- Member of Parliament
- Member of Parliament
- NDP
- Courtenay—Alberni
- British Columbia
- Voting Attendance: 66%
- Expenses Last Quarter: $148,159.67
- Government Page
- May/30/24 12:07:05 a.m.
- Watch
Madam Chair, we know that housing is integral in supporting people with substance use disorder. The government announced $250 million for emergency funding in the budget. That could create tiny homes in communities like Port Alberni and we could trust the province to support wraparound supports and the city to provide land. How quickly can the government get that money out the door? It is an urgent situation, an emergency.
70 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- May/9/24 1:03:57 p.m.
- Watch
Madam Speaker, my colleague is grounded in experience. She worked in the field, on the front line, with young people, seeing the barriers and navigating a broken system. She also understands the importance of connection, peer support, the critical investments and having an integrated, coordinated, compassionate approach. However, that has to be funded. It has to be supported by government.
Right now, people are asking why they should pay for all of the harm reduction, treatment, recovery and housing supports. I can tell the taxpayers at home who are watching that they are paying for it, and then some, much more. This is critical when we get into prevention, especially when it comes to young people. We have to scale up prevention and education. We have to support the people on the ground doing the hard work. We have to support peer support and ensure we have a coordinated, integrated and compassionate approach.
153 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- May/7/24 5:17:54 p.m.
- Watch
Madam Speaker, my colleague is the chair at the Standing Committee on Health, and I really want to commend him for the important work he does there. It is a difficult committee to be running these days, especially with the toxic drug crisis study we are doing.
My colleague is also a coastal MP and he knows how important the ghost gear fund is to coastal people for removing polystyrene or plastic pollution. Ghost gear is about 70% of the plastics we find in our oceans. We have the longest coastline in the world. We just hosted the INC-4 and what do we do in this budget? The government removed the funding for the ghost gear fund.
Will my colleague be going back to the minister and demanding that the government reinstate this world-class program?
137 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- May/7/24 1:22:51 p.m.
- Watch
Madam Speaker, I am going to read a quote from Carla Lewis. She is the chair of the First Peoples' Cultural Council in British Columbia. She cites:
Generations of oppressive and assimilationist federal and provincial policies have aimed to wipe out First Nations languages. Through dedication and hard work, our people have fought for language rights to keep our languages alive. But many of our languages have few speakers left and most fluent speakers are elderly. Our languages hold our culture, history and ways of being. We can’t over-emphasize the urgency of the situation...
She is referring to the fact that last year the FPCC received $43.3 million in federal funding. This year in the budget, it is expected to receive only half of the funding. This is putting language learning at risk, despite the fact that we have seen a 20% increase in the number of people who are learning their language. It is also following the federal Indigenous Languages Act, Bill C-91, which Tla-o-qui-aht—
175 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- May/7/24 12:35:51 p.m.
- Watch
Madam Speaker, we know that ghost fishing gear and marine debris are huge problems in our waterways. When fish ingest them, they carry the plastic with them. It is infecting our whole ecosystem, yet the Liberal government cancelled the ghost gear fund. My colleague supported my motion back in 2018, and all of Parliament supported it, to direct the government to create this fund.
As a coastal member, is she disappointed by the government's withdrawal of the ghost gear fund, despite the fact that plastic pollution is choking our oceans?
91 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- May/7/24 11:48:22 a.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, this morning, I met with nurse Crystal Edwards, who is the director of the women and children’s and mental health programs at the Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre, as well as Dr. Justin Jagger, who is the chair of pediatrics at the Northern Ontario School of Medicine, and Children's Healthcare Canada. We talked about the children and youth crisis regarding physical and mental health in Canada and how band-aid solutions will not measurably improve child health care systems or children's health outcomes. They are calling on the federal government to take a leadership role in resolving this crisis by declaring children's health and well-being a national priority.
I worked with my colleague from Yukon, as he was part of the negotiations, to create the youth mental health fund. It is historic, and it is a step toward parity between mental and physical health. However, they are also calling on the government to create and implement a national children's strategy that would include targets and timelines to improve children's health outcomes, the establishment of a chief children's health officer and the creation of a dedicated funding envelope to ensure a robust maternal child and youth health research agenda.
Does my colleague support those asks from Children's Healthcare Canada?
221 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- May/6/24 2:46:50 p.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, every minute, two garbage trucks' worth of plastic are dumped into the world's oceans.
Canada has the longest coastline in the world, and plastic and industrial waste are choking the shoreline, making its way into our food and harming vital ecosystems. However, the Liberals' solution is to cancel the ghost gear fund, which creates local jobs, and removes plastic and marine debris from our waters.
The government says that it cares about the environment, but it refuses to act to protect it. Will the Liberals immediately restore this funding, so we can continue to clean up our coasts?
