Sven Spengemann

[Business of Supply, May 29th, 2017]

Mr. Chair, I have some thoughts to offer on the issue of expeditionary operations, and then some questions for the minister or the parliamentary secretary.

It is my distinct pleasure to be here today to speak to my fellow members about the main estimates for the Department of National Defence and the Canadian Armed Forces. This is an opportunity that I welcome, because I believe it is crucial for all of us to understand what our troops are doing to keep Canadians safe and to promote and maintain international peace and stability.

Members of the Canadian Armed Forces are a crucial asset in helping to advance our government's foreign policy. They are representatives of Canada, projecting our values in every corner of the globe. They help to solidify our reputation as a country that values freedom, democracy, human rights, justice, and the rule of law, and our reputation as a country that is ready to defend those values.

When the Government of Canada calls upon our military to engage on the global stage, it does so to defend the interests of all Canadians. Canada may be geographically removed from most of the turmoil and violence that plagues many areas of the globe, but it is not immune to its effects. In today's security environment, threats can take many forms, and what affects one area of the planet has the potential to affect all, because with increased globalization, countries are more interconnected than ever. The individual and collective prosperity of all nations is first and foremost dependent on a stable security environment.

The new defence policy, which will be released next week, will set out the government's ambition for the Canadian Armed Forces. The expectation is clear that we will remain a solid ally and partner and will continue to contribute to operations around the world.

Collective defence is a concept Canadians strongly believed in when we helped found NATO in 1949 and established NORAD with the United States in 1958. It is a concept that is just as important today, if not more so. With this collective benefit, however, comes responsibility and the obligation to do our part, both in the context of the NATO alliance and more broadly.

Recognizing this fact, last year Canada announced its intention to renew its engagement to UN peace operations. Canada is also demonstrating leadership by hosting the fourth UN peacekeeping ministerial, which, as the Minister of National Defence confirmed last week, will take place on November 14 and 15, 2017, in Vancouver.

This forum will examine several key issues such as the integration of gender perspectives into peacekeeping, and innovation in training and capacity building. These concepts may help make future peace support operations more effective.

As the members of this House are aware, we are also analyzing how best to employ the up to 600 troops we have pledged to support UN peace missions.

As we continue planning for future deployments, we must remember that, today, there are 1,662 Canadian Armed Forces members now deployed on 18 international operations. These men and women in uniform are making a positive contribution in all corners of the globe, and we recognize the great sacrifices they are making on behalf of all Canadians.

On May 18, the Minister of Finance and the Minister of National Defence announced that the government would ensure all armed forces members and police officers receive income tax relief on all named international operations. This measure, retroactive to January 1, 2017, will obviously apply to those deployed to Iraq and Kuwait.

To set the conditions for long-term success, our armed forces members are providing training, advice, and assistance to Iraqi security forces, and working in Jordan and Lebanon to help these partner nations build their capacity to address challenges created by regional conflict and instability.

Our military has also assumed a leadership role with the coalition ministerial liaison team, which is helping the senior Iraqi leadership to build institutional capacity, and with the coalition role 2 medical hospital facility in northern Iraq, where members provide medical and surgical care to coalition forces. Our troops are making major contributions in the fight against Daesh, contributions that, as was announced in March, have been extended until the end of June.

Turning our eyes to Europe, we also find members of the Canadian Armed Forces engaged in supporting our allies and actively contributing to NATO's strengthened deterrence and defence posture.

As part of Operation Reassurance, we are demonstrating our commitment, our solidarity, and our engagement to NATO and its allies through the protection of allied territories and populations, by reinforcing NATO's collective defence, and preserving stability in the face of a resurgent Russia.

The Canadian Armed Forces is also taking a leadership role in Europe. In June, Canada will be one of four nations commanding a battle group in Latvia, and will deploy up to 455 personnel as part of NATO's enhanced forward presence, making this the largest sustained Canadian military presence in Europe in more than a decade. In addition to these capabilities, more than $140 million of the funding in the main estimates will be devoted to the NATO contribution program, helping fund key alliance activities.

