Doug Eyolfson · TranslatePolitics.ca

Government Orders

Budget 2025 Implementation Act, No. 2

2026-05-29

“When you say 'government should get out of the way,' I think you read too much Ayn Rand. I want the government to protect businesses from US tariffs. I'm going to challenge you to say what would happen if the government didn't help.”

Statements by Members

Ride for Dad

2026-05-29

“I want to cheer for a program that spends money in my riding. I like motorcycles and I want to signal I support fighting cancer. We should spend taxpayer dollars on this program.”

Official Hansard

Mr. Speaker, this Saturday, May 30, I will once again be riding my Triumph Bonneville in Winnipeg's Ride for Dad to help raise funds and awareness for prostate cancer research. This year's ride is especially meaningful to me because I will be riding in memory of my dear friend Paul Stewart, a long-time participant and organizer of Ride for Dad who passed away from prostate cancer nearly one year ago. Paul dedicated countless hours to this cause and inspired many in our community to join the fight against prostate cancer. More than 5,300 Canadian men die from this disease every year, accounting for approximately 15% of cancer deaths among men in Canada. Behind these numbers are fathers, brothers, friends and loved ones whose lives are cut far too short. Thanks to advances in research, screening and treatment, more lives are being saved, but there is still more work to do. Every dollar raised through Ride for Dad helps support life-saving research, increase awareness and promote early detection. I encourage all Canadians to support a rider in their community and to help us continue to fight against prostate cancer. Together, we can save lives and and make prostrate cancer history.

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Government Orders

Spring Economic Update 2026 Implementation Act

2026-05-06

“That's just an idea we're exploring. Calm down.”

“I don't like that the Seven Oaks emergency room closed. It's bad. Our government is doing many good things for lower-income Canadians though. We're helping a lot! I'm talking about nice things we're doing instead of what you asked.”

“We already said we're helping the poorest people. That includes seniors.”

“Thank you for the nice words. I know this grocery rebate doesn't help everyone. But it helps the poorest people the most. That's what we wanted.”

“I want to give money to people in my riding. Gas prices are high so I want the government to lower them. Housing is expensive so I want the government to spend money on more housing. I want more money for apprenticeships in trades. I want more money for aerospace jobs in my riding. I want more money to fight fraud. I want more money for sports programs for young people. I want people in my riding to feel that the government is helping them.”

Official Hansard

Mr. Speaker, I would like to start by saying I will be sharing my time with the member for University—Rosedale. We are living through a period of real global uncertainty. Trade tensions are rising. Conflicts around the world are disrupting supply chains and prices are being pushed up by forces that no single country controls. That is the reality Canadians are living with, but Canadians are not asking for analysis. They are asking for relief. They are asking for it in a way they can feel in their daily lives. In Winnipeg West, people are not focused on global markets. I recently spoke with seniors in Winnipeg West who told me that grocery trips have become like a budget exercise, because they have to make sure that the basics last until the end of the month. This is what people are dealing with. They are focused on whether their paycheque will last the month. They are focused on what gets bought, what gets delayed and what simply cannot wait. I hear it in grocery stores. I hear it from families and from young people trying to get started. The message is consistent. Things are getting harder, not easier. That is where responsibility matters. We cannot control global instability. We are responsible for how it is felt here at home. We are responsible for whether support arrives when it is needed. We are responsible for whether opportunity is within reach or out of reach. We are responsible for whether life becomes more manageable or less so. If it does not show up in people's lives, it does not count. Nowhere is that clearer than in affordability. Families in Winnipeg West are making difficult choices every time they go to the grocery store. They are stretching budgets that are already stretched thin. The Canada groceries and essentials benefit will support approximately 475,000 Manitobans, including over 36,000 people in Winnipeg West. For a family of four, up to $1,890 this year is not symbolic; it is groceries on the table, it is bills paid and it is breathing room where there was none. With a top-up arriving as early as June 5, that support arrives when pressure is being felt, not after it has passed. Affordability support only works if it is timely. We are also making it easier for Canadians with disabilities to access the support they are entitled to. By streamlining the disability tax credit application process, expanding who can certify eligibility and reducing barriers for those with long-lasting medical conditions, more Canadians will be able to access the disability tax credit and the supports connected to it, including the Canada disability benefit. Affordability is not one-size-fits-all and support has to reach the people who need it most. Gasoline is another point of concern. In Winnipeg West, people depend on their vehicles for work, school and daily life. When gasoline prices rise, there is no buffer. The impact is immediate. That is why reducing prices by about 10¢ per litre until Labour Day matters. It is not the full answer, by any means, but it is real relief every time someone fills their tank. Right now, stability matters. Housing pressure is building, rents are rising, vacancy is tightening and ownership is becoming harder to reach. This update responds with scale: more than $7 billion to accelerate rental housing and another $1.7 billion to remove barriers slowing construction. This means stalled projects move forward, more housing gets built in Winnipeg and more people get options instead of uncertainty. Without new supply, affordability does not stabilize; it erodes. However, housing does not get built on policy. It gets built by people. We are also building for the long term. In Manitoba, the talent is there. The barrier is access. That is why a $400 weekly apprenticeship benefit matters, along with supports for employers to take on apprentices. It removes the financial gap that keeps people out of the trades. That means more apprentices on job sites across Winnipeg, more projects completed and more stable, well-paying careers that stay in our communities. That is because opportunity only matters if people can actually take it. The Canada Strong fund is about keeping investment in Canada: building here, hiring here and growing here. Growth only matters if Canadians feel it. In Winnipeg, we can already see how that works. At 17 Wing, and across our aerospace sector, defence is not abstract. It is work, skills and opportunity. Canada has now reached the 2% NATO target, strengthening both our alliances and our economy. Through the defence industrial strategy, more than 125,000 jobs will be supported across the country, and Winnipeg is part of that. That means aerospace work today, and opportunity for the next generation. Strong communities also require safety. In Winnipeg West, people are concerned about fraud, scams and financial crime targeting vulnerable residents. This update includes $75 million for the Canada community security program, along with stronger action against fraud. That means better protection, and it means consequences for those who target people's savings and security. When people do not feel safe, nothing else works the way it should. Strong communities are built through connection, through recreation, through sport and through shared spaces. With $755 million in sport funding, more young people in Winnipeg West will have access to programs that build confidence, discipline and belonging. For many families, that is not secondary; it is foundational. Communities are not built on announcements. They are built one person, one family and one neighbourhood at a time. All of this is being done while maintaining fiscal discipline. We are reducing spending by $60 billion over five years and lowering the deficit. Canadians expect support in difficult times, but they also expect responsibility. We are expected to deliver both. The people in Winnipeg West understand that the world is uncertain. They are not asking us to control it. They are asking us to respond to it, to make life more affordable, to make opportunity more accessible, to make communities safer and stronger, and to ensure that what is decided in this place is felt in their daily lives. In Winnipeg West, if it is not felt, it does not count.