101 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- May/6/24 2:15:21 p.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, today, on the first day of Mental Health Week, millions of Canadians are unable to access reliable, quality mental health care as they cope with mental health disorders or mental illness in their daily lives.
At some point in our lives, most of us will be touched by mental health issues. However, for too many people in need of mental health care, cost-free universal care is not available in the same way as it is for physical health. Too many must turn to for-profit services, if they can afford them. For some, compassionate care is available from chronically underfunded non-profits in communities far away from hospitals and government services.
Join me on this day, and every day, in the fight for parity of mental health care in our universal system, for sustainable funding for community-based service delivery, and for compassion and kindness in our response to the mental health needs of all Canadians.
159 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Apr/10/24 3:14:37 p.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, first nations in B.C. have suffered enormous loss throughout their 200-year history of colonization, including the devastating loss of language and culture. Although nations continue to make tremendous progress revitalizing their languages, the Liberals' new formula on funding means a 60% cut to language programs in B.C. Preserving and revitalizing indigenous languages is an essential step to reconciliation.
Will the government remember its most important relationship with first nations and act with urgency to ensure sustained and long-term funding for language programs in British Columbia?
91 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Mar/19/24 1:10:32 p.m.
- Watch
Madam Speaker, I think we need to talk about going well beyond subsidies. We know that in Great Britain they had an excess profit tax on oil and gas; that is the Conservatives in Britain. We cannot even get Liberals to do that. Right now, the Liberals have ended the Canada greener homes loan program. I have constituents who want to access that program. I have contractors saying they are going to have to lay people because they were employing people and were supporting Canadians who wanted to do the right thing.
My questions to my colleague are these: Will they charge an excess profit tax on oil and gas? Will they not just fund the greener homes loan program but also actually provide it with the necessary resources to make it through a full budget cycle so that all Canadians can access it?
144 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Feb/27/24 12:13:16 p.m.
- Watch
Madam Speaker, as I was going to say, what is embarrassing is that the Conservatives continue to protect their friends at Deloitte, including their former leadership candidate, Peter MacKay, and, just like the Liberals, they do not want to talk about it. They are both corporate-controlled parties.
They are trying to mislead us again. Those votes were about allocating $4.6 billion for COVID rapid tests and vaccines. They were about millions of dollars for a national child care program and funding for affordable homes and women's shelters.
It is no surprise that the Conservatives voted against those things, because that is what Conservatives do. They cut and gut the services people rely on.
We will not take any lessons from the Conservatives, who gave over $7 million in contracts to the former owners of GC Strategies. They also created the Phoenix disaster, which was supposed to save taxpayers $80 million but cost us $3.5 billion.
We have been fighting since the beginning to get to the bottom of the ArriveCAN scandal and to reduce the use of wealthy private consultants. We will not stop, and not just on ArriveCAN and not just on CBSA.
We need to look at the whole of government. We need an investigation into all of the outsourcing, something that is being blocked by the Conservatives, a Conservative-led committee, a Conservative chair who will not allow this motion to come back so that we can look at the whole picture. They do not want to look there.
256 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Feb/7/24 3:16:32 p.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, Canadians spend over a billion dollars out of their own pockets on mental health services every year. With the cost of everything only going up, Canadians are making a difficult choice. Do they put food on the table or get the therapy they need?
The Liberals promised $4.5 billion in mental health funding, but they are still well over a billion dollars short, even with the bilateral agreements.
Our communities need support. It cannot be left to Conservative premiers. Will the Prime Minister commit to delivering direct mental health funding to community-based mental health organizations in the upcoming budget?
103 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Dec/11/23 7:53:28 p.m.
- Watch
Madam Chair, I want to thank my colleague.
The member talked about consultation and right now, Indigenous Services Canada, or ISC, has been changing funding formulas for education without even talking to the nations that are impacted, so it is hard for them to continue doing their programming with new formulas. It has a huge impact on children, of course.
On ISC engagement with indigenous communities, first nations, Inuit and Métis people, does the member agree that it should be an absolute requirement to obtain their free, prior and informed consent before changing any funding formulas in all areas of service delivery?
104 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Dec/11/23 7:20:09 p.m.
- Watch
Mr. Chair, over the last 20 years, Indigenous Services Canada has cut tribal council funding in half. This is under both the Harper Conservative government and the current government. These severe cutbacks have had a huge impact on critical services to the nations in my riding. The Nuu-chah-nulth Tribal Council and AFN have been asking for increases in funding via motions, letters and meetings. They have been literally begging for the government to increase funding. This is impacting children, youth and elders in our communities.
When does Indigenous Services Canada intend to finally increase tribal council funding and bring it back to the level it was 20 years ago?
