- Member of Parliament
- Member of the Joint Interparliamentary Council
Whip of the New Democratic Party
Member of the panel of chairs for the legislative committees
- NDP
- Edmonton Strathcona
- Alberta
- Voting Attendance: 67%
- Expenses Last Quarter: $141,604.97
- Government Page
- May/21/24 8:33:21 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I work with my colleague quite closely on the global co-operation caucus, and I know how much she cares about people in Canada and around the world.
As an Albertan, I know that inflation in Alberta is among the highest in the country and people living with disabilities are really struggling. We have heard words from the government that it wants to support people living with disabilities, but when we saw what was actually brought forward, what a disappointment that was, what a betrayal that was. The idea that Canadians living with a disability are not able to live with dignity in our communities is heartbreaking. All of us should be very concerned when the Government of Canada is not supporting the most vulnerable within our communities.
I wonder if the member has some comments on the failure of this budget to meet the moment, to meet the needs of people living with disabilities.
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- Apr/15/24 5:32:14 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I would like to thank my colleague as well. We have worked very closely on issues around helping people in other parts of the world, and I appreciate her work.
One of the things that I have heard from many members in my community and from the Iranian Canadian community around the country, is that they do not feel heard by the government. They do not feel that the government has listened to them and acted with urgency. After flight PS752, they wanted an independent investigation. They wanted more to be done, and we did not see that action from the government.
In terms even of listing the IRGC, of course we support this motion. We will support this. This is important work. What we are not seeing is that communities feel that their concerns about foreign interference and about interference within their communities are being heard. Even when we look at the potential for sports teams to come here, for people to be in our community who are clearly bad actors that the government knows about, there is very little action.
We need the community to feel like the government is listening and acting on their needs.
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- Mar/20/24 10:06:51 p.m.
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Mr. Chair, as I take part in this debate this evening, it strikes me that actions are more important than words. We hear words from the Conservatives saying that they support Ukraine, yet their actions with regard to votes do not align with that.
This member is a member of the government. Recognizing all the announcements the government has made on supports for Ukraine is one thing, but the actual delivery of that aid has trickled. A fraction of what the government has promised to the people of Ukraine has actually been delivered, and Vladimir Putin is counting on that. He is counting on the world to lose interest, to look away and to be distracted. Russia is counting on the fact that it can outlast the patience of western allies.
When we dribble aid to Ukraine instead of giving it the tools it needs to win this war, we are playing into Putin's hands. Announcing things is great, but we have seen a fraction of that actually delivered to Ukraine. When will all of it get to Ukraine?
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- Mar/18/24 12:55:41 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, we are in this situation where over 13,000 children have been killed and over 30,000 civilians have lost their lives. I know the minister speaks to her colleagues in other countries and to allies in the United States and in the United Kingdom.
I have two questions for the minister at this pivotal moment when all Canadians are very much hoping the Liberal government will have the moral courage to do what Canadians across the country have been asking for. Has the minister reached out to leaders within the United States to push them, to urge them to do more to make sure that peace can happen in the Middle East? Will she be supporting our motion today?
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- Mar/18/24 12:36:32 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, it is good to hear that the Bloc will be supporting the motion. I think it is very important. I certainly hope many members across the House choose to support this motion, which does align with international law and with Canadian policy and human rights.
In terms of the piece of this legislation that calls for a recognition of the state of Palestine, I will say, once again, that 139 United Nations member states have already taken this step. This is something Canada should have done some time ago. I will also say that the U.S. has signalled that it is ready for this conversation. The United Kingdom has signalled that it is ready for this conversation and, as I mentioned in my speech, the Spanish Prime Minister has already asked Parliament to recognize the state of Palestine. This is something that is already happening around the world.
It has always been, for me, a very difficult thing that we talk about a two-state solution and the need for a two-state solution, and that this is the path by which we find peace for Israelis and Palestinians, yet we do not recognize the existence of two states. It does not make sense. We need to have that recognition so the conversations that lead to a more peaceful future in the Middle East can happen.
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- Feb/15/24 10:09:58 a.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I believe if you seek it, you will find unanimous consent for the following motion.
