Mike Morrice

[Privilege, October 22nd, 2024]

Madam Speaker, I believe we are now on day 11 of the debate on this motion, which could be moved to committee and voted on. The only thing holding that up is more Conservative speakers.

The last time I spoke to the motion, I shared how much money we are spending by having one speaker talk after another. I have an update on those numbers if anyone is curious. As of yesterday, we have had 66 Conservative members speak to the motion. If we only account for the cost of operating the House of Commons for just those 66 members, which is 33 hours of speeches, it is over $2.3 million. As of yesterday, there is the opportunity for 53 more Conservatives to continue wasting money to speak to the motion.

How much more money do the Conservatives want to spend continuing to speak about the same motion? We could vote on it right now if they just stopped speaking.

[Foreign Affairs, October 21st, 2024]

Mr. Speaker, last week, an IDF missile strike burned Palestinians alive at a hospital tent camp. This escalation of what the University Network for Human Rights has called a “genocide” only emboldens Hamas and does nothing to return hostages.

Canada's focus must be on achieving peace, including a true arms embargo, by advocating for Israel to allow humanitarian relief in and for an end to the occupation of Palestinian territories. When will the government's actions align with its words when it says “never again”?

[Infrastructure, October 10th, 2024]

Mr. Speaker, it is really fitting that the parliamentary secretary also represents an area along the same line for which I have been calling for a two-way, all-day GO train service. Folks in his community would benefit just as much from it as folks in mine would.

I want to reiterate what I am calling for. In this case, the federal government did the right thing back in 2017: It put the funding forward. The federal government is an investor that has put in 40% of the project costs. It is reasonable that the investor would demand some accountability from the provincial government that is meant to deliver on the project. Accountability starts with a timeline for completion. Folks in his community and in mine deserve to have that accountability with respect to federal funds.

Will the member join us in calling on the provincial government to provide a timeline for the completion of the project?

[Infrastructure, October 10th, 2024]

Mr. Speaker, I am rising tonight to continue to call on the government to get accountability and, specifically, a timeline on two-way, all-day GO train service between Kitchener and Toronto. It has been over a decade now that my community has heard promise after promise.

Here is what then Liberal premier Kathleen Wynne said to Craig Norris from CBC K-W back in May 2014: “We're making the two-way, all-day GO a priority because I know people want to go back and forth. I can't give you the specific dates but we want to get going on this right away”. Her party was elected the very next month, and we never got a date for completion from her.

Then, back in 2017, the federal government committed 40% of the project cost. At the time, it put in over $752 million, three-quarters of a billion dollars. Now retired regional chair Ken Seiling, was thrilled, as he should have been. He said, “It is a strategic investment that recognizes the importance of the Toronto-Waterloo region innovation corridor to the Canadian economy”.

Then the next provincial election came along. Keeping in mind that Conservative Doug Ford now knew about the federal money that was already committed, here is what he said: “We're going to have the pedal to the metal, and we're going to move forward, we're going to cut all the red tape and bureaucracy that gets in the way of these projects”. While Premier Ford got elected that year, that was six years ago. So much for pedal to the metal.

Where do we stand today? After more than a decade has passed since that first political commitment, and despite constant political ads from the provincial Conservatives bragging about progress in my community, we have a total of 10 trains a day that go from Kitchener to Toronto and nine trains a day from Toronto to Kitchener, and they run only on weekdays. Every now and then, if we are lucky, Metrolinx will announce special one-off weekend service on a holiday weekend like the one coming up.

Worst of all, we still do not even have a timeline for completion. It means that in my community, folks continue to get left on the platform waiting for overcrowded buses. They could be a commuter, for example. They could be someone looking to get to a medical specialist in Toronto or a family looking to get to a Jays' game. One young person even shared with me this past summer that, as a queer person, she would love to take the GO to be able to date in Toronto. She wants two-way, all-day GO for queer love.

