Debates of Oct. 20th, 2016

Finance

[Linda Lapointe, Liberal, Rivière-des-Mille-Îles, QC]

Mr. Speaker, there has been much talk in recent weeks about the fall economic statement from the government. Can the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Finance inform the House of any updates in this regard?

To reiterate, there has been a lot of discussion in recent weeks about the government's fall economic statement.

Will the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Finance update the House on this?

[François-Philippe Champagne, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank the hon. member for Rivière-des-Mille-Îles for her interest.

I am proud to inform the esteemed members of this House, first and foremost, that in just a few minutes the Minister of Finance will indeed announce that the fall economic statement will be presented to this House on November 1.

Our government is proud of what we have accomplished for the middle class and those working hard to join it, and we look forward to continuing on this path.

Once again, the Minister of Finance will present the fall economic statement to this House on November 1.

Health

[Colin Carrie, Conservative, Oshawa, ON]

Mr. Speaker, given their Ottawa-knows-best attitude, it is no surprise that the Liberals are telling the provinces and territories how they should invest in health care. Not only do the Liberals feel it is their job to control everything health care related, but shamefully, they have even begun accusing the provinces of misspending the money they already get.

This is far from the collaborative approach that the Liberals promised Canadians and the premiers. When will the Liberals stop trying to interfere in provincial jurisdiction?

[Jane Philpott, Liberal, Minister of Health]

Mr. Speaker, it was my privilege to have a meeting this week with my counterparts, the ministers of health in the provinces and territories. It is absolutely essential in the matter of health that we collaborate with all partners that are involved, including people in government. I am pleased to say that I also had consultations and meetings with stakeholders, and I met with patient advocacy groups.

It is when we all work together that we will be able to see improvements in the health care system, and for everyone to recognize their responsibility. It is a shared responsibility and we will certainly do our part.

Intergovernmental Relations

[Gabriel Ste-Marie, Bloc, Joliette, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the Liberal members from Quebec are working very hard to ensure that Quebec either goes into deficit or is unable to maintain its services.

After cutting health transfers, now Ottawa has decided to reduce its share of infrastructure spending from 50% to 40%. Once again, Quebec and the municipalities will end up footing the bill. We are talking about hundreds of millions of dollars less for Quebec.

We realize that it is the Liberal Party's favourite colour, but can someone from the government explain why their party is so determined to put Quebec in the red?

[Amarjeet Sohi, Liberal, Minister of Infrastructure and Communities]

Mr. Speaker, we are proud to work with the Province of Quebec to deliver on the historic commitments that we made to build and rebuild Canadian communities from coast to coast to coast.

In the case of Quebec, I have approved 17 projects with a total value of $1.4 billion. We are working very closely to deliver on the commitments we have made.

Government Promises

[Luc Thériault, Bloc, Montcalm, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the Liberals said they would do things differently.

However, they broke their promises about respecting provincial jurisdiction in health care, an infrastructure program funded at 50%, the Aveos workers, medical assistance in dying, and reforming the electoral system, a promise broken by the Prime Minister now that the Liberals are in power. This is the same party leader who said he was fed up with politicians breaking their promises.

Is that what real Liberal change looks like?

[François-Philippe Champagne, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to respond to my colleague from Montcalm.

I can tell the House what we have accomplished. We have cut taxes for the middle class, introduced the Canada child benefit, and enhanced the Canada pension plan. Furthermore, we have made historic investments in infrastructure and in innovation, in measures to help seniors, and in the student loans and bursaries program.

We kept all those promises. That is the Liberal government.

Presence in Gallery

[The Speaker, Liberal, Geoff Regan]

I would like to draw to the attention of hon. members the presence in the gallery of the Honourable Clarice Modeste-Curwen, Minister of Tourism & Civil Aviation of Grenada.

[Some hon. members]

Hear, hear!

[The Speaker, Liberal, Geoff Regan]

I would like to draw to the attention of hon. members the presence in the gallery of the Honourable Volda Ann Lawrence, Minister of Social Protection of the Republic of Guyana.

[Some hon. members]

Hear, hear!

Business of the House

[Candice Bergen, Conservative, Portage—Lisgar, MB]

Mr. Speaker, before I ask the Thursday question I want to congratulate my colleague, the member for Victoria, for his new position as House leader for the NDP. I also want to thank the member for New Westminster—Burnaby for the work he has done over a number of years as opposition House leader for the NDP. I was only privileged to work with him for a short time. He had a reputation of being tough and a little difficult to work with, but I do not know how my colleague the new government House leader feels, but I felt he was fairly good to work with. We definitely will miss him, but we are looking forward to working with the member for Victoria as the new House leader.

That said, I would ask the government to inform us what it will be doing for the rest of this week and into next week as well.

[Bardish Chagger, Liberal, Leader of the Government in the House of Commons and Minister of Small Business and Tourism]

Mr. Speaker, I have to agree with the opposition House leader. It has been quite delightful to work together, and I hope we can continue the relationship we have created so we can be productive in this place for Canadians.

This afternoon we will continue debate on the Conservative motion. Tomorrow, we will begin second reading of Bill C-26 respecting the Canada pension plan.

