Public Service Labour Relations Act  Madam Speaker, I will be splitting my time with the member of Parliament for South Okanagan—West Kootenay. I want to extend more than anything my sincere thanks to members of the Nanaimo, Ladysmith, and Gabriola detachments of the RCMP for the work they do in the riding that I a

Indigenous Affairs  Mr. Speaker, yesterday, the inquiry into murdered and missing indigenous women received a failing grade from the Native Women's Association of Canada. Yesterday, 30 families and indigenous leaders said the process is in “serious trouble”. A full and independent inquiry was promis

Status of Women  Mr. Speaker, there was not a single witness at the pay equity commission that was held last year, a special committee, who asked for more consultation or asked for more time. It was the unanimous recommendation of the committee that the government table legislation in June 2017.

Status of Women  Mr. Speaker, without pay equity, women are robbed of an estimated 23% of their earnings. The government is an accomplice to that robbery. Thirteen years have passed since the 2004 Pay Equity Task Force report. It was a comprehensive blueprint for pay equity. It was a three-year

Controlled Drugs and Substances Act  Mr. Speaker, Nanaimo, the city I am honoured to represent, had 13 fatalities in the first three months of this year and 28 fatalities last year. We are a smaller city but people are dying in this emergency at the same rate as people in Vancouver. While the government delayed acti

Controlled Drugs and Substances Act  Madam Speaker, in my riding of Nanaimo—Ladysmith, in Nanaimo itself, we have lost 13 people to fentanyl overdoses in the first three months of this year. We lost 28 people last year. We have people dying from this crisis at the same rate as Vancouver, although our population is m

Petitions  Mr. Speaker, I rise to present a petition calling for federal leadership to clean up the coast and take action on abandoned vessels. This would have helped this weekend when volunteers in Cadboro Bay, on Vancouver Island, brought together dozens of volunteers to remove abandoned

Judicial Accountability through Sexual Assault Law Training Act  Mr. Speaker, in a moment, I am going to propose a unanimous consent motion. It is in relation to Bill C-337, a private member's bill to provide for sexual assault training for judges to prevent any more of the terrible headlines we have seen in this country on how victims of sexu

Child Care  Mr. Speaker, yesterday Canadians celebrated Mother's Day and all the contributions mothers make to their families and to Canada, but what we cannot celebrate is the lack of affordable child care for Canadian families. Fees are more than $1,200 a month in Toronto, closer to $1,40

Community Organizations  Mr. Speaker, over these past few weeks I have met with Nanaimo—Ladysmith groups, such as Haven Society, the Nanaimo Family Life Association, and community centres for indigenous peoples. They have one worry in common: a shortage of reliable, stable funding to keep the lights on.

Controlled Drugs and Substances Act  Mr. Speaker, shameful would characterize 10 years of Conservative inaction, followed by a year and a half of Liberal foot dragging, followed by three months of Senate stalling, studying the exact same questions that were debated and rejected at committee, while people continue to

Public Service Labour Relations Act  Mr. Speaker, I represent Nanaimo—Ladysmith, a region that is served entirely by RCMP members, who are doing fantastic front-line work. I would like to know whether the member agrees with this encapsulation of the problem as identified by one of the members in my region. This is

Petitions  Mr. Speaker, I rise today to present petitions from people all over the country concerned about the establishment of five new commercial anchorages for vessels up to 300 metres long in the Salish Sea, on the forested and wild coastline of Gabriola Island. The petitioners note the

Indigenous Affairs  Mr. Speaker, getting at the cause of thousands of murdered and missing indigenous women and girls is crucial to our country, but almost a year after the inquiry's launch, families are being completely left out. Now concern and frustration are growing after the inquiry was suspend

Fisheries and Oceans  Mr. Speaker, this weekend, because the government has failed to act, volunteers, tired of waiting, will clean up 16 abandoned vessels in Oak Bay on Vancouver Island. So far, there is no legislation, no regulation, and no money for abandoned vessels in the 2017 budget, and the gov