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Decentralized Democracy

House Hansard - 299

44th Parl. 1st Sess.
April 15, 2024 11:00AM
Context: House Hansard - 299 - Apr/15/24
Ms. Christine Normandin
  • Apr/15/24 4:54:47 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, my colleague from Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan raises a perfectly legitimate question, but why not debate it in the appropriate forum instead of raising it in the House at the last minute? We are debating it today without knowing all the ins and outs of it and without having had the opportunity to hear testimony from experts, for example, before speaking on the issue. It is the method, not the substance, that I find somewhat disappointing about today's debate. The substance is important. No one in the Bloc Québécois would argue the opposite. We cannot really vote against this type of motion, but perhaps we do not have all the tools we need to vote for the motion and then hammer home the point that we need to implement all the measures we just voted for. The problem lies in how to proceed. We understand that there is work to be done in committee. We can debate the bill once the experts have pointed out its flaws, with a view to improving it. Today, however, we are proceeding at the last minute with a motion for concurrence in a report, and that is not the right way to approach such a complex problem.
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Context: House Hansard - 299 - Apr/15/24
Ms. Heather McPherson
  • Apr/15/24 5:34:09 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the question is around why it has taken so long. Obviously I cannot answer that question, because I also do not understand why it has taken so long. I will say that we are doing everything we can within our power to ensure that it is not done poorly, that it is done correctly, and that we are doing it adequately by looking at it fulsomely within the foreign affairs committee and making sure that the way we are debating this is with experts that we are hearing from and members of the community. I will say that a concurrence debate that is sprung on opposition parties minutes before they are asked to speak is hardly a meaningful way to move that yardstick forward. Frankly, this is an issue that is very important, and we should be dealing with it in a more thoughtful and constructive way.
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