Preclearance Act, 2016  Madam Speaker, I would like to hear my colleague's comments on whether he is getting the same kind of mail that I am, hearing from constituents who are concerned that U.S. border guards are not likely to carry out responsibilities at our border in the way we would expect on Canad

Business of Supply  Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the member's reminder of the larger context here. We have recently witnessed a very high-profile American election where a sexist, racist president was chosen with fewer votes than his opponent. Nevertheless, in a broken electoral system in the U.S., tha

Business of Supply  Mr. Speaker, if I have the math right, that side of the House will vote in support of Motion No. 103. Probably most New Democrats will also, and Motion No. 103 will then be the direction given to a committee to study and it will bring some recommendations back. If any members o

Business of Supply  Mr. Speaker, I will be splitting my time with the member of Parliament for Sherbrooke. We have to combat all forms of racism and religious discrimination in order to build more inclusive communities. Canada is better when we do. Fighting against these discriminations is a means

Business of Supply  Mr. Speaker, given the systemic racism and discrimination against indigenous people completely under the control of the federal government for the last 150 years, does the member agree to work in solidarity in every way he can in the spirit of this motion and last night's motion

Controlled Drugs and Substances Act  Madam Speaker, I appreciate my colleague's support for real action on addressing the opioid overdose. My own community of Nanaimo—Ladysmith has seen a tremendous effort by first responders and community organizations that have worked very hard to fill the gap in the failure of f

Controlled Drugs and Substances Act  Madam Speaker, it is a little hard to listen to the member in this debate. I am part of a community that has been very hard hit by the opioid overdose crisis. I have observed the operation of the supervised injection site, Insite, in Vancouver, and the Conservatives thwarted ever

Controlled Drugs and Substances Act  Madam Speaker, as members know, New Democrats support the bill. I spoke at length yesterday about the impact that it would have to support front-line RCMP, ambulance attendants, firefighters, and community volunteers who are doing their best to fight this huge epidemic. My commun

Controlled Drugs and Substances Act  Mr. Speaker, there is so much work the federal government can do if it truly wants to step up to the plate on this. I was elected to local government for 12 years before being elected to the House and we heard this again and again. If we had partnership with the federal governmen

Controlled Drugs and Substances Act  Mr. Speaker, we were hoping a year ago that the federal government would step up and declare the opioid overdose crisis a national emergency. We had testimony at the health committee. Dr. Emberley from the Canadian Pharmacists Association said that it was definitely a national pr

Controlled Drugs and Substances Act  Mr. Speaker, it is an honour to speak on behalf of the people of Nanaimo—Ladysmith, but this is certainly a hard story. I support the government's approach moving forward, but I want to talk about the impact in my immediate community, to describe the imperative of why action is s

Indigenous Affairs  Mr. Speaker, for almost 30 years families across Canada have been marching on Valentine's Day with Sisters in Spirit to honour the memory of murdered and missing indigenous women and girls. We are glad the national inquiry was announced, but the government promised it would act

Status of Women  Mr. Speaker, every year, 5,500 cases of sexual assault are reported to police, but one in five are deemed to be unfounded. We need to create a culture that takes victims of sexual assault seriously, especially when 90% of sexual assaults are never reported. However, we also need

Income Tax Act  Mr. Speaker, I am honoured to stand in the House on behalf of my constituents of Nanaimo—Ladysmith to speak to the benefits of heritage conservation, energy conservation, and job creation. New Democrats have long supported Canadian heritage and we support the goal of this privat

Canada-Ukraine Free Trade Agreement Implementation Act  Mr. Speaker, I would like to ask if my colleague can talk more about the environmental benefits of this trade agreement and also about what is at risk when the Government of Canada signs trade deals in which investor-state dispute resolution mechanisms are included that encourage