Routine Proceedings
Madam Speaker, I rise on a point of order. The rules do require me to raise issues of order as soon as they come up. Therefore, I want to draw the attention of the House and raise a point of order with respect to the response that was tabled on Question No. 351. This was a question on the Order Paper that I had tabled earlier. Question No. 351 was with respect to vaccination policies for the feder…
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Madam Speaker, I have a number of petitions I want to present to the House today. I am thankful for the opportunity. The first petition is in support of Bill S-223. This is a bill that would make it a criminal offence for people to go abroad and receive an organ without consent from the donor. The goal of this bill is to combat the scourge of forced organ harvesting and trafficking. The petitioner…
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Madam Speaker, the next petition I am tabling highlights the situation of Mr. Huseyin Celil, a Canadian who continues to be detained in the People's Republic of China. The petitioners note that they are happy to see that Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor were released after 1,000 days of unjust detention, but there are at least 115 Canadians still being detained in China, which includes Mr. Celil.…
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Madam Speaker, the next petition I am tabling highlights concerns about a commitment made in the Liberal 2021 election platform. We know the Liberals do not always keep their election commitments, and hopefully in this case they will not. The petition is with respect to their wanting to politicize charitable status determinations by denying charitable status to organizations with a pro-life perspe…
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Madam Speaker, the next petition I am tabling is also about fundamental rights and freedoms. It raises concern about the phenomenon of political discrimination in Canada—that is, people who are facing discrimination or unfair treatment as a result of their political positions. I tabled a private member's bill on this issue, Bill C-257, and this petition is signed by those who are in support of it.…
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Madam Speaker, the next petition is with respect to the travel mandate. The petitioners note that the Government of Canada is requiring all domestic travellers to be fully vaccinated, yet travellers who test negative and wear a mask while travelling are extremely unlikely to transmit the virus. An estimated 0.5% of COVID‑19 cases in Canada occurred through travel exposure, but that was prior to th…
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Madam Speaker, the next petition I am tabling also relates to the COVID-19 pandemic, and it is about the importance of vitamin D. It notes that an early systematic review of applicable scientific literature found that blood vitamin D status can determine the risk of being infected with COVID-19, the seriousness of COVID-19 and mortality from COVID-19. Additionally, it further recommends the public…
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Madam Speaker, I am summarizing the petitions as they come forward. I have tabled multiple petitions on the same topics in my time as a member of Parliament, as members are aware, and this is because these reflect issues of great passion for my constituents, and they are issues my constituents want to hear raised on a regular basis.
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Madam Speaker, I will continue with the next petition, which is in support of the energy sector. In my province petitioners are concerned about the ideological agenda of the government, and its fellow travellers in the NDP, as it seeks to shut down our energy sector. They note that the consequences of these actions will be the loss of wealth, prosperity, opportunity and wellness for Albertans, and…
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Mr. Speaker, I have been hearing from some Canadians who are considering or have made the decision to join Ukraine's foreign legion. That is obviously a very difficult decision. What those Canadians are not looking for from government is a repeat of travel advice. Those who are choosing to go and fight in defence of Ukraine are already aware there are significant risks associated with doing so and…
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Madam Speaker, I wonder if my colleague could speak more to the issue of backlogs and how when there is a crisis in one part of the world, it seems the government actually pulls resources away from another crisis. We should be able to address all the things going on at the same time.
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Madam Speaker, it is a pleasure for me to be able to participate in the debate on this Conservative motion for concurrence to take a number of measures related to immigration required to support the people of Ukraine, and, in particular, to implement visa-free travel from Ukraine to Canada. I will start by saying I recently joined the immigration committee. It has been a pleasure to work with coll…
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Madam Speaker, I always appreciate the additional contribution from my friends over here. This is sort of the third excuse we have been given. We heard the first excuse from Liberal members saying why they would not do visa-free travel. The minister then said that was not exactly right, but he had a new excuse. Now we have a third excuse from the member for Winnipeg North with the implication that…
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Madam Speaker, that is an excellent question from the NDP. Unfortunately, I think it is a question more for the government to answer than for me. However, I will speculate that with a lot of its immigration measures, it seems the government is obsessed with control. It is capping private sponsorship, and the member for Winnipeg North is saying that we need to know exactly how many people are comin…
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Madam Speaker, that is an excellent question. I think it is necessary to take this step now, and I think it is reasonable and easy to simply lift the visa requirement. However, if it is so difficult to do something so simple, that means there is a bigger problem in the functioning of this government.
