Parliamentary Speeches

Mr. Speaker, it is good to be back in the House. I hope all members had a good summer. Our government is focused on making sure that we are not only building Canada from coast to coast to coast, but also building partnerships around the world. We are diversifying trade like we have never seen in the history of our country. Our businesses have access to 1.5 billion consumers through tariff-free partnerships at this moment, and we plan to double that. That is our plan. The Minister of International Trade, the Prime Minister and the entire government is focused on building those partnerships so we can help grow our businesses around the world.

Mr. Speaker, I completely disagree with the premise of the member's question. I think we are seeing results. If we look at the first-ever Canada investment summit, in just one year, we a saw a $500-billion commitment, that is half a trillion dollars, to invest right here in our country. What does that mean? It means good-paying jobs for Canadians coast to coast to coast. Similarly, we are seeing the results of the trade agreements we have been signing. With United Arab Emirates alone, we were able to sign a trade agreement within 45 days. We have never seen those kinds of action before. This is how we are going to build Canada strong.

Mr. Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 32(2) and in accordance with the transparency requirements set out in the amended policy on the tabling of treaties in Parliament, I am pleased to notify the House of Commons of the government's intent to initiate negotiations for a free trade agreement between Canada and Turkey. The Government of Canada intends to commence negotiations with Turkey as soon as practicable, but in accordance with the policy, the commencement of negotiations will take place no earlier than 30 days from today.

Mr. Speaker, there is a lot of cheering. It feels like the last day of school. That is how my kids felt this morning, by the way, as we were leaving home. This is a similar feeling. I also want to thank the member for Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan for his hard work. I know he works extremely hard on behalf of his constituents. I know he is a very engaged father. I have often seen him around here with his children. In particular, I want to thank him for really making clear how much he believes in this country and how much he believes in a strong Alberta within a very strong and united Canada. I thank him for that. The member is absolutely right. I am from Ontario, but it is incumbent upon all of us to make an effort to understand Alberta better, better understand the concerns of Albertans and how they are feeling, and make sure that we work together to keep them as part of this country. I think we are stronger as a country when we all work together. In this place, one of the most important things I have learned is to really pay attention to what others are saying. That allows us the opportunity to learn about this beautiful, vast country of ours, because we come from our different corners. Listening to the debates that take place in this particular House allows us to to be better champions of Canada and to better understand, love and respect this country. I look forward to that opportunity. I would like to ask the hon. member if there would be an opportunity for some of us from provinces like Ontario to go and spend time with him so that we can speak to Albertans, our fellow Canadians, as one. I would look forward to that opportunity, if he could please reach out. The member raised a very important issue about youth employment. Colleagues know we are living through precarious times right now. There is a lot of anxiety in the country because of the unjustified trade war we are in, the protectionism we are seeing in the world and the wars that are taking place. They have an impact on our country, our economy and people's livelihoods. Of course, they have an impact on young people as well. That is why I think it is incumbent upon all of us, regardless of which political background we come from, to share those ideas. I respect the member for putting forward ideas that will help boost youth employment. That is not a partisan issue. I think it is an aspiration that we all share, and it is important that we all work together. However, on our side, as a government, we are seized with the issue. We have been working hard to make sure that we create those opportunities for young people. This year's spring economic update reaffirms a new investment of $6 billion to recruit, train and hire up to 100,000 new Red Seal skilled trade workers in the next five years. This will create opportunities for young people in skilled trades that are so needed across the country, and it will align with Canada's housing infrastructure and defence needs, where a tremendous amount of investment is being made. We are also making major investments in our workers, with initiatives such as the labour market development agreements with the provinces and territories. These labour market development agreements are provided by the federal government through funding and coordination at the national level to ensure consistency and alignment. Provincial and territorial governments will then have the flexibility to design and deliver the programs and services best suited to the needs of their local labour markets. We are investing about $2.9 billion in those agreements. I also want to take a moment to talk about Canada's summer jobs, which are extremely important, including in my riding. I see my time is up.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the hon. member again for the work he is doing. I briefly want to talk about the Canada summer jobs program, because I know it benefits young people across the country in all our respective constituencies. In my riding of Ottawa Centre alone, almost 600 jobs have been created. I run into young people who have taken part in the program in the past or are part of the program now, and it helps them to create networks and opportunities. Now they are starting to do important things in their lives. We need to make sure those opportunities exist, whether in the not-for-profit sector or with private enterprise. That is important work. I want to highlight that I think investment in skilled trades is so important. There are so many young people who want to be part of skilled trades, and the investment we are making through our government in that regard is going to create a huge benefit. Once again, I wish a happy summer to everyone. I look forward to continuing this important work.

Mr. Speaker, the Canadian Indo-Caribbean Organization of Ottawa is celebrating the 25th anniversary of its annual multicultural event. This special occasion is a celebration of the culture, heritage and identity of the Indo-Caribbean community. It is an opportunity to recognize the many valuable contributions the Indo-Caribbean community has made to Canada, particularly in the national capital region. I want to congratulate my friend Peter Maharaj, who is here on the Hill, for his hard work and dedication in organizing this wonderful event over the years. I send much gratitude to all of the volunteers in our community for assisting in the success of this multicultural event year after year. Congratulations. Here is to 25 more years of celebrating Canada's Indo-Caribbean community.

Mr. Speaker, if Conservatives ever wonder why Canadians do not trust them and elect them as government, it is unserious questions like this, and what we continue to see in this House is great evidence of this. As all Canadians know, we are living in some very challenging times. We are engaged in an unjustified trade war with the United States. There are wars that are going on in the world that have an impact not only on the Canadian economy, but on the economy worldwide. However, we are focused on building our economy by making sure that we are engaged in diversifying our trade. We will continue to do that work to create good-paying jobs for all Canadians.

