Paul Manly

[Petitions, June 18th, 2021]

Mr. Speaker, it is an honour to present this petition today. This is part of a large stack I have, with over 15,000 signatures now. People are really concerned about the trashing of the last remaining old growth forests in British Columbia, with less than 3% left.

The petitioners call on the government to work with the province and first nations to follow through on our international commitments to protect biodiversity and to save these forests as part of our climate action plan and reconciliation with first nations; to refocus on second and third growth forests with value-added logging; to stop the export of raw logs; to stop the grinding up of whole trees for biofuel pellets; and to protect our old growth forests.

[Petitions, June 17th, 2021]

Mr. Speaker, on Vancouver Island, people are very concerned about the loss of endangered, old-growth ecosystems. In British Columbia, we are down to the last 3% of these magnificent forests.

The petitioners call on the federal government to work with the province and first nations to immediately halt the logging of endangered old-growth ecosystems; fund the long-term protection of old-growth ecosystems as a priority for Canada's climate action plan and reconciliation with indigenous peoples; support value-added forestry initiatives in partnership with first nations to ensure Canada's forest industry is sustainable and based on the harvesting of second and third growth forests, something that many petitioners agree with; ban the export of raw logs and maximize resource use for local jobs; and ban the use of whole trees for wood pellet biofuel production.

[Petitions, June 16th, 2021]

Mr. Speaker, it is an honour to table a petition initiated by constituents in Nanaimo—Ladysmith. It is the 29th petition of this nature.

The petitioners are deeply concerned about protecting British Columbia's endangered old-growth forest from clear-cut logging. They know that old-growth forests provide immeasurable benefits, including carbon sequestration, biodiversity, and cultural, recreational and educational value.

The petitioners call upon the Government of Canada to work with the province and first nations to immediately halt the logging of endangered old-growth ecosystems, fund the long-term protection of old-growth ecosystems as a priority of Canada's climate action plan and reconciliation with indigenous peoples, support value-added forestry initiatives in partnership with first nations to ensure Canada's forestry industry is sustainable based on the harvesting of second- and third-growth forests, ban the export of raw logs, maximize resource use for local jobs and ban the use of whole trees for wood pellet biofuel production.

[Indigenous Affairs, June 15th, 2021]

Mr. Speaker, for more than 40 years, the Government of Canada operated 29 racially segregated hospitals across this country.

I have heard first-hand accounts from indigenous elders about the horrors they experienced at the Nanaimo Indian Hospital. Researchers have exposed a range of atrocities at these hospitals including physical, emotional and sexual abuse, experimental medical and dental treatments, and sterilization without consent.

Will the government commit to a full, independent inquiry into Canada's Indian hospital system, and release all relevant documents for that purpose?

[Government Business No. 10—Broadcasting Act, June 15th, 2021]

Madam Speaker, all of us who are online were locked out of the member's speech. We have not heard anything since the hon. member stood to speak.

[Government Business No. 10—Broadcasting Act, June 15th, 2021]

Madam Speaker, just to reiterate, if the hon. member read the Broadcasting Act, he would know that freedom of speech and freedom of expression are actually already established in the act. There was a lot of filibustering. We heard a lot of endless repetition in committee. We did not get a chance to discuss some very important amendments.

One of those amendments was about levelling the playing field with independent producers in the large companies that they have to negotiate contracts with. It was a market-based solution to a market imbalance. It is a system that they have in the U.K. and in France. I have heard that the Conservatives support the small producers and want to see freedom of expression.

Why would the Conservatives not support this amendment that I put forward? I sent the explanation to members of the committee, and I wonder why the Conservatives would not defend the little guy in this situation.

[Government Business No. 10—Broadcasting Act, June 14th, 2021]

Madam Speaker, I find it very rich to listen to Conservatives talk about free speech and about the rights of parliamentarians when they are the only party that has blocked the Green Party from having our fair share of questions in the House of Commons. We are the only members of Parliament who get a question every second week, after they evicted one of their members for taking donations from a white supremacy group.

I would like to ask the hon. member if he has read the Broadcasting Act, which states:

This Act shall be construed and applied in a manner that is consistent with the freedom of expression and journalistic, creative and programming independence enjoyed by broadcasting undertakings.

This is right at the very beginning of the act, and this constrains the CRTC to ensure Canadians have freedom of expression. I am wondering if he has actually read the Broadcasting Act as well as the legislation.

[Government Business No. 10—Broadcasting Act, June 14th, 2021]

Madam Speaker, I have heard a lot about free speech from the Conservatives and I would like to ask if they think that social media platforms are a place of free speech.

I will point to a situation on May 5, Red Dress Day, to commemorate missing and murdered indigenous women and girls across this country. Hundreds if not thousands of posts were removed by Instagram and Facebook from people who were expressing their sorrow, rage and loss of family, friends and loved ones to this tragedy in our country.

Does the member think this is freedom of speech? When these platforms are removing this kind of content in this country are they a democratic space?

[Government Business No. 10—Broadcasting Act, June 14th, 2021]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank the member for her speech and for her hard work on this bill. She knows that I put a lot of time and effort into this bill as well. I would like to thank her for supporting one of my amendments, which was to level the playing field between independent producers and broadcasting undertakings. This is something that has been adopted in the U.K. and in France. It is a market-based solution to a market imbalance problem.

Why does the member think the Conservatives, who claim to be the ones who fight for the little guy against the big companies, would vote against that amendment? We did not get a chance to debate it because we spent so much time listening to filibusters for hours on end. We did not get to talk about these amendments, but this was an important amendment that I discussed with the Canadian Media Producers Association. It was very important to them to create a better balance between the large companies and the small producers. I would like her comments on that.

[Government Business No. 10—Broadcasting Act, June 14th, 2021]

Mr. Speaker, I have to say that I was disappointed at committee during important amendments that I wanted to speak to and debate, and hearing endless talking points about YouTube creators in this country. I looked up the top 100 YouTube creators in this country and could not tell them apart from American content.

However, when I talked to APTN about the importance of having their voices integrated into the Internet through these platforms, that was key. It is about building indigenous languages. It is about Canadian voices and bringing forward Canadian voices.

I would like to ask the minister about his comments on the importance of revitalizing indigenous language and indigenous culture in this country, and understanding indigenous cultures.