Report Stage  Madam Speaker, about 12% of Canadians self-report using cannabis every year, but around 80% of Canadians say they use alcohol; 4.4 million Canadians are at risk for chronic health effects as a result of alcohol use; 3.1 million Canadians are at risk of immediate injury and harm;

Access to Information Act  Madam Speaker, I have to say my colleague highlighted the problems, in his view, of creating a requirement or an ability to decline requests that are vexatious and frivolous. That was a recommendation from the Information Commissioner. When we undertook at our committee a study o

Budget Implementation Act, 2017, No. 2  Mr. Speaker, it was interesting to note that the parliamentary budget office released a report in October, the fiscal sustainability report, and noted that federal finances are actually sustainable in the long term, contrary to what the member has indicated. The member mentioned

Budget Implementation Act, 2017, No. 2  Madam Speaker, the member said something that I want to clarify and get his thoughts on. He said that any work-in-progress account is going to be subject to income tax. The members opposite know that is not true. In fact, bill-based accounting rules are the lesser value of fair m

Budget Implementation Act, 2017, No. 2  Mr. Speaker, the member opposite suggested there is not a lot to show for some of the federal spending. However, the Governor of the Bank of Canada disagrees and has called the Canada child benefit “highly stimulative”. The member also talked about hopeless budgeting that no one

Petitions  Mr. Speaker, I rise to present two petitions. In the first petition, 100 petitioners are calling on the environment minister to educate Canadians about the impact of our diets on our planet through the climatechange.gc.ca website. The petitioners note that reducing animal produ

Petitions  Mr. Speaker, in the second petition, hundreds of petitioners have noted that Canada does not currently have a national flower. Master Gardeners of Ontario created an online poll in which almost 10,000 Canadians voted, and 79.5% of those voters chose cornus canadensis, also know

Beaches—East York  Mr. Speaker, the holidays are a time to spend with family and with our community. We have been lucky to celebrate the holidays in Beaches—East York with many local bazaars, our Santa Claus parade along Kingston Road, DECA's festival of lights in East Lynn Park, and the Beaches L

Canada Elections Act  Mr. Speaker, before I begin my speech, I note that the parliamentary secretary and I agreed on ground rules for the fundraiser I held. We agreed that we would not talk about cannabis, despite a mutual interest in discussing it. Also, just so the record is clear, the cost of that

Canada Elections Act  Mr. Speaker, first, the Parliamentary Budget Office conducted an analysis, which was pretty clear that the cost of that private member's bill would have been quite large. The answer is not necessarily to increase charitable donations to where our political tax credits are, but to

Canada Elections Act  Mr. Speaker, I agree that leaders should be subject to these rules. It is not only the power that leaders have, and there is no question they have power. Obviously there is a difference between a leader and a minister or a prime minister where taxpayer funds are allocated. Howeve

Canada Elections Act  Mr. Speaker, my parents were both teachers. I certainly paid my way through law school and eight years of education. I held a fundraiser, and the parliamentary secretary to the minister of justice at the time came. We made an agreement that we would not talk about cannabis. It

Petitions  Mr. Speaker, I have four petitions to present today that are all related to improving the humane treatment of animals in Canada. The first two petitions are signed by over 40,000 Canadians calling on our government to improve the Criminal Code's animal cruelty section. Ninety-tw

Petitions  Mr. Speaker, the third petition was signed by more than 3,000 Canadians. The petitioners call on the Government of Canada to require public canteens under federal jurisdiction to provide a strict vegetarian or vegan option and to raise this issue and work with all provincial an

Petitions  Mr. Speaker, the fourth petition is signed by more than 7,000 Canadians. The petitioners are calling on the government to require slaughterhouses and other industrial agribusinesses that raise, transport, or slaughter large numbers of animals to install video surveillance equipm