- Member of Parliament
- Member of the Board of Internal Economy
Deputy House leader of the government
- Liberal
- Kingston and the Islands
- Ontario
- Voting Attendance: 67%
- Expenses Last Quarter: $112,228.33
- Government Page
- Mar/22/24 2:01:15 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, that is not what I am proposing.
What I am proposing in the amendment is not that the Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs change the wording or anything like that. We can pass that privilege motion with my amendment here. All it says is that, before the individual appears before the bar, we allow PROC to establish the manner in which the individual is questioned, whether we are in committee of the whole or a regular proceeding.
I realize the member for Leeds—Grenville—Thousand Islands and Rideau Lakes brought forward some suggestions as to how it happened in 1913, and by the way, the Titanic sunk in 1912, so I should not have made that reference, but the truth is, I am just talking about letting PROC establish how that individual is treated when they come here. I am by no means suggesting the individual does not come here.
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- Mar/18/24 4:23:17 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I have a petition that actually has to do with Joyceville Institution. It is not a federal prison within my riding. It is actually in the neighbouring riding of Lanark—Frontenac—Kingston. This petition is with respect to an abattoir at Joyceville Institution.
The petitioners are beef farmers and supporters of the beef farming community. They are drawing to the attention of the government that some beef farmers must wait six to nine months and, in many cases, up to a year to have their cattle processed at provincial facilities. The abattoir located at Joyceville Institution has not been utilized for a couple of years. The closure of that abattoir put even more strain on processing, negatively impacting processing wait times for beef farmers in Lanark and Frontenac counties. The closure has had negative economic impacts on neighbouring businesses and restaurants that have relied on products from the abattoir.
The petitioners are therefore calling on the Government of Canada to explore all options to ensure that the abattoir located at Joyceville Institution is reopened to address the issues noted above.
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- Dec/6/23 6:19:26 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, my first question at the procedure and House affairs committee would be to understand the context in which the video was made. Did the Speaker know when he was making that video and sitting in that room that it was going to be broadcast to thousands of people on a big screen, or did he think it was going directly to the individual who was the recipient? I do not know. It is not that it particularly makes one situation better or worse, but did he know that it was going to be used in the context in which it was used? I actually really do not know the answer to that question and I would like to know the answer.
Second, I would like to know what exactly the rules are that we currently have in place, but also how those have been followed in the past. For example, in the four years that the member for Regina—Qu'Appelle was the speaker, were there instances? We know that the Leader of the Opposition showed up to a Government of Canada event wearing a Conservative jacket, and we know that was not right. It is important to understand the context to get to the bottom of this and then pass judgment.
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- Dec/6/23 5:39:26 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, the member has already made up his mind. He sits on the procedure and House affairs committee, like I do. I am going to vote in favour of the motion to send it to committee for committee to do the work. However, if he has already made up his mind, what is the point of even supporting the motion? He already knows what the outcome is going to be at committee. He is not going into it from an objective point of view of listening to all of the information and then making a decision. He is, effectively, a judge in this case. As a judge, he is coming before the defendant and saying that he already knows they are guilty but that he wants to hear what they think so he can make a decision. It is absolutely ludicrous.
Why even bother voting for the motion if he already knows the outcome he plans to execute when he is at committee?
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- Dec/5/23 5:12:16 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I will address the second part first. What the member is raising is exactly why this needs to go to PROC, so the committee can look at that. If I try to prejudge that now and say what I think the outcome is, as a member of that committee, I am showing that I cannot be impartial when I sit and listen to the evidence that comes. Therefore, I look forward to doing that.
In terms of how this plays into what happened previously this fall with the Speaker, it is certainly unfortunate that we find ourselves in this position. However, the two issues can be treated in isolation. I do not think they are connected in any way other than the fact that it is the Speaker of the House of Commons who is the subject of both. Having said that, I certainly regret and find it troubling that we are here once again, but I do also respect the fact that the—
An hon. member: Oh, oh!
