Adam van Koeverden
Burlington North—Milton West, Ontario · Liberal · Canada
“Mr. Speaker, what an extraordinary moment we are at in sport in Canada. We are so proud and excited to be co-hosting the 2026 FIFA Men's World Cup with Mexico and the United States. Tomorrow, Canada will play its first-ever FIFA Men's World Cup match in Toronto against Bosnia and Herzegovina. It will inspire countless young Canadians.”
“Mr. Speaker, it seems that the Conservatives' photocopier is out of toner, because they have all received the exact same photocopy of the exact same question. It is too bad that the Conservative leader does not trust his MPs to ask an original question.”
“Madam Speaker, I have known the member for a number of years and, in fact, I have a great deal of respect for him. He overcame enormous personal challenges to be in the House, which he has been open about. That is why I respect him, but he conducts himself in this way.”
“This may seem implausible or unconvincing to some, but I want to emphasize what a significant and serious upstream investment sport represents in an effort to create safer communities while promoting positive social development and building resilience, particularly among at-risk youth.”
“Each remedy could be tailored to rectify the harm suffered by the accused while preserving the public interest in having criminal cases decided on their merits. For example, a court could make an order to expedite proceedings or the trial itself, sever charges for cases involving multiple co-accused or change the venue of the trial.”
“Bill C-16 would preserve the existing approach, determining whether a case is complex under the Jordan framework, but would require courts to consider specific additional factors when the case involves applications or motions.”
The complete record
Every one of 133 lines we hold for Adam van Koeverden, in date order, each linked to its source. Free to read, in full, without an account. Page 3 of 3.
“Mr. Speaker, what the leader of the Conservatives does not seem to get is that Canadians use hope, hard work and sacrifice every single day to build up our country and our communities. When the failed former MP from Carleton lost his seat, he did not have to make any sacrifices or be accountable. He did not even learn a lesson, clearly. When his constituents fired him, he should have maybe paused and reflected a little bit. Since he did not lose his home in taxpayer-funded non-market housing, I guess that is why he continued to deny it to millions of Canadians. Maybe that failed and flailing Conservative leader should join some students in a class because it seems like, after 20 years in the House, he can learn a thing or two about hard work.”
“Mr. Speaker, I thank my friend and fellow team Canada Olympian for his dedication to community sport. He is right. Champions lift our communities up and the Jays Care Foundation is making baseball and softball more inclusive and accessible right across Canada. Through Sport Canada's community sport for all initiative, the government has coinvested $450,000 with the Jays Care Foundation for a million-dollar impact to ensure that young women and girls, indigenous youth, persons with disabilities, justice-involved youth and lower-income families all benefit from the power of sport. For the Blue Jays, can I get a “let's go, Blue Jays”? Some hon. members: Let's go, Blue Jays.”
“Mr. Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 32(2) and consistent with the policy on the tabling of treaties in Parliament, I have the honour to table, in both official languages, the treaty entitled “Amendments to Annex I of the International Convention Against Doping in Sport”, notified on October 1, 2023, and November 1, 2024.”
“Mr. Speaker, caring for Canadians means that we are putting forward actual measures that are going to support affordability, and we are also going to be honest with Canadians. We are not going to make up taxes like this made-up, “make plastic bags free again” motion the Conservatives put forward last week in order to pretend to care about food prices. When the Conservatives read the Food Banks report, it would be really good if they read some of the recommendations. What the Food Banks report says is that we should strengthen our social safety net, build more affordable housing and support programs such as dental care, child care and the programs that are supporting lower- and middle-income families at the grocery store.”
“Mr. Speaker, what helps Canadians is cutting taxes for 22 million Canadians, and that is what we did earlier this year. We are supporting affordability measures with actual policies, not just with rhetoric in the House of Commons and not with misinformation. Time and time again, the Conservatives have stood up in the House to suggest there are taxes on groceries. Canadians know better; they can read their bills. They can go to the bill and see there are no taxes on coffee beans, there are no taxes on meat and there are no taxes on Kraft Dinner. When are the Conservatives going to show up with some real ideas to support affordability for Canadians?”
“Mr. Speaker, I want to thank my colleague for asking the question in English. I am very pleased to offer him a response in English. [ English ] Mr. Speaker, I have been visiting schools across my riding and assisting when I can with the school food programs. They have a very significant positive impact on learning, nutrition and health, but they also save families money. Some researchers indicate it is up to $200 a month when school food programs are implemented really well across schools in our country. I am very proud that our government has done that.”
