Shadowing Practice: Emergency Debate on Anti-Mandate Protests - Learn English Speaking with YouTube
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Thank you, Mr Speaker.
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Thank you, Mr Speaker.
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I'm very glad to be speaking to this pressing issue that has really got Canadians glued to their televisions.
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The convoy has been really all over Ottawa and across every major city in Canada.
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We've even seen it spread to other countries around the world.
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I'm very, very glad that after two long years of division on COVID,
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that we're finally beginning to debate this important matter in this historic House of Democracy.
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I did want to begin my remarks by actually I forgot to say this right off the bat
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but I'll be splitting my time with the member from Megantec et L'Arables.
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So I did want to begin my speech a little bit
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about talking about what kind of politician I think you have to be to make a difference in this place.
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And I think every MP in this house has a bit of a different style.
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And when I first came here I really,
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for me I wanted to be a bridge builder.
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And that really came from where I grew up
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and where I went to university university i grew up in
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a small farming community in rural manitoba to four generations of canadian farmers
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so i had very entrenched rural prairie upbringing and values
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and then i went to university at mcgill university in montreal a very prestigious elite liberal sort of university
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and i met kids from all over the world with all different political views
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and world views and really got a incredible experience learning about how other people think about the world
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and i did find that that often while parties will disagree and someone will say,
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I'm a staunch Liberal, I'm a staunch Conservative,
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I'm a staunch NDP, there's actually a lot more that we have in common.
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And something that I found that all parties,
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I believe, at their core have in common,
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is that they do believe that all Canadians and all people of this world deserve to be treated with dignity,
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compassion, and respect.
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And so that's how I approach these divisive issues that we as MPs encounter all the time,
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and they're never easy to talk about.
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They're very difficult issues.
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And I look to try to build a bridge so
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that we can come together as Canadians and agree on a peaceful path forward.
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And that's how I've been trying to look at the very divisive situation in Ottawa right now.
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And what I'd really like to see is a Prime Minister who calls for national unity.
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Last week I spoke in the House about a lot of the division that we're seeing in the country
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between east versus west, rural versus urban,
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and particularly now during the pandemic.
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And we have heard so much trauma from our constituents.
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If there's any member in this house that does not believe Canadians have been through trauma these past two years,
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they clearly have not been doing their job and listening to their constituents, Mr. Speaker.
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It has been horrific, the things that I've heard.
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We hear young children who are so depressed they don't want to eat.
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Eating disorders are through the roof.
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We've heard seniors
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and elderly in our care homes who've opted for medical assistance
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in dying rather than live one more month through isolation in care homes.
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I have had widowed elderly women call
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and cry to me on the phone of how lonely they are and they don't want to go on.
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I've had grown men who've called me crying because their businesses are falling apart.
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We know divorces, abuse at home, alcohol dependency, drug dependency.
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All of these terrible things are up in our country because people are just trying to cope and are breaking down.
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So from that perspective, I don't really see what's going on across the country as all that surprising.
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To me, it seems like an eruption of something that's been simmering of pain and trauma and frustration for two long years.
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and governments have not been listening to that pain and trauma.
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Despite having rapid tests, vaccines and all different types of tools and scientific knowledge,
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governments have repeatedly relied on harsh lockdown measures and divisive mandates to control this virus.
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Meanwhile, we are seeing a Prime Minister who today got up in the House
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and again othered Canadians who don't agree with him.
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This is a man for six years who said diversity is our strength,
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but if anybody doesn't agree with everything he says,
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you're in the bad books and you don't get a chance to be heard.
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You don't have a right to be heard.
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And again, last week I brought to the floor of the House of Commons remarks that $600 million unnecessary election.
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He said so many times before he called that election,
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vaccines for all those who want them,
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vaccines for all those who want them.
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It's a choice.
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He said that repeatedly.
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He must have said it a thousand times.
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And then within days of calling that election,
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he was yelling into a microphone at a liberal rally that you have the right not to get vaccinated,
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but you don't have the right to sit next to someone who is. so to me
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that doesn't really seem like someone what did he say in
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his remarks today he said this is not a fight against
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one another it's a fight against the virus those remarks mr speaker suggest very different very different
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so when it comes to an election and scoring political points
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and winning votes the prime minister is very happy to divide canadians and pit them against each other
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for their different personal health use.
