Emergency Debate
Mr. Speaker, the member spoke about instability in many countries around the world. I agree; we are living through a time when the world feels, and in many ways is, more unstable. There is a proliferation of conflicts. There is also a proliferation of humanitarian crises. In the midst of those challenges, we need a strong and confident Canada on the world stage. We also need to have confidence in …
Read full speech →Emergency Debate
Mr. Speaker, I think we need to hear from the government tonight. That is one of the critically important aspects of this emergency debate. We do not have a lot of time, but we have time to hear from every party, including the government. We are going to hear, I hope, more detailed updates on the work the government is trying to do to assist those who are in a very challenging situation, those wit…
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Mr. Speaker, I definitely agree that we need to work across party lines in cases like this and other such crises. I will say that in the opposition, we do not have the levers of government at our disposal, so it is up to the government to use the tools that are available to it in terms of eyes and ears on the ground, diplomatic staff and so forth. We are keen to play the role that we can in suppor…
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Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the member for raising this issue in question period yesterday and also for highlighting the water crisis. I know that an urgent part of the crisis is access to essential supplies, including water. That has been a major challenge in light of the situation. I do think the government needs to look urgently at how it can support civil society organizations that are workin…
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Mr. Speaker, it is a pleasure working with the member on certain issues. I think she would agree that we agree sometimes and disagree other times. This is an important topic we are debating tonight. I want to come back to something she raised at the beginning of her speech, which is the Wagner Group and the motion she put before the House regarding it being listed as a terrorist organization. I wo…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister has been saying for weeks that he built a wall between himself and the Trudeau family's taxpayer-funded foundation. New revelations now show that the Prime Minister did not actually build the wall and that these claims are completely false. The Trudeau Foundation hosted a meeting inside the Prime Minister's own office with five deputy ministers. Was there a wall dow…
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Mr. Speaker, let us listen to the words the government House leader used. He said that, yes, it was in a building. Do they know what building it was? It was in the Prime Minister's own office. That is not just any building. It is of some significance. If there were a meeting that took place in my office, and then I claimed I had no idea that people were using my office, how would they have gotten …
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, the third petition I am tabling highlights the ongoing detention of Huseyin Celil and asks the government to take a number of steps to secure the release of Mr. Celil. These steps include demanding the recognition of his citizenship, formally highlighting the priority of his release, appointing a special envoy to secure his release and seeking the assistance of the Biden administratio…
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Mr. Speaker, the second petition deals with immigration from Hong Kong. In particular, a desire has been expressed to still allow those who have been convicted of political offences as part of political persecution in Hong Kong to come to Canada. However, petitioners note that, in practice, the exemptions given only apply in cases of convictions under the national security law. In many cases, ther…
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Mr. Speaker, the final petition I am tabling is from those who are strongly opposed to the legalization of child killing in Canada in the name of so-called medical assistance in dying. Petitioners are strongly opposed to proposals to legalize the killing of children by the medical system, and they call on the government to block any attempt to allow the killing of children in Canada.
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Mr. Speaker, next I am tabling a petition that raises significant concerns about recommendations in the Minister of National Defence's advisory panel on systemic racism and discrimination, which produced its final report last year. There are concerns that these recommendations, in fact, are paradoxically discriminatory in that they call for the exclusion of religious clergy from many mainstream de…
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Mr. Speaker, I have a few petitions that I will table relatively quickly. The first petition is in support of Bill C-257, which is an excellent private member's bill put forward by me. It seeks to prohibit discrimination on the basis of political activity or belief by adding reference to political belief or activity to the Canadian Human Rights Act. One effect of this is that people could bring hu…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, I was at a trade show in my riding on the weekend, and the Liberal Party actually had a booth there. They had, in big letters, “Enter a draw, win a race car test drive”. Many people were excited. They thought it was a race car, and they realized it was actually a test drive. Unfortunately, this is the approach of the government's programs in many ways. They are promising the moon, and…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, if there is nothing to hide, then why will the cover-up coalition not allow these hearings to take place? The fact is the Prime Minister is a member of the foundation. His name is on its annual report. Why is he still a member of the foundation? We would like to know. We would like to know why, after $125 million of taxpayers' money was given to this foundation, a foundation defined i…
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Mr. Speaker, the costly coalition is also a cover-up coalition. Yesterday at committee, the NDP voted with the Liberals to shut down debate on our motion to investigate the Trudeau Foundation. This family foundation has been bankrolled by taxpayers and the Communist regime in Beijing. It said the money had been returned to the Communist regime. That turned out not to be true. Why is the costly cov…
Read full speech →Adjournment Proceedings
Madam Speaker, members will be familiar with the over $100 million in contracts the government gave to its friends at McKinsey. The government said, though, not to worry, as all the rules were followed. It just so happened, it said, that as it followed all the rules, those contracts ended up getting awarded to McKinsey. We see massive increases in spending on the public service, as well as massive…
Read full speech →Adjournment Proceedings
Madam Speaker, here are the facts. The government broke the rules in the awarding of contracts to McKinsey. It admitted it broke the rules. It put it in a Treasury Board press release that it put out on the Friday of President Biden's visit. It admitted it broke the rules, albeit in a way that was specifically designed to avoid public notice. That is why we need to have the ministers back to commi…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, the next petition I am tabling is also on an issue of human rights and freedom of conscience and religion. It highlights the Liberal 2021 platform proposal to deny charitable status to organizations that have different perspectives on the issue of abortion than the Liberal Party does. This threat to the charitable status of organizations that do not share the political outlook of the …
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, I have a number of petitions to present to the House today, and I am grateful for the opportunity. The first petition concerns the human rights conditions of the Ahmadiyya Muslim community, which has contributed so much to our country but sadly faces serious persecution in many parts of the world. Petitioners note horrific comments made by a senior cleric of the Tehreek-e-Labbaik part…
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Mr. Speaker, the next petition responds to the horrific, unprovoked genocidal Russian invasion of Ukraine and the human rights crisis it has caused. Petitioners want to see the Government of Canada immediately waive visa requirements and grant visa-free travel to Ukrainians. This was a proposal that had the majority support of the House but sadly does not have the support of the government.
