Ken McDonald

[Business of Supply, June 21st, 2023]

Madam Speaker, the member opposite gave a somewhat exciting speech condemning the current Liberal government, but I suppose somewhere down the road, the Conservatives will realize that not everything is as it seems.

The Bloc members, for example, are saying we are supporting the oil companies too much. The Conservatives say we are ruining the oil industry by not helping it more. How do they square that circle?

Yes, I will ask, what program would the Conservative Party cut to help balance the budget? Would the Conservatives cut the Canada child benefit or just make seniors work until 67 or maybe 70? That is what the Conservatives are made of; that is what they have always been made of.

[Government Business No. 26—Amendments to the Standing Orders, June 13th, 2023]

Mr. Speaker, I certainly do not disagree with everything the member opposite had to say about the Standing Orders. However, I would like him to comment on the individuals who are present in the House on any given day during question period. All of a sudden, when question period is over and the Speaker is introducing a vote coming up or is reading what the vote is about, people on both sides of the House are exiting like rats leaving a sinking ship. Then later we will see it come up on screen that they voted virtually. They were sitting here in the House before question period ended, yet they scurried out and voted electronically.

Would he like to comment on that? I think it is wrong. If a member is here, they should stay here and vote. That is just my own perspective. Whether it is the government's perspective or the opposition's perspective, I do not know, but I would like the member to comment on that particular issue.

[Government Business No. 26—Amendments to the Standing Orders, June 13th, 2023]

Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague, who sits very close to me, for his wonderful speech this evening.

I believe the hybrid Parliament is a good thing, but I am not in favour of its being abused by members here in the House. It should be available, yes, for somebody who needs it. As the member said, he had surgery earlier this year and was able to vote on the app. I had surgery as well, on February 14, actually, and shovelled snow two days later.

However, it is a privilege and an honour to be able sit and stand in this House as one of 338 people. I spend time here even when I am not on House duty. I love sitting in the House and having people sit around me instead of being in the office in my constituency with nobody. Does the member agree that it is a good policy to have, but it should not be allowed to be abused? People who can be here should be here.

[Immigration and Refugee Act, June 13th, 2023]

Madam Speaker, I rise on a point of order. Could you remind individuals, when they are giving a speech, to not to have their phones on their desktops close to the microphone when they are speaking? I can hear vibrating in my earpiece when somebody else is speaking. I did not want to raise it when the member was speaking and interrupt the flow of his speech.

[Business of Supply, May 30th, 2023]

Mr. Speaker, I am not usually one to correct the member for Winnipeg North, but he did say that members of the Conservative Party were mad that they lost the last election. I would like to correct him. They lost the last three elections, to be truthful.

The member also mentioned that this was first highlighted when Stephen Harper was prime minister and led the government, and there was nothing really done. The Conservatives were informed of foreign interference and did nothing.

Could the member highlight why he thinks it was the case that they did nothing and did the opposition at the time demand a public inquiry?

[Business of Supply, May 18th, 2023]

Mr. Speaker, I was reminded, while the member was speaking, that a few years back there was an article in the local paper in the St. John's area of Newfoundland, The Telegram. A former school teacher had lost his job and lost his family all because of drugs, and the drug of choice at that time was cocaine. In the article he said, “If you use it once, you're addicted, because you can't wait to get back to the place where it puts you.”

The member mentioned we need to do more, and I agree we need to do a lot more. As he said, there is housing, mental health and addictions services. We need to do more because this is a crisis. We just came through a pandemic and are still dealing with parts of it. This is going to be a bigger pandemic if we just sit down and do nothing about it.

[Criminal Code, May 17th, 2023]

Madam Speaker, I will ask the hon. member opposite the same question I have asked many times this evening during this debate.

The Conservatives keep saying that we will not allow people to use commonly used guns, whether it be hunters, farmers or whomever, and that these weapons would be banned forever and a day. Could the member list one legally used hunting rifle that would be banned by this bill?

[Criminal Code, May 17th, 2023]

Mr. Speaker, I would ask the member the same question that I have asked other members here tonight: Can the member opposite name one shotgun or rifle that is currently used by hunters and farmers in their regular hunting activities that this bill would actually ban?

[Criminal Code, May 17th, 2023]

Mr. Speaker, the member opposite, during his speech, kept referring to the Liberal government attacking law-abiding hunters and law-abiding farmers who are trying to get rid of pest animals on their farms. Could the member please tell me which hunting rifle currently used by law-abiding hunters would be banned if this bill were passed?

[Criminal Code, May 16th, 2023]

Madam Speaker, as I have said several times in this House, I came from municipal politics before coming here. After being elected as mayor in 2013 in my home town, at our first public meeting, the fire chief entered and said, “Everybody stay in the building. There is a shooting next door.” A jilted boyfriend showed up at a medical clinic and shot the boyfriend of his former girlfriend in his vehicle. He then went into the medical clinic and shot his ex-girlfriend. He was found dead the next morning in his vehicle in a cemetery not too far away.

This bill will help to keep those situations from happening. Why is the member against stopping those types of situations?