Madam Speaker, it is a great joy to celebrate the Great Glebe Garage Sale in my community of Ottawa Centre. If anyone happens to be in Ottawa, in my community, on the third Saturday of every May, the Great Glebe Garage Sale is the place to go. For 40 years, neighbours have participated in this sale. People can get such incredible, great deals on hidden treasures that people have stored in their basements. It also acts as a fundraiser for the Ottawa Food Bank. There were 25,000 people who came out this year. It was incredible. My team was there as well. I want to thank the Glebe Community Association for organizing this incredible event every year. I congratulate all the volunteers; John Crump, president; June Creelman, vice-president; and Sam Woods, who coordinated the 40th version of the Great Glebe Garage Sale.

Madam Speaker, I appreciate that the opposition has a job to do, which is to critique the government, but, as a government, our focus is to build our economy. That is why we have been working very hard to make sure that we diversify our trade and that we open more markets for Canadian businesses. The results are coming in. It has been reported that 88,000 new jobs have been created. We are also not leaving people behind. That is why, as of today, the groceries and essentials benefit is going to be coming to people. They will be getting, additionally, up to $533 for a family with two kids. This is how we are helping Canadians.

Mr. Speaker, as the minister before me said, forced labour is absolutely unacceptable. That is why we are always working hard to ensure that we have our supply chain completely protected. That is why various departments within the Government of Canada, as per the strict laws we have in place, work all the time to ensure that we stop any shipments that are a result of forced labour. In fact, that is why, in all our trade agreements, we make sure that we have stringent labour provisions to uphold international labour standards. We will continue to do so, to make sure that we protect Canadian workers and workers abroad.

Mr. Speaker, forced labour is unacceptable. We must ensure that our global supply chains are free of these kinds of abusive practices. We are working closely with the relevant minister and the entire government to reduce forced labour in the supply chain. This is also why we are making it a priority to have comprehensive labour provisions included in the free trade agreement, to promote international labour standards.

Mr. Speaker, all goods entering the country are subject to import controls and rigorous verification processes. The Canada Border Services Agency conducts risk analyses to identify and intercept any goods that are likely to have been produced using forced labour, and it reports back to Parliament every year. We will protect Canada's interests while standing up for high labour standards for all workers.

Mr. Speaker, it is worth repeating that forced labour is completely unacceptable. We take all steps necessary to ensure that we keep our supply chain free from forced labour. We, in fact, put a lot of work and rigour into ensuring that, in all our trade agreements, we have stringent labour standards and provisions according to international labour standards. We will continue to do that work. We will continue to enforce our laws. We will continue to make sure that our supply chain is free of forced labour so that we can protect Canadian workers and workers abroad.

Mr. Speaker, I think it is time to get serious. I think members of the opposition and Canadians know that we are in very uncertain economic times and that we are engaged in a trade war that is not of our making. That is why the Prime Minister and the government have a plan. That is why we are so focused on diversifying our trade and engaging in free trade agreements with countries around the world. That is why we are selling uranium to India. That is why we are selling planes to Malaysia and selling canola to China. Our plan is working. We will keep working hard to make sure we are creating good-paying jobs for all Canadians.

Mr. Speaker, the members opposite can be as gleeful and as jovial as they want, but Canadians know that this is a very serious moment for our country. That is why they require serious leadership. That is why they have elected a leader and a party that have a plan to diversify our economy. We not only will engage with the United States and Mexico to get the best deal possible for our country, but we will also build bridges and new partnerships around the world with China, India, Southeast Asia and Mercosur. That is where our focus is and we will not stop until we create good-paying jobs for all Canadians.

Mr. Speaker, I had the opportunity to attend a flag-raising ceremony at city hall in my community of Ottawa Centre to celebrate Africa Day. Representatives from multiple African nations and leaders of the African diaspora came together to celebrate the 63rd anniversary of the African Union and its work to advance a more peaceful, sustainable and prosperous Africa. The continent of Africa is big and beautiful. It is rich in diversity and opportunity. Canada's Africa strategy is an integral road map for shared economic prosperity and security. I want to thank the African Union's Sixth Region here in Canada for its hard work to make this important event a success.

Mr. Speaker, Canadians recognize that we are living in some really economically uncertain times. There are unjustified tariffs on Canadian autos, steel, lumber and aluminum, and there is a war going on in the Middle East that is impacting our economy and the global economy. That is why this Prime Minister and this government have a plan. Our plan includes diversifying our trade, making sure that we are engaging with other countries so that we can sell more of our goods and services. That is why we are investing hundreds of billions of dollars into our economy, so that we can keep creating good-paying jobs for Canadians.

Mr. Speaker, we are engaged in active negotiations throughout the world to create more opportunities for Canadians to create more good-paying jobs for our farmers and for our industries across Canada. That includes a negotiating agreement with Mercosur, which is the fifth-largest trading bloc in the world, with a GDP of somewhere between $3 trillion and $3.5 trillion. In that process, we are working with farmers, we are working with industries and we are working with stakeholders. Just today, I met with the Canadian Cattle Association. The minister met with them last week. We are working together to make sure that we create good-paying jobs for all Canadians.

Mr. Speaker, that is precisely what we are doing. We are living in uncertain times, and our focus is on creating more opportunities for Canadian businesses, including our hard-working farmers, to be able to export around the world. In fact, if we talk to farmers, we hear that they are very excited about the opportunities we are creating for them in India, China, the Philippines and other ASEAN countries, and places like Mercosur. We are working closely with our farmers. We are working closely with our industries. We are listening to their views, and our negotiations will reflect the needs of Canadians so we can create good-paying jobs for all Canadians.

