Routine Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, the next petition also deals with a human rights issue in the People's Republic of China. It is in support of Bill S-223, a bill I tabled in this place that would make it a criminal offence for a Canadian to go abroad and receive an organ taken without consent. This bill has now passed three times unanimously in the Senate. It has passed this House unanimously in the same form in a pr…
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Mr. Speaker, the next petition I am tabling highlights ongoing human rights concerns in Ethiopia, particularly in the Tigray region. Some of the asks in the petition are a bit dated now. For instance, it references election monitoring in the elections that have already taken place. However, I think many of the asks are still relevant in terms of seeking peace and reconciliation, and independent in…
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Mr. Speaker, I am going to limit myself to a mere four petitions today. I will try to do better tomorrow. The final petition I am tabling is with respect to the situation in Afghanistan. There continue to be significant concerns about the human rights and humanitarian situation in Afghanistan. In particular, the petitioners are highlighting the situation of the Hazara minority community. They seek…
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Mr. Speaker, I apologize but I am going to speak in English. I am a little rusty right now and will try next time. The member was speaking about federal and provincial jurisdiction. One thing that has frustrated me during the pandemic is that there has been a lot of pointing of fingers. The federal government has been telling provincial governments what it thinks they should or should not be doing…
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Madam Speaker, I thank the hon. member for her kind words. I look forward to hopefully being able to see her in Ottawa at some point soon and to continue that conversation. I have also launched a great new podcast called Resuming Debate, which is entirely dedicated to this idea of civil conversations, substantively with other members about issues. I encourage everybody to download it.
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Madam Speaker, it is a pleasure to rise in the House today, as at any time, and to address another bill from the government that deals with the circumstances of the COVID-19 pandemic. I will get to some of the specific provisions of Bill C-8, but I do want to start by talking broadly about the some of the issues that are very live in debates around the circumstances of the pandemic right now. Two …
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Madam Speaker, the member had a very confrontational tone in the process of posing the question. I am not sure if we actually disagree, very much, on what the process of science is. What I said is what I think he said at the end, which was that the process of scientific inquiry requires asking questions, challenging received wisdom, experimenting and putting forward hypotheses, and then that empir…
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Madam Speaker, there were many things I could respond to in that question, but I probably will not have time for them. The member was sort of saying that freedom is used in a lot of different ways these days, and that freedom could be used in this way and that way. My point is that there is this space for human freedom that should go beyond the things that I like. I might say that people should ge…
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With regard to the AUKUS trilateral security pact between Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States announced in September 2021: (a) on what date did the government become aware of conversations surrounding the creation of AUKUS; (b) was Canada invited to join AUKUS, and, if so, why did it decline the invitation; (c) is the government interested in having Canada join AUKUS; and (d) has t…
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With respect to the government’s energy policy and its commitments to reduce greenhouse gas emissions: (a) how does the government define the term “fossil fuel subsidy” in the context of its commitments in this respect; (b) what level of carbon tax does the government consider necessary for Canada to meet all of its greenhouse gas reduction commitments; and (c) what is the estimated cost to the Ca…
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Mr. Speaker, our leader spoke briefly at the end about Magnitsky sanctions and I want him to follow up on that point. What I have been hearing from many experts is the importance of using the Magnitsky act to specifically target kleptocrats who are investing Vladimir Putin's money overseas. I wonder if the opposition leader has a comment on specifically targeting those kleptocrats as a way of gett…
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With regard to the constitutionality of the mandatory COVID-19 vaccination requirements for federal employees and travellers announced on October 6, 2021: (a) has the government sought and received legal advice as to whether the provisions contained in the government’s announcement are compliant with its obligations under (i) the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, (ii) the Canadian Human Rig…
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With regard to government meetings and representations since January 1, 2020, concerning the situation of Mr. Huseyin Celil: (a) which ministers, Liberal members of Parliament acting on behalf of a minister, political staff, or senior officials have met with Kamila Talendibaeva, and what are the details of each meeting, including (i) the date, (ii) the individuals in attendance, (iii) whether the …
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Mr. Speaker, the next petition I am tabling is in respect to Bill C-7, which was passed in the last Parliament, particularly the government's decision to support a Senate amendment that would allow euthanasia or assisted suicide for those who have been—
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Mr. Speaker, the next petition I am tabling highlights the persecution of Falun Gong practitioners in China. Falun Gong practitioners seek to advance truthfulness, compassion and tolerance and yet they have faced all manner of persecution including organ harvesting. Petitioners are calling on the government to use the tools given to it under the Magnitsky act to address these issues; in particular…
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Mr. Speaker, the next petition raises concerns about the equalization formula as well as the government's decision to cap the fiscal stabilization program. I was pleased to second a private member's bill from my colleague from Calgary Shepard aimed at lifting the cap on the fiscal stabilization program and supporting greater transparency in negotiations around the equalization formula. This is a s…
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Mr. Speaker, the next petition I am tabling highlights the significant need for oil and gas products and the ability of Canada to provide those products to Canadians and, therefore, calls on the government to work to ending the importation of foreign oil and gas into Canada to support job growth in the oil and gas sector here in Canada, with Canadian energy supplying Canadian energy needs.
