Kevin Lamoureux
Winnipeg North, Manitoba · Liberal · Canada
“Mr. Speaker, as I have indicated, when we take a look at this particular legislation, or any other piece of legislation or budgetary measures that the government has brought in since the last election, when Canadians elected a new Prime Minister and a new government, we will find that listening to Canadians is the top priority.”
“Mr. Speaker, I want the member to recognize the degree to which the Conservative Party always wants to talk down the economy. It brings me to yesterday, when we found out that the Prime Minister went to the G7 and that 13 new deals were signed off, with countries such as Japan, Italy, Denmark, France, Germany, Netherlands and Portugal, fi…”
“Mr. Speaker, since the last election, just over a year ago, when Canadians voted for our current Prime Minister and a new government, we have been listening to the people of Canada. Members will see that listening in every aspect of our legislative agenda and our budgetary measures.”
“Mr. Speaker, I would like to pick up on my friend's comment that we live in the real world. The real world is looking pretty good in terms of where Canada has been since the last federal election. We have a Prime Minister who has been out and about, attracting literally billions of dollars in commitments of investment.”
“Mr. Speaker, I appreciated to a certain degree the member's comments when he made reference to the issue of the process. However, I would ask him to realize that, over the years, things have changed considerably. We saw time allocation used during Stephen Harper's government a record number of times.”
“Mr. Speaker, today I am tabling a petition from a number of individuals. Actually, over 1,000 people have signed the petition. The petitioners are looking for a sense, from both the provincial Government of Manitoba and Ottawa, of working together to try to come up with a solution to deal with Manitoba's unique situation related to our wo…”
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“Mr. Speaker, in the last federal election, under a year ago, Canada's new Prime Minister made a commitment, an election platform, to deal with crime. Before the House of Commons, over the last number of months, we have seen a series of bills that deal with making our communities safer. Bill C-14 , which we are debating today, should have passed at the end of 2025. It did not pass because of the filibustering of the Conservative Party of Canada. There is a series of legislative bills that need to be passed, yet the Conservative Party is more motivated to raise money in its own self-interest than to pass this suite of laws. My question to the member is this: Will he not take it as notice that Canadians want the legislative suite of bills to be passed, not just Bill C-14 —”
“Mr. Speaker, another piece of legislation is Bill C-2 , on lawful access. We hear a lot about the importance of fighting extortion. When I think of Bill C-2, this is a very powerful bill that would enable us to bring in lawful access, which would give more tools to our law enforcement agencies. I wonder if the minister would provide her thoughts on why it is so critically important that we not forget about Bill C-2 and that we also see that legislation pass.”
“Mr. Speaker, first of all, I am pleased to see that Bill C-14 is before the House. In fact, I argued back in December that there was no reason Bill C-14 should not pass the House of Commons and the Senate before the end of the year. In the last election, the Prime Minister and ministers came with an election platform based on crime and looking at ways we could bring in legislation. The Conservative member just made reference to mandatory minimums. Bill C-16 reinstates mandatory minimums. I am wondering if the member could provide her thoughts on the package of crime legislation we have brought forward based on the election platform. We have seen a lot of frustration due to filibustering from the Conservative Party. It is time that we passed not only Bill C-14 but also the other aspects of legislation.”
“That, in relation to its study of Canada's Arctic strategy, six members of the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Development be authorized to travel to Washington, D.C., United States of America, in the winter/spring of 2026, during an adjournment period, and that the necessary staff accompany the committee. 3. That, in relation to its study of North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) modernization, six members of the Standing Committee on National Defence be authorized to travel to Yellowknife, Northwest Territories; Inuvik, Northwest Territories; and Tuktoyaktuk, Northwest Territories, in the summer of 2026, during an adjournment period, and that the necessary staff accompany the committee.”
“Mr. Speaker, there have been discussions among the parties, and if you seek it, I believe you will find unanimous consent for the following motion. I move: Motion 1. That, in relation to its study of Canada and the forthcoming CUSMA review, six members of the Standing Committee on International Trade be authorized to travel to Washington, D.C., United States of America; and Detroit metropolitan area, Michigan, United States of America, in the winter/spring of 2026, during an adjournment period, and that the necessary staff accompany the committee. 2.”
