House of Commons photoWon his last election, in 2021, with 35% of the vote.
Official Languages November 21st, 2018
Mr. Speaker, Doug Ford and the Conservative Party have shown their ignorance of the Franco-Ontarian community's history of resistance and its struggle for rights. Their attack on the French-language university in Toronto is an attack on francophone rights across Canada.
Will the Prime Minister call Doug Ford personally to stand up for this institution and guarantee federal funding to build a French-language university in Ontario?
Official Languages November 20th, 2018
Mr. Speaker, the plan to build a French-language university in Canada's largest city is a symbol of pride for Ontario and francophone communities across Canada. Mr. Ford's decision to attack Franco-Ontarian communities to please his Conservative base has all kinds of implications for the whole country.
Is the Prime Minister ready to work with Franco-Ontarian communities to make this institution a reality?
Questions Passed as Orders for Returns November 19th, 2018
With regard to the Department of Indigenous Services and the Department of Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs: (a) do the departments collect data about incidence and impacts (health, social, etc.) of mold in on-reserve housing; (b) if the answer to (a) is affirmative, (i) which First Nations communities, listed by region, reported incidents of mold in housing, (ii) how many such incidents did they report, (iii) what were the reported or assessed impacts; and (c) if the answer to (a) is negative, why do the departments not collect this information and do they plan to do so in the future?
Questions Passed as Orders for Returns November 19th, 2018
With regard to the Elementary and Secondary Education and the High-Cost Special Education Programs: (a) how much money has been granted, awarded or transferred to Grassy Narrows First Nation and their education authority under the Elementary and Secondary Education Program’s special education services each year for the last ten years, with direct and indirect support reported separately; and (b) how much money has been granted, awarded or transferred to Grassy Narrows First Nation and their education authority under the High-Cost Special Education Program each year for the last ten years?
Questions on the Order Paper November 19th, 2018
With regard to the financial obligations of the Catholic Entities party to the Indian Residential School Settlement Agreement (IRSSA): (a) what payments were made by Catholic Entities towards fulfillment of the financial obligations detailed in the IRSSA, broken down by (i) date, (ii) name of payee, (iii) name of Catholic Entity, (iv) amount paid; (b) for each Catholic Entity, what were its total obligations and what were the total amounts of financial and in-kind contributions given in accordance with the terms of the IRSSA; and (c) in cases where the amount given by a Catholic Entity, with both in-kind and financial contributions detailed separately, was less than its total obligation, what was the reason for this, for each such Catholic Entity?
Official Languages November 19th, 2018
Mr. Speaker, Doug Ford's decision to attack the language rights of Franco-Ontarians is unacceptable. Creating a French-language university is critical to the Franco-Ontarian community.
The Conservative Party needs to understand that we are no longer in the 1950s. Francophones are going to stand up for their rights.
What specific action does the government plan to take to protect official languages in Ontario?
Committees of the House November 7th, 2018
Madam Speaker, the word “genocide” is a very powerful word. It is so powerful that we can only use it in very specific circumstances, lest we cheapen its value. When we look at what ISIS tried to do to the Yazidi people, with the horrific trauma, the torture, the killing, and the mass rapes, it meets the test of genocide. When something meets the test of genocide, it says to the international community that its obligations become heightened because of it.
I am very thankful that we are having this discussion on this 79th anniversary of Canada rejecting the Jewish refugees on that ship who begged for support. How does my hon. colleague respond to this notion that the government is good, the government cares and the government is trying, and therefore, the government should be thanked for the inaction we have seen on the horrific crisis facing the Yazidi community?
We need to stand up. Clearly, we need to move more quickly. We need to use whatever resources are necessary for reunification for a community that has done no wrong and has suffered some of the gravest crimes imaginable.
What does my colleague think this Parliament needs to do to follow through on that word “genocide” and prevent it so that it will never happen again?
Budget Implementation Act, 2018, No. 2 November 6th, 2018
Mr. Speaker, one of the very disturbing fictions that is being perpetuated by the Liberals every time they stand to speak, specifically about this bill, is how incredible the child tax benefit is, how many children are being helped and brought out of poverty by this government.
I do not know what it is like in my hon. colleague's riding, but I deal almost daily with single mothers who are suffering a staggering level of harassment from CRA. They have had their benefits cut off at Christmastime. We have had to get food baskets for children in my region because their right to the child tax benefit has been denied by the CRA. The minister sits here day after day defending the indefensible, the $1 billion clawed back from ordinary working class people, while Liberals ignore friends like the Bronfmans and friends of the Prime Minister, who keep their money in offshore havens.
In light of this level of scrutiny and the hoops the Liberals force single mothers and young working class families to go through so that the government can claw back money and show a surplus from benefit reviews at the end of the year, does she not think that is a really unconscionable way of raising money and taxes when the Liberals are leaving the super rich protected in these offshore tax havens?
Budget Implementation Act, 2018, No. 2 November 6th, 2018
Mr. Speaker, in my many years in Parliament, I have seen governments squander a lot of things, and one thing majority governments are dangerous about squandering is the word of the prime minister, through sheer arrogance.
We remember how the Prime Minister won, saying this was going to be the last election under first past the post. He said there were going to be new relations with first nations. On prorogation and the use of omnibus bills, we remember how he said that Stephen Harper used omnibus bills, but the Liberals would change the Standing Orders and they would not do that. Now we are looking at this ridiculously large omnibus bill that comes from a Prime Minister who figures that the words he said to get himself elected actually do not count for all that much.
What really concerns me in this is the Liberals have shoved into this massive budget implementation bill fundamental questions about first nations issues. They do not even believe they have to bother consulting first nations. It is the same old attitude of the same old government that goes all the way back.
How, in God's name, does the government have the gall to shove issues about first nations rights and land into an omnibus budget bill without consultation?
Lou Battochio November 6th, 2018
Mr. Speaker, either heaven is in for a real treat or it is about to get really shaken up, because Lou Battochio, the ambassador of Schumacher, is finally going home. Lou's story is the story of the porcupine. His immigrant Italian parents came to the multi-ethnic mining town of Schumacher, and Lou spent his childhood as a rink rat at the Mclntyre Arena, that mini Maple Leaf Gardens that produced so many hockey greats. Over the years, Lou was a coach, a referee, a hockey scout, a community organizer, a teacher, a politician and an inductee into the Timmins Sports Heritage Hall of Fame.
However, it was Lou's love of community and social justice that made him special. He used to hold court every day at the Mclntyre Coffee Shop, where he would argue politics on anything from municipality issues to taking on Donald Trump. I loved talking with Lou and his wonderful wife Cecile, because he was a man of integrity. He lived nine decades on this earth, committed to the belief that we are here to build a better world.
Lou is going to the angels, and they are about to get an earful.