Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to rise in the House to add my voice to those of my official opposition colleagues on the Standing Committee on the Status of Women, which it is my honour to chair. They spoke eloquently to this motion and the confusion it would create.
I do not understand the motion's sponsor, who is also a member of the Standing Committee on the Status of Women. After all, she is aware of the issues that affect all women in Canada, including the three issues at the top of Status of Women Canada's agenda: violence against women, leadership and women's economic circumstances.
I will quote from the motion, which makes it difficult to discern the government's intent since several factors seem to be mixed together:
That the House call on the government to take action to prevent forced marriages...
As we have already pointed out, like Canada as a whole, we are opposed to forced marriage, which is a form of violence against women. Marriage should be between two consenting adults. I will continue:
...and any kind of non-consensual sponsorship in the immigration system by amending the Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations so as to:
(a) ban the use of proxy, telephone, and fax marriages as a means to spousal sponsorship;
Careful. First the motion talks about forced marriage and then it talks about proxy marriage. A forced marriage is a form of non-consensual marriage. Sometimes, both individuals are forced to marry against their will. Such unions violate the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, according to which everyone has the right to marry and to found a family without any limitation due to race, among other things. The marriage must be entered into only with the free and full consent of the intending spouses. So much for forced marriage.
Proxy marriage is a culturally and legally acceptable way for a couple to unite. This practice is more common in countries affected by war. These marriages are legal and binding, and they are carried out with the consent of both parties.
A Canadian or a Quebecker like me might be surprised to hear that proxy marriage can happen. However, that does not mean that it is not a marriage between two consenting adults.
Earlier we heard about forced marriage, and we all understood that it was prohibited. Then, the motion goes on to talk about proxy marriage:
(b) disallow explicitly, in section 5, the use of proxy [and] telephone...marriages...
(c) set out administrative measures that communicate clearly to visa officers how to detect a proxy, telephone or fax marriage.
According to this motion, marriage by proxy is the same thing as forced marriage. These two types of marriage are not at all the same. Experts say so.
One thing is clear to me, my colleagues in the official opposition and many of the experts we consulted when preparing our position on this motion: we are not talking about the same thing. If the government really wants to put an end to violence against women—and forced marriage is a form of violence against women—then we need to ensure that those who suffer this type of violence have access to services and resources that will help them get out of a forced marriage if it has already been performed or prevent a forced marriage in the first place. They need to be able to get help to prevent this type of marriage and get out of that situation.
I have the privilege of representing a very diverse riding, the riding of LaSalle—Émard. I must admit that I am always very humbled as I get to know the people in my riding and understand the different people and cultures that I have the honour of representing. People call upon me and my team to resolve immigration issues. I must say that requests for assistance have been piling up since the changes were made to the immigration system. Unfortunately, things are not getting better. They are getting worse.
I recently had to defend a family from Cameroon that includes two Canadian-born children. There were many appeals to the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration and the Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness. Many petitions were signed by members of the community in support of this Cameroonian family. I think this family faces real dangers, especially for the two daughters. This deportation really affected and upset the people in my riding. They are still talking about it. It affected me tremendously.
We see that this motion before us does not take into account all the problems refugees face in Canada. The doors close in their face. What is more, the motion does not respond at all to the extremely significant problems of violence against women, including women from all communities that are fortunate enough to live in Canada.