Debates of Oct. 17th, 2012

Ways and Means

[The Speaker, Conservative, Andrew Scheer]

I declare the motion carried.

Foreign Affairs

[Ed Fast, Conservative, Minister of International Trade and Minister for the Asia-Pacific Gateway]

Mr. Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 32(2) I have the honour to table, in both official languages, the treaties entitled “Convention on the Settlement of Investment Disputes Between States and Nationals of Other States”, done at Washington on March 18, 1965, and “Protocol Amending the Agreement Between Canada and the United States of America on Great Lakes Water Quality, 1978”, as amended on October 16, 1983, and on November 18, 1987, done at Washington on September 7, 2012.

An explanatory memorandum is included with each treaty.

Government Response to Petitions

[Tom Lukiwski, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons]

Mr. Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 36(8) I have the honour to table, in both official languages, the governments response to 21 petitions.

Human Rights

[John Baird, Conservative, Minister of Foreign Affairs]

Mr. Speaker, in the eight days since the despicable Taliban beasts attempted to take Malala Yousufzai's life, the world has come together. Shock has turned the hurt and anger into action to honour the bravery of a young woman with tremendous courage.

Her inspiration is seen both in the peaceful protests on Pakistan streets and in the quiet vigil outside of her British hospital. As we hope and pray for her speedy recovery, let us reflect on what she has taught us. Whatever sacrifices we have had to make to uphold dignity, respect and humanity, each one of us can and must refuse to bow before evil. It is the collective duty of our shared humanity.

While few of us in Canada will ever know what it means to be targeted for simply wanting to go to school, to have our basic rights repressed or to have our communities hijacked by terrorism, this, sadly, is a real and present danger in Pakistan.

In a country where women leaders have been assassinated, where repression is condoned by power elements of an increasingly unchecked military, where some in the ruling class broker power with terrorists instead of standing for everyday people, the real victims of terrorism, we now see an irreducible call for dignity.

Tens of thousands of Pakistani men, women and children have turned out to publicly support Malala's cause. Like Malala, they are fearless in standing up to evil and setting an example for the rest of the world.

It took the courage of one brave child to unleash the will of the once silent majority. As she fights to recover, she lives as a reminder that the courage of life is a magnificent mixture of triumph and tragedy.

Malala is fighting for freedom, despite the consequences she suffers, and despite real threats to her life. She gives us hope and inspires us.

On behalf of the Government of Canada and on behalf of all Canadians, we wish her a speedy recovery and hope that her sacrifice will lead to genuine change for which she has fought so hard.

[Paul Dewar, NDP, Ottawa Centre, ON]

Mr. Speaker, first, I thank the minister for his statement in support of Malala Yousufzai.

Today, our thoughts are with Malala. We support her and pray for her recovery. We salute her courage. We stand in solidarity with millions of people around the world who, like Malala, are struggling for equality.

Sixty-four years ago, the world community signed onto the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Sixty-four years ago, we all reaffirmed our faith in fundamental human rights, the dignity and worth of the human person and in the equal rights between women and men.

However, 64 years later, women are still not equal. Their bodies are strewn on the front lines of conflicts. A young woman's call for equal access to education is answered by bullets of hate.

It is obvious today that we, as a global community, have failed to promote and protect the fundamental rights which 64 years ago we declared to be universal. However, the violence of the extremists will not deter us.

Look how Malala's determination is echoed by millions in Pakistan and around the world. The forces of hate that shot a young woman in the head will not and must not be the ones that we listen to.

We must listen to her voice. Malala has a dream of equality, access to education and opportunity and a world where everyone's human dignity is recognized.

As Gloria Steinem once said, “Without leaps of imagination, or dreaming, we lose the excitement of possibilities”. Without those opportunities, we lose these things.

The extremists and reactionaries do not want a young woman to know the excitement of possibilities, but the excitement of possibilities is universal. We must strive for equality at home and abroad. In this struggle, Malala is not alone. We cannot let her be alone. We must not turn our backs now.