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I, for one, am sick and tired of seeing politicians use this as an evil wedge tool to rip Canadian families apart.
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I can't tell you how much anger and tears I saw in the last election.
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That was six months ago.
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And now it's even worse.
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Neighbours won't talk to each other.
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I mean, Christmas family dinners.
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I mean, even if there wasn't lockdowns during Christmas,
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it's almost a nightmare to get families in the same room now.
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If there's one person who doesn't share their views,
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I mean, it's a nightmare.
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Colleagues at work.
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Again, last week I shared the story of a social worker,
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a young mom I met during the pandemic on her friend's step.
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She was sharing with me a story that she got Hero of the Year Award last year.
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And this year, she had gone above and beyond to help people during a pandemic.
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Before there was vaccine, she stepped up Hero of the Year at her job.
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And now she said no one would talk to her
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and she was going to get fired because of one personal health choice that she made.
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As much as others tried,
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there was no convincing this woman otherwise.
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And I just, I don't know how public health officials and public officials get behind policies that do that to Canadians.
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We are one of the most vaccinated countries in the world.
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And this government continues to use it as a bludgeon to get people to submit to their policies.
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I've never thought that entering politics two and a half years ago at a federal level,
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we would see a government that was so keen to divide Canadians on something so deeply personal.
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And as I've said before,
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and I'll say it again,
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I denounce any hateful and violent act outside.
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Whoever is up to no good,
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who's ever up to that kind of mischief and that kind of hateful rhetoric and those actions,
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shame on you.
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But what I'm seeing across the country is people mobilizing
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because their governments have not listened to them for two years they've been experiencing trauma for two years
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and no one is listening to them.
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So what choice do they have left?
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These people have all emailed their MPs.
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They've called them.
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They've been turned down by their MPs.
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I'm sure there's members of the public from Papineau,
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from the Prime Minister's riding,
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who've reached out, who have a different perspective on this,
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who've been traumatized and fired from their jobs for a personal health choice.
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There are millions of Canadians,
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millions of them, that have been deeply ostracized from society.
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And when you don't listen to those people, they mobilize.
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And we've seen protests across this country for over a century.
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And rightfully so, we have the right to peacefully protest.
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And I would ask the protesters outside that they do their best and stay vigilant to stay peaceful.
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But we are seeing other governments around the world step up with lower vaccination rates and say,
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look, we hear you.
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You've been traumatized.
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We're moving forward.
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Here's the deadline.
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This is the plan.
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No more mandates.
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No more masks.
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No more distancing.
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You can travel.
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You can live your life.
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You can hug each other again.
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Here's the date.
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This is the plan.
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Here's the threshold.
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None of that in Canada.
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Absolutely none of that from the Prime Minister.
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people have been traumatized and they're mobilizing
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because they need some hope they need somebody in this house of privilege to come down from our ivory towers
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and say okay little people we hear you
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so sorry we've traumatized you for two years we're going to step up
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and we're going to give you some hope here's a deadline
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the member opposite is laughing the people in this house are incredibly privileged you've kept pardon me
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that member has kept his job thousands of Canadians have lost their job and he's laughing about his own privilege.
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What has he done to serve members that are marginalized during this pandemic in his community,
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Mr. Speaker, but laugh at them in this House of Commons?
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Shame on that member.
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I would ask this government to do everything they can.
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I asked them this two years ago in the House.
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Go to other countries, see what they're doing what are the best practices how is it
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that other highly advanced developed nations like the uk ireland the
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netherlands norway denmark germany sweden switzerland how the united states how is it
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that they have all the same tools we have they have
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all the economic resources we have they've done their citizens have done all the work
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and made all the sacrifices why is it
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that those citizens get a plan for hope of
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when we get back to normal when we get our lives back
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when the the people outside you think they want to be
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here mr speaker those people don't want to be here they want to be working
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but that right was taken away from them
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when is there going to be a plan from this prime minister
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when is there going to be compassionate leadership to say this
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is what this is it you've done the work here's the
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tools we're moving forward our public health doctors have told us
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as well it's time to move forward it's time to revisit these harsh mandates and divisive policies.
