Routine Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to present petition e-4603 today, signed by 868 petitioners. It calls attention to the grave human rights abuses happening in Eritrea and the surveillance by the Eritrean regime of pro-democracy Eritrean newcomers in Canada. The petition calls for an investigation into the targeting of Eritrean Canadians, asks us to deny visas to those who promote hate or violence, asks f…
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Mr. Speaker, this week, we announced a total of $100 million in funding for 1,140 social purpose organizations through the investment readiness program. These organizations will continue to provide much-needed assistance to communities. Social purpose organizations provide much-needed help to our neighbours in need. I would especially like to thank Allan Reesor-McDowell and all of the volunteers a…
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Mr. Speaker, we have very strong export control mechanisms. We always stand up for human rights. The Canadian Ombudsperson for Responsible Enterprise was created specifically so that we can work together with businesses. We know that there are ways in which that can be strengthened. This is exactly why we are listening. It is why, when the Subcommittee on International Human Rights did a study, th…
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Mr. Speaker, we commend the decision made by Israel and Egypt to allow humanitarian aid into Gaza through the Rafah crossing. This is an important step in making sure that Palestinian civilians in Gaza get humanitarian aid, but there is still a lot of work to be done. Rapid and unimpeded access to aid is essential to meet the urgent needs of Palestinian civilians in Gaza. International law must al…
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Mr. Speaker, alleviating human suffering is our top priority. We were the first western country to provide $10 million in humanitarian aid. We are actively using every diplomatic avenue. There is now constant communication with partners and organizations in the region. Our immediate objective is to open humanitarian corridors to provide safety and refuge to those fleeing the war and to allow aid t…
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Mr. Speaker, right now, the alleviation of human suffering is our number one priority. We continue, and will continue, to push for all parties to respect humanitarian and international law. This means access for civilians. This means accountability for those who do not follow international law. This means that we are using every diplomatic channel that we have to alleviate the suffering, and ensur…
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Mr. Speaker, Canada will continue to support Palestinian civilians in Gaza facing urgent humanitarian needs. Our initial commitment of $10 million in humanitarian assistance to trusted partners in Gaza will provide food, water, emergency medical assistance and protection services. We were the first western country to do so, and others have now started following suit. We will continue to be there.
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Mr. Speaker, the government will always stand up for human rights. This is why we created the CORE to maintain social responsibility of businesses around the world. This is why we will continue always to ensure that when Canadians and others are doing business around the world, particularly mining companies, we will always stand up for human rights everywhere, all the time.
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Madam Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to James Wilfred Eagle, a decorated veteran and respected community leader among the Ojibwa people, who passed away in April. Jim Eagle served in Korea with the Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry and went on to serve for 25 years in the CAF, reaching the rank of sergeant. Jim was a residential school survivor. He spoke his language fluently and p…
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Madam Speaker, I am excited to tell the House about a true success story in my riding and an example of what can happen when environmental organizations, community groups and government work together toward solutions for conservation and biodiversity. On the DND Carling campus, we have restored urban wetlands that just a few years ago had almost completely dried up because of water diversion and p…
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Mr. Speaker, I would like to highlight the contributions to Have a Heart Day of students in my riding attending Dr. F. J. McDonald Catholic School, École élémentaire publique Charlotte-Lemieux and École élémentaire publique Mamawi. This annual event is organized by the First Nations Child & Family Caring Society and dedicated to indigenous reconciliation. On Have a Heart Day, these engaged youth t…
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Madam Speaker, I would like to bring to the attention of this House the situation of just one of many political prisoners in Iran, Mojahed Kourkour, who has been unjustly sentenced to death by the Iranian regime. He was wrongfully convicted for the murder of a nine-year-old boy, despite the boy’s parents having testified it was in fact state security officers who killed their son. Both parents wer…
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Madam Speaker, just a few minutes ago, in his speech, the hon. member for Selkirk—Interlake—Eastman talked about the fact that the Harper government cut the defence budget in order to balance the books. I notice that my hon. colleague across the way is also talking about balancing the books. It just seems like the Conservatives sometimes want it both ways. They talk about balancing the books, but …
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Mr. Speaker, I am very pleased to have IKEA Ottawa in my riding. Our government announced $300,000 of Canada's zero-emission vehicle infrastructure program to install electric chargers at IKEAs across Ontario and Quebec. IKEA has partnered with Ottawa-based GoBOLT for a fleet of zero-emission delivery trucks. This means that, when people order from IKEA, their products will be delivered in a susta…
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Mr. Speaker, as I mentioned, those particular talking points were not mentioned during that particular meeting. What we do know, absolutely, is that the minister, when he was there, on numerous occasions, raised human rights with his counterparts. In fact, he took the opportunity of the visit specifically to raise things like labour rights and other human rights issues, as we always do.
