- Member of Parliament
- Caucus Chair
- NDP
- Cowichan—Malahat—Langford
- British Columbia
- Voting Attendance: 66%
- Expenses Last Quarter: $140,733.69
- Government Page
- Feb/13/24 2:14:26 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, there are some incredible challenges facing Canadian farmers: changing markets and price fluctuations in commodities; rising debt levels; and climate change-driven extreme weather events. Despite these challenges, farmers in Canada continue to confront and to overcome adversity while showcasing the innovative ways they are leading us into the 21st century with advances in food production.
Farmers are certainly not fans of the “Ottawa knows best” approach. Instead, as New Democrats, we want to partner with our farmers to help them build their resilience against climate change and confront the corporate greed that is driving up their input costs to unsustainable levels. To help our farmers, we need a government that is ready for action on a sustainable agriculture strategy, a critical input strategy and a mandatory grocery code of conduct.
Today is Canada's Agriculture Day. On behalf of the NDP caucus, I hope we can all take a moment to celebrate both the hard-working Canadian farmers who grow the food we love and the essential contributions of agriculture to our nation's prosperity and well-being.
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- Nov/2/23 4:37:18 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I agree with my colleague that we do need to have regional fairness in Canada. That is one of the tenets of federalism that we have to realize.
However, my colleague from British Columbia should know very well that anything to do with carbon pricing in the province of British Columbia is run out of the legislature in Victoria and not out of Ottawa. That is because the Province of B.C. does not like taking an “Ottawa knows best” approach, unlike Conservative premiers elsewhere in Canada.
The member would also know that his Conservative colleague, the current member for Pitt Meadows—Maple Ridge, was a member of the B.C. Liberal government that proudly brought it in in 2008, and he used to sing its praises when they were bringing it in. They have now changed their tune.
Would my hon. colleague from B.C. at least correct the record and acknowledge that the policy in B.C. is set in Victoria, not in Ottawa?
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- Jun/15/23 3:14:23 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, Pacheedaht First Nation in my riding does not have a school for kids from grade 6 to 12. Every day, children as young as 11 have to take a bus 75 kilometres each way between home and school on a windy and narrow highway. That is three hours a day. Chief Jones came all the way to Ottawa to plead with Indigenous Services and Infrastructure Canada to help.
Will the minister honour reconciliation and start working with the Pacheedaht to get this community the school they desperately need?
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Madam Speaker, I not only can reflect on my personal experiences before I became an elected member of Parliament, including that I had three years with my twin daughters, but I also have spoken with many members of my community. I referenced knocking on doors in 2015. Those conversations have not stopped since 2015. I have been proud to meet with many constituents in my time as their elected representative here in Ottawa. What those conversations have demonstrated to me is that there is a continued need. People need their members of Parliament to stay focused on this issue to force the government to follow through on those funding arrangements through legislative initiatives like Bill C-35.
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- May/17/22 5:23:51 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, it is funny to me, because I do not really think that the oil and gas lobby actually needs to spend all that money coming to Ottawa; it already has a political party here doing that work for free. The Conservatives are great friends in that regard.
I believe that the motion we have constructed today, about tackling excess profits, is in fact the way to go, rather than the reduction in fuel taxes. What has been left out of this conversation is the extreme profits of corporations. I think we need to tackle that and reinvest that money directly into the pocketbooks of Canadians.
I am lucky to live in a province that is not subject to the federal Greenhouse Gas Pollution Pricing Act, because unlike other provinces, British Columbia decided that it did not want an “Ottawa knows best” approach, and we have asserted our provincial authority in this realm.
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- May/17/22 5:22:23 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, this very question has come up before the Standing Committee on Public Safety and National Security, of which I am a member, looking at what Canada's Arctic sovereignty is like vis-à-vis our security stance with Russia.
I would argue that we need a renewed commitment with the Inuit people who live up in the north and who know the ways there. They need to know that they have a firm and strong partner in Ottawa who is going to respect their traditional way of life, learn from them and find ways to partner to make sure that we do have that Arctic sovereignty firmly in mind, because I do not think that our policies to date have really respected the change in the geopolitical alignment that has happened, especially this year with Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
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- May/17/22 5:20:37 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, on the contrary, as the NDP's agriculture critic, I am very proud to say that the technology already exists. Canada's farmers are leading the way. If the federal government wants to make a real difference, it will help farmers in rural communities make that transition to things like regenerative agriculture, paying attention to soil science and making sure that soil carbon sequestration is a centrepiece. I believe that our farmers have an important role to play in this whole conversation. They want to be placed on that pedestal as climate leaders. They are already doing this, but they need a partner in Ottawa to do it, not investments in an unproven technology.
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- Feb/20/22 6:09:43 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I am completely astounded by how far the Conservatives, as the self-proclaimed party of law and order, have actually fallen. Some members of that caucus are openly peddling conspiracy theories and turning a blind eye to extremists in their midst.
The Ottawa Police Service said that the Emergencies Act was necessary for it to take action, and Conservative Premier Doug Ford urged that the Emergencies Act be invoked. Does the Conservative Party of Canada disagree with those two institutions?
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