Sean Casey

[Indigenous Affairs, February 26th, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, we certainly are aware of the situation raised by the hon. member. The Department of Justice officials will continue to work with first nations to resolve these conflicts and these issues. In any given situation, it is ultimately up to the tribunal in question, but we are apprised of the situation and will continue to work co-operatively to get it resolved.

[Justice, February 25th, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank the member for his question and his work on the committee.

The committee's work will be vital as we strive to balance personal dignity with the rights of doctors and nurses.

There are still many steps to take, including the debates in this place, in committee and in the Senate. There will be several other opportunities to participate—

[Business of Supply, February 18th, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, what we have here in the BDS movement really is a wolf in sheep's clothing, and the veneer is extremely thin. The member makes extremely valid points with respect to freedom of expression. He makes extremely valid points with respect to the right to be able to criticize a government. Indeed, the Government of Israel and the Government of Canada share his view that a critique of the government is entirely fair game. However, when a movement gets to the point where Canadian students feel unsafe on their campus it has gone too far, it has gone beyond free speech. That is what we are dealing with here. It is more than free speech, it is worse than free speech, and it needs to be condemned.

[Business of Supply, February 18th, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, there are two parts to my hon. colleague's question. First, why does this matter to me in particular and, second, what should Canadians be doing?

I got into politics because of the importance of Canadian values and my firm belief back in 2011 that the country was on the wrong track. I do not mean to make this a divisive issue, but I feel very strongly about the rights that are enshrined in the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. That is really at the core of Canadian values. That, quite frankly, is at the core of this motion.

The real key for Canadians here, as stated by my colleague from Winnipeg North, is very much education. BDS has to be singled out for what it is, and not for what it purports to be. The more that message is disseminated on university campuses by members of Parliament, in civil society, and in academia, the better the prospects for understanding and support of a peaceful two-state solution and a peaceful process leading to that.

[Business of Supply, February 18th, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, I will be sharing my time with the outstanding member of Parliament for Humber River—Black Creek.

The boycott, divestment, and sanctions movement, also known as the BDS movement, is a global campaign launched in 2005 in response to calls by Palestinians and international civil society groups for international sanctions against Israel. The BDS movement currently promotes a variety of actions intended to restrict trade with Israel. This includes targeting Canadian companies that engage in trade with Israel, or Israeli businesses, and calling for a boycott of those Canadian companies and their products. There have also been calls in Canada to boycott Israeli products.

The BDS movement, however, goes well beyond trade issues. Much of the movement is focused on university campuses in Europe and North America and includes repeated calls and intense pressure in favour of academic and cultural boycotts of Israel. Examples of this include pressuring musicians, writers, poets, and artists not to perform in or visit Israel. Similarly, professors and researchers are increasingly being pressured not to work with Israeli universities.

These bans threaten the intense and ongoing research collaboration between Israel and Canadian academics in areas such as the health and life sciences sector, environmental and clean technologies, and information and communication technologies.

Activities, such as the annual Israeli Apartheid Week events at Canadian universities promote the BDS movement and seek to equate Israel with apartheid.

Many organizations and individuals in Canada and abroad support the BDS movement out of the belief that it will somehow accelerate the peace process and lead to a lasting resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. However, it is important to understand that the goal advocated and supported by Canada and many of our partners worldwide of a two-state solution with a secure, stable, and democratic Israel living side-by-side with a secure, stable, and democratic Palestinian state is not a solution that can be imposed from outside. A lasting peace will only come through direct negotiations between the two parties through negotiations without preconditions. Such actions only exacerbate the tensions in the region. The peace process would be better served by efforts to bring people together than those that seek to divide them.

These facts lead to the conclusion that the real intention of the BDS movement is not to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict but to delegitimize and single out Israel. This is demonstrated by the one-sided nature of the movement. It targets Israel alone. It punishes Israel alone. It calls on Israel alone to act.

Canada has been firm in its opposition to the Arab boycott of Israel since it began in the 1970s, and Canada remains deeply concerned by all ongoing efforts to single out Israel for criticism and to isolate Israel internationally. Once again, this is not a recipe for achieving a lasting peace settlement.

It is important to recognize that the BDS movement is in fact a form of collective punishment. It is not carefully targeted toward the ends it claims to support, but instead seeks to punish all elements of Israeli society. Its effects go well beyond the government whose policies the BDS supporters claim to oppose. All segments of Israeli society are affected because the BDS movement's economic, cultural, and academic boycotts threaten to adversely affect all aspects of Israeli life. This highlights once again that the BDS movement is really about punishing Israel and not about advancing the peace process.

Furthermore, there is evidence that the BDS movement is hurting the very people its supporters claim they are seeking to help, the Palestinian people. In one case, a world-renowned Israeli company, SodaStream, was forced through threats of a BDS boycott to close its factory, which was located in the West Bank, in order to preserve access to global markets. This resulted in the loss of hundreds of well-paying jobs for Palestinians. The owner of the company went on the record to condemn the BDS movement and highlight its negative affect on the Palestinian people and economy.