We will call the bill on Monday and, hopefully, conclude debate on Tuesday. On Wednesday, we will commence debate on Bill C-25, the business framework legislation. Thursday shall be an allotted day.

Finally, I would like to thank all hon. member for the progress on legislation so far this week.

The House resumed consideration of the motion and of the amendment.

Opposition Motion—Genocide Against the Yazidi people

[The Speaker, Liberal, Geoff Regan]

Resuming debate, the hon. member for Sarnia—Lambton.

[Marilyn Gladu, Conservative, Sarnia—Lambton, ON]

Mr. Speaker, we are on to questions, I believe. I had finished.

[The Speaker, Liberal, Geoff Regan]

You have three minutes remaining in questions and comments. I thank the member for that correction.

Questions and comments, the hon. Parliamentary Secretary to the Government House Leader.

[Kevin Lamoureux, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons]

Mr. Speaker, as the day has proceeded, we have heard a great deal of sympathy for, and an attempt to really get a good understanding of, the situation of the Yazidis. It is important that we recognize as much as possible what this is all about. We need to continue what has been a fairly positive year, in which Canada has opened its arms in a very compassionate way to refugees, and recognize how important the situation of the Yazidis is in terms of the whole issue of genocide.

My question for the member is related specifically to that. Does she or her party have in mind the number of Yazidi refugees they would like to see arrive here?

[Marilyn Gladu, Conservative, Sarnia—Lambton, ON]

Mr. Speaker, rescuing every single Yazidi girl that could be rescued from being raped another day would be a positive step. I know we have done lots of good work in the past. We have shown that we can enable 25,000 to come in less than four months. I think that is commendable, and I would love to see as many Yazidis as we could possibly bring in in that time frame.

[Garnett Genuis, Conservative, Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan, AB]

Mr. Speaker, we are having an important discussion about the situation facing Yazidis. I really hope that some government members will look at the situation the motion addresses, as well as the good faith efforts we have made to deal with some of their concerns, while still making this motion substantive.

The member also spoke about the situation impacting a Syrian Christian. It is important that when we talk about Yazidis, we recognize as well the challenges facing other minorities, in particular the Syrian Christians, who also face genocide. It is not only the Yazidis.

I wonder if the member could talk a bit more about the context of what is impacting the Yazidis, but also about other communities, such as the Syrian Christians.

[Marilyn Gladu, Conservative, Sarnia—Lambton, ON]

Mr. Speaker, absolutely. The Christians are suffering genocide. There are no Christians left in Mosul.

If we look at the reduction in the number of Christians in the area, it is 4.4 million. That is as many as the Holocaust, nearly. Their situation is equally dire. As for the number of refugees we have received, the Christians did not come in those numbers because they do not go into the camps because they are killed and persecuted there.

In addition to the urgency with the Yazidis, there is also urgency with the Christians. There are organizations in place that have already mobilized lists of these people, the Ezra organization, the Samaritan's Purse, and are ready to go if we can only act.

[Marc Miller, Liberal, Ville-Marie—Le Sud-Ouest—Île-des-Soeurs, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I will be splitting my time with the hon. member for Etobicoke Centre.

Since it has been one year since I was elected to represent the riding of Ville-Marie—Le Sud-Ouest—Île-des-Soeurs, I would like to take a moment to thank my constituents for their support.

I would also like to recognize the traditional land of the Kanien’kehaka or Mohawk people, on which my riding, Tiotake, is situated, with a small greeting:

[Member spoke in Mohawk as follows:]

Skana Sewagwegon.

That is appropriate in the context, because it is a peace greeting.

I have the honour, but also the heavy burden, of rising today to discuss a topic of great importance, genocide, and the motion moved by my colleague from Calgary Nose Hill.

When we talk about genocide, our thoughts immediately turn to the Shoah and the atrocities committed by the Nazis during the Second World War, particularly against the Jews.

As a human being, it is easy and even natural to get angry and upset. However, as legislators, we have to remain calm and deliberate in our words and actions. Often, our words are all we have and they have a major impact not only here in Canada but also throughout the world.

In 1948, in light of the atrocities committed during the Second World War, the United Nations adopted the Convention for the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide. This document has two important components: prevention and punishment.

Too often, in these debates, the emphasis is put on repression, on punishment for the crimes committed. However, that is not the most important thing. After the Shoah, when the entire world said, “never again”, there was talk of prevention and a world where mass burials would be a thing of the past.

Yet it has happened several times since 1948. Srebrenica. Rwanda. And now, the Yazidis, and perhaps even other religious groups, such as Shia Muslims. As lawmakers, it is our duty to interpret the words in a legal sense, and the legal definition of the word “genocide” differs significantly from what most people think it means.

Here is the definition according to the convention on the prevention of genocide:

...genocide means any of the following acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group, as such:

(a) Killing members of the group;

(b) Causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group;

(c) Deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part;

(d) Imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group;

(e) Forcibly transferring children of the group to another group.

Whether genocide has taken place by mass killing or via any of the other categories I just mentioned turns on whether the perpetrator had a specific intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnic, or religious group. Crimes against humanity, on the other hand, include a much wider range of offences and lack the specific intent to destroy a group in question as such. Both are despicable.

