Week in Review: June 4 – June 8
Welcome to Elizabeth May’s parliamentary week in review! This weekly e-newsletter recaps her work in Parliament when the House is in session. Using the links below, you can watch videos of Elizabeth’s interventions in the House, keep up with her media releases, and read articles she has written.
With the House sitting till midnight from now until the summer recess, there are more opportunities for debate than usual. This week, Elizabeth had more than two dozen interventions on national security, gun control, environmental assessment, Budget 2018 and criminal justice reform. She also posed a question to the Minister of Natural Resources on the Trans Mountain pipeline purchase.
On that note, help Elizabeth get to 10 000 signatures on her petition to halt this reckless deal. The e-petition introduced last week has collected more than 8000 names – let’s keep the momentum going! Click here to sign.
* If you are having trouble viewing this email, please view online at: https://elizabethmaymp.ca/category/news/week-in-review/
Key Moments in the House
Speech
Question Period
Debate
Bill C-59: An Act respecting national security matters
- Why stop this place from having a full debate on a bill that has much good in it?
- This bill does a lot to redress the threat to our security from Bill C-51
- We need a single entity overseeing what all five of our spy agencies are doing
- C-51 is enough of an improvement that I am going to vote for it
Bill C-69: An Act to enact the Impact Assessment Act and the Canadian Energy Regulator Act, to amend the Navigation Protection Act and to make consequential amendments to other Acts
- C-69 is a very weak bill informed by the same principles as under the former Conservative government
- Energy regulators should not be playing a role in environmental assessment
- 1000s of projects will bypass environmental reviews that were routine before 2012
- Smart companies want to avoid having stranded assets in the oil sands
- This government spent millions on expert panel reviews then ignored the recommendations
- Bill C-69 is very weak and does nothing to slow down development
- Navigable waters will not trigger an impact assessment
- Small projects can destroy a species and wipe out a key ecosystem
Bill C-71: An Act to amend certain Acts and Regulations in relation to firearms
- Surely a lot of Conservative communities would feel safer with a lifetime background check
- Background checks for a history of intimate partner violence
- Properly resourcing police departments to go after gang-related crime
Bill C-74: Budget Implementation Act, 2018, No. 1
- It is up to provinces to implement a revenue-neutral price on carbon
- Budget 2018 regresses by leaving out energy efficiency programs
Bill C-75: An Act to amend the Criminal Code, the Youth Criminal Justice Act and other Acts and to make consequential amendments to other acts
- A police officer’s credibility on the stand is very often the difference between an innocence person going to jail or not
- Eliminating peremptory challenges will help create fairer juries for the accused
- Eliminating preliminary inquiries tramples on the rights of the accused
- The presumption of innocence and the right to a fair trial is the bedrock of our criminal justice system
- We should be acting to remove mandatory minimums
- Will Bill C-75 be thoroughly studied in committee?
- We need to hear from members of the criminal bar on Bill C-75
- The government has gone too far by doing away with preliminary inquiries
- I am worried about removing the opportunity to cross-examine police officers
In the News
- “Will Guelph crown Ontario’s first Green MPP?”
(Rob Ferguson and Robert Benzie, Toronto Star
, June 6) - “Historic win for Green Party as it captures first-ever seat in Ontario election”
(Meredith Bond, CityNews, June 7)
“Federal NDP, Greens call for Fisheries and Oceans Canada to stop promoting salmon farms”
(Ainslie Cruickshank, The Star Vancouver, June 6)
Public Statements
- Statement on World Environment Day and Canadian Environment Week 2018
- Statement on World Oceans Day 2018
- Congratulations, Mike!
Petitions
Sign Elizabeth’s petition to halt the purchase of Kinder Morgan!
- Suspend the interim protocol for the use of southern B.C. anchorages immediately and consult further on a new protocol
- Ban the transport of crude oil, including dilbit, in tankers along the entire B.C. coast
Note:
Elizabeth presents petitions once the deadline for signatures has passed. After presentation in the House, the government has 45 calendar days to table a response.
You may read the governments’ responses to petitions Elizabeth has introduced here.
View and sign open e-petitions currently sponsored by Elizabeth here.
Learn about the e-petition process or create one of your own here.
Community Newsletter
April 2018 Newsletter – Children
Committees, Briefs and Responses
Submission to the Consultations on an Amendment to Aquaculture Regulation
Submission to the Transport Canada Parliamentary Consultation
Submission to the Consultations on the federal Carbon Pricing System
Submission to the Consultations on the Federal Leaders’ Debates
Submission to the Consultations on Health Canada’s Proposed Approach to the Regulation of Cannabis
Submission to the Consultations on the Proposed Excise Duty Framework for Cannabis Products
Submission to the Canada-Pacific Trade Consultations
Brief Submitted to the NAFTA Renegotiation Consultation
Brief Submitted to the Minister of Food and Agriculture Canada for “A Food Policy for Canada”
Response Submitted to the Consultations on Tax Planning Using Private Corporations
Private Members’ Bills
Elizabeth May has introduced the following bills:
Bill C-401: This bill will lower the voting age to 16.
Bill C-387: This bill will establish a legislative framework for a national passenger rail service.
Bill C-269: This bill will abolish mandatory minimum sentences for all crimes except murder and treason.
Bill C-258: This “Think Small First” bill would require that every new bill introduced in the House undergo an assessment to determine how the bill would impact Canadian small businesses.
Bill C-259: The Open Science Act would require all federal departments to make all publicly funded scientific research available to Canadians on their websites.
For a list of private members’ bills Elizabeth May has seconded, please visit elizabethmaymp.ca.
Upcoming Events
Friday, June 8
Saturday, June 9
Saturday, June 16
Sunday, June 17
Friday June 22 to Sunday June 24
- Elizabeth joins in the 2018 Tour des Iles!
- Elizabeth attends the REVolutionSS festival on Salt Spring Island
Friday, June 22
Saturday, June 23
Sunday, June 24
Wednesday, June 27
Thursday, June 28
- Elizabeth attends Stelly’s Secondary School 2018 Student Awards Ceremony
- Elizabeth attends Claremont Secondary School’s 2018 Graduation Ceremony
Friday, June 29