“Mr. Speaker, the member does not seem to recognize the integrated automobile industry between Canada and the United States. Many of the parts come from Canada or will be manufactured in Canada. They will go to the United States to be put into electric vehicles, and then, yes, some of them will come back to Canada. Does he recognize the integration of the automobile industry in Canada?”
“Mr. Speaker, the Conservative Party is gaslighting people on an issue to create anger. Let me give an example. I think of the community of Aurora, where Magna International employs 17,000-plus employees. That is a lot of people. They are not producing a car, but they are manufacturing parts that go to the United States. It seems that the Conservative Party does not care a damn about those jobs. The Conservatives do not talk about the importance of the integrated automobile industry between Canada and the U.S. I wonder if my colleague from the Bloc could provide his thoughts on those jobs also mattering. When the Conservatives talk about the program that is part of the automobile strategy, they should at least give some consideration to those employees.”
“Mr. Speaker, first, I recognize how important the RAV4 vehicle is, and I compliment the workforce at Toyota in Canada. Someone mentioned that it produces, I believe, one car every minute or less than a minute. I thought someone said 30 seconds. Canada also produces the Dodge Charger, which is the number one car in North America. It was recognized as the car of the year by Detroit. We should be proud of those vehicles and the love and attention that go into making them.”
“Mr. Speaker, I remember former prime minister Joe Clark making the statement that he never left the Progressive Conservative Party but rather that the party left him. There are a lot of progressives, red Tories, or call them what we like: Conservatives with a conscience, Conservatives who believe in the environment and in having good, strong policy dealing with the environment. Those have all been pushed to the side. We have witnessed the leader of the Conservative Party move and continue to move the Conservative Party of Canada farther and farther to the right.”
“Mr. Speaker, I would ask all members present who own an EV to please raise their hand. I do not see any on the Conservative side. Having said that, let me suggest that it is the NDP and PC governments at the provincial levels and the Liberal federal government that have recognized that providing the rebates in some form or another is a good thing. The Conservatives gaslight people on the issue, and I believe that is a disservice. That is really what they are doing. Remember that there is an integrated automobile industry between Canada and the U.S.A. Many of the parts manufactured here in Canada are sent to the U.S.A. to support EV production.”
“Mr. Speaker, my colleague has made a very important observation. At the end of the day, when we look at the details of what is being proposed by the government, we see that he is 100% correct. I would add to that by saying that roughly 35% of our EV purchases in Canada will come from the United States, but for many of those vehicles coming in from the United States, parts are being supplied by Canadian workers. Something overlooked by the Conservatives' rhetoric when they promote anger toward government policy is that they are criticizing jobs that Canadians have. I find that unfortunate because of our integrated system between Canada and the U.S.”
“Mr. Speaker, I am going to pick up on the point that the member who represents the province of Quebec talked about, which is the rebates, what they are and how it is important that we support the EV industry, its growth and its potential. This is why we have brought forward through the automobile strategy a program that will sensitize Canadians to purchasing EV vehicles when the opportunity might be there for them to do so. Again, different levels of government have recognized that and have supported it, not only by the federal government's saying it is good but also by the provinces' adding more value to the program.”
“Mr. Speaker, that would be a good question to ask Doug Ford, a Conservative who made many investments, recognizing, contrary to what the member just put on the record, that the government does have a role to play. I am not alone. Progressive Conservative provincial governments and NDP provincial governments also understand the reality that government can make a difference. We have seen that in Canada. We have a Prime Minister who understands that, which is one of the reasons we continue to work every day to protect the industries that are so valuable to our nation.”
“Many of the initiatives we have taken as a government to support the automobile industry and add on the EV industry have actually been supported with public dollars by the Ontario government. Doug Ford, by the way, is a progressive Conservative. At the end of the day, the government will work with Canadians, work with industry stakeholders, families and workers, to ensure that we have a strong and healthy automobile industry all Canadians can be proud of. That means there will be some changes, but we will persevere. What Lester Pearson did for the Auto Pact, the Prime Minister will do for the future of the Canadian automobile industry, and we will see prosperity continue.”
