the Action Centre for the incredible work that they do and the difference they make in the lives of their members.

World Food Day

[Alistair MacGregor, NDP, Cowichan—Malahat—Langford, BC]

Mr. Speaker, today is World Food Day and we must turn our attention to the food insecurity and hunger that is plaguing our country. We have nothing to celebrate here in Canada. Food bank use is at its highest level in Canadian history, with more working families relying on food banks just to get by. Every week, Canadians are making difficult choices when they visit the grocery store.

The food crisis in Canada did not happen overnight. We got here because it is the natural conclusion of decades of corporate-friendly neo-liberal economic policies that both the Liberals and Conservatives have championed. When corporate greed gouges the farmer who grows the food, gouges the trucker who ships the food and then gouges everyone who is trying to buy the food, we get the out-of-control food-price inflation that is hurting Canadian families.

On this World Food Day, the entire NDP caucus and I renew our pledges to fight corporate greed, so that Canadians are no longer struggling to feed themselves.

[The Speaker, Liberal, Greg Fergus]

I would like to remind members to keep it down, because I am having a hard time hearing members far away from me.

The hon. member for Beloeil—Chambly.

Hubert Reeves

[Yves-François Blanchet, Bloc, Beloeil—Chambly, QC]

Mr. Speaker, if we listen closely, we will hear the footsteps of a titan climbing his way to the stars. That would be Hubert Reeves, who left us on Friday at the age of 91.

An astrophysicist and an outstanding communicator, Hubert Reeves left his mark on Quebeckers as a teacher, a researcher, as well as a man who deeply loved science.

In a career spanning from 1960 to the turn of the millennium, Dr. Reeves taught at the most prestigious universities in Quebec, Europe and the United States. He was an adviser to NASA and headed France's National Centre for Scientific Research. He was also a published author, notably in the 1980s, penning such must-reads as Atoms of Silence. Most importantly, he passed on his wonder of space to many Quebeckers, including yours truly.

I was very young when Hubert Reeves inspired in me a passion for science magazines, which I accumulate despite my inability to read them all, let alone understand them. I also became fascinated by astrophysics.

On behalf of the Bloc Québécois, I offer my most sincere condolences to his family, his loved ones and all Quebeckers. Quebec as a whole is in mourning for a genius who has gone to join the other stars.

Foreign Affairs

[Melissa Lantsman, Conservative, Thornhill, ON]

Mr. Speaker, Hamas's atrocities against Israeli civilians have been unimaginably horrific, and the sadistic crimes continue. In the carnage, five Canadians were murdered and they are not just numbers. Alexandre Look from Montreal and Ben Mizrachi of Vancouver were both murdered when Hamas opened fire on a music festival. Shir Georgy was also killed there. Adi Vital-Kaploun of Ottawa was murdered in her kibbutz; and Netta Epstein was murdered as he sheltered his girlfriend from a grenade launched at them. They are now in our memory forever and may their memory be a blessing.

Canadian citizens missing are believed to be held hostage among the 199 others by Hamas terrorists who hold their own people under siege in the gruesome grip serving as a proxy for the regime in Iran, imposing maximum terror on everyone in their path of destruction.

Among the missing believed to be held are Vivian Silver, Judih Weinstein and Tiferet Lapidot, daughters of our own citizens. Their fate is unknown. Canada could do more and it must do more and demand their release again and again. We pray for their fate and their safe return.

[Ben Carr, Liberal, Winnipeg South Centre, MB]

Mr. Speaker, the tragic loss of life at the hands of Hamas's evil has made us angry, sad and filled with unimaginable grief as we are left trying to comprehend the incomprehensible.

These terror attacks are the cruellest against the Jewish people, my people, since the Holocaust.

It is possible to live in a world where we strive for peace in the Middle East while at the same time being able to state in no uncertain terms that we condemn the rape, murder and kidnapping of innocent women, children and the elderly. We must be able to say this without the word “but” inserted to serve as the catalyst for some moral justification. There is no morality to be found in what it has done.

Even the lives of people whose interests Hamas claims to represent mean nothing in its pursuit of hatred and the eradication of the Jewish people. There is no question that we must uphold the value of all human life and extend to one another a sense of kindness and dignity as we struggle together in the days ahead.

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, in the aftermath of the attacks perpetrated by Hamas nearly two weeks ago, many Canadians remain at risk. Some 4,000 Canadians have requested federal assistance to get out of Israel. Nearly 300 Canadians are trying to get out of Gaza, and there are between 40,000 and 70,000 Canadians in Lebanon.

What is the government doing to protect Canadians at risk and keep them safe?