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Mr. Speaker, I will just end on this.
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I'm very passionate about this.
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I think we all are from our different perspectives.
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But I will say I will continue to be a bridge builder,
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to reach out, to try to understand where others are coming from.
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It would just be incredible if we could see members of the Liberal Party,
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the Prime Minister, do the same.
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Time to build a bridge, Mr. Speaker.
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Questions and comments?
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Questioning comment on the honourable member for Halifax.
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Mr. Speaker, I just want to first thank the member from Burnaby South for instigating this debate tonight and for his remarks.
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Now, the member from Kildone and St. Paul knows that the interim Conservative leader,
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the member from Portage-Lisgar, encouraged her party to not discourage protesters to leave,
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but rather encouraged them to stay and make the occupation the Prime Minister's problem.
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Shortly afterward, when confronted with the horrific and violent deeds of the occupiers,
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their interim leader recycled Donald Trump's hateful and disgusting torn defrost.
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There were good people on both sides.
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And even tonight, in this very House,
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in this very debate, that same interim leader tried to stoke the fires of division when asking the Prime Minister questions.
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Perhaps the next thing the interim leader will say is she will tell the occupiers to stand back and stand down.
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Mr. Speaker, the behaviour by some of the members on the side of the House of the members for Kildona
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and St. Paul's has been repugnant as the behaviour of those out in the streets.
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So I'd like to ask the member how in the world she believes the actions of her leader and her colleagues
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will help to end this unthinkable and un-Canadian disaster unfolding outside of these very doors.
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The Honourable Member for Kildona and St. Paul.
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Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
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I appreciate the question from the member who laughed when I said that members of Parliament in this House have extraordinary privilege.
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We've been able to keep our jobs.
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Actually, I've never seen that member before,
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so it's great to see him participating.
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What I would say is that I'm very proud of our leader for stepping forward today
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and putting forward a call to action to the Prime Minister.
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She asked him today, will he meet with members of the other parties?
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Will they get together, sit at a table,
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and say, look, this is unprecedented.
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This is an unprecedented demonstration in Canadian history.
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It's time that you get together,
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put partisanship aside, and work together to see how we're going to have a peaceful resolution to this.
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As the critic for public safety,
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the shadow minister for public safety for Canada,
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Mr. Speaker, I am growing increasingly concerned that without a peaceful resolution
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and compassionate leadership from this Prime Minister and that Member of Parliament,
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that we are going to see this escalate.
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They're just stoking the fires anyway.
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There's pouring diesel on it,
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so to speak, and raising the temperature with their mean language,
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their name-calling, when they should be being responsible and lowering the temperature.
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So that's what I'd like to see from Liberal members of Parliament and from the Prime Minister,
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some compassionate leadership.
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It's time to get together at the same table and talk about solutions.
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Questions and comments?
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Kessina Kamalpa, the Honourable Member for North Island, Powell River.
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Well, thank you, Mr. Speaker,
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and I want to thank the member for her speech.
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You know, as I walk through this occupation,
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I often reflect as the veteran spokesperson for the NDP on the people who fought for us,
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who fought for other countries to stand up and speak out against any kind of oppression.
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The people who fought for the freedom to have a protest in this country.
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And I know that I just read an article today
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that spoke about a veteran who was
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so upset to see people parking on the tomb of the unknown soldier
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that he went there to take pictures of those license plates
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so that he would make sure that they were removed and that those people would be held accountable.
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And right now in our nation's capital,
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both that monument
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and the Aboriginal monument are surrounded by fences to protect those monuments for the very people who fought for us,
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for us to have the privilege to stand in this house.
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So I'm just wondering
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if this member could talk about where the line is to stand up against people who are causing concerning violence
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and doing things that we should all be appalled by.
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Thank you.
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The Honourable Member for Kildonan St. Paul.
