- Member of Parliament
- Member of Parliament
- NDP
- Churchill—Keewatinook Aski
- Manitoba
- Voting Attendance: 61%
- Expenses Last Quarter: $142,937.96
- Government Page
- Jun/22/22 7:20:34 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, we heard some really interesting, to put it mildly, arguments from the Conservatives over the last number of days. I think what we have said very clearly is that virtual work is work and that we are still in the pandemic and expecting another wave, possibly in the early fall.
We know that a hybrid Parliament is a family-friendly Parliament. A hybrid Parliament is also a climate-smart Parliament in the era of climate change when we should be reducing our carbon footprint.
First of all, does the hon. member believe that the Conservatives need to get out of the time warp that they are in, and should Parliament not be a model workplace? Should we not be opening the doors to new and smarter and safer ways of doing work, meaning hybrid work?
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- Nov/25/21 5:54:17 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I would like to congratulate the member on the birth of her child. I would also like to welcome her to Parliament and warn her that it is rather difficult to do this job when one has small children, and that goes for both mothers and fathers.
We really need to modernize the way Parliament works so that members do not have to choose between being a parent and fighting for their constituents. The traditional model of Parliament is based on an outdated image of the family. We need to modernize the way we work. Having more women MPs in the House is not the only way to achieve that, but it is certainly important.
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- Nov/25/21 5:52:25 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, once again we hear more conspiracy theories from the Conservatives. The party is clearly comfortable with conspiracy theories.
Let us be clear. The work of a hybrid Parliament, including a virtual component, is real work. To say otherwise is simply not true. It is also disrespectful to many people, including public servants and many others who have been doing virtual work throughout this pandemic. This is a safe way of doing this work, and it has to be a way of going forward.
We have major challenges ahead of us, and we need to find ways to do this work safely, effectively, in a cost-saving manner and a way that respects our environment. A hybrid Parliament is very much the way to do that. I invite the member to get on board with that vision.
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- Nov/25/21 5:50:12 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I would say first of all that I think all of us as MPs who were here in the previous Parliament found ways to fight for our constituents during a time of crisis, and we made Parliament work. I will also say what I heard from constituents. As many know, our part of the country was particularly vulnerable. It had heavy travel and lockdown restrictions. One of the things I never heard constituents say was, “I miss seeing you in Ottawa”. Nobody said that. People wanted to know that I was there and that our team was there fighting for them. They saw that work happening online, on social media, through our ongoing communication and through the visits I was able to do. That is the kind of work that we need to continue doing because, first of all, we are still in a pandemic. Second of all, this is the smart way of doing this work: rooted in our communities and continuing to fight for the people we represent.
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- Nov/25/21 5:40:30 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I will be splitting my time with my colleague, the member for Parliament for Victoria.
I am proud to speak in 100% support of the motion to move back to a hybrid Parliament. I am proud that the NDP has been pushing for a hybrid Parliament. I am proud to rise in the House for the first time in this Parliament. I am honoured to fight for the people of northern Manitoba. It is rooted in where I come from and who I represent that I rise in the House to make it abundantly clear that we need a hybrid Parliament.
I am frankly shocked that in the year 2021, in the throes of a fourth wave of a global pandemic, after a year and a half of creating and making a hybrid Parliament work, that we are even having this debate. It is a failure of leadership that we are even here having this debate, frankly. We should have gone straight back into a hybrid Parliament.
Let me start by making it clear. It is reckless to push for an in-person Parliament. We are in the fourth wave of the global COVID-19 pandemic. COVID-19 is very much still spreading across our country. It is making people sick, including those who are doubly vaccinated. In Manitoba, two double-vaccinated MLAs have COVID-19 right now. We also know that COVID-19 is still killing people, and I want to share my condolences with the family of Senator Josée Forest-Niesing.
What do we know right now? We know that COVID-19 cases are on the rise once again in our country. We know that people are being encouraged to get their booster shots to ensure vaccine efficacy. We know that there is greater chance of transmission in crowded enclosed spaces, particularly during winter months as people move inside. We know upgrading our masks when inside is the way to go, but somehow this does not seem to apply to some people on planet Parliament.
I was here on Monday when we elected our Speaker and when we voted for the Assistant Deputy Speaker. There was no social distancing. There was overcrowding, and in the lobby, more than one Conservative MP at a time was not wearing a mask. We know that some Conservative members are also choosing not to disclose whether they are vaccinated.
We were told early on in this pandemic that we were vectors in the spread of COVID-19. Today, we have 338 people travelling from various parts of the country, including hot spots, all in one place. We are vectors once again.
