Brian Masse

[Committees of the House, October 3rd, 2022]

Mr. Speaker, the member has been here long enough to remember that Canadian members of Parliament, such as Dave Christopherson, went to Ukraine to help build a voting system. I want to recognize that and have him briefly reflect on it, because I do not think a lot of people remember how many members of Parliament actually went to help build Ukraine's democracy, which has now been proven to be a sham in some regions with Russia's vote.

[Committees of the House, October 3rd, 2022]

Mr. Speaker, on the international trade committee, we did actually have some hearings on Ukraine and trade.

I would like to ask the hon. member about a specific one. He did not mention it in his speech. It is Cyber Security Awareness Month. One of the things I learned from the Ukrainian interns who have been in my office in the past, is that they have a lot of young people who could actually be very effective in the long term for the survival and the betterment of Ukraine, if they were to get trained to prevent Russian cybersecurity hacks and a number of different things.

I would like the member's thoughts about that in general, as to whether there is more we can do after what is taking place right now to help young Ukrainians become experts in cybersecurity, for not only Ukraine, but also the world.

[Employment Insurance, September 23rd, 2022]

Mr. Speaker, in the middle of a cost-of-living crisis, through no fault of their own, Syncreon auto workers are going to lose their jobs. The Liberals have known this for months. They knew it was coming but they refused to reform the Employment Insurance Act, leaving them out in the cold.

Shockingly, instead of making things better, tomorrow the Liberals are changing the EI rules to make things tougher for people just trying to feed their families. The government seems to forget that this money belongs to the workers, not them, and to the families they are responsible to. They have been paying into EI for years and now the Syncreon auto workers are going to be robbed.

Why are the Liberals being so cruel when they could fix this today? It is not too late. Justice should be served for these workers. They are due this respect.

[Questions Passed as Orders for Returns, September 20th, 2022]

With regard to the report of the Standing Committee on Industry, Science and Technology from the 43rd Parliament, 2nd Session, entitled "Fraudulent Calls in Canada: A Federal Government’s First Start": what steps has the government taken to combat fraud and spam calls in Canada, including (i) legislative considerations, (ii) work with international partners to ensure that transnational offenders are held accountable, (iii) monitoring the progress of solutions combatting fraud and advance more transparent progress reporting, (iv) working closely with public and private stakeholders to promote fraud awareness for Canadians, (v) working with the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission and telecommunications service providers to implement the STIR/SHAKEN framework, (vi) promoting the class action suits in the United States that provide refunds to Canadian victims of phone fraud or cybercrime schemes, (vii) developing the new national cybercrime and fraud reporting system to improve the processes used to report fraud and cybercrime incidents to law enforcement, which was anticipated to be operational in 2022, to help improve the quality of data on fraud in Canada?

[Questions Passed as Orders for Returns, September 20th, 2022]

With regard to the proposed Ojibway National Urban Park: (a) what is the official process that Parks Canada has initiated for consultation, including (i) who have they met with, (ii) who have they invited to participate, (iii) when did the process start, (iv) what is its anticipated end date; (b) has Parks Canada engaged with the City of Windsor to negotiate the transfer of the municipalities’ lands to Parks Canada for the proposed Ojibway National Urban Park; (c) has Parks Canada engaged with the government of the Province of Ontario to negotiate the transfer of the province’s land to Parks Canada for the proposed Ojibway National Urban Park; (d) what funding allocations or estimates has Parks Canada made (i) for the process of consultation for the proposed Ojibway National Urban Park, (ii) for the transfer of lands from the City of Windsor and the Province of Ontario, (iii) the establishment of Ojibway National Urban Park, (iv) for the ongoing parks management; and (e) has Parks Canada engaged with Caldwell First Nation to create a co-management agreement for Ojibway National Urban Park?

[Questions Passed as Orders for Returns, September 20th, 2022]

With regard to notices of determination and notices of debt sent to applicants for COVID-19 financial support programs for individuals, since the date of inception of each program and broken down by each financial support program for individuals: (a) how many audits have been conducted; (b) how many notices have been issued to applicants, broken down by (i) notices of determination, (ii) notices of debt; (c) for the notices in (b), what is their dollar value; and (d) what is the dollar value of the total amounts previously received refunded?