Under Operation Unifier, which was recently renewed, approximately 200 troops are contributing to our government's overall efforts in Ukraine to help that country remain sovereign, secure, and stable. Since 2015, Canada has trained more than 4,300 Ukrainian soldiers, helping them build military capacity.

Our military contributions in Iraq and Europe may be the most sizable, but on any given day, Canadian military members can be found in just about any part of the globe. This includes the Sinai Peninsula where Canada has kept a presence as part of the multinational force and observers since 1985, or in the Caribbean Sea and Eastern Pacific, where for the past 11 years the Royal Canadian Navy and the Royal Canadian Air Force have been working with partner nations to fight illicit drug trafficking and narco-terrorism as well as deter criminal activity. During that time, Canadian ships have helped to seize and disrupt more than 66 tonnes of cocaine and four tonnes of marijuana.

These are just a few examples of the contributions that members of the Canadian Armed Forces are making on the world stage day in and day out. Wherever they go, our military personnel are respected for their professionalism, their leadership, and for their ability to work with other nations.

They are making a difference, and Canadians have every reason to be proud of them. The defence policy review undertaken last year carefully looked at how our military contributes to international operations. I know all members of this House, and indeed all Canadians, are eager to see the results of this review when the new defence policy is released in just over a week.

However, going forward we can expect that the government will continue to call upon the Canadian Armed Forces to engage in the global security environment and to promote Canadian values and interests.

The operational costs in the main estimates provide a glimpse into the investments required for the Department of National Defence and the Canadian Armed Forces to continue their contributions to security and stability around the globe. I think that all members will agree that these are essential investments, as they will provide our women and men in uniform with the resources necessary for them to accomplish the demanding tasks that we ask of them.

Mr. Chair, with your indulgence, I will turn to some questions that I have.

My first question is about Operation Impact. We have all read the headlines about the threat posed by Daesh. The horrible and tragic events at Manchester just last week are a testament to that. This organization advocates a radical interpretation of Islam and claims religious authority over all Muslims. Since 2014, Canada has participated in the U.S.-led global coalition to defeat Daesh.

I would like to ask the parliamentary secretary how the Canadian Armed Forces are contributing to coalition operations in Iraq.

[Gender Equality Week Act, May 16th, 2017]

Mr. Speaker, when it comes to gender analysis, of course it is fundamental to connect it to the budgetary process and to put our programming through a gender lens. In using gender-based analyses in the bureaucracy in the planning and execution of programs, the two really come together. I am very proud that this budget is the first budget developed in Canada with a gender-specific lens, and we look forward to much more along these lines in the years to come.

[Gender Equality Week Act, May 16th, 2017]

Mr. Speaker, I mentioned a group called Strength in Stories, which is a local organization in my riding. The very first conversations on this bill were exactly in the area my colleague points to, which is the field of education. The idea was to pull together a project that would address gender-based disparities or inequities at the level of education. The federal government cannot reach into other levels of government to prescribe educational programs. However, it could certainly offer this week as a platform for teachers to take advantage of it and to do the very important teaching not just at the graduate and post-graduate level, which would give us an opportunity for research and some data, but all the way down to the elementary level, where cultures and attitudes are shaped early on. We really look to education as probably the foundational opportunity for this week to manifest across the country.

[Gender Equality Week Act, May 16th, 2017]

Mr. Speaker, this is indeed an opportunity to look at the deeper causes, the root causes, of gender inequality and gender inequity across our country. To do that, we need to engage all Canadians. This bill is an opportunity to pivot to all of civil society, to leaders in our community and to Canadians who have never thought about this issue or about becoming involved. It would give them the opportunity and the platform to do that.

I made reference to a number of different forms in which gender equality week could manifest itself. One of those is in academic research. When we look at the sociology of root causes, gender equality week could direct national attention to that issue and really give us an opportunity to acknowledge the root causes and to then formulate solutions to address and resolve them.

[Gender Equality Week Act, May 16th, 2017]

moved that Bill C-309, An Act to establish Gender Equality Week, be read the third time and passed.

