- Member of Parliament
- Parliamentary Secretary to the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons
- Liberal
- Winnipeg North
- Manitoba
- Voting Attendance: 67%
- Expenses Last Quarter: $110,821.77
- Government Page
- May/24/24 1:18:46 p.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, I suspect that if you were to canvass the House, you would find unanimous consent to call it 1:30 p.m. at this time so that we can begin private members' hour.
35 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Apr/19/24 12:53:59 p.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, I suspect that if you were to canvass the House, you would find unanimous consent at this time to call it 1:30 p.m. so we can begin private members' hour.
34 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Mar/19/24 10:15:20 a.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, I would ask that all questions be allowed to stand at this time.
15 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Feb/28/24 7:57:26 p.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, I would say it is a rookie mistake, but it is actually not a mistake; it is absolutely relevant when we are talking about the need to extend debating hours. The Conservatives were crying because they were not getting enough hours, and I am giving examples of how they would prevent debate by bringing concurrence motions. I cited the Ukraine trade agreement, which is about as relevant as one can be regarding the motion at hand.
We can talk about the extension of the hours, but I have a better one for the member opposite: Voting. Members will recall when close to 50% of the Conservatives, not necessarily that member, were sleeping during the last vote-a-thon, assuming that is what they were doing between midnight and eight o'clock in the morning, we continued to vote? The Conservative Party continued to vote, not necessarily all its members. Some highlights of what they actually voted on are interesting. Let us remember that some members had been up for 24 hours, and we were voting on a whole lot of tax dollars.
To give members a few examples of what was being voted on, there was the construction of 71,000 new rental homes through the apartment construction loan program, the construction of 12,000 new affordable homes through the rapid housing initiative and the crackdown on terrorism financing. There was the federal housing advocate. There was a vote on the Ukrainian immigrants settling in Canada, helping them find accommodations and initial financial support. There was the training of Ukrainian soldiers through Operation Unifier, not to mention Canada's NATO mission. There is a long list here, and a good portion of it took place while half the Conservative caucus was not even around to vote because it was nighttime. This motion would make sure that not only the Conservatives would have that health break between midnight and nine o'clock, but also all members would have the same treatment. What is wrong with that?
As I pointed out, with those three main aspects, I would think the Conservative Party would support that. All one needs to do is to reflect on many of the tactics the Conservative Party has used over the years. I can cite that the biggest one is probably the concurrence motions. One that really gets me is when one Conservative member stands up, and then another member stands up to say that they move to now be heard, so there are two Conservatives fighting about who can speak. As a result, the bells ring for a half hour. What about when they move a motion to adjourn the House, which then causes the bells to ring? Those are all attempts to prevent debate from occurring.
We want debate. We want a healthier democracy. If we support a healthier democracy here in Canada, here on the floor of the House of Commons, I would hope Conservatives would recognize and would support this motion. Not supporting it sends a message to their constituents that they are not prepared to work hard, and they are quite frankly part of a Conservative far right MAGA movement that wants to destabilize our institutions.
535 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Feb/28/24 7:29:31 p.m.
- Watch
Madam Speaker, the question I have for my colleague across the way is on recognizing that there is a finite amount of time that is available for debate on government bills and that the motion we are actually debating would greatly enhance the amount of time for members of Parliament to debate. This way, with respect to government legislation and budgetary matters that come before the chamber, members on all sides of the House would be provided a lot more time. Given that many Canadians work well past six or seven o'clock in the evening, does he see anything wrong with extending the hours to allow for more debate time and being reasonable by saying that it is not going to go past midnight? I see that as a positive win for democracy. Could the member provide his thoughts on that?
142 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Feb/28/24 5:25:59 p.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, when I look at what is being proposed by the government, one thing is the response to the need to have additional debate time on government legislation. That is really what this is all about, in addition to not having to sit or vote for 30 hours straight, including between midnight and 9 a.m.
This would be to enable members to address and debate more on government legislation. I would think that having more time would be a good thing that members opposite would want to support, because I often see them on the other side crying and saying they want more time. We would be giving them more time, and I would think they would support the motion to extend the time. Many Canadians from coast to coast to coast work into the evenings. There is nothing wrong with members of Parliament having to work a few extra hours in the evening to allow for more debate.
Could I get the government House leader's thoughts on that?
172 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Feb/27/24 5:30:50 p.m.
- Watch
Madam Speaker, I suspect if you were to canvass the House, you would find unanimous consent at this time to call it 5:42 p.m. so we can begin private member's hour.
34 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Feb/27/24 10:16:53 a.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, I would ask that all questions be allowed to stand at this time.
15 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Feb/26/24 5:55:28 p.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, I suspect if you were to canvass the House, you would find unanimous consent at this time to call it 6:30 p.m. so we could possibly begin the late show.
34 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Feb/26/24 3:47:31 p.m.
- Watch
Madam Speaker, I would ask that all questions be allowed to stand at this time.
15 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Feb/13/24 10:08:11 a.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, I would ask that all questions be allowed to stand at this time.
15 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Feb/8/24 5:17:29 p.m.
- Watch
Madam Speaker, I suspect if you would canvass the House at this time, you would find unanimous consent to call it 5:30 p.m., so we could begin private members' hour.
32 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Feb/6/24 5:30:55 p.m.
- Watch
Madam Speaker, I suspect that, if you were to canvass the House, you would find unanimous consent at this time to call it 5:42 p.m. so we could begin private members' hour.
34 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
Madam Speaker, today we are debating substantial legislation dealing with water. I wanted to highlight that, as a legislature, we often have substantive pieces of legislation before us. This morning, the focus is on Bill C-61, and later this afternoon we will be debating at third reading the Canada-Ukraine trade agreement, both of which are substantial pieces of legislation. There is a finite amount of time and a desire to see good legislation pass in a timely fashion, so we are hoping the Canada-Ukraine trade agreement will pass this afternoon. We are also hoping to see the Conservatives put a high priority on this legislation. I am wondering if the member can give a clear indication of what sort of time frame he would like to see before this bill goes to committee.
136 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Feb/2/24 12:12:48 p.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, I suspect if you were to canvass the House at this time, you might find unanimous consent to call it 1:30 p.m. so we can begin private members' hour.
33 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Feb/1/24 5:23:02 p.m.
- Watch
Madam Speaker, I suspect if you were to canvass the House, you would find unanimous consent to call it 5:30 p.m. at this time so we can begin private members' hour.
33 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Nov/30/23 5:28:29 p.m.
- Watch
Madam Speaker, I just wish to recognize the time and ask for unanimous consent to call the time 5:30 p.m., so that we can begin private members' hour.
30 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Nov/23/23 12:54:05 p.m.
- Watch
Madam Speaker, I understand the rules indicate that if a member wants to split their time, they have to affirm that they would like to split their time. Is that not correct? Do they have to say it?
38 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Nov/23/23 12:50:11 p.m.
- Watch
Madam Speaker, my apologies to my colleague, but I believe that he was going to share his time with the member for Avalon.
23 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Oct/23/23 11:58:01 a.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, as you have indicated, the member does not lose any time whatsoever. This is private members' hour and we will use the full hour, as we have often done.
The emphasis I was trying to make is the fact that the Prime Minister and members of the Liberal caucus made it very clear that we wanted to focus the attention on the pandemic that was hitting Canada from coast to coast to coast. That was the need and it was justified.
At the end of the day, I am somewhat sympathetic to what the member for Elmwood—Transcona is saying, but I do not necessarily believe there is a need to change the rules.
117 words
All Topics
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- menumenu
- notificationsnotifications
- home
- mailmail
- searchsearch
