Matthew Green

[Petitions, October 9th, 2020]

Madam Speaker, I appreciate that.

The second petition is very important and timely. It is championed by Kurt Eva. While the government has a call out right now for the purchase of tear gas, this is a petition to ban tear gas in Canada, particularly its domestic use. We know that under the Geneva convention, specifically the 1993 chemical weapons convention, it is banned internationally. This very important petition has close to 12,000 people from across the country petitioning for the ban of the use of tear gas.

[Petitions, October 9th, 2020]

Madam Speaker, I rise with three petitions and it is very important I have the opportunity to deliver these on behalf of the residents.

The first petition is championed by Bethany Drader. The petitioners state that Black and indigenous people are more likely to experience police brutality; that Black and indigenous people are overrepresented in rates of incarceration relative to their population numbers; that the annual RCMP budget is in excess of $5 billion; that adequately trained community services can fill roles currently fulfilled by the RCMP, such as responding to mental health crises in a safe and violence-free method; and that social factors such as homelessness, poverty and lack of access to resources are the root causes to criminality, yet are chronically underfunded. They believe police involvement leads to substantially greater negative outcomes for Black, indigenous and racialized communities, such as the increased risk for the use of violence and potential criminalization. Recent instances of Black and indigenous deaths in Canada have been the result of police involvement and welfare checks.

The petitioners call on the House of Commons to divest from the RCMP—

[Seniors, October 9th, 2020]

Madam Speaker, throughout this pandemic, seniors have lived in appalling conditions in long-term care homes, and many have died there too. Eighty per cent of the COVID-19 deaths are tied to LTCs, and while Conservative and Liberal governments built a for-profit system that places shareholders ahead of staffing and seniors care, Ontario's NDP leader, Andrea Horwath, has announced a plan to actually fix long-term care in Ontario.

With the second wave upon us, Canadians are demanding national leadership. Will the Liberal government finally put people ahead of profits and take the profits out of Canada's long-term care homes?

[Judges Act, October 7th, 2020]

Madam Speaker, I appreciate we are finally able to find some common ground in this House. Without getting too excited about that, I have to note that Conservatives have a history of cutting funding to women's lobbies, advocacies and research groups, yet we know those very groups are organizing around gender equity and women's issues, taking the time to understand the impacts of sexual assault and gender-based violence in their communities.

Does the member agree women's and LGBTQ+ trans communities specifically must be consulted in developing the continuing education program on the issues of sexual assault and social context?

[Judges Act, October 7th, 2020]

Madam Speaker, I want to thank the hon. member for her courage in sharing her personal story. Certainly, as New Democrats, we are strongly in favour of supporting the bill. I just want to go on the record and say that, as a man, I never have to worry about walking late at night and being the victim of a sexual assault.

I would like to ask the hon. member this. In outlining the three pillars the government is taking to dismantle rape culture, as it relates to prevention, what would be some of her ideas and priorities in getting to the root of the matter and preventing this rape culture that has been perpetrated on women by men?

[Judges Act, October 7th, 2020]

Madam Speaker, I would like to first acknowledge the work of the former leader of the official opposition, Rona Ambrose, for bringing forward this most important bill. I would also like to thank the hon. member for Oakville North—Burlington for her incredible introduction to the important social context regarding systemic racism and systemic sexism as they relate to the judiciary.

I want to refer to the comments by the hon. member for Cowichan—Malahat—Langford, our deputy justice critic. He brought to my attention one of the shortfalls of this bill: understanding the only remedy within our legislative authority while respecting the separation of the legislature and the judiciary.

What are the member's comments on the fact that the vast majority of appointed judges are provincial? Have there been any discussions of ways we can encourage existing sitting judges to participate in this most important initiative?

[Resumption of Debate on Address in Reply, October 6th, 2020]

Madam Speaker, we heard good words about reconciliation, yet 45 minutes from my house, on Six Nations territory, Haudenosaunee land defenders are being criminalized by both the OPP and crown prosecutors.

Does the member believe that indigenous land defenders who are peacefully protecting their land claims are terrorists, as defined under Bill C-51?

[Resumption of Debate on Address in Reply, October 6th, 2020]

Madam Speaker, I am very proud to be here from Hamilton Centre, and I want to tell the hon. member that his speech and his interventions earlier on mental health, quite frankly, were very touching and moving. They are compassionate, and of the likes that I perhaps have not heard from members of the Conservative caucus in talking about the need for expanded health care.

In his pleas for increased investments in mental health, would the member not agree that mental health ought to be part of our health care act, that it be included in a head-to-toe provision and provided free to Canadians across the country regardless of the benefits package that is tied to their work? We know that during the COVID pandemic, as people lost their jobs, any benefits for mental health were cut off. They need to be restored in a national health care effort.

[Resumption of Debate on Address in Reply, October 6th, 2020]

Madam Speaker, the hon. member's speech sounds as though it would be a speech at the beginning of a pandemic, not seven months later, when they talk about the positions they are going to have for creating a national standard of care. Members will recall that, as New Democrats, we called for this and many Liberals said we were absurd, yet here we are seven months later with 10,000 deaths, 80% of which are tied to long-term care facilities.

Why will the government not commit to taking profits out of health care as it relates to seniors in long-term care?

[Health, October 6th, 2020]

Mr. Speaker, while the Liberal government's own COVID vaccine task force appears to be riddled with conflicts of interest from the pharmaceutical industry, Canadians continue to languish at the prospect of an even more severe second wave. In British Columbia, Premier John Horgan has committed to providing free vaccines once approved and available.

Instead of helping its friends in big pharma, will the Liberal government finally take the profits out of the pandemic and utilize publicly owned agencies, such as the National Research Council's facility in Montreal where it just put $44 million, and immediately begin the development of a publicly available COVID-19 vaccine?