Matthew Green

[Business of Supply, June 17th, 2021]

Mr. Speaker, after becoming the minister of defence in 2016, the minister decided to quash an inquiry into the Canadian transfers of detainees to local custody in Afghanistan where they were routinely facing torture. An inquiry would have revealed why these transfers were not stopped and why these war crimes were never reported. In making this decision, the minister was in an apparent conflict of interest as he served as an intelligence officer in Afghanistan at the time of the transfers and would have had knowledge of the torture of detainees.

If he was, in fact, the architect that he claimed to be, would the minister not have known about the tortures of the Afghan detainees that the Canadian forces handed over to the Afghan authorities at that time?

[Privilege, June 10th, 2021]

Madam Speaker, I rise on a point of order to inform the House that the NDP reserves the right to intervene on the current question of privilege at a later date.

[Extension of Sitting Hours in June, June 10th, 2021]

Madam Speaker, I want to thank the hon. member for Cowichan—Malahat—Langford. When I first came he was very supportive in assisting me with the procedures of the House.

I heard tales of the Conservative blue book that was used to frustrate committees and council at the whole, and now we are seeing the Liberals do the same thing with filibustering, and there are conversations around filibustering in the United States.

Could the hon. member give his opinions on how filibusters are used to sometimes frustrate democratic processes?

[Business of Supply, June 8th, 2021]

Madam Speaker, we have heard the hon. member recount at length all of the symptoms of the financialization of the housing market.

Perhaps my colleague, the hon. member for Vancouver East, asked the most important question today, which is on the commodification and financialization of rental housing. She stated that Canada is losing more affordable housing than is being created, and this business model of REITs and other large capital funds relies on acquiring lower rental properties that allow them to maximize profits for shareholders, including through rent evictions.

Will the hon. member and the government take action to limit the ability of REITs and large capital funds to purchase rental units, and create a housing acquisition fund for the non-profit sector, as was called for by the former UN housing rapporteur Leilani Farha, the FCM and the recovery for all campaign?

[Business of Supply, June 8th, 2021]

Madam Speaker, when we talk about supply, in my city we have building permits, cranes dotting the sky and condos being built everywhere and simultaneously there is an increasing number of residents in Hamilton Centre who are being pushed out and living in tents and informal settlements across the city. This opposition day motion, in part (e), talks about overhauling the government's housing policy to substantively increase the housing supply, yet the Conservatives decreased investments in co-ops and social housing and did not announce any plans. Will the Conservatives finally admit this opposition day motion completely overlooks social housing and real affordability for the next generation of Canadians?

[Residential Schools, June 1st, 2021]

Madam Chair, the former Kamloops Indian Residential School, once the largest residential school in Canada, was operated by the Catholic Church from 1893 to 1969.

The hon. member for Kamloops—Thompson—Cariboo referred to the TRC's calls to action. In referencing call to action 74, which calls on the government to work with churches and aboriginal communities to inform the families, it has been widely reported that indigenous leaders and advocates are calling on the Roman Catholic Church to apologize and take responsibility for the atrocities committed against the children, families and communities by the residential school system.

Will this member join these indigenous leaders and many others, including myself, in calling on the Roman Catholic Church to finally and formally apologize for its role in the residential school system in Canada?

[Residential Schools, June 1st, 2021]

Madam Chair, I rise on a point of order. For the purpose of this discussion, if we are splitting time within our party and the first speaker does not have anybody recognized, does that question period time not get allotted to the second speaker, given that we are sharing the slot? Should we not have additional time set for, at the very least, the member for Winnipeg Centre to have the remainder of this round completed?

I understood that if we are splitting time within our party—

[Human Rights, May 14th, 2021]

Madam Speaker, I rise today to lend my voice to a Palestinian Canadian.

These are her words:

What we see in Sheikh Jarrah, Gaza, and all of Palestine is not new. Decades of Israel's dehumanizing occupation has robbed: Palestinian children of their youth, parents of their children, children of their parents, and elders of their dignity. Palestinian deaths must be understood as vanished dreams and mourning families, not merely as statistics. Israel is forcefully removing Palestinian families from their homes, demolishing their neighbourhoods, expanding illegal settlements, and desecrating our places of worship. The necessity to put pressure on Israel to stop these human rights violations is long overdue. Canada must show courage and act now. As a start, we must stop the sale of arms to Israel. Because Palestinian lives matter. Hear us: our lives matter.

Those in the House who speak up will be remembered. Those who stay silent will be remembered. History will never forget.

[United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act, May 14th, 2021]

Madam Speaker, this is another example of Liberal words not meeting their actions. It is another example of how the Liberals do not prioritize their actual work.

I am going to talk about Six Nations and 1492 Land Back. We have heard the government talk about how it is committed to working collaboratively to address historical claims at Six Nations and how it is willing to work with the Haudenosaunee Confederacy Council. It has been almost a year of a reclamation process happening there. The Liberals have not had the courtesy of taking the trip down the road to visit them and open up the negotiations.

Will the minister commit, today, to actually doing something toward reconciliation by visiting Six Nations and opening up the negotiations to finally settle that land claim?

[Business of Supply, May 13th, 2021]

Madam Speaker, the NDP has been clear and consistent that we do not want to have an election during a pandemic and we do not intend on triggering one. We would have liked to see the Prime Minister take some responsibility and commit to the same.

The hon. member talked about Bill C-19, but it only passed second reading on time allocation earlier this week. It has not gone through committee or the Senate. If an election were called, we would be in pretty big trouble.

It is the Liberals who are filibustering the procedure and House affairs committee, which risks delaying Bill C-19. Will the Liberals allow for the vote at committee so we can get on with studying the bill?