I move:
That this House:
(a) condemn the continuation of Russia's unjustified full-scale aggression against Ukraine;
(b) call on Russia to end hostilities against Ukraine and withdraw all its troops from the territory of Ukraine;
(c) call on the Government of Canada to continue to provide military and financial assistance to Ukraine, to conduct the security guarantee agreement with Ukraine in order to increase its capabilities to defend itself from Russian unprovoked aggression;
(d) support Ukraine's future membership in NATO;
(e) call on the Government of Canada to strengthen sanctions against Russia, confiscate the assets of Russian oligarchs and Russian sovereign assets for Ukraine's rebuilding;
(f) call on the Government of Canada to exert all possible efforts and provide necessary diplomatic and financial support to ensure the return of Ukrainian children forcibly deported to Russia; and
(g) call on the Government of Canada to support efforts to bring those responsible for violations of international law to justice.
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- Dec/11/23 5:19:03 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, frankly, when I speak to my constituents, what they really want me to do is work with other parties to get supports for them, to do the work together to get things done. They do not actually want to see us fighting with each other in the House of Commons. They want to see us making sure things happen, such as dental care. “Dental care” is all I need to say about that.
There is one other thing I will say. The member asks how I can support the Liberals. I am very upset with many of the things the Liberals do, and the only thing I will say to the member is that I can only imagine it would be worse by multitudes if the Conservatives were to win the next election.
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- Dec/11/23 5:01:23 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, to be fair, I really should be more clear. It is only some members of the Conservative Party who have been very clear that they are not supportive.
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Madam Speaker, it is always interesting to listen to my colleague and hear his thoughts. We are in this place right now having this debate. We were not told that this was coming. This has been a bit of a surprise for us. We are trying to think of ways that we could help the people of Afghanistan. I do not think there is a single person in this place who does not think that we should do everything we possibly can, particularly for the women and girls of Afghanistan.
I have to say, though, that I have the list here of the votes that we had over the 30-some hours that we stayed in the House voting because the Conservative Party thought that was a useful thing to do. While they are here telling us that it is vitally important that we support Afghanistan, three times for millions of dollars they voted against supporting international development and foreign affairs efforts. On one hand they are taking away the money that people in Afghanistan need. In Afghanistan right now, we have people who are severely food insecure, who need help, yet we have the Liberals with Bill C-41 making it very difficult to deliver that aid, and we have the Conservatives literally voting to stop it. In fact, they ran in the last election on cutting foreign aid by 25%. How do—
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- Oct/26/23 10:38:49 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, the member, in his intervention today, spoke about the CPP. Polls show that Albertans are overwhelmingly opposed to the plan by Danielle Smith to introduce the APP, the Alberta pension plan. We know that the leader of the official opposition has said he does not support the Alberta pension plan.
Albertans deserve to know how their members of Parliament stand on this. I do not support the Alberta pension plan. Could the member tell us whether he supports or does not support the Alberta pension plan?
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Mr. Speaker, in March of this year, I actually travelled to Ukraine. I wanted to meet with government officials. I wanted to see what was happening on the ground in Kyiv and Irpin. When I met with government representatives and when I met with parliamentarians from Ukraine, one of the things they wanted was support from Canada to help rebuild their country. They wanted us to be working with them to rebuild.
I spent some time talking to folks working in different areas and different sectors, and I can tell members that, ultimately, the people who suffer the most in any war are women, are children, are marginalized people. The war in Ukraine is no different.
We need to help Ukraine rebuild. We need to be there for our ally. We also need to recognize that after this war is won, the people who are most vulnerable and the people who will need the most support are women, girls and indigenous people.
That needs to be the priority of our trade agreements as well.
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- Feb/9/23 3:10:32 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, relief efforts in Turkey and Syria will need far more support in the coming weeks. Canadian partners are stepping up to help, but they need more support. So far, the government has only announced a matching fund for the Red Cross, not for the Humanitarian Coalition. The Humanitarian Coalition is a group of 12 Canadian leading international aid agencies that have vast experience in the region, and they are on the ground right now.
Will the government fix the matching fund to make sure that these Canadian organizations can deliver help to those who are displaced, grieving and deeply suffering right now?
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Mr. Speaker, of course, I am not at the committee. As the committee works through that, I know that our critics will be working very hard to make this a stronger piece of legislation.
I think that one of the things that every one of us in the House is looking for is a way to make sure that every family, every parent, particularly every woman across this country has access to good, quality, universal child care. I am supportive of all the things that will make that happen.
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Mr. Speaker, first I would like to give my congratulations to my colleague for the addition to his family. What a joyous occasion. I would also like to tell him that I will likely be singing Dolly Parton for the rest of the day. I am not sure if that is a blessing or a curse.