Canada believes that supporting the economic prospects of the Palestinian people is a vital goal for ensuring their prosperity and dignity, and that it has the valuable side effect of creating stability and security in the region. Israel benefits when the Palestinian people are prosperous. In this spirit, Canada funds a host of projects to better the livelihood of the Palestinians. Working toward that goal is the sort of activity that will advance prospects for the peace process. Canada looks forward to being able to contribute to a reinvigorated Middle East peace process.

We noted with optimism the recent announcement by the Quartet. The governments of the United States, the European Union, and Russia plus the United Nations would work with all key partners in the region to create a report that provides recommendations for relaunching the peace process and advancing down the road to a two-state solution. It is vital that such efforts receive the support they require in order to be successful, and that efforts that are counter-productive to a lasting peace, like the BDS movement, be abandoned immediately.

Canada and Israel are strong, vibrant democracies where legitimate criticism within a legitimate discourse is expected and accepted. Nevertheless, discussion of the BDS movement too often descends into anti-Israel and even anti-Jewish rhetoric. There are also disturbing reports of Jewish students feeling unsafe at Canadian universities.

As Canada considers the Middle East process and seeks opportunities to move it forward toward a lasting solution that meets the interests of all the Israeli and Palestinian peoples, we should not be asking ourselves how to punish one party, but instead how we can remotivate people to get into a dialogue again, and how to start a positive process with the Israelis and Palestinians to relaunch a peace process.

Canada should reject the boycott, divestment, and sanctions movement wholeheartedly. We should oppose calls to boycott Israel and Israeli products or to ban cultural and academic exchanges. We should instead seek to build bridges among the people of the region rather than use divisive language and counter-productive tactics. Although Canada recognizes that Israel should not be immune from criticism, Canada will continue to work to defend Israel from the BDS movement.

[Justice, February 17th, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, these young women and their families are in our thoughts and prayers. The disappearance of a child is a tragedy, especially in these circumstances. We are determined to achieve the important objectives of Bill C-452.

I can guarantee that we will quickly take action that is in keeping with our values and the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

[Human Trafficking, February 16th, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, our government is determined to take measures to better protect victims of exploitation and those at risk of exploitation.

We are also determined to ensure that traffickers properly answer for the crimes they commit against some of the most vulnerable members of our society.

We support the important objectives of Bill C-452 and we are reviewing it on a priority basis in order to determine how the amendments it contains can be implemented. This review requires an in-depth analysis of the impacts the bill will have in relation to the charter.

Examining these important issues is a priority, but in the meantime, I would like to point out that existing criminal law provides for heavy penalties for human traffickers, including lengthy mandatory minimum sentences.

[Human Trafficking, February 16th, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, our government is closely following the situation in Quebec, where young women have disappeared. Our thoughts and prayers go out to these young women and their families.

We take human trafficking and the exploitation of women and girls very seriously. We are determined to build on the action we are taking to address this problem, so that some of the most vulnerable members of society have better protection. That is why we promised to hold an inquiry into missing and murdered indigenous women and girls.

Regrettably, the recruitment of children for the purposes of sexual exploitation and human trafficking remains a serious concern. It is a tragedy when a child disappears, particularly in circumstances that suggest the possibility of exploitation. The whole country shares the relief of parents whose daughters have been safely recovered in recent weeks. We are committed to working with provinces and territories, indigenous communities, law enforcement, and community organizations to combat exploitation and to support victims and potential victims.

While we support the principle of Bill C-452 to strengthen our criminal justice system's approach to human trafficking, there are some parts of the bill that raise concerns.

If the bill were to come into force, it would require that the sentence imposed on a person for the offence of trafficking in persons be served consecutively to any other punishment imposed on the person for an offence arising out of the same event.

There is a real risk that this provision could violate the charter, if applied in combination with the harsh mandatory minimum sentences established in 2014 for the offence of trafficking in persons under the Protection of Communities and Exploited Persons Act, the former Bill C-36.

In conjunction, these two provisions, which impose mandatory sentences, could result in sentences that are disproportionate to the offence and to the justice system's approach to other offences.

This disproportion could infringe on an individual's right to protection from cruel and unusual punishment, as set out in section 12 of the charter. In other words, there is a real risk that this bill could be unconstitutional.

We have committed to carefully review changes to the Criminal Code brought in over the last decade, with a view to determining their compliance with the charter and consistency with our values. We take this commitment very seriously. We will, therefore, take the necessary time to review the bill to ensure that we do not enact anything that may, in the end, be found to be unconstitutional.

We will strengthen our efforts to address human trafficking, which is a complex issue that impacts on some of the most vulnerable members of our society, but we must do so responsibly, in a way that reflects our values and respects the charter. Accordingly, we are currently examining new ways to address this very important issue.

[Justice, February 16th, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, our thoughts and prayers are with those young women and their families. The disappearance of a child is a tragedy, particularly under such circumstances.

We are determined to achieve the important objectives of Bill C-452. I can guarantee that we will act quickly in a way that reflects our values and complies with the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

[Justice, February 5th, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, the criminal justice system in the country is about more than retribution. There are other elements that are important in sentencing.

The most serious crimes should attract the most serious sentences. There is a place for mandatory minimums in our criminal justice system, but it is not everywhere. That is the reason why we are undertaking a comprehensive review. We are going to ensure that the hands of judges are not tied and that mandatory minimums are there for the most serious offences like the ones to which the member just referred.