44th Parl. 1st Sess.
November 23, 2023 10:00AM
- Nov/23/23 11:19:32 a.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, we request a recorded vote, please.
8 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Nov/23/23 11:19:36 a.m.
- Watch
4 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Nov/23/23 12:02:51 p.m.
- Watch
I declare the motion carried.
5 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
Mr. Speaker, the legislation we are debating today would have a profoundly positive impact on Canadians from coast to coast to coast.
I would like to bring to this debate the Conservative Party's attitude towards legislation in general. I put it in the form of a question earlier about the Conservative Party today, the leader of the Conservative Party, his attraction to the People's Party and the membership of that particular party. As a result, the Conservative Party has moved far to the right. I would ultimately argue that the far right has taken over the leadership of the Conservative Party today.
I do not say that lightly. I truly believe that to be the case, and we have seen a good demonstration of that. Talking about the legislation we have today, one would think the Conservative Party would recognize the value and the good within this legislation and have a desire to see it passed. However, that is not the case of the far right Conservative Party today.
We saw that amplified just the other day when the Conservative Party voted against a trade agreement. Conservatives actually voted against the Canada-Ukraine trade agreement. It is unbelievable. Then they try to rationalize why.
It is rooted in the leadership of the Conservative Party. We see that far right element has virtually taken over. That has started to filter down into what we see across the way today. That is why, whether it is the Conservative Party voting against the trade agreement between Canada and Ukraine, or against the legislation we are debating today, there is a desire on the part of the Conservative Party to play that destructive force on the floor of the House of Commons.
Then they look surprised that we would bring in time allocation for the debate on Bill C-56. The bottom line is that time allocation was brought in because the Conservatives do not want to see this legislation passed—
330 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
Madam Speaker, I rise on a point of order. In light of the member's comments saying that he apparently wants to do more for Ukraine, I wonder if there would be unanimous consent for the adoption of a motion put on notice by the member for Dufferin—Caledon, which is that there be an instruction to the Standing Committee on International Trade that, during its consideration of Bill C-57, an act to implement the 2023 free trade agreement between Canada and Ukraine, the committee be granted the power to expand the scope of the bill in order to support expanded munitions production in Canada and increasing munitions exports to Ukraine, and support the development of weapons and munitions manufacturing capabilities in Ukraine by Canadian industry.
I hope there would be unanimous consent for the adoption of that motion so that we could move forward.
147 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Nov/23/23 12:06:59 p.m.
- Watch
All those opposed to the hon. member's moving the motion will please say nay.
An hon. member: Nay.
19 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Nov/23/23 12:07:14 p.m.
- Watch
Madam Speaker, on a point of order. I have a very quick procedural question. Will the Hansard reflect that it was the Liberal member for Winnipeg North who said no, or—
32 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Nov/23/23 12:07:20 p.m.
- Watch
This is not a point of order; this is a point of debate. I would remind members that they are well aware, especially the opposition House leader, what points of order are. I would ask members to please respect the rules of the House.
The hon. parliamentary secretary.
48 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Nov/23/23 12:07:42 p.m.
- Watch
Madam Speaker, the Conservatives just demonstrated just how dumb they can be.
Let us remember that they tried to move a unanimous motion to, in essence, kill the free trade agreement completely. What do they think would have happened if that motion had actually passed? There is an agreement that is in place. The Conservatives remember that President Zelenskyy came to Canada to sign that agreement, and now they just want to throw it out the window. It is irresponsible. That is what I mean when I speak about the far right extremists in the Conservative caucus today. Shame on them.
101 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Nov/23/23 12:08:10 p.m.
- Watch
I want to remind the hon. member that a point of order was raised yesterday when a member raised the fact that someone had used a word, and I am not going to repeat that word here, but I do want to remind members to please be very careful with the words they use in the House. We should not be using these derogatory words as that shows a lack of respect.
I have a point of order from the hon. member for Kelowna—Lake Country.
87 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Nov/23/23 12:08:53 p.m.
- Watch
Madam Speaker, my point of order was going to be to ask you to address the issue of the Liberal member calling someone dumb—
25 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Nov/23/23 12:09:03 p.m.