Mr. Mark Gerretsen: Madam Speaker, I am getting heckled again. I respect that—
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- Dec/1/23 1:02:44 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, on the same point of order, we are debating the concurrence motion on a report. We are not even debating the report. We are debating whether or not the report should be concurred in. I am speaking directly to the procedure and to why I think Conservatives are using this motion right now. I am extremely relevant on my points.
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- Oct/18/23 6:26:54 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, the report does not even speak to that. That should show us how incredibly petty this is. The report does not even speak to it, yet the Conservatives are basically saying that we should delete this report and send it back to committee to study this new issue. As the parliamentary secretary said earlier, the committee can decide of its own inclination if it should study the issue. It is completely unrelated to the report. The member knows it. He knows the procedure of this House better than the vast majority of the people here given his experience, and he knows exactly what they are doing. The fact that he just got up and asked me that question is kind of ridiculous.
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- Sep/21/23 3:21:43 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I rise on a point of order.
I believe if you seek it, at this time you will find unanimous consent for the following motion.
I move:
That the membership of the Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs be amended as follows:
Mr. Lauzon (Argenteuil—La Petite-Nation) for Mr. Turnbull (Whitby) and
Mr. Duguid (Winnipeg South) for Mr. Fergus (Hull-Aylmer).
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- Jun/5/23 5:13:21 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, the relevance is that I am speaking to the motive for placing this concurrence motion before the House right now. That is the relevance of it. Nonetheless, I think it is important that we get back to the business at hand.
Therefore, I move:
That the House do now proceed to Presenting Petitions.
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Madam Speaker, first, I sincerely appreciate the incredible passion the member has demonstrated in his speech. I congratulate him for relaying that in such a passionate manner to the House. Second, I certainly take great opportunity to reflect on this legislation and the issue before us, so I do not want the member to think there are not members of the Liberal bench who are always highly concerned over the manner in which this medical procedure would be used.
Finally, I am unsure exactly what the member is asking when he makes a plea to Liberal backbenchers, in his terms. The whole point of this extension is to make sure that everything that would be put in place would be done in a responsible and appropriate manner.
By the member's own admission, he is voting in favour of this extension. Therefore, what is it, exactly, that the member is asking? Is he asking for something that is supposed to happen a year from now?
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- Feb/6/23 6:19:36 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I am not sure if the member is aware, but this side of the House will be voting in favour of the motion. We do not see a particular issue with it.
We have guidelines and policies in place for department heads and various different public servants to follow. We have processes to ensure that this happens. Does she believe that the processes in place are being properly administered by our public service?
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- Oct/20/22 12:15:20 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, on the same point of order, the member from “wherever he is from” is actually from Burnaby South, just so my Conservative colleague knows.
A point of order references the order of procedure. It is to call to the attention of the Chair that the order of procedure did not happen. Clearly the member is debating. He is not bringing forward a point of order.
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- May/19/22 10:06:55 p.m.
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Mr. Chair, a number of questions have been raised regarding Nuctech and whether contracts were awarded to the company. There may be questions regarding contracts awarded through Public Services and Procurement Canada as a department and as a common service provider. Can the minister clarify if contracts were awarded to this company?
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- May/10/22 4:00:25 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, that is a very good point. The member brings up other options, and I think that is the whole point to having an issue like this go before a committee. This issue should go before PROC so it can determine if indeed there is a better idea or not. I do not know. To be completely honest, this is not one of the issues I have been seized with in the almost seven years that I have been here. I have never felt we needed to invest a huge amount of time into this like the Bloc does.
I will mention that I noticed the Bloc members voted in favour of the last bill. That means they voted in favour of the budget, at least at this reading. It is a signal to me that the Bloc feels as though the budget is a good budget and deserves the support of the House. Maybe the Bloc ended up bringing this forward because it really had nothing else to complain about.
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