This is also about the climate. We need to give people more convenient, more affordable and lower-carbon ways of getting around, recognizing that transportation is the largest emissions source in Ontario. Here is an example of what is possible: The Montreal REM rapid transit system opened last summer. It took just five years to go from “prep work” to “doors open” on a 67-kilometre line with service every three and a half minutes during peak hours.

While two-way, all-day GO would, of course, be delivered by the provincial government, folks in my community are tired of having different levels of government blame one another. If the federal government put in 40% of the money, as it did, it should at least be demanding accountability on the funds. I have written to the minister. There have been almost two years of letters now. I raised it with the Prime Minister a few weeks ago. I am raising it again. When will the government call for accountability and specifically for a timeline from the province on two-way, all-day GO train service between Kitchener and Toronto?

[Privilege, October 10th, 2024]

Mr. Speaker, on a point of order, there are rules in this place, such as Standing Order 43. I get that there is a lot of latitude, but plastic straws, drugs and Mark Carney have nothing to do with the motion. What is the point of rules if we are not going to enforce them?

[Privilege, October 10th, 2024]

Mr. Speaker, Greens support the terms of the motion, in terms of sending it to committee. My understanding is that this would happen as soon as there is a vote on it. For this, all that has to happen is to no longer have speakers speaking to it. I think the member for Foothills and I agree about the importance of taxpayer money being used effectively.

I have done a bit of math on how money is being spent with respect to this debate. We have had about 49 Conservative speakers on the motion so far. If we add up their speaking time, it is just over 24 hours, at 1,470 minutes. If we look at what it cost for the House to operate over that time, the cost to taxpayers is just over $1.7 million for the Conservative speakers, not to mention all the other speakers who have also risen on this.

We could just have a vote right now if Conservative members stopped speaking to the motion. If the hon. member shares the concern for taxpayer money, is he not concerned about the dollars being spent to continue this conversation?

[Indigenous Affairs, October 10th, 2024]

Mr. Speaker, back in April, Six Nations of the Grand River had to close its community health centre because of worsening black mould, which was first detected over a year ago. While Indigenous Services Canada has a responsibility to ensure Six Nations has a safe and accessible medical facility that meets its needs, the minister recently communicated to the community that it needs to apply for funding and hope for the best.

Will the minister take responsibility, commit to a follow-up meeting with Six Nations' Chief Hill and expedite a new health centre?

[Mental Health and Addictions, October 3rd, 2024]

Mr. Speaker, this year in my community, we have already lost 64 people to poisoned drugs. The federal government has a $359-million program to support prevention, harm reduction, and treatment initiatives called SUAP. The government has previously funded programs in Waterloo region, but this year, while multiple organizations submitted applications, zero SUAP dollars have been committed to any programming in my community to date.

Will the minister commit to reviewing SUAP funding decisions to ensure hot spots, such as Waterloo region, are not left unfunded?

[Committees of the House, October 3rd, 2024]

Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague and friend from Pierre-Boucher—Les Patriotes—Verchères for his comments.

What I would say to him is that this is an opportunity for all of us to use our power here to do more. The Bloc Québécois has supported Bill C‑22 at every stage. It now has the power to make demands of the government, which is a minority government. Among other things, the Bloc Québécois can demand that the government fix the Canada disability benefit.

[Committees of the House, October 3rd, 2024]

Madam Speaker, I want to recognize that the member for Sarnia—Lambton was one of the very first to sign the letter I mentioned, for which we initiated a number of parliamentarians early on in this session to ensure MPs from all parties were advocating for this. The Liberal Party, the Conservative Party, the Bloc, the NDP and the Green Party joined in that letter, and she was a really critical part of that.

If we are going to be honest, though, about the rising cost of living, I have to be clear. Corporate profits are the main element of it. I know the member likes talking about removing the carbon rebates, but there are no rebates on the gouging of the oil and gas industry. When we look at the price at the pumps for folks in our communities, while the carbon tax went up two cents a litre, the profits of the industry were 18¢ a litre.

If we want to make life more affordable, that is where we should be focusing our time. We should be getting those dollars to folks with disabilities and others living in poverty, who need it the most.