Mr. Speaker, it is indeed a pleasure for me to rise today to once again speak in support of my private member's bill, Bill C-309, An Act to establish Gender Equality Week, as it is read a third time. I would like to thank my colleagues in this House for their interest in this bill, for their important contributions to the debate at second reading and at the Standing Committee on the Status of Women, and for their support. I would also like to thank once more the members of my incredible team for their tireless efforts and the stakeholders, community organizations, and Canadians from all walks of life who shared their views with us. In particular, I would like to thank the Strength in Stories team for the ideas and inspiration that helped bring us to where we are today.

Gender equality week would provide us with a critical opportunity to engage and address areas in which gender-based disparities persist. As my colleagues in this chamber are aware, my team and I elaborated on these disparities in the preamble of this bill.

Importantly, gender equality week is not an occasion to celebrate accomplishments, but, as reflected in the preambular paragraphs, it is an initiative that seeks to raise awareness of the most profound remaining challenges and it offers a platform to work collectively on concrete solutions.

The resounding vote of 287-1 in this House to send the bill to committee at second reading, in my view, revealed that acknowledgement of these challenges goes far beyond partisan affiliation. All of us bear individual and collective responsibility in a society that categorically and systematically treats and values genders differently.

In short, if we truly seek to address these challenges, the pivotal steps are to recognize them frankly and to ensure that they are understood. The federal government cannot solve these issues and problems by itself. Gender equality requires awareness and engagement on the part of all Canadians.

To be absolutely clear, I am very proud of what we are already doing to achieve gender equality and equity. I applaud the leadership of our Prime Minister and of the federal government, who are working to address systemic gender-based gaps that have permeated Canadian society since Confederation.

The Prime Minister formed Canada's first cabinet with female and male parity. He also appointed a woman to be the government House leader and a minister who would focus exclusively on gender issues. These were also firsts in Canadian history.

The Government of Canada also launched an inquiry into Canada's missing and murdered indigenous women.

What is more, the Minister of Status of Women is developing a federal strategy against gender-based violence. The government also announced the implementation of gender-based analysis, or GBA+, in all federal government departments to ensure that gender issues are taken into account in all government policies and legislation.

In early December 2016, the Governor of the Bank of Canada, the Minister of Finance, and the Minister of Status of Women announced that Nova Scotia businesswoman and civil rights activist Viola Desmond will be the very first Canadian woman to be featured on a Canadian banknote.

The Government of Canada introduced Bill C-16, which is currently before the Senate. It protects Canadians of minority gender identity and expression by adding gender identity and expression to the list of prohibited grounds of discrimination under the Canadian Human Rights Act.

I would also like to thank my colleague, the member for Edmonton-Centre, and the special advisor to the Prime Minister on LGBTQ2 issues for his tireless work as an advocate for Canadians of minority gender identity and expression.

As my colleagues know, in budget 2017, the federal government has committed to allocating $3.6 million over three years, starting this year, to establish a LGBTQ2 Secretariat within the Privy Council Office.

I believe that this initiative is important to the development and implementation of government-led initiatives for the LGBTQ2 community, and I hope that gender equality week can contribute to these efforts.

On the international stage, Canada has seized the opportunity to serve on the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women, and is a strong supporter of the UN HeForShe campaign.

As a Canadian delegate at the 61st session of the UN Commission on the Status of Women, which was held in New York last March, and together with the representatives of such countries as Pakistan, Burkina Faso, and Cameroon, I committed to making the kind of efforts that Canada and parliamentarians have made to promote gender equality.

I was pleased to hear positive feedback on BillC-309 from representatives and other delegates. In Canada and abroad, there is definitely a will to eliminate the gender gap. I have no doubt that if we continue to work together to eliminate gender disparities in our respective societies, we can find constructive, long-term solutions.

Once again, I wish to acknowledge the leadership of our Prime Minister and the Government of Canada in promoting the equality of men and women.

Important as these and other actions are, more work remains ahead of us than behind us. To close the remaining gaps, the government will need the advocacy, support, and commitment of Canadians.

Bill C-309 recognizes this need and it issues a call to action to all Canadians to become involved: men, women, Canadians of minority gender identity and expression, children, students, educators, civil servants of all levels of government, young and established professionals, new Canadians, our indigenous peoples, Canadians in law enforcement and our armed forces, and seniors.

