Il est ici aujourd'hui.
House of Commons photoWon his last election, in 2015, with 35% of the vote.
Public Service Labour Relations Act May 30th, 2016
Il est ici aujourd'hui.
Public Service Labour Relations Act May 30th, 2016
Madam Speaker, I have been listening to the debate today. Drawing upon my colleague's years of experience, I wonder if he were in the position of a constable today, would he choose to unionize or not?
Petitions May 30th, 2016
Mr. Speaker, I rise today to present electronic petition 128.
This petitioners call on the Government of Canada to reject Kinder Morgan's trans mountain expansion project proposal. They say that this project creates too much risk to land and surface waters, and aquifers along the route, and that the export of diluted bitumen by Kinder Morgan threatens the future of the planet through climate change.
I hope the government takes this seriously.
Extending the Time Limit for a Blood Sample Warrant Act (Helen's Law) May 30th, 2016
moved for leave to introduce Bill C-276, An Act to amend the Criminal Code (warrant to obtain blood sample).
Mr. Speaker, I am proud today to introduce a private member's bill, Helen's law, which proposes to amend the Criminal Code of Canada.
On February 28, 2005, Helen Sonja Francis, a registered nurse from Burnaby, B.C. and a single mother of two, was tragically killed in a car accident involving an impaired driver. Due to a power outage that day, a warrant to obtain a blood sample from the perpetrator was signed 13 minutes after the current 4-hour time limit contained in the Criminal Code. As a result, all of the evidence collected was ruled inadmissible in court and Helen and her family were denied justice.
For over 10 years now, Helen's brother, George Sojka, has tirelessly called on the government to fix our criminal justice system and gathered hundreds upon hundreds of signatures on a petition to Parliament. Helen's law would do exactly that by extending the time limit to obtain a blood sample warrant from four to six hours following an accident causing death where drug or alcohol consumption is suspected.
It is a straightforward, long overdue change, and I hope the government will consider it.
(Motions deemed adopted, bill read the first time and printed)
Statistics Canada May 17th, 2016
Mr. Speaker, what I am curious about is what was at the core of my speech, which is whether the Prime Minister and cabinet are going to vote for or against approving the Kinder Morgan pipeline. The Prime Minister has said in the past that he would approve it. Now he has appointed a new panel to oversee this.
I am wondering if the member can answer that question.
Statistics Canada May 17th, 2016
Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to have the time this evening to expand on my recent question to the government regarding Statistics Canada.
Every month, Statistics Canada keeps track of important issues, including how oil and liquid petroleum products flow back and forth across our country. These data are going to be directly impacted by any decisions we make regarding new pipelines. We have to make sure Statistics Canada has the funding needed to keep proper track of this information, but we should also be thinking about whether or not we are going to build new pipelines.
As members know, I am opposed to Kinder Morgan's plan to build a new export-only bitumen-based crude oil pipeline from Alberta to Burnaby. Texas-based Kinder Morgan wants to build this new pipeline through B.C. to export nearly one million barrels of diluted bitumen per day to China and other countries. If built, Kinder Morgan's project would see one supertanker per day passing through Vancouver harbour and a pipeline as big as the SkyTrain running through densely packed residential neighbourhoods and the traditional territories of dozens of first nations.
The National Energy Board will table the official review of the new pipeline this Friday. The Liberals promised during the election that they would overhaul the NEB review process, but since then it has been nothing but business as usual from the Liberal government. In fact, the NEB is still using the Conservatives' unfair process and their hand-picked appointees to assess this pipeline.
Opposition to Kinder Morgan continues to grow across the province. Tens of thousands of those living in Metro Vancouver do not want to see their harbour turned into one of the world's largest oil exporting ports. With 40,000 barrels already having leaked from the Kinder Morgan pipeline, my constituents in Burnaby South are worried about the risk of another spill.
Premier Christy Clark, opposition leader John Horgan, first nations leaders such as Grand Chief Stewart Phillip, Vancouver mayor Gregor Robertson, Burnaby mayor Derek Corrigan, labour unions, and environmental organizations have all expressed opposition to the Kinder Morgan pipeline. They oppose the project because it is a bad deal for B.C., because we face all of the risks but get none of the benefits, and because the pipeline will be built by temporary foreign workers. They oppose it to protect our environment, to protect their neighbourhoods, and to protect the integrity of indigenous lands.
In the end, it will be the cabinet that decides whether or not this new pipeline gets built. This cabinet is the one that will make the final decision on the pipeline.
We should not forget that, way back in January 2014, the Prime Minister said about Kinder Morgan, “I certainly hope that we're going to be able to get that pipeline approved”. Unless we make things uncomfortable for the Prime Minister politically, I am sure he and his cabinet will force this pipeline through our communities against our will and against the public's will.
Therefore, I encourage all listening to this speech to visit www.nopublicnopipeline.ca to get more information.
Natural Resources May 17th, 2016
Mr. Speaker, during the election, Liberals in places like North Vancouver and Burnaby promised voters that Liberals would redo the Kinder Morgan pipeline review. ThePrime Minister repeated this promise, and the people of B.C. believed him.
However, this week, the National Energy Board will report on Kinder Morgan, using the exact same broken process as the Conservatives.
The Liberals' new add-on process, little more than a smokescreen, would actually do nothing to fix the NEB review process.
Why has the Prime Minister broken his promise to British Columbians?
Petitions May 17th, 2016
Mr. Speaker, I rise today to present a petition signed by dozens of residents from my riding of Burnaby South. The petitioners call on the Prime Minister to stop the new Kinder Morgan oil pipeline, which would export 890,000 barrels per day of raw bitumen off of the B.C. coast. The signatories note that the pipeline would bring massive environmental and economic risks but no real benefits for local residents. This is the same pipeline that the Prime Minister has stated he is drawing up plans to make a reality. Without a doubt, this is the number one issue facing our community, and my office has never received so many petitions from constituents. While the Conservatives and Liberals support the new Kinder Morgan pipeline, I urge the government to reconsider and take this petition seriously.
Status of Women May 12th, 2016
Mr. Speaker, earlier this week, I asked the Minister of Democratic Institutions if she supports the candidate gender equity act. She stated that the Liberals “will study it on its merits when it is debated in the House”. However, yesterday CTV acquired a leaked memo from the minister's office that confirmed that the Liberals were already planning to oppose the bill when she made this statement. Will the minister explain to Canadians why she did not give them a straight answer on Tuesday, and why she is forcing Liberal MPs to oppose a bill aimed at bringing gender equality to the House of Commons?
Candidate Gender Equity Act May 10th, 2016
Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for her question and all of her hard work on this exact issue.
When I heard the Prime Minister say that this would be the last election with first past the post, of course, I took this into consideration and made sure I designed this bill so it would work with any type of electoral system. I mentioned in my speech that it is used in countries like Portugal, France, and Ireland, which use a variety of different systems, such as STV, proportional representation, and even single member. It would even work with an AV system, as proposed by the Liberals.
This exactly matches our plan for electoral reform in the House, and in fact, it would be a great first step to say our new electoral system is designed so that we have a House of Commons that is gender balanced.