Status of Women  Mr. Speaker, it is easy to call oneself a feminist, but standing up for gender equality takes action. My colleague from Burnaby South did just that with his bill designed to get more women into federal politics. However, yesterday, 126 Liberal MPs voted with the Conservatives to defeat the bill.

Status of Women  Mr. Speaker, I am honoured to be in the House to celebrate the groundbreaking Persons Case for women's equality. On this day in 1929, five courageous women forced a ruling that women were in fact persons in Canada. Who knew? This was a landmark victory for Canadian women, but 87 years later our progress has stalled.

Paris Agreement  Mr. Speaker, I believe the member was in the House the three times that New Democrats brought climate change legislation to the House. Twice it was passed in the House, and one time it was stopped in the Senate. The member knows our commitment to actual, measurable, enforceable emission reductions that would help climate change.

Paris Agreement  Mr. Speaker, my colleague and I share a salmon connection—I on the coast and my colleague in the interior. This is such a valuable industry for our province. Our province was built on salmon. We are salmon people and we have a very strong commitment around the indigenous relationship in British Columbia to stand up in every way we can for salmon.

Paris Agreement  Mr. Speaker, I will be splitting my time with the member for Victoria. Because climate change is the challenge of our time, I stand in support of ratifying the Paris agreement. Here is why action is so badly needed. Climate change impacts are already being felt in my riding. We already see hotter water harming chum, chinook, and coho salmon returns on the Englishman, Cowichan, and Nanaimo rivers and at Mill Creek.

Petitions  Mr. Speaker, I rise today to present, on behalf of citizens of Nanaimo—Ladysmith, petitions indicating their opposition to the signing of the trans-Pacific partnership. They are concerned that it could cost tens of thousands of Canadian jobs, could lead to growing income inequality, increase the cost of pharmaceuticals, ease the path for foreign takeovers, potentially stifle innovation, and interfere with Canadian regulators' ability to regulate in the public interest.

Indigenous Affairs  Mr. Speaker, with respect to my colleague across the floor, he has not answered any of the questions that I asked tonight. Again, I thought I was giving the government an opportunity to show us, to tell us how it had incorporated the feedback of these most valued partners. For the government to say that a relationship with indigenous people is the most important relationship it has, but then not be able to say “These are the ways that we've incorporated their input” is very saddening.

Indigenous Affairs  Mr. Speaker, today we recognize the Sisters in Spirit vigil on the front steps of the House of Commons and all across the country. Many survivors of violence against murdered and missing indigenous women, girls, and two-spirited people are glad that the inquiry has started, but they are also expressing still a great deal of trauma and sadness.

Paris Agreement  Mr. Speaker, many of us are concerned that the signing of the Kyoto accord in 1997 was a bit of a deathbed conversion. The full impact of our lack of action to reduce emissions following that was revealed in 2005, when the United Nations identified Canada as the country that had done the worst.

Paris Agreement  Madam Speaker, in 1992-93, I was part of a group of environmental organizations and industry organizations, a collaborative of TransAlta, oil companies, etc., working in the name of economic instruments. We were trying to design air quality regulations that would deal with a number of air pollution issues, including climate change.

Indigenous Affairs  Mr. Speaker, today Canadians across the country are standing with Sisters in Spirit to honour murdered and missing indigenous women. Families of victims are calling out the government for failing to deliver on its promise for action. They are calling this place the House of broken promises.

Women's History Month  Mr. Speaker, standing today to mark Women's History Month, I am reminded of the lineage of women who have made it possible for me to take this seat here. I think of my Aunt Kim Malcolmson, who has been mixing it up all of her life. She was a pay equity officer in Ontario when I was starting high school.

The Environment  Madam Speaker, if the environment minister were standing up for the environment instead of paving the way for development, we would all feel better. On Wednesday, the Union of BC Municipalities passed two resolutions calling on the government to deal with an improved oil spill response in the marine environment, but the Liberals seem to be in favour of tanker increases that will further threaten those coasts.

The Environment  Mr. Speaker, yesterday the Union of B.C. Municipalities called upon the government to deal with abandoned vessels. Earlier this year, I introduced Bill C-219 that would create a federal responsibility for dealing with these vessels, which are a black mark on our local environment and economy.

The Environment  Mr. Speaker, I bring good news from Nanaimo—Ladysmith. Climate action is a win-win for our local economy and our global environment. We are innovating and cutting greenhouse gas emissions while adding well-paying jobs. Two groups are building affordable housing with energy conservation in Nanaimo.