Involvement in gender equality week could take a wide range of forms, and some of these forms include town hall discussions, university and college colloquia, music, plays, literature, film projects, workplace round tables, formulation and presentation of academic research, public rallies, fundraisers, social media, radio and television events, and campaigns.

Our consultations with various groups, organizations, and levels of government helped us draft a substantive preamble that gives Canadians a clear idea of the challenges we face. Gender-based violence and the gender wage gap are particularly critical obstacles that we, as Canadians, must tackle and eliminate. Active engagement will lead to real progress on both those fronts.

Now that I have had the privilege of hearing different perspectives and working with colleagues from all parties in this chamber on Bill C-309 for the past several months, I look forward to engaging with our counterparts in the Senate in the months ahead.

I encourage fellow members to once again support this bill, as the time to act is now. Canadians want us, as parliamentarians, to address the most critical issues facing our country. Through gender equality week, we would build a platform through which we can generate momentum to resolve a major multi-faceted issue that faces our country today, gender inequality.

This House has the opportunity to send a powerful message to Canadians that their elected representatives in concert seek to engage and work with civil society to address gender-based disparities.

I look forward to continuing to work toward establishing a national annual gender equality week, and I look forward to working on this project with colleagues from this House and the Senate.

[Public Service Labour Relations Act, May 16th, 2017]

Mr. Speaker, it is a good day, for the second and more specific reason that RCMP members and reservists are now able to bargain the issue of harassment.

As we all know, this is a tremendous challenge for the organization. There is a culture change that needs to take place, and it has to involve the women and men who serve us through the uniform of the RCMP. The ability to bargain this issue is therefore fundamental.

I will very briefly use this opportunity to highlight my own private member's bill, which is on gender equality week, a bill that I will have the chance to speak to tonight at third reading.

I very much look forward to the RCMP being engaged in this process of looking at gender equality and identifying issues across the country that need to be addressed. Harassment in the RCMP definitely is part of that. I am excited and thrilled that harassment is something that can now be bargained.

[Public Service Labour Relations Act, May 16th, 2017]

Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for his question and his commitment to this issue.

Today is a good day. Today is a reflection of the Canadian legislative process at work. We have heard from Canadians. We have heard from RCMP members, reservists, and management. The Standing Committee on Public Safety and National Security has held hearings. We have also heard sober second thoughts from the Senate of Canada, which in this complex case are very much appreciated.

It is not so much a question of how much time we should spend on it, whether it should be rushed, or whether it should be taken slowly. The most important question is whether the legislation of a quality that Canadians seek. It is my view, in support of the government, that the legislation as it is currently drafted represents the best possible constellation of the various competing factors. It is the best piece of legislation that we can put forward at this time, and therefore, for that reason alone, it is time to act.

[Public Service Labour Relations Act, May 16th, 2017]

Mr. Speaker, I stand today to offer my support to the government's motion regarding Bill C-7, a bill that provides a new labour relations framework for RCMP members and reservists.

Since its beginning in 1873, when Prime Minister Sir John A. Macdonald introduced in this very House the act establishing the North-West Mounted Police, the RCMP has been an integral part of Canada's development.

As my talented and tireless legislative assistant, Adrian Zita-Bennett, advises me, we need only read our history books. When it came to bringing law and order to the Northwest Territories, the RCMP was ready and willing with its march west in 1894.

During the Klondike Gold Rush, the RCMP rose to the challenge of policing the stampede of people looking to get rich, and when it came to being the first ship to completely circumnavigate North America, the RCMP schooner St. Roch claimed that honour.

In World War I and World War II, the RCMP played vital roles, but despite their long and storied contribution to Canada, these members did not have full freedom of association with respect to collective bargaining. However, that has changed. The Supreme Court has removed the barriers that RCMP members face in exercising this right.

Bill C-7 provides the appropriate framework of labour laws that would govern the RCMP and ensures that RCMP members and reservists can be represented and bargain collectively, like other police services in Canada.

Bill C-7 has several key elements that reflect the clear preferences expressed by RCMP members during the consultations that occurred in the summer of 2015. Specifically, members indicated that they wanted a labour relations framework that provided for a single national bargaining unit, a union that is primarily focused on representing RCMP members, and the recourse to binding arbitration if a collective agreement could not be negotiated.

