Geoff Regan

[Housing, October 5th, 2020]

Mr. Speaker, in Halifax West and across Nova Scotia, we are seeing a concerning decline in housing affordability. The government has taken important steps to help Canadians find an affordable place to call home with a national housing strategy, which has had a real impact for communities across Canada. Still, many Nova Scotians are concerned about paying rent.

Could the Minister of Families, Children and Social Development please provide an update to the House on the measures being taken to make rent more affordable?

[Agriculture and Agri-Food, March 12th, 2020]

Mr. Speaker, since 2008, an organization in Halifax, Hope Blooms, has been making a difference. It has had a measurable impact on food security and social inclusion. It actively engages youth to grow food in its 4,000 square feet of organic garden. Through hard work, its members are improving social inclusion and food security. They even appeared on Dragon's Den, where they secured $40,000 to build a new greenhouse.

The Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food was in Halifax last week to meet with them. Could she inform the House on how the government is supporting this kind of project?

[Committees of the House, March 11th, 2020]

Mr. Speaker, I have the honour to present, in both official languages, the first report of the Special Committee on Canada-China Relations concerning a motion adopted on Monday, March 9.

[Emergency Debate, February 25th, 2020]

Madam Speaker, when I listen to the Conservative speeches, they seem to be refusing to confront the central challenge put forward by Teck Resources.

The letter from the president talks about the need “to have a framework in place that reconciles resource development and climate change, in order to produce the cleanest possible products.” He goes on to say about Teck Resources, “We are also strong supporters of Canada’s action on carbon pricing”, something that the Conservative Party is absolutely against.

Is it not hypocritical to try to pass the blame across the way? In their eagerness to pass the blame on the government for this, are the Conservatives not failing to address this challenge when they disagree completely with the approach of Teck Resources and when they fail to accept the challenge to actually come up with realistic climate policies that will overcome this problem?

[Black History Month, February 21st, 2020]

Mr. Speaker, on February 8, the Africa Festival of Arts and Culture hosted a Black History Month dinner at Mount Saint Vincent University. Everyone there got to experience the magnificent tastes and sounds of Africa.

This event commemorated the contributions of African Canadians to war efforts, including the contributions of William Hall, the first Nova Scotian to be awarded the Victoria Cross, of the members of the No. 2 Construction Battalion, who served with distinction during the First World War, and of those who served during the Second World War and other conflicts, often making the ultimate sacrifice.

One of our great shames is that so little credit was given to these heroes for so long, and rarely during their lifetimes. The tremendous contributions made by black Canadians to our country deserve our respect and admiration. We can do better.

[Business of Supply, February 20th, 2020]

Madam Speaker, I want to ask my hon. friend from Hamilton East—Stoney Creek, who I know is well aware of the impacts these blockades are having on the Atlantic region, a question.

I was talking yesterday, in fact, with a representative of Shannex, which owns a number of seniors' residences in Nova Scotia, where there are approximately 4,000 seniors. They use propane to heat those buildings, as well as for cooking. This is a great concern for them and for many communities, including the Port of Halifax, in a variety of ways.

I wonder if my hon. colleague would agree that it is important for a solution to be found as soon as possible to resolve this situation in a peaceful manner.

[Public Services and Procurement, January 30th, 2020]

Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Public Services and Procurement recently visited a very important initiative for Nova Scotia, for my constituents and for our navy and Coast Guard. She saw Canada's burgeoning shipbuilding industry up close. The economic impact, which can be felt across the region, includes enhanced skills training and spinoff jobs.

Will the minister inform the House of the importance of the middle-class jobs being generated and the exceptional craftsmanship of the new vessels being produced at the Irving shipyard in Halifax?

[December 11th, 2019]

Madam Speaker, I congratulate you on becoming Assistant Deputy Speaker.

I want to take this opportunity to thank the people of Halifax West for returning me to the House of Commons along with so many colleagues.

I would like to welcome my good friend, the new member for West Nova. He is not new to politics, but he is new to Ottawa. About 15 years ago, we were both ministers, one in the federal government and the other in the provincial government. We often worked together and we got along most of the time.

My colleague has considerable provincial experience and is very familiar with the needs of the provincial governments and the challenges they face. We have recently been hearing some comments about the equalization program and that some premiers would like to change it. What are his views on that?

