The Environment  Madam Speaker, I have outlined what we need to do to meet the challenge of biodiversity loss in Canada. We do need legislation that has a process to set meaningful targets, a real plan on how we are going to meet those targets and public, transparent accountability measures to make sure we succeed.

The Environment  Madam Speaker, the debate this evening stems from a question I asked the Minister of Environment back in early December, just after the Wild Species 2022 report was released and just before the COP15 biodiversity summit was held in Montreal. The Wild Species 2022 report covers the status of over 50,000 species across the country.

Canada Early Learning and Child Care Act  Mr. Speaker, I am glad the member brought up the topic of the effect this would have on the labour force. Many businesses in my riding and across the country are looking for workers. In my riding in particular, and in many others, they cannot find workers because there is no place for new workers to live.

Canada Early Learning and Child Care Act  Mr. Speaker, New Democrats welcome any movement forward on child care in Canada. We have been pushing this for the last 30 years, ever since the Liberals started promising it. I wonder if the member could comment on the benefit not only to young families and women trying to enter the workforce, but to businesses in the community.

Questions Passed as Orders for Returns  With regard to efforts that focus on education, training and economic opportunities for Indigenous women, girls, and 2SLGBTQQIA+ people, broken down by fiscal year since 2014-15: (a) how much funding has been dedicated through the (i) First Nations and Inuit Youth Employment Strategy, (ii) Indigenous Skills and Employment Training Program, (iii) Women’s Employment Readiness pilot program, (iv) Women Entrepreneurship Strategy; and (b) how much of the funding in (a) has been committed?

Questions on the Order Paper  With regard to the government’s commitment in the Fall Economic Statement 2022 to lower credit card transaction fees for small businesses: (a) when does the government intend to begin negotiations with payment card networks, financial institutions, acquirers, payment processors, and businesses; (b) with whom does the government plan to negotiate; (c) if known, on which dates will the negotiations in (b) occur; and (d) has the government set a deadline after which it will introduce amendments to the Payment Cards Network Act if an agreed upon solution is not arrived at, and, if so, what is the date?

Hon. Jim Carr  Mr. Speaker, I rise this afternoon with sadness to pay tribute to our friend and colleague Jim Carr. Jim was very much a friend and colleague to everyone here. In my experience, he was the best kind of politician, someone who truly believed in serving his community, his province and his country.

Climate Change  Mr. Speaker, the minister, in his reply to my question in question period, did admit that there are still 4 billion dollars' worth of subsidies going to the oil and gas sector. The government is just lacking in boldness and ambition on climate adaptation when we need it most. It is like the tepid responses to climate mitigation and the lack of success in bringing down our carbon emissions.

Climate Change  Mr. Speaker, we are living the effects of climate change. There are real effects on people and real effects on our economy. Last year, in British Columbia, we had a series of catastrophic wildfires, one of which burned down the town of Lytton. At the same time, a heat dome brought temperatures in the high 40s to southern B.C., killing over 600 people in metro Vancouver.

Fall Economic Statement Implementation Act, 2022  Madam Speaker, one thing I was hoping to see in the fall economic statement and in this bill was some added help for graduate students across Canada. These are our best and brightest master's and Ph.D. students. The money they are given by the federal government to do their work has stayed the same for almost 20 years, since 2003.

Historic Places of Canada Act  Madam Speaker, I totally agree. The Osoyoos Indian Band, which I mentioned, are a prime example of that. They have built the Nk’Mip Desert Cultural Centre, which does exactly that. I am very proud of that centre being in my riding.

Historic Places of Canada Act  Mr. Speaker, I would agree that we need to not only celebrate the parts of our history that make us proud, but also remember and learn from the parts of our history that we are not so proud of, that we may be ashamed of, so, yes, we have to remember incidents like that of the Komagata Maru and other incidents from our history, and we should perhaps have historic sites or plaques that teach us about those places and events.

Historic Places of Canada Act  Mr. Speaker, again, I would agree with the member for Saint-Jean that we have to remember these incidents and events in our history. The Miners' Union Hall represents the growth of labour relations in a Canada that was a very dark place in the 1800s, when those miners first came to Rossland.

Historic Places of Canada Act  Mr. Speaker, if you seek it, I believe you will receive unanimous consent for me to split my time this afternoon.

Historic Places of Canada Act  Mr. Speaker, I will be splitting my time with the member for Nunavut. I am happy to rise today to speak to Bill C-23, the historic places of Canada act, which will modernize the Historic Sites and Monuments Act. In short, this new act will update the protection and conservation framework for historic places and give indigenous people a role in determining those places.