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Mr. Speaker, the next petition I am tabling highlights article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, an article on religious freedom; in particular, the right of individuals to change their religion or belief. Petitioners raise concern about the growing use of so-called anti-conversion laws that prevent individuals from choosing their own religion, concerns in particular about developme…
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Mr. Speaker, the next petition I am presenting speaks to the human rights situation of people in Afghanistan, in particular the vulnerable Hazara minority community. This petition was organized and signed prior to the Taliban takeover. Many concerns existed at that time about the persecution of the Hazara minority, and things have become considerably worse following the Taliban takeover. Petitione…
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Mr. Speaker, the third petition I am tabling highlights concerns about double taxation associated with the GST being charged on top of the carbon tax. Petitioners call upon the Government of Canada to eliminate the GST on federal carbon tax levies and additional costs that the newly announced standards charge.
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Mr. Speaker, the second petition I am tabling notes the Liberal Party's commitment in its 2021 platform to deny charitable status to organizations that hold convictions about abortion, which the Liberal Party views as “dishonest”. Petitioners are concerned that this may jeopardize the charitable status of hospitals, houses of worship, schools, homeless shelters and other charitable organizations t…
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I have 56 petitions to table in the House today. The first petition is with respect to Bill S-223. Petitioners are calling on the government to support the rapid passage of this bill that would make it a criminal offence for a person to go abroad and receive an organ without the consent of the person taking it. Petitioners are hopeful that this Parliament will be the one that finally gets it done.…
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Mr. Speaker, the next petition I am tabling highlights the horrific ongoing human rights abuses facing Uighurs and other Turkic Muslims in China. Petitioners note mounting evidence of indoctrination, arbitrary detention, separation of children from their families, invasive surveillance, destruction of cultural sites, forced labour and organ harvesting. Petitioners want to see the government formal…
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Mr. Speaker, in the government's fiscal update, the government proposes to provide $37.4 million over three years, starting in 2021-22, to Transport Canada to support the implementation and oversight of this vaccine mandate for federally regulated air, rail and marine employees and passengers. The government is saying that it is going to provide this funding over a three-year period. How long does…
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Mr. Speaker, we have been discussing the issue of housing in this debate. What many other parties have failed to recognize is the fact that a critical way of lowering the cost of housing is to increase the overall supply of housing. We need policies that support more home and rental construction if housing overall is going to become more accessible and affordable. I would like to hear the member's…
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Mr. Speaker, I rise on a point of order. I support the last motion, but I suggest that in the future you leave sufficient time, after a question is read out, for the interpretation to be completed before seeing if there are any nays, because the response was called before interpretation was completed in one case.
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moved that Bill S-223, An Act to amend the Criminal Code and the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (trafficking in human organs), be read the first time. Mr. Speaker, this is a piece of legislation that has now passed the Senate unanimously three times. It is a bill that would make it a criminal offence for a person to go abroad and receive an organ taken without consent. It also would create…
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Mr. Speaker, I thank you for your wise exercise of discretion on that point. The petition I was tabling when I was interrupted by my good colleague was on Bill C-7, a bill that came forward in the last Parliament. At the time, the government chose to support an amendment that came from the Senate, an amendment that allowed individuals who are suffering from mental health challenges to receive faci…
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Mr. Speaker, on the same point of order, I have a couple of observations. First of all, the NDP raised the same point of order earlier in the week and at the time the Chair ruled that its concerns were not valid, that members do have an opportunity to raise as many petitions as they wish, so it is interesting to see the NDP effectively challenging the previous ruling of the Chair on this issue. Se…
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Madam Speaker, I have 16 petitions to table today and I wonder if there would be unanimous consent of the House to extend the time allowed for petitions. I know the NDP House leader is very much looking forward to hearing all 16 of them.
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Mr. Speaker, I have a number of petitions to present today. The first petition is with respect to Bill S-223. This is a bill on forced organ harvesting and trafficking, which a number of colleagues have tabled petitions on already. This is the same bill that was put forward in each of the last two Parliaments, and the bill has already passed the Senate. Petitioners are calling on the government an…
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Madam Speaker, the next petition I am tabling is with respect to the persecution of Falun Gong practitioners in China. Petitioners note the ongoing persecution of Falun Gong practitioners, including organ harvesting as part of that persecution, and that extensive evidence points to 14 key officials and former officials of the Chinese Communist regime who demonstrate primary culpability in human ri…
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Madam Speaker, the next petition highlights the situation of the Hazara people in Afghanistan. This particular petition was certified prior to the Taliban takeover, and there were significant human rights concerns about the violence against the Hazara community in Afghanistan, which goes back a very long time. The Hazara community has experienced successive waves of violence. The situation is part…
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Mr. Speaker, the next petition highlights another international challenge: the situation in the Republic of Artsakh, also known as the Nagorno-Karabakh region. Following the Armenian-Azerbaijan war a ceasefire was established, but there are continuing concerns related to the detention of prisoners of war. Petitioners call on the government to condemn Azerbaijan's illegal detention of Armenian pris…
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Mr. Speaker, the next petition that I am tabling highlights concerns about the situation in Ethiopia. Some of the specific information in this petition is a bit dated, but the conflict, in particular in the Tigray region, continues to be a significant concern for many Canadians and people around the world. Petitioners note that Ethiopia is a large recipient of Canada's international development as…
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Mr. Speaker, the next petition is from people who are concerned about the definition used for conversion therapy in a number of conversion therapy bills. Petitioners want to see efforts made to fix the definition. They support efforts to ban conversion therapy, but they want to clarify what is being referred to in the definition of “conversion therapy”.
