National Defence Act  Mr. Speaker, as much as I enjoy the debate between the Liberals and Conservatives as to who has been the most tardy in dealing with public issues, I want to return to something much more substantive, and that is the question I raised with the minister of defence earlier. We sti

National Defence Act  Mr. Speaker, today I rise to speak to Bill C-77, very important, though tardy and still incomplete, legislation. The last time there were major reforms in our military justice system was 1998, in what was then Bill C-25. At that time, Bill C-25 specified there would be a five-yea

National Defence Act  Mr. Speaker, I cited the case of Corporal Langridge, but there are 130 cases since 2010 that are equally tragic and equally important. How can we best do this? I am expecting there have been discussions among the parties that this debate may finish today and therefore will have

National Defence Act  Mr. Speaker, it is a pleasure to work with the member for Selkirk—Interlake—Eastman as the Conservative spokesperson on the defence committee. While we do not always agree, we certainly both have the best interests of the serving members of the Canadian Armed Forces and of Canada

National Defence Act  Mr. Speaker, I am not sure what changes the hon. member is referring to, because I have been in the House since 2011 demanding that we move expeditiously in making changes to the military justice system. My position has never changed. This should have been done by the Conservativ

National Defence Act  Mr. Speaker, what we have here are important reforms that would restrict the use of summary trials and require better investigation and better production of evidence to be used in the more formal proceedings that are likely to occur. There are good things in Bill C-77. These me

National Defence Act  Mr. Speaker, I have enjoyed working with the member on the defence committee. I am not sure I understand her particular question. Within the military, as such a close community, until there is some resolution of sexual assault or harassment kinds of cases, there may be good reaso

National Defence Act  Mr. Speaker, in the military context, minor breaches of discipline are still breaches of discipline. That is one of the instances where the military context differs from the civilian context. We have to make sure that the system is fair in dealing with those. We have to ensure th

Sikh Heritage Month Act  Mr Speaker, I am very pleased to rise today to support Bill C-376 at second reading. This is the bill that would designate the month of April as Sikh heritage month. New Democrats have long been supporters of multiculturalism and celebrating the diverse backgrounds that make up

Natural Resources  Mr. Speaker, people in Esquimalt—Saanich—Sooke are astounded that the government intends to ram through the Trans Mountain pipeline at all costs, a pipeline that Kinder Morgan shareholders did not even want and that Vancouver Islanders certainly do not want. Thousands in my commu

National Defence  Mr. Speaker, on average, more than one member of the Canadian Forces dies by suicide each month. Unfortunately, serving members often struggle to get the help they need, with one barrier being that self-harm is still a disciplinary offence under the military code of conduct. This

National Defence  Mr. Speaker, nearly two years ago, the defence committee recommended that service records of those kicked out of the military for being lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender be revised to honourable discharges, and nothing happened. Nearly a year ago, the Liberal government issu

Veterans Affairs  Mr. Speaker, nearly a year ago, the Prime Minister stood in the House and apologized to the hundreds of members of my community who were kicked out of the Canadian forces, often with dishonourable discharges. Now the government is refusing to revise the service records of those L

Human Rights  Mr. Speaker, Tanzania has announced a government task force, which tomorrow will begin hunting down and arresting people who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex, with penalties ranging from 30 years to life imprisonment. The public has been asked to report gay pe

Business of Supply  Mr. Speaker, I always enjoy these debates where the Liberals and Conservatives take a lot of time to attack each other's fiscal performance and argue about who has done the worst job. However, if members asked constituents in my riding about deficits, here is what they would sa