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Mr. Speaker, the next petition is surrounding proposals we have seen for the legalization of euthanasia for children in Canada. Petitioners are opposed to euthanasia for children. They believe killing children is always wrong. They note that Louis Roy of the Quebec college of physicians recommended expanding euthanasia to “babies from birth to one year of age who come into the world with severe de…
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Mr. Speaker, I am next tabling a petition in support of Bill C-257, my private member's bill that seeks to combat political discrimination. Petitioners say that Canadians have a right to be protected against any form of discrimination, that Canadians can and do face political discrimination, that it is a fundamental right in Canada to be politically active and to be vocal and not face discriminati…
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Mr. Speaker, the next petition is also in support of a private member's bill, Bill C-281, which is currently before the foreign affairs committee. Petitioners note the importance of Canada's standing up for the rights of ethnic, religious and other minority groups targeted by human rights violations around the world, and they see this bill as an important step and an important tool in that fight f…
Read full speech →Statements by Members
Mr. Speaker, yesterday an executive from McKinsey finally showed up at the operations committee. Opposition members were excited about the opportunity to finally ask tough questions of the company that fuelled the opioid crisis, helped Saudi authorities identify dissidents and received over $100 million in contracts from the Liberal government. Liberal members were excited about the opportunity to…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, I know the member for Winnipeg North was hoping I would present a concurrence motion today, but the House is eagerly awaiting the address of the Leader of the Opposition on the budget, and I know that the member did not want to miss that. I will only be presenting one petition today in anticipation of the great speech to come. It is in support of Bill C-257, my private member's bill. …
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Madam Speaker, I certainly think it is important to constructively use the debate time that we have in this House. One way to constructively use that debate time is to discuss the recommendations that committees bring forward. Our committees do a lot of important work in this House. Committees study issues. They bring forward recommendations, and any recommendation that comes from a committee alre…
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Madam Speaker, the reality of what happened at the committee, and the member would know this, is that in fact Conservatives moved an amendment to strengthen the motion by ensuring that there would be input from other parties into the appointment process. The NDP was essentially enabling its coalition partner by initially proposing a motion that would have given the Liberals the ability to fully, i…
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Madam Speaker, I want to recognize that the member is joining us in calling for the listing of the IRGC as a terrorist organization. I would just like to see other members of the government, if they want to meaningfully show solidarity with the Iranian community and stand with the freedom movement, join us in asking their government to list the IRGC as a terrorist organization. It is a responsibil…
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Mr. Speaker, I move that the 11th report of the Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration, presented on Monday, October 17, 2022, be concurred in. It is a pleasure for me to rise to speak on the important subject of the freedom movement in Iran. While I do so, I will be sharing my time with my excellent colleague from Calgary Shepard, who is our lead on the immigration file. This is a repo…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, I think it is noteworthy that, regardless of how unexpected or expected events may have been, all of our allies have moved much more quickly than we have to introduce these exemptions. I want to ask the parliamentary secretary as well for her response to the Auditor General's report today. It shows that the government is failing to measure results when it comes to its so-called femi…
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Madam Speaker, I do not doubt the member's sincere personal feelings, but I have to say that the government has failed the people of Afghanistan for far too long. If we reflect on the timelines, the Taliban took Kabul in August 2021. The Afghanistan standing committee report that the member referred to came out in June 2022. It has been nine months since then, and now we are debating this legislat…
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Madam Speaker, my hon. friend and members of the government have, in their remarks, tried to argue why this legislation is better than the status quo. I do not think there is much debate in the House that there is a massive problem in Afghanistan and that we need to make amendments that make the Criminal Code more nimble, so that is not really where the debate is. The debate is around the specific…
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Madam Speaker, again, to the parliamentary secretary, we are not disputing the significance and importance of making changes in this regard. The issue is that it has been 18 months since the fall of Afghanistan, nine months since the Afghanistan committee made these recommendations and I think four or five months since the foreign affairs committee adopted a recommendation that mirrored those by t…
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Madam Speaker, I will. It is my right to speak in the House. I appreciate that. Transforming Afghanistan was a great and noble goal, but doing worthwhile things is never easy. Supporting the democratic development of Afghanistan was always going to be a long process, and if it was going to work, then it would require a long-term commitment. Tony Blair is right, in an ultimate sense. The people alw…
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Madam Speaker, on September 11, 2001, a terrorist organization that was using Afghanistan as its base of operations attacked New York and Washington. In response to this attack, Canada joined an American-like coalition that worked to overthrow Afghanistan's Taliban government and supported the transformation of Afghanistan into a free democracy. Canada also joined other countries in establishing t…