“Mr. Speaker, Quebec is a leader among all the provinces when it comes to school food programs. Over the past decade, there have been many examples of schools in Quebec offering breakfast, snacks or other food, and there is overwhelming evidence showing that this type of program yields positive results for students. I agree with my colleague. Corporate greed is a problem when it comes to housing or the cost of living.”
“Mr. Speaker, it is astonishing that today, members of the Conservative party have stood up and very willingly said they are against healthy food in schools for kids. They are saying they do not agree with a nation school food program that is feeding kids, particularly those who need it. This is an evidence-based program. We used to be the only country in the world without a national school program. The Conservatives clearly do not understand economies of scale. They clearly have not been to a school lately to see how schools work, and they clearly have not talked to many parents or teachers, who know that when school food and healthy snacks are available in class, the learning outcomes are better, student health, mental health and attendance are better and outcomes are better for everybody. This is an evidence-based program.”
“The Food Banks report does not say we should bring back plastic pollution. It does not say that we should roll back some of the ag-led and farmer-led measures that have reduced waste in farming.”
“How can one be against healthy food for kids? If someone is going to stand up in the House every day and say that Canadians are having a tough time at the grocery store, which may be true, let us find a way to help. Conservatives stand up in the House and use the report from Food Banks Canada, saying it says this, that and the other, but the report also says that we should bolster our social safety net, build more affordable housing, focus on a northern food security program and support Canadians with things like $10-a-day child care, dental care and a tax cut. We are doing those things, and the Conservatives are voting against all of them, day in and day out, so I am urging the Conservatives to stop using the Food Banks Canada report as if it were in line with any of their policies or recommendations, because it is not.”
“It helps me a lot in my work to get out, even just for a three-kilometre or four-kilometre run with some of my friends who are right back here behind me. I thank my running pals for backing me up today. Whether it is through physical activity in schools or healthy school foods, our government is here for kids, for educators and for parents, and that is a real affordability measure. Two hundred dollars a month can be saved when national school food programs are implemented in our spaces. They have a direct, positive impact on learning outcomes and on the health of kids. I just cannot imagine how the leader of the Conservative Party could stand up today and talk about how his parents were teachers, yet instruct all his caucus, the entire Conservative Party, to vote against a national school food program. It is just astonishing.”
“In my jurisdiction, there are lots of great providers. I know that they are doing a great job. I occasionally go to schools and hand out snacks, and school food programs are having a really positive impact on the health and well-being of students. They are certainly having a positive impact on learning outcomes. Teachers and educators across the country have indicated that they have a positive impact on students' reading, writing, math and science grades. They go up when the kids are not hungry. It is not a surprise. I am also a huge advocate for physical activity in schools, as the secretary of state for sport. I know that when I was a kid, if I did not get a bit of physical activity at recess, if it was raining or there was other inclement weather outside, I was stir-crazy in class.”
“Now we do not, and we have less plastic pollution as a result, because stores put a small price on a plastic bag and offered alternatives like reusable bags and paper bags, which are far more sustainable. We can do the same thing with our food packaging, but unfortunately and shamelessly, the Conservatives are here on behalf of the plastics industry to suggest that plastic is cheaper. It is far less sustainable to have plastic packaging, and the Conservatives' motion is actually quite ignorant in that regard. Speaking of ignorance, we are talking about hunger and about food security. The number one way that poverty reduction analysts right across this country and right across the world want to address food insecurity, particularly in schools, is to have a well-funded national school food program.”
“The cost of apples is going up, and when the cost of apples is going up at this time of year, we know the apples are mostly not domestic, Canadian, ones, so with respect to a lot of the measures that the Conservatives put forth, such as bringing back plastic pollution for packaging on Canadian foods, and whether or not they would help, I would posit that they would not. They would only make plastic pollution more prevalent in our waterways, but that would not have an impact on Canadian apples. It would have an impact on pollution levels. Provincial governments and other jurisdictions made changes to the rules and regulations on grocery bags. Everybody remembers how back in the day we all used to have hundreds of bags underneath our sink.”
“They know full well the impacts of climate change and what they are on our food security, but it is also true that in recent years their farms and farm operations have been devastated by a series of climate disasters, from floods to droughts and forest fires, and this past year was no exception, with severe droughts devastating farmers' crops in key production regions across the country. These are just a few examples of the challenges our producers are having with respect to production. When my family settled in southwestern Ontario in the 1950s, they were Dutch, so they went straight to the farms and started working on them until they could afford some land of their own, and they farmed apples.”
