House of Commons photoLost his last election, in 2021, with 37% of the vote.
Petitions June 1st, 2016
Mr. Speaker, I am happy to present a petition on behalf of the people from Revelstoke and Golden in my riding concerning impaired driving.
The petitioners encourage that the laws be strengthened. They also ask that the Criminal Code of Canada be changed to redefine the offence of impaired driving causing death as vehicular manslaughter.
National Local Food Day Act June 1st, 2016
moved for leave to introduce Bill C-281, An Act to establish a National Local Food Day.
Mr. Speaker, I am proud to rise in the House today to introduce my first private member's bill, Bill C-281, which would establish a national local food day. This legislation would designate the Friday before Thanksgiving of each year as national local food day.
I want to thank my colleague from Victoria for seconding the bill. I also want to recognize the work of former MP Malcolm Allen, who introduced the bill in the previous Parliament, and my colleague from Berthier—Maskinongé for her dedication and hard work on behalf of Canada's agricultural producers.
Strengthening the connection between consumers and producers of Canadian food contributes to our nation's social, environmental, and economic well-being. Ensuring that Canadians have access to healthy, affordable food and a sustainable food system must be national priorities. Supporting our local agricultural markets is essential to achieving these goals.
I call on all members of the House to honour the hard work of local food producers from coast to coast to coast and to make national local food day a reality.
(Motions deemed adopted, bill read the first time and printed)
Persons with Disabilities May 19th, 2016
Mr. Speaker, I am concerned that the Liberals will fail to provide sufficient resources to Parks Canada to address the anticipated increase in visitors next year, but they are definitely failing to address the state of accessibility within our parks today for those with disabilities. Accessible infrastructure has declined, all-terrain vehicles have disappeared, and the maintenance and upkeep of trails and facilities have fallen off. These parks belong to all of us.
Will the government step up and ensure that our national parks are accessible for all Canadians, including those with disabilities?
Criminal Code May 17th, 2016
Mr. Speaker, I, too, really appreciate the depth of the discussion that we have had around Bill C-14.
The recommendations that came from the original interparliamentary committee, I thought, were excellent, and I was very supportive of the potential bill at that point. However, I have some real issues with the way the bill currently sits, and I want to focus on two.
Do advance directives not give people more choice in that they at least have the opportunity to do an advance directive rather than wait until they are no longer in a state where they could make a decision at all? Does it not provide more choice to have advance directives?
Secondly, intolerable pain and suffering was a really important part of the Carter decision, and I think should be an important part of the bill. Again, I know personally that if I had a choice later on in life, if I was struggling with intolerable pain and suffering, I would really like to go with a needle in my hand in the arms of somebody who loves me rather than just put it to chance.
Those two provisions are missing from the bill and I would appreciate the member's perspective on why.
The Environment May 12th, 2016
Mr. Speaker, budget 2016 included $65.9 million for a so-called world-class biking and walking trail through Jasper National Park.
This came out of nowhere, and yet the Liberal government refuses to give any details. The minister has not consulted the public or stakeholders, in spite of Liberal election promises that it would be open and transparent.
A project of this scale needs a robust public environmental assessment process prior to any decision being made. Why is the government following the Conservatives' lead, ignoring transparency, and putting the ecological integrity of a treasured national park at risk?
Petitions May 6th, 2016
Mr. Speaker, I am happy to present a petition today on behalf of the citizens of Revelstoke, in my riding of Kootenay—Columbia, with support from people living in Chilliwack, Agassiz, and Harrison Hot Springs on the Lower Mainland.
It is a fairly long petition, so I will shorten it. The petition states that whereas the vast majority of Canadians support modern and enforceable legislation that protects all animals from deliberate and reckless acts of cruelty, we the undersigned residents of Canada call upon the Government of Canada to modernize the animal cruelty provisions in the Criminal Code to effectively protect all animals from deliberate acts of cruelty.
Budget Implementation Act, 2016, No. 1 May 6th, 2016
Mr. Speaker, as a former mayor, I really appreciate a lot of the comments the member has made this morning about the needs. Certainly, we need a different formula in municipalities. That one-third, one-third, one-third formula was really difficult for small communities. Those communities also need money up front so they can actually be shovel ready with their projects. A lot of them cannot afford the cost of engineering studies to be shovel ready.
I also think we need to expand our basic definition of infrastructure. Traditionally, it has always been sewer, water, roads, and storm drains. I think we need to be adding dark fibre high-speed Internet as a basic piece of infrastructure in all our communities moving forward. It is really important, particularly to rural areas. Also, we need to move to multi-year funding so they can actually do some planning.
I would be interested in the member's thoughts on adding multi-year funding and dark fibre to his list of priorities.
Good Samaritan Drug Overdose Act May 4th, 2016
Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to rise today to speak in favour of Bill C-224, and I want to thank my colleagues for their very impassioned plea for the bill, particularly the member for Coquitlam—Port Coquitlam. I lived in Port Coquitlam for 10 years, and I am sure the constituents there very much appreciate this bill coming forward.
I want to begin by sharing with the House some of the headlines from my riding of Kootenay—Columbia in the recent weeks. These come from Cranbrook Daily Townsman and the Columbia Valley Pioneer, two of the many fine community newspapers we are fortunate to still have in Kootenay—Columbia.
