Act Respecting Certain Measures Related to COVID-19  Mr. Speaker, at this point in the pandemic it would be hard to find people in the country who have not had the experience of doing a rapid test or knowing someone who has done a rapid test, and who have not felt some anxiety about visiting family members who they feel might be vu

Act Respecting Certain Measures Related to COVID-19  Mr. Speaker, because Bill C-10 is about funding rapid tests and we have been talking a lot in the House today about the pandemic, the nature of public health measures and how long they should or should not last, I want to start by recognizing how tired everybody is of the pandemi

Government Business No. 8—Proceedings on Bill C-10  Madam Speaker, I agree with my colleague. It is our duty to be fiscally responsible in everything we do. It was only by asking questions in my capacity as an MP that I found out the $1.7 billion for rapid tests in Bill C‑8 covered the period from December to February and that th

Government Business No. 8—Proceedings on Bill C-10  Mr. Speaker, it is odd, sometimes, to try to make sense of various Conservative positions in the House. I do think that rapid tests are very likely to continue to have an important role to play in the pandemic. I think it is prudent to try to have a number of rapid tests on hand

Business of Supply  Mr. Speaker, I thank my Conservative colleague for her speech and for trying to lead by example in terms of de-escalating the rhetoric in the House of Commons. I think that even where there continues to be disagreement, we are well served by de-escalation, and not just in the cha

Business of Supply  Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague for his speech, his words and the tone he used. I am not very familiar with the works of Camus, but I listen carefully to Dr. Theresa Tam's statements. I appreciated my colleague's comment about how the Conservatives sometimes criticize what D

COVID-19 Economic Measures  Mr. Speaker, just last week, Statistics Canada reported a job loss of 200,000 jobs during the omicron wave. That is 200,000 Canadian families who are struggling with a benefit system the Liberals created that is inadequate to the task. It does not pay $500 a week, people are wait

Business of Supply  Madam Speaker, the member, of course, raises his own example. The example I had in mind was the wage subsidy. It has paid out hundreds of millions of dollars just recently, without any meaningful accountability, to companies that we have seen raise their dividend payments and rew

Business of Supply  Madam Speaker, I think governments have created a very permissive environment that has encouraged corporations to pursue their own interests. We see that in the corporate tax rate being slashed from 28% to 15%. I do not think that there was ever a golden era when corporations w

Business of Supply  Madam Speaker, I thank the member, and I am quite familiar with that phrase out of Biggar. In fact, it was on a T-shirt that I wore quite a bit growing up. I am quite familiar with what the member is talking about. It may come as no surprise to the member that New Democrats are

Business of Supply  Madam Speaker, I thought I might start off in today's debate by making a couple of disclosures. First, my paternal grandfather comes from Saskatchewan: Biggar, to be exact. He ended up in Transcona, which is also a rail town, because at that time, in order to serve an apprentic

Economic and Fiscal Update Implementation Act, 2021  Mr. Speaker, one of the things Canadians are contending with right now is massive increases in price in the housing market. In debate previously on Bill C-8, I heard a Conservative colleague of the member say that there really was not a need to see governments build more social h

Economic and Fiscal Update Implementation Act, 2021  Mr. Speaker, I myself recognize and feel a lot of frustration with the ongoing public health orders, not because I think they should be lifted but because it has been tough on people. In the face of a crisis, sometimes we are called on to do hard things. I support people's righ

Economic and Fiscal Update Implementation Act, 2021  Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for raising a number of issues in the context of this debate. The member spoke of bringing a bucket of water to a fire that is raging out of control. One of the big problems that is not on the horizon anymore, but is bad and getting worse, is th

Economic and Fiscal Update Implementation Act, 2021  Mr. Speaker, I thank the member for North Island—Powell River for the all the work and advocacy she has undertaken on this file since we first found out about this. The reality that is stark, which we are seeing very clearly, is that poverty kills. Poverty can kill people just a