The minister spoke about Malala as a source of inspiration. Let this ministerial statement today mark the moment that Canada's Parliament stood united for women's empowerment. Let it be the start of a real and tangible contribution to realizing the dreams of millions for true equality and true human dignity.

[Irwin Cotler, Liberal, Mount Royal, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I begin by associating myself with the words of the Minister of Foreign Affairs and the member for Ottawa Centre. Like all members of this place, I too was shocked and saddened to hear of the brutal attempt on the life of Malala Yousafzai, the brave young Pakistani woman whose advocacy for access to education, for equality and for human dignity, as my predecessor said, inspires us all.

While deeply saddened, I should perhaps not be shocked. It was not long ago that I rose in this place in remembrance of Shahbaz Bhatti. Pakistan's minority affairs minister was tragically assassinated shortly after his visit to Canada where he met with our international human rights subcommittee. He told us then that he was under standing threats from extremists for his efforts. He was under a fatwa for seeking to protect minority rights and for seeking to repeal the blasphemy laws, which have been used to suppress the Christian minorities and where the mere accusation itself can incite hatred and even death.

In that regard, the House stood together as one to seek the release of Asia Bibi, the Pakistani woman jailed on such false allegations simply for giving someone water.

How tragic it is to see that we still live in a world where terrorists like the Taliban would target a young 15-year-old girl as she is going home from school, just because she believes in her most basic rights and stands up for them.

The Liberal Party joins with all others in this place in praying for Malala's recovery. We trust that the perpetrators of this horrific deed will be brought to justice with all deliberate speed. We condemn in the strongest terms possible the campaign now being waged against her in cyberspace and elsewhere by the Taliban, which seeks to paint this brave young teen, lying in a hospital bed in the U.K., as a spy, as a symbol of the West, as an enemy of Islam and worse.

Malala's vision and values, her courage and commitment, remind us all of that which needs to be done, not only in the struggle against terror and religious extremism, not only against those who would cruelly hijack religion in the name of religion, but also to ensure the equality, the dignity and the free exercise of belief for women in all spheres of life, and particularly in the realm of access to education.

This courageous young woman has become the rallying cry of a nation, the message and metaphor for the struggle for freedom in the most profound sense of the word. Her cause has mobilized her fellow citizens, who are now bravely standing up against the Taliban in common cause, putting their lives on the line in the hopes of a better tomorrow for their children. I share their hope that Pakistan can purge itself of religious extremists, of those who seek to subjugate women, of those who would engage in perhaps the most cowardly and despicable act of all, of attempting to assassinate a child, and are still seeking, as we meet, to assassinate a child.

I have had occasion to meet and work with inspiring women leaders from around the world, such as Massouda Jalal of Afghanistan and Pakistan's Asma Jahangir. I am convinced that countries will only succeed when women's voices are heard, when their fundamental rights are affirmed, when their dignity is respected and when their lives are secure.

May we here in Canada add our voices to those in Pakistan, in the region and around the world, praying for peace, praying for justice and recognizing that indeed we are all Malala.

[Maria Mourani, Bloc, Ahuntsic, QC]

Mr. Speaker, since this is, in my view, a non-partisan situation, I would like to seek my colleagues' unanimous consent to present the Bloc's point of view on this unacceptable situation.

[The Speaker, Conservative, Andrew Scheer]

Does the hon. member for Ahuntsic have the unanimous consent of the House to respond to the minister's statement?

[Some hon. members]

Yea.

[The Speaker, Conservative, Andrew Scheer]

Agreed. The hon. member for Ahuntsic has the floor.

[Maria Mourani, Bloc, Ahuntsic, QC]

Mr. Speaker, first of all I would like to sincerely thank all my colleagues for giving us an opportunity to speak about this unacceptable situation.

