Petitions  Mr. Speaker, I am happy to present a petition today on behalf of the citizens of Revelstoke, in my riding of Kootenay—Columbia, with support from people living in Chilliwack, Agassiz, and Harrison Hot Springs on the Lower Mainland. It is a fairly long petition, so I will shorten

Budget Implementation Act, 2016, No. 1  Mr. Speaker, as a former mayor, I really appreciate a lot of the comments the member has made this morning about the needs. Certainly, we need a different formula in municipalities. That one-third, one-third, one-third formula was really difficult for small communities. Those com

Good Samaritan Drug Overdose Act  Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to rise today to speak in favour of Bill C-224, and I want to thank my colleagues for their very impassioned plea for the bill, particularly the member for Coquitlam—Port Coquitlam. I lived in Port Coquitlam for 10 years, and I am sure the constituents t

Criminal Code  Mr. Speaker, I really do not think it is a lower standard. If we have the opportunity to declare our intent ahead of time and put it in writing, that at least gives us some opportunity to have some say over our future. If we reach the point where we cannot consent and we cannot n

Criminal Code  Mr. Speaker, let me repeat what I said during my speech. I am not suggesting that the death of a pet and the death of a human are equivalent. We need to take even more care that we get it right when we are talking about euthanasia using a human lens. I absolutely agree that pal

Criminal Code  Mr. Speaker, absolutely, I think that is missing from the current version of the bill. I think it is really important to give Canadians the opportunity for an advance declaration of what their wishes are, particularly if they know their disease is leading to a condition where the

Criminal Code  Mr. Speaker, I rise today to speak to Bill C-14, an act to amend the Criminal Code and to make related amendments to other acts related to medical assistance in dying. I support the bill at second reading. However, it does need to be amended. I will start today with a story. So

Rafting Industry in British Columbia  Mr. Speaker, after 40 years of successful and safe operations, the rafting industry in Golden, B.C. has been notified that due to safety concerns, it will no longer be allowed to cross Canadian Pacific Railway's tracks to access the lower canyon of the Kicking Horse River. The

The Budget  Mr. Speaker, I thank the hon. member for his speech. He has much to be proud of in his riding. However, I would like to bring him back to October 13, 2015 during the election. His party stated: To help close the funding gap and improve outcomes for First Nations students, we wi

Citizens in Kootenay—Columbia  Mr. Speaker, I rise in the House today to recognize the work of 14 of my constituents who have recently been honoured by the Governor General with the Caring Canadian Award, including Robert Lenard Cutler, Dollie Kaetler, Donna Kutzner, Eric Kutzner, Heather More, Tanna Patterson

Petitions  Mr. Speaker, I am very pleased to rise today with a second petition from Kootenay—Columbia constituents concerning proportional representation, this time from Nelson, Balfour, Yahk, Passmore and Winlaw. It is very clear this is not a petition in favour of preferential ballot, w

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship  Mr. Speaker, I rise in the House today to recognize the hard work of the constituents of Kootenay—Columbia, who are organizing to bring Syrian refugees to Canada. Across my riding, we are blessed to have many groups of dedicated citizens working toward this important goal, incl

Canada's Contribution to the Effort to Combat ISIL  Mr. Speaker, I thank the hon. member for his support for our Armed Forces. We all share in that appreciation. Our party has consistently said that the way to defeat ISIS, which is an objective we all share, is to cut off its supply of money, arms, and foreign fighters. However,

Canada's Contribution to the Effort to Combat ISIL  Mr. Speaker, what Canadians are looking for from the government is clarity and truth, so is this a combat mission or not? How is putting more boots on the ground not a combat mission? Do you have an exit strategy? How long are you willing to put our men and women in the armed fo

Canada's Contribution to the Effort to Combat ISIL  Mr. Speaker, we truly are seeking clarity on the government's proposal to help Canadians decide if this is the correct approach, so I have three questions for my colleague. First of all, stopping the flow of arms to ISIS is critical. It cannot fight a war without weapons. Why ha