My colleague spoke at the beginning about whether we needed this piece of legislation. The leader of the Conservative Party has made it very clear he does not support child care. He has embedded incel tags within his social media. He has voted time and time again against women's issues and things for women. Would Canadians not have every right to be worried that the Conservative Party, if it became the next government, would dismantle this child care program?
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- Nov/15/22 5:23:27 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I understand my colleague's concerns with moving time allocation and moving forward on this, but I am curious. It was not very long ago that the Bloc supported time allocation on Bill C-10, when we were debating that in the House, when we were seeing the Conservatives do everything they could to stop the important work that needed to be done for Canadians, to make sure that Canadian broadcasting was protected. We were updating our broadcasting legislation. At that point, the Bloc supported time allocation.
It seems like the Bloc members are saying it is a massive overreach but also that it is a massive overreach they can support when it is in their interests. I am wondering how the Bloc members square that circle.
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- Oct/24/22 8:38:21 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank my colleague for persevering through that speech. I hope he gets a lozenge by Wednesday, so he can be in better shape as we all discuss his motion, which of course I will be supporting. I am incredibly honoured to be able to work with the member as he brings this motion forward.
I bring some legitimate concerns that the governing party is not acting on this and that it has taken a private member's motion to bring this forward rather than government legislation, which we know could also be done. I wonder why the member thinks that so long into this, after we have done the work, and I did this work with the member at the international human rights subcommittee, it is still on a private member's motion that we are acting.
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- Oct/17/22 3:06:33 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, for eight months, Ukrainians have heroically defended their country against Putin's genocidal invasion, yet the government's response has been slow and ineffective. The sanctions regime is a mess, with no enforcement and no accountability. The humanitarian aid and the supplies for Ukraine that the government has promised have not been delivered. Even Ukrainian MPs have said Canada's response is “just unexplainable”. Now the Conservative premier, Danielle Smith, says that Ukraine should submit.
Ukraine needs and deserves our support. When will the government finally act to support Ukrainians?
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Madam Speaker, it is important that we have these conversations and this debate, but frankly that is not what has been happening. The obstruction, deflection and inability to do any work in this place because of the some of the members of the opposition mean that it is very important that we move on this. It is very important that we get the support out to people as fast as we possibly can.
I am very supportive of this bill. I am very supportive of working with people from all parties to make this bill stronger, and I look forward to conversations with the member.
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Madam Speaker, we need to have things like pharmacare, eye care, mental health support, supports for people living with disabilities and supports for indigenous people, who have not even basic rights being given to them. We need to have support for people around the world. We have a food crisis. Putin is once again threatening famine to millions of people in sub-Saharan Africa and the Middle East. We need to be supporting women getting an education in Afghanistan and other places around the world.
I know what the Conservatives will say. They will say that we cannot afford it and pay for it. There are a few things I want to say to them. First of all, we do have some solutions. The first solution is something I hope they will support today, which is the motion we brought forward where we would make sure grocery stores are not able to gouge consumers and that grocery stores are not able to make massive profits while the cost of food goes up in Canada.
We have suggested a profiteering tax. This is a great idea, and in fact, something the Conservatives in the United Kingdom have done. We could do that. We could have wealth taxes. There is $30 billion of unclaimed taxes we need to go after. It is always going to be a shock to me, but I am standing up here on the same side as the CEO of Shell begging the government to tax corporations at a higher rate so that the burden of paying for social programs, which are so vital, falls equally and does not fall on everyday Canadians and small businesses in our communities, and so that the corporations and the utlrawealthy are paying their fair share. To me, this does not seem like it is brain surgery. This seems very doable and easy.
When we talk about how we are going to pay for it, we have a world of options. Maybe, as my friend from Timmins—James Bay mentioned, if one wants to hold tight, I would be happy to bring those ideas forward. The NDP is happy to push the government to make those things happen. We are going to be doing it today. I am extremely proud of that motion. I look forward to answering questions.
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- Oct/6/22 11:19:00 a.m.
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Mr. Speaker, my colleague across the way did say that he felt this motion did not go far enough, so I assume that means he supports it. I cannot imagine he is against having CEOs pay the money that they owe.
He has made it very clear that he is not against having a fair and affordable food strategy. Obviously, his members have already said that they would be supporting the study in agriculture.
Does he feel that asking CEOs to pay their fair share is reasonable or does he think that all men should be told that they can go their own way?
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