Greg Fergus

“I want the member to explain how we can change the structure of this bill so he will support it.”

“Mr. Speaker, I thank the hon. member from Edmonton for his thoughtful reply. I am genuinely interested in getting to the gist of the matter. I would like to give him the opportunity to expand a bit more on the architecture that he thinks would be acceptable to gain his support for the bill. The architecture could be presented either here in the House or at committee.”

“Can the member explain how this new agency will deliver quickly for the Canadian Armed Forces?”

“Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague from Labrador for his excellent speech. He talked about the importance of being able to make decisions quickly. Could he explain to the House how, in his opinion, this new agency will quickly deliver on its promises for the Canadian Armed Forces?”

“People in my riding worry that big tech companies take no responsibility for the content on their platforms. Does this bill help hold them accountable?”

“Mr. Speaker, I want to commend my colleague for her speech and for her work on this bill. I would like her to know that many of my constituents are concerned that the tech giants are behaving as though they bear no responsibility for what their algorithms show or what content appears on their platforms. I would like to know whether the parliamentary secretary is satisfied that this bill is a step in the right direction toward ensuring that everyone involved is held accountable for the content on their platforms.”

“We have made big progress buying military equipment, including new planes and armoured vehicles. How will this bill help build on that work?”

“Mr. Speaker, since the launch of the Defence Investment Agency, we have taken an unprecedented step. Among other things, we announced our plans to acquire six GlobalEye aircraft and a nearly $2‑billion partnership between General Dynamics Land Systems and Canada for 190 armoured vehicles. How will Bill C‑40 support this progress?”

“Investors need quick answers to make decisions. Does my colleague agree that Canada cannot afford to take a long time to approve projects?”

“Mr. Speaker, my colleague from Ontario is a seasoned businessman. He is well aware of the importance of getting quick answers when a final decision needs to be made by a group of investors for a project. I would like to know whether he believes that Canada can afford to take a long time before reaching a decision. Should we not instead, in the current context, try to make comprehensive and swift decisions?”

“I want to thank and congratulate the Aylmer Knights of Columbus. They have spent 65 years raising money, helping families, and serving our community.”

“Mr. Speaker, members of Council 5281 of the Knights of Columbus have been active in our community since 1962. Over the decades, the Aylmer Knights of Columbus have given generously of their time and energy to build a stronger, more caring and supportive community. Their actions are guided by a simple conviction: to care for one another. Whether they are holding a fundraising campaign, helping a family, hosting a community activity or engaging in a quiet act of kindness, charity remains at the heart of their work. This way of doing things has been passed down from one generation to the next in Aylmer for 65 years. On October 17, let us celebrate all those who built this council and those who continue this work and ensure its future. I wish Aylmer’s Council 5281 of the Knights of Columbus continued success and thank them for their 65 years of service to our community.”

“I want the member to explain more about how we can protect the environment while still making faster decisions.”

“I, too, would like to thank my colleague from Ontario for his contribution to this debate. At the beginning of his speech, he pointed out that the safeguards will still be there but that we are going to find a way to reduce delays and make a decision, whether positive or negative. I would like him to expand on that.”

“I want the House to pass this bill. It sets a one-year limit on environmental reviews for major projects. Canada needs to build big things faster, while still protecting workers, the environment, and Indigenous rights.”

