Marjolaine Boutin-Sweet

[Housing, March 8th, 2017]

Mr. Speaker, the Conseil des Montréalaises recently issued an opinion on homelessness among women. In Montreal and across Canada, homelessness among women is on the rise, but it remains hidden. This is something that affects indigenous and immigrant women more frequently, and homeless women are much more vulnerable to physical and sexual violence.

The minister announced the creation of an advisory committee to overhaul the homelessness partnering strategy, or HPS. Will a gender-based analysis be done? Will the government invest the sums needed to prevent and eradicate this scourge?

[International Women's Day, March 8th, 2017]

Mr. Speaker, on this International Women's Day and as part of an initiative led by Equal Voice, for a short time today, the House of Commons was made up entirely of young women: Daughters of the Vote.

The seat normally occupied by my colleague from Newmarket—Aurora was empty. In a courageous act of protest to remind us of all the women who have not been able to reach their full potential and whose political voices have been silenced because of systemic violence against women, Arezoo Najibzadeh chose to leave her seat vacant. Thank you, Arezoo, for reminding me that Canadian women won the right to vote through protest, not silence.

I am protesting here today, too. I protest the government's broken promises. The government could have taken action to improve the lives of women, through electoral reform and pay equity. I protest on behalf of all Canadian women who are counting on us to bring about change.

[Business of Supply, March 7th, 2017]

Madam Speaker, we request that the division be deferred until tomorrow, Wednesday, March 8, at the expiry of the time provided for government orders.

[Canada Elections Act, March 7th, 2017]

Mr. Speaker, there have been discussions among the parties. If you seek it, you will find consent for the following motion: That, at the conclusion of today's debate on the opposition motion in the name of the member for Rosemont—La Petite-Patrie, all questions necessary to dispose of the motion be deemed put and a recorded division deemed requested and deferred to Wednesday, March 8, at the expiry of the time provided for Government Orders.

[Housing, February 16th, 2017]

Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Families, Children and Social Development recently announced the creation of an advisory committee on homelessness in support of the renewal of the homelessness partnering strategy. This expert panel will have eight to 10 members.

The last time I checked, Canada had 13 provinces and territories and they have very different realities. For example, Quebec advocates a general and community-based approach that is adapted to our needs.

What will the minister do to ensure that Quebec's concerns are heard at this committee?

[Canada-European Union Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement Implementation Act, February 13th, 2017]

Mr. Speaker, my colleague spoke about the investor-state dispute settlement mechanism that is included in chapter 11 of NAFTA.

Here is a real-life example. Suppose, under NAFTA, that an American multinational wants to invest in building some sort of plant in Mexico. The local government conducts an impact assessment and realizes that, if that plant is built, it will pollute the groundwater. However, because of the chapter on dispute settlement, the local government will not win a dispute, even though its citizens' drinking water will be polluted by the plant. The company will win because it might lose money. That means that the governments cannot protect their citizens or the environment. For example, Canadians may see their environment harmed by large corporations because of a similar clause in the agreement with Europe.

[Role of Co-operatives, February 13th, 2017]

Mr. Speaker, I wholeheartedly support the co-operative model.

My family has worked for years to develop this model in Abitibi. It is a very useful way to help one another, especially at times when the economy is not stable or uncertain.

In my riding, there are many housing co-operatives. The largest housing co-operative is located in Pierrefonds, a suburb of Montreal.

Co-operative housing agreements are expiring now. In the spirit of this motion, does the government intend to renew the housing subsidy that helps people living in co-operatives so that they do not spend more than 30% of their income on housing?

[Canada-European Union Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement Implementation Act, February 7th, 2017]

Mr. Speaker, the NDP agrees to apply the vote, but we are voting no.

[Democratic Reform, February 3rd, 2017]

Mr. Speaker, the report of the Special Committee on Electoral Reform was very clear. It reached consensus on a proportional voting system.

In their testimony, several experts noted that a proportional voting system would result in more stable parliaments and would elect more women. For a Prime Minister who calls himself a feminist, it is odd that he would not want a system that would help elect more women to the House of Commons.

Is the government's priority to help elect more women from the Liberal Party only?

[Democratic Reform, February 3rd, 2017]

Mr. Speaker, the Liberals have 39% of the votes, 55% of the seats, and 100% of the power.

The Liberals are in a conflict of interest on the electoral reform file. Since the election, they have been telling us that they do not have a preferred voting system to replace the current one. The Prime Minister admitted in the House that he was leaning toward the so-called preferential ballot. That is a preferential system for the Liberals. When they realized that there was no consensus for the system that favoured them, then they simply decided to break their promise.

Do the Liberals take Canadians for fools?