“I will be home on Saturday, so I hope I will see some Miltonians out at the world-renowned Milton Farmers' Market. Our farmers are going to keep feeding Canadians and the world. We need to continue to partner with them in the face of the extreme weather we have been seeing in recent years, and that is why many of the changes we have been making to the ag sector are farmer-led and farmer-informed. We only have to look at the fires in western Canada and right across this country this summer to see how vulnerable our lands are to extreme weather. It has been said before: Canadian farmers are on the front lines of climate change.”
“They know that the tax cut we made earlier this year supports families and affordability, and they also know that when we build more affordable housing, we make a direct impact on affordability for families. My colleagues on this side of the House have been focusing on the government supports and commitments to the men and women who work very hard to put food on the table for their family. To our farm families right across this great nation, and particularly to those in Burlington North—Milton West, I want to say thank you for all the hard work and determination they put forth in order to produce the food we consume as Canadians. Our hard-working and skilled farmers right across the country form the foundation of Canada's food system. I love shopping local.”
“I find it very hypocritical that probably 75% of the questions we received in question period today were about the rising use of food banks in Canada, which is a real concern. Food Banks Canada not only serves Canadians; it also makes recommendations to the Government of Canada and to governments across the country. The Conservatives are very happy to say that food bank use is on the rise, but then they ignore the first page of the report, which is their opportunity to lean in on some of the recommendations that poverty-reduction experts are making. Namely, the experts want us to continue to bolster our social safety net. They want to make sure that services like child care, reduced-cost child care, reduced-cost dental care and $10-a-day child care are more available for Canadian families.”
“I do not agree with the Conservatives' “make plastic polluting free again” motions they bring forward in the House on behalf of the plastics and oil and gas lobby time and time again. I also do not agree with their efforts to roll back the farmer-led and ag sector-led changes that are ensuring that our agriculture sector in Canada is competitive, clean, green and sustainable. Farmers in Canada are on the front lines of climate change. They know full well that the changing weather and extreme weather are having a negative impact on their yields and a negative impact on the price of food for Canadians. That is what we have been talking about today: real measures that Canadians are seeking, to address the affordability challenges at the grocery store.”
“They know that their groceries and produce are not taxed at the grocery store, so it is really a false notion, a false flag, and it is something I am happy to talk about because our government is working very hard to address the affordability challenges that Canadians are facing these days, with real solutions, not the bluster and the made-up, fake notions the Conservatives have put forth. Not only are the Conservatives just making things up; they are also, once again, shamelessly working for the oil and gas and plastics lobby. There is nothing wrong with reducing plastics pollution. I have spent a lot of time on the water, and there is always waterborne plastic floating in our waterways. We can do a lot to reduce that, and we ought to.”
“If they ask any food scientist or any poverty reduction analyst, they will tell them that one of the number one drivers of food inflation these days is climate change, yet the text of the motion makes absolutely no reference to climate change and the impacts that extreme weather events are having on food prices or on the yields for Canadian farmers or farmers around the world. In fact the motion just makes up a bunch of so-called taxes on food, taxes that do not exist. Canadians go to the grocery store.”
“They are competing against the world's best team in England this weekend, and I wish them all the very best. I would ask everybody in the House to say, “Go, Canada, go”, on three: one, two, three. Some hon. members: Go, Canada, go. Hon. Adam van Koeverden: Mr. Speaker, that was a good show from everybody. We are here talking about the Conservative opposition motion. It is tough, because I disagree with the premise of the motion. The Conservatives are once again fabricating affordability. There are very real affordability challenges that Canadians are facing, but the Conservatives are blaming them on simply the wrong thing.”
“Mr. Speaker, first of all, I would like to wish the entire Franco-Ontarian community a happy Franco-Ontarian Day. I also want to congratulate all francophones and francophiles, like me, from this province of Ontario on the 50th anniversary of their flag. (1530) [ English ] I would also like to thank my friend and neighbour from Mission—Matsqui—Abbotsford for congratulating and encouraging our amazing women's rugby players. They are doing an amazing job. They defeated one of the world's best teams, New Zealand, the Black Ferns. It was a really shocking defeat, actually. I was proud of them, and I was certainly cheering for them and knew they could do it, but they are shocking the world. Our rugby 15s team is amazing. Our rugby 7s players, and many of the women play on both teams, are, a couple of times already, Olympic medallists.”
“Mr. Speaker, studies show that school food programs improve student health and mental health. They also improve learning outcomes, for better grades in science, math and reading. Those healthy meals in schools can also save a family up to $200 a month. That is a real solution for affordability and for health for Canadians. Why did the Conservatives, when they had the chance to vote for healthy school food, vote against it? Why did the member for Calgary East just now talk down all those programs that are supporting tens of thousands of kids in Alberta and hundreds of thousands of kids right across Canada?”
