- Member of Parliament
- Member of the Subcommittee on Review of Parliament’s involvement with associations and recognized Interparliamentary groups
Deputy House leader of the New Democratic Party
- NDP
- London—Fanshawe
- Ontario
- Voting Attendance: 66%
- Expenses Last Quarter: $131,911.16
- Government Page
- Nov/8/23 7:30:55 p.m.
- Watch
Madam Speaker, once again, I am deeply disappointed that the hon. member could not even talk about the word “ceasefire”. She did mention a humanitarian pause, but the scale of the current humanitarian catastrophe cannot be reversed with temporary and localized influxes of aid. This is about starvation. This is about dehydration. This is about mass killings.
Four thousand Palestinian children are dead. People are living in fear. More than 120,000 Canadians have written to MPs demanding a ceasefire. I am heartbroken that the Liberals do not have the courage to do what is right and call for the release of the hostages, call for international justice and call for a ceasefire.
115 words
All Topics
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Nov/8/23 7:22:34 p.m.
- Watch
Madam Speaker, I rise today to follow up on a question that I asked on Monday regarding the horrors we are witnessing in Gaza and to demand that the Canadian government call for a ceasefire, which is something this government continues to actively fight against. Even today in the House, Liberals refused to support our motion calling for a ceasefire.
Many in my community of London—Fanshawe are in an incredible amount of pain. There are Canadians across this country who are in an incredible amount of pain. They are grieving for their families, their friends, their loved ones and for what they are seeing unfolding in Palestine and Israel.
This past month has devastated many of us, and my constituents are as alarmed as I am by the increase in hate, including anti-Palestinian racism, Islamophobia and anti-Semitism. I have spoken with many Londoners who are still reeling from the horrific murder of members of our London family. Many Londoners do not feel safe sending their children to school, and some are scared to wear their Stars of David or their yarmulkes. I know of sons who have been so scared that they have asked their mothers not to wear their hijabs for fear of harassment and potential violence.
Hundreds of Canadians and their families are still unable to leave Gaza, including some of my constituents. They are surviving the worst conditions and are under constant threat of bombardment, and they do not know when they might find safety. Global Affairs Canada has had no answers for them.
I have been working with family members who are desperate. They fear every phone call that comes in. Their bodies can no longer handle the stress and they are being hospitalized for fear of what they will be told about those family members. They have cried in meetings with me and asked why they are seen as second-class citizens.
Since October 11, the NDP has been asking the Liberals to stand on the right side of history and demand a ceasefire. Yesterday, polling by Mainstreet Research showed that over 71% of Canadians support the call for a ceasefire. Canadian aid agencies, including CARE, Development and Peace, Islamic Relief, Oxfam, Médecins du Monde and Save the Children are urging the Government of Canada to take a strong and resolute stance and demand a ceasefire in order to prevent further loss of civilian life.
Eighteen leading global agencies, including UNICEF, the World Health Organization, the World Food Programme and the Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs are urging a ceasefire, saying that enough is enough. Many of the families of the hostages are calling for a ceasefire, saying that the bombardment puts their loved ones at risk.
This is the worst humanitarian crisis we have seen in our lifetimes, and Gaza children are starving to death. Pregnant women are miscarrying from stress or having C-sections without anaesthetic in hospital rooms that are damaged from bombing and infested with insects. There is no water. There is no medicine. There is no safe place. The United Nations Secretary-General has said that “Gaza is becoming a graveyard for children.”
However, what we do not hear from the government is what we need to hear. Why is Canada refusing to support international investigations into war crimes? Why is it that Canada cannot condemn those violations of international humanitarian law? In other conflicts, the government does that, but it does not do that in this one. This is an outrageous failure of leadership by the Prime Minister and the government.
Canadians want a ceasefire. They want to see the hostages released. They want their fellow Canadians home. They want their family members home. However, the Liberals are failing at this moment. It is time to find their courage. I beg them to find their courage and call for a ceasefire before more Palestinian children are killed in this horrendous war.
661 words
All Topics
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Nov/6/23 2:47:48 p.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, Palestinian Canadians in my riding did everything possible to work with Global Affairs Canada to get their loved ones out of Gaza. They put all of their hopes on Sunday's evacuation, only to hear nothing from Canadian officials.
The bombardments are getting more intense. My constituents, their families, Canadian citizens are trapped. They need the government to stand for human rights and to protect lives. The heads of 18 UN agencies and NGOs and my constituents are calling for a ceasefire. Why not the Prime Minister?