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Statements by Members

Collège Sturgeon Heights Collegiate

2026-04-23

“I like seeing my riding in the news. This local garden project makes me look good. A grant bought them a garden. School clubs are using it for indigenous studies. The teacher did well. It's green. We need taxpayers to spend on green things.”

Official Hansard

Mr. Speaker, yesterday Canadians marked Earth Day, a call to action to protect the environment we all share. In my riding, that call is already being answered. At Collège Sturgeon Heights Collegiate, an unused plot of land is being transformed into a thriving native prairie garden thanks to a $1,500 Go Wild grant from the World Wildlife Fund Canada. This project will restore native plants and grasses, support pollinators like bees and help bring back monarch butterflies. These are real and tangible steps to protect local biodiversity. It is being led by the school's garden club and is supported by life skills students, with plans to expand into indigenous studies programming, including traditional medicinal plants. I want to recognize Mrs. Zinn, a dedicated teacher whose leadership turned this vision into reality. This is more than a garden. It is a living classroom and a community coming together. It is proof that protecting our environment depends on action, not words. This is how we will build a sustainable future: One community, one project and one generation at a time.

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Government Orders

2026-04-23

“I don't understand why they changed their minds. They say military culture changed. I don't see the evidence for that.”

“It's very simple: no military commander should judge any case of sexual assault. All should go to civilian courts. No exceptions.”

“This justice says to do it my way. I call you names if you question that.”

“I want people to know I'm against sexual assault. The member's words upset me. I don't actually have the numbers.”

“I want to pass this bill to move military sexual misconduct cases to civilian courts. The opposition's amendments would make the system more complex and less clear. We can't go backwards.”