111 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Jun/14/23 3:11:46 p.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, my riding is cut in half. Highway 4 has been closed for over a week because of wildfires. With the closure, local food banks are suffering, as people are trapped. This is impacting people who were already struggling with food insecurity. They are worried, and many do not know where their next meal will come from.
Will the federal government provide emergency funding to local food banks, small businesses and the community and provide emergency unemployment insurance to help people who are cut off by the wildfires?
89 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
Mr. Speaker, my colleague knows, as a former municipal councillor himself, just as I am a former municipal councillor for Tofino, that municipalities shoulder a large majority of services and costs. However, they only collect 8% of the overall tax revenue.
The government just made a retroactive agreement with the RCMP to ensure that they get paid more. We know that our frontline law enforcement deserves to be paid more, and they deserve better training, especially de-escalation training. We also need to ensure they get supports when they are injured, especially with PTSD.
However, the Association of Vancouver Island and Coastal Communities just met in the member's former hometown of Nanaimo. They were unanimous that the federal government needs to support local governments after the downloading of this retroactive funding. Unlike federal and provincial governments, which can run deficits, municipal governments have to run a balanced budget.
Will the federal government get back to the table with FCM and local governments to make sure they are not eating the costs of a deal they negotiated without consulting local governments?
181 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Apr/18/23 11:02:46 a.m.
- Watch
Madam Speaker, one thing we have heard loud and clear from many anti-poverty advocates in our country is that there is a need for a national school lunch food program. Lush Valley, an organization in my riding that supports local food growers to get food to people who have low incomes and challenges getting food, has been pushing for this program.
In 2018, the World Health Organization cited that one in five children in Canada is at risk of going to school hungry. That is not acceptable. We have been calling for the federal government to step in and fund a national school food program. We need federal funding, and school lunches could help take the pressure off of families right now.
Will my colleague speak to this important need? When will the government answer the call to action so children are not living in poverty, and so they get the best start in life?
156 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Mar/30/23 12:08:33 p.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, a young woman, Saffron Bisiker, a grade 12 student in Qualicum Beach in my riding, just launched the first-ever Qualicum Beach Film Festival a couple of weeks ago, and she did it to support local creators and contributors. Our MLA, Adam Walker, was there from Parksville-Qualicum, and he cited that there is $18 million being spent in the film sector just in Qualicum Beach and that area, and how important that is.
We have been hearing for many years from our local broadcasters, creators and cultural workers that they have been suffering from unfair competition from the big web giants. That is why, as New Democrats, we have been calling for an end to this unfair system for years. It is why this bill is a good first step to even the playing field.
The Liberal government has delayed this reform for many years, which has resulted in lost jobs and revenue for cultural workers. Why has the government allowed companies like Netflix to avoid paying their fair share of funding for our Canadian cultural content for so long? It is so important for people like Saffron who want a career in film to ensure that we are investing in Canadian content, in Canadian producers and curators. I just want to know why the government has taken so long to address this important need.
228 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Mar/8/23 7:12:36 p.m.
- Watch
Madam Speaker, across the country, governments are turning to trusted community organizations to cope and to deal with services around connecting and recovery. The demands are complex and they are high. They have been exacerbated by the pandemic. These organizations are struggling with underfunding, rising costs and labour market shortages.
The national organizations are looking for a “caring for carers” investment in the mental health and frontline community service workers in this budget. I hope the government would look to that as part of its recovery agenda. In that, they are looking for $100 million for evidence-based mental health supports for frontline community service workers, to expand immediate access to mental health and substance use health supports for staff, to fund research on best practices and to enhance organizational capacity building for psychologically healthy and safe workplaces.
I hope the government honours that in this budget.
Madam Speaker, we will probably see this when we get back, because the government has been failing on every promise it has made on mental health. Hopefully, it will deliver before then.
181 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
Mr. Speaker, my colleague talked about supports for people with mental health issues. One group we have not talked about is public safety personnel. This is definitely not partisan; it is about us both coming from rural communities. That includes border services, corrections services, firefighters, operational intelligence personnel, paramedics, police, public safety communications and search and rescue personnel. Half those individuals experience some sort of mental disorder in their career in their lifetime and one in 10 will actually consider death by suicide.
These professionals and their families have remained decades behind. We know about the military and veterans with regard to supports for their well-being, and we are just scratching the surface in addressing their considerable mental health needs. Their core funding comes from the Canadian Institute for Public Safety Research and Treatment and concludes on March 31, just six weeks from now. Without a renewed commitment on that funding, it will end.
Maybe my colleague can speak about some of those public safety personnel in his riding who have suffered through PTSD or some trauma and how important it is we get the proper resources to support them, especially those heroes who have put their lives on the line and the sacrifices they made, as we know coming from rural Canada.
214 words
All Topics
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- menumenu
- notificationsnotifications
- home
- mailmail
- searchsearch
