Cathy McLeod

[Resumption of Debate on Address in Reply, December 8th, 2015]

Madam Speaker, that question would be more appropriately put to a government member.

Certainly, during the campaign, there were some commitments around supporting the education system in general. The Conservative government was always very respectful of provincial jurisdiction. Again, I would welcome hearing more from the government on that issue.

[Resumption of Debate on Address in Reply, December 8th, 2015]

Madam Speaker, the premier of British Columbia indicated throughout the election campaign and after the election took place how critical this was for the economy of British Columbia and for Kamloops—Thompson—Cariboo.

I was first elected in 2008 and one of the first things the Conservative government did, after it was elected in 2006, was reach a conclusion in reaching an agreement with the Americans on this critical issue.

Again, I know in the past that the Liberals let this file slide for years. Conservatives got it done as soon as they were given the mandate. I would ask the Liberal government to please make it a priority. I was really disappointed to see it missing from the mandate letter of the minister. It is critical for British Columbia. Let us make it a priority.

[Resumption of Debate on Address in Reply, December 8th, 2015]

Madam Speaker, I sat on the special committee that looked into this issue for a year, and it saw 40-plus reports. Every one of those reports had important recommendations. The committee heard about prevention programs that were working in communities and from the families on what they wanted the criminal justice system to provide for them regarding answers and how they interacted with the criminal justice system.

Members of the committee absolutely believed that we needed to move forward in dealing with this critical issue. We felt action was appropriate. Clearly, Canadians from across the country believe there are some unanswered questions that an inquiry would answer, and the leader of my party has indicated she will give unconditional support to an inquiry.

[Resumption of Debate on Address in Reply, December 8th, 2015]

Madam Speaker, I will be sharing my time with the member for Cariboo—Prince George.

This is the first time that I have had the opportunity to stand for a speech in the 42nd Parliament, and I want to thank the constituents of Kamloops—Thompson—Cariboo for having the faith and trusting me to come back to represent them in Ottawa. I thank my constituents.

This was an 11-week campaign, and every person in the House could talk about someone who is 86-years-old who came in every day to help, or students who came in after classes and knocked on doors with us. Again, without those volunteers, we could never do what we do in terms of moving forward. It really speaks to the commitment and passion that these volunteers have for who they support.

Most of all, I have to thank my husband Gord. As he drives me throughout the riding, he tells everyone he is my volunteer driver. However, I want to say publicly for the record that he is so much more than that, and I thank him also.

We are speaking to the Speech from the Throne, and the speech has been noted for what it is missing. To be quite frank, there are so many things missing in the speech that are of critical importance to British Columbia that I do not see any way that we can possibly support it. Let me talk about what is important to the riding I represent, which has had no mention, no notice.

Agriculture does exist in Canada, and it is of critical importance. It has no mention. The only thing that is mentioned about natural resources is perhaps going to put more uncertainty into the process. We worked very hard to create certainty around time frames, around expectations, and, again, we have created a very uncertain circumstance. Softwood lumber is absolutely critical to British Columbia. We need to find a solution. We need to move forward on that file. It is not mentioned.

The Asia-Pacific gateway is critical for all of Canada, not just British Columbia. It is an important economic driver. There is no notice of that, and barely a word in terms of some of the most important trade agreements that this country is going to have the opportunity to participate in, both the trans-Pacific partnership and the European trade agreement.

There are some 60,000 jobs, direct and indirect, that have been lost in Alberta and our neighbour communities, and there is no recognition that we have some areas of our economy that are critically important. We need to have some focus on them.

The Liberals talked about and campaigned on a tax break. Apparently this tax break was going to be revenue neutral. We would tax the rich more and give it the middle class. We are not going to help the people who are the poorest, but we are going to help the people who earn up to $200,000. Then yesterday, it was, oops, we made a $1.2 billion miscalculation. It is significant, important, and it speaks to the fiscal discipline that is being shown.

Not all in the speech is bad, and I do want to recognize a few areas that are important. Our leader has tasked me with the role of official critic for indigenous affairs. First of all, I want to congratulate the new minister and the parliamentary secretary. We have incredibly important work that we need to do on this file. The speech did have some important focus in that area, and we support and need to move forward in terms of the education system. Again, that was perhaps one of the positives in the speech, though the government is going to have to flesh out some of those concepts.

There were some concepts in the speech, and I want to speak directly to what some of them were. I am going to quote:

...the government will undertake to renew, nation-to-nation, the relationship between Canada and indigenous peoples — one based on recognition of rights, respect, co-operation and partnership.

Certainly the concepts of respect, rights, co-operation, and partnership are important, but we are hearing language, the nation-to-nation language, and I think we need to flesh that out. I have talked to indigenous people in my riding and across the country, and I have spoken to many of them. Nation-to-nation has not been legally defined. I think we have a concept of what nation-to-nation means, but every person I talked to felt it meant something different. It will be incumbent upon the government to say what nation-to-nation means, but also what it does not mean.

The minister has to describe whether it means the royal commission. It talked about recognizing 50 nations. Is that what it means, or does it mean a nation-to-nation relationship with every band in the country? Some people think it means sovereignty; others think it means something different. It will be absolutely important to put meaning to the language. Language is very important in this Parliament, and we must describe what that will mean.