- Watch
Yes, and so I have.
The hon. parliamentary secretary.
9 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Nov/23/23 12:09:06 p.m.
- Watch
Madam Speaker, I would like to apologize for calling them dumdums.
11 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Nov/23/23 12:09:10 p.m.
- Watch
That is not a proper way of apologizing. I would like to remind members to please be careful with the words they use in the House. It does cause a lot of problems, and it really stops the flow of the House to be able to proceed.
Questions and comments, the hon. member for Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan.
59 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Nov/23/23 12:09:38 p.m.
- Watch
Madam Speaker, the member asked what would have happened if the Conservative motion to expand the scope had passed. It is quite simple what would have happened. The amendments I drafted to expand the scope of the bill to make specific legislative changes to expedite weapons transfers to Ukraine could be proposed, and if adopted, those amendments would then become part of this legislation. It would not in any way undermine the existing agreement. It would simply be a matter of Canada's adding additional legislative measures that would expedite the sale of weapons to Ukraine.
It would be things such as, for instance, putting Ukraine on the list of open policy countries, which would reduce the time and review standard required to get these weapons to Ukraine. It would be things such as having EDC and BDC play a greater role in supporting the manufacturing of weapons in Ukraine through Canadian business investments. These are concrete measures that would make an actual difference to Ukraine as it fights the war. Why does the member not support those measures?
179 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Nov/23/23 12:10:40 p.m.
- Watch
Madam Speaker, each and every one of the Conservative members needs to take ownership and responsibility for their behaviour and their unanimous decision to vote against the Canada-Ukraine agreement. The Conservatives can come up with all the red herrings that they want.
The bottom line is that President Zelenskyy came to Canada and signed a trade agreement with Canada, even during a time of war, recognizing the value of that trade agreement. Only the Conservative Party, in its wisdom and its far right extremism, made the decision to vote against him. Shame on them. If the member has remorse already, then he could apologize and ask for unanimous consent to reverse his vote.
An hon. member: Oh, oh!
119 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Nov/23/23 12:11:25 p.m.
- Watch
Order. I want to remind the hon. member that he had an opportunity to ask a question. If he has other questions, he should wait for the appropriate time.
Questions and comments, the hon. member for Edmonton Strathcona.
38 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Nov/23/23 12:11:35 p.m.
- Watch
Madam Speaker, I would just like to reiterate the comments that my colleague made about the Conservatives voting against supporting a trade agreement with Ukraine. In fact, they did it on the Day of Dignity and Freedom for Ukraine, just to make it that much more appalling and inexplicable.
The bill we are trying to get through today and the work we are trying to get done would provide some support for Canadians with housing. I know that the government has admitted that it has not done nearly enough to address the situation of housing. I listened today to my colleague from Nunavut when she spoke about how dire the situation is for housing in the north. I am just wondering how this piece of legislation, which we would like to be able to talk about and be able to pass, would help with to nutrition, food prices, grocery prices and housing in northern communities, such as that of my colleague from Nunavut.
163 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Nov/23/23 12:12:37 p.m.
- Watch
Madam Speaker, to give a very specific example, the legislation would establish getting rid of the GST for purpose-built rental homes. This would have a profoundly positive impact. We have now seen provinces do likewise with respect to the PST. I hope to see more provincial jurisdictions continue to do that.
The member made reference to a special day. This is Holodomor week, a week to recognize what took place in Ukraine when Russia starved millions of Ukrainians. This is in the same week that the Conservative Party voted against the Ukraine-Canada free trade deal. It is very hard to imagine why the Conservatives voted that way, with the exception of the far-right element that I referenced.
120 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
Madam Speaker, we are talking about Bill C-56, and it is important to bring us back to what this bill could offer to Canadians.
I am particularly interested in the piece around strengthening the Competition Act. We know that Canadians are deeply concerned about the rising costs of living. Christmas is coming. Ideally, not moving toward closure is what we want to see in the House, but we need to unfortunately because of the games that are played.
Could the member speak to some of the things we are seeing in the House that unfortunately prevent us from passing critical legislation like this?
104 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