Official Hansard

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to rise today to speak to Bill C-11 at report stage. I know the impact that our brave men and women of the Canadian Armed Forces have on operations at home and abroad, and I am pleased to speak to efforts that our government is making to keep them safe. We know that to fulfill our role as a NATO ally, we must have forces that are ready, able and agile. Just this week, we heard that the Canadian Armed Forces has reached a 30-year record high for recruitment. This is fantastic news for Canada and for the Canadian Armed Forces, but we cannot take anything for granted. We must keep up the momentum and work hard to create a safe workplace where our forces and the next generation of forces can thrive and make meaningful contributions to Canada. This starts with making sure we provide our forces with a safe and professional work environment in which to train and to build up their skills for the difficult job we ask of them. This is why I am pleased to rise today to speak about the important work that is being done to modernize our military justice system and to restore trust in the Canadian Armed Forces. Bill C-11, the military justice system modernization act, is a critical step toward lasting institutional reform, as well as toward strengthening trust and confidence in our military justice system. Over the past four years, Canadians, including Canadian Armed Forces members, watched as former Supreme Court justices Arbour and Fish put forward detailed recommendations on how to create meaningful and lasting cultural change in the armed forces. Their recommendations have been compiled into a comprehensive implementation plan, which Canadians can easily access online to track the progress the CAF is making. These reviews and recommendations have helped define how the Department of National Defence and the Canadian Armed Forces are undertaking changes to the military justice system and cultural change. Today I would like to provide an overview of those recommendations and to speak specifically about the implementation of Justice Arbour's recommendation 5, which is at the heart of Bill C-11. In 2022, Justice Arbour submitted her final report on sexual misconduct in the Canadian Armed Forces to the minister of national defence at the time. This report, also known as the report of the independent external comprehensive review, contains 48 recommendations focused on reforming the institutional gaps and structural barriers that have allowed the problem to persist. In her report, her fifth recommendation proposed a transformative measure to move the investigation and prosecution of sexual offences in Canada alleged against Canadian Armed Forces members to the civilian system. I want to take the time to read out the specific wording of Justice Arbour's recommendation for all members: Criminal Code sexual offences should be removed from the jurisdiction of the [Canadian Armed Forces]. They should be prosecuted exclusively in civilian criminal courts in all cases. Where the offence takes place in Canada, it should be investigated by civilian police forces at the earliest opportunity. Where the offence takes place outside of Canada, the MP may act in the first instance to safeguard evidence and commence an investigation, but should liaise with civilian law enforcement at the earliest possible opportunity. In short, this recommendation would codify in law that the Canadian Armed Forces no longer has jurisdiction over Criminal Code sexual misconduct offences committed in Canada. This recommendation would also codify in law that civilian authorities have exclusive jurisdiction for investigating and prosecuting these cases. I want to note that Justice Arbour acknowledged in her report that removing concurrent jurisdiction by amending the National Defence Act would take several years to implement, given the size, scale and scope of the changes needed. In fact, she knew how critical this recommendation was, and she proposed that we adopt an interim directive in the meantime to ensure that the change would take place as quickly as possible. She stated: As previous experience with changes to the military justice system have shown, this will take several years to implement. In the meantime, I expect the [Canadian Armed Forces] and civilian authorities to continue to abide by my interim recommendation. The [Canadian Armed Forces] should cease to investigate and prosecute sexual offences over which it presently has concurrent jurisdiction. Civilian authorities should investigate and prosecute those cases in accordance with their existing concurrent jurisdiction. The interim directive has been in place since December 2021 and has been working well. Since then, every single new Criminal Code sexual misconduct case has been prosecuted in the civilian courts rather than in the military justice system. While the interim directive was in place, the legislation was first introduced in the last Parliament as Bill C-66 and was one of the first bills to be introduced in the current Parliament in the fall of 2025, as Bill C-11. That is precisely because our government recognizes the importance of building a more inclusive, respectful and safe workplace for our Canadian Armed Forces members. The bill would implement Justice Arbour's recommendation 5 and protect our forces. However, the amendments proposed by the opposition parties in the Standing Committee on National Defence run directly counter to recommendation 5. The opposition parties put forward amendments to strike down recommendation 5 and to remove Justice Arbour's recommendation from the bill. The opposition's amendments would make it even more difficult for victims to navigate the justice system, due to the complexity of the new procedures included in the bill. The lack of clarity and transparency would have a negative impact on the military justice system and on victims and survivors. We cannot go backwards and reverse any of the important changes made on military culture change over the last five years. In fact, since December 2021, all new charges of sexual offences covered by the Criminal Code have been brought in the civilian justice system. None of these offences are tried by the military justice system. To accept the opposition's amendments would be to reverse this progress and to move backwards. In conclusion, the bill would establish a clear framework for investigating and addressing allegations of sexual misconduct, in order to foster an environment of accountability and justice. Bill C-11, and the amendment it seeks to codify in the National Defence Act, represents a crucial step towards strengthening the forces' trust in the military justice system. This is not the case with the amendments proposed by the opposition parties to remove Justice Arbour's recommendation 5 from Bill C-11. We are encouraged by the positive changes and cultural evolution in the Canadian Armed Forces in recent years, but we cannot stop here, and we cannot move backwards. The people who serve our country risk everything for us. Members of the Canadian Armed Forces must always answer the call to keep Canada safe, and it is our obligation to keep them safe from harassment and misconduct.

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