89 words
All Topics
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Oct/20/23 11:50:50 a.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, the war between Hamas and Israel keeps taking the lives of so many innocent Israelis and Palestinians. The humanitarian crisis in Gaza is getting worse by the minute. People in Gaza have very little access to water, food or electricity. They are forced to flee their homes or be bombed, and half of them are children. Palestinians and Israelis deserve to live in peace, and that is why the NDP has been calling for an immediate ceasefire and for the release of the hostages.
Why will the government not do everything in its power to save lives by calling for a ceasefire?
104 words
All Topics
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Oct/16/23 10:33:26 p.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, I too want to thank my hon. colleague for the strength she brings to this debate. Knowing her background as a Jewish Canadian, I cannot even imagine this, so I appreciate that.
She spoke a lot about the local impact. I come from London, where we are still dealing with a lot of the impacts of what happened to our London family. To move forward, I have been asking about concrete actions we can take in this place and that the government can take to continue to support all of our communities when we are dealing with such tragedy and acts of violence and hatred.
107 words
All Topics
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Oct/16/23 9:50:35 p.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, my hon. colleague spoke about Canadians hurting. She spoke about the people in her own community, the fear they have and ensuring that we are protecting them. In my community, it was just reported that there was a sign in an apartment building for everyone to see that said “Kill all Muslims”. What do we need to do today to ensure that anti-Palestinian and anti-Semitic messages are really addressed here in this place?
79 words
All Topics
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Jan/31/22 10:53:46 p.m.
- Watch
Madam Chair, I would also like to ask the question in French, but I do not know if I would communicate as effectively, especially at this late hour, so I am going to stick to English. Forgive me; I will work on it.
One of the questions that I asked my Conservative colleague on the defence committee earlier in the debate is one I would like to ask my hon. colleague in the Bloc, and I do appreciate her work on the defence committee as well. Working together has been good so far.
Ultimately, there has been a huge lack of Liberal leadership when it comes to the men and women who are serving in the armed forces. There is a lot of doubt about whether it is safe. Women who have served are giving up their entire careers because they cannot go forward. We have talked about that retention and recruitment problem. An additional stress is put on the women as we expand and amplify the Operation Unifier mission.
I would like to hear her comments and her thoughts on what we need to do from our end to better support the men and women of the Canadian Armed Forces and to ensure that the Liberal Party and the Liberal government do the same.
215 words
All Topics
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Jan/31/22 10:03:16 p.m.
- Watch
Madam Chair, we have talked a lot in the House about the failure of the Liberal government to provide leadership especially for women, but for both men and women, in the armed forces, and the toll this has taken on retention and recruitment in the armed forces. We talked about the additional stress of expanding Operation Unifier, which I agree with entirely.
Could the member maybe address the additional stresses this is going to put on the men and women in our armed forces?
84 words
All Topics
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Jan/31/22 9:12:34 p.m.
- Watch
Mr. Chair, New Democrats have called for and support many of the actions that are being taken by the government. One of the things we have called for is the use of Magnitsky sanctions. This has not been used by the government since 2018. It is a clear and strong tool that Canada could use against human rights violators.
Why is the government not going forward with this reaction?
69 words
All Topics
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Jan/31/22 8:31:15 p.m.
- Watch
Mr. Chair, I have quite a strong community in London from the diaspora, the Ukrainian folks there. Daria, the president of the London chapter of the Ukrainian Canadian Congress, brought her concerns directly to me.
Considering the member has such a diverse community, I would like to hear some of the concerns he is hearing directly from his community members as to what is ultimately going on and the government's response to it.
74 words
All Topics
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Jan/31/22 8:21:01 p.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, as New Democrats, we support the extension of Operation Unifier, but we remain concerned about reports of extremism within small parts of the Ukraine military and problems in our own military. We feel that our own forces should not train or support any far-right extremist groups. Does the member agree that we should assist the Ukrainian military to become more democratic and accountable, and how are we doing that currently?
73 words
All Topics
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Jan/31/22 7:50:39 p.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, while New Democrats support the non-combat military training, we do not support the provision of arms or lethal military gear, as my colleague so adequately put forward.
I noticed the member across the way reacted quite well, so could he expand on his thoughts to the pushing from Conservative members on that provision of lethal military gear and what the consequences of that are.
67 words
All Topics
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- menumenu
- notificationsnotifications
- home
- mailmail
- searchsearch
