Criminal Code  Madam Speaker, the problem I have with mandatory minimums is that they tend to be one-size-fits-all, no matter the circumstances or the information on each case, and I am worried about them taking away from judicial discretion. I was wondering about his thoughts on the sentencing

His Royal Highness The Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh  Mr. Speaker, I am here today to express condolences on behalf of New Democrats to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II and to the entire royal family on the death of His Royal Highness The Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh. For me personally, during the entirety of my almost 42 yea

United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act  Madam Speaker, the member for Labrador, in her role as a parliamentary secretary, has been involved in the indigenous affairs file for quite some time. When we look at Bill C-15, it would make the government commit to an action plan. When I speak to indigenous people in my ridin

United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act  Madam Speaker, one of the proudest moments in my parliamentary career was being in the House of Commons on May 30, 2018, and voting alongside Romeo Saganash on the third reading of Bill C-262 and sending it to the Senate, where, sadly, it languished for an entire year before the

Criminal Code  Mr. Speaker, I very much feel the empathy my hon. colleague has for people living with substance abuse disorders. My question is more on the mandatory minimums part of his speech. I find the problem with mandatory minimums is that they take away from judicial discretion in a cas

Criminal Code  Mr. Speaker, the problem with the Conservative approach to the justice system is that they assume every offence is exactly the same, when there are always complicating individual factors. In the Criminal Code, there exists already section 718.2, which allows a judge to increase a

Criminal Code  Madam Speaker, I appreciate my hon. colleague's speech, but I am going to call the Liberals out on Bill C-22. There are absolutely some helpful measures, and I appreciate that we are tackling some important reforms to the justice system, but let me be very clear, a declaration o

Petitions  Mr. Speaker, I am very pleased to present petition e-2985. The over 1,200 petitioners who signed this recognize four basic things. Number one, that Transport Canada’s interim protocol on the use of B.C. southern anchorages has been largely ignored and not enforced; two, that the

Economic Statement Implementation Act, 2020  Mr. Speaker, I share some of the member for Edmonton Manning's concerns about the delay in House business. The cynical part of me believes the government would like nothing more than to hold some of these bills back to run an election campaign on. Aside from that, on Bill C-14,

Economic Statement Implementation Act, 2020  Mr. Speaker, I share my colleague's concerns with Liberal promises of decades that have gone by. Hopefully this is one promise that we will see an absolute commitment to, because it is incredibly important. I speak to young families in Cowichan—Malahat—Langford. Often the compla

Economic Statement Implementation Act, 2020  Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the question from my hon. colleague. Decriminalization is not being called for just by the NDP. I made mention of the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police. I made mention of the provincial government of British Columbia. The chief medical health off

Economic Statement Implementation Act, 2020  Mr. Speaker, I am sure there are many reasons, but if I look at how the Liberals have been scheduling House business over the last couple of months, it has been a bit of a scattergun approach. There does not seem to be any rhyme, reason or logical following for which bills are be

Economic Statement Implementation Act, 2020  Madam Speaker, I would like to give a shout-out to the member for Courtenay—Alberni. We are in neighbouring ridings on Vancouver Island, and I always appreciate his interventions in the House and the work that he does on behalf of his constituents. I am also pleased to be partic

Economic Statement Implementation Act, 2020  Madam Speaker, I want to ask the member about the clause in Bill C-14 that is authorizing a health-related payment of about $64 million for mental health and substance abuse. Investment in this area is very welcome, especially for communities like mine. However, it seems that whe

Transport  Madam Speaker, last year off the southern Gulf Islands, a large bulk carrier dragged its anchor and drifted over 1,200 metres to hit another vessel. Luckily, no major damage was done at that time. Transport Canada's own information reveals that there were 102 occurrences of ship