On April 7, the Townsman headline was “[East Kootenay] getting eight ‘substance use’ beds from [Interior Health]”. The text reads:
These new beds for Interior Health are part of a large provincial initiative to improve care outcomes for individuals living with substance use challenges, said [the province's health minister].
The beds will provide a safe and supportive environment for clients [who have complex substance issues].
A few days later, there was another headline, this time from the Columbia Valley Pioneer: “Overdose reversal drug now available in BC without a prescription”. The text from this one is:
The goal of reducing the fatal effects of an opioid overdose among the B.C. drug-using community has recently gained momentum.
Health Canada revised the Federal Prescription Drug List on March 22nd to make a non-prescription version of naloxone, which is the life-saving antidote commonly being used to reverse the effects of an opioid overdose, more accessible to Canadians....
...making the medication more accessible to the people without a prescription [will help to save lives].
[This new measure] is separate from [B.C.'s] Take Home Naloxone program...[which] has trained over 6,500 people to recognize and respond to overdoses.... 488 overdoses have been reversed since the program's inception.
On April 15, going back to the Cranbrook Daily Townsman, the headline read: “B.C. declares drug overdose emergency”.
The B.C. government has declared its first-ever public health emergency to deal with the sharply rising cases of opioid drug overdoses across the province. ...the [emergency] measure will allow for rapid collection of data from health authorities and the B.C. Coroner's Service, so overdose treatment kits can be deployed to regions where there are new clusters of outbreaks.
There has been a steady increase in overdoses of drugs containing fentanyl, a potent synthetic opioid made in Chinese drug labs and smuggled to Canada.
We have to do what's needed to prevent overdoses and deaths, and what is needed is real-time information, [said B.C.'s health minister]. Medical Officers need immediate access to information about what's happening and where so that they can implement effective strategies to prevent these tragedies.
We are in a crisis situation when it comes to drug overdoses. We must do everything we can to save those lives.
That is where Bill C-224 comes in. Bill C-224 would provide a good Samaritan exemption, ensuring that no evidence obtained as a result of responding to a drug overdose can be used to support possession of substance charges. This exemption would apply to any person at the scene when police or paramedics arrive.
The exemption would apply to all schedule I, II and Ill drugs, the common street drugs, but would only cover charges for possession. Production and trafficking charges would not fall under the good Samaritan clause. Let me say that again. The good Samaritan exemption in Bill C-224 would only apply to possession charges. Drug producers and drug traffickers will not be let off the hook.
The bill will also not in any way diminish our efforts to fight organized crime or to support communities affected by gang-related violence. Bill C-224 simply removes a barrier to medical help reaching a person who is overdosing in time to save them.
Some of the validators for the bill are the Pivot Legal Society and Canadian Drug Policy Coalition executive directors. They say:
Fear of prosecution has proven to be a barrier for people to call for help when they are with someone who's having an overdose. Only 46 per cent of respondents to a Waterloo Region Crime Prevention Council survey said they would call 911 during an overdose situation. Seconds matter in these cases and saving a life shouldn't be weighed against facing a potential drug possession charge. Granting amnesty to Good Samaritans is a simple answer. The Liberals should move to pass this bill as quickly as possible.
A Facebook user, posting on Overdose Canada in support of this bill, said, “My son Austin would be alive today had those who witnessed his overdose called 911.”
An article in The Globe and Mail reported:
Amid mounting signs that the illegal form of the painkilling drug is expanding east from Western Canada, where it is linked to a surge in overdose deaths, health-care advocates say federal and provincial government leaders are not doing enough to address the problem.
Pivot Legal Society, in an article entitled “A three-point plan for ending overdose deaths”, wrote:
Research suggests that between 10 and 56 percent of people witnessing an overdose actually call for assistance.... We need to remove the barriers...
The NDP has a proud, progressive record of standing up for sensible drug policies that promote harm reduction and create safer, healthier communities. Supporting this bill is very much in keeping with this tradition.
Bill C-224 is about saving lives. More lives could be saved if users and witnesses did not hesitate to seek emergency assistance for overdoses.
New Democrats will always stand for smart, progressive, evidence-based policies that promote stronger, healthier, and safer communities. This bill does that, and it deserves the unanimous support of this House.
Criminal Code May 2nd, 2016
Mr. Speaker, let me repeat what I said during my speech. I am not suggesting that the death of a pet and the death of a human are equivalent.
We need to take even more care that we get it right when we are talking about euthanasia using a human lens. I absolutely agree that palliative care is critical. We need to make sure that we have a national palliative care strategy to go along with this, but they need to go hand in hand if they are to move forward at all.
The story I told was what convinced me that if I had a choice, I would choose to die with dignity.
Criminal Code May 2nd, 2016
Mr. Speaker, I really do not think it is a lower standard. If we have the opportunity to declare our intent ahead of time and put it in writing, that at least gives us some opportunity to have some say over our future. If we reach the point where we cannot consent and we cannot not consent, and then we have no options at all. Therefore, at least having an opportunity to declare our wishes ahead of time is an improvement over not having any choice at all.