[Questions on the Order Paper, September 20th, 2022]

With regard to the Stellantis-LG Energy Solution large scale lithium-ion battery production plant to be located in Windsor, Ontario: (a) what is the government’s financial contribution to the facility; (b) did the government evaluate and analyze the potential supply chain investments and companies that would follow the battery plant into the region; (c) what are those follow on plants and facilities; (d) does the government plan to provide additional financial support to secure those additional investments and companies for the region; (e) did the government evaluate the energy requirements needed for the battery production plant and follow on supply chain facilities; (f) did the government investigate supporting the province to ensure the power infrastructure and production was sufficient to secure all potential future investments in the supply chain for the battery plant; and (g) what would the government’s financial commitment be to support the determined power infrastructure and supply upgrades?

[Her Late Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, September 15th, 2022]

Madam Speaker, with profound sadness I am here to pay tribute to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.

However, on a positive note, I first want to note the 18th anniversary of Melanie Namespetra, who has worked with me on the Hill as a constituency assistant and legislative assistant. We have had a whole series of wonderful moments over 18 years of my 20 years here. I want to thank her and her family for all the work they have done on behalf of Windsor, Ontario, Essex and Canada.

I want to offer my condolences to the royal family. The Queen was a mother, a grandmother and a great-grandmother. The royal family is certainly going through a lot of emotions, even recognizing the fact that it has to share this moment with the entire planet. It is very difficult doing so in the public eye. I wish them the best during this difficult time.

I also want to thank Drew Dilkens, the mayor of Windsor. Our mayor is showing leadership in including the public. There will be a public viewing of the Queen's funeral at 5:45 a.m. on September 19 outdoors at City Hall Square. I want to thank Mayor Drew Dilkens for doing that. As well, there will be a public memorial service at All Saints' Anglican Church at 6 p.m. It is right next to that area. People are asked to RSVP for that.

Of particular note, it will be led by the Essex and Kent Scottish regiment to recognize that this year is the 80th year since Dieppe. The Essex and Kent Scottish regiment played a leading part in those operations and suffered significant losses in their duty during the Second World War. I will talk a bit about that now, with regard to the Queen as well as connections as to why this is important for our country and our Parliament.

I will share a little about my experiences too. I had the chance to meet the Queen in Toronto. I will talk a bit about that later.

I want to note that some of my family came from England. We grew up at the kitchen table hearing experiences about what took place during the war, what took place with the royal family and a number of different connections. My biological grandfather was John Clifford Addison. I did not know him. I have his medals, his soccer medals and war medals. He died on the HMS Scorpion in the fall of Burma.

It was lucky that my grandmother, Irene Attwood, was able to marry Fred Attwood. He served in the Royal Navy on the Ark Royal and the MacCallum. My grandmother, Irene, and my mother, Jean Masse, Jean Attwood at that time, survived the bombing raids in London. My mother just gifted me last year a scrapbook of the Queen that she made during that time and during her teen years.

There are lots of papers and news articles going back to the start, 70 years ago, that were published in the British papers, official programmes and so forth. I will be sharing them on the 16th on my social media. I took some pictures of them.

It is interesting, through the eyes of my mother at that time, to see all the work that went into this collection of materials. I think that experience was translated later on with better understanding. Fred Atwood was a merchant and I mentioned he served in the Royal Navy. He spent a lot of time serving his country, but he came to Canada.

I grew up with big band music playing in the background sitting at the kitchen table with my grandmother making scones and having tea and talking about life in England. Recognizing Her Majesty's commitment during wartime was part of the discussions. It was a continuation of the life they had in England which extended over into Canada.

It is important that we recognize the duration of Her Majesty's tenure. It lasted so long. During her 70-year reign there were 179 individuals who served as her prime ministers, including 15 British and 12 Canadian prime ministers. Her first British prime minister, Winston Churchill, was born in 1874. The last British prime minister to be appointed by the Queen was Liz Truss, who was born 101 years later, in 1975. She was appointed by the Queen just two days before her death.