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Mr. Speaker, human rights will always be at the centre of all the work that we do. We will always hold the highest standards. The minister is regularly briefed and given advice by our officials. The talking points provided were not mentioned during this particular meeting. When it comes to contracts, exports or programs of any sort, particularly defence exports, Canada has one of the strictest exp…
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Madam Speaker, tomorrow is the third national day of observance for COVID-19. It is hard to imagine that it has been three years since the first COVID death in Canada and all of the suffering that has happened since and still does. I want to first acknowledge all those who have lost a loved one to or because of COVID-19. Their grief is compounded by how their loved one died, especially for those w…
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Mr. Speaker, 32 years ago this week was the end of the first Gulf War, in which over 4,000 Canadian Armed Forces members served. It was also the first conflict in which Canadian women played an active combat role. I joined with the Persian Gulf Veterans of Canada to lay a wreath on the National War Memorial last week to recognize their service. The war began in 1990 when Iraq invaded neighbouring …
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Mr. Speaker, I did not realize until I was grown how special it was that I had a Montessori teacher as a mother, because we did get that quality kind of engagement. That is why I said that this is not just about babysitting. This is not just about making sure children have someone to look after them. It is about the formation, the development, sparking that creativity, the learning, and making sur…
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Mr. Speaker, I am very pleased today to be speaking on Bill C-35, an act respecting early learning and child care in Canada. This bill is one of the most significant pieces of legislation before this Parliament. It is something that I have been working on since I was first elected. It is one of the key issues that I have heard from my constituents. I have spoken with mothers who wanted to return t…
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Mr. Speaker, I think my colleague will recall that in my speech I addressed the fact that this is a bill that is not going to necessarily solve forever every single complex problem about caregiving in our society. First of all, I hope it is going to have an enormous impact on many families, in the member's constituency as well as mine. However, we need to rethink caregiving in our society. We need…
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Mr. Speaker, I thank my hon. colleague for raising that issue because this is very much an economic policy as well. The fact is I have heard the same thing. Businesses in my riding have told me they are struggling. Some who are nearing retirement are saying they are just going to close the doors because they cannot find people to work in their businesses. This is one of the greatest ways that we c…
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Mr. Speaker, the following reflects a consolidated response approved on behalf of Global Affairs Canada’s ministers. With regard to parts (a) and (b), in processing parliamentary returns, the government applies the principles set out in the Access to Information Act. Information has been withheld on the grounds that the disclosure of certain information is subject to solicitor-client privilege. Wi…
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Mr. Speaker, the following reflects a consolidated response approved on behalf of Global Affairs Canada ministers. Global Affairs Canada tracks and publishes predefined service standards annually for the delivery of grants and contributions, precisely for funding under the international development assistance program. This can be found at https://www.international.gc.ca/world-monde/funding-finance…
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Mr. Speaker, we must address the current affordability pressures while concurrently continuing to address the threat of climate change and building a prosperous low-carbon future. A price on pollution is an efficient market-based approach to reducing pollution, an approach that squarely addresses affordability. Under our plan, eight out of 10 Canadians receive more than what they pay, and that is …
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Mr. Speaker, I am very pleased today to speak to Bill C-32, the fall economic statement implementation act, 2022. I hope that we will pass it quickly through the House because it includes much-needed supports for Canadians during these challenging times. The last few years have not been easy. We have gone through a global pandemic. Many of us have lost loved ones. The economy shut down overnight. …
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Mr. Speaker, housing is necessary. The budget for housing is $70 billion. I would add that right in my riding, with the CMHC's help, we were able to build a new women's shelter. There was an old shelter in a house that was basically falling down, and now we have Nelson House, which not only is a women's shelter for women and their families, but is accessible and modular. Opposition members say the…
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Mr. Speaker, I am very glad to hear the hon. member opposite talk about support for housing, because in the fall economic statement we are including a $500 top-up for low-income renters through the Canada housing benefit, which is one of the benefits from our $70-billion national housing strategy. I would add that this is very tangible. Right in my riding, at Michele Heights we have been able to b…
