Bills of Exchange Act  Mr. Speaker, I too share and echo your sentiments vis-à-vis the people of Ottawa-Gatineau, as well as the first responders and all those who were involved in assisting the families who were deeply affected by the events of last Friday. I am honoured to contribute to this debate.

Filipino Heritage Month  Mr. Speaker, I look forward to continuing this debate in its second hour. It is a very significant move on the part of this House to recognize one of the fastest-growing communities across Canada. In fact, there are over 800,000 people of Filipino heritage who live from coast to

Sikh Heritage Month Act  Mr. Speaker, [member spoke in Punjabi] I rise today on behalf of our government to add my voice in support of Bill C-376, an act to designate the month of April as Sikh heritage month, which seeks to recognize the enormous contributions of Sikh Canadians from coast to coast t

Indigenous Affairs  Mr. Speaker, Canadians understand that diversity is our strength. While we have much to celebrate, we know that there are still real challenges for many people in this country. Throughout our history, there have been people and communities, particularly indigenous peoples, who ha

Multiculturalism  Mr. Speaker, Canada is an open and diverse country, but there are still real challenges for many people in this country. Throughout our history and even today, there are many people and communities who experience systemic racism, oppression and discrimination, preventing them fr

Filipino Heritage Month  Mr. Speaker, I rise today once again in support of Motion No. 155 to designate the month of June as Filipino heritage month. As I initially indicated, I would like to thank my good friend and colleague from Scarborough Centre for bringing forward this important motion. As member

Elections Modernization Act  Madam Speaker, I am glad to speak this morning in support of Bill C-76. The goal of Bill C-76, the elections modernization act, is to modernize Canada's electoral system and to strengthen its integrity by making it more transparent, accessible and secure. It would do so, among o

Elections Modernization Act  Madam Speaker, I agree with my friend opposite that Canadians' right to vote is sacrosanct. It is a right that is available to every Canadian citizen aged 18 and over. When we vote, we reiterate our citizenship commitment to our country. I want to clarify that the voter inform

Elections Modernization Act  Madam Speaker, Bill C-76 essentially puts severe limitations on third-party advertising. There will be a very well-grounded regime to ensure there is transparency with regard to who those parties are. Bill C-76 strengthens our democracy from foreign influence. While it imposes c

Heritage  Madam Speaker, we, on this side of the House, are here for our artists, artisans and creators. We made that very clear with our cultural policy last year. We have made historic investments of $3.2 billion in the cultural sector, including the CBC, the Canada Council for the Arts

Budget Implementation Act, 2018, No. 2  Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to rise to speak in support of Bill C-86, the second act to implement certain provisions of the budget tabled in Parliament on February 27, 2018 and other measures. Let me start by acknowledging that I am speaking on the traditional land of the Algonqu

Budget Implementation Act, 2018, No. 2  Mr. Speaker, poverty is absolutely an important issue. My friend opposite is correct that it affects all of us in all of our ridings. Particular communities are affected much more deeply than others, such as those in northern and rural areas across the country. That is an importa

Budget Implementation Act, 2018, No. 2  Mr. Speaker, of course, each and every committee operates on its own and its membership decides what to do and what kind of study to undertake. Therefore, I cannot speak to the particular point my friend opposite brought up. Certainly, there will be ample opportunity, once Bill

Budget Implementation Act, 2018, No. 2  Mr. Speaker, my hon. colleague and I work closely together, as we represent ridings covering a geographically close area. Of course, the topic of the Canada child benefit keeps coming up over and over again. Overwhelmingly, people talk about how it impacts them in a very person

Criminal Code  Mr. Speaker, I am very glad to speak here in support of Bill C-75, an act to amend the Criminal Code, the Youth Criminal Justice Act and other acts and to make consequential amendments to other acts. I will start off by acknowledging that we are gathered here on the traditional