Madam Speaker, it is a privilege to rise in the House today to speak on behalf of and for British Columbians on building a united country and against a divisive motion from a divisive and divided Conservative Party, whose members cannot figure out whether they support British Columbia from one day to the next.
It has become clear, from looking at the flawed text of this motion, that it belies a very important truth, which is that the members of Parliament from the opposite side from British Columbia are not willing to stand up to their leader and for their constituents and for their province. That any member of Parliament from British Columbia would support a motion that has an impact on their home province, with no mention of working with that province, is shameful.
I could not imagine a situation in which this would happen in any other jurisdiction. Let us talk about Alberta, for example. It would be like British Columbia saying that it would like to do something involving Alberta but it will not talk to Alberta, and then expecting the federal government to say yes. Perhaps it would be like talking about building a pipeline or infrastructure through the province of Quebec or Ontario and not having British Columbia as part of the conversation.
This is exactly what the Conservatives are willing to do. They are willing to sacrifice British Columbia's priorities and the very mention of British Columbia in order to advance division in this country, drive people apart and do things that are contrary to what Canadians actually want.
This weekend, like many of us, I was back in my constituency, and I had the privilege of hosting my holiday open house. Many of my constituents came through. They have differing points of view on pipelines. They have differing points of view as to whether there should be one pipeline, two pipelines or no pipelines. However, they were united on one thing. They were united in saying that in order for major projects in this country to get built, they must have the participation of indigenous communities and that the provinces implicated should be involved to ensure it is done correctly.
Conservatives ignore that. Conservatives have no interest in that. This motion has no interest in asking whether British Columbia should be at the table and should be involved or whether British Columbians care about this and their opinions should be part of this conversation. Instead of uniting behind the shared goals of building a strong country, ensuring climate change is part of our path to building prosperity, ensuring indigenous communities are actively engaged and at the table with us and having a partner in British Columbia, the opposition motion seeks to play petty politics. What we have learned to expect from the Leader of the Opposition is petty politics.
Canadians have rejected that time and again. Indeed, even in his own previous constituency, his voters rejected his politics of division, because Canadians understand that building things together is the best way to move things forward. They understand that building things together in a co-operative confederation, as the Prime Minister has noted, is how things get done. Nothing should get built without the participation of the jurisdiction and first nations. We have all made that clear. It is how the federation is supposed to work.
If we actually took that seriously, we would look very carefully at what this MOU seeks to do, the language of which has been parsed by the opposition and put in the form of some kind of motion that is supposed to be some kind of television gotcha for the Leader of the Opposition. It is extremely dangerous politics because it ignores the fundamental truth that Canadians have all spoken to, which is that we want to build big things in this country and the best way to build big things quickly is to do them together.
If members want proof of that, look at the major projects that have already been announced in British Columbia, which are substantial initiatives that are going to transform the economy of British Columbia. Whether it is LNG phase two, the Red Chris mine expansion, the north coast transmission line phase one and phase three or even the Ksi Lisims LNG project, these are projects that happened with the active participation and consent of British Columbia and first nations. That is how we get things built quickly.
If we want to use the Conservatives' plan and the track record of the Leader of the Opposition of having built nothing at all, except for perhaps six homes when he was minister of housing, then let us follow their path. Let us follow the path of running into legal challenge after legal challenge because they do not understand how the federation works.
If we do what Canadians want, which is to build things in a meaningful, thoughtful process that is not only well-intentioned but has the capacity to deliver with speed, then the Prime Minister's path is the one that Canadians would like us to follow. I heard that from my constituents in spades. They said they elected a government that understood nuance, that understood the need to co-operate and that understood the need to be able to negotiate and also to build. They did not choose a government that was going to drive wedges between Canadians and try to make things, everything, really, about a clip on social media.
Making Canada an energy superpower while respecting indigenous rights and provincial jurisdiction and also fighting climate change requires nuance. It requires hard work and it requires the ability to work with others, with jurisdictions and with first nations. Conservatives have tried to frame this motion as if it is the entirety of the MOU signed with Alberta, and it is not even close. They have chosen to cherry-pick and manipulate the original text. They are deliberately misrepresenting this agreement because they think Canadians are stupid, and Canadians are not. Canadians understand the importance of complexity and of working through complexity with intelligence—