David Sweet

[Infant Loss, June 8th, 2018]

Mr. Speaker, much has been said about the painful compounding of tragedy when government policy and legislation lack coherence as they pertain to the actual people they are intended to serve.

I would like to use my time to share with this chamber just how tragically things can unfold, and how helpless and devastated people may feel when faced with a tragedy and subsequently victimized by existing flawed legislation.

Before I do this, I would like to quote from the Good Book, a little passage from James 4:17, which says, “Therefore, to one who knows the right thing to do and does not do it, to him it is sin.” In our case, if it is within our power to correct a great injustice and we fail to do it, how much more unjust are our actions?

My wife Almut and I were soulmates back in 1978, and this unbelievable love only grew. I still remember when my wife-to-be began walking down the aisle at our wedding on a September day in 1993. She was so radiantly beautiful that she took my very breath away. We could not wait to be married and grow in our love for each other, and extend that love beyond ourselves by having a good number of children. From natural birth and adoption, we have seven children.

The following June, we welcomed Christopher into the world, and our joy was overflowing. He was healthy, so was mom, and we were looking forward to being parents. He was a handful, but we were willing and quick learners.

I do not mind saying that with help from some of our great mentors, friends, and family, motherhood and fatherhood fit us like a glove. For Almut and me, next to our love for each other was the love for our children and the awesome quest to help them grow into principled, contributing, and ethical adults.

It was not too long thereafter that Almut became pregnant once more, and we were more excited than ever to greet the next addition to the Sweet family. We were a bit concerned, because Almut seemed to be growing at too fast a rate as her pregnancy progressed, but this was only marginally dampening our spirits compared to the opportunity of a new child.

She visited an obstetrician early, as suggested, and as referred to by our GP. Sure enough, through amniocentesis and ultrasound, she was diagnosed with polyhydramnios, which is too much amniotic fluid too early.

Of course, we were concerned, but the doctor comforted us that there was a low percentage of complication with such a condition, and that he would watch Almut and the new girl closely. We found out it was a girl due to the tests that were needed to determine the cause of the increased fluid production.

Knowing a girl was coming excited us even more, and we did the usual thing. We painted the red room pink and made sure we had all of the corresponding toys to welcome a female infant.

The following months involved a lot of appointments to continue to monitor Almut and the baby with the fluid buildup. It is my recollection that, other than these appointments, it did not seem like our health team was overly concerned, so we were not either. Consequently, our expectations grew and grew, as did our preparations.

I believe it was around two in the morning in the seventh month of the baby's term, although I must admit I am still hazy on the details, when I heard one of those screams that no one ever likes to hear, particularly if it comes from the person one loves the most. I ran in the direction of the scream. My wife was in the bathroom at that time. She was in shock, and I was quite shocked as well to see the feet of the baby exposed from her. Because of the abundance of amniotic fluid, her membrane had burst with such force that it forced our daughter, who had not turned yet, breeched into the birth canal. This was a terrifying predicament for young parents with little to no medical knowledge to find themselves in.

I did all I could to bring comfort to Almut and assure her that I would move heaven and earth to save our baby's life and to keep her safe as well.

Fortunately, my sister, who was staying with us at the time, ran in to see what was going on. She called an ambulance and got our obstetrician on the phone as well. The doctor was not calm. I had to reassure him to calm him down. Fortunately, he came around and began to give me instructions.

First, he said, I needed to reach up and unhook each arm. It felt like those little arms were going to come off at any moment. Nonetheless, I was able to free her left arm and then her right arm.

Immediately upon my releasing her right arm, her little body moved down so fast that it looked like it was going to blast out across the room it. Of course, it did not, because when a baby is breech, the jaw hangs up on the pelvic bone, which is why the baby needs to turn for a good, successful birth.