“There is talk of a RAV4 hybrid being developed, and it could actually be done here in Canada, at least in some sort of limited way, possibly. I would recognize and ask Toyota. We should maybe make a resolution to support some of the industries that are so progressive. The RAV4 is a fantastic vehicle, and I hope to see a hybrid. However, there is Stellantis, whether it is in Brampton or Windsor, with genuine concerns. There is General Motors in Ingersoll, Oshawa and St. Catharines. There is Ford. We are very much concerned. We want Ford to do better and to grow. When we talk about the supply chain, there is NextStar. Someone told me earlier today that NextStar has reached one million batteries being manufactured.”
“Even as a Prairies member of Parliament, I am being sensitive to the jobs that are being impacted, as I know every Liberal member of Parliament is. We have talked about Toyota in Woodstock, which is 2,500 jobs. That is where the RAV4 is produced. I think someone earlier said that every minute or every 30 seconds, a new car comes off the line. In Cambridge there are well over 5,000 jobs, close to 6,000. Let us take a look at what is happening in Alliston at Honda; again, there are thousands of jobs. Those two companies, as I indicated earlier, make up well over 50% of automobile manufacturing here in Canada. Let us take a look at the numbers. I would never have thought this in the eighties and nineties. They stepped up to the plate.”
“I think of my home province of Manitoba, where Winnipeg has New Flyer, as well as the work that Red River College or the University of Manitoba are doing. An hon. member: Are EVs manufactured in Manitoba? Hon. Kevin Lamoureux: Mr. Speaker, there is EV manufacturing in Manitoba. The best buses in the world are being manufactured in my home city of Winnipeg, and they are EV buses. Imagine the shell shock on the other side. The silence is deafening when reality finally sinks in. Even though we have emphasized a great deal about Ontario today, we are really talking about an industry that impacts everyone, every region of our country. That is why I stand up today looking at these communities, the broader community of the province of Ontario, specifically, for me today, and indicate that we care about what is taking place.”
“The point is that whether they are Progressive Conservatives, New Democrats, Greens, the Bloc party or the Liberal Party, all the main parties that most Canadians would be aware of, they all recognize that things change and that we need to adapt and develop strategies around how we build into the future. The only other party is the Conservative Party. (1220) There were interesting job numbers that were provided to me in regard to just how important the auto and battery plants are. Let us think in terms of the municipalities. We could talk about Windsor, Oakville, Oshawa, Ingersoll, Brampton, Alliston, Woodstock and Cambridge. These are all communities in the province of Ontario, but is not limited to Ontario when we talk about going forward into the future, and even today.”
“The Government of Canada is very much on the front line, working with people and workers and consulting with families and companies, to ensure not only that we have a strategy but that it will be a strategy that is going to work and build upon the successes we have had in the past. The Conservatives are completely blank, but just the far-right Conservatives here that I see. When I say that, some members ask why I would say “the far right”. They are extreme. We can take a look. There are Progressive Conservative premiers who will support the EV industry. Even the Alberta United Conservatives have supported, if not directly then indirectly, the expansion of EV chargers.”
“The best I can tell is that there is only one political entity in the country, known across Canada, that says absolutely no to electric vehicles and the promotion of them, not to mention the infrastructure buildup here in Canada. It is the Conservative Party of Canada, the far-right Conservative Party of Canada. That is the only entity that does not have any real strategy to deal with our automobile industry. The Conservatives want to give the impression that they care about the employees. They take these flash issues and try to build up anger toward the government when they themselves do not have a strategy that takes the industry into the future.”
“That is why the first question I asked the opposition on this issue was about the Conservative Party's strategy on the future of the automobile industry. Where is it? Nothing at all has been presented to Canadians. I look at what the Conservatives say about EVs here in the chamber. They say the government is bad because it is providing a grant to encourage people to acquire an EV. Well, members know there are provincial governments across this land that have recognized the value of encouraging their citizens to purchase electric vehicles, and they also have provided financial incentives to do that. We know there are provincial governments that actually invest in the infrastructure to support EVs.”