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Madam Speaker, we are less than an hour into debate on this important government bill on Afghanistan, debate that is, in my view, a year and a half too late. It shows the partisan political approach of the Liberals to immediately try to throw this important debate about Afghanistan over the side and shift to something else. Beyond that, I would challenge the member to actually be aware of what is …
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Madam Speaker, on much simpler matters such as passports and immigration applications, the government has massively expanded the delays we are seeing. When we already have families who are being privately sponsored for refugee status having to wait for three years and we hear the government saying it is going to approve exemptions in a reasonable amount of time, we do not have three years to wait,…
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Madam Speaker, again, we see the eagerness of Liberal and NDP politicians to shift the conversation to abortion. I would just assure them again that there is a study happening at the foreign affairs committee. Four meetings have taken place. Neither of the members who have tried to divert this conversation from aid into Afghanistan to that issue have been at the foreign affairs committee. I partic…
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Madam Speaker, that is a great point from my colleague. I want to recognize him and thank him for his service. It has been inspiring for me to see how veterans developed close connections with the Afghan people and have been so instrumental in trying to support the Afghan people through immigration measures as well as wanting to be part of the humanitarian response to the challenges they are facin…
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Madam Speaker, there were a lot of different things in there. The member sort of had an implied criticism that there is something going on about religious values in general. I want to identify the fact that many of the leading development organizations in Canada that are working hard to get assistance to the most vulnerable people around the world are coming from some kind of a faith-informed huma…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Madam Speaker, I have two petitions to table today. Both deal with private members' bills that Conservative members have proposed. The first is about a private member's bill I have put forward: Bill C-257. Petitioners want to see this legislation adopted. Bill C-257 seeks to combat political discrimination by adding political activity or belief as a prohibited grounds of discrimination in the Cana…
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Madam Speaker, the second petition is in support of my colleague from Northumberland—Peterborough South's Bill C-281, the international human rights act. Petitioners note the importance of Canada's defending human rights and adjusting legislation to ensure the government is accountable to Parliament in the ongoing fight for justice and human rights. Petitioners call on the House to quickly adopt B…
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Madam Speaker, I agree with many of the things the member has said about how the process this bill creates seems much more red tape-intensive than it needs to be. I look forward to seeing the amendments the NDP and others are going to propose. I know there are sometimes limitations with respect to scope, so I have a specific question for the hon. member. Does she think the changes that we need to …
Read full speech →Statements by Members
Mr. Speaker, today marks the beginning of Ramadan, and tomorrow Muslims in Canada and around the world will fast for one month from sun-up to sundown. Fasting is a practice in many faith traditions, where we give up food or other pleasures in order to draw our attention to higher things. Giving up all food and drink from sun-up to sundown is a particularly intense fast, and I salute the temperance…
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Mr. Speaker, Conservatives share the desire to move forward discussion of this bill quickly. Therefore, I seek unanimous consent for the following motion: That, notwithstanding any standing order, special order or usual practice of the House, in relation to the motion adopted earlier today regarding the second reading motion of Bill C-41, an act to amend the Criminal Code and to make consequential…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, I have to say there are so many scandals that it is hard to keep track. We are going to need to publish a scandal almanac so we will know exactly which one at all times. This is the scandal in which the Liberal government gave over $100 million in contracts to McKinsey, a company with a very shady record of activity around the world that includes, most concerning to many Canadians, …
Read full speech →Adjournment Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, on the all-important question of whether the Prime Minister and Dominic Barton ever worked out together, I think this is a bit of an exercise in absurdity. What we know, factually, is that Dominic Barton has basically told the committee, “This Prime Minister guy, we are not friends. We barely know each other. I did not recognize him in an elevator once.” The Prime Minister and the Dep…
Read full speech →Adjournment Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, it is a pleasure for me to speak to the government's relationship with McKinsey in a follow-up to a question I had asked. This has been an important issue for me and an important issue for the opposition. Why is it important? Well, there are a number of reasons. First, the government has spent over $100 million on contracts for McKinsey, work that public servants have told the media t…
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Madam Speaker, I will say that the announcement our leader made last week was quite historic. It was so historic that the place where he made the announcement might one day be designated a historic site. The important point about that announcement was that, in the current situation, we are seeing so much gatekeeping at the municipal level. We need a federal government that is prepared to stand up …
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Madam Speaker, there are a few respects in which, respectfully, my colleague attributed views to me, either directly or indirectly, that I do not hold. I, for instance, do not oppose, and in fact I would support, the inclusion of indigenous representatives on the Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada. I did make the point that the appointment process for those individuals remains one that t…
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