I said to the doctor, “There must be some kind of manipulation or process. What can I do now? I don't want to tear her fragile little head off of her body.” To my surprise, he hung up on me. To this day I do not know why. Maybe it was because he was afraid of some kind of responsibility, or maybe he panicked himself. However, I was there alone with my bride, who was panicking, and my young daughter, who was trapped in the birth canal and was beginning to suffocate.

There are a lot more details that I could share with respect to this story. The ambulance came. However, of course it was too late. My wife was in shock. Thank the Lord, she recovered completely, physically and psychologically, but all of our hopes and dreams for our daughter vanished. It was like we were in a very dark tunnel all alone. Though we had many friends to comfort us, the gut-wrenching emotional pain of the loss was so great that it was like we were in another dimension. We knew they were there, but we could hardly hear their voices. This heartbreaking, mind-numbing, strength-sapping emotion took a long time to begin to lift.

Today, Ruth Gisela Sweet rests in Meadowvale Cemetery in Brampton, Ontario. Thankfully, the faith that we live by assures us that we will be together again.

I share this painful story with the House not for any personal comfort or catharsis, but so all members may have a clear understanding what it is like when, annually, hundreds of Canadian mothers and fathers go through such an event as this. It is my hope that knowing this, there will not be any resistance to passing this motion that is before the House so that a great injustice can be corrected quickly, completely, and properly.

After going through this kind of trauma, no one should be faced with a form letter that advises them that on top of their immense pain, they will now have to face financial hardship as a result of being cut off from government benefits. How cruel and malevolent it must seem to people who have gone through such suffering to have to experience that as well.

Let us do all we can to quickly pass this motion, get the study started, and make recommendations in order to ensure this injustice comes to an end once and for all.

[Foreign Affairs, June 8th, 2018]

Mr. Speaker, Iran's Khamenei regime regularly uses terror groups, such as Hamas and Hezbollah, to destabilize the Middle East and target Israel, our closest ally and the only stable democracy in the region. This week, Iran's so-called supreme leader tweeted, “Israel is a malignant cancerous tumor...that has to be removed and eradicated”. His ambassador to France revealed that they are funding the present violent protests in Gaza. Why do the Liberals continue to insist on normalizing relations with a country that is such an obvious threat to peace, security and democracy?

[Budget Implementation Act, 2018, No. 1, June 5th, 2018]

Mr. Speaker, I was awoken by this unbelievable analysis of how child benefits are delivered in Canada. I wonder why the member did not include in his characterization of the child benefit that the universal child care benefit went to everybody. For people with high incomes, it was neutralized by being taxed back.

He did not mention the arts credit that the Liberals removed. He did not mention the sports tax credit that the Liberals removed. He did not mention the transit tax credit that Liberals removed, which most families enjoyed. Amazingly, he did not mention income splitting for lower-income families, so that they could enjoy that as well.

All of this profoundly diminishes this current child benefit and puts families way behind where they were, including a family I know very well in Winnipeg, a stay-at-home mom with two kids. This family pays $1,500 more in tax because of this crazy policy.

[Scleroderma Awareness Month, June 1st, 2018]

Madam Speaker, today is the beginning of June and it is also the beginning of Scleroderma Awareness Month.

Scleroderma is a progressive and chronic connective tissue disorder that can attack one's internal organs, literally shutting them down one by one, and can also cause weeping ulcers, skin deterioration, and Raynaud's disease, among other symptoms.

As many in the House already know, I had to watch my mother suffer the awful effects that scleroderma brings and that eventually took her life. It was one of the most heart-wrenching experiences of my life.

Unfortunately, my mother was just one of many women to be afflicted with scleroderma, as almost 80% of sufferers are women and most are diagnosed between the ages of 30 and 50.

We still are not sure what causes scleroderma, but what we do know is that the number of diagnoses is on the rise.

Research on new therapeutic measures has been promising, but much more is needed. We need more funding to drive this research to find a cure and stem the tide of this horrid disease.

We can and must assure the men and women suffering that the Government of Canada is in their corner.

