- Member of Parliament
- Member of Parliament
- Conservative
- Essex
- Ontario
- Voting Attendance: 67%
- Expenses Last Quarter: $172,107.39
- Government Page
Mr. Speaker, it is certainly an honour to participate virtually in the House this afternoon.
The first thing I would like to do, with your indulgence, is to wish my lovely wife Allison happy birthday. She is incredibly sweet and young. I love her dearly and I want to celebrate that.
Second, I want to congratulate the member for Windsor West for getting the bill this far. The member and I have worked tirelessly on this together. It is a fantastic example of collaboration and how working across the aisles we can certainly get things done for our regions. I know how influential he was with respect to my private member's bill, Bill C-241, and it has been an honour to work with him on his private member's bill, Bill C-248, an act to amend the Canada National Parks Act, the Ojibway National Urban Park of Canada specifically.
This has been a fantastic example of collaboration from all levels of government, which is enormous. I know our constituents continually ask us to not always fight in the House and to try to get along and find common ground. It puts a big smile on my face on a Friday to know that really good, unique things can get done when we work together.
As an example, our provincial government has come to the table. The Minister of Environment and Climate Change has been amazing in making sure that this comes to fruition, along with MPP Andrew Dowie, from Windsor—Tecumseh, who has also been very influential in the conversation and bringing those folks together. I really want to celebrate and thank them.
I have had many conversations with Mayor Dilkens, the mayor of Windsor, who is very much in support of this private member's bill, along with the mayor and councillors of LaSalle. It is a win-win for our community, so I thank them.
I want to thank our first nations: Chief Duckworth of the Caldwell First Nation, in collaboration with the Walpole Island First Nation.
Then of course there were amazing community consultations and a ton of outreach. People have literally been so vital in this conversation and I just want to thank them so much for that.
I will be very prudent and say that I am happy the Liberals changed their mind, because twice they voted against this. I am not sure what changed, but I am certainly happy they recognize that this is going to lead to huge opportunities for tourism, our economy and the health and mental health of people in our regions of Essex, Windsor—Tecumseh, Windsor West and Chatham-Kent—Leamington.
I have done my due diligence. I have spent countless hours in discussions with mayors, in community consultations, and with stakeholders. There were two things that were always top of mind. One is to make darn sure that our corridors and arteries, Matchette Road and Malden Road, remain open so that the folks who need to get back and forth to Windsor to work in our automotive sector and our new battery plant that is coming up do not encounter a big blockade that does not allow them to get back and forth to work early. They are putting in countless hours at these businesses and we should not have the major arteries, which are the major roads, blocked so they cannot get back and forth from their place of residence.
Equally, I have spoken many times on the importance of getting Canadians active. We have been basically stuck in our home for three and a half years due to COVID. It is time to get active, to get out on the trails, either a biking or hiking trail, or spend time with family and mother nature. This park has white-tailed deer, raccoons and the endangered eastern fox snake, which I really hope does not cross the path in front of me when I go out to this new park. We have the Gordie Howe International Bridge set to open up in 2025, which perhaps can connect with this urban national park. There is going to be a walking path on the bridge.
The tourism opportunities here for our region are absolutely vital. It is huge for the area, let alone the economy and what it is going to bring to our small businesses, hotels and restaurants, all those who are offering their services.
This is a really good, very well-thought-out private member's bill. Again, I am very happy to be supporting this.
Let me also say that this does not affect private lands. It will have zero effect on those lands that are surrounding it today. This bill uses existing federal-provincial lands that already exist. All it is doing is taking the existing green space and bringing it all together, which is enormous. It is protecting the environment.
Essex, Windsor West and Windsor—Tecumseh is a very small area. We are surrounded by three bodies of water, Lake Erie, the Detroit River and Lake St. Clair. Property is at a premium, to say the least. When we can give opportunities for folks to get outdoors, to get active, to spend time with their families away from our televisions, then I think we need to enhance that. We need to celebrate it. We have to do everything possible to ensure that we are doing our due diligence on that.
Tomorrow is Earth Day. What a fitting day to be talking about a private member's bill that is actually protecting some 800 acres in Essex that would go a long way to ensuring that our feathered and furry friends are protected.
I understand this bill is to be voted on next Wednesday, and I really hope that it gets passed. Equally, I am hoping that we can somehow, in some way get it to the Senate as quickly as possible, to get their support. Would it not be remarkable if we could get it through the Senate and allow these folks to start taking advantage, again, of this urban national park?