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Madam Speaker, the member's speech was very much on point. The Liberals always claim that other people are being partisan when they do not want to support an obviously good idea that has the support of the rest of the House and the support of Canadians. It is important that we bring forward a substantive issue at a critical time and it is too bad that it sounds like the government is not going to …
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Madam Speaker, the next petition I am tabling highlights the ongoing challenges, conflict and humanitarian crisis in the Tigray region of Ethiopia. The petition dates back to a very acute phase of conflict. There continue to be significant concerns about hunger, limited access to food and challenges regarding access to vital health care and other needs. The petitioners are calling on the governmen…
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Madam Speaker, my colleague brought up an important point about operational excellence and the ability of the government to deliver on its functions. We see, on the one hand, the government trying to extend the powers of the federal government and get involved in provincial jurisdiction, people's private lives and all kinds of areas that are not its core responsibilities. On the other side, on thi…
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Madam Speaker, I have been waiting for this moment. I thank you for the opportunity to table a number of petitions today. The first petition is on the very serious issue of Canadians struggling with mental health challenges. It notes that the Canadian Mental Health Association states that, as a recovery-oriented organization, it does not believe that mental illnesses are irremediable, and the peti…
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Madam Speaker, the next petition highlights concerns about ongoing tensions between Azerbaijan and Armenia. In particular, the petitioners are concerned about the continuing detention of Armenian prisoners of war following the end of the conflict and note that this is a violation of international law. They call on the Government of Canada to condemn the continuing detention of Armenian prisoners o…
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Madam Speaker, the next petition I am tabling highlights the very challenging situation facing the Hazara community in Afghanistan. The petitioners note that human rights abuses against the Hazara community predate the Taliban takeover, but have become significantly worse since. There have been various instances of genocide against the Hazara people that go back a very long time. The petitioners w…
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Madam Speaker, the next petition that I am tabling is in support of Bill S-223, which would make it a criminal offence for a person to go abroad and receive an organ that had been taken without consent. It would also create a mechanism by which the Minister of Immigration could designate people as inadmissible to Canada as a result of their involvement in forced organ harvesting and trafficking. C…
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Madam Speaker, the next petition highlights concern about a Liberal Party election platform commitment that would effectively politicize charitable status determinations. Existing charities law already prohibits dishonest conduct, but the Liberals' commitment, highlighted here, is particularly to target the alleged dishonest behaviour of those with political views that differ from theirs. In parti…
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Madam Speaker, the final petition that I am tabling today is also about the human rights situation in Afghanistan. This particular petition highlights the condition of the Sikh and Hindu minority community. Petitioners highlight the persecution that the Sikh and Hindu minority community has faced in Afghanistan. They call on the Minister of Immigration, as well as the Minister of Foreign Affairs, …
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, the House will vote today on a Conservative motion to allow visa-free travel for Ukrainians who are fleeing Putin's war crimes. Visa-free travel is the compassionate thing and the right thing to do. Opening the door to visa-free travel should be simple and efficient, yet the government keeps making different excuses. If this motion passes, will the government respect the will of Parli…
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Mr. Speaker, I have been working on a private member's bill initiative for the past six years. People were working on the same initiative for 10 years before that, and it has not passed yet. It is something everyone agrees on. That just shows that, when the government has the regulatory power to solve a problem, saying one should wait 15 years for a private member's bill is not very helpful. I thi…
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Madam Speaker, the next petition I am tabling highlights the human rights situation facing the Hazara community in Afghanistan. There were grave concerns about the human rights situation facing the Hazara ethnic minority in Afghanistan prior to the Taliban takeover. Things have become a great deal worse, of course, since then for the Hazaras and other ethnic and religious minorities. The petitione…
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Madam Speaker, the next petition that I am tabling highlights the situation in Hong Kong, including concerns about ongoing human rights issues in Hong Kong and also some of the challenges with the immigration measures that the government has put in place with respect to Hong Kong. The petitioners note that the immigration measures that have been put in place do allow someone who has been charged u…
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Madam Speaker, I am pleased to be able to present a number of petitions in the House today. The first is a new petition in support of a private member's bill I have just recently tabled, Bill C-257. It is great to see people are already keen on bringing forward petitions on it. The petitioners point out that it is important in a democracy to protect public debate and the exchange of differing opin…
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Madam Speaker, the second petition that I am tabling highlights the situation in Ukraine and the horrific ongoing invasion we are seeing of Ukraine, an invasion that really began in 2014 but that we have seen an escalation of in recent weeks. Petitioners are calling on the government to take a number of points of action, some of which, we are pleased to see, have already been taken. The petitioner…
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Madam Speaker, the third petition that I am tabling is in support of a private member's bill that started in the Senate and now stands in my name in this House. Bill S-223 is a bill that would make it a criminal offence for a person to go abroad and receive an organ taken without a person's consent. It also would create a mechanism by which a person could be deemed inadmissible to Canada if they h…
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The next petition I am tabling, Madam Speaker, by popular demand, is with respect to a Liberal Party election commitment. The Liberal Party has committed to politicize the charitable status determination to apply a values test to restrict pro-life organizations from having access to charitable status on the same basis. I know this is of grave concern not just to people who have those convictions b…
