SoVote

Mr. Charlie Angus (Timmins—James Bay, NDP)

May/9/23 11:06:11 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, I think we all agree that the member for Wellington—Halton Hills has an incredible amount of integrity. Where we do not see integrity is in how the Conservatives are trying to exploit this. I am amazed that my colleague quotes Teddy Roosevelt. Do Conservatives think their leader is going to carry a big stick? Teddy Roosevelt, of course, launched illegal invasions into Cuba and Philippines, and mass murder, based on falsehoods. The Conservatives believe that, as long as Canadians do not know history, they will be okay. When it was Stephen Harper who was kissing up to China, what did they announce? The member on the back bench can confirm that they were going to send blueberries to China. In exchange for blueberries, what did China take? Chinese state corporations took control of a huge part of the oil sands. Stephen Harper said that was okay because they were sucking up to China. For Conservatives to come in now with this false history is really concerning. They are exploiting a very serious situation to make their very juvenile leader look like he is going to walk out on the world stage with his big stick to take on China. For sure, Canadians deserve better than that.

210 words

Context: House Hansard - 193 - May/9/23

Mr. Charlie Angus (Timmins—James Bay, NDP)

May/9/23 12:34:14 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, we have a responsibility in the House to protect democracy, and that means we have to be the adults in the room. When the allegations of electoral interference came up, the Prime Minister reasonably should have said that there would be a public investigation so that people would know that it was not so much just about China, but that there could be all manner of foreign interference. We know about Russian bot interference during the convoy. Let us do that and reassure people. We found out the shocking news about the member for Wellington—Halton Hills. I do not know that there is any evidence that the Prime Minister knew two years ago, but when he was made aware, he did not expel the diplomat, and that sent a very disturbing signal. In the midst of this debate, and I mean no offence to my Liberal colleagues, the fact that they put forward the member for Winnipeg North and the member for Kingston and the Islands is turning this into a gong show, and that is not helpful. However, I would ask my hon. colleague about his own leader, who is getting up and making outrageously juvenile claims that thousands of Chinese Canadians were intimidated into not voting, in order to benefit the Prime Minister. That kind of exploitation and falsehood is also dangerous to democracy. We need to take this thing in a focused manner. We need to be able to reassure people. However, to exploit it like the Conservative leader is doing is, to me, as concerning for democracy as the failure of the Liberals to take responsibility for their ship and what they should be doing right now to protect democracy.

288 words

Context: House Hansard - 193 - May/9/23

Mr. Charlie Angus (Timmins—James Bay, NDP)

May/9/23 3:10:57 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, in Timmins, Thunder Bay and communities across northern Ontario, the homeless crisis, coupled with the toxic drug disaster has created a social catastrophe. In Timmins, funding for the groundbreaking firekeeper patrol proposal is running out, even though it is keeping indigenous people alive on the streets. In Thunder Bay, the waiting list for housing is staggering. Social service boards of first nations across the north are doing everything they can. The question they ask is where is the federal government? Will the indigenous services minister commit to the firekeepers and meet with northern leaders to find a solution to the housing crisis?

104 words