Kevin Lamoureux

[Government Business No. 7—Proceedings on Bill C-12, February 11th, 2022]

Madam Speaker, I appreciated many of the comments the member put on the record this afternoon. I, for one, would love to see a reform of our Standing Orders. There are a number of things that we could be doing. It is not to give a strategic advantage to an opposition party or to a governing party. I think we need to modernize our rules. Many of the issues she has raised today, and I think other members have raised previously, would be well served by revisiting our Standing Orders. I hope to, at some time over the next couple of months, engage in doing that.

In regard to the legislation itself, the member seems to see the value of it. She understands the shortness of the legislation. If the member could wave a wand, when would she like to see the legislation enacted?

[Government Business No. 7—Proceedings on Bill C-12, February 11th, 2022]

Mr. Speaker, we are requesting for unanimous consent to allow the parliamentary secretary for seniors to also speak for no more than 10 minutes.

[Government Business No. 7—Proceedings on Bill C-12, February 11th, 2022]

Mr. Speaker, as a custom of the chamber, we often allow members to split their time. I would ask for the unanimous consent of the House to allow the minister to share her time.

[Questions on the Order Paper, February 11th, 2022]

Madam Speaker, I ask that all questions be allowed to stand at this time.

[Government Business No. 8 — Proceedings on Bill C‑10, February 11th, 2022]

Madam Speaker, the legislation we are talking about really highlights the important role that both Ottawa and our province play, where Ottawa is acquiring literally tens of millions of rapid tests and the provinces are distributing them to the population.

Within this legislation we are now also continuing to support small businesses. Making sure Canadians get rapid tests is a high priority for this government.

Could the member provide his thoughts in terms of the degree to which there is a high sense of participation and co-operation from the different levels of government, and from Canadians in general, on the importance of rapid tests?

[Business of Supply, February 10th, 2022]

Madam Speaker, I suspect that if you were to canvass the House you would find unanimous consent to call it 6:43 p.m. at this time, so that we can move on to adjournment.

[Business of Supply, February 10th, 2022]

Madam Speaker, to imply that there is no plan is somewhat misleading. I believe there has been a plan right from the very beginning.

Six weeks to two months ago, no one could have anticipated that the Province of Quebec would institute a curfew, for example, to deal with omicron. The issue is that the pandemic is far from being over.

I wonder if the member, in principle, believes that the principles she is trying to apply to Ottawa should also apply to provincial jurisdictions. Does she believe that the provinces have plans? If not, should they all be providing a plan before the end of the month?

[Business of Supply, February 10th, 2022]

Federal employees are a federal issue. Yes, I got that.

[Business of Supply, February 10th, 2022]

Mr. Speaker, there are many aspects that I would challenge that the member attempts to state as fact. My biggest concern is when she talks about mandates. Let us talk about, for example, the mandates of having to wear masks, lockdowns or partial shutdowns that have really been the responsibility of provincial governments.

Does she believe there is a lack of leadership in our provincial legislatures across the country or do those mandates not matter to her on the issue of freedom?

[Business of Supply, February 10th, 2022]

Mr. Speaker, I find this very interesting. We just finished voting on Bill C-8. Bill C-8 would provide hundreds of millions of dollars for the purchase of rapid tests. That is absolutely critical. The member can check with any province, territory and indigenous community to see that rapid testing is absolutely critical, yet the Conservative Party voted against those funds going there.

The member talks about the issue of privacy. He has no confidence and faith in the Public Health Agency of Canada, which has a very positive record on privacy and is recognized around the world. He wants to deny this indefinitely so a committee can study it indefinitely, as opposed to getting information. Does he not see the flaw in the Conservative strategy?