Committees of the House  Mr. Speaker, I have the honour to present, in both official languages, the first report of the Standing Joint Committee for the Scrutiny of Regulations concerning the mandate and the quorum of the committee. If the House gives it consent, I intend to move concurrence in the first report later this day.

Questions Passed as Orders for Returns  With regard to conditions placed on individuals receiving national interest exemptions related to travel restrictions or quarantine requirements during the pandemic: (a) how many individuals have received national interest exemptions since March 1, 2020; (b) of the individuals in (a), how many have had conditions placed on their exemption; (c) what is the breakdown of the type of condition placed on individuals (geographic restriction, limit on time in Canada, etc.), including the number of individuals subject to each type of condition; and (d) what costs have been incurred by the government in relation to faciliting national interest exemptions, broken down by item and type of expense?

Small Business  Mr. Speaker, small businesses are defined as having fewer than 100 employees. Of all businesses in Canada, 98% are small businesses. Again, 98% of all businesses in Canada are small businesses. Small businesses are responsible for the majority, or 57%, of net employment growth in the private sector.

Questions Passed as Orders for Returns  With regard to Service Canada Centres: (a) which centres have reopened to the public since the shutdown in March 2020, and what was the reopening date for each location; and (b) what is the projected reopening date for each of the locations still closed to the public, broken down by location?

Questions on the Order Paper  With regard to the Veterans Affairs Canada area offices, which have all been closed to veterans since March 2020: (a) which offices have reopened to clients and what was the reopening date of each office; and (b) of the offices that are still closed, what is the projected reopening date when they will be open to clients, broken down by location?

Citizenship Act  Madam Speaker, unfortunately this always seems to be the case. It is either a talking point or an announcement of low-hanging fruit. Very rarely do we get the sustained and necessary action, which sometimes involves a lot more heavy lifting.

Citizenship Act  Madam Speaker, when legislation is bad, there is always an opportunity not to support it to make it better. One of the things I hear over and over from the government is, “It's not our fault. We didn't do it”. The government has been in power for six years. I think that most of us are getting a little tired of hearing that it was the previous government's fault.

Citizenship Act  Madam Speaker, I share the pain of my colleague for Courtenay—Alberni in terms of the person he knew, Mike, who lost life to suicide. That is never a good thing, so my thoughts are with them now at this time. Also, it has been a pleasure to work with my colleague on a number of initiatives over the last years.

Citizenship Act  Madam Speaker, I will be splitting my time with the member for Markham—Unionville. I appreciate the opportunity to speak to the bill, and I would also like to thank my colleague, the shadow minister on this file, the member for Kildonan—St. Paul, for her hard work in the chamber and in committee on this issue.

Questions on the Order Paper  With regard to the Canada Emergency Commercial Rent Assistance program: (a) what was original budget for the program; (b) what is the latest projected budget for the program; (c) what was the original expected number of businesses that would apply for the program; (d) what was actual number of businesses that applied for the program; (e) of the applications in (d), how many were successful; and (f) does the government have any statistics regarding what percentage of commercial property landlords whose tenants enrolled in the program accepted a 25 per cent reduction in rent, and, if so, what are the statistics?

Criminal Code  Mr. Speaker, it goes back to what the member for Hamilton Centre said as well. What kinds of supports do we have for these individuals, people who are disabled and people who have addiction issues? The member for Hamilton Centre asked how to deal with people with addictions. We should be looking at helping these individuals as well.

Criminal Code  Mr. Speaker, it has been my experience in talking to constituents over the years that there are a lot of people who do not understand what is available out there. It has also been my experience in my time of being elected to the House of Commons and talking to my other colleagues from across the country that there are still a lot of programs that are not available to people across the country.

Criminal Code  Mr. Speaker, as I have said before, I have talked to numerous people who have come to my office and whose homes I have gone to. When it comes to the disability community in particular, they are certainly very concerned about some of the things that underlie this, whether it is removing the 10-day waiting period or encouraging doctors to move forward proactively.

Criminal Code  Mr. Speaker, we realize this is a delicate issue. As I have said before, this is complicated and not easy. One of the things I wish the government had done more of, which we have talked about, and has been mentioned in other speeches and my speech, is the whole issue around palliative care.

Criminal Code  Mr. Speaker, today we are talking about Bill C-7, an act to amend the Criminal Code with respect to medical assistance in dying. While I realize this is a very sensitive and difficult issue, I want to be very clear that I will not be supporting the bill. I would like to take a few minutes to talk about why that is and to provide some context to all Canadians, specifically from my constituents in Niagara West.