Canadian Heritage  Mr. Speaker, I can assure my colleague that everything was done with complete honesty and integrity. Everyone who participated in the requests for proposals was contacted and invited to submit proposals. As a government, we want to ensure a strong vision for Canada 150 celebrati

Canadian Heritage  Mr. Speaker, Canadians are excited about the Canada 150 celebrations. We have received thousands of applications worth almost $2 billion, for a fund that is only $200 million. We want celebrations and projects across the country that are specifically based on four themes. Member

Official Languages  Mr. Speaker, we are very proud of our leadership on official languages. Naturally, bilingualism is important to the Prime Minister and to the government in general. I am very proud to have participated, along with the Prime Minister, in this important gala promoting musical tale

Ethics  Mr. Speaker, we are very proud of the vision we have put in place for the Canada 150 celebrations. Four themes will be celebrated throughout the year: young people, the environment, reconciliation with Indigenous peoples, and diversity and inclusiveness. We will make sure that in

Canadian Heritage  Mr. Speaker, Canadians are very excited about the 150th anniversary celebrations. This is obvious from the thousands of projects we received, all totalling nearly $2 billion, when we have only $200 million in available funds. My colleagues and Canadians know that the celebration

Canadian Heritage  Mr. Speaker, the Canada 150 vision is rooted in our communities and designed for families right across the country. We are proud to have invested more than $130 million in projects of national significance, which will have an opportunity to stop in a number of communities in all

Canadian Heritage  Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for his important question and his interest in this file. Of course, we launched public consultations last year to consider all the repercussions that digital services have on the entire Canadian cultural ecosystem. In 2017, I will have the opp

Canadian Heritage  Mr. Speaker, Canada's 150th anniversary of Confederation is a unique opportunity to bring Canadians together and strengthen their connection to our communities by inspiring a vision of a vibrant, diverse, and inclusive country. As part of the celebration, we are focusing on engag

British Home Children  Mr. Speaker, I congratulate the member's work on this motion. I am happy to say that unanimously we all supported it and we will be studying the question.

Human Rights  Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the member for Dorval—Lachine—LaSalle for her important question. I want to take this opportunity to condemn the acts of discrimination that were committed this past weekend in North York and Montreal. On February 9, 2017, I had the opportunity to a

Canadian Heritage  Madam Speaker, our government firmly believes in investing in our cultural sector, as it drives innovation and growth and allows for unique Canadian stories to be shared with the world. In budget 2016, we invested nearly $170 million over two years in cultural infrastructure. Th

Point of Order  Mr. Speaker, this morning I presented an amendment to the Conservative motion. My hon. colleague from Cypress Hills—Grasslands did not accept the motion, because he said he had not seen it. As my hon. colleague has had a generous amount of time to reflect, I would like to seek on

Religious Freedom  Mr. Speaker, as we have said many times, our diversity is our strength. Members across the aisle are refusing to admit that Islamophobia is real. We condemn fearmongering and misinformation campaigns. We condemn policies that seek to divide us. I am proud to say that we have tak

Religious Freedom  Mr. Speaker, I agree with my colleague. It is important to have these difficult conversations in our society. The problem of Islamophobia exists, and refusing to give it a name will not make it go away. The first thing we need to do to fight the phenomenon is to name it, to iden

Religious Freedom  Mr. Speaker, words matter. Let us talk about Islamophobia and the troubling rise in hate crimes against the Muslim community across the country. It is real; it can be defined, and it has no place in Canada. Neighbours, friends, co-workers of the Muslim faith endure systemic racis