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Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
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I appreciate the Member Opposite's question.
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I think it's incumbent upon all members of Parliament to stand up against violence and bullying and divisive rhetoric.
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And I've seen that repeatedly.
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I have done that repeatedly,
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particularly when, again, we see a Prime Minister of this country who for over a year
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and a half said that vaccines for all those who want them,
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vaccines for all those who want them and then within days of calling a $600 million unnecessary election that further divided wounded,
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traumatized Canadians within days from saying,
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vaccine's a choice, he said,
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you have the right not to get vaccinated,
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but you have no right to sit next to someone who is.
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That's the kind of dehumanizing language that incites people and gets their temperature up and gets them mobilizing.
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That is the type of language that is irresponsible,
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that we need to bring down.
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That is not a prime minister who...
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That Prime Minister should not be saying things like that.
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And what I would say to the NDP is,
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you know, I'm from rural Manitoba.
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We used to vote NDP for decades.
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And you want to know why?
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Because it was because the NDP stood up for the marginalized,
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people who didn't have a voice in this privileged House of Commons.
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Where has their voice been from the thousands of workers who've lost their jobs?
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Where's the voice from the social worker who was too afraid to get a vaccine and lost her job?
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Where is their advocacy for them?
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I don't know.
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I haven't seen it.
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Reprise du débat.
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Why practice speaking with this video?
Engaging with the "Emergency Debate on Anti-Mandate Protests" video provides a unique opportunity for English learners to practice their speaking skills in a real-world context. This video showcases a parliamentary discussion in Canada, where the speaker addresses urgent social issues that resonate globally. By practicing with this content, you gain exposure to political terminology, persuasive language, and the emotional weight of communication in a democratic setting.
Utilizing the shadowing technique with this video allows learners to mimic the speaker’s tone, cadence, and emotional expression. This form of practice helps in building confidence and fluency, as learners can assess their speaking abilities against a practical and dynamic scenario. Moreover, engaging with complex topics in English enriches vocabulary and comprehension skills, making it easier to express similar views or engage in debates.
Grammar & Expressions in Context
In the video, several key structures and expressions can enhance your understanding of formal English speech:
- Conditional Statements: The speaker uses conditional structures effectively, such as, "If there’s any member in this house..." This structure helps convey hypothetical situations and emphasize the importance of attentiveness to constituents.
- Present Perfect Tense: Notice the phrase, "we have heard so much trauma." This tense indicates experiences that are relevant in the present, which is crucial for storytelling and sharing important community sentiments.
- Emotive Language: Phrases like "lonely they are and they don’t want to go on" demonstrate the use of emotive expressions to connect with the audience on a deeper level. Using emotions effectively can strengthen your arguments and engage listeners.
- Comparative Structures: The contrast between "east versus west" and "rural versus urban" showcases comparative language that is often used in discussions to highlight differences and drive points home.
Common Pronunciation Traps
While shadowing this video, you may encounter some pronunciation challenges:
- Terms like "Ottawa": Ensure you pronounce the 'w' softly, almost to the point of being silent, which is common in Canadian phonetics.
- Words with "trauma": The stress is on the first syllable: TRAu-ma. Proper stress can change the clarity and impact in communication.
- Complex phrases: Practice sentences like "I believe that all Canadians deserve to be treated with dignity." Breaking down the speech into smaller parts can help with flow and articulation.
By integrating these pronunciation practices into your English speaking practice, you will improve clarity and become more effective in conveying your own ideas during discussions.
What is the Shadowing Technique?
Shadowing is a science-backed language learning technique originally developed for professional interpreter training and popularized by polyglot Dr. Alexander Arguelles. The method is simple but powerful: you listen to native English audio and immediately repeat it out loud — like a shadow following the speaker with just a 1–2 second delay. Unlike passive listening or grammar drills, shadowing forces your brain and mouth muscles to simultaneously process and reproduce real speech patterns. Research shows it significantly improves pronunciation accuracy, intonation, rhythm, connected speech, listening comprehension, and speaking fluency — making it one of the most effective methods for IELTS Speaking preparation and real-world English communication.
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