Mr. Speaker, today, along with parliamentarians, members of the Canadian Armed Forces, veterans and families, I had the honour of attending the groundbreaking ceremony marking the start of the construction phase of Canada's national monument to the mission in Afghanistan, a permanent memorial to the 158 members of the Canadian Armed Forces and seven civilians who lost their lives. It is also a tribute to the more than 40,000 Canadians who served during our country's largest military deployment since World War II. We are also changing the way we honour veterans of modern conflicts. It is an honour to represent Ottawa Centre and to represent the community where this monument will reside. At its core, this must be a space for all Canadians. It must be a space to honour our history, guide our future and inspire the next generation of remembrance.

Mr. Speaker, we are focused on making life better for Canadians. One of the many measures in the spring economic update is the changes to the disability tax credit, which would make it easier for Canadians living with disabilities to be approved for the financial relief they deserve. These changes will streamline the application process by immediately certifying anyone who has their disability certified by a medical practitioner and expanding the list of medical practitioners who can certify the disabilities. I want to thank the Parkdale Food Centre in my community of Ottawa Centre, the Canadian Medical Association and the College of Family Physicians of Canada for their advocacy on the importance of these changes. These measures are just some of the many ways that our government is building Canada strong for all.

Madam Speaker, climate change is a global challenge that calls on all countries to act. It also presents opportunities for those willing to invest in the future. In our spring economic update, we renewed Canada's international climate finance to help scale up investments in sustainable solutions across the developing world. It means crowding in private capital, including through FinDev Canada, to maximize the impact of every dollar and it means creating opportunities for Canadian clean tech, expertise and innovation to scale solutions around the world.

Mr. Speaker, you missed an amazing basketball game this Wednesday. The all-party basketball team made up of MPs and staff was victorious yet again this year, by just two points, against the parliamentary press team. It was done to support Christie Lake Kids, which is an incredible charity in my community of Ottawa Centre that provides recreational supports for so many kids in our community. The charity basketball tournament this year raised $20,000. It is just incredible. I want to give a special shout-out to our teammates, the hon. members for Kenora—Kiiwetinoong, La Prairie—Atateken, Sackville—Bedford—Preston, Victoria, Whitby, Honoré-Mercier and Desnethé—Missinippi—Churchill River. These were incredible players. I also thank all of the parliamentary press gallery members, the sponsors, the volunteers, the staff and the Christie Lake Kids staff team for making this such an incredible event.

Mr. Speaker, these are very serious times in our country, in fact globally. Canadians understand that we are living through a precarious time and that we have to work extremely hard to ensure that we build our economy and invest in Canadians so they are supported through these difficult times. Canadians deserve serious leadership, and that is precisely what the Prime Minister and the government are doing: We are investing in Canadians as a bridge to a better future tomorrow. That is the work we are doing, whether it is the work we are doing in diversifying our economy here in Canada and opening new countries as places to—

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister and the government will continue to work hard to get the best deal with the United States for Canadians. Our criterion is simple: The deal has to be one of the best deals. However, Canadians also realize that if our country relies on only one country for its trade, that could turn into a weakness. That is why it is imperative that we work hard to diversify our trade, to trade, and to create more markets around the world. That is why we are working with India, China, Southeast Asian countries and Latin America to ensure that Canadian businesses have more opportunities to create good jobs right here in Canada.

Mr. Speaker, we are building big things again in Canada. After generations of studies and delays, the federal government is delivering on an essential high-speed train that will connect the most densely populated part of our country, and Ottawa will be at the heart of the new Alto high-speed train. The mayor and the City of Ottawa recognize what a transformative project this will be. The Ottawa Board of Trade says that Alto will deliver a larger labour market, easier access to clients and partners across the corridor, and new investment and development opportunities around all station areas. We are talking about $24.5 billion in annual economic activity. Alto will be good for jobs. Alto will be good for the economy. Alto will be good for Ottawa, and Alto will be good for Canada.

Mr. Speaker, Eid is a time to celebrate with family and friends, and for communities to come together in joy and solidarity. I was happy to join members of my community in Ottawa Centre and the diplomatic corps at a celebration organized by Abbis Mahmoud and Koussei Kurbaj that combine the Eid celebration and fundraising for the Ottawa breakfast program. The program is run by the Ottawa Network for Education. It serves over 16,000 students every day in 215 schools across Ottawa. Events like this complement our government's efforts through the national school food program to support childhood development, save money for families and, of course, feed children. That is what Eid is all about. Eid Mubarak to everyone.

Mr. Speaker, I want to be absolutely clear to all members of this House: Forced labour is unacceptable. We must ensure that our global supply chains remain free from these abuses. That is why we prioritize the inclusion of comprehensive labour provisions and free trade agreements to promote international labour standards. We also work with Public Safety to reduce forced labour from our supply chains, and we will protect Canada's interests while upholding labour standards from all workers.