The greedy side of me says, along with Bill C-248, I also hope the Senate talks about Bill C-241, which is my private member's bill. Maybe they could push that through at the same time.
Conservatives will be voting in favour of Bill C-248. Again, I want to celebrate and congratulate the member for Windsor West. It has been an honour to work alongside him. This is only positive for our region, specifically for Essex, Windsor West, Windsor—Tecumseh and Chatham-Kent—Leamington. It would enhance the lives and mental health of people going forward.
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- Sep/16/22 11:26:17 a.m.
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Mr. Speaker, as great as it is to be back in the House, it is obviously a sad day. It is a sad day when we need to come back to the House to truly celebrate all the Queen did for Canada, and truthfully, what she continues to do for Canada and the world.
I suppose I will then retract my statement to say what an exciting and fabulous day this is. What an honour it is for me to stand here today, on behalf of the amazing folks of Essex, to speak to her presence and all that she did, and to all that she represented. So much has already been said, so I am not going to repeat the things so many great folks have said in the House.
I will start by saying that my thoughts and prayers, as well as those of the people of Essex, are with the royal family and all the people she represented. If her hope, passion and compassion over her 96 years do not give some energy or put a smile on the face of Canadians, then they need to take a hard look in the mirror and realize what she brought to the world is something so unique and heartwarming, that we could all take a page out of her playbook.
I guess I really did not realize the impact she had on folks until I was honoured to present so many fine folks from Essex and surrounding areas with the Queen's Jubilee pins. I previously had zero idea of the impact she had had, not only older folks but also on young ones as well. To have the honour to put the Queen's Jubilee pin on somebody, and have them literally cry on my shoulder and say it was the greatest honour of their life, blew my mind. That is when I realized her impact. Only three days later, Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II passed away.
I kind of think it is by design. I am going to speak very quickly to something a lot of Canadians do not know, and which probably most of my colleagues do not even realize. I am a very proud United Empire Loyalist, a UEL. I spoke with Heather Crewe just two days ago and asked her to give me some ideas and thoughts on what the Queen meant to the UEL.
I want to share a few thoughts from my community of Essex to bring it into perspective. I will also share something pretty unique and neat with the House shortly. Heather sent me a briefing. The bicentennial branch of the United Empire Loyalists' Association of Canada was founded in 1984 and derives its name from the 200th anniversary of the final evacuation of Loyalist refugees from Manhattan in 1784. Loyalists from across the 13 colonies had gathered on Manhattan Island, which, at the time, was the last stronghold of the British following the American Revolution.
In 1983, a handful of Empire United Loyalist holders from the Windsor-Essex region began to discuss the formation of a local UELAC branch. They were encouraged in those efforts by John Chard, who was a member of the dominion council and editor of the Loyalist Gazette, which I get basically every month.
The first general meeting of the new branch took place on May 31, 1984, in the Windsor Public Library. Charter members were Sharon Kominar, Marie Gordon, Gwendolyn Malkin, Jean Walton, Meryl Courtenay, Eleanor MacDonald, Donna Harvey, Alice Pollock and Margaret Lewis.
Margaret Lewis was my grandmother. She was absolutely instrumental, and she adored the Queen. My late grandmother passed away just a few years ago. If it would have been possible, she would have had a Queen's Jubilee pin put on her lapel.
Today, the bicentennial branch serves Windsor, Essex County, Chatham, Kent and Michigan, however our members can be found throughout North America. Most members have family ties with the Loyalists who settled this area in the years following the American Revolution, although some members have proven Loyalist ancestors from other parts of Canada. Heather went on to say that one in six Canadians actually have ties to the Loyalists, and most do not realize that they do.
Ontario's coat of arms was adopted in 1909, and it illustrates Ontario's ties to England and its loyalty to Canada. The deer, moose and bear are the most common mammals indigenous to Ontario. The Latin motto on the coat of arms reads, “Ut incepit fidelis sic permanet”, which translates to, “Loyal she began, loyal she remains”. This is in reference to the Loyalist ties of the province's early settlers.
I am so excited to be here today, not because of her passing, but because of the opportunity to speak to an individual woman who has done so much good for Canada. I do my best to do what I believe she exemplified, and that is to leave the world a better place than we found it. She did that time and time again. We can see it through the tears. We can see it through the smiles. We can see it through the laughter, and we see it through the respect. It is remarkable that through her life she brought so much to this world, and what is particularly remarkable is that, through her death, she certainly exemplified exactly that.
In closing, it has been an honour to speak. My thoughts and prayers are with the royal family in all aspects going forward. Godspeed the Queen. God save the King, and God bless Canada.
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