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Mr. Speaker, I have too short a time to talk about all of the initiatives, but in the fall economic statement, there is the $500 top-up for housing for the people receiving the Canada housing benefit. I am very pleased that the member mentioned mental health, because our status of women committee right now is doing an incredibly important study on the mental health of young women and girls. I know…
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Mr. Speaker, last week I attended Rise Up Ottawa, where we heard from students as young as 12 years old about unacceptable acts of hatred they experience just because they are Jewish. Many of them said they are hiding their Jewish identity to avoid being targeted. A brave teacher, Lisa Levitan, coordinated the event to give these youth a voice. Nobody should feel scared to go to school because of …
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Mr. Speaker, when we are talking about transition, we are not only talking about the future of the industry and sustainable jobs, we are talking about economic opportunities for communities across our country. Those enormous economic opportunities will be enabled through the transition to a low-carbon future. Those opportunities will vary by region, with a presence particularly in Alberta, and the…
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Mr. Speaker, Canada is committed to tackling the concurrent crises of global energy security and climate change, but we will do so in a manner that accounts for and works to minimize domestic emissions. We will also do so in a manner that ensures that any resulting emissions fit within Canada's climate plan. LNG is one of the tools in our tool box, and our government is committed to supporting the…
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Madam Speaker, I want to thank my colleague for mentioning the visit to Ottawa of Evgenia Kara-Murza, the wife of Vladimir Kara-Murza, who we had an opportunity to meet with last night. I had the chance to meet Vladimir Kara-Murza a few years ago through the World Movement for Democracy. I found him to be a man of conviction, a man of courage, a man who is an inspiration to all those in Russia who…
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Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honour Savanna Pikuyak, a young Inuk woman who was murdered just weeks after arriving in Ottawa to study nursing at Algonquin College in my riding. Before coming to Ottawa, Savanna studied pre-health at Nunavut Arctic College and worked at the health centre in her home community in Nunavut. All she wanted was to help people, but on September 11, at 22 years old, Savann…
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Mr. Speaker, it is my pleasure to present petition e-3978 that calls on the Friday before Mother's Day to be henceforth known as civilian spouse or partner of a military member appreciation day. We know there are over 50,000 civilian spouses of serving military members and reservists and this is a way to ensure that we are properly recognizing those who serve alongside the serving military member.…
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Mr. Speaker, with regard to parts (a) to (c), Global Affairs Canada manages an extensive network of 178 missions in 110 countries. The department undertook an extensive preliminary search in order to determine the amount of information that would fall within the scope of the question and the amount of time that would be required to prepare a comprehensive response. The level of detail of the infor…
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Mr. Speaker, the following reflects a consolidated response approved on behalf of Global Affairs Canada ministers. In response to part (a), in accordance with the principles of good corporate citizenship, good global citizenship, and the rule of law, Canada is necessarily expected to abide by all applicable laws, both in Canada and abroad, and as such does not use development assistance to support…
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Madam Speaker, I want to draw the attention of the House to the dire situation in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo. We are seeing renewed violence on the part of M23 fighters and other terrorist militias, which has resulted in egregious human rights abuses. Tens of thousands of people have been driven from their homes. UN peacekeepers have been targeted, and there have been allegations…
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Mr. Chair, I want to thank my hon. colleague for Edmonton Strathcona for her dedicated commitment to this issue. I think we share a lot of the same commitment and passion for what really is an absolute crisis in the world. One thing I would ask my colleague is about the $250 million a year figure she cited. I know the minister earlier pointed to $514 million just for this current crisis, plus the …
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Madam Chair, I want to compliment my hon. colleague for talking about the demining that is needed in Ukraine. I wonder if he is aware that Canada has provided over $450 million in the last two decades to demining. I also wonder if he is aware of the importance of the assistance we are also providing to Ukraine and the fact that, through DND, we have tremendous expertise in this regard.
