House of Commons photoWon his last election, in 2021, with 50% of the vote.
Public Safety January 31st, 2024
Mr. Speaker, the contortions the leader of the official opposition goes through to try to talk about gun control are quite impressive, but Canadians will not be fooled by him. The order in council that made assault-style weapons illegal to use, purchase, share or sell is still in place.
The Conservative Party of Canada has, as its official position, that it wants to restore the legality of assault-style weapons in this country. We—
Public Safety January 31st, 2024
Mr. Speaker, I have already addressed auto theft concerns, but the Leader of the Opposition wants to talk about common sense when it comes to crime and violence. Why, then, is he going along with the American gun lobby, which wants to put assault weapons back on our streets and in our communities? For eight years, he has tried to block our gun control measures at every turn, because he is a puppet of the American right. He does that instead of standing up to protect communities, control firearms and show that he really cares about the safety of Canadians.
Public Safety January 31st, 2024
Mr. Speaker, there he goes again accusing the people of Quebec of being incompetent. That is a real pattern for the Conservative leader.
We are here to work hand in hand with municipal leaders, with police chiefs and with the provinces on resolving this problem. We are here to work responsibly by making investments. For example, today we announced $121 million to help Ontario. There is work to be done, but empty slogans and personal attacks are not going to fix this problem for Canadians. Our hard work will.
Public Safety January 31st, 2024
Mr. Speaker, what is interesting about the Leader of the Opposition is that he does not actually care about auto theft. He cares about making a good political attack on the government because people are facing real challenges.
We are focused on solving the challenges. We are focused on initiatives, such as that we announced today of $121 million to fight auto theft in Ontario. We have been working to bring together stakeholders and leaders from across the country to bring forward more positive solutions to build on the 1,600 recovered autos that we prevented from being stolen last year.
Housing January 31st, 2024
Mr. Speaker, we are taking concrete steps to get hundreds of thousands of new homes built across the country by signing agreements directly with municipalities, provinces and territories, Quebec and all of Nunavut. We are working to cut red tape, expedite permits, increase density and improve zoning. We have put $4 billion on the table to deliver results in terms of housing.
We will continue taking a serious and responsible approach to doing this work.
Housing January 31st, 2024
Mr. Speaker, we have been there investing in housing across the country, including with hundreds of millions of dollars directly to the City of Toronto for investing in housing, housing affordability and fighting homelessness. We know there is lots to do, and we are going to keep doing it.
Whether it is signing housing accelerator agreements across the country, introducing a suite of new measures to unlock the construction of 600,000 new apartments, cracking down on short-term rentals to unlock even more apartments, or introducing a mortgage charter to protect homeowners from the stress of elevated interest rates, we are taking action.
Health January 31st, 2024
Mr. Speaker, we are well aware that the issue my colleague is pointing out is real. It is one issue that needs to be looked that, along with other difficult issues that are being examined and debated.
Yes, we will continue to consider advanced directives. We are going to continue to look at how we can ensure that people have the choices and freedoms that are important to them, while at the same time ensuring that we are protecting them and everyone else from the possibility of being vulnerable to unforeseen circumstances or negative situations.
Health January 31st, 2024
Mr. Speaker, as my hon. colleague says, the choice to seek medical assistance in dying is an extremely difficult and personal one. As a society, as a Parliament, we have a responsibility to strike a sometimes difficult balance between respecting the rights, choices and freedoms of an individual and protecting the most vulnerable.
That is why, for years, we have been conducting studies and evaluations, putting measures in place, proposing debates and listening to experts. We will continue to be open to all suggestions as we work responsibly.
Public Safety January 31st, 2024
Mr. Speaker, the Leader of the Opposition has trouble believing that we would actually include real facts in our press release, something he and the former Harper government never did, for years. Yes, there is a real challenge with auto theft in this country, and our solution is to roll up our sleeves, pull together partners from across the country and get to solving it. His solution is to throw his hands in the air and blame a raft of political attacks on us. We continue to see that he is not putting forward any real solutions.
Public Safety January 31st, 2024
Mr. Speaker, in 2015, Stephen Harper presented a budget that had slashed funds for policing, slashed funds for CBSA officers and slashed funding for Veterans Affairs services, and we were there to clean up the mess, to cut taxes for the wealthiest 1% and to lower them for the middle class, to support families and to start moving forward on gun control in real ways.
While the Conservatives cozy up to the American gun lobbyists, we have continued to step up in keeping Canadians safe. Let him bring assault weapons back to our streets; we will keep Canadians safe.