“That is why the whole battery supply chain is so critically important. Unlike the Conservatives, we do not have our heads in the sand. We realize that electric vehicles and hybrid vehicles will continue to be produced in the future, and we want to be in the game. The Conservatives say no, at a great cost. (1215) We need to look at the reality of what is happening not only in Canada but around the world. We will see that Canada can, in fact, be a world leader. We need to be able to move forward. What if we followed the Conservatives? I can imagine the debates during the 1920s and so forth, with Conservatives saying, “You know what? Those wagon wheels create a lot of jobs. We want to keep the wagons flowing.” In technology, things change. Government needs to change.”
“There is no reason we cannot export more of our automobiles being produced in Canada beyond the United States. Today, well over 90% go into the United States. After all, we should all take pride in the quality of the workforce in our automobile industry. The Dodge Charger was recognized in Detroit as the car of the year. I believe that is because of the employees and the company working as a team to produce that car of the year. The Toyota RAV4 is a vehicle that has been widely supported here in Canada and abroad. These vehicles, whether those two or any others being produced in Canada, are recognized for the quality of the product. The Prime Minister and this government have said we need to not only protect but also look at ways we can expand the automotive industry here in Canada.”
“Much like Lester Pearson recognized the issue back in 1965, how important it was that we have an auto pact agreement, which literally provided hundreds of thousands of good middle-class jobs and helped build the country we have today, we now have a Prime Minister who is saying we cannot just stand by and do nothing, especially when there is an American president who has been unpredictable. We do not know what the president is going to say tomorrow. We have to look at ways to expand our economy that go beyond the Canada-U.S.A. border. That is what the Prime Minister , the ministers and members of the Liberal caucus believe we need to do. That is why we have a Prime Minister who has been travelling abroad, bringing literally billions of dollars of investment into Canada and looking at ways we can continue to export.”
“I am not going to defend Donald Trump, the United States or their political objectives on the automobile industry, far from that. Whether it is the Prime Minister or any Liberal member of Parliament, we are very much concerned about the future of the industry, and the workers and their families. We need to see more empathy toward those families and the idea of generational workers into the future. If those workers have sons or daughters who they want to continue on in that industry, we better start thinking about the future and the direction that the industry as a whole is moving toward. We are going to see substantial increases in the production, directly and indirectly, of EVs. The Conservatives are closing their eyes and ignoring it, as if we do not need to worry about it.”
“Seriously, do they not understand that we have an integrated automobile industry? Many of the parts used in those EVs across the border are actually manufactured here in Canada and are then brought to the United States and put into many of those electric vehicles. We have an integrated system. For the life of me, I believe the Conservatives just truly do not understand that. (1210) The total number of cars manufactured in Canada today is just over one million; I think it is about 1.3 million or so. In looking at the consumption of vehicles, what Canadians are buying, we see that approximately 10% of Canadians are buying Canadian-made cars. However, there is a great deal of Canadian content in cars being purchased that come in from the United States.”
“Back in the seventies, people talked about not buying imports. Well, Toyota and Honda are actually producing far more cars here in Canada than the other manufacturers combined. It is not to take away anything from the other three, GM and Stellantis and Ford, but the automobile industry has changed over the years. Today we have a motion from the Conservatives as if they actually know what to do. In reality, members can look at the time when they were in government. They want to isolate the province of Ontario. One of the greatest hits to the industry was when the leader of the Conservative Party sat around in the Conservative caucus when the Ontario manufacturing industry was being decimated. Listen to what the Conservatives talk about. They ask, how can we give an EV subsidy to American manufacturers?”
“Much as Lester Pearson was a visionary looking at the automobile industry back in the sixties, we have a Prime Minister today who has developed a Canada-strong automobile strategy so that we will have a healthy automobile industry in Canada into the future. Reflecting back to the past, it was not that long ago that I was pumping gas at a Turbo. Looking back to the seventies and the automobile industry back then, there was GM, Ford, Chrysler and American Motors. That was it, the big four in Canada. Those were perceived as the automobile industry. We know American Motors was consumed by Chrysler, and Chrysler became Stellantis. What we have today are Honda, Toyota, Stellantis, GM and Ford. I think most Canadians would be very surprised about which cars are actually being manufactured in Canada today.”
