- Member of Parliament
- Leader of the Government in the House of Commons
Member of the Board of Internal Economy
- Liberal
- Gatineau
- Quebec
- Voting Attendance: 67%
- Expenses Last Quarter: $80,565.87
- Government Page
- Mar/19/24 2:38:12 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the leader knows full well the rules of this place and knows that members on this side of the House are pleased and proud to speak to the affordability measures and the things that we are putting in place to make life more affordable for Canadians.
While we are on this theme, I have a question for a member of the defence committee, the member for Selkirk—Interlake—Eastman. Why did he sell out the people of Ukraine in voting against the free trade agreement?
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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 5:23:13 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/26/24 12:41:34 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, my friend from the New Democratic Party asks why Conservatives have done this. We have seen this around the world. They think that if they come in and make these places, these precious chambers of democracy, so toxic, so laden with invective, so dripping with insult, Canadians will turn away and simply say that they do not want any part of it. That is how they come to suppress voting and try to get Canadians disillusioned with their politics rather than interested in the results that politics and government can have on their daily life.
My friend from New Westminster—Burnaby outlined many of them, such as dental care, lower grocery prices and child care. These are all things that we work in earnest every day to pass through this House in a democratic way but the Conservatives spend all of their time trying to tie up in procedure and nonsense.
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- Feb/26/24 12:33:58 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the point is well taken. However, I would point out that votes are recorded. We will be paying close attention to that, as we always have.
What we went through was standing up for the kinds of things that Canadians expect Parliament to do. We were standing up for the kinds of things they expect their government to do, and standing up, yes, for the very essence of the democracy that happens in the chamber. We were determined to stay here all night to demonstrate to Canadians that we are standing on guard for the things they cherish. We are standing on guard for the programs that they depend on the government for, and we are standing on guard for those things, despite the trickery and the maliciousness demonstrated by the official opposition.
An hon. member: Trickery? You give us too much credit.
Hon. Steven MacKinnon: Mr. Speaker, they joke about these things because it is all part of the plan. It is just a big joke for these Conservatives on the other side of the House. There is all this chaos and dysfunction they are bringing here on a daily basis, which is preventing us from voting on serious matters that Canadians are looking to us to provide. That is just a part of the long list of investments through which the Conservatives showed their true colours. The Conservatives have voted no, over and over again.
The Conservatives showed us their true colours. The unfortunate outcome was a marathon voting session that lasted 30 hours straight. What does that mean? It means that members, their staff and House staff had to work all night to cater to the Leader of the Opposition's whim. Not only was his attitude childish and politically irresponsible, it jeopardized the health of many of the people who use these corridors. This kind of thing must never happen again.
Our motion proposes that, if another voting marathon were to occur in the future, it would proceed as follows: votes could take place throughout the day and even late into the evening. However, as soon as the bells ring at midnight, the voting would stop. Members and staff would then be given time for a health break lasting several hours. They deserve the right to sleep. That is a perfectly reasonable request considering that we make decisions and allocate billions of dollars in support of Canadians. At 9 a.m. the next morning, the House would resume and the voting would continue. This would not prevent the Conservatives from chasing after their wild partisan objectives by launching another voting marathon. It would simply spread it over a longer period of time to avoid compromising the health of members and other people who work here and who support us.
I see no reason why the Conservatives would object to this proposal. We need to set politics aside and put the personal health of each and every one of us in this House ahead of partisan gains. The purpose of this motion is to make this democratic chamber work better.
This motion is put forward in the spirit of making this place work better, to make this place more productive and to allow members from all sides of the House to vote, as we are sent here to do in the most democratic of ways on things we feel are important for the people we represent.
I will conclude my remarks there, and I look forward to questions from my colleagues.
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- Dec/5/23 6:24:53 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I believe if you seek it, you will find agreement to apply the results of the previous vote to this vote, with Liberal members voting in favour of the motion.
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- Dec/5/23 6:23:06 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I believe if you seek it, you will find agreement to apply the results of the previous vote to this vote, with Liberal members voting in favour of the motion.
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- Dec/5/23 6:21:36 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I believe if you seek it, you will find agreement to apply the results of the previous vote to this vote, with Liberal members voting against the motion.
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- Nov/29/23 4:00:01 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I believe that if you seek it, you will find agreement to apply the results of the previous vote to this vote, with Liberal members voting in favour of the motion.
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- Nov/8/23 3:44:24 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I believe that if you seek it, you will find unanimous consent to apply the results of the previous vote to this vote, with Liberal members voting yes.
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- Jun/22/23 12:10:01 a.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I want to thank you, all the parliamentary staff and all my colleagues in the House, and, one last time, I believe if you seek it, you will find unanimous consent to apply the results of the previous vote to this vote, with Liberal members voting in favour.
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- Jun/22/23 12:07:57 a.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I believe if you seek it, you will find unanimous consent to apply the results of the previous vote to this vote, with Liberals members voting in favour.
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- Jun/21/23 11:53:51 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I believe that if you seek it, you will find agreement to apply the result from the previous vote to this vote, sadly with Liberal members voting nay.
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- Jun/21/23 11:50:51 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I believe that if you seek it, you will find agreement to apply the result from the previous vote to this vote, with Liberal members voting yes.
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- Jun/21/23 11:48:50 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I believe that if you seek it, you will find unanimous consent to apply the result from the previous vote to this vote, with Liberal members voting yes.
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- Jun/21/23 11:44:21 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I believe if you seek it, you will find agreement to apply the result from the previous vote to this vote, with Liberal members voting yes.
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- Jun/21/23 11:41:51 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I believe you will find unanimous consent once again to apply the results of the previous vote to this vote, with Liberal members voting yes.
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- Jun/21/23 11:39:41 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, again, I believe that if you seek it you will find agreement to apply the results of the previous vote to this vote, with Liberal members voting yes.
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- Jun/21/23 11:37:21 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, once again, I believe that if you seek it, you will find agreement to apply the results of the previous vote to this vote, with Liberal members voting yes.
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- Jun/21/23 11:31:04 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I believe that if you seek it, you will find agreement to apply the results of the previous vote to this vote with Liberal members voting yes.
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