Tracy Gray

[Business of Supply, February 28th, 2020]

Madam Speaker, since we are working in a minority government, it is even more important to ensure the voices of those of us who are in opposition are brought forth. It is important to hold the government to account and to advocate for what is important to our communities.

Has the member opposite seen that opposition day motions have already functioned well in this Parliament, how they have been collaborative, even if we do not always agree, and how we need more of these to ensure that everyone's voices are heard?

[The Economy, February 21st, 2020]

Mr. Speaker, on Tuesday, 34 Canadian organizations, representing multiple sectors from across the country employing millions of Canadians, wrote the Prime Minister. They expressed how the activist blockades were creating serious problems for interprovincial trade, public service, businesses, workers and families. They said that for every day the rail lines were down, it would take at least four days to just catch up.

Will the Prime Minister create a plan for our economy to catch up if these blockades are ever dismantled?

[Health, February 7th, 2020]

Madam Speaker, yesterday in the House, in response to a question about what the government is doing to address the addictions crisis we are experiencing on our streets, the Minister of Health failed to outline a solution that would help those battling addiction.

The minister continues to prioritize harm reduction strategies without mentioning treatment or recovery. People battling addiction deserve the opportunity to enter treatment immediately, when they need it.

When will the government start making treatment and recovery a priority to help people with addiction?

[Royal Canadian Mounted Police Act, February 6th, 2020]

Madam Speaker, the government seems to be plagued with inefficiency. Does my hon. colleague have an idea as to why it has taken the government an entire mandate to introduce a straightforward piece of legislation that was actually part of the 2015 election platform?

[Royal Canadian Mounted Police Act, February 6th, 2020]

Madam Speaker, will this commission be empowered to deal with illegal or improper searches of the phones of Canadians, or will it be powerless to stop U.S. agents from collecting information?

[Donna Horning, February 6th, 2020]

Madam Speaker, I rise today to inform the House of the sombre news of the sudden passing of Donna Horning in my community of Kelowna—Lake Country.

Donna was an active member of our community. She was the former president and founding member of the Kelowna-Kasugai Sister City Association and former member of the Kelowna-Veendam Sister City Association. Donna also volunteered extensively in many political venues and was a strong woman of principle with a big heart.

She was the wife of Al Horning, who served our community in office at the municipal, provincial and federal levels. He was a fellow member of this House in the 39th Parliament. Donna and Al were teenage sweethearts and had three children in their 59-year marriage.

Donna's celebration of life will take place on April 18, at 1 p.m., at Rutland Centennial Hall on what would have been the Hornings' 60th anniversary.

I extend my sincere condolences to Al and his family during this difficult time and ask my colleagues in this House to join me in doing so as well.

[Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement Implementation Act, February 5th, 2020]

Madam Speaker, I thank the hon. member opposite for allowing me to answer the comment. I will be brief.

One of the differences we can talk about here is that, when we are looking at the United States, its opposition was involved. The Democratic Party was actually involved in different points of the discussion, and we have not been involved. That is a big difference between us and the United States.

[Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement Implementation Act, February 5th, 2020]

Madam Speaker, there are a number of industries that we need to look at. The member did mention a couple already. One of the others I mentioned during my presentation was softwood lumber. We do not have a softwood lumber agreement. That is an industry that we absolutely need to look at.

We have a number of resource sectors. We still have some farmers who are very uncertain and very unclear about what is actually in the agreement. There are a number of different industries that we need to look at, and definitely need to put a deep dive into.

[Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement Implementation Act, February 5th, 2020]

Madam Speaker, over the last few days I have been meeting with a number of different stakeholders and different business owners. The message that we are getting is what I had said in my presentation: “Okay, let us move forward. It is good enough. It is just good enough. Let us just move forward.”

Just being good enough is not really good enough. Most businesses are saying that if we are going to move forward with something, we want to make sure that we are getting ahead somehow, that we are at some advantage. That is really not what we are seeing or hearing from most industries. That is where the concern is.

Just being good enough is a serious question. It is something we need to really look at.

[Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement Implementation Act, February 5th, 2020]

Madam Speaker, when we are talking about this agreement, it is really important that we consider what is on the table here and that we are moving forward.

What we are looking at right now is the agreement that has been put in place. We have to look at what our duty is right now as parliamentarians, to analyze what is in front of us. That is what we are here to do. It is really important that we put a lot of these details through the committee, so that we can make sure that we are coming up with the best deal possible for Canadian businesses and Canadians.