House of Commons Hansard #65 of the 37th Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament's site.) The word of the day was s-24.

Topics

Business Of The HousePrivate Members' Business

1:35 p.m.

Liberal

Marlene Catterall Liberal Ottawa West—Nepean, ON

Mr. Speaker, pursuant to discussions among all parties and the member for Rosemont—Petite-Patrie concerning the taking of the division on Motion No. 219 scheduled at the conclusion of private members' business today, I think you would find consent for the following motion:

That at the conclusion of today's debate on Motion No. 219 all questions necessary to dispose of the said motion be deemed put, a recorded division deemed requested and deferred to Monday, May 28, at the expiry of the time provided for government orders.

Business Of The HousePrivate Members' Business

1:35 p.m.

The Deputy Speaker

Does the chief government whip have consent of the House to put the motion?

Business Of The HousePrivate Members' Business

1:35 p.m.

Some hon. members

Agreed.

Business Of The HousePrivate Members' Business

1:35 p.m.

The Deputy Speaker

The House has heard the terms of the motion. Is it the pleasure of the House to adopt the motion?

Business Of The HousePrivate Members' Business

1:35 p.m.

Some hon. members

Agreed.

(Motion agreed to)

Business Of The HousePrivate Members' Business

1:35 p.m.

Liberal

Marlene Catterall Liberal Ottawa West—Nepean, ON

Mr. Speaker, we are trying to organize the business of the House collaboratively. Again pursuant to discussions among all parties concerning the division on Bill C-222 scheduled at the conclusion of private members' business on May 28, 2001, I believe you would find consent for the following motion:

That at the conclusion of the debate on Bill C-222 on Monday, May 28, all questions necessary to dispose of the motion for second reading be deemed put, a recorded division deemed requested and deferred to Monday, May 28, at the expiry of the time provided for government orders.

Business Of The HousePrivate Members' Business

1:35 p.m.

The Deputy Speaker

Does the chief government whip have the consent of the House to propose the motion?

Business Of The HousePrivate Members' Business

1:35 p.m.

Some hon. members

Agreed.

Business Of The HousePrivate Members' Business

1:35 p.m.

The Deputy Speaker

The House has heard the terms of the motion. Is it the pleasure of the House to adopt the motion?

Business Of The HousePrivate Members' Business

1:35 p.m.

Some hon. members

Agreed.

(Motion agreed to)

The House resumed consideration of the motion.

International Child AbductionPrivate Members' Business

May 18th, 2001 / 1:35 p.m.

Liberal

Sue Barnes Liberal London West, ON

Mr. Speaker, I will briefly capture some of the essence of what I hear as agreement in the Chamber on this motion.

As outlined in the government's initial response to the motion, we do celebrate the fact that Canada has an internationally recognized record of achievement domestically and on the world stage in responding to parental international child abduction. Today I am here to say that the government's position is supportive of the motion before the House.

Twenty years ago Canada initiated negotiations that led to the drafting of the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction. From the original three countries, including Canada, the number of countries that have become party to the Hague convention has risen to over seventy.

Canada has consistently encouraged countries to become party to the Hague convention, which remains the only multilateral international instrument designed to prevent and resolve cases of parental international child abduction. Canada is at the forefront of international efforts to ensure that the Hague convention is implemented effectively in other countries. In particular, Canada was represented at the recent fourth special commission which met in March 2001 to review the operation of this convention. Everything can always be improved, of course.

In cases where the Hague convention does not apply, Canada offers significant assistance to left behind Canadian parents, always with the goal of securing the safe return of the child to Canada. Canada has also negotiated two innovative bilateral agreements, one with Egypt and one with Lebanon, which are not party to the Hague convention itself. This has helped us develop measures to help resolve cases of child abduction to non-Hague convention countries.

As a co-ordinator of much of this work, Canada has in place a world recognized best practice program to prevent and resolve cases of missing and abducted children.

We also have our missing children program. I remember that from my days as parliamentary secretary at then Revenue Canada.

The partners in this program, the RCMP, the Canada Customs and Revenue Agency, the Department of Foreign Affairs and Immigration Canada, as well as the Montreal urban community police, are there to help Canadians in this very trying time period whenever a child has been child separated from their parent. If we can assist, we do a service to everyone involved.

We will evaluate the motion of hon. member for Rosemont—Petite-Patrie.

The Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Trade back in 1998 drafted a report called “International Child Abduction: Issues for Reform”. Those initiatives demonstrated the longstanding commitment by the Government of Canada to seek methods of preventing international child abduction where possible and to find the remedies when abductions occurred.

A manual for parents on international child abduction was prepared by the Department of Foreign Affairs. That can be obtained through members of parliament. It is an effective tool in assisting parents to understand the processes and options available to them when a child is abducted by another parent, which sadly occurs more than we would like it to.

The manual also serves as an important preventive tool which alerts parents to the causes of parental child abduction and the steps they can take to protect the children involved.

The federal Departments of Justice and Foreign Affairs are working in collaboration with the federal central authority and with provincial and territorial central authorities to examine even better ways of collecting national statistics on international child abduction cases that are managed under the Hague Convention.

At this year's our missing children conference, which is being organized by the department of immigration and brings together all the key players in the area of missing and abducted children, sessions will be devoted to international child abduction and to reporting any new initiatives under way to improve the operation of the convention, both here and abroad.

We also have to deal with those countries that currently do not perform as well as we would wish under the Hague Convention. For the sake of Canadian children, we must encourage all countries to re-examine their priorities with a view to improving the operation of the Hague Convention in their own respective jurisdictions.

The Departments of Foreign Affairs and Justice will continue to raise with other countries problems encountered with the operation and the implementation of the Hague Convention. Through policy and operational linkages previously established, particularly between the provincial and territorial central authorities and the relevant federal departments, specific problems being encountered in other countries can quickly be identified and raised in appropriate ways through our consular and diplomatic networks. This is work that the government intends to intensify.

The Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction is an effective instrument that addresses only one of a multitude of issues that often prevail in international child abduction cases. It attempts to deal with and provide guidance on one of the most complex and emotional issues that we, whether as parents, lawmakers or interested individuals, may ever have to deal with; a cross-border child abduction. It assists in providing a framework for proceeding when our family ties are under severe stress or disintegrate to the point that the children disappear.

The underlying principle of the Hague Convention is to respond in a way that protects the best interests of the affected children. Canada is committed to this principle and also committed to making it work, even when family disputes cross international borders and those situations have internally broken down families to the point where the abduction has taken place.

This is a non-partisan issue. It is an issue that can grip the hearts and intellects of all members in the Chamber. I hope we can work together to advance the cause before us to all our benefit.

International Child AbductionPrivate Members' Business

1:45 p.m.

Bloc

Madeleine Dalphond-Guiral Bloc Laval Centre, QC

Mr. Speaker, you will easily understand that it makes me proud to rise today to speak to Motion No. 219, which is aimed at preventing tragedies that will mark you for the rest of your life from occurring again.

I am particularly happy to see that on May 29 every member of the House will be called upon to vote on the motion.

If I may I will read the motion moved by my colleague from Rosemont—Petite-Patrie:

That, in the opinion of this House, the government should show leadership on the international stage: ( a ) by taking action designed to increase the number of signatory countries to the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction; ( b ) by signing bilateral treaties that include commitments to respect custody and access orders as originally handed down by the courts; and ( c ) by taking the necessary steps within its own borders to combat international child abduction.

In 1999 in Canada more than 350 Canadian children disappeared. The worst tragedy that may befall a family is to lose a child. Children may be lost in a senseless accident or to a fatal disease, be it slow or fast. Families eventually have to overcome their grief. When a child is lost under those circumstances, the wound heals with time.

When a child simply vanishes, I do not think a mother can ever get over the loss, nor a father, although as we well know most children are taken away by the father. The figure in Quebec for 1999 was 61 children.

My colleague from Rosemont—Petite-Patrie has brought forward this motion in part because he is well aware of the situation but also because his partner is experiencing this very trauma. This is a motion anchored in peoples' day to day realities.

A few weeks ago there were news reports of a father being intercepted at a New York airport with his son. He was attempting to return to his country. Why was there success in this case? It was the result of considerable co-operation between police, customs and airport authorities. In these situations, which are always dramatic, time is the child's worst enemy. Effective measures must become the rule.

When parents report that a child is missing and there are good reasons to believe that the child may have been abducted—usually a child does not simply vanish into thin air—we must act quickly. The third part of the motion deals with the need for quick action.

I think everyone knows how important this motion is and how important it is to make it clear to the international community that for Canada the right of a child to be with his or her parents is sacred. Abducting a child, taking a child from one of his or her parents, is unacceptable. The only way to show that something is unacceptable is to make it impossible.