Mr. Speaker, I am standing here as the member of Parliament for Ottawa Centre, which is a great honour that the good people of my community have given me. I am very much looking forward to speaking again on Bill C-9, which is a very important piece of legislation. It emanates from a platform commitment that my party, the Liberal Party of Canada, made in the last election after consulting many groups around the country about the importance of having strong anti-hate legislation so that all members of our respective communities feel safe. I was really proud when this was part of our campaign platform. I am even prouder that it was then converted into a piece of legislation and that we have come to this stage, very close to hopefully passing it through this House and then off to the other place. The context of this legislation is extremely important. We hear about this often from our communities and it has been debated in this House. There has been a very significant rise in hate crimes in our country, particularly when it comes to anti-Semitism. In the last two years, we have seen a very dramatic rise in anti-Semitic acts, not to mention within the Muslim community. The data confirms that there has been rise in Islamophobia, and there are other groups that also have faced hate. This has led to the question of making sure that we have strengthened provisions within the Criminal Code so that we can deal with this odious hate that is spreading in our communities, especially as it relates to anti-Semitism and, of course, Islamophobia. I will very quickly share some data with the House. In 2023, there were 4,777 reported incidents of hate, which marked a 32% rise from 2022 to 2023 in hate incidents. This was the third consecutive sharp increase in four years, with the total number of hate crimes more than doubling, to around 145%, since 2019. All this is extremely important, and it provides the necessary context by which we need to bring this legislation. Just debating it and just issuing statements saying that hate has no space in our country is not sufficient anymore. I have heard that from my community members, especially from the Jewish community here in Ottawa Centre. They have implored the government and all members of this House, including in the opposition, to pass Bill C-9 as quickly as possible so that we can strengthen those positions. As my colleague from Brantford—Brant South—Six Nations was saying, he is a former prosecutor, so he knows the application of law really well. I have had the honour of serving as the attorney general in this province as well, and I have had to deal with hate crime-related offences and charges. I do bring some experience to the context of why this important piece of legislation is so necessary. The bill, is targeted, presenting a suite of Criminal Code reforms to protect safe access to community spaces. It denounces hate-motivated crimes. It clarifies the meaning of hatred. It would criminalize the wilful promotion of hatred by publicly displaying hate or terrorism symbols. These are some really important aspects of the bill. If I had to provide a summary, there are five important pillars to this bill that I want to articulate for the benefit of all members. The first pillar, and the most important aspect of the bill, is the proposal to create a new obstruction offence. The bill would create a new offence that would prohibit blocking or interfering with lawful access to a building primarily used for religious worship, or by an identifiable group, such as a community centre, school or seniors' residence. An example would be a group of people forming a chain in front of a synagogue, for example, or lighting a fire at the entrance of a school to stop people from entering. The second pillar that is also important is the creation of a new intimidation offence. This bill would create a new offence to prohibit behaviour meant to intimidate, threaten or scare people from entering a building primarily used for religious worship or by an identifiable group such as community centres, against schools or seniors' residences. An example would be masked individuals staring down worshippers outside a mosque or shouting threats at parents dropping their children at a religious school. The third pillar of this bill proposes a new stand-alone hate crime offence, and it is extremely important. This stand-alone hate crime offence means that when someone commits any crime because of hatred towards a specific group, such as one based on race, religion, sex, disability, sexual orientation or gender identity, that hate is treated as part of the offence itself, not just something considered later at sentencing. In other words, the law would formally recognize the crime as a hate crime from the outset, relying on the existing legal definition of hatred, which is also codified in this bill. I will come to that in a moment. What does this mean? For example, if someone assaults another person because of their religion or sexual orientation, that assault would be treated differently from a regular assault and could lead to a tougher penalty to clearly denounce crimes committed against people because of who they are. The fourth pillar, as I mentioned earlier, is the codification of the definition of hatred. Believe it or not, we do not have a definition of hatred in our Criminal Code. We have guidance from the Supreme Court of Canada. What we have done in this instance is we have taken the definition from the Supreme Court of Canada and are now codifying it in the Criminal Code. Importantly, hatred is being defined as an “emotion of an intense and extreme nature that is clearly associated with vilification and detestation.” Lastly, the fifth pillar proposes a new prohibition on the display of certain symbols. The bill contemplates the existing offence of wilful promotion of hatred by recognizing a modern form of expression, which is the public display of hate and terrorist symbols. When someone displays these symbols with the intent to wilfully promote hatred, beyond just mere display, it becomes a distinct offence. There are many examples of protests taking place where somebody is displaying the Nazi hakenkreuz or the Nazi double Sig-Rune. These are hateful symbols that hearken back to the Holocaust and the senseless murder of six million Jews. As well, symbols associated with terrorist entities listed under the Criminal Code, such as the Proud Boys or al Qaeda, will be covered under this. We may hear from the opposition that this bill is about one small issue, but this is an extensive piece of legislation that covers so many things. This bill has gone through 30-plus hours of study. More than 35 witnesses, including community organizations, legal experts and faith leaders, have contributed to this bill. What we see from the opposition is obstruction, which is regretful. In my view, the end result is that this is a more thoughtful bill. Changes have been made to this bill that make it even better and stronger. An example is the removal of the “religious defence” that was added in 1970 before the charter. Now, we have the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. We have religious protection within the charter. We do not need a stand-alone defence. Regardless, there is a better “for greater certainty” clause included in it. The Attorney General consent piece has been reinstated. The definition of hatred has been strengthened, and there have been some changes in relation to hate symbols. I appreciate the opportunity to speak on this bill. I am thankful it has come to this stage, and I am hopeful that it will pass through the House very soon, so that we can start working together, enforcing law like this and making sure that all our communities are safe for our Jewish neighbours, our Muslim neighbours and all Canadians.

Mr. Speaker, the member is somebody who, by the way, wears a collar. He knows what it means to work with communities and to protect communities. We have seen so much victimization happen in the country over the last few years because of people's religious beliefs. It is incumbent upon us to provide protections for them, to make sure that people are not being victimized because of their faith, sexual orientation or identity. That is precisely what the bill is trying to do. It is an important piece of legislation. Let us not obstruct this any further and pass it through the House as quickly as possible.

Mr. Speaker, I think what we are considering here today is the entire bill, Bill C-9. I went through, in quite some detail, the five pillars of the bill, that make the bill. The Conservatives have chosen to divide our communities. They have chosen to just pick one very small aspect of the bill, as opposed to looking at its entirety, something that is supported by Canadians coast to coast to coast, something that was part of our platform, upon which many people voted for us. We are fulfilling this commitment. There have been hours and hours of deliberation, debate not only here in the House but in committee. I am grateful that the bill is better because of that process. It is important that we pass the bill through the House, so that it can be law as soon as possible.

Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for his excellent question. This is a very important point, as to where those lines are. I think it is important to clarify that the bill is not a bubble-zone legislation. I know it is more commonly referred to as creating some sort of a bubble zone around places of worship, community centres or schools. That is not what the bill does. It does not talk about distances or exclusion zones, nor does it put any prohibition on having gatherings or holding signs on a public street. Of course, people have the right to protest. What we are talking about is obstruction or interference. What we are talking about is the intent to prevent somebody from going to their place of worship, school or community centre. That is a very specific thing that has been addressed in the bill. The legislation would not create some sort of bubble zone. Frankly speaking, the federal government really does not have the jurisdiction. That falls more within property rights that are within the provincial space or municipal space. I believe that there has been very thoughtful and clear deliberation in the manner in which the bill has been designed. It is on the right track.

Mr. Speaker, some of the main challenges facing many seniors are isolation, staying active and engaging with their neighbours and communities. Addressing those challenges is the core mission of The Good Companions Seniors' Centre in my community of Ottawa Centre, and it has been pursuing that for the past 70 years. The amazing staff and volunteers of The Good Companions have shown unrivalled passion and dedication in their work. They have undeniably made a lasting impact on our community and have changed the lives of seniors for the better. Programs such as the adult day program, fitness classes, the craft studio and the seniors' centre without walls are just a few examples of how the centre is keeping seniors active. It has been a great joy for me to attend many of those events, and I see so much fun every time I go to that community. I would ask my colleagues to join me in congratulating The Good Companions on its well-deserved 70th anniversary.

Mr. Speaker, I appreciate being acknowledged. You always look good in the chair and you do a really good job. I am hoping you will give me some leniency while I am speaking. I will be sharing my time with the hon. member for Saanich—Gulf Islands. I am thrilled to share my time with her, as I consider her to be a close friend in this place. I appreciate the opportunity to speak to Bill C-13, which is an act to implement the protocol on the accession of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland to the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership, the CPTPP. I often try to say that five times really fast to see if I can get the acronyms right. Nonetheless, it is an important agreement that Canada is a part of. This particular piece of legislation deals with United Kingdom's becoming part of that agreement and Canada's ratification for that particular accession. Very similar to what I did yesterday, when I was speaking to Bill C-18, which deals with the Canada-Indonesia Comprehensive Economic Partnership agreement, I do want to acknowledge the work that has been done on this important legislation and this agreement, starting with the officials at Global Affairs Canada, who work extremely hard in representing our country. They work diligently and they make us proud. They wave our flag boldly and proudly, so I want to take this opportunity to thank them. I also want to acknowledge the work of the Standing Committee on International Trade. We have a really good committee with all three recognized parties. We work well together in co-operation. The work that took place in relation to Bill C-13 is an example of that. Again, I want to acknowledge all members from the official opposition, from the third party, the Bloc Québécois and, of course, the government members for their thoughtful work in this regard. I also want to take the opportunity to thank the British high commissioner to Canada, Robert Tinline, for his work. It is a pleasure to work with him. I also thank our folks at the High Commission of Canada in the United Kingdom, Canada House, including the deputy high commissioner, Robert Fry, who is a seasoned diplomat. Also, as of this week, former member of Parliament, a colleague from this place, the Hon. Bill Blair, has assumed his role as the high commissioner for Canada in the United Kingdom. He will be serving as well. It takes all of us to do this important work, and I am really mindful of the participation and the role of all of us in this endeavour. CPTPP, or the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership, is an important trade agreement that includes 11 founding members that make up the agreement. They include countries like Australia, Chile, Mexico, Singapore, Brunei, Japan, New Zealand, Vietnam, our own country Canada, Malaysia and Peru. For the first time, a new member has been added, and that is United Kingdom. The way the CPTPP is designed, it requires consensus among all founding members to agree to new members becoming part of it. Therefore, the 10 countries, including Canada, have collectively negotiated and have agreed that the United Kingdom can be made part of CPTPP. It is an important step and a symbol, in terms of the group of countries that have trans-Pacific as a natural point of bond, reaching out to a European country like United Kingdom and making it part of it. In this moment in time, it is a very important message being sent, that we are not going to go the way of protectionism as we are seeing stated explicitly by the current administration of the United States. Putting tariffs on countries is not how we are going to grow our economy. In fact, we think that a free trade, liberalized trade, rules-based trading system is the best way to grow our economies, where we actually rely on each other's economy, leverage our comparative advantage in things that we are self-sufficient in producing and growing, exchange that, sell to each other and be able to benefit from other economies. For Canada and the United Kingdom, as natural allies and friends with deep historical ties, to be able to take that step to join in and be part of this really thoughtful, large and comprehensive agreement is a very important message to the world and to other countries, which says that protectionism is not the way to create prosperity for our citizens. In fact, the way we should do it is by creating alliances, by making sure that we are part of each other. I think it is also important to recognize that the U.K., as I was mentioning, from a cultural, historical and a people-to-people ties perspective, is very close to Canada. We share a lot. Economically, the United Kingdom is also an important partner of Canada's. In fact, the U.K. is Canada's third largest single-country trading partner, which is remarkable. I believe the United States is first, China is number two and the United Kingdom is the third largest single-country trading partner for Canada. We continue to see really impressive trade growth between our two countries. According to the notes that I have, since 2016, Canada-U.K. trade increased by almost 53% to $61 billion in 2024, and that was under the signed Canada-EU economic agreement. That was then continued through the Canada-U.K. trade continuity agreement. Our two respective leaders, our prime ministers, our Prime Minister and Prime Minister Keir Starmer, are also working very closely together because they want to grow that relationship. They want to make sure that there is more trade taking place between Canada and the United Kingdom. This agreement, of course, is going to play an important role. We did hear from a lot of stakeholders who came to the committee and presented really thoughtful opinions. I know that, in the House, members have been talking about it. We heard from the cattle industry, which has some concerns about access to the U.K. market, and we are quite sympathetic to those concerns. We are continuously engaging with the government of the United Kingdom to reduce these barriers. Having, of course, a more coordinated approach and making sure that we are part of an agreement like this will give us more opportunities to open those markets, but I do want to acknowledge their concerns. I want to say that we are quite aware of them. The other issue is, and I know this will be discussed, British pensioners. Of course, a lot of us have heard from those British pensioners. They also presented at committee. It is an important issue. It is an issue that Canada continues to raise with the United Kingdom. In fact, just last week, some of us parliamentarians, from both the Liberal and Conservative sides, were in the United Kingdom as part of the Canada-U.K. Inter-Parliamentary Association. If someone were to ask all the members who were on the trip, we would tell them that, in every single meeting with U.K. MPs and with U.K. ministers, the issue of British pensioners was raised. It was always a very thoughtful, robust conversation. We did our utmost best to really highlight the unfairness on the British government's part in not indexing the pensions of British pensioners who live in Canada. We will continue to do that work, and we will continue to advocate for them. At the end of the day, this agreement is a good news story. I urge all members in the House to support the legislation so that the U.K. can become part of the CPTPP. Therefore, we could have even stronger ties and bonds and economic prosperity, both for Canada and the United Kingdom.

