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Results: 31 - 45 of 244
View Marilyn Gladu Profile
CPC (ON)
View Marilyn Gladu Profile
2021-05-13 17:10 [p.7214]
Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague for his speech.
It is pretty clear that the government is in a hurry to call an election in the middle of a pandemic. It introduced the bill in December, it has cut off the debate and now it wants to get the bill to committee. However, the Liberals are filibustering in committee.
Does the member think the Liberals are in a hurry to call an election?
View Marilyn Gladu Profile
CPC (ON)
View Marilyn Gladu Profile
2021-05-13 17:12 [p.7214]
Madam Speaker, it is clear to me that the Liberals are in a hurry to call an election while we are in a pandemic. The government introduced the bill in December, before the committee had completed its report. Now the government wants to send the bill to committee. However, the Liberals are filibustering in committee.
Would the member agree that the Liberals are in a hurry to call an election?
View Mario Simard Profile
BQ (QC)
View Mario Simard Profile
2021-05-13 17:12 [p.7214]
Madam Speaker, I completely agree with my colleague.
The Liberals realized that the NDP was going to vote with them come hell or high water. Their only objective and the only option for triggering an election now is to quickly pass Bill C-19.
If they do not want an election during the pandemic, then Bill C-19 is no longer of any use. I completely agree with my colleague.
View Yves-François Blanchet Profile
BQ (QC)
Mr. Speaker, at the beginning of the pandemic, we all agreed that we did not want an election during a pandemic.
The government has consulted on what could be changed in the Canada Elections Act in this context, but it did not finish the job. It has introduced a bill but has not allowed anyone to study it. Now it has to impose a gag order, with help from the NDP, to allow an election during the pandemic.
Does the Prime Minister want an election during the pandemic?
View Justin Trudeau Profile
Lib. (QC)
View Justin Trudeau Profile
2021-05-11 14:24 [p.7057]
Mr. Speaker, the answer is no.
With the bill that we are now referring to committee, parliamentarians will be able to study ways to hold an election safely during a pandemic. However, we do not want an election.
It was the Bloc Québécois and the Conservative Party that voted against a confidence motion that could have made the government fall. They are the ones who seem to want an election.
We on this side of the House are working to support Canadians and get them through this pandemic.
View Yves-François Blanchet Profile
BQ (QC)
Mr. Speaker, there is a slight difference. I am not afraid of an election; bring it on. We just do not want one during the pandemic.
Elections are not normally held during pandemics. If there is no pandemic, there is no need for legislation to manage an election during a pandemic. The only logical conclusion is that the government wants an election during the pandemic.
What is the Prime Minister's priority?
Is his priority the health, lives and safety of the people, or does he want to take advantage of the Conservatives' weakness to call an election immediately?
View Justin Trudeau Profile
Lib. (QC)
View Justin Trudeau Profile
2021-05-11 14:26 [p.7057]
Mr. Speaker, that logic is a little far-fetched, unfortunately.
This pandemic has taught us that it is important to be ready for anything. When we are in a minority government situation, we know an election could be triggered at any time. The Bloc Québécois and the Conservatives actually voted for an election just a few weeks ago.
We will make sure we are prepared if there is an election, but we do not want an election. The opposition parties are the only ones talking about an election.
We, in contrast, are working for Canadians.
View Anthony Rota Profile
Lib. (ON)
I declare the motion carried.
Pursuant to order made on January 25, the House will now proceed to the taking of the deferred recorded division on the motion at second reading stage of Bill C-19.
View Catherine McKenna Profile
Lib. (ON)
View Catherine McKenna Profile
2021-05-10 12:03 [p.6938]
moved:
That, in relation to Bill C-19, An Act to amend the Canada Elections Act (COVID-19 response), not more than one further sitting day shall be allotted to the consideration at second reading stage of the Bill; and
That, 15 minutes before the expiry of the time provided for Government Orders on the day allotted to the consideration at second reading stage of the said Bill, any proceedings before the House shall be interrupted, if required for the purpose of this Order, and, in turn, every question necessary for the disposal of the said stage of the Bill shall be put forthwith and successively, without further debate or amendment.
View Gérard Deltell Profile
CPC (QC)
View Gérard Deltell Profile
2021-05-10 12:05 [p.6938]
Madam Speaker, what a sad day for parliamentary democracy. A time allocation motion is unpleasant at any time, even if sometimes it is a necessary evil, but a time allocation motion on a bill dealing with Canadians' right to vote is rubbing salt in the wound.