On behalf of my colleague from Rosemont—Petite-Patrie, I am taking the liberty of thanking all parliamentarians who spoke to the motion. I thank the government for saying loud and clear that it will support the motion. What I am reading into this is that we will soon see practical measures because of the government's commitment in this regard.

International Child AbductionPrivate Members' Business

1:45 p.m.

Progressive Conservative

Loyola Hearn Progressive Conservative St. John's West, NL

Mr. Speaker, I am not going spend a great deal of time on this, but it is such an important issue. As has already been mentioned, it is a non-partisan issue, and we want to be on the record as supporting it.

All of us as parents and friends of those who have children realize how important it is to keep family units together. In a great country like Canada where the family is such an important unit, perhaps it is even more true than anywhere else.

When we think that families can be divided because one or other decides to leave and go back to his or her place of former residence, or perhaps just to take off and take one or more of the children, we all realize the impact it has on the family and on our community generally.

Our country, our government, should take whatever steps we can at an international level to ensure that other countries feel the same way as we do. In the agreements we sign we should make sure that in the event these happenings occur, which they should not, we can quickly move on them without having to see people go through devastating experiences. I am thinking of the book written by Betty Mahmoody, Not Without My Daughter . Those of us who have read it or seen the movie understand what that family went through. Certainly we all have our own examples.

Just a couple of years ago in the St. John's area a father took his three young children and disappeared. It is has been a couple of years. No one knows where they have gone, if they are still in the country or have left the country. It has had a devastating effect on the family and certainly on the community generally.

Canada is melting pot of nationalities. Because of that many of our younger people marry people who come from other countries and sometimes, if things do not work out, they leave. Occasionally they have taken the children, which has caused tremendous grief. It is interesting that in many of the cases where young people have been abducted security forces at airports have had concerns that something was wrong but did not have the proof or the authority to do anything about it.

Those of us who have travelled extensively over the years remember that the times when we went to airports and the first prominent people standing around were members of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. It might be worth while asking if we have been too lax in airport security. I know we have good people checking our suitcases and frisking us. That is all wonderful, but many things go through airports that cannot be detected by a scanner, whether they be hand-held or otherwise.

Professional people understand and identify problems. Looking for signs is important. There is an old saying that forewarned is forearmed. Perhaps we could tighten up the security, even if it means having the RCMP again playing a prominent role at airports. The extra cost is very little in comparison with the grief caused to too many families. As I say, because of our international involvement and the type of country we have, we are susceptible to such things happening.

As we move ahead in this regard, it is not something we should only deal with if a meeting happens to be called somewhere along the line. It is an issue Canada should push and should keep pushing until we get everyone agreeing with us.

Many people agree with us. Sometimes the more people come together, the more others are embarrassed not to do so. Despite their own national concerns about family units and how they operate and whatever, surely there is no one anywhere in the world who would deny the right of children to be with their parents, certainly the ones most responsible for looking after them.

We certainly support the measure and ask the government to do everything in its power to make sure that abductions of Canada's children end.

International Child AbductionPrivate Members' Business

1:55 p.m.

Bloc

Madeleine Dalphond-Guiral Bloc Laval Centre, QC

Mr. Speaker, I rise on a point of order to inform the House that May 25, next week, will be Missing Children's Day.

I believe that for the parents who have to live day after day with the tragedy of the loss of a child, the testimony given today will act as a healing balm.

I would be remiss if I did not use this forum and take this opportunity to pass on this information.

International Child AbductionPrivate Members' Business

1:55 p.m.

The Deputy Speaker

I must conclude that, from a procedural point of view, this is not a point of order but rather an information bulletin. It is fair ball, however, and it is a very important issue.

Is the House ready for the question?

International Child AbductionPrivate Members' Business

1:55 p.m.

Some hon. members

Question.

International Child AbductionPrivate Members' Business

1:55 p.m.

The Deputy Speaker

Pursuant to the order made earlier today, the question on Motion No. 219 is deemed put and the recorded division deemed demanded and deferred until Monday, May 28, 2001, at the expiry of the time provided for government orders.

It being 2 p.m., the House stands adjourned until Monday, May 28, at 11 a.m., pursuant to Standing Orders 24 and 28.

(The House adjourned at 1.56 p.m.)