“Madam Speaker, this is the first time I have risen in the House to give a speech since returning from the summer break. I have put questions to several of my colleagues, but this is the first time I have had the opportunity to rise in the House to present a speech. I am very pleased to rise during this debate on Bill C-39, an act respecting certain measures to strengthen the economy. Admittedly, the bill is rather long. I managed to read it last night and this morning. I have to keep referring back to other existing laws to understand the situation better. However, as I was reading the bill, an image came to mind. It was a train. I love trains. If I have to choose between flying or taking a train, I always take the train, to go to Montreal, Toronto, Windsor or Quebec City, for example. That has been my preference since I was a young child. It is the best way to travel and get around our great country. However, there is something that I never did as a child or a young adult. I never travelled across the country by train. I had the opportunity to do so when I was 49 years old. It was very exciting. My adult children and I took the train from Toronto to Vancouver. It took four days and it was extraordinary. I recommend that all my colleagues take advantage of the opportunity to see the country by train. There is the Canadian train that goes from Toronto to Vancouver, the Ocean train from Halifax to Montreal and between the two, there is the Via Rail fleet that serves the Quebec City-Windsor corridor. Throughout my journey across the country, I thought about one thing. Could we build this railroad today? Historians and history teachers know that the Canadian Pacific Railway was basically built in four years, from 1881 to 1885. Yes, construction started a little earlier, but there were issues. The bulk of the construction was done during those four years. Could we do that today? I readily agree with the member for Berthier—Maskinongé that it is important to have modern standards. We are not about to use slaves or workers who are treated like slaves to build the train, as we did with the Chinese-Canadian population at the time. We have labour standards, thank goodness. In a modern country, we can build in a responsible manner and in a way that ensures worker safety as much as possible. That is very important. However, given these factors, would we be able to do that today? I am not so sure. That is one of the reasons I like the specific provisions in this bill. When a project is proposed and all the information is available, we promise that there will be an assessment and that it will be completed within a year. To me, that is key. Things need to change. Everything has become too complex. We are complicating things. Is that really necessary? We do not want to get rid of the standards we have established, including environmental standards or standards related to working conditions. We need to keep those. That being said, can we get organized and accomplish great things together, within a reasonable time frame? I hope that, through this bill, we are saying that we can. I am hoping that with the building Canada strong act, we are able to organize ourselves in a way that allows us to respect all the different elements that we have thought are important as a country, that we have put in our laws, but that we can do so in a reasonable time frame because, and I have to say it and I know we have heard it, we really are living in exceptional times. Never before have I felt that this country has been threatened in the way that we have been. Now it is time for us to put all the elements on our side, to take advantage of all the wealth in people and in natural resources and in our industrial capacity, to build big things. When I say “to build big things”, I want to make it very clear that I do not expect us to derogate from a lot of the important standards we have put in place. Still, can we do that evaluation quickly? Can we do so in respect of the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, which we have an obligation and a duty to consult and to work with? I think we can. I think we can get ourselves to that place because, again, from another example in history, another time when Canada felt as serious a challenge was during the Second World War. When we got into the war in 1939, Canada was far from being an industrial powerhouse as a country, but in a very short period of time, Canadians, recognizing the challenges that we had, came together and organized ourselves properly so that we transformed our entire economy to become a wartime economy. We did so quickly, without taking shortcuts or compromising on quality, but just saying to ourselves, “The challenge is great.” We have to meet this challenge, and we have planned accordingly to be able to do so. This is something I expect from Canada and from all members of the House. I know we will not agree on everything, but I can only control what I can control. I want to tell all my colleagues that I will listen to their concerns and support suggestions to improve the bill as much as possible. However, I do not want that to be used as an excuse to paralyze everything and not do the work. Personally, I think we are all up to the challenge before us.”

“This bill does not weaken environmental rules. It only asks officials to work faster, while still doing all the proper reviews. I want the member to show where the bill says we are cutting environmental protections.”

“Mr. Speaker, I would like to ask my esteemed colleague from Joliette a question about what he just said. He said that the government has gutted environmental regulations. I would like him to tell us where it says that. All we have asked our public servants to do is to act more quickly to provide a faster response. We are not cutting corners; we are continuing to do the assessments. Can my colleague tell us where in the text of the bill it says that we are gutting environmental protection regulations?”

“I am glad the member supports sending this fuel tax bill to committee. But she voted against other help for Canadians, like tax cuts, dental care for seniors, and food programs for school kids. I want her to explain why she is finally supporting help for people now.”