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Madam Chair, I want to thank my friend from Saanich—Gulf Islands for making the incredibly crucial link that all of this is interconnected, whether it is climate change, the COVID-19 pandemic or the conflicts around the world, not just what is happening in Ukraine. The fact is that all of these things are creating a perfect storm that is leading not just to this incredible food crisis, but to a cr…
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Madam Chair, I think we all agree in the House about the illegal and egregious genocide that is happening against the Ukrainian people. Yevheniya Kravchuk is one of the MPs who was here from Ukraine this week. In her remarks, she said that Putin was relying on democracies thinking that democracies are weak because we are under pressure when our populations have inflation, increased food prices and…
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Madam Chair, I want to thank my colleague for her passion and her important work in this regard. She and I have very similar backgrounds in international development. In fact, our feminist international assistance policy and our national action plan on that have been in place. We are celebrating the fifth anniversary this year, and it is actually creating a change on the ground. Those very women w…
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Madam Chair, it is what I said previously about innovation and Canadian farmers and Canadian NGOs that are on the ground. I spoke recently with the Humanitarian Coalition, whose partners are doing incredibly important innovative work around the world, using Canadian expertise, and also listening to the small-scale farmers internationally. We have projects looking at women farmers who are building …
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Mr. Chair, I would disagree with the premise of my hon. colleague's question. Anyone who looked on the ground and talked to our partners, including our multilateral partners, would see that Canada is very much present. In fact, we are leading. As I mentioned, we are the fourth-largest donor to the World Food Programme. We continue to lead, particularly on innovation. The very farmers whom my hon. …
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Mr. Chair, I am very happy that we are having this debate this evening. It could be one of the most important debates that we have in this House. We know that Russia's unjustifiable and unprovoked invasion of Ukraine has had an immediate impact on the food security and nutrition of the world's most vulnerable people. This is adding to the existing food crisis caused by the pandemic and by climate …
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Mr. Speaker, today I would like to draw the attention of the House to the humanitarian crisis in Haiti. Political instability and violence are exacerbating the humanitarian situation. That has had a significant impact on the Haitian community in my riding. Canada has committed $70 million for projects in Haiti that will improve health services for Haitians, address food insecurity and build securi…
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Madam Speaker, I would like to ask my colleague about David Daubney, who was a predecessor of mine in my riding. He was a Conservative MP in the Mulroney years. He was actually chair of the justice committee during that time. He said that during the Harper years, the “departmental distaste for research and recommendations is the opposite of the situation under administrations such as those of Cons…
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Mr. Speaker, the following reflects a consolidated response approved on behalf of Global Affairs Canada ministers. In response to part (a) of the question, Canada is a steward of the unique ecosystems and wealth of biodiversity that exists in the ocean and understands that, despite often harsh conditions, offshore and deep-sea marine environments host a diversity of habitats that support many orga…
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Mr. Speaker, Sunday, May 1, marked First Responders Day, a day we reflect on the selfless contributions of countless women and men in the fulfillment of their duties. Today, I would like to draw the attention of the House to the often unsung heroes of Ottawa, the members of the Ottawa Fire Services, whose unrelenting work keeps us safe every day. In particular, I congratulate my constituent, John …
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