Indigenous Affairs  Mr. Speaker, I am picking up on a conversation we had with the government back in March in relation to a failure to respond to first nation leadership letters around the federal process on the Site C dam. The New Democrats, along with many other Canadians, have believed that the Government of Canada has an intense, responsible, and heartfelt requirement to engage in a true nation-to-nation relationship with indigenous peoples to work together and to protect the environment.

Candidate Gender Equity Act  Mr. Speaker, I am honoured in this moment to thank the people of Nanaimo—Ladysmith for supporting me, working hard for my election, and electing me. I have many allies throughout the riding, and it does make all the difference around who prevails. For us, with the nomination and election, it was almost a two-year campaign.

Candidate Gender Equity Act  Mr. Speaker, certainly the majority of parties in Parliament ran on an electoral reform platform. I would like hear more from the member about how his initiative might interface with a change in the way we elect members of Parliament.

National Anthem Act  Mr. Speaker, I am honoured to serve with my hon. colleague, the member for Ottawa—Vanier, and honoured to be in this House today. I am sorry that the extremely positive and supportive speech I was about to make has to be interrupted by saying I am ashamed to have heard those words from that member.

The Environment  Mr. Speaker, the feds towed the vessel Silver King from one riding to mine a month ago. Now it is rotting right off Ladysmith's community dock, and dozens of abandoned vessels cram the harbour already. Local business, Ladysmith council, and the Stz'uminus First Nation all warn that this will harm the local community and economy.

Status of Women  Mr. Speaker, on a single day, three out of four Canadians seeking help from a domestic violence shelter are turned away. Many more women fleeing violence cannot even access a shelter because none exist in their region. The Liberal budget did not have sufficient funding and offered no money for a comprehensive national action plan.

Criminal Code  Mr. Speaker, I would like to discuss further with the member the comments he has heard from his constituents around conscientious objection from health care providers and practitioners. New Democrats in the all-party committee made a clear recommendation that no health care worker should ever be compelled to participate in assisted dying and that they should be legally shielded from unfair consequences resulting from that personal decision.

Criminal Code  Mr. Speaker, I thank the member for personalizing the conversation in relation to family members. It is appreciated. Coming back to the issue of palliative care, I want to thank the Conservative members of the special committee who put a focus in their dissenting report on the importance of palliative care and the failure of successive governments to implement that.

Criminal Code  Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the member's particular focus on the absence of advance directives in the legislation. I share his concern. I would like to explore that a little more with the member. Perhaps he could shine a light on why this might have been missed and how we could fill the gap.

Criminal Code  Mr. Speaker, we want the bill to move forward. We want this medical service to be accessible to all. We also want to get the details right. During the election campaign, the leader of the Liberal Party issued a statement that told us that he believed the Supreme Court made the right decision and that Canada's laws must be consistent with the court's ruling, because that is the right thing to do.

Criminal Code  Mr. Speaker, I heard a lot of agreement, but I want to reflect on the correspondence I am getting from people in my riding of Nanaimo—Ladysmith. One writer said, “I want to have the choice how and when I am ready to die. It is not simply a matter of providing palliative care facilities, but we should definitely have more and better hospice care in people's homes as well as residential hospice within the community.

Protection of Pregnant Women and Their Preborn Children Act (Cassie and Molly's Law)  Mr. Speaker, I first want to acknowledge the terrible tragedy that gave rise to this bill. Our hearts go out to Jeff Durham, his family, and his community for such a terrible loss. Despite the good intentions of the bill's sponsor, this bill has the unintended consequence of reopening Canada's debate on abortion, and New Democrats will not risk jeopardizing a woman's right to choose.

Protection of Pregnant Women and Their Preborn Children Act (Cassie and Molly's Law)  Mr. Speaker, we are cognizant in Canada that the vast majority of women who are victims of murder are killed by someone they know. Almost nine in ten women are killed by an acquaintance or, even worse, by a spouse or intimate partner. I am interested to hear the member's view on the great need for Canada to adopt a national domestic violence strategy to combat violence against women.

Housing  Mr. Speaker, when we first started this conversation in December, these details had not been revealed. I am very glad that the parliamentary secretary is able to describe the very ambitious program that is outlined for the next two years. We look forward to working with community partners to actually get results on the ground.

Housing  Mr. Speaker, I am taking up the conversation we were having about affordable housing back in December. I want to reiterate how affordable housing helps everything. It helps every kid get the best start. It helps support local business and the local economy. It helps human health.