Gord Johns

Madam Speaker, British Columbians rallied last month demanding fair federal ferry funding. First nations, local governments, the B.C. Chamber of Commerce, unions and residents delivered the same message. Ottawa covers 43% of East Coast Ferries' operating costs and invests hundreds of millions of dollars in infrastructure, which we support, but B.C. gets just 3% and loans that ferry users must [more]

Madam Speaker, I have a petition from Vancouver Islanders. They highlight that indigenous and affordable housing providers, including M’akola Housing Society in British Columbia, are facing the expiration of long-standing federal operating agreements. The expiration of these agreements threatens the affordability of 528 indigenous homes across British Columbia, affecting approximately 1,775 [more]

Madam Speaker, the motion before us cites that the Liberals have been in power for 11 years and that Canada is in an affordability crisis. Well, of course we support the motion, but the opposition's role is to hold government to account and also to be propositional. Opposition days are precious. They are an opportunity for the opposition to bring forward good proposals and force Parliament to [more]

Mr. Speaker, more than six million Canadians do not have a family doctor, yet having one means better health outcomes, earlier treatment and less pressure on emergency rooms and hospitals. Family physicians provide more than half of medical services, but Canada invests just 4% of health spending in primary care, half the OECD average. Investing in primary care is nation building. Prime Minister [more]

Mr. Speaker, I am going to try this again. We know that the people feeling the cost of living crisis more than anyone are those on fixed incomes, such as people living with disabilities. I spoke to my colleague earlier about this. Right now, the disability benefit is a meagre $200 a month. I believe that people living with a disability should be getting a universal basic income so they are living [more]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to table two petitions. First, I am pleased to table e-petition 7465, signed by over 700 Canadians who are concerned about cuts to Environment and Climate Change Canada's weather and climate services. The petitioners remind us that reliable forecasting, weather observation and public warning systems are essential to public safety, particularly in rural, remote and [more]

Mr. Speaker, I have a lot of respect for my colleague. However, the Liberals have been in government for 11 years. There are 65,000 people who are homeless on any given night across this country. In 11 years in government, they have yet to present a plan on how they are going to address homelessness, and it is growing. We are at 3.3% non-market housing. The Liberals talk about their major [more]

Madam Speaker, it is also my privilege to table e-petition 7134, sponsored by former MP Peter Julian, who is a champion of protecting coastal B.C. The petition is on behalf of Canadians concerned about proposals for a new pipeline and crude oil tanker route to British Columbia's northern coast. The petitioners point to the long-standing opposition of coastal communities and coastal first nations [more]

Mr. Speaker, nobody is feeling the cost of living crisis more than people on fixed incomes, namely seniors and people living on disability. I will talk about people living on disability. They are getting a meagre $200 disability benefit from Canada, which is not a lot of money in today's world. We have long called for a universal basic income, starting with people living with disabilities and [more]

C-5 Mr. Speaker, my colleague asks excellent questions in here. I will highlight this, that when we talk about section 107, we were actually pushing the government to get rid of it so that it stopped overriding the rights of workers. Instead, what are the Liberals doing? They are making it even worse. I completely agree with my colleague. The government needs to sit down with labour. It is [more]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to seek unanimous consent to see the clock at 12:43 a.m.

C-39 Mr. Speaker, it is an honour to rise tonight to speak to Bill, the building Canada strong act. C-5 This debate is about what kind of Canada we want to build and about government priorities. We all agree that Canada needs to build. We need housing. We need clean energy. We need transmission lines. We need public infrastructure. We need good union jobs, and we need to plug economic leakages. [more]

Mr. Speaker, I really appreciate my colleague talking about Norway, because Norway, as my colleague knows, also has a sovereign wealth fund. They have taken a portion of finite resources from their oil and gas industry, and they have created a fund that is $1.7 trillion right now. In terms of royalties alone, they earn over $200 billion a year off those royalties. They have taken leadership on [more]

Mr. Speaker, I do appreciate working with my colleague as a fellow British Columbian. He is absolutely right. Not only are they fast-tracking the bill, they are trying to fast-track everything: fast-tracking rights, fast-tracking the duties and responsibilities of this place, and fast-tracking over environmental organizations, over local communities and over first nations. Again, Stephen Harper [more]

Mr. Speaker, this petition is very timely, given that Saturday is World Mental Health Day. These petitioners highlight that mental health is health, yet too many people in Canada cannot access appropriate and timely mental health addictions and substance use care. They highlight that mental illness is a leading cause of disability and imposes enormous human, social and economic costs, including [more]

Mr. Speaker, I know people at home are wondering, as it is 12:32 a.m., why we are here. A lot of people do not understand what a late show or an adjournment proceeding is. It is the opportunity for an MP in the opposition to ask for a 10-minute late night debate with the government on very important issues at the end of the sitting day. Of course, our sitting day finished at midnight today, so [more]