“Mr. Speaker, let me start by offering my condolences and prayers to the residents of Tumbler Ridge, B.C., for the horrific things that have taken place over the last couple of days. I echo what the Prime Minister , the leader of the Conservative Party and others have expressed in regard to our love and prayers going to the community. I want to expand on a bit more of a holistic approach to the automobile industry, which has been such a vital part of our manufacturing industry in Canada for many years. In fact, we can go back to Lester Pearson in 1965 and the signing of the auto pact agreement. This is an agreement I have talked about in the past when we were, I believe, the third party and possibly again once we were in government. It was a significant agreement at the time.”
“Madam Speaker, what is very apparent is that the Conservative Party of Canada does not have any concept of what it means to build and have a Canadian strategy on automobiles. I hope to be able to expand on that in great detail when I get the opportunity to address this issue. Talk about incompetency and an inability to show Canadians that they have an automobile strategy; this is truly amazing. Could the member opposite tell us if there are any provincial Progressive Conservative governments that provide electric vehicle subsidies? Is he aware that it does take place and that it is only the Conservative Party of Canada that is so naive?”
“Mr. Speaker, there have been discussions amongst the parties, and if you seek it, I believe you will find unanimous consent to adopt the following motion: Motion That, notwithstanding any standing order or usual practice of the House, Ways and Means Motion No. 8, notice of which was tabled on January 28, 2026, be deemed concurred in on division, and a bill based thereon standing on the Order Paper in the name of the Minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations, entitled “An Act to give effect to the Red River Métis Self-Government Recognition and Implementation Treaty and to make consequential amendments to other Acts”, be deemed to have been read a first time.”
“Mr. Speaker, understanding, appreciating and doing things for the victims of crime is one of the primary motivators, whether it is for the Prime Minister or for every Liberal member of Parliament in the House, to bring forward to the House a whole slate of crime bills. Using the example of extortion alone, extortion would in fact be better dealt with by passing Bill C-2 and Bill C-14 . Those are lawful access and bail reform legislation. The Conservative Party is the only reason those two pieces of legislation are not passing. Why does the Conservative Party have so much hypocrisy and absolutely no shame on this crime file?”
“Mr. Speaker, my colleague and I share one thing in common, I think. We have a Prime Minister who has been the prime minister for less than a year and has made a very substantial commitment to Canadians to bring forward a crime package. The bills that my colleague referenced deal, in good part, with that package. Every day we seem to hear the Conservatives filibustering, coming up with all sorts of excuses as to why they do not want to pass the legislation. When we take a look at the holistic approach that the Prime Minister and this government have put forward, would the member not agree that the Conservative Party is, in fact, clearly filibustering and obstructing the passage of legislation? That serves their party, but it does not serve the Canadian people as a whole.”
“Mr. Speaker, it is important to note the Conservatives are preventing Bill C-2 from passing. They are also preventing Bill C-14 from passing, both of which have a direct link to preventing extortion. I have a letter that was emailed to Conservative supporters. It says, “Extortion is spreading across Canada. Businesses are being threatened. Communities are being terrorized. And families no longer feel safe in their own neighbourhoods.” This is the type of propaganda the Conservative Party is pumping out, including today. How much money has the Conservative Party made by filibustering legislation that would improve the conditions of Canadians?”
“Mr. Speaker, I cannot believe that the Conservative Party has not even read the legislation. Bill C-16 actually does reinstate mandatory minimums, maybe not in every area that he can imagine, but it does reinstate them. Could my colleague provide his thoughts on how important it is that the Conservatives truly understand what they are filibustering? They are denying Canadians the opportunity to see good legislation pass.”
“Mr. Speaker, I know the member has been a very strong advocate in regard to the entire crime package that the Prime Minister and government have been trying to get passed, but the Conservatives continue to obstruct and try to prevent it from passing. The member talked a great deal about extortion. I agree with him that extortion is a very serious issue. Bill C-2 , lawful access, and Bill C-14 , bail reform, are two pieces of legislation that would go a long way in dealing with some of the extortion we are witnessing in Canada. Could the member express his thoughts on the Conservative Party's continuing to prevent those important pieces of legislation from passing?”
