Government Appointments  Mr. Speaker, last week I asked if the Prime Minister would recuse himself from the appointment procedure for the new ethics commissioner, who may inherit the investigation into the Prime Minister's conduct, or whether he would just appoint a good Liberal to help get him off the h

Public Service Labour Relations Act  Mr. Speaker, the parliamentary secretary, in her speech, said that a secret ballot is inconsistent with a fair and open process. In response to that, my colleague from Edmonton West asked a very reasonable question. He asked her to explain how she thought a secret ballot, on an i

Public Service Labour Relations Act  Mr. Speaker, I will be sharing my time with the member for Parry Sound—Muskoka. Mr. Speaker, my colleagues and I have tremendous respect for the RCMP and appreciate and admire its work. We do not question the wisdom of the Supreme Court when it ruled that the current labour regi

Public Service Labour Relations Act  Mr. Speaker, we believe that certifying a union should be done by secret ballot for the reasons I gave in my speech. That is consistent with the way we elect members of Parliament, and it is consistent with the way we elect you, Mr. Speaker. Therefore, we support a vote by secret

Public Service Labour Relations Act  Mr. Speaker, the member for Victoria made an important point in his question. The government has been sitting on these amendments from the Senate for almost a year and is now suddenly insisting that this be rushed through with minimal debate. It is doing some tricky math around d

Public Service Labour Relations Act  Mr. Speaker, I am sorry the member for Vancouver Quadra was disappointed with my speech. She may have noted from the outset that I did broadly agree and support the aims of the bill, but the important issue at stake, the issue of the secret ballot, is such that it renders the res

Government Appointments  Madam Speaker, last week, for the second time in two weeks, I asked the Prime Minister if he would recuse himself from the process of appointing a new ethics commissioner. In fact, I had asked whether he was signalling things to come when the Liberals appointed a former Liberal p

Government Appointments  Madam Speaker, it should be pointed out to the member opposite that there was no smear, and in no way did I impugn the reputation of Madame Meilleur. I did criticize the process by which she was appointed, and I was concerned that it will be the process they use to appoint other

Criminal Code  Madam Speaker, the implications of this bill include significant changes to policing at the local level. Municipalities have concerns about resources and about adapting to new requirements, particularly with the prospect of having to screen drivers for impairment due to cannabis.

Business of Supply  Mr. Speaker, in an earlier intervention there was talk about processes. We know that the Liberals are trying to take credit for improvement of the process. Would the member like to comment on the government's apparent decision to move the National Energy Board out of Calgary and

Government Appointments  Mr. Speaker, it is just embarrassing to listen to this parliamentary secretary repeat the same sophomoric drivel over and over again. The Ethics Commissioner is investigating the Prime Minister. The Lobbying Commissioner is investigating cash for access fundraising. The Liberals

Cannabis Act  Mr. Speaker, what the government House leader said is so absurd that it could not go unchallenged. She talked about so-called unprecedented consultations and waxed, I would say aimlessly, about the importance of hearing the diversity of opinions while we are debating a time alloc

Cannabis Act  Mr. Speaker, Canada has historically drawn a distinction between ministers of the crown and ministers of state based on the scope and scale of the work in their portfolio. For example, small businesses and tourism are important components of the Canadian economy. Indeed, they are

Cannabis Act  Mr. Speaker, that is the bait and switch. This is not really about who is equal at the cabinet table but about centralizing power, and in this government, the only place one goes to get a funding decision is to Gerald Butts.

Cannabis Act  Mr. Speaker, the gender of a minister or a minister of state should not matter. If they are a minister with the responsibilities of a minister, they should be paid as such, and if they do not have departments to run and all of the things that attend with those same responsibiliti