Government Business No. 16—Proceedings on Bill C-11  Mr. Speaker, I am glad that the hon. member is going to let me speak to the question of witnesses. Originally, three of the four parties at the committee thought that a certain number of hours would be sufficient to hear from witnesses. The Conservative members then proposed 20

Government Business No. 16—Proceedings on Bill C-11  Mr. Speaker, first, let me correct the hon. member: This bill has nothing to do with censorship. Freedom of speech is protected in this country under section 2, and it is very clear that freedom of speech is protected under this bill. Second, this bill would not be necessary ex

Government Business No. 16—Proceedings on Bill C-11  Mr. Speaker, I will begin by stating that I am not the least bit embarrassed to speak my mother tongue in the House of Commons. As an MP, I have the right, as do all the other MPs, to speak both of Canada's official languages. There is an anglophone community in Quebec, even if t

Government Business No. 16—Proceedings on Bill C-11  Mr. Speaker, I am truly disappointed to have to be speaking to a programming motion today. I am disappointed because I truly believe in the committee process. I believe that House committees do really important work. I believe they are the heart of how bills get improved, the pla

Criminal Code  Madam Speaker, while I disagree with my hon. colleague on his framing of the bill, I always appreciate the very well-delivered speeches he gives. The member selectively quoted Jennifer Dunn in her appearance before the committee, talking about conditional sentencing. I also read

National Health and Fitness Day  Mr. Speaker, Saturday is National Health and Fitness Day in Canada. I plan to swim, run and play tennis at different locations in my riding on Saturday. I will then join the Fitness Industry Council of Canada's social media challenge by posting pictures and using the hashtag #let

Business of Supply  Mr. Chair, again, as I mentioned, we have invested $21 billion in the economy through the national shipbuilding strategy. Of that, the amount that has gone to Seaspan, with the spinoff effects in the member's riding, is $5.26 billion. That is not to talk about the indirect benefi

Business of Supply  Mr. Chair, I want to take this opportunity to thank the men and women of our Armed Forces, a sentiment I know is shared by all sides in the House, for the incredible work that they do. I was pleased to join with almost everybody here to vote for a motion to increase our defence s

Business of Supply  Madam Chair, our government is committed to renewing and strengthening its economic relationship with indigenous entrepreneurs and communities by providing increased economic opportunities to first nations, Inuit and Métis businesses through the federal procurement process. Our

Business of Supply  Madam Chair, our government has been working to address inequities by modernizing its procurement practices and encouraging suppliers from diverse backgrounds to be part of the federal supply chain. Budget 2021 proposed $87.4 million over five years, and $18.6 million ongoing, t

Business of Supply  Madam Speaker, I am looking at an article entitled “Chinese firm's Canadian contracts raise security fears: Barred by the U.S. and Australia, tech giant Huawei makes inroads in Canada”. It is dated from 2012. In that article, former prime minister Stephen Harper is touting the gr

Business of Supply  Madam Speaker, I agree that the member's comments were dynamic, as he always is, but I was also going to add they were measured and non-partisan, which shows me he can do this really well. Is the member aware if anybody has ever gone before the foreign affairs committee or the t

Business of Supply  Madam Speaker, as I mentioned in my speech, yes, I believe that we should find a way to include the recognition of indigenous title within the way we open the House of Commons. I do believe in respecting traditions. I do not believe in throwing out traditions, but I believe we ha

Business of Supply  Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague and good friend from Drummond. I started by explaining why I did this. As I told my friend this morning, I was reflecting because I was a little confused. I used my speech to explain why I am confused about state secularism and freedom of reli

Business of Supply  Madam Speaker, I do not think I used the word “offensive” or referred to people finding offence at all in my speech. I was trying to explain that sometimes in our society there are two intertwining concepts. One is freedom of religion, and I entirely agree with some of the things