Mr. Speaker, the member for Langley Township—Fraser Heights was one of the members I had the chance to travel with, and I got to know him personally quite well. I appreciate his public service and his representation of his community. He would remember that in every conversation we had, including with the Minister for International Trade from the United Kingdom, we brought up the issue of these non-tariff barriers, saying that we should find a way to move forward to ensure that our cattle ranchers and beef producers are able to export to the United Kingdom. There are some issues around sanitary and phytosanitary circumstances. By having a deeper relationship and making sure the U.K. is part of this agreement, there will be more opportunities for us to really make effective arguments to the U.K. and to bring those barriers down for our ranchers.

Mr. Speaker, I am very pleased to be able to work with my colleague on the Standing Committee on International Trade. He has contributed a great deal to the work of that committee. The committee adopted an important amendment that was put forward by the opposition member. That particular amendment would enhance transparency. It would allow for Global Affairs Canada to report back on the progress and the implementation of the agreement. I thought that was a good amendment, and that is why we agreed and made it part of this legislation.

Mr. Speaker, it will require a lot of hard work for us to really meet the objective of doubling our non-U.S. exports in the next 10 years. The work that is necessary is to deepen relationships with our existing partners and to build new partnerships. The United Kingdom is a really good example. It is a nation that, as I mentioned earlier, enjoys a very long-lasting relationship with us. This agreement would allow us to make it even deeper and create more opportunities to open more markets. Similarly, we were talking about Indonesia yesterday. That is a new market that we are opening for our farmers, for our energy providers and for our manufacturers. Similarly, there is the work we are doing in negotiating an agreement with the ASEAN countries, like Thailand and the Philippines, and with the Mercosur countries, which include Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay. In all those places, the work we are doing creates more opportunities for Canadian businesses and for Canadian farmers to be able to sell our produce. This will allow us to meet that particular objective that the member was referring to.