What we are debating today is the way Canadians will vote in the next election if it is held during the current pandemic, which could very well be the case. In moving this time allocation motion to restrict parliamentarians' right to speak, the government is launching a direct attack on the heart of democracy. That is completely unacceptable.
We are hearing the government say that the opposition parties are doing everything they can to delay the work of Parliament, but that is completely false. The best way to delay the work of Parliament is to prorogue Parliament, like the Liberals did last August. Why is the government not assuming its responsibilities? Why is it not allowing proper and thorough debate on a bill that directly relates to Canadian democracy?
View Dominic LeBlanc Profile
Lib. (NB)
View Dominic LeBlanc Profile
2021-05-10 12:06 [p.6939]
Madam Speaker, I thank my hon. colleague from Louis-Saint-Laurent for his intervention and his question.
I understand that he is fully playing his role of leader of the official opposition in the House. However, when I was in the opposition and his party was in power during the Harper years, his government did not hesitate to use time allocation motions regularly, even daily on some occasions. I understand that my colleague has a role to play by expressing a certain degree of indignation, which I freely accept.
However, on the substance of the issue, we believe the time has come for the Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs to study Bill C-19 and make amendments if necessary. For the hours of debate that have been held so far, the members of the opposition have already made several suggestions for improving this bill, which, let us be clear, will only be in effect for the next election. I think therefore it is time for the House to refer the bill to the committee to be studied.
View Alain Therrien Profile
BQ (QC)
View Alain Therrien Profile
2021-05-10 12:07 [p.6939]
Madam Speaker, my colleague must be joking when he says it is time to send the bill to committee.
This act demands consensus. This is about the Canada Elections Act and the right to vote, as my colleague astutely pointed out earlier. There has to be consensus. Over four months of debate, only one Bloc Québécois member has spoken to this bill.
The Liberals introduced Bill C-19 on December 10, 2020, while the Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs was already looking into the issue. Instead of waiting for the committee to finish its work, the Liberals decided to introduce a bill, utterly disregarding democratic institutions, such as the committee. Now they are forcing closure with help from the NDP, their usual accomplice for this kind of tactic. They say there has been enough debate and this bill must go to committee. I am not making this up.
The Liberals have trouble managing a legislative calendar. They are a bunch of amateurs. Here is my question. Are they not ashamed to invoke closure on a bill that requires consensus?
View Dominic LeBlanc Profile
Lib. (NB)
View Dominic LeBlanc Profile
2021-05-10 12:08 [p.6939]
Madam Speaker, I thank my hon. colleague from La Prairie.
No, we are not at all ashamed to give Parliament the opportunity to pass a bill that will temporarily amend the Canada Elections Act for the next election only in response to an official request submitted to the House by the Chief Electoral Officer.
My hon. colleague from La Prairie spends his time expressing his lack of confidence in the government by voting against it. It is therefore clear that he wants an election because, otherwise, why would he spend his time doing that?
We think it is a good idea to give Elections Canada a lot more flexibility to protect residents of Quebec's long-term care facilities, for example. The proposed amendments to the Canada Elections Act were introduced in Parliament a few months ago. I would invite my colleague to recognize that, last Friday, when Bill C-19 was debated in the House of Commons, the four Conservative members who spoke about it once again insisted on delaying the vote to send this bill to committee.
View Daniel Blaikie Profile
NDP (MB)
View Daniel Blaikie Profile
2021-05-10 12:10 [p.6939]
Madam Speaker, I want to start by recognizing what a frustrating situation we find ourselves in as a Parliament. The election in Newfoundland and Labrador showed very clearly that even if an election during the pandemic did not precipitate a public health crisis on its own, it could have really damaging effects for democracy and for the outcomes of an election.
The government has proposed some temporary changes to the Elections Act. It has not called the bill very often, which has been a point of frustration for New Democrats, but when it has, the official opposition has often found ways to delay and stall.
We have an important bill that really needs to be passed, given that the Prime Minister repeatedly refuses to put everybody at ease and say that he will not unilaterally call an election during the pandemic. Our view is that the responsible response to that is to try to get rules in place exactly because we do not trust the Prime Minister to do the right thing.
Perhaps the government today could allay those concerns and let us know when the Prime Minister intends to commit that he will not call an election during the pandemic. When is that announcement coming?
Results: 31 - 45 of 244 | Page: 3 of 17

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