“Mr. Speaker, when I think of the whole crime package that the Conservatives continue to filibuster, I think of Bill C-2 on lawful access; I think of Bill C-9 on combatting hate; I think of Bill C-14 on bail reform; and I think of Bill C-16 on mandatory minimums being reinstated, along with leading on femicide. These are all important pieces of legislation that Canadians are expecting the Conservatives to pass, not to mention bills like the budget implementation bill. These are the types of legislation that even Canadians in Conservative ridings want passed, but the Conservatives continue to filibuster. When will the Conservative Party stop thinking about the interests of the Conservative Party and start thinking about the interests of Canadians, and allow legislation to pass?”
“Mr. Speaker, I must say, I am disappointed when Conservative members stand up to talk about the issue of extortion when the Conservative Party of Canada is preventing legislation that would deal with extortion, at least in part. I am referring to not only Bill C-2 , but also Bill C-14 . Those two bills are about bail reform legislation and allowing Canada to have lawful access. How can the member honestly stand up to talk about the importance of the issue, when, as a Conservative caucus, those members continue to filibuster the legislation, denying Canadians the opportunity for the government to deal specifically with the issues he is raising? How can he do that?”
“Mr. Speaker, I absolutely could, and if the member wants to sit down with me, I will go into great detail with her on it. Remember that the reason we stopped calling Bill C-2 was that the Conservative Party refused to pass it. That was why we had to come up with Bill C-12 ; it was a compromise. It was the only thing the Conservatives would pass that was from Bill C-2, which denied Canadians' having a law that had lawful access, which deals with extortion, and—”
“Mr. Speaker, it is not that we are acting as if we had a majority. I suspect there is a great deal of frustration because there is substantial legislation before us that is election-driven. There is a newly elected Prime Minister , elected less than a year ago, who made commitments to Canadians in the last federal election. Every Liberal member of Parliament wants the legislation we advocated for in the last election, but we are finding that the opposition parties continue to want to filibuster that legislation, which does cause frustration. That is one of the disadvantages of a minority government. What is necessary is for opposition members to come forward and say that if we cannot get the support of the Conservative Party, they will work with us on—”
“Mr. Speaker, I do not quite understand that last bit. At the end of the day, the Conservatives can say whatever they want in regard to the bail reform legislation. If they look at one of my 1,000-plus comments, they would find that I have consistently said on behalf of the Government of Canada that the bail reform legislation was absolutely critical. I challenged the Conservatives in November and December to give Canadians a Christmas gift and allow Bill C-14 to go through the system. I even stood up in the chamber and asked for leave to get Bill C-14 passed, even to accommodate that by allowing us to sit until midnight for two weeks. The only people who said no to it were the Conservative members of Parliament.”
“That is the reason I ultimately believe that the Conservative Party needs to start listening to what Canadians are saying and responding in kind here on the floor of the House of Commons. They can do a whole lot better on delivering to Canadians by listening to Canadians and actually giving more co-operation in passing the legislation.”
“If the leader of the Conservative Party were true to his words, the Conservative Party would come forward and say, “Here is the legislation we will pass. Let us get it to committee. Let us get things to third reading. Let us deliver for Canadians.” That is what we should be striving to do. That is why there is a great deal of frustration coming from the government benches. Because of a minority government, we need to have more co-operation coming from opposition, and that is just not happening. We are not getting the co-operation required in order to pass the legislation that Canadians deserve. That was legislation that was made in the form of an election platform. Even though it is platform issues that we are talking about, commitments that were made to Canadians, the Conservative Party of Canada continues to filibuster.”
“The ultimate irony is that the Conservative Party would actually prevent legislation from passing, then say the government controls the legislative agenda and that it cannot pass anything. Given a dozen grade 12 students from any public school in Canada, I can filibuster indefinitely too. It does not take much to filibuster legislation, and the Conservative Party has actually demonstrated that. I have witnessed a destructive force from the Conservative Party in dealing with legislation. The Conservatives talk about other commitments and ask why the government has not brought them forward. The budget implementation bill is legislation that the Conservatives continue to filibuster. There is no indication whatsoever.”