[Election of the Speaker, December 5th, 2019]

Good morning, colleagues, and congratulations to you all as we gather for this first sitting of the 43rd Parliament.

Some of you are taking your seats in the House for the first time. Some, like me, have had the honour to be re-elected by their constituents, and in some cases, as I once experienced, after an involuntary sabbatical. All of us are here because we want to make a positive difference in the lives of our fellow Canadians.

I also had the privilege of serving the House of Commons as Speaker during the 42nd Parliament, and I would be pleased to put that experience to use serving the House of Commons and its members. This morning, I would like to point out, as did the others, that my friends, the other candidates, are all outstanding.

During my time as Speaker, I sought, with the support of many members, to maintain and promote decorum in the House and to limit, when necessary, any behaviour that might have undermined respect for this institution and its members. If you do me the honour of selecting me as Speaker, I will continue to stand up for the dignity of Parliament and the rights of its members. Taxpayers expect us, their representatives, to be professional and to honour the office to which they elected us.

If you assign these responsibilities to me again, while remembering that the Speaker is the servant of the House, I will continue to use the tools at my disposal.

Our constituents look to every member to take the responsibility of self-control. I have often heard from people who were unhappy with the noise and disrespect that has too often occurred. It is up to each of us and to the House leadership teams, as well as the party leaders themselves, to improve decorum in this place and enhance the image of our democracy.

To exercise their rights and to carry out their responsibilities, members rely on the support of the House of Commons administration, which exists to provide them and their staff with the services they need. Quite simply, the MP is the administration's core business. That is why, throughout the 42nd Parliament, a number of measures were put in place to improve the support available to members of Parliament so that we could all better serve our constituents. That is what it is all about, after all.

From the updated orientation program to new on-site service centres and buildings here in Ottawa that offer members and their staff in-person support related to various operational services, the House administration has been focusing its resources on its reason for being: the MP.

It has been almost a year since members first sat in this interim chamber that now fills the former courtyard of West Block, and preparations for the much-needed rehabilitation of Centre Block are under way. As members and the other occupants of West Block settle in, improvements continue to be made to provide MPs with as modern a workplace as possible.

As Speaker, I will get members involved in the restoration project to ensure that the renovated Parliament building meets their needs. I believe that the initial consultations with the people who will be using the space are essential to the success of the building's restoration.

During the 42nd Parliament, I worked hard to fulfill my responsibilities as Speaker of the House, and I believe I was able to do that with some measure of success.

I hope that you, my colleagues, will entrust me with the responsibility of serving the House of Commons and its members during the 43rd Parliament.

[Privilege, June 13th, 2019]

I am now prepared to respond to the question of privilege raised on June 11, 2019, by the hon. member for Banff—Airdrie, concerning the broadcasting of the June 6, 2019 sitting.

First and foremost, I want to sincerely thank the member for raising this issue. While the matter can be more closely identified as administrative in nature, rather than a question of privilege, it is nonetheless important.

The ability for the House of Commons to communicate and disseminate its proceedings is essential in order for the public to follow the debates in our Parliament. Members must have confidence in our capacity to make available these debates. This is done, in part at least, through the public broadcasting of the proceedings of the House of Commons and its committees, which offers viewers accurate and complete debates of the House.

In fact, broadcasting of all proceedings of the House dates back to 1977. Since 2003, proceedings have also been available live through ParlVu, a service offered through our website for live and on-demand broadcasting of the proceedings. This latter service allows members to retrieve parts of the audio or televised proceedings through the ParlVu portal.

As the member explained, it is this service portal that is at the core of the issue raised. A review of the events that occurred on June 6 and the following days revealed that there was a technical problem at the opening of that sitting at 10:00 a.m that has a direct impact on the capacity to access some video footage.

Fortunately, I can confirm that the missing portion at the start of the sitting on Thursday, June 6, from 10:00 a.m. up to 10:09:52 a.m., is available through ParlVu, as it should be. I am also pleased that, though part of the video was missing for a short while, the audio, its interpretation and the official debates were at all times at members' disposal and readily available.

The entire incident was certainly unfortunate and unsatisfactory for the member. On behalf of the administration, I apologize for this error. I have been assured that corrective measures are being taken to prevent this from occurring again. I would also like to thank the member for his diligence in pursuing this matter. Social media has become very important for members, particularly in their efforts to communicate information to their constituents.

I thank all hon. members for their attention.