Bill C-7 creates this framework. It would do this by amending both the Public Service Labour Relations Act and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police Act to create a new labour relations regime for RCMP members and for reservists.

I rise today to offer my support to the government's response to the amendments of the Senate.

To begin, the government's motion accepts the removal of all restrictions on what may be included in collective agreements and arbitral awards that are specific to the RCMP. This includes matters such as harassment, transfers and appointments, and appraisals of RCMP members.

Harassment in the workplace is an issue that the Government of Canada takes very seriously. Discrimination based on gender or sexual orientation, bullying, and harassment are flatly unacceptable. I believe quite strongly that this one concession, in and of itself, addresses the chief criticism of the bill.

The government's motion also accepts the management rights clause adopted by the Senate and proposes targeting it to focus on protecting the authorities that the RCMP commissioner needs to ensure effective police operations. This also goes a long way to meeting the concerns raised by the Senate.

The government's motion proposes retaining the restrictions that replicate those applying to other areas of the federal public service, such as restrictions preventing pensions from being bargained. It does not agree with the requirement for a mandatory secret ballot vote as the only option for the certification of a bargaining agent to represent RCMP members and reservists. Our government believes that there should be choice between secret ballots and a card check system. The issue of secret ballots was not an issue specifically related to addressing the Supreme Court's decision. Moreover, an organization wanting to represent RCMP members should not be subjected to certification processes different from those of other organizations under federal labour relations legislation.

Bill C-4 reflects the principles of fairness and balance, and also gives proper recognition to the role of bargaining agents.

Finally, the government proposes not proceeding with expanding the mandate of the Public Service Labour Relations and Employment Board to hear grievances on a wider range of matters, including many that are outside of a collective agreement. This would be inconsistent with the application of the Public Service Labour Relations Act to the rest of the federal public service, and it would create overlap with the appeal and grievance processes established under the Royal Canadian Mounted Police Act.

I believe that we now have the best possible legislation, given all the competing interests that must be accommodated. It is therefore important that we act now to put in place a new labour relations framework to minimize disruption for members, reservists, and RCMP management.

There is currently an overlap between the Royal Canadian Mounted Police Act and the Public Service Labour Relations Act, which could result in confusion and conflicting interpretations. In addition, members could be represented by multiple bargaining agents, which would make it difficult for the RCMP to maintain a cohesive national approach to labour relations. Also, there would be more uncertainty among RCMP members about their collective bargaining rights.

Bill C-7 would effectively provide RCMP members and reservists with a process that ensures independence and freedom of choice in labour relations matters. The bill would also recognize the specific requirements of a national police service and the unique attributes of the RCMP as set out in the Royal Canadian Mounted Police Act. It would balance these with the need for consistency with the broader public service labour relations regime of which it is a part.

The government has taken important steps to ensure that workers can organize freely and that unions and employers can bargain collectively and in good faith. Bill C-7 is one part of that, and it honours the right of the RCMP members and reservists to freedom of association with respect to collective bargaining.

The time for talk is over. Now is the time to give RCMP members and reservists the respect they are due. I for one am proud to vote for this motion, which does just that.

[Public Service Labour Relations Act, May 16th, 2017]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank my colleague and friend from Oakville North—Burlington for her service on the Standing Committee on Public Safety and National Security.

Today is a good day. The RCMP will now be able to bargain the issue of harassment. Could my colleague expand on what she has heard and what her views are on the importance of this step today?

[Petitions, March 10th, 2017]

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to table a petition from a large group of concerned constituents in my riding of Mississauga—Lakeshore regarding the construction of a tall ham radio tower by a nearby resident in his backyard. This group is understandably and, in my view, justifiably alarmed, as a tower installation in a residential neighbourhood raises health, safety, and aesthetic concerns for that community. My team and I have worked closely with the City of Mississauga Ward 2 councillor, Karen Ras, to find a solution to this issue. I stand with the opponents of the ham radio tower, and I hope that this matter can be resolved satisfactorily and in a timely manner.