44th Parl. 1st Sess.
February 28, 2024 02:00PM
- Feb/28/24 3:06:35 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I am simply asking the same question the Quebec premier did. It was François Legault who asked what the point of voting for the Bloc Québécois was. I know it helps the Prime Minister, because the Bloc Québécois voted with the Prime Minister to radically increase taxes on gasoline and diesel. The Bloc Québécois supported the ban on hunting rifles for Quebeckers in the regions. The Bloc Québécois is voting to release criminals and cause a crime wave on the streets. That means voting for the Bloc Québécois helps the Prime Minister.
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- Feb/28/24 5:05:22 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I have said many times that there are two bloc parties in the House of Commons, the Bloc Québécois and the “block everything” party, which is the Conservatives, who have systematically blocked every piece of legislation.
Now, if the Conservatives read the motion, and I am not sure that my colleague from Barrie—Innisfil actually read what is before the House, they would see that there are two aspects to it. First, of course, is the fact that we would be working into the evening, which would allow more time for debate in the evenings and more time for members of Parliament to be heard. Second, and this is perhaps the most important aspect, is that it would eliminate the toxic overnight voting, which has been propelled by the member for Carleton, who did not even show up last time. During 30 hours of votes, he showed up for an hour. This just shows—
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- Feb/28/24 5:06:44 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, absolutely, the member for Carleton voted six times in person and the rest of the time voted, I guess, online.
The reality is that we need to ensure that the employees of the House of Commons, who are really the bastion of this democracy, are not forced to work overnight for 25 or 30 hours straight. The nine-hour health break would actually make a big difference in ensuring the health and safety of the employees who work here, as well as members of Parliament. What happened to my colleague and good friend, the member for Saanich—Gulf Islands, last June has to be a wake-up call for all of us.
As a result, I would simply ask my colleague across the way why the Conservatives have been blocking a motion that would basically do two things. It would allow more members of Parliament to speak in evening sessions, and it would stop toxic overnight voting, which the member for Carleton always seems to run away from.
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- Feb/28/24 5:23:13 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the member for Courtenay—Alberni, because it is time to actually address this in a very serious manner.
There are 338 members of the chamber. It is not healthy for any single one of us to be forced to vote on billion-dollar items for 30 straight hours. It is not healthy for anyone, and there are members of the House with health conditions, issues that quite predictably make their families, friends and constituents anxious because they should not be here voting for 30 consecutive hours, forced by the Leader of the Opposition and an obstructive, toxic force across the way. That is not okay. Someone could be seriously harmed by that.
I used to be the chief government whip, and the welfare of the members was very important to me, as it is to our current chief government whip and, I am sure, to all whips. The fact is that we cannot make sure the resources such as the member for Saanich—Gulf Islands was calling for, or any of the other supports that are required, are here so we can be certain all members are safe. We need members to be safe. No one sends us here to be unsafe and to enjoy unsafe working conditions. Those are unsafe working conditions. Who knew they were unsafe? The Leader of the Opposition did. He did six votes from his seat and 124 of them from a McDonald's franchise and a Conservative fundraiser.
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- Feb/28/24 5:33:29 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I just want to remind members of this House, many of whom, including the member for Courtenay—Alberni, were not here when I first learned about all-night voting. That was back when Stephen Harper was the prime minister and the NDP moved hundreds, if not thousands, of amendments to a piece of legislation to discuss Canada Post and forced all-night voting. As a matter of fact, if the record is checked, I believe that voting went on for in excess of 24 hours. I even believe the member for Saanich—Gulf Islands has moved a number of motions and amendments that created long-term marathon voting as well.
I just want to remind everybody that this is where we are actually at. The issue that the government House leader does not understand is that it is the agenda that it is trying to get passed that is actually causing the frustration in the House. The government can monkey around with all of the Standing Orders that they want, but it actually has to be an agenda that Canadians want. Canadians are rejecting the government's agenda right now. The polling numbers clearly indicate that the government and its coalition partners do not have the support of the Canadian public so everything it is doing is actually against where the Canadian public is at. If the government would just change its agenda, it would actually have the support of this House and the support of the Canadian public. If it has the support of the public, it will have the support in the House. It does not have the support of the House because the public does not support its agenda. The government can monkey with the Standing Orders all they want, but it is not going to change the fact that the government has bad ideas. That is why those ideas are not getting through the House.
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- Feb/28/24 5:35:06 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I want to thank my former counterpart, who was the chief opposition whip. I know of his very legitimate concerns for members and I thank him for pointing out that perhaps he too objects to all-night voting. I know that, in an honest moment, that member would probably agree that it is a very bad idea.
I will say this, though. I do reject the premise that giving that member and his colleagues more time to present their constructive ideas to Canadians is somehow a danger for the rules of this place. We are allowing time for more debate and allowing that member more time to put his ideas across.
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- Feb/28/24 5:35:53 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I rise on a point of order. I raise this as a technical concern in this place. A vote took place, and the timer associated with the app was not accurate. Those members may think it is user error. For those who do not understand the concept of blockchain technology, that is really rich.
Before we proceed to another vote, the timing issue on the app is of the utmost concern. I did vote early in the process to ensure that I would have time to verify my vote. The 10-minute voting period does indicate an allowance for votes to be cast later in that process. When I did look back at the app, there was 30 seconds left on the screen in the lobby, but three and a half minutes left on the voting app. To further emphasize the seriousness of this technical concern, it was about 20 minutes after the vote finished that I got the confirmation email that said my vote was, in fact, nay.
I raise serious concerns about the ability of members to fulfill their constitutional parliamentary functions in this place, especially on an issue as important as the future of our democracy, which the Liberals are certainly putting at—
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- Feb/28/24 5:37:19 p.m.
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I think that is enough on the point of order. I understand the concern. I am going to talk to the desk for a moment.
I appreciate the input. We will look closely at what transpired. There were 100 or so votes cast in a proper manner. We are going to go back and look at the system while the bells are ringing so that we can make sure the system works as well as possible for the members voting online.
The hon. member for Battle River—Crowfoot.
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- Feb/28/24 7:24:49 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, as I was saying when I was interrupted a couple of days ago, the motion is absolutely essential to doing two things. The first is for us to work harder on behalf of our constituents, allowing more time for debate in the evenings, which is something the NDP has always called for. Also, we believe absolutely fundamentally that we need to be respectful of our employees and staff who run the bastion of democracy here in the House of Commons and who have been forced into 30-hour voting marathons by the member for Carleton.
I will just remind you, Madam Speaker, that the member for Carleton, after voting six times in person, basically bolted from this place and ran away. The kind of boss that one sees—
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- Feb/28/24 7:28:17 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I just want some clarity here in terms of identifying people who we know are voting virtually, which is seen by the public, and people who are voting in the House. When two-thirds of the Conservatives voted virtually to end virtual Parliament, for example, people saw that Conservatives were voting virtually against something that they want to use. They were against using the app, but they used it to vote against.
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