Marjolaine Boutin-Sweet

[Parks Canada Agency Act, October 6th, 2017]

Mr. Speaker, I was trained as an archaeologist, and as the saying goes, a person cannot know where they are going until they know where they have been. Our historic monuments are extremely important in helping to know where we are going.

I have seen monuments torn down because there was not enough public funding to preserve them all. The Fortress of Louisbourg, for example, is crumbling. I think that a bill like my colleague's could help us to cultivate a philanthropist culture, which is something we do not yet really have in Canada.

I do not really have a question for the member. I just want to tell him that I will support his bill wholeheartedly. I hope that there will be other similar bills that will help us to preserve our historic monuments and that some of them will come from the government and be publicly funded.

[Foreign Affairs, October 6th, 2017]

Mr. Speaker, the Liberal government's excuses for not signing the nuclear ban treaty are ridiculous, and they know it. Canada's absence from the nuclear ban negotiations was shameful. This is a crucial moment.

At what point will the government stop taking its instructions from nuclear powers like the United States and start recognizing what the Nobel committee and most of the world already know, that nuclear weapons are illegal? When will Canada grow a spine and sign the treaty?

[Foreign Affairs, October 6th, 2017]

Mr. Speaker, this morning the Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons for its work towards a nuclear weapons ban treaty.

Thanks to the campaign's efforts, nuclear weapons are illegal. More than 120 countries have approved the treaty, but Canada is still not one of them. Earlier this spring, the Liberal government voted against our motion calling on it to join the nuclear weapons ban treaty.

When will Canada sign the treaty?

[Business of Supply, October 5th, 2017]

Madam Speaker, the argument the Liberals and Conservatives regularly put forward, which we heard again just now, is that the opposition motion is premature.

Has my colleague not considered that starting a discussion right away with the provinces on the subject of a universal pharmacare program might bring to light information that has not yet come up in committee or that could be useful if and when such a program is implemented?

[Business of Supply, October 5th, 2017]

Mr. Speaker, there have been discussions among the parties, and if you were to seek it, I think you would find that there is consent to adopt the following motion:

That, at the conclusion of today's debate on the opposition motion in the name of the Member for Vancouver Kingsway, all questions necessary to dispose of the motion be deemed put and a recorded division deemed requested and deferred to Tuesday, October 17, 2017, at the expiry of the time provided for Government Orders.

[Public Health, October 4th, 2017]

Mr. Speaker, a year ago, I talked about how, after 12 years of partnering with Dopamine in Hochelaga, the Public Health Agency of Canada was ending its funding for the organization's Dopalliés project.

This decision was so ridiculous that the minister finally decided to backtrack at least a little and restore funding until March 31, 2018. Now, the agency is putting an end to the project. This means that in the midst of the fentanyl crisis, our community will be losing $120,000 that was used to help drug users. That is extremely worrisome. Drug users have an illness, and if the government does not reconsider this decision, it could cost these people their lives. All the experts are saying that all stakeholders, especially drug users themselves, need to be involved in addressing this crisis.

By cutting funding for Dopamine's project, the government is jeopardizing the health of our entire community. I really hope that the new Minister of Health will look into this matter and reverse the agency's ill-advised decision.

[Foreign Affairs, October 2nd, 2017]

Mr. Speaker, there is some very disturbing news coming out of Azerbaijan, where members of the LGBT community are being arrested, detained, brutally beaten, and forced to undergo medical exams.

Obviously, this kind of persecution must be condemned, but the federal government has approved an agreement with Azerbaijan on armoured personnel carriers.

In light of this disturbing report, will the Liberals re-examine and end all arms exports to Azerbaijan, or will they continue to approve the sale of armoured personnel carriers to this oppressive regime?

[World Habitat Day, October 2nd, 2017]

Mr. Speaker, today is World Habitat Day.

World Habitat Day gives me yet another opportunity to bring Canada's housing situation to the fore. Although people say all the right things, the truth is that our record is abysmal. We are still waiting for details about the housing strategy, and it is clear that the money we should be spending to address this crisis now is not forthcoming.

The crisis is a fact, and it affects the most vulnerable members of our society: single-parent families, seniors, immigrants, and people with disabilities. Then there is the harsh reality of the indigenous households, namely that too many people are crammed into houses that are too small and not well suited to their lifestyle or the climate. What are the Liberals doing about this? They say we will not even see 90% of the new money until after 2019.

It is time to do something that will actually stop things from getting worse. It is time to recognize people's right to housing because a roof is a right.

[Parliamentary Protective Service, September 28th, 2017]

Mr. Speaker, the changes made to the Parliamentary Protective Service are not working.

The House of Commons protective service officers have been without a contract since March, and negotiations have stalled. Furthermore, we recently learned that the employer has started threatening employees who are simply exercising their charter rights.

Let me be clear. The colour of a baseball cap does not make me and my colleagues feel any less safe.

Will the government amend the Parliament of Canada Act to guarantee the independence of the Parliamentary Protective Service?

[Situation in Myanmar, September 26th, 2017]

Madam Speaker, I was intrigued by the idea of satellite images, so I would like to hear my colleague expand on how that could help improve the situation in Myanmar.