“Mr. Speaker, I am perplexed by the answer that my hon. colleague gave, two questions ago, to my colleague from Quebec, when she had said that she would always support affordability measures but not all of them. She is happy to support this one. I would like to congratulate her for supporting this piece of legislation going to committee. When else has she supported affordability measures? I am thinking of the tax cuts for 22 million Canadians. She did not support that then. When it came to providing seniors with a dental care program, she did not support that. When it came to helping our young kids to be able to have access to good food so that they could learn in school, she did not support that either. I think that this is the first time that she is supporting an affordability measure. I wonder if the hon. member would like to comment on why is it that this is now the first time that she is doing it, although I should not look a gift horse in the mouth. I am quite happy that she is supporting this going to second reading.”

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“I wish the member for Yorkton—Melville and her family the best. She served her community well in a hard job.”

“Mr. Speaker, I would also like to wish the hon. member for Yorkton—Melville all the best, a woman I got to know through the National Prayer Breakfast. We have sat together. We have talked together. I wish the very best to her and her family for having served her constituents of Yorkton—Melville with great honour. Working in Parliament is a very unforgiving job, but she has acquitted herself well. I wish her the very best.”

“Canadians rely too much on expensive imported food, and too much of our food is processed in other countries. How will our national food plan help us process more food here in Canada?”

“Mr. Speaker, Canada is one of the world’s largest food producers. However, too much of the food we produce is processed abroad, and too many Canadians still rely on high‑priced imports. Canadian farmers deserve more options for selling their products, and Canadians deserve more choices about where they buy their food. Could the Minister of Finance tell us how the first‑ever national food security strategy will help us produce and process more food right here in Canada, so that more Canadian food ends up on our plates and more money—”

In response to a question from Alexis Deschênes

“Why is it important to ban hate symbols like the noose, especially for Black Canadians?”

“Madam Speaker, the hon. parliamentary secretary made reference to one of the symbols noted in the amendment, which is the noose. As he knows, it is an issue of particular importance to Black Canadians. I wonder if he could discuss why it is important to list symbols such as the noose as hate symbols.”

In response to a question from Alexis Deschênes

“I want to clarify what the member said. Did the Conservatives delay the finance committee's work during this serious time, and did they only provide their changes to the bill in English?”

“Mr. Speaker, I have a question for my hon. colleague from Laval—Les Îles. Did I understand my hon. colleague correctly when he said that the official opposition had engaged in filibustering despite the serious challenges we face in Canada and in the Standing Committee on Finance? Furthermore, the amendments they proposed to the bill’s provisions were reportedly made only in English.”

“I want to thank Jeunesse Idem on its 30th anniversary. For 30 years, this group has supported and protected queer youth in the Outaouais and taught students in schools. Their work is still needed as hate and violence against queer people rise.”

“Mr. Speaker, as Pride season kicks off, I am pleased to stand up and celebrate the 30th anniversary of Jeunesse Idem. For 30 years, young people in the Outaouais 2SLGBTQIA+ community have had a place where they are respected, affirmed and loved. For 30 years, queer youth in the Outaouais have had a place to thrive, grow, and find a community. It is a place to find oneself. For 30 years, Jeunesse Idem has been visiting schools in the Outaouais to teach our youth about loving others and loving themselves. As we see a rise in homophobia, transphobia and violence against queer people, the work that Jeunesse Idem does, day in and day out, remains as important and relevant as ever. On behalf of myself and the people of Hull—Aylmer, I thank and commend Jeunesse Idem for 30 years of dedicated service.”

“I want to thank Johanna Mizgala, the chief curator of the House of Commons, as she leaves her job. She protected tour guides during a shooting, helped preserve our history, and served our country well.”

“Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize the contributions of Johanna Mizgala, chief curator of the House of Commons, who will leave the House at the end of September. A few months after she started working in the House, Ms. Mizgala showed leadership and grace under actual fire, keeping a group of parliamentary guides calm as shots rang out and she led them to safety. As Speaker, I saw her love and passion first-hand as she worked to preserve our history and heritage for all Canadians. She helped bring our history to life through interviews and reports on significant milestones, such as the centenary of the Parliament Hill fire, and key events in our history, such as the 20th anniversary of Nunavut and the 150th anniversary of Confederation. She also helped create the Room of Remembrance in West Block. Many of us know her personally, as she shared her expertise widely. We thank her for her remarkable service and wish her every success in her next chapter.”