“The Conservatives say they want democracy inside the chamber. I love and support democracy; that is the reason I have asked on many occasions to allow us to sit longer hours so more members would be able to speak to issues. That is why I have argued that some of the silliness, such as some of the concurrence reports that the Conservatives have brought, has been to prevent the government from passing a legislative agenda dealing with crime. The Conservative Party is not consistent. The only thing it is consistent on is self-serving. Conservatives prefer to serve the interests of the Conservative Party of Canada than to serve the interests of Canadians. They make a pile of money through fundraising, generating millions of dollars by trying to preach through emails and so forth that the government is not doing anything.”
“It was not that long ago that we introduced it for second reading. I listen to what the Conservatives have already indicated. They do not like the bill. Bill C-16 would reinstate mandatory minimum sentences in law. With respect to the issue of femicide, the bill is something that I think would put Canada on the front line in terms of dealing with that very important issue. Where are the Conservatives on it? They say we have given ourselves only a couple of days of debate, and they want more debate. Nothing prevents them from allowing legislation to at least get to the committee stage. We can have extensive debates and all sorts of presentations, and hear from Canadians. We can still have debate when a bill comes back for third reading. The Conservatives use this as an excuse; it is not real or legitimate in terms of their filibustering.”
“Bill C-14 is such an important piece of legislation that I have asked the House to sit until midnight. I have asked, for weeks, for unanimous consent for us to continue on, to try to get the Conservatives to acknowledge the importance of bail reform legislation. (1310) That is what Bill C-14 is: important bail reform legislation that every provincial and territorial premier has indicated they want passed. Law enforcement agencies and Canadians as a whole are demanding bail reform legislation. The only reason we do not have bail reform laws today in Canada is the Conservative Party of Canada, and the leader tries to imply that we are being obstructionist. What a joke that is. The Conservative Party has consistently been filibustering important legislation. We can talk about Bill C-16 .”
“The Conservative Party refuses to allow it to proceed. They talk about extortion, but if they believe in fighting extortion, then they should pass Bill C-2. Rhonda Kirkland: Tell the truth, Kevin. Hon. Kevin Lamoureux: Mr. Speaker, that is the truth. By the way, I will be splitting my time with the member for Davenport . However, it goes far beyond that. Let us look at Bill C-9 , on combatting racism and hate. Once again, the Conservative Party is preventing that legislation from passing. Conservatives will not even let it out of the committee. It is filibuster after filibuster. They complain a lot to Canadians, but in reality, when it comes to actions, their only action is to filibuster to prevent legislation from passing and to try to frustrate the government. Bill C-9 is still in committee, with no indication that it is going to pass.”
“Bill C-2 deals with lawful access amongst other things. The Conservative approach to that was that they did not want it to go anywhere. They were so stubborn in filibustering Bill C-2 that the government had to come up with a new piece of legislation, Bill C-12 . Bill C-12 was a huge effort by a couple of ministers, in particular the Minister of Immigration , to deal with the types of issues that the Conservatives are talking about in their motion, yet Bill C-12, the new bill, has not passed, just take a look at the time it took for the Conservative Party to get it out at third reading. Bill C-2 , on the other hand, on lawful access, is going nowhere. The Conservative Party refuses to enable our law enforcement agencies to have lawful access. Every one of the other Five Eyes countries has it, just not Canada.”
“When the leader of the Conservative Party tries to give false information and mislead Canadians, whether it is inside or outside this chamber, he does a disservice to all Canadians. It might be good for the Conservative Party of Canada, but it is not good for Canadians. Canadians, even Conservative-minded Canadians living in Conservative MPs' ridings, know that what the Conservatives are saying is wrong and want to see the crime package of bills passed here in the House of Commons. It is absolutely ridiculous to try to imply that the Conservative Party is not filibustering our legislation, because that is the reality. They talk about it. They complain about it. They spread misinformation through social media, yet when it comes time to actually act in the best interests of Canadians, they filibuster. I could talk about Bill C-2 .”