- Member of Parliament
- Minister of Health
- Liberal
- Ajax
- Ontario
- Voting Attendance: 64%
- Expenses Last Quarter: $134,982.00
- Government Page
- Jun/12/23 6:49:01 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I make the point because all of our time here is temporary, and that is important to remember for two reasons. I lost once and felt it viscerally. When we leave this place and the comma is no longer after our names and we are no longer members, what we are left with is our families, friends, passions and, frankly, the relationships we made here. Those are the things that matter. That is the glue that binds us. It is and should be a cultural statement to every person in this place. No job we take should ever ask us to put the job ahead of family or those we love.
Service is deeply important, but we have to put that service, first and foremost, toward those we love. There are a couple of reasons for that, aside from it being the right thing to do. It is also because, in my darkest moments, in the moments when I most lost myself and most lost my way, it was the love of my children that pulled me from that darkest spot. When I faced some of the toughest elections I ever fought, leaning in for my values and fighting for what I cared about, my mom was on the street knocking on doors hundreds of nights in a row and being there for me in all of those moments. It was seeing her strength when she is not even serving that fortified me.
That is what happens. We are facing dark, hard times. There is not a member in this House who, when turning on social media, is not filled with hate and contempt as darkness is thrown at them. If we are not given time for those we love and if we are not given the opportunity to be fortified by that, then we will not be equal to the hour in front of us.
We overcome darkness with perseverance. Anybody can stand up at a moment and be strong, but to do it for days, months, years and decades takes an internal fortitude that comes only from having the strength around us of those who love us and will be with us when we put down the sword and someone else picks it up. They will need it as well.
I do not know, but in all likelihood, this speech will be a text somewhere in a book that is mostly used as wallpaper and will be forgotten. However, when we speak here, hopefully it is a microphone to history. I would say to anybody who is newly elected to take rest and make time for things outside of this place, as no one else will tell them to do that. Everyone else will tell them they are not doing enough, they have to work harder and they have to go to more places. The honourable people who fill this chamber actually need to be told the opposite of working hard. They need to be told to take a break and make sure they are getting what they need, that they are with their families and that they are restoring for the big and hard battles ahead.
What happens when we do not get our needs met is we walk into the room as robots and ghosts. We do not come here with the strength of our convictions or the ability to fight for what we care about. We drag ourselves from one room to the other, exhaustingly shaking hands and trying to remember talking points. I will hold out that I work less today, and I am proud to admit it. I work much less today than I worked in my first three terms, and I would say that I am much more effective. I ask less of my staff today, and I would say they are much more effective. This does not just make sense because it is the right thing to do, but because when people have energy, context and space, they can see what is important and have energy to do it.
If it is not enough to talk about giving members of Parliament a bit of space and a bit of a break to be at those really important events, then I am going to end by talking about Arnold Chan.
Arnold was one of my closest friends in this world. He managed every election day that I was in. He was my political mentor. Watching Arnold die of cancer was one of the most viscerally painful things I have ever gone through. However, what made that so much harder was watching this man, who loved this chamber, who loved this House and who loved the opportunity to serve, have to drag himself in here to participate in debate and to vote. Seeing him in the chamber that lies just behind this chamber, doubled over in pain and in an absolutely horrific state because he did not want to let his constituents down, was ridiculous. If we had had hybrid then, he could have done that from his home.
Unfortunately, as whip, I know there are way too many situations like this, where health affects a member's ability to be here, and not just their health but potentially the health of their loved ones. It would seem to me that at the very least, even if members are not compelled by the other arguments, like being there in major moments of our families' lives, remembering the memory of a Mauril Bélanger or an Arnold Chan should inspire some sympathy for the pain we cannot see and the struggles that are not so visible that need to be attended to.
I know in my heart that a hundred or a thousand years from now, the changes we are putting in the Standing Orders will continue. I know this, as I move these changes here today, not because they cannot be changed. They can. Another government of another day could reverse them. They will not be changed because I can already see all members of the House using them and using them judiciously and appropriately. I have talked to members in the corridors from every single party. They have talked to me about how these provisions have been a total game-changer for them, their families and their ability to do their jobs.
This is the right thing. It is not just the right thing for the people who are here. It is a siren call to all others that this is the House of the common people. I am certain that some people will see these changes, people who did not see themselves being able to step forward and live a public life and thought it would be impossible to serve in Parliament, and say that it is possible and they can come forward and serve. Perhaps there is no more important thing than that. Hybrid makes this Parliament a little more accessible, a little more open and that much more representative of the country we are so lucky to serve.
I hope all members really consider the last three years, consider the work that was done by the procedure and House affairs committee and consider honestly the toll of this job and the message it sends to adopt hybrid: what it says now and what it will say to the Parliament of the future.
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- May/8/23 3:07:16 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, yes, the Prime Minister took a vacation with his family at Christmas. Is the opposition member's position that it is unacceptable for the Prime Minister to take a vacation at Christmas with his family? Is that the position of the member across the way?
The vast majority of the cost was for security. Does the member think that the Prime Minister does not need security?
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- May/4/23 3:04:26 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, as I have said to this House on many occasions, the member is right: The Prime Minister took a vacation with his family over Christmas. He did so, staying at a friend's house. Is the member asserting that the Prime Minister should not be able to take a vacation with his family at Christmas, or is the member asserting that if he does so he does not have security, which was the vast preponderance of the cost? It seems that the Conservatives want to torque and play partisan games with a family vacation that the Prime Minister took. That is inappropriate.
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- May/4/23 2:45:55 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, what we can agree on unequivocally is that a target of a member of Parliament's family is an act beyond anything we can imagine. Every single one of us have dedicated our lives to democracy. We have seen ourselves—
Some hon. members: Oh, oh!
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- Apr/20/23 2:46:23 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, again for the third day in a row, I am happy to talk about this if this is the members' priority.
Yes, the Prime Minister went on vacation with his family over Christmas. This is a home that he had been at when he was one year old. It is a friend whom he has had for his entire life. It is a family friendship that has gone on forever. I do not know if the member opposite has stayed at a friend's before over Christmas or done something like that, but in any event I have answered this question. I would imagine that there are other more pressing things that Canadians are facing than spending three days asking about whether the Prime Minister took a family vacation over Christmas.
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- Apr/18/23 2:49:24 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I am deeply proud of the government and the Prime Minister, which have, over the last number of years, fought to make sure that Canada is a leader in the world, both economically and on tackling poverty, by making sure we are there in the budget and through other measures.
Yes, the Prime Minister did take a vacation with his family with family friends over Christmas. Yes, there were security costs that were involved with that. If a prime minister is to take a vacation, those costs are inevitable. They cannot be avoided.
I think that we as a House have to ask if we believe that a prime minister should be able to take a vacation with his family. I believe he should be able to.
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- Apr/18/23 2:45:03 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister has been very clear that this is a family that he has had a close personal relationship with for 50 years. I do not know if the member opposite ever takes time at a friend's house over Christmas with his family, or what he does, but I would say—
Some hon. members: Oh, oh!
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- Apr/18/23 2:38:10 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the question is clear. Can the Prime Minister go on vacation with his family? If the Prime Minister goes on vacation at Christmas with his family, can he have security for his family? If so, obviously, there is a cost for that. That cost is quite reasonable.
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