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Mr. Speaker, the next petition highlights an issue that is very important in my riding: carbon capture and storage technology. It is an important tool for fighting back against the challenges we face in terms of climate change. Petitioners note the government's commitments with respect to emission reductions and call on the government to introduce new tax incentives to attract investment in the ar…
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Mr. Speaker, the next petition highlights the issue of Canadians struggling with mental health challenges and a bill that passed in the last Parliament allowing medically facilitated suicide for those facing mental health challenges. Petitioners note that the Canadian Mental Health Association has said that it is a recovery-oriented organization and does not believe that mental illnesses are irrem…
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Mr. Speaker, the next petition highlights the persecution of Uighurs and other Turkic Muslims in China. It outlines a number of the abuses they have faced: birth suppression, political and religious indoctrination, arbitrary detention, separation of children from families, invasive surveillance, destruction of cultural sites, forced labour and forced organ harvesting. Petitioners want to see stron…
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Mr. Speaker, the next petition I am tabling highlights the human rights situation in Burma. It notes that in the coup earlier this year, there were a large number of people killed and detained. There is also the systematic killing, abducting and torturing of civilians by Myanmar security forces, and the fact that the Tatmadaw does not have a mandate to represent Myanmar and has been outlawed by th…
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Madam Speaker, the final petition I am tabling today highlights the situation of the energy sector and the fact that the Trans Mountain expansion project would create many jobs and new opportunities for Canadians. It also highlights the benefit of Canadian energy and calls on the government to support the expansion of the Trans Mountain pipeline. I commend all of these important petitions to the c…
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Madam Speaker, I rise on the same point of order. Respectfully, I believe the NDP House leader may not have noticed, but I actually went last. All of the other members who wanted to table petitions went before me. Also, the member will also know the standing order prescribes a limited amount of time per petition, and I think I exercised a greater economy of words per petition than members of his o…
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Madam Speaker, I congratulate my colleague on his re-election. He began his speech talking about how certain historically marginalized communities, for instance Black and indigenous Canadians, are disproportionately represented in the prison population. It seems clear one possible cause of that overrepresentation is that members of certain communities are receiving disproportionately long sentence…
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Madam Speaker, the hon. member spoke about an excellent piece of legislation in a previous Parliament that sought to take into consideration the circumstances of people with fetal alcohol syndrome. I note that some of the members from the government who have spoken, the justice minister and the member for Ottawa South, opposed that bill. Could the member share more about why he supported this exce…
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Madam Speaker, it is evident that many members of the government are trying to set up a sort of straw person to argue against in the context of this bill. The member talked about issues of racism in the justice system. Lowering sentences overall across the board would not address the particular impacts on people from certain communities who get longer sentences. We all agree that judicial discreti…
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Mr. Speaker, I am simply rising to say it has long been the practice of the House that when an update is given of this nature, copies are distributed of the documents that are being debated. Today, I am quite frustrated that the government has not supplied nearly enough copies of the document for members of Parliament to be able to look at those documents while the minister is speaking. I ask you …
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Madam Speaker, I have a number of petitions to present in the House today, and I appreciate the opportunity. The first petition, and I know these are greatly anticipated by my colleagues, especially the Minister of Justice, who will want to listen carefully to this one, because it pertains to people from Hong Kong who are seeking to come to Canada. They are concerned about a criminal conviction th…
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Madam Speaker, the final petition I am tabling today highlights the persecution of other minority communities in Afghanistan specifically. This petition focuses on the plight of the Sikh and Hindu minority in Afghanistan. This follows six years of activism from the Conservative Party as well as other opposition parties, calling on the government to create a special program to help minorities that …
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Madam Speaker, the next petition I am tabling highlights concerns about the definition used in the government's conversion therapy legislation. The petitioners support efforts to ban conversion therapy. They want to see the government fix the definition to provide greater clarity in the law.
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Madam Speaker, the next petition I am tabling highlights the Uighur genocide, a very important topic again, because the House has recognized that Uighurs and other Turkic Muslims are subject to genocide. The government has not yet taken steps and there are various measures that people are calling on to respond to that genocide. The petition highlights the genocide, forced abortion, forced organ ha…
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