The confusion between these two types of crimes in a previous motion by the official opposition was the reason that many of my colleagues on this side of the House voted against it. Unfortunately, today, we have been unable to achieve consensus among the parties, and partisanship has consumed us.

The motion we have proposed to the other side reads as follows: “That the House (a) recognize that ISIS is committing genocide against the Yazidi people; (b) acknowledge that many Yazidi women and girls are still being held captive by ISIS as sexual slaves; (c) support recommendations found in the June 15, 2016, report issued by the United Nations Commission on Inquiry on Syria entitled, “They came to destroy: ISIS Crimes Against the Yazidis”: and (d) call on the government to take action as soon as possible upon all the recommendations found in sections 210, 212, and 213 of the said report, undertake best efforts to provide asylum within 120 days to the victims of ISIS, including the Yazidi people who have experienced rape, torture, prolonged captivity, sexual slavery, and other atrocities.”

In the case of the Yazidis, the evidence not only of crimes against humanity but also of the crime of genocide is overwhelming, as detailed in the report of the UN Human Rights Council issued on June 15 of this year.

These horrific crimes cannot be ignored. We as human beings, not just as parliamentarians, have an obligation to turn the spotlight on the plight of the Yazidis. That is why, in the little time I have today, I want to share with you a small glimpse of the horrors they have lived and continue to live.

As the report indicates, on August 3, 2014, fighters from Daesh swept in across Sinjar in northern Iraq, home to the majority of the world's Yazidis, whose religious community and beliefs span thousands of years and who are publicly reviled and condemned by Daesh. Within days of the attack, Daesh is alleged to have committed systematic, unimaginable atrocities against the Yazidi community: men were forced to choose between converting or being killed; women and girls, some as young as nine, were sold at market and held in sexual slavery by Daesh fighters; and boys were ripped from their families and forced into Daesh training camps.

During its investigation in Syria, the UN commission determined that Daesh had forcibly transferred and continues to forcibly transfer thousands of Yazidi women and children into Syria. It is estimated that at least 3,200 Yazidi women and girls remain captives of Daesh, the majority of whom are held inside Daesh-controlled areas of Syria. It has not been possible to estimate the number of Yazidi boys who have been or are being trained by Daesh forces, though it is clear that many such boys are trained and then forced to fight during Daesh-led offensives.

The witness testimony is compelling. One of them wrote:

After we were captured, ISIS forced us to watch them beheading some of our Yazidi men. They made the men kneel in a line in the street, with their hands tied behind their backs. The ISIS fighters took knives and cut their throats.

That is testimony from a 16-year old girl who was held for seven months and sold once.

I think at this juncture, these acts and many others, coupled with Daesh's intent to wipe out this group as such, clearly establish for the House the undeniable evidence of genocide. Having identified these heinous crimes, we have an obligation as human beings, acting according to the dictates of our conscience, and as a nation that is party to the genocide convention, to act.

As outlined in the jurisprudence of the International Court of Justice, factors to consider when assessing whether we have discharged our obligations under the genocide convention include whether the state has the capacity to influence effectively the actions of persons likely to commit, or already committing, genocide. Therefore, let us discuss Canada's actions.

One year ago, Daesh was in control of significant territory in Iraq and Syria and was able to project an image of semi-permanence, attracting foreign fighters from around the world, and generating significant revenue from oil sales and illicit financial transactions. Now, almost a year later, Daesh is not the same organization it was at the end of 2015. The momentum against Daesh has clearly shifted along all lines of effort.

Our government's strategy, through the coalition of 65 countries, continues to make a difference as the situation on the ground shifts, in particular, for the millions of people who are suffering as a result of the conflicts in the region. By contributing to the military campaign, supporting stabilization efforts, and countering the flow of foreign fighters and Daesh's financing and its despicable narrative, Canada is helping to address some of the deeper drivers of the conflict and helping to build a stable and secure future for the region's people. We are taking this broad approach to ensure that another terrorist organization does not simply fill the void once Daesh is defeated. To that end, Canada has tripled the number of Canadian Armed Forces members advising and assisting the Iraqi security forces, and is providing assistance to the Kurdish peshmerga, in particular, through the provision of training and equipment. On the intelligence level, we have provided two CP-140 Aurora aerial surveillance aircraft to enhance the intelligence and reconnaissance provided to the coalition's military efforts.

Canada's efforts will also include the clearing of improvised explosive devices. As the Minister of Foreign Affairs announced at the July Iraq pledging conference, co-hosted by Canada in Washington, we will contribute to a U.S.-led initiative to clear lEDs in areas liberated from Daesh to facilitate the return of displaced populations. As of today, Canada will commit an additional $2 million to removing IEDs from Nineveh, one of the most affected provinces in Iraq.

Canada is contributing $3.3 million to the Commission for International Justice and Accountability's investigation of crimes committed by Daesh in Iraq. As indicated previously, Canada's contributions are comprehensive and integrated into the coalition's efforts. Now we have to keep up that support if we want to succeed, and the