- 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
- Feb/13/24 10:33:50 a.m.
- Watch
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.
244 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Feb/13/24 10:17:59 a.m.
- Watch
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.
259 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Sep/20/23 4:25:50 p.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, My Voice, My Choice does tremendous work.
I would like to acknowledge the work that this organization is doing.
The most important, poignant and workable thing about this bill is that, when the representatives of this organization advocated for victims of violent sexual crimes, they asked us to reinstate this registry. They also asked for more autonomy, more dignity and choice regarding their role in the system. This is what this bill will and must do. I think the challenge is clear. We must co-operate and work together in a non-partisan way to get this done before the end of October.
I am very comfortable continuing to work with my Bloc Québécois colleagues. I hope I can count on their support.
129 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Jun/5/23 9:36:00 p.m.
- Watch
Madam Speaker, the member opposite started her speech by acknowledging what just transpired with the provincial election in Alberta. I want to turn to that for a moment. She acknowledged some landmarks being achieved in terms of the first female, Black member of the provincial legislature in Alberta, which I believe is something she mentioned. That is worth applauding.
I wanted to draw her attention to aspects of the budget. She outlined a lot of what is in the budget. There is a lot in there. Specifically, there are references to funding and supports to deal with some of the challenging divisions that we continue to see in Canadian society. The budget includes $25 million for supporting Black Canadian communities initiative, which is about empowering Black organizations. Another $25 million will go to supporting the anti-racism strategy and dealing with some of the pernicious issues that relate to anti-indigenous racism, anti-Semitism and Islamophobia.
In the wake of the almost two-year anniversary of the Afzaal family being killed in London, Ontario, could she comment on the equity initiatives in the budget and her position on them?
189 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Oct/3/22 2:46:27 p.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, I thank the member opposite for her persistence on this issue about supporting small businesses.
We share that persistent prioritization. What we have been doing for the past two and a half years is supporting small businesses through the pandemic with targeted wage supports and supports for rent. What we have been doing since the pandemic is launching a women's entrepreneurship strategy and a Black entrepreneurship strategy, and we are empowering indigenous businesses. We know the power of small businesses will be unleashed through inclusive growth, and that is what we are prioritizing.
96 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Jun/13/22 2:57:24 p.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, I thank the member opposite for the question. I would just point out to her that what we are doing and what we have done throughout the pandemic, and afterward as we exit this pandemic, is supporting Canadian small businesses.
We have recovered over 115% of the jobs lost prior to the pandemic, which is point number one. Point number two is that budget 2022, which I am sure the member opposite has perused carefully, actually shows significant supports for small businesses, such as the phase-out of the small business tax rate, $15 billion invested in the Canada growth fund to scale up and $97 million to secure Canadian IP.
We will continue to work hard for Canadian small businesses because we know that they are the backbone of our economy.
134 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Feb/28/22 9:38:30 p.m.
- Watch
Mr. Chair, I thank the member opposite for his vigilance on the Ukraine file and for his advocacy on many things we see eye to eye on, particularly this issue.
What I have seen at rallies in my riding and at rallies in the city of Toronto, some of which the member opposite has been at, is that the support for Ukraine is not just from Ukrainian Canadians. It is not just from Canadians generally. It is from people of all demographics and all ethnicities and backgrounds. I have seen Tibetan Canadian constituents of mine gathering forces with Ukrainians, supporting this fight against authoritarianism. I have seen Taiwanese Canadians standing up with Taiwanese flags at these rallies.
I am wondering if the member opposite could comment upon the unifying features we have seen among Canadians in rallying to this cause and what that portends in general for the fight against authoritarianism going forward and how we can rally against that and against the repression Vladimir Putin represents.
167 words
All Topics
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- menumenu
- notificationsnotifications
- home
- mailmail
- searchsearch