“Mr. Speaker, Food Banks Canada does essential work on the front lines, but it also makes recommendations for politicians like us on better policies to support Canadians, so I would put it back on that member. When we had a vote in this House of Commons not that long ago on a national school food program, he voted against it. Every time we have a policy to support Canadians, such as $10-a-day child care or dental care, they vote against it. When we bring forward measures to ensure that there is more affordable housing for Canadians, they vote against it. If the member is going to quote the Food Banks Canada report, please read the report and consider some of the recommendations.”
“Mr. Speaker, when I take the time to sit down with food bankers and experts in poverty reduction right across the country, they make recommendations. They talk about strengthening our social safety net and making sure there are services, like EI, available to Canadians. We also have challenges with northern food insecurity, and that is something we are working on directly on the advice of experts in poverty reduction. Again I ask: Will the Conservatives just continue to point fingers or make some real recommendations? Maybe, perhaps, they can read the food bank's report, garner a little bit of insight from the experts on the front lines and work together to end this crisis.”
“Mr. Speaker, Food Banks Canada conducts important research and also makes very important recommendations for governments. It says we should strengthen the social safety net to support Canadians facing affordability challenges. We are doing that with dental care, with the middle-class tax cut, with “build Canada homes” and with $10-a-day child care. Those things are making a difference in Canadians' lives, and the Conservatives voted against every single one of those measures. Are the Conservatives content to just keep pointing fingers, or are they going to make some recommendations? Maybe they should read the report from the experts, like food bankers across the country serving Canadians.”
“Mr. Speaker, the hypocrisy from the Conservative side today is just astonishing. They have not listened to any of the recommendations from the Food Banks report. What gets me going even worse is that earlier this year when the leader of the Conservative Party lost his job, he did not lose his house. That is because he lives in government-subsidized, non-market housing, but every time he has the chance to vote for government-subsidized, non-market housing, he votes against it. Worse still, he stigmatizes it, calling it “Soviet-style” housing. Get a grip.”
“Mr. Speaker, it is a little rich coming from the guy who voted against the national school food program. I would like to say that Food Banks Canada does exceptional work and it also makes good recommendations for government. One, it suggests we build up Canada's social safety net. Two, it says we should solve the affordable housing crisis and we should help lower-income workers make ends meet. All of those things are things that the Conservative leader votes against time and time again in this House.”
“Mr. Speaker, there is an old saying about people in glass houses. Well, a lot of the Conservative members also have quite a few investment properties. They rent out their units. However, for another thing, I just want to reiterate that their leader, Pierre Poilievre, did not get re-elected, and he continues to live in taxpayer-funded government housing. What is clear is that any time the Conservatives have an opportunity to support lower-income or vulnerable families and their access to truly affordable housing, they vote against every single measure.”
“Mr. Speaker, Canadians remember when Pierre Poilievre stood in front of a Canadian woman's house in Niagara Falls and called it a “shack”. I remember when Pierre Poilievre stood in the House and called the co-op where I grew up “Soviet-style” housing. Now, if that were not enough, the Conservatives are stigmatizing modern, modular, affordable housing as shipping containers. The Conservatives voted against every single measure to support lower-income families to be able to access affordable housing. It is people like me, who grew up in that type of housing, whom the Conservatives want to insult. That is pretty ironic, given that, despite not getting re-elected, Pierre Poilievre continues to live in taxpayer-funded government housing.”
“Mr. Speaker, first, I would like to thank my friend and colleague from the Green Party for always raising issues of importance, for being the conscience of this place in so many instances and certainly for being such a stalwart for environmental protection. As is often the case, we get kind of stuck on one idea or one notion, and a couple of words come to mind, certainly from the Conservative Party. The only kind of idea that they think about when they suggest a project of national interest is an oil pipeline. However, I see lots of other opportunities in this bill. I see wind west, an electric grid from coast to coast and a corridor for high-speed rail. I see a lot of opportunity here for green infrastructure and infrastructure that increases our opportunities on renewables. I thought I would give the hon.”
“Madam Speaker, I would like to thank my neighbours in Burlington North—Milton West for their confidence, but I would also like to sincerely thank the good people of Carleton for electing a fantastic community champion as their member of Parliament. The community sport for all initiative lifts people up by breaking down barriers to physical activity, with programs such as Dribble Dreams in Milton and Ottawa South United Soccer in the member's riding, an organization the MP knows well because he is so connected to his community. Partners such as KidSport and Jumpstart have already helped more than one million Canadian families and kids to enjoy sport and participate. That is because every kid deserves a chance to play, to compete and to belong. When kids play, Canada wins.”