As I mentioned, I had the chance to meet Her Royal Highness when she visited Toronto. As a child, I was in Windsor, Ontario, when the Queen visited. Like many of my age, we were on the side of the road as she drove by and waved. It was an interesting experience as a kid.

Later on, the Queen participated in a number of ceremonies in Windsor. Obviously, with a name like Windsor, there is a connection that is very strong. As well, we are a border city that fought significantly in the War of 1812. We are also the place of the Underground Railroad. When the British Empire finally got rid of slavery, many people came to our area for freedom from the United States. There was a recognition that it was a better place. Slavery is still one of those issues that languishes. I am hoping that the new King recognizes some of the suffering that still takes place from the awful state of slavery over generations. However, we have those connections.

Later on, it was Jack Layton who was supposed to attend a luncheon for the Queen at the Royal York. Jack, the former member for Toronto—Danforth, could not make it, so I got the call to represent him. It was a 90°C summer day, and I was staying at a hotel. I will try to describe it so that people get an idea of what one goes through.

For people who do not know me, I am not a very formal person. A tuxedo was required. I am not very good at protocol either. However, for me to get into a tuxedo was an accomplishment in itself, let alone doing it during a blackout, which took place at that time. I had to go down the hotel stairs, 11 storeys in 90°C weather, walk over to the Royal York where about 100 guests huddled in the dark.

At the time, we were to meet the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh. We were sent a protocol sheet, which was much needed for people like me, to know what to expect. We were to get in line, and when our turn came, we would walk to the Queen, do a certain type of greeting and then move to His Royal Highness. We would then move to another room for the event.

Well, I am terrible at protocol. I got the right greeting for the Queen but when I got to His Royal Highness, I froze, and people were behind me. I said, “Hey man”, and he smiled and laughed, and then I moved on. The moment was kind of special, because I was there to try to be as respectful of the protocol as possible, but it did not matter.

We then moved to the next room for lunch where the Queen spoke. It was interesting, because she talked about Canada. She did not talk about anything other than Canada. She talked about the visits she had made across our country, whether it be the Northwest Territories, British Columbia or the east coast. She mentioned Windsor as well. We had that type of exchange and then the event was over. It was interesting, because I had grown up with this at the kitchen table.

Another interesting thing is that she was the most travelled world leader, having travelled to 117 countries and almost 56 Commonwealth nations. She was also the first monarch to visit West Germany, China, South Africa and other African nations and almost every corner of Canada during her 22 visits. Listening to someone with that type of experience is always interesting in itself, and then having these different connections was really important. I think the kind of common element in what was taking place in Canada was very special.

As I mentioned, her reign was not perfect. One of the things that I am hoping to see is some reconciliation with our first nations. I am hoping that King Charles III does that and will recognize that there has to be more, which is necessary to have reconciliation. It is one of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission's points, and I am looking forward to that. I think it would help not only myself but maybe young Canadians as well as we try to move forward with a connection to the monarchy in our country, but it needs to come with recognition of what has taken place in the past.

In closing, I send my condolences to the royal family.

[The Economy, June 17th, 2022]

Madam Speaker, hard-working Canadians are getting crushed by the rising cost of living. People across the country can barely afford the gas to drive to work or to get groceries.

Yesterday, the government had a chance to finally give them a helping hand. Instead, the Deputy Prime Minister was on Bay Street, reassuring the richest 1% that the Liberals would not tax record oil and gas profits or give Canadians the help they need right now.

What will it take for the government to stop making re-announcements and finally stand up for working class Canadians getting gouged at the pumps?

[Global Food Insecurity, June 16th, 2022]

Madam Chair, the parliamentary secretary made a good point with regard to the vulnerability of other nation-states. Let us take Lebanon as one example. We already know it is tested with regard to the political crisis that it faces. There have been humanitarian issues as well. We know there is going to be vulnerability for regular shipments, even if there is some normalization in the future.

What would the member suggest we can do for a state like Lebanon, which we have identified is extremely vulnerable right now? What is this country willing to do to increase its stability knowing that this is a real vulnerability to public safety, food security and the nation-state itself?