SoVote

Decentralized Democracy

House Hansard - 152

44th Parl. 1st Sess.
February 2, 2023 10:00AM
Context: House Hansard - 152 - Feb/2/23
Mr. Gord Johns (Courtenay—Alberni, NDP)
  • Feb/2/23 2:30:17 p.m.
  • Watch
Mr. Speaker, Canadians deserve accountability and transparency from the government. They deserve answers on Conservatives' and Liberals' long-standing partnership with expensive consulting firms when Canada has one of the best public services. McKinsey is just the tip of the iceberg. That is why New Democrats are calling to investigate firms that have been raking in hundreds of millions of dollars from the government, like Deloitte and PricewaterhouseCoopers. Will the Liberals and Conservatives both agree to stop giving piles of public money to their friends at consulting firms and support a full investigation into government outsourcing?
96 words
  • Hear!
  • Rabble!
  • star_border
Context: House Hansard - 152 - Feb/2/23
Mr. Gord Johns (Courtenay—Alberni, NDP)
  • Feb/2/23 4:17:40 p.m.
  • Watch
Mr. Speaker, this is an important conversation. We recognize that the early release of people pretrial who are violent or repeat offenders is a real concern. We have heard from municipal leaders and premiers who have come to Ottawa. They are waiting for concrete proposals to be presented to this House that we can consider. We have also heard from police that the gap in supports for mental health and people living with substance use is causing a real issue. We have been waiting for the mental health transfer, $4.5 billion over five years, which the Liberals still have not delivered. They would not even let my bill go to committee, to listen to their own expert task force, to talk about solutions when it comes to the substance use crisis. When are the Liberals going to deliver on mental health and a real plan to tackle the substance use issues facing Canadians in our country?
157 words
  • Hear!
  • Rabble!
  • star_border
Context: House Hansard - 152 - Feb/2/23
Mr. Gord Johns (Courtenay—Alberni, NDP)
  • Feb/2/23 4:31:30 p.m.
  • Watch
Mr. Speaker, I am disappointed. I joined this debate this afternoon, and all I hear from the Conservatives is that everything is broken. Everything I hear from the Liberals is that everyone is wrong. We have an opportunity here to talk about bail reform, which is really important. This is something we have heard from municipal leaders and something we have heard about from premiers that has to be fixed. These are legitimate concerns. We also have not talked about the current bail system and how it is not working for many people. There are far higher rates of pretrial detention for indigenous people, for racialized Canadians, for new Canadians and for low-income Canadians. It is mainly because they do not have the necessary resources, or even a stable address or stable employment. My friend Martha's son, Mike Martin, was in pretrial detention. He had an opioid addiction, and he had been in there for repeat offences of drug-seeking and related crime. He did not get the medicine he needed and took his life. Will the parliamentary secretary talk about some solutions, so we do not lose more people like Mike Martin?
195 words
  • Hear!
  • Rabble!
  • star_border