Emergencies Act  Madam Speaker, I have a message tonight for all my colleagues here in the House of Commons and especially for everyone at home in Fleetwood—Port Kells, who are rightfully having a good debate right now about the justifications for using the emergency measures act. I want to provi

Liaquat Ali Bajwa  Mr. Speaker, our community is mourning the loss of a much beloved and respected man from a much respected and honoured family. Liaquat Ali Bajwa passed away earlier this month at the much too young age of 71. It was too young, given the legacy he has left us of a life well lived

Business of Supply  Madam Speaker, many decisions have been made throughout the pandemic, and when politicians made them without the backstop of good medical advice, they were tragic. We saw this last summer in Alberta. In fact, we saw it in some form even here in Ontario. Quebec, fortunately, has h

Economic and Fiscal Update Implementation Act, 2021  Mr. Speaker, the Conservatives oppose this bill. Do they oppose better ventilation for schools? Do they oppose more COVID tests? Do they approve improving the number of weeks of EI that workers are capable of getting? Do they approve of more relief for the businesses that took ad

Criminal Code and Controlled Drugs and Substances Act  Madam Speaker, in practical terms, the police are not arresting people for simple possession. Certainly, in British Columbia, where Crown counsel has to approve all charges, they are not approving charges. For all practical purposes, that is not happening. Decriminalization, in

Criminal Code and Controlled Drugs and Substances Act  Madam Speaker, I must say that I agree with the hon. member in her assessment of the situation. It was not long ago that we were debating the notion of additional training for judges to deal with gender issues that might come up. Again, that was so the judgments were appropriate

Criminal Code and Controlled Drugs and Substances Act  Madam Speaker, as the parliamentary secretary noted, minimum mandatory provisions somehow seemed to have become the ceiling rather than the bottom of the spectrum. Any suggestion that Bill C-5 would remove sentencing or make serious crimes less punishable is simply wrong. What i

Criminal Code and Controlled Drugs and Substances Act  Madam Speaker, it is with pleasure that I speak to Bill C-5, an act to amend the Criminal Code and the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act. The bill proposes sentencing and other amendments that would provide greater flexibility to the criminal justice system and support appropri

International Mother Language Day Act  moved for leave to introduce Bill S-214, an act to establish International Mother Language Day Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to sponsor Bill S-214, which is an act to establish February 21 each year as international mother language day in Canada. This bill recognizes that, in additi

Local Broadcasting  Mr. Speaker, I rise to register deep concern over the performance of some local radio outlets during the storms and flooding in British Columbia. On one forum, a former broadcaster commented, “After watching Abbotsford Mayor Braun's 9pm press conference on the city's YouTube ch

Criminal Code  Madam Speaker, the short answer is I do not know. I think that is something that needs to be fleshed out in terms of the review of this legislation. That said, how far do we go, contractor to contractor, the aunt of a wife of an uncle of a contractor? There obviously have to be s

Criminal Code  Madam Speaker, this is an example of how things morph over time just like the COVID-19 virus itself. New challenges are presented. We have been dealing with a moving target now for quite some time. What this demonstrates is the government's willingness to be flexible, to be innov

Criminal Code  Madam Speaker, I would like to remind my hon. colleague that throughout the time up until we came back to the House, we had the Canada sickness recovery benefit that was in essence a backstop to this. To the other point, I think that election was necessary for precisely the reaso

Criminal Code  Madam Speaker, the government has acted as quickly as possible because of the need to get the supports in place. We had supports, and those supports and their legislative rules came to an end. We had to move, and we had to move quickly. However, we have always been prepared to re

Criminal Code  Madam Speaker, I will use the privilege of not being in cabinet to say, yes, I absolutely agree with my hon. colleague and it is something that I would encourage the government to work towards.