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The next petition, Madam Speaker, is quite timely in light of new emerging concerns about the violation of the ceasefire between Azerbaijan and Armenia. Petitioners are, in this case, concerned about the ongoing detention of Armenian prisoners of war. Petitioners call for the immediate release of those prisoners. They are hoping the Government of Canada is also urgently seized with the violations …
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Madam Speaker, the final petition I am tabling today is with respect to the situation in Ethiopia. Some of the asks in the petition text itself are a bit dated, but the petitioners are concerned about what is still an ongoing conflict in the Tigray region of Ethiopia. They call for the government to be actively engaged in advocating for human rights in Ethiopia and an end to the conflict. I know t…
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Mr. Speaker, on the issue of tax havens, I think people should follow the law and we should have rules that are designed to ensure that people who work in Canada are paying taxes on things in Canada. What we cannot control, though, is that when taxes are too high, sometimes people will simply choose to make investments elsewhere. They will choose to live and work elsewhere. While we do need to add…
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Mr. Speaker, I do not know Ted and I do not know his situation, but I think what Ted would like most is to have the dignity and ability to have a good job and low taxes. This will allow him to afford to make his own choices with his own money, including being able to attend to those kinds of needs. We should have significant compassion for those who cannot afford those things, but I do not want Te…
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Mr. Speaker, Canadians who choose to join Ukraine's foreign legion would do so at great risk to themselves. They should not have to worry about being prosecuted in Canada. According to the Foreign Enlistment Act, it is against the law for a Canadian to fight against a friendly foreign state, but the act contains no definition or list regarding who is a friendly foreign state. Could the Attorney Ge…
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Mr. Speaker, I hope we will get some clarity at some point on that specific question. A defining challenge for democracies in many parts of the world is energy security. Fuelling democracy and protecting the international rules-based order requires Canada to step up and do our part to help our partners kick Putin's gas out of their supply chains. Does the NDP-Liberal government recognize that supp…
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Mr. Speaker, the member for Kingston and the Islands just assured me that he was not laughing; he was not even listening. It is too bad. He might learn something. I see him chatting over there without a mask, which does not bother me. I think he should be free to choose, but his other Liberal colleagues must be terrified at that reality. Nonetheless, let us talk about the fiscal situation and the …
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Mr. Speaker, it is a pleasure for me to present a number of petitions in the House today. The first petition was signed by folks here in Ottawa a number of weeks ago. It calls on the House and the government to work to end all COVID-19 mandates. I know that my constituents and many others are heartily in support of this petition.
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Mr. Speaker, the next petition I am tabling is with respect to conscience rights, and it builds on some of the excellent work done by my colleague from Carlton Trail—Eagle Creek. It recognizes the attacks we are seeing in certain jurisdictions, such as here in the province of Ontario, on conscience rights and the fact that people are being compelled to refer for or, in an “emergency situation”, pr…
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Mr. Speaker, the next petition is in support of Canada's energy sector. It supports economic and security benefits. It says that the government continues to allow refineries to import foreign oil in spite of a struggling oil and gas industry in Canada that extracts and refines the most ethically sourced oil in the world, ultimately resulting in additional environmental impact due to lower standard…
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Mr. Speaker, the next petition I am tabling highlights with great concern a commitment from the Liberal election platform saying that it would deny charitable status to organizations that have convictions about abortion that the Liberal Party views as “dishonest”. It is noted that charitable status rules already contain a prohibition against dishonest behaviour, and this particular targeting of gr…
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Mr. Speaker, the invasion of Ukraine by the Putin regime demonstrates the urgent need for the government to take security more seriously, and one key element of that security is global energy security. Nations need energy in order to attend to the basic needs of their people. It is a fact of modern life that we cannot live without energy. Energy is not just an economic issue; it is also a security…
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Mr. Speaker, the next petition highlights concerns about the government's decision to allow facilitated suicide within the medical system for those struggling with mental health challenges. The petitioners note that the Canadian Mental Health Association says it “does not believe that mental illnesses are irremediable”. They call on the Government of Canada to repeal euthanasia where mental illnes…
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Mr. Speaker, I was very struck by the tough question from the NDP to the government. It seems like there is some trouble in paradise already between the NDP and the Liberals here, because the NDP signed an agreement to support the government's agenda and now it is already trying to say that the government is not good enough. Maybe this is a harbinger of things to come. I note, as well, that the me…
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Madam Speaker, I would simply put it to this member that if the government takes energy security seriously, I do not know why the Liberals voted against our motion on Monday, which was precisely about recognizing the energy security dimension here and the need to move quickly to address those gaps. The member made no mention of Bill C-69 in her response, nor the fact that the government has intent…
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Mr. Speaker, we are in a situation where the fiscal house is on fire. The Prime Minister has run up more debt in his time in office than every previous prime minister, including the last Trudeau prime minister, from 1867 until 2015. Just in time, the NDP has arrived to pour more gasoline on this fiscal fire. I have been listening to the debate on Bill C-8 today, the government's fiscal plan, if th…
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Mr. Speaker, that question was actually below the standards we are used to hearing from the member for Kingston and the Islands. He said that he was not listening to my speech earlier and his question did make that eminently clear. On the question of gas prices, it is not for me to set the price of oil. It is not for me to say what the optimal price of oil would be. The member should listen to me …
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Mr. Speaker, I have a number of petitions that I am prepared to raise, and I will wait for the appropriate signal when I am finished. The first petitions draw the attention of the House to concerns with respect to health of animals regulations, livestock identification and traceability. The petitioners are concerned that these would pose a threat to the future of agricultural exhibitions, fairs an…
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