[Export and Import Permits Act, May 30th, 2018]

Mr. Speaker, with my colleague's comments on not only this bill but some of the rhetoric, I wonder if he has some concerns that the only thing we are hearing with regard to the environment is the reduction of greenhouse gases and climate change.

While those aspects are very important, we are not hearing anything about clean air, clean land, or clean water. There seems to be a total absence in that regard.

Let me just give one example of why that is important. We focused on noxious gases and particulate in the air because 6,000 to 8,000 Canadians die every year because of bad air. We had a significant reduction in particulate and in noxious and SOx gases, to the degree that when the member for Don Valley West was the president of the Asthma Society of Canada, he confided in me and said that our government was doing a very good job at reducing particulate.

I wonder if my colleague could comment on the one-sided aspect of the environment that the current government focuses on. We had to come in after 20 years and finally clean up the Sydney tar ponds and finally deal with the number one hotspot in the Great Lakes in Hamilton. We finally got the job done. I am just wondering if the member has a concern about a holistic approach to environment.

[Foreign Affairs, May 10th, 2018]

Mr. Speaker, last night, without provocation, the Iranian regime launched a vicious missile attack on Israeli forces in the Golan Heights. It was a gross act of aggression against a steadfast Canadian ally, the only stable democracy in the Middle East. While the Liberals continue to restore relations and lift economic sanctions, the Khamenei regime in Iran continues to spread its human rights violations and to thrust its tentacles of terror across the Middle East.

Will the Liberals stand up for one of our closest allies, Israel, and condemn the unprovoked attacks by the terror-sponsoring regime in Iran?

[Petitions, May 9th, 2018]

Mr. Speaker, I have a petition to present today signed by dozens of constituents.

The petitioners call on the Government of Canada to compel Canadian companies to publicly report on what they are doing to address child labour and modern slavery in global supply chains.

[Robert Fead, May 9th, 2018]

Mr. Speaker, two days ago, we laid to rest Major Reverend Canon Robert Fead, who was tragically killed on his motorcycle.

Major Canon Fead faithfully served the Anglican Diocese of Canada for 25 years, but his work was never confined to the walls of the church. Among many other roles, Major Canon Fead was the beloved chaplain for the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders.

Following the 2014 Ottawa terror attack, Major Canon Fead presided over the funeral of Corporal Nathan Cirillo. He said at the time “My job, in the midst of all that chaos and fear, was to bring some sense of hope.”

Major Canon Fead did just that every day of his life. Because of his dedication to the gospel of Christ and his unmitigated commitment to serve, he was able to bring that great hope and comfort to many, particularly the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders Princess Louise's Regiment.

My thoughts and prayers are with his wife Veronica, mother Pat, his family and friends, and his regiment. He will be sorely missed. May the Major rest in peace.

[Khamenei Regime in Iran, May 3rd, 2018]

Mr. Speaker, the international community knows that the Khamenei regime in Iran is among the worst violators of human rights in the world, routinely incarcerating, persecuting, torturing, and murdering their own people.

In Iran, members of minority groups such as the Baha’í and Christian faiths know this all too well. Their very basic rights are violated on a daily basis, including their right to life and security of person as well as their right to practise their own religion. Through its continued sponsorship of terrorist groups like Hamas and Hezbollah, Iran seeks to further the reach of its tentacles of terror into Yemen, Syria, Iraq, and Lebanon. In this, the regime seeks to export their human rights violations throughout the Middle East.

This Iran Accountability Week, I call upon the government to take a realistic view of this tyrannical regime and deal with it in a fashion that is requisite to the danger it poses to the world.

[Questions Passed as Orders for Returns, May 3rd, 2018]

With regard to employee assignments at the Canada Revenue Agency, as of March 1, 2018: (a) how many full-time equivalents are assigned to investigate tax avoidance by high-income individuals; and (b) how many full-time equivalents are assigned to investigate tax avoidance in relation to individuals earning tips or gratuities?