When a girl, no matter where she lives, is attacked in what is the most precious part of her development, that is, education, the right to life or the right to live in peace, it is a direct attack on us as individuals. These children living in Pakistan, Afghanistan or elsewhere in the world where flagrant attacks are made on women's rights are also our children. This is how we have to look at them.

It is with a great deal of emotion that I am speaking today. When I see this young girl, who started fighting for the rights of women at such a young age, I am very hopeful. I have hope and a belief in a better world.

Some children are brave enough to fight in countries where the right of expression is a matter of life and death. They can be killed by any means at any time. They can be kidnapped. They can see their brothers, their sisters or their parents die because they dared to speak out for what they value most: the right to education, life, respect and human dignity. I tell myself there is still hope in this world, because there are still children who fight for their rights.

For justice to be served, we who are so far from Afghanistan, Pakistan and those other countries have to stand up and offer our solidarity to the children and the women who fight. It is of the utmost importance that we denounce these situations unanimously and courageously. We must talk about girls’ education.

I would also like to address another aspect, another terrible scourge that women face, and that is violence against women. Whether we are talking about excision, trafficking in women and children throughout the world, the case of little Malala Yousafzai or the status of all girls, it is important that here in the House, regardless of the political party to which we belong, we send a message to the whole world that in Canada and in Quebec, violence against women is unacceptable and gender equality is a fundamental right.

I would like to thank all my colleagues for allowing me to speak today. On behalf of the Bloc Québécois, I can assure them that we will defend the rights of women and children, whether in Canada, in Quebec or anywhere else in the world.

[The Speaker, Conservative, Andrew Scheer]

Does the hon. member for Saanich—Gulf Islands have a similar point of order?

[Elizabeth May, Green, Saanich—Gulf Islands, BC]

Mr. Speaker, I would also like to take the floor to express the feelings of the Green Party about the current situation.

[The Speaker, Conservative, Andrew Scheer]

Does the member for Saanich—Gulf Islands have the unanimous consent of the House to respond to the ministerial statement?

[Some hon. members]

Agreed.

[Elizabeth May, Green, Saanich—Gulf Islands, BC]

Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleagues on all sides of the House for the opportunity to speak as leader of the Green Party of Canada in the tragic situation of the shooting of Malala Yousafzai.

The fact that she was targeted, and we all feel this so keenly, I wish, as my friend from Mount Royal said, to associate myself with the comments of the hon. Minister of Foreign Affairs, the member for Ottawa South, my esteemed colleague from Mount Royal and my friend from the Bloc.

We stand in a non-partisan sense as Canadians whose values embrace the absolute right of young women to be the equivalent, the equals, of any man in their society. To have the right of education is something so fundamental that all of us are shocked to our core by what has happened to Malala.

It seems that in Pakistan the events have turned the tide against the Taliban, because people across various parts of that society recognize the evil in targeting a 14-year-old girl who wants nothing more than to be able to read, to write, to pursue her education and to pursue a life as a full-fledged member of that society.

Since there are very few words to add, I wonder if I could have the permission of my friends on all sides of the House to not think of Malala as a symbol but Malala as a 14-year-old girl who is lying in a hospital bed and, if we could, rise for a moment in contemplation and, if it moves us, in prayer, collectively as a House, to urge Malala's well-being and to pray for her health.

[The Acting Speaker, Conservative, Bruce Stanton]

I understand that the hon. member wishes members to stand and observe a moment of silence. Is this agreed?

[Some hon. members]

Agreed.

[The Acting Speaker, Conservative, Bruce Stanton]

[A moment of silence observed]

Interparliamentary Delegations

[Gord Brown, Conservative, Leeds—Grenville, ON]

Mr. Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 34(1) I have the honour to present to the House, in both official languages, the following report of the Canadian delegation of the Canada-United States Inter-Parliamentary Group respecting its participation in the following two meetings.

