Persons with Disabilities  Mr. Speaker, I thank the hon. member for Calgary Centre for his tireless effort and advocacy on behalf of citizens with disabilities. This is indeed National AccessAbility Week, the third annual that our government has put forth. This week we celebrate the contributions of indiv

Accessible Canada Act  moved the second reading of, and concurrence in, amendments made by the Senate to Bill C-81, An Act to ensure a barrier-free Canada. Mr. Speaker, as a person with a disability and as the Minister of Accessibility, it is truly an honour to rise today to speak to Bill C-81. Over

Accessible Canada Act  Mr. Speaker, through Bill C-81, we would put in place mechanisms to ensure, as much as possible, that the funding we allocated would reflect the principles of accessibility. Where that was not possible, say for jurisdictional regions, such as provincial jurisdiction, we would bui

Accessible Canada Act  Mr. Speaker, I thank the hon. member for her question and, of course, her partnership on Bill C-81. This bill belongs to all of us. The elements in Bill C-81 are additional elements in an existing system. We have things in place. We have structures in place through the Canadian

Accessible Canada Act  Mr. Speaker, the short answer is yes, we will be very diligent. Thanks to the amendments put forth through the House committee, there would now be more robust accounting for an exemption when it was granted. The rationale for granting an exemption would have to be published. It w

Accessible Canada Act  Mr. Speaker, it is very exciting that we have managed to get into Bill C-81 the recognition of American sign language, langue des signes québécoise and indigenous sign language as the primary language for Canadians who are deaf. This is something I heard loud and clear and that I

Accessible Canada Act  Mr. Speaker, this legislation would fundamentally create a system in which we focused on a human rights approach to disability rights, and that would be a game changer for the disability community in our country. We know, and we heard very loudly, that as much as we needed to ack

Accessible Canada Act  Mr. Speaker, I would first like to acknowledge the number of Canadians with disabilities, their advocates and the interpreters here on the Hill today and all day yesterday. I thank everyone very much. I also thank everyone in the House for recognizing the importance of this leg

Persons with Disabilities  Mr. Speaker, on the eve of our third annual National AccessAbility Week, and of course with Bill C-81 having gone through this House last week, I can assure every Canadian that we will find jobs for these workers. In fact, we are showing them the dignity of giving them meaningful

Privacy  Mr. Speaker, our goal is to provide Canadians, including media, with timely, factual information, while ensuring sensitive information remains protected. I directed my department to ensure that we provide accurate information regarding ongoing conduct with industry partners, whil