Don Davies

[Export and Import Permits Act, September 28th, 2017]

Mr. Speaker, on the topic of disingenuousness, it is easy to speak highly of concepts like human rights, but I notice that adherence to these words often goes out the door when money is involved.

The Liberal government is talking a good line on human rights, but Canadians know that this country has sent $15 billion worth of light armoured carriers to Saudi Arabia, which is using the vehicles against the civilian population in Yemen. The government knows that and the world knows that, and yet the Liberal government has refused to cancel that contract or to do anything about it, even though Canadian law prohibits Canada from selling arms to countries that use those weapons against civilian populations, which is exactly what Saudi Arabia is doing in Yemen.

Does the hon. member agree with the NDP that the Liberal government should cancel the sale of weapons to Saudi Arabia in the clear face of Saudi Arabia's use of those weapons to kill civilians in Yemen?

[Health, September 21st, 2017]

Mr. Speaker, 2016 saw more Canadians die from opioid overdoses than any year in history. More than 2,800 Canadians lost their lives in every corner of our nation. Despite this devastating death toll, the government refused to declare a national public health emergency and claimed it was making “progress”. Health Canada just reported that 2017 is on track to see more than 3,000 deaths, breaking records in Vancouver, British Columbia, and nationwide.

Does the new minister call this progress, and if so, can she explain how, when the death toll continues to mount?

[Petitions, September 21st, 2017]

Mr. Speaker, I rise to present a petition signed by concerned citizens across the country concerned about Canadian citizen and academic Hassan Diab, who was extradited to France in 2014 in a case widely viewed as a wrongful conviction in the making. He has been detained since then in France for questioning based on anonymous intelligence allegations, possibly gleaned from torture. In 2016, a French judge found consistent evidence supporting Hassan's innocence, concluding that he could not have been present in France at the time of the crime, and in May and again in October 2016, the judge ordered Hassan's release on bail, finding no grounds for his further detention. Yet he has been jail or on electronic monitoring for over eight years.

These citizens are calling on the government to do everything it can to obtain Hassan's release and return to Canada, and to intervene with the French authorities to act as soon as possible.

[British Columbia Wildfires, September 18th, 2017]

Mr. Speaker, I rise to bring the government's attention to the devastating impacts of wildfires on my province of British Columbia.

The worst year for wildfires in six decades is 2017, the second-worst year in B.C. history. Over 1,200 wildfires burned 1.2 million hectares, over 5,000 square kilometres, and 155 fires still burn today.

This disaster has destroyed houses and hurt people all over B.C. It has critically harmed agriculture, forestry, and tourism, and caused profound damage to our environment, wildlife, and habitat, yet the Liberal government's response has been inadequate.

The Liberals refused to match private donations from individuals like it did for Alberta last year during the Fort McMurray disaster. They have failed to commit the same level of funds from the disaster financial assistance arrangements program as for previous disasters like the Quebec ice storms.

Today I call on the government to immediately match all private donations and commit full disaster relief funding to British Columbia citizens, communities, and businesses who have been so terribly affected by the 2017 wildfire disaster.

[Points of Order, June 15th, 2017]

Mr. Speaker, it is said that it is one of the foremost responsibilities of parliamentarians to scrutinize government spending. Twice now the Minister of Health has testified in committee and now before the House that there have been increases in the budget to the federal initiative on HIV. I have in my possession the actual departmental spending estimates that show that this is not the case, not this year, not next year.

I would seek unanimous consent in the interest of allowing the minister to prove that this is the case. I am sure the minister would not want to leave us—

[Health, June 15th, 2017]

Mr. Speaker, I have in front of me the department's spending documents that prove there is not a single dime in extra funding for the federal initiative on HIV. These documents prove there is not an extra nickel for the community action fund, the very program that funds the groups providing HIV care. The minister stated that she secured “investments in the budget to expand the federal initiative on HIV...of $30 million of new funding”. This is demonstrably false. Will she apologize to the organizations she misled?

[Foreign Investment, June 14th, 2017]

Mr. Speaker, the Liberals have approved the foreign takeover of the major B.C. provider of seniors care by Anbang, a huge Chinese conglomerate. They did so despite serious concerns raised by the U.S. and many others about the company's murky ownership structure. Now we see that the chairman of Anbang has been arrested on suspected corruption charges.

We are talking about the well-being of B.C. seniors. Why did the government fail in its due diligence, and will it revisit its decision to ensure that Canadians are protected?

[Indian Act, June 13th, 2017]

Mr. Speaker, I want to pick up a comment made by my colleague on the government side, the member for Spadina—Fort York. He said that he and the government felt uncomfortable proceeding with the amendments proposed by the Senate because there was not unanimity. It was not a slip of the tongue. He used that phrase repeatedly in his comments, saying that it was imprudent to move forward until we had unanimity.

Would my hon. colleague comment on whether she thinks we require legislative unanimity in this case to move forward on these amendments from the Senate, or does she feel comfortable and confident moving forward with the Senate amendments to take out the gender inequity in the Indian Act now? We obviously have the democratic expression of the House and clearly a majority of the Senate, albeit not unanimous?

[Indian Act, June 13th, 2017]

Mr. Speaker, I am somewhat disturbed by what I just heard the hon. member say.

He is worried about moving too quickly. Frankly, we are talking about the Indian Act. We have spent decades and decades studying this issue. We know exactly where the problems are. I am disturbed that the member would say that we need to exercise caution at this point. Indigenous people in this country have waited long enough.

Moreover, I am disturbed by the fact that my hon. colleague talks about how we might err. How about we err on the side of more equality? How about if we err on the side of giving women equal rights? If there is an error in some way, then perhaps we have gone too far too fast. It would be nice, after 150 years of colonialism in this country and hundreds of years beyond that, if the Liberal government actually had a little bit of daring.

My final point is that this was a considered amendment by the Senate. For decades I have heard the Liberals defend the Senate as a place of sober second thought, a chamber that is supposed to bring concentrated analysis of issues, and we are supposed to take that seriously. Is my hon. colleague saying that the amendments from the Senate are ill-considered or unnecessary?

Why does he not just accept what the Senate says ought to be done, what the members on this side of the House want to be done, what indigenous people across this country want to be done, have some courage and actually make these amendments that are so desperately needed and long overdue?

[Indian Act, June 13th, 2017]

Mr. Speaker, I think I speak for most Canadians who feel that the colonial vestiges of the last several hundred years really have no place in modern Canada.

I come from British Columbia and it is almost entirely unceded territory. Issues of identity and full inclusion in Canadian society are still very much top of mind for many indigenous people in my riding of Vancouver Kingsway and across British Columbia and Canada as a whole.

I am wondering if my hon. colleague could speak to the feeling of urgency he feels or may not feel about resolving treaty claims in Canada and whether he feels that plays any role in helping to resolve some of these issues of status and inclusion in Canadian society today.