Her Late Majesty Queen Elizabeth II  Madam Speaker, it is always a privilege to be able to stand in the House. I stand here before my colleagues with mixed emotions. I am both happy to to return and see colleagues on both the government and opposition benches, who I have not had the chance to see since June, but I am deeply saddened by the events that recently took place in Saskatchewan in James Smith Cree Nation, as well as what we are here today to discuss, which is the passing of our Queen, Queen Elizabeth II.

Hockey in Canada  Mr. Speaker, hockey is a Canadian pastime that bring us together and makes us proud, particularly when our national teams represent our country on the international stage. That is exactly what happened this month when the national women’s under-18 team won a gold medal in Madison, Wisconsin, beating our arch rivals, the Americans, in a back-and-forth three-to-two game.

Order Respecting the Business of the House and its Committees  Madam Speaker, I think this is extremely relevant for the debate about virtual Parliament. Objectively, all recognized parties in the House have used the tools that have been made available over the last number of months. There are two distinct periods. There is the COVID period, which we are not completely out of.

Order Respecting the Business of the House and its Committees  Madam Speaker, I listened to the hon. opposition House leader's remarks today, and I have a couple of reflections and a question for him. I would have much more sympathy for the Conservative position on this if I had seen 121 members sitting in their seats when the vote took place this morning.

Order Respecting the Business of the House and its Committees  Madam Speaker, as I have listened to this debate, the Conservatives have obviously expressed their concern that this is somehow a deficit for democracy. However, as I watched the vote, there were a number of Conservatives who were using the tools that have been made available to us.

Global Food Insecurity  Mr. Chair, I want to ask the member two questions. I know he is up for it, and I will try to make them very quick. One is on fertilizer. We have heard the position from the Conservatives for prior to March 2, the idea of trying to indemnify farmers. I agree with that, but there was an opposition day motion just last week that called for the elimination of the 35% tariff from Russian and Belarusian products.

Global Food Insecurity  Mr. Chair, as my hon. colleague from Chatham-Kent—Leamington mentioned, he has ties to Ukraine. We heard him contribute in a very meaningful way on the Standing Committee on Agriculture and Agri-Food. I want to ask him a couple of things. He highlighted very precisely what the challenge is in vulnerable countries and the geopolitical dynamic that could come from that, and I applaud that because it is spot on.

Global Food Insecurity  Mr. Chair, that was a big question, so please permit me just a moment. On globalization, Canada is a world food provider. We cannot turn away from that. That is a reality. I think we have to look out both ends of the telescope. We need to build domestic capacity in Canada through local food infrastructure to help support, perhaps, import substitution, and Canada still needs to play a global role.

Global Food Insecurity  Mr. Chair, I would like to thank the member for Chatham-Kent—Leamington for his work on the agriculture committee. We have a great group that has really kept a strong focus on the needs of Canadian farmers and indeed on the conversation we are having today regarding farmers around the world.

Global Food Insecurity  Mr. Chair, indeed, Canada's domestic capacity is absolutely important. I was very happy to see the Nutrien fertilizer company announce that it would increase production by 25%. In addition, the Government of Canada announced assistance for the BHP mining company in Saskatchewan to open the largest potash mine in the world.

Global Food Insecurity  Mr. Chair, I will be sharing my time with the Minister of Northern Affairs this evening. I am very pleased that colleagues in the House have called this take-note debate forward this evening, because the question of global food security as a result of the war in Ukraine is the most important question right now that we all collectively face.

Budget Implementation Act, 2022, No. 1  Madam Speaker, I thank my hon. colleague for his speech. I am a bit concerned by his comments about the amount of money paid to the provinces and territories for health care. I think the bill gives the provinces and territories $2 billion to help reduce wait times for certain surgeries.

Budget Implementation Act, 2022, No. 1  Madam Speaker, I thank my hon. colleague for his question and for his efforts on the soccer field. The issue with fertilizers is a very important one. My opinion on this is clear. The government must find a solution to the costs that farmers are facing if they purchased fertilizer from Russia or Belarus before the war.

Budget Implementation Act, 2022, No. 1  Madam Speaker, let me say to the member opposite that he is not only a great member on the agriculture committee, but he also plays soccer on this wonderful team that we have. Our job as a government is to respond to the needs of Canadians. We work with all parliamentarians in this House to be able to advance them, and on this particular initiative, we were pleased to see support from the NDP on the budget to be able to introduce this measure that we think is extremely important for all Canadians.

Budget Implementation Act, 2022, No. 1  Madam Speaker, I believe the member opposite asked my hon. colleague, the Minister of Immigration, a question on this and he said that this was something they were looking at internally in the department. I do not have the specifics on that. What I will say is that I am proud of the government's record on immigration.