We have to be concerned not only for our colleagues, but for our loved ones and our constituents, and we cannot pretend that we are the only ones working here.
Our work is made possible by the hundreds of people who work on Parliament hill, from our party staff to pages to interpreters to technical staff to security guards to cleaning staff to catering staff. Their health and safety should not be put at risk because we as MPs refuse to acknowledge the ongoing reality of a global pandemic. We can make a difference with a hybrid Parliament that takes advantage of virtual technology, that allows us to participate in our communities rather than everyone having to be here.
Let us also be clear that a hybrid Parliament makes sense in terms of logistics. It has become harder for us to get to and go back from Ottawa. Many flights and many routes have been cut since the beginning of the pandemic. The regional carrier, Calm Air, servicing my community, Thompson, the largest city in my riding, has cut almost half of its flights to and from Winnipeg. Air Canada has no direct flights from Winnipeg to Ottawa and back. These flights have not been restored, and they will not be restored anytime soon, making our travel to and from Ottawa longer and oftentimes a logistical nightmare.
My message for colleagues who feel they are okay, because they can simply step on a flight or get in their car to get to Ottawa, is to look beyond their own personal circumstances. We need to find solutions that ensure we can all do this work safely.
Beyond the pandemic, a hybrid Parliament is the way of the future, a future where more women can get involved. We are not in the 1860s anymore, when male MPs left their kids with their wives at home and went to Ottawa to live their lives unencumbered by the responsibilities of being a parent or a caregiver. It is 2021. We can and must do our work differently in a way that reflects values of gender equality and the need to see 50% of the House represented by women.
I have been asked many times about how we can get more women elected, and I cannot say how many times I have heard from women who are thinking of having kids, or who have kids, that they cannot imagine running to be an MP and doing this work because of the travel, the time away from home, the lack of child care and the need to be there for their kids. I know this reality well, as someone who did this work for nine years without kids and now for four years with my twins. It is not easy and that is an understatement.
Right now I have to be in Ottawa. My partner, a veteran, is finishing his education degree and is just starting his teaching placement in the semi-remote Nisichawayasihk Cree Nation, a first nation community outside of our home in Thompson. I do not have child care here in Ottawa and I have to leave my kids, one of whom is sick, with my parents in Winnipeg so that I can be here today. It is not rocket science. One of the ways of making Parliament accessible to women, and to all parents, is by ensuring a hybrid Parliament.
Let us also get in line with so many workplaces, including the federal public service, where virtual work and hybrid work are seen as the legitimate, effective work that they are. We have done this before. We did it for a year and a half and it worked. We can do this.
Finally, let us be clear. A hybrid Parliament is necessary as we face a climate emergency. Climate change is here. It is wreaking havoc across our country and around the world. COP26 made clear that we need to drastically cut our greenhouse gas emissions. We must drastically cut our carbon footprint here in Canada. We know that Canada's climate record is the worst of the G7 nations', and time is running out. We must end subsidies to oil and gas. We must cancel the TMX pipeline and new fossil fuel infrastructure. We must phase out the burning of fossil fuels and move to green energy, and we must stand with land protectors such as those on Wet'suwet'en territory. We must invest in a green new deal.
We must also find immediate ways to cut down our carbon footprint. With a hybrid Parliament, we do not all have to fly back and forth every week from every corner of the country. Let us not forget that our work is rooted in our communities. It is driven by the people we represent. It is time we work in a Parliament that reflects today's reality. A hybrid model allows us to stay rooted in our home communities and regions. This is the way of the future.
I propose that Parliament strike a committee to find ways to modernize Parliament, including having a permanent hybrid Parliament: a Parliament in tune with today's reality and the immense challenges we face. Let us put aside the anti-science, COVID-conspiracy-driven politics and the 19th-century family model that continues to set women back. Let us face today's reality of climate change and find ways to do our work in a better way.
The choice is clear between a 19th-century vision of Parliament and a 21st-century vision of Parliament. We can do this. Let us be on the right side of history.
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- Nov/25/21 5:26:59 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I congratulate my colleague across the way for being back in the House.
She made some very critical points around the fact that we are still in this pandemic. I know many of us in the House are very concerned that just a few days ago we lost a senator, who, I might add, was double vaccinated.
It was mentioned earlier that two MLAs in my home legislature of Manitoba have COVID-19. We know a Conservative MP has COVID-19. The idea of keeping one another safe, despite the fact that most of us are vaccinated, is so critical. I wonder if the member could speak to that.
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