- Member of Parliament
- Minister of Justice
Attorney General of Canada
- Liberal
- Parkdale—High Park
- Ontario
- Voting Attendance: 64%
- Expenses Last Quarter: $120,537.19
- Government Page
- May/23/24 8:58:02 p.m.
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Madam Chair, I reject categorically the accusation that raising the issue of a woman's right to choose, a woman's control over her reproductive rights, is something that should be the subject of scorn by any member of Parliament. These are constitutionally protected rights that are protected by section 7, which is one of the provisions that is subject to the notwithstanding clause her leader is—
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- May/23/24 7:31:25 p.m.
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Madam Chair, we have increased the number of judges in this country over the last nine years by 116 in total.
The number of judges that I have been able to appoint in nine short months in this office is 106. The average of the Harper government, annually, was 65. We are literally working at twice the rate of the previous Conservative government.
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- May/23/24 2:51:37 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I am an ally and I am speaking up. I am speaking up about the epidemic of gender-based violence. I am speaking up about women having full control over their bodies and their reproductive rights. That includes the right to abortion and the right to free contraception.
When we as men make spaces for women's voices, we not only learn but we also help create better, more inclusive policies. I urge every man in the chamber, from every single party, to stand up and to be an ally. The fight for gender equality in this country is a fight for all of us.
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- Feb/13/24 10:33:50 a.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I thank the member opposite, but I think his comments reflect something that was raised also by the member for Medicine Hat—Cardston—Warner.
Just to be clear for Canadians, if we do not proceed expeditiously in this chamber and in the Senate, the law will change on March 17 so as to allow medical assistance in dying for people who have mental illness as the sole underlying condition.
If the member for Tobique—Mactaquac is concerned about supports for those who are mentally ill, and I believe he has that concern, then what he should be doing is working with us collaboratively to ensure passage of the bill to prevent that situation from arising. The logical premise of his question is false.
What we are doing is proceeding expeditiously as a responsible government after hearing from the joint mixed committee of MPs and senators about the need to put a pause on this. We would be putting a pause on it. We presented the legislation expeditiously and are seeking passage of the legislation expeditiously.
As we have have heard from the member for Saanich—Gulf Islands, in this context even she is making an exception to her principled approach towards closure in order to invoke closure so we can get the bill done and protect Canadians. Fundamentally, my job as Minister of Justice is to do just that, and I will not be deterred in that task.
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- Feb/13/24 10:17:59 a.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I thank the hon. member for Saanich—Gulf Islands for her contributions today and every day in the chamber.
She outlines exactly the balance that we are trying to craft, and have tried to craft since 2016, in response to the Carter decision. Those are basically two different ideas: promoting the dignity and the autonomy of an individual in this country, and ensuring that we are protecting vulnerable people with adequate safeguards so they are not victimized. In this context, the safeguards and the protection are critical in the context of those who are mentally ill. That has been guiding theme here.
In addition to the provinces and territories that have spoken up about the lack of system readiness, we have also heard from the Canadian Mental Health Association and from the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health that they are also not ready and concur with the provinces' and territories' assessments.
With respect to the last point raised by the member for Saanich—Gulf Islands, she talked about mental health supports. This is critical now more than ever, particularly coming out of the COVID pandemic. What I would say to her is that when we reached a deal about one year ago to provide a record number of dollars in support of the Canadian health care system, we outlined certain parameters for that support. One of the pillars of that support was to support mental health and the mental health needs of Canadians. That is a fundamental priority for us and will remain so.
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- Feb/13/24 10:14:31 a.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I thank the hon. member for his contributions today and every day in this Chamber.
The journey has been a detailed one, a responsible one and a prudent one. What we understand, as a government and as parliamentarians, is that mental illness causes suffering, and that suffering is equivalent to physical suffering. We also understand people have decision-making capacity, including those who are mentally ill.
We also understand that, as a federal government in a federation where the health care system and the delivery of health care is primarily the jurisdiction of provinces, proceeding in a situation where the provinces have spoken with one voice, saying that provinces and territories are not ready to deliver medical assistance in dying for people who have mental illness as their sole underlying condition, in that context, we have to listen to those provinces and work with those provinces to help them with their readiness.
The provinces have spoken uniformly to the Minister of Health and to myself about their lack of readiness and about the fact that more time would be beneficial to ensure that there is better take-up of the curriculum and that supports are in place for those who would assess and provide MAID, and that there is more understanding of how those safeguards would be implemented in the context of an individual who has mental illness as their sole underlying condition. Based on that, we are seeking, through this chamber and through the upper chamber, an extension of three years. That would be a prudent course when the situation is very significant, when the interests are significant and when then consequences are very permanent.
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- Dec/14/23 2:58:02 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I use the term “Ukraine” deliberately because, when somebody who aspires to lead this nation is incapable of saying the term “Ukraine” and is calling that nation, which is fighting for its very existence, a faraway foreign land, I find that not just disrespectful to our ally, but immoral.
We, on this side of the House, will stand by Ukraine.
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- Mar/3/22 12:57:04 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, first of all, orphans are an unfortunate by-product of violent conflict. Absolutely, we need to be extending a hand to any vulnerable Ukrainians, particularly vulnerable children who are orphaned in this conflict.
Vis-à-vis this issue about energy security, it is a pressing issue. There is no doubt about it. We know about Russia's influence on the European continent by virtue of its natural gas resources and the fact that it has created dependency. What I am very keen to do is also embrace where the world is heading, which is toward addressing climate change through greener and more environmentally sustainable solutions.
I know much of continental Europe shares that objective, including Germany. At times, when I was in Katowice, Poland at COP24, I met with German officials who explained to me that their concerns for the environment were equal to, if not greater than, those of Canada. We need to work together on this, but in a way that works toward a cleaner future for Germans, for Canadians and for the entire planet.
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