The first is the 52nd annual meeting and regional policy forum of the Council of State Governments' Eastern Regional Conference, which was held in Atlantic City, New Jersey, on July 20 to 23, 2012. Second is the 67th annual meeting of the Council of State Governments' Midwestern Legislative Conference, which was held in Cleveland, Ohio, July 15 to 18, 2012.

Health

[Joy Smith, Conservative, Kildonan—St. Paul, MB]

Mr. Speaker, I have the honour to present, in both official languages, the 11th report of the Standing Committee on Health in relation to Bill S-206, An Act respecting World Autism Awareness Day. The committee has studied the bill and has decided to report the bill back to the House without amendment.

Canada Elections Act

[Craig Scott, NDP, Toronto—Danforth, ON]

moved for leave to introduce Bill C-453, An Act to amend the Canada Elections Act (preventing and prosecuting fraudulent voice messages during election periods).

Mr. Speaker, as MP for Toronto—Danforth and as the official opposition's democratic reform critic, I rise to introduce this private member's bill entitled, an act to amend the Canada Elections Act (preventing and prosecuting fraudulent voice messages during election periods). Seconding the bill is my hon. colleague the member for Winnipeg Centre. I would like to express my sincere gratitude to him and his staff for all of the work that they have done, which has been crucial in developing the bill.

On March 12, the House of Commons voted unanimously to adopt a New Democratic motion that called on the government to bring forward legislation within six months to amend the Elections Act in the way that the bill seeks to do. It is now well over six months and the Conservatives have not yet acted on the motion. Accordingly, the bill steps into the breach at least for the moment. It now proposes amendments to the Canada Elections Act to make it an offence, subject to severe fines, to knowingly transmit false information through voice messages. In addition, it creates certain obligations to report to Elections Canada in a mandatory framework.

The NDP has taken the initiative by doing the groundwork. No doubt the bill could be improved, perhaps greatly improved, through collaboration with all parties in the House. I look forward to such collaboration.

(Motions deemed adopted, bill read the first time and printed)

All Buffleheads Day Act

[Elizabeth May, Green, Saanich—Gulf Islands, BC]

, seconded by the hon. member for Thunder Bay—Superior North, moved for leave to introduce Bill C-454, An Act respecting an All Buffleheads Day.

She said: Mr. Speaker, it appears I am lightening the mood in this corner already with the news that I am presenting a private member's bill for October 15 to be declared a national All Buffleheads Day. I bring the good news that the most punctual duck in Canada is now back. The Buffleheads travel to far-flung places, but on the 298th day of the solar cycle, like clockwork, our smallest diving duck returns. This duck puts the swallows of Capistrano to shame and is a better weather predictor than the groundhog.

This is a wonderful duck to celebrate. All Buffleheads Day will be put forward to all members to decide whether we should mark it every year on October 15. We can come together for many things. The little Bufflehead duck is found across Canada and it is worth celebrating.

(Motions deemed adopted, bill read the first time and printed)

Child and Youth Nutrition

[Mike Wallace, Conservative, Burlington, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I have a petition from citizens of my riding who are asking the federal government to provide national leadership in support of child and youth nutrition programs through the Departments of Health and Agriculture to recognize child and youth nutrition programs as a key health promotion strategy to reduce obesity and diabetes and to ensure Canadian children have access to healthy food as they need to thrive for their futures.

International cooperation

[Anne-Marie Day, NDP, Charlesbourg—Haute-Saint-Charles, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to present a petition signed by hundreds of people, most of whom are from my riding, Charlesbourg—Haute-Saint-Charles, strongly condemning the government's drastic cuts to Canada's international aid budget.

Canada ranks among the stingiest donor countries for international aid and is now ruthlessly slashing partnerships with NGOs despite their proven track record with regards to efficiency and quality of results in the fields of development and peace.

This International Day for the Eradication of Poverty, I present this petition calling on the government to set clear policy objectives regarding official development assistance and to meet these objectives once and for all.