Business of Supply  Madam Speaker, I met with an individual who told me this situation. They have family members in Afghanistan who worked for the previous government in the area of biometrics. After the Taliban took over, it visited workers in those departments and tried to force them to give them

Business of Supply  Madam Speaker, I believe we all want to help the Afghans who have been stranded and need to get to safety. There are some measures the Canadian government can undertake, including, for example, waiving the refugee determination requirement, so that people who cannot access the UN

Business of Supply  Mr. Speaker, I am a little more than fairly interested in the refugee file. I am deeply interested in the refugee file, because that is what we need to do. Humanitarian action is required. On the issue of a special committee, the advantage of a special committee is that it would

Business of Supply  Mr. Speaker, I have to say that action from the Canadian government to support people and get them to safety is absolutely essential and urgent. It is not premature. In fact I would argue that it is late in the day for us to get going on this. This should have been done before th

Business of Supply  Mr. Speaker, it is absolutely costing lives, because people cannot get to safety. The government made an announcement saying it would bring 40,000 refugees from Afghanistan, knowing that the refugee determination process does not enable them to get to safety and knowing they cann

Business of Supply  Mr. Speaker, given this is my first full speech in the House, I would like to take the opportunity to thank the people of Vancouver East for sending me back here, to bring their voices to the House of Commons. I often look at this place as this place of the people and it is absol

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship  Madam Speaker, the Liberal government has failed to meet even one-tenth of the commitment of protecting Afghan refugees. The Liberals' continued insistence on layers of red tape has left tens of thousands of Afghans fleeing the Taliban unable to get to safety. With each passing d

Resumption of Debate on Address in Reply  Mr. Speaker, I congratulate the member on his maiden speech. He talked a lot about co-op housing and calls himself a co-op housing kid. I am delighted to hear that. The situation with housing is this. The CMHC used to deliver co-op and social housing and was really good at it,

Resumption of Debate on Address in Reply  Madam Speaker, the government recognizes there is a great need in terms of health emergencies. Right now, we have an overdose crisis in my riding of Vancouver East. More people are dying from overdoses than they are dying from the pandemic. Will the member work with the NDP and

Resumption of Debate on Address in Reply  Mr. Speaker, the member spoke about the importance of reconciliation and the need for action with regard to the TRC and the calls for justice by the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls, as per the constituents from her community. In the throne sp

Resumption of Debate on Address in Reply  Mr. Speaker, I congratulate the member for his maiden speech. He spoke passionately about sexual crimes. Here in Canada, sadly, the missing and murdered indigenous women and girls' situation is not getting any better. I still recall the time when the Harper administration actual

Resumption of Debate on Address in Reply  Madam Speaker, another issue that has surfaced in my riding of Vancouver East concerns start-up businesses. They have been excluded from pandemic support and many of them are struggling. We now have an opportunity before us with Bill C-2 to make changes so that start-up companies

Housing  Mr. Speaker, in Vancouver, nearly 40% of the unhoused are indigenous peoples. For the last four years, the Liberal government has claimed that it is working on a “for indigenous, by indigenous” urban, rural and northern housing strategy. So far, there has been no progress and it

An Act to Provide Further Support in Response to COVID-19  Madam Speaker, on the clawback of the GIS for seniors, the impact is detrimental. I have met seniors who have now been evicted and rendered homeless, and the government still is not taking any action. Some 83,000 seniors will be impacted. Very specifically, would the member sup

Order Respecting the Business of the House and its Committees  Mr. Speaker, I have been listening to this debate for hours and my colleague, the member for Elmwood—Transcona, perhaps made the best speech of the day. He has touched on all of the issues. One thing that has not really been a highlight in the discussion here is leadership, and w