- 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
- Apr/18/24 10:11:25 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, there are members of the Canadian Forces Morale and Welfare Services in Kingston and other cities throughout the country who are currently on strike. They are calling attention to the fact that, despite the critical work they do, these employees, whose employers are not directly the federal government but under the purview of the federal government, are among the lowest paid. They are demanding that they earn fair wages in line with other individuals who are working under similar corporations throughout the country.
I would ask that this petition be submitted to the Minister of National Defence and the President of the Treasury Board so that they can work together with the Canadian Forces Morale and Welfare Services to ensure that the Staff of the Non-Public Funds have access to fair wages, an equitable pay scale and good, secure jobs.
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- May/9/23 1:55:33 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, in responding to the question from the member for Winnipeg North, the member suggested that the chief of staff to the Prime Minister would have indicated that she forwards and shares all information with the Prime Minister. The only problem is that the member for Wellington—Halton Hills indicated recently in an interview that he was informed by the national security adviser to the Prime Minister that neither the Prime Minister nor his chief of staff, Ms. Telford, received any information with respect to this. To suggest that it was the chief of staff who just did not provide the information is not accurate, based on the facts that were stated by that member.
I wonder if the member would like to rephrase what he previously said regarding the chief of staff and the Prime Minister.
An hon. member: Oh, oh!
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- Mar/20/23 4:10:41 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the member has indicated that the government has been trying to hide at every turn, which could not be further from the truth. As a matter of fact, we have had two ministers already come and answer questions by committee on this. We have told Canadians about a number of different measures we are going to take. The issue for me is inviting staff and requiring them to come to a committee, when at the end of the day, ministers are responsible, not staff. The member does not have to take this just from me; she should listen to her boss, the member from Carleton and the Leader of the Opposition. In 2010, he said:
...ministers answer questions on behalf of the government and not staff. We are not going to be changing 300 years of history all of a sudden at the behest of the coalition parties. We are not going to have the staff members appear in question period to answer on behalf of the government. We are going to do it the old-fashioned way, the way it has always been done right up until the last several months. We are going to keep ministers, the guys in charge, responsible for their duties.
That was the member for Carleton, the Leader of the Opposition, who said that not staff but ministers come to committees. Why is it okay now to do this, but it was not for the member for Carleton back then?
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- Mar/20/23 3:37:15 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I tried to ask the member this question before, but he did not answer it, so I want to give him another opportunity.
The leader of the NDP said, “up to this point...I have seen [that] the committee, and the way it is operating, is more so a forum for scoring [political] points on each other. The Conservatives are trying to score points on the Liberals”. He went on to say, “And so, that, to me, is the wrong use of our resources. The fact that a committee is being used in a partisan way to score points on something [is inappropriate].”
As a matter of fact, this member, on February 21 in the PROC committee, said, “I caution on the issue of inviting staff [to committee].” He went on to say, “Around the issue of political staff, as opposed to having ministers being brought forward to testify, I support having ministers come forward to explain what they did [and why].”
Given that this motion is all about inviting staff to committee, can the member give some insight into why the NDP is even considering whether to support it, given his comments in committee and the comments by the leader of the NDP? He did not answer the question the last time I asked. I am really hoping that he can actually answer my question this time.
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- Nov/3/22 12:24:49 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I was unaware of this incident, although I have heard about it today in this debate. If I can accept what the member is saying to be factual, trusting that he has done his research, I will respond to that. I certainly do not believe it is anybody's business to discuss medical options with any individual other than the person's doctor and, in this case, somebody who is qualified to make comments to that end.
Do I believe that any staff member, as the member suggests, should be talking about such things? Absolutely not. It is absolutely horrendous if that is the case and there should certainly be an investigation into this by that individual's superior.
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- Sep/21/22 3:58:06 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I was just going to point out that, even as you were making those comments, I was having a hard time hearing you because of the background noise out there.
It seems like every time this issue comes up, we just talk among ourselves about it, but the message never gets out there. Perhaps there is a way. I would never want someone to not be able to hear my petition being tabled, as was indicated by another member. Perhaps there would be a way to have the appropriate staff deal with this, so that it can actually get outside of the walls of the chamber.
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- May/19/22 4:36:41 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, that is a really good question and it is a valid question. I am listening to that question being asked continually by the opposition, and I am hearing what the minister has been saying about increasing the number of staff.
The member for Prince Albert earlier alluded to the idea that for a Liberal MP, an application might go through a little faster. I can assure him that I have a lot of constituents facing the exact same situation, and there is no favouritism played by a government department toward individual MPs' offices.
To the member's question, there will be an opportunity to reflect on this later, figure out why it happened and improve upon it in the future.
Some hon. members: Oh, oh!
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