Analysis · Debate reply · beta

Leah Gazan

NDP on Business of Supply 2026-05-07

137 words · 7 sentences · 11 clauses

Replying to Jamie Schmale (Conservative)

“Mr. Speaker, with respect, I do not think the hon. member was paying attention to what we were saying on this side of the House. At no time has anyone on this side even implied that the Cowichan Tribes would be forcing people off their land. At no time did anyone on this side say that. She continues to repeat that, unfortunately. We have said that it has created massive uncertainty because the government did not do its job. Do not take my word for it. According to David Eby, the NDP Premier of British Columbia, in a quote from the Canadian Bar Association, “Mr. Eby has repeatedly raised the alarm about the Cowichan decision, saying it threatens private property rights.” He goes on to say that the court decision was very unhelpful. The member says that there are more important things to talk about. How about a $100-million project, a luxury hotel, that was cancelled? How about widespread uncertainty, according to CBC News and the Vancouver Sun, affecting Richmond and elsewhere? This is very important and we need certainty.”

Statement grade

A+

Average 95 / 100

A score under 50 is red. Choose a measurement to see where it lost points and why; choose it again to clear.

Procedure 15%Claims 64%Reasoning 20%

This view breaks the statement into its steps and names what each one does.

Mr. Speaker, Procedure · 17 wordsI want to speak to the multi-million-dollar project in question that was raised by Councillor Alexa Loo.¹Procedure Claims · 88 wordsThis is what the bank said about why the project did not go through: National Bank initially said in a one-sentence response that “no specific directive has been given to our teams regarding this court ruling.”² In a second statement hours later, the bank said: “We cannot comment on specific cases for confidentiality purposes, ³but what we can confirm is that this is not a factor that is currently taken into account in our financing decisions, ⁴and no guidelines have been issued by the bank in this regard.”⁵ Procedure · 4 wordsWhat does this mean?Procedure Reasoning · 28 wordsIt means that the fact that they did not receive financing is a separate matter. The bank confirmed it. It had nothing to do with the Cowichan decision.

At a glance

Lost points for
AnsweredOf this reply, 100% addressed the question or point raised.

Switch Claims on to list the checkable claims here.

What the tags mean

Signal · 79

2 of 2 deductions are Signal

Signal checks whether every part makes a point, gives a reason, or asks for action. A low score means the speaker filled time with fluff, pleasantries, or attacks.

Throat-clearing: announcing what you are about to say, or the House’s routine business.What the tags mean “I want to speak to the multi-million-dollar project in question that was raised by Councillor Alexa Loo.”Procedure or throat-clearing: no claim, reason or ask.
Throat-clearing: announcing what you are about to say, or the House’s routine business.What the tags mean “What does this mean?”Procedure or throat-clearing: no claim, reason or ask.

Relevance · 100

0 of 2 deductions are Relevance

Relevance checks whether the speaker stays on topic and answers the question asked. A low score means the speaker dodged the issue. Measured against the point put to the member, and the motion under debate.

Nothing lost points.

Respect · 100

0 of 2 deductions are Respect

Respect checks whether the speaker argued with people’s positions and records rather than attacking the people: insults, mockery, or bad motives assigned to them. Criticism of what someone did, however strong, is not marked.

Nothing lost points.

Clarity · 100

0 of 2 deductions are Clarity

Clarity checks for plain speaking, clear ownership of actions, and honest limits on certainty. A low score means vague promises or evasive language.

Nothing lost points.

Claims · 5

This list shows the factual statements you can check for yourself: the words as said, and the claim restated to stand on its own.

1“raised by Councillor Alexa Loo”The multi-million-dollar Richmond project was raised by Councillor Alexa Loo.search
2“no specific directive has been given to our teams regarding this court ruling”National Bank initially said in a one-sentence response that no specific directive had been given to its teams regarding the Cowichan court ruling.search
3“We cannot comment on specific cases for confidentiality purposes”National Bank said in a second statement that it could not comment on specific cases for confidentiality purposes.search
4“this is not a factor that is currently taken into account in our financing decisions”National Bank said in its second statement that the Cowichan ruling is not a factor currently taken into account in its financing decisions.search
5“no guidelines have been issued by the bank in this regard”National Bank said in its second statement that no guidelines had been issued by the bank regarding the Cowichan ruling.search

Analysed on 2026-10-20