House of Commons photoWon her last election, in 2021, with 37% of the vote.
Budget Implementation Act, 2021, No. 1 May 6th, 2021
Madam Speaker, the member mentioned a lot about electrification, about solar panels and the way we want a low-carbon economy. What is his opinion on nuclear energy? Does that actually pose as a distraction for the direction we should be heading, which is in that renewable sector, in that electrification he is talking about?
Budget Implementation Act, 2021, No. 1 May 6th, 2021
Madam Speaker, this is just a reminder that the Green Party exists as well, as far as opposition goes. I will await my colleague's comments on that.
I would like to point to some substance, and I am not sure how much there was in his speech today, but I really want to get a clear answer on why there was a two-tiered system set up for seniors in this country. Can I have an explanation on the $500 one-time payment and the OAS increase only being extended to those 75 and over? I really need help understanding this.
Labour May 5th, 2021
Mr. Speaker, last week, we observed the National Day of Mourning, celebrated International Workers' Day and, at the same time, the House passed legislation forcing striking employees to go back to work. This is just another example of the inconsistencies between what the government says and what it does.
Today, I want to recognize that some of us have been privileged to work from home, taking refuge from the worst consequences of the pandemic, carried along by its steady current. Those working in hospitals, long-term care homes, fields and stores, often at minimum wage and risking their lives every day, are the ones who had to swim against the current, barely keeping their head above water.
Recognition is not enough. We need to act by providing paid sick leave and paid time off for vaccinations. Every worker in our country must be protected and supported. Until then, are we really all in this together?
The Environment April 29th, 2021
Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Natural Resources said that affordable, safe nuclear power was key to reaching Canada's climate goals. It is the nuclear industry that carefully designed and continues to perpetuate that greenwashed illusion.
The reality is that competitive technologies like solar, wind and geothermal are operational today. Even when facing these indisputable facts, the government allocated millions of dollars to develop SMNRs, a hypothetical industry that relies strictly on massive federal subsidies and does nothing to resolve the problem of radioactive waste production. The risks are being ignored and the dangers trivialized.
In New Brunswick, nuclear is not a success story. After emerging from a $2.4-billion refurbishment, Point Lepreau is still losing $50,000 every hour on planned downtime—
Proceedings on a Bill entitled An Act to Provide for the Resumption and Continuation of Operations at the Port of Montreal April 28th, 2021
Madam Speaker, there has been a lot said about how this is the last possible option and this is the least favourable option. Could the minister comment on how this is always the last option for those workers? They do not want to strike either, but it is a tool that is used to fight for rights and for recognition.
There was a mention about her involvement in the labour movement in the Hamilton area. Could she comment on just how important it is to maintain the right for Canadian workers to strike, what that can lead to, and how it is absolutely the last option for them as well?
Indigenous Affairs April 22nd, 2021
Madam Speaker, my hope is that in advancing indigenous rights, we will also move toward addressing the climate crisis as well. We must think about what is truly at stake here, think about our children.
The Minister of Environment and Climate Change has mentioned his daughter many times in his speeches. He has even mentioned how she has urged him to do more. The youth are the ones who bring me hope when I feel defeated. They are the ones who give me the energy to use my voice to be part of the solution. They are the leaders of today because they understand the emergency. Grade three curriculum covers life cycles, biodiversity, endangered species. They get it. Why can our elected leaders not get it?
From young Anishinabe activist, Autumn Peltier, fighting for clean water for all, to the Loïck Thomas in New Brunswick, who by the age of four had personally collected 1,000 bags of litter, they remind me that this willingness to protect the environment and the curiosity about the world surrounding us is inherent in the human spirit.
The government needs to act in the best interests of the youth of our country, the ones who will have to find the solutions to the catastrophic problems our government is not courageous to face head-on now.
Indigenous Affairs April 22nd, 2021
Madam Speaker, this evening, on Earth Day, I am debating an issue I raised on February 19 during question period. The essence of my question was to highlight the inconsistency of the government between what it is saying and actually doing when the rights of indigenous peoples are concerned and in the fight against the climate crisis. While these issues may seem different, they are intricately connected.
First, I want to underline that no communities on this land are fighting more for the natural world than indigenous peoples. Indigenous peoples are caretakers of mother earth and realize and respect her gifts and her power. They advocate that we must take only what we need, that we must use great care and be aware of how we take and how much, so that future generations will not be put in peril.
In 2015, during the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, the Prime Minister recognized that “Indigenous peoples have known for thousands of years how to care for our planet. The rest of us have a lot to learn and no time to waste.” He said, “no time to waste”. Two years later, using public funds, his government bought the Trans Mountain pipeline. The finance minister at the time cited that this project was in the national interest and, furthermore, an investment in Canada's future. This decision not only will devastate critical ecosystems, such as the home of resident killer whales, but it was also vehemently opposed by indigenous nations whose territory would be impacted.
This history repeats itself again and again. Today it is playing out in the land of the Inuit people. Funding the oil and mining industry, buying a pipeline and sponsoring nuclear energy that will have disastrous consequences on ecosystems tens of thousands of years from now are not the work of reparation or climate leaders. Disregarding the voice of elders and youth, hereditary and elected chiefs, and consulting after the fact are not consequential steps toward reconciliation. Inconsistencies, incertitude, even deception: This is the perspective of so many who live on this land known as Canada when it comes to the government's decisions pertaining to the climate crisis and reconciliation.
On this Earth Day, it is urgent that the government act with courage and compassion for the planet and all of the people who live on it. For the youth striking every Friday from school, desperate for a response they can believe in, what does the government say to them? Development and surplus will mean nothing when the last ancestral cedar tree is cut down, when the last herd of woodland caribou is extinguished or when every drop of our rivers is polluted. I can hear the inevitable groans from naysayers now, the ones who will dismiss the words of a tree hugger. How have we become so disconnected from the natural world to believe that we are separate and above it?
Honestly committing to respecting the rights of indigenous peoples and fighting the climate crisis is not something we can do intermediately or without conviction. Canadians need a government that will wilfully, without detour or compromise, commit to the future and the future of the generations to come, one where our children have a right and an understood responsibility to the natural world. We must listen, learn and implement the knowledge of the first people, who know the land, its rivers and forests and how to live in harmony and respect with all forms of life.
The government needs to lead this transition, this necessary culture shift, not in 10 years, but now.
United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act April 15th, 2021
Madam Speaker, I want to ask quickly about some of the words we use. Language is so important, and “reconciliation” has been said time and time again in the House. I have heard from many people who feel that this word is actually losing some of its meaning. In fact, if we think of reconciliation, it means to reconcile, to improve what was perhaps once a good relationship, which we know was not the case.
Could the member speak about reparations and what we could actually be doing in Canada to ensure that we repair a broken relationship?
United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act April 15th, 2021
Madam Speaker, we have heard about how quickly we need to pass this piece of legislation, and I understand that perfection in a perfect world is not necessarily what we can aim for.
Significant amendments must be made to this bill. I would like to hear the member's comments on that, specifically about the lack of true intent around including the word “racism.” It is not there. We see instead “systemic discrimination”, and a measure to address injustices. Why does a hesitancy to address racism exist? Could the member comment on that?
United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act April 15th, 2021
Madam Speaker, resource development and extraction have offered some opportunities for first nation communities: training, jobs, accommodation agreements and perhaps economic prosperity in certain cases. The trouble with highlighting only the positive is that it lacks integrity; it comes off as disingenuous. We know many of the ways that resource development and extraction have actually used and abused indigenous territories and peoples.
Could the member comment on some of the ways that missing and murdered indigenous women are impacted by, say, man camps that accompany this development?