Today, I understand we will be hearing some very important news in terms of where we will go with the missing and murdered indigenous women and girls in Canada. Everyone in this House knows that situation is totally unacceptable. It is tragic. Our hearts break with every story that we hear.

I will acknowledge that in the past our position was that we need to move forward with action. There are programs and services that work and will make a real difference.

We accept that many across this country believe that an inquiry is required, and our leader has offered full support for this inquiry. However, the inquiry has to provide peace and resolution to the families. How the inquiry is structured and the impact of the inquiry in terms of what it accomplishes will be absolutely critical.

I asked the minister a question yesterday. When the initial report from the Truth and Reconciliation Commission was tabled, within one hour the then leader of the third party, now the Prime Minister, committed to implementing every single one of the 94 recommendations. There was full commitment for implementation.

I asked the minister what the cost would be because it is important for us to analyze every one of those recommendations. What does the recommendation actually do? What will the recommendation cost? The minister responded that it was important that we not cherry-pick and that there is merit to the 94 recommendations.

I think there were some excellent recommendations from that inquiry. I believe we will not agree with every one of the 94 recommendations, but if the government is to move ahead with them, each one needs to be costed and shared with Parliament.

Again, I congratulate the government on the focus. We do need to look at what we are doing, where we are going, how we are doing it, and committing to the new relationship. Many of the leaders in aboriginal communities are very optimistic, but rhetoric needs to lead to reality. We need to make sure that there is not disappointment again.

Canadians need to know the meaning of many of these definitions, and they need to know the cost. In conclusion, I cannot see that we will be able to support this because there are so many gaps, but there are elements that I think are important. However, we certainly need a lot more details around them as we move on.

[Indigenous Affairs, December 7th, 2015]

Mr. Speaker, the new government was not given a blank cheque. Canadians expect due diligence.

On June 2, when the truth and reconciliation report was released, the current Prime Minister pledged his unwavering support for all 94 recommendations, the full list, no exceptions. Could the Minister of Indigenous Affairs give us the full cost of keeping this promise?

[15th Annual International Folklore Avalanche, June 18th, 2015]

Mr. Speaker, next month, Clinton, British Columbia, will be on the world stage as the Mill Girl Follies represent Canada at the 15th Annual International Folklore Avalanche festival in Germany.

The Mill Girl Follies is a troupe of dancers that began in 2011 doing the cancan in celebration of the gold rush era that has contributed to the history and development of the Cariboo region. They have since expanded their repertoire to include other skits, songs, and dances, such as the Charleston. The troupe prides itself on its inclusivity, featuring dancers of all ages and talents, and has been a great source of fun and exercise for everyone involved.

From July 2 to 5, the troupe will be accompanied by 100 Mile House singer-songwriter Katie Kidwell in Germany. There they will join ensembles from 13 other countries in 3 days of performances in what festival organizers call a cheerful meeting of cultures.

Special thanks for all those who contributed to their fundraising efforts. Congratulations to the Mill Girl Follies on the success so far, and we will all be backing them as they represent Clinton, and Canada, in Germany.

[Business of the House, June 17th, 2015]

Mr. Speaker, I seek the unanimous consent of the House for the following motion. I move:

That, notwithstanding any Standing or Special Order or usual practice of the House,

(a) when no member rises to speak at the third reading stage of Bill S-4, An Act to amend the Personal Information Protection and Electronics Documents Act and to make a consequential amendment to another Act, or at 6:30 p.m. this day, whichever comes first, every question necessary to dispose of the said stage of the said bill shall be deemed put, and a recorded division deemed demanded and deferred until the expiry of the time provided for oral questions on Thursday, June 18, 2015; and

(b) when no member rises to speak at the third reading stage of Bill S-2, An Act to amend the Statutory Instruments Act and to make consequential amendments to the Statutory Instruments Regulations, or at 1:59 p.m. on Thursday, June 18, 2015, whichever comes first, every question necessary to dispose of the said stage of the said bill shall be deemed put, and a recorded division deemed demanded and deferred until the expiry of the time provided for oral questions on Thursday, June 18, 2015.

[Health, June 17th, 2015]

Mr. Speaker, we have taken important and significant action on this particular issue.

I would like to note that there has been a 60% decrease in the intake of trans fat. Also, I did note that we will work to see if further action will benefit families.

[Health, June 17th, 2015]

Mr. Speaker, we have been very focused on making sure Canadians have the information they need to make healthy choices. We were the first country in the world to require mandatory labelling to decrease trans fat levels in food. This is working, and we are working with industry. The approach has actually decreased intake by 60% in the last two decades.

However, we are always willing to examine further action if it is going to benefit families.

[Aboriginal Affairs, June 17th, 2015]

Mr. Speaker, these are terrible crimes against innocent people, and the RCMP said in its own study that the vast majority of these cases are addressed and solved through police investigations.

We do not need another study. We have already had over 40 studies that have been done. We need to move forward with the action plan that is going to improve the lives of women and children living on reserves.