Rachel Blaney

[Mental Health, October 20th, 2022]

Madam Chair, the member for Courtenay—Alberni is my neighbour back home and I thank him for his incredible work on mental health, dealing with opioid addiction and all of the challenges we are seeing across Canada right now.

The member mentioned something in his speech that is really important to me and the communities that I have lived in, which is indigenous mental health. We know what the reality is with all of the history that we have all been apprised of. Indigenous communities have a particular reality that they face every single day. We know that the deaths that happen by suicide in indigenous communities, especially by young people, are profound, far too numerous and leave a weight on communities.

I remember speaking to one chief who felt that he was not getting a good deal from a level of government and he told a representative when they were discussing this that if the representative wanted any agreement from the chief, they were going to go to the bridge where more than one kid, unfortunately, had hanged themselves. When we talk about that, we must recognize this particular pressure.

I am wondering if the member could talk about what resources are needed to be acknowledged in indigenous communities to make sure that these deaths stop, because they are happening far too often, and Canada is directly to blame.

[Mental Health, October 20th, 2022]

Madam Chair, as we are talking about this issue, it is very important that we focus on the fact that stigma is blocking so many people from getting the necessary help they need. Anyone who has done any work on trauma and the impacts it has not only on a person's emotions but also on a person's body would know that those two things must be integrated, and not see what is happening within somebody's mental state as separate from their physical state as they are together and the same.

Can the member talk about ways that all of us in this place can start to fight stigma in a meaningful way collaboratively so that we can see that change across this whole country?

[Cost of Living Relief Act, No. 2, October 18th, 2022]

Madam Speaker, we listen to many of the member's speeches in the House, and I appreciate his tenacity and always making sure his voice is heard. I hope he welcomes some of his backbenchers to join the club.

First of all, I want to thank him for his passion around dental care. I know I talk to many people in my riding who share a lot of really sad stories about their children not being able to access dental care, and about taking small children into the hospital and having a lot of teeth pulled instead of cared for in a proper way. These are realities. I am wondering if the member can explain to me and perhaps to the House why in the last Parliament he voted against this program.

[Canada Disability Benefit Act, October 17th, 2022]

Madam Speaker, today is the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty, so I am glad we are talking about this and the realities that so many people living with disabilities face. As a collective, as a country, we have to take ownership of the fact that our inability to create accessible spaces has excluded people and left them in poverty, so I am glad we are having that conversation and I hope we continue to actually take the next step.

With respect to this piece of legislation, although I will support it, although I appreciate the intention, what really matters to me is the impact. What we see in this piece of legislation is that there is nothing concrete that is really going to make a successive difference. I do not want to see this just passed and the actions not taken. I wonder if the member could reflect on that.

[Cost of Living Relief Act, No. 2, October 7th, 2022]

Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the member for her speech and the time she took to talk about the importance of especially dental care. I know in my riding, just over a year ago, I sent out a mailer talking about the need for dental care. I was shocked by how many people responded. What was most surprising was how many people actually came to the door. I remember walking into the office and having three seniors waiting outside the door, all of them there to talk about their really important need for dental care and bringing in person the mailer that I sent out, along with their responses.

I am just wondering if this member could indicate why her party, which just, over a year ago, voted against dental care is now in a position of voting for it.

[Petitions, October 7th, 2022]

Madam Speaker, today I am tabling a petition that has been signed by several hundred people across this country who really care about expanded polystyrene, EPS, in our oceans. A lot of people think of it as styrofoam, but we know that those little particles get smaller and smaller and are getting into the infrastructure of our systems, with tremendous damage.

The petitioners want to see the marine environment protected, want us to stop having these things in place and want the infrastructure out there to no longer have EPS as part of it. Sometimes it is encased, but it does not make a difference. It is getting out there and it is toxic to marine life.

The petitioners point out that the qathet Regional District and the Association of Vancouver Island and Coastal Communities have unanimously endorsed the prohibition of EPS in marine environments.

[Strengthening Environmental Protection for a Healthier Canada Act, October 7th, 2022]

Madam Speaker, I always enjoy some of the fantasy speeches I hear in this House, and I thank the member for providing us with one today.

I understand that in 2007, the environment committee studied CEPA, which is probably something very important because it has not been reviewed in over 20 years. We now have a bill before us that would improve it a bit, but we still have a long way to go. We know that the Conservatives wrote a dissenting report sharing concerns about enshrining the right to a healthy environment and consideration of vulnerable populations, which we know is one of the most concerning parts of this bill.

Is the Conservative Party still not interested in enshrining the right to a healthy environment or protecting vulnerable populations who are impacted most heavily?

[Business of Supply, October 6th, 2022]

Madam Speaker, I could not agree more. The bar of dignity in the country is based on our capacity to take the ultra-wealthy and make them accountable, to ensure they pay their fair share. We are not asking for more; we are asking them to pay for their fair share, like most Canadians do.

[Business of Supply, October 6th, 2022]

Madam Speaker, in the area I live, we have different farms of different sizes that do incredible work to feed our communities. One of the things that is unique in our area, as we live on Vancouver Island, is that we have three days of food for people, and that is it. If there is any emergency, there is a lot of concern about what we will do to address the fact that there is three days of food on the whole island for the people who live there. If we cannot get food into our communities, it will have a profound impact.

Part of the solution is that all levels of government need to work with farmers to ensure they have a robust ability to do their work. I went to visit a farmer not too long ago in my riding. On Vancouver Island, we are seeing draught like we have never ever seen before. One of the things the farmer showed me was that she had dug a significantly huge hole so that during the winter it filled up with water, which allowed her to keep all her produce watered even during the draught. She talked about how we needed to do more work on those sorts of innovative solutions.

[Business of Supply, October 6th, 2022]

Madam Speaker, one of the things I have talked about for many years, prior to this job as well, is that systems matter. They matter profoundly. We can trust people and hope they are doing the right thing all the time. I am a person who usually believes that. I believe most people have a good heart and care about people, but without robust systems, we cannot be assured of that.

This motion talks about having that Canadian competition law and making it more assertive, aggressive and accountable for everyday Canadians. We can speculate who is doing what, but until we have the system that holds people and systems to account, we will never be at the place we need to be.