Mr. Speaker, I am thankful for the opportunity to speak to Bill C-18. Bill C-18 is a very important piece of legislation. It is critical at this moment in our history for Canada's economic growth and prosperity, and for making sure that we are able to create the important jobs necessary for Canadians from coast to coast to coast. Before I get into some of the substantive parts of this legislation, I want to take this opportunity to thank some people for their important work in getting us to this point. Of course, the Minister of International Trade has been very active in making sure that this agreement was concluded. He was part of the signing ceremony, along with the Prime Minister, with our Indonesian administration counterparts. There are a number of officials from Global Affairs Canada who were on the negotiating team, and who worked for multiple years to negotiate and finalize this really important agreement in the best interest of Canada. I want to take a moment to thank all those officials for their hard work and for their service to our country. I want to acknowledge all the members of the Standing Committee on International Trade. It is a real pleasure to work with them, and I mean from all three parties, including the government side of the committee. It was a very co-operative committee with a co-operative process whereby we could work together. We were able to share ideas with each other. There were some changes: As members can see from the report stage, some minor changes were added to the bill, and it all happened in a thoughtful, consultative way. It was Parliament working at its best in committee, and it demonstrated how working together for the well-being of Canadians, for our own constituents, is extremely important. I also want to extend my gratitude to the Indonesian ambassador here in Canada, His Excellency Muhsin Syihab, who recently arrived in Canada. He has a lot of knowledge about Indonesia, of course, and is keen to learn about Canada. He is a very enthusiastic champion of this legislation. I thank him and look forward to working with him in terms of implementing this agreement, once it has passed in the House and in the other place and becomes law, so that we can create those opportunities for Canadian companies in the Indonesian market. It has been said during second reading, and we heard this during committee, but it is worth repeating how important this Canada-Indonesia comprehensive economic partnership agreement is, which is affectionately referred to as the “Canada-Indonesia CEPA”. It represents an important milestone in Canada's trade engagement in the Indo-Pacific region. It was concluded in December 2024 and signed, as I mentioned earlier, in September 2025. This agreement seeks to deepen economic ties with Indonesia, which is a nation of nearly 280 million people. It is a big country in the Indo-Pacific region and had a thriving economy of $1.9 trillion in 2024, so imagine how beneficial a bilateral comprehensive economic agreement with a country that size could be for Canada. That is what we have been able to accomplish through this very important agreement. The agreement is quite focused. It is also quite expansive in terms of the breadth and scope for Canadians. As I mentioned, it is a fairly comprehensive trade agreement that addresses market access for goods, services and investments, and includes provisions on small and medium-sized enterprises, labour, environment and women's economic empowerment. It is truly a model agreement, when it comes to free trade agreements, in terms of how modern trade agreements can be developed. Canada, working along with our friends from Indonesia, is able to set the stage for it. The committee process was a really positive one. We got to hear from many stakeholders who represented various diverse backgrounds, and they spoke to us in support of this agreement. The two who really came to the fore for me were from our agriculture and agri-food sector. Their enthusiastic support for this was quite remarkable. Whether we were talking about the cattle or pork industries or speaking of the pulse and soy industries, they were all really keen for this agreement, because for them, this agreement would give preferable market access to a large economy. They would see Canadian exports rising significantly in an already robust market because of the preferential treatment that they would receive under the agreement. They were really keen, and they really stressed to all of us that we should try to conclude and pass the ratification of the agreement through Parliament as quickly as possible. As such, I want to take this opportunity to thank them and all of those important associations. I particularly thank all our farmers, who work so hard day in and day out to make sure that we are producing world-class food, not only for Canadians but to sell around the world. I think they realized that Indonesia is a growing market, economy and population, and that Canada can be selling that sustainable, good-quality food to Indonesians. The other sector that was really highlighted during the committee process was the nuclear sector. A representative from a nuclear company, AtkinsRéalis, spoke about the opportunities the agreement would create around energy security and the ability to export Canadian technology when it comes to safe, reliable, stable nuclear technology. As members know, CANDU is a Canadian innovation. It is remarkable in terms of creating energy around the world, not only in Canada, and companies like AtkinsRéalis are quite keen to be engaging with countries like Indonesia. The agreement would allow them to do that on a preferential basis and to find ways to sell that technology. This would mean not only helping Indonesia to have more energy security and to meet its net-zero targets by 2050, but also, and most importantly, creating really well-paying jobs for Canadians. In my province of Ontario alone, we have one of the world's best supply chains for nuclear energy, and if we are able to open more export markets for that technology, it will only mean more jobs for Canadians. This agreement would create that opportunity and allow for Canadian companies like AtkinsRéalis to sell in places like Indonesia. The last point I want to talk about is why this agreement is important for the work that we are doing as a country in trade diversification. I think this House spends a lot of time talking about the challenges we are going through, like the protectionism that we are seeing right now, especially as it relates to our American partners. Our effort is to diversify our trade. Our effort is to double our non-U.S. exports in the next 10 years. That is the goal that the Prime Minister has set. This agreement is a really important example of how we can do this, and not only that, but it is an opening for us to finalize our agreement with the ASEAN countries, which Indonesia is part of. Other major countries, like the Philippines, Thailand, Singapore and Vietnam are also ASEAN countries, and this agreement would set the template in terms of the work that we need to do. I want to thank the deputy minister of trade from Indonesia, who was instrumental in this. When I met with her in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, at the ASEAN ministerial summit, she committed that she would make sure that ASEAN also finalizes an agreement this year, in 2026, so that we can keep building stronger economic ties with other countries and create well-paying jobs for Canadians from coast to coast to coast.

Mr. Speaker, I think we all share the goal of making sure there is energy security, and not only energy security. In order for us to really fight climate change, we need to make sure there is more enhanced electrification, not only in Canada but around the world. I think that is going to be an imperative. For us to do that the best way, we need to make sure we have net-zero electricity. Some may disagree, but I fundamentally believe that nuclear energy is a very important source of that net-zero technology. Canada has been a leader in safe nuclear technology. We have demonstrated that in places like Ontario, the province I come from. I think there is an opportunity to help meet those climate change goals around the world. Canada can take a leadership role in that.

Mr. Speaker, I want to thank my colleague for her important question. I was very pleased to work with my colleagues from the Bloc Québécois on the amendment to the bill. It was a good amendment. We agree with the member that having a report-back mechanism in the agreement is a good procedural step to ensure that we as parliamentarians will be able to take full stock of the promise of this legislation. I thank the member opposite for his constructive approach to this and look forward to continuing to work with him.

Mr. Speaker, that was a very good question, and the member is absolutely right. The agriculture sector was extremely enthusiastic, because it opens up a very big market. Some of the big barriers that exist are around sanitary and phytosanitary conditions. The agreement allows for better regulatory harmonization, for better process and understanding, and for high-quality products that are grown in Canada to be sold in places like Indonesia. I think it is good news for our farmers. Our farmers were present at the committee process, and they agreed that the agreement will allow for them to export more Canadian-produced goods to places like Indonesia.

Mr. Speaker, that was a very good question. As I mentioned, this is a more modern free trade agreement than we have done in the past. That is why we do not call it a free trade agreement. Rather, we call it a comprehensive economic agreement. I think this is the kind of template that we will be able to use in other places, like ASEAN and Mercosur. We are negotiating with the Philippines and Thailand as well. There is a great desire for engagement with Canada. People want to buy Canadian-produced goods, especially when it comes to our agriculture and energy resources. That is the work we are doing through agreements like the one we are debating here today.

