House of Commons photoWon his last election, in 2019, with 55% of the vote.
Instruction to Committee on Bill C-71 June 4th, 2018
Madam Speaker, I would like to ask my hon. colleague about the complaints and criticisms we heard from Canada's Assembly of First Nations and indigenous peoples about the lack of consultation and the fact that many treaties may be violated, as well as the traditional rights to subsistence hunting. Can the member explain why the Liberal government, which prides itself on consultations with the first nations, has allowed so little discussion with the first nations on this bill?
Democratic Reform May 29th, 2018
Mr. Speaker, the Liberals allowed Canadians to believe Cambridge Analytica whistle-blower Christopher Wylie, working in the Liberal leader's office in 2009, was terminated because his electoral data manipulation was too invasive. In testimony to the ethics committee today, Mr. Wylie said that was not why his contract ended.
In a 2016 email to the U.K.'s leave movement in the Brexit referendum, Wylie said that the outcome could be influenced with psychographic micro-targeting and that he was working on a similar project for a major Canadian political party.
Who is telling the truth?
Ways and Means May 28th, 2018
Mr. Speaker, the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Fisheries said in an answer in the House that our Conservative government never had a plan to include indigenous partners in the clam harvesting fishery. I would like to table a release made by Fisheries and Oceans Canada in early 2015 that shows exactly the opposite.
Ethics May 28th, 2018
Mr. Speaker, the fisheries minister attempts to excuse his interference in the bid process that gifted a clam harvesting quota worth hundreds of millions of dollars to a shell company because of after-the-fact involvement of minority indigenous partners. However, the rigged process also happened to involve the brother of a sitting Liberal MP, a former Liberal MP, and a cousin of the minister's wife, who is a former federal fisheries official.
Again, will the Prime Minister remove the minister from this file and restart the process?
Ethics May 23rd, 2018
Mr. Speaker, the question now is when was the Prime Minister made aware that Liberal partisans and the minister's family would benefit from this lucrative rigged contract?
Ethics May 23rd, 2018
Mr. Speaker, as the Ethics Commissioner gets into his formal investigation of the fisheries minister, he is going to find very clear evidence, in the minister's own handwriting, of his interference in the bidding process for a very lucrative clam harvesting licence. This is a confected company with close Liberal Party and family connections that did not meet the bid criteria, that did not even own a boat, and was awarded a very valuable quota by the minister. Will the Prime Minister remove the minister from this tainted file and restart the bid process?
Ethics May 22nd, 2018
And they got a contract, Mr. Speaker, without a boat.
The Liberal government is keeping the Ethics Commissioner hopping. We now know the Liberal member for Brampton East is officially under investigation for bringing his private employer on the Prime Minister's India trip. Why does the PM continue to allow this kind of unacceptable outside work by members of the Liberal caucus, which is, in this case, so clearly just another form of crony cash for access?
Ethics May 22nd, 2018
Mr. Speaker, the fisheries minister is now officially under investigation by the Ethics Commissioner over the awarding of a very lucrative clam harvesting licence to a group with both close Liberal and family ties. Will the Prime Minister do the right thing, remove the minister from the file, and restart the process?
Questions Passed as Orders for Returns May 9th, 2018
With regard to international relations: (a) did the Prime Minister, a minister, or any other government official extend congratulations to (i) Russian President Vladimir Putin upon his re-election in 2018, (ii) Chinese President Xi Jinping upon his re-election as General Secretary of the Communist Party of China in 2017, (iii) Chinese President Xi Jinping upon the National People’s Congress adopting a constitutional amendment removing term limits for the President of China, (iv) Chinese President Xi Jinping upon his re-appointment as President of the People’s Republic of China in 2018, (v) Iranian President Hassan Rouhani upon his re-election in 2017; and (b) for each of the answers in (a) which are affirmative, what are the details of the message, including (i) date, (ii) sender, (iii) recipient, (iv) type (phone, letter, in person, etc.), (v) summary or description of message?
Latin American Heritage Month Act May 8th, 2018
[Member spoke in Spanish as follows:]
Gracias, señor presidente, y en adelante.
[English]
Mr. Speaker, I would like to acknowledge the enthusiastic support for Bill S-218, an act respecting Latin American heritage month, that we have heard again today from all sides of this House.
This legislation recognizes the many significant contributions to Canada's social, economic, and political fabric by Canada's Latin American community. This legislation, conceived and carefully fashioned by our late colleague and former senator, the Honourable Tobias Enverga, will stand, I am sure, as a major element of his political legacy.
As I noted when I tabled Bill S-218 on his behalf here in the House, Senator Enverga Tobias, known to his friends as “Jun”, was the first Canadian of Filipino descent to be appointed to the Senate of Canada. Born in the Philippines, he represented Ontario in the Senate since his appointment in 2012.
When Senator Enverga first spoke to Bill S-218 in the other place, he reminded colleagues that he came to Canada as an immigrant, one of many in the upper chamber today, who was fortunate to be welcomed to Canada. He referred to the spectrum of celebrations held across Canada by communities of various national, ethnic and linguistic origins.
He highlighted the two decades-plus annual celebration, for example, of Black History Month, which was recognized by this House in 1995 and by the Senate 13 years later. He explained that the designation of Black History Month has done much to educate and familiarize Canadians with the stories and important history that is too often absent in school curricula.
He mentioned as well Asian Heritage Month, which was proclaimed in 2002, and marked annually ever since when non-Asian Canadians learn and experience the sounds, entertainment, and tastes of Asia, and celebrate the contributions Asian Canadians have brought to Canadian society. Those, Senator Enverga argued, are just two wonderful examples of designated heritage months to which, he believed, a Latin American heritage month should be added.
As colleagues have noted many times throughout this debate, Latin America is of our hemisphere. For the purposes of this bill, Senator Enverga envisioned the widest possible interpretation so that Bill S-218 would cover those who identify as Spanish and Portuguese speakers from South and Central America, as well as those whose heritage is of the francophone and Hispanic Caribbean Islands. Using that broad and inclusive measure, members can see that Canadians of Latin American origin can be found far and wide across our great country from coast to coast to coast. In the absence of specific census numbers, we might estimate a possible demographic well above half a million men, women, and children, perhaps as many as 1.2 million Latin Americans living among us.
When Senator Enverga originally approached me to ask that I sponsor his bill in the House, he explained that because I was a former minister of state for the Americas, he thought that I understood and greatly appreciated the wonderful mix and complexity of Canada's communities composed of those among us who originated from Latin America and that I would be able to put a voice to the message that led to the passage of Bill S-218 in this place. I hope that I have communicated the senator's worthy dream.
I, too, believe that declaring the month of October to be Latin American heritage month would offer to all Canadians an opportunity to celebrate yet another dimension of our uniquely Canadian multicultural society. I urge all members of all parties to support Bill S-218.
[Member spoke in Spanish as follows:]
Muchas gracias a todos.