NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh rises during question period in the House of Commons on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on March 23, 2021.
I’m sad that we couldn’t be in person. I know that there are so many moments, special moments, that we enjoy in person, in the hallways, and I know we’re missing that. And these are difficult times. But I want to take a moment to thank each and every one of you.
We know women who have already borne so much the brunt of this pandemic being stretched to max having to deal with child care and care for their aging and loved ones on top of losing job or trying to find a way to get to work without any adequate child care. This pandemic has disproportionately impacted women. And we’ve seen it also in the fact that women are now with the lowest job participation rate since decades. And that is so wrong.
And we know that this pandemic has impacted seniors, particularly those in long term care homes, particularly for profit long term home. These seniors amongst the most vulnerable have borne the brunt of this pandemic with their lives. And that is a National Shame. We know that young people, instead of helping young people, the Liberal government was more interested, Justin Trudeau was more interested in helping his friends at WE than actually getting help to the people in need.
One of the things we notice throughout this pandemic very clearly, is that the Liberals have shown again and again, how they’re in it for the ultra rich, and they’re not in it for you or your family. And I want to give you a couple examples. The Liberals didn’t hesitate to forgive billions of dollars of corporate debt. New Democrats believe we need to be forgiving student debt.
[Speaking in French] People in Quebec and everywhere in Canada want a federal government that will fight climate change as though they really want to win this fight. The Liberals bought a pipeline and continue to subsidize the major oil companies. They prefer to prioritize the interests of major polluters, rather than fighting the climate change crisis. The Conservatives say that there is no climate crisis. We New Democrats, we work for a fair and sustainable recovery.
Singh did not say that he came as a settler or a colonialist, but then maybe he believes that he is neither of these. We should ask him.
I think that should be 'unceded', not 'unseeded'. Although for all I know, the traditional lands of the Algonquin nation might well be unseeded as well; as unceded!
Clean yourself up and have some self respect.
This party has done nothing but support Trudeau.
Says a hate-monger extremist and terror sympathiser