Mr. Speaker, thank you for recognizing me and giving me an opportunity to speak on this motion. I know my colleagues are still working their way out of the chamber as we end question period, so I am just going to make sure that you are seated and that there is some time and space in the House so that I can speak. Before I get into my comments, I want to start by saying that I will be sharing my time with the member for Nipissing—Timiskaming. She will be speaking for the latter 10 minutes. The motion deals with Bill C-9, which is a very important piece of legislation that I am glad to have an opportunity to speak to. It is something I am really hopeful will pass through the House as soon as possible. In my role as the member of Parliament for Ottawa Centre, I have some history of working on the various provisions of Bill C-9, which are very much aimed at ensuring that we rid hate from our society and that we take all important necessary steps to ensure that people of all backgrounds and religions, including people who belong to the Jewish faith, the Muslim faith, the Christian faith and any other faiths, feel safe in practising their faith, in living according to their faith and in being able to visit places of worship. Bill C-9 tries to do this. As many have spoken about in the House, the incidence of hate crimes is rising in Canada. The issues around anti-Semitism, Islamophobia and other forms of hatred are significant. It is incumbent on all of us to work together, not in a partisan fashion but as Canadians and as parliamentarians, to exercise our responsibility and duty to pass laws that would allow for the safety of our community and that would allow for our Jewish neighbours, our Muslim neighbours and our neighbours from other backgrounds to be able to live peacefully, as we are all supposed to do and as Canada was founded upon. Bill C-9 captures this. This bill, as many members would know, proposes to do four important things. First, it would create two offences for obstruction and intimidation intended to prevent someone from accessing a place used by an identifiable group. I will speak to that particular provision in detail a little later, because it is something that I have been working on. Second, it would create a new stand-alone hate-motivated offence. Third, it would create an offence for wilfully promoting hatred through the public display of hate or terrorist symbols. Last, it would codify the Supreme Court of Canada's definition of “hatred” in the Criminal Code. The most important part of this legislation is around making sure that people are not obstructed or intimidated when trying to access their place of worship, for example, somebody who wants to go to their synagogue on the Sabbath or somebody who wants to go to their mosque for jummah prayers. These are very important rights that we have as Canadians to practise our faith freely without any fear of harassment or intimidation. This legislation would create a criminal offence around anybody trying to take away that particular freedom. There have been instances in my community here in Ottawa with various important institutions where members of the Jewish community regularly congregate or meet as a social space or even at a long-term care home. The Hillel Lodge, for example, where seniors who are mostly of Jewish faith live, was subject to a protest. Of course, that was extremely traumatizing and troubling for the members of the community. I have been working very closely with our Jewish community here in Ottawa, for instance, with the Jewish Federation of Ottawa. I want to thank friends like Danya Vered and Adam Silver, who have championed and advocated for this legislation on behalf of the community to ensure that we create provisions and laws in our criminal courts that would not allow something like that to take place and that people can peacefully live their Jewish way of life and be able to practise their faith. Of course, this legislation is not just limited to the Jewish community. It applies to all faith communities. There has been precedent to do this. This is not something unique. In my former role as the attorney general of Ontario, we brought in similar legislation at the provincial level to protect women accessing abortion clinics or sexual health clinics, so that they would not be harassed or intimidated from accessing the very vital right of access to medical care. We were able to do that through a piece of legislation, a safe access law, that has been held as being charter-compliant. A similar principle, in my view, has been applied to this legislation, albeit federally, which will apply across the country. Of course, this is not a provincial offence but a criminal offence. However, the aim and the purpose is the same, which is to create safety around specific important places of worship, such as synagogues, mosques, churches, gurdwaras and mandirs. Also, most importantly, it would give an opportunity to individuals to access those places of worship or other important institutions. This is about individual rights. Another example I will give that I have been quite concerned about in my community has to do with schools. We have had multiple instances in Ottawa Centre, in my community, where an elementary school has been used as a site for people to protest around gender identity. They felt that somehow kids were being brainwashed, that they should not be taught about gender identity and that they should not get an education around health and sexual well-being. They have been using an elementary school as a site of protest, which is highly inappropriate. If people want to protest a curriculum, they should go to the ministry of education or go to the school board's office to protest. This is an important piece of legislation. This is a piece of legislation that my constituents have been asking for, for some time. In fact, I started working with them prior to the last federal election. I worked extremely hard to make sure that it would be in the platform of my party, the Liberal Party of Canada. I spoke about it during the election many times. I was really happy to see that it would be a part of Bill C-9, one of the earliest pieces of legislation that the government tabled. However, in my view, the bill has been dragged all this time by unnecessary filibustering by the opposition. It is highly unacceptable. In fact, it is perpetuating an unsafe environment. We need to make sure that we pass laws like Bill C-9 as quickly as possible, because this is not a partisan issue. This is a matter of making sure that together we are protecting our communities. I urge all members of the House, particularly my Conservative colleagues who talk a lot about hate crimes, and rightly so, to support Bill C-9 and support this motion, so that we can help build safer communities for everyone in our country.

Mr. Speaker, just like the member opposite, I have been meeting with many faith groups, and I have shared with them the same information I will share now. We have something called the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Religious rights are protected within the charter. I think that relying on some sort of an exemption, which may have been created before the charter existed, is really misleading folks. What we need to focus on is that the charter has very robust protections when it comes to freedom of religion. Bill C-9 would not infringe upon that right whatsoever.

Mr. Speaker, the most incredible thing about this country is that we always find a way to make sure that everybody's freedoms are protected. That is what the charter tries to do. It protects the rights and freedoms of people to make sure we can find that perfect space where we can all live in harmony, which is sometimes challenging to do. What we are trying to do is protect the cultural rights of people, which are embedded within the fundamental values essential to Canada and written in the charter. By working together, we can make sure we continue to build a harmonious society.

Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the member for raising a very important point. The games that the Conservatives are playing are very dangerous because they are making our communities and our society even more insecure at this moment. All the Jewish community groups have been asking for this legislation. They support this legislation. They want this legislation to be passed. As we are seeing the rise of anti-Semitism, they are asking us to make sure that we take every step necessary to protect our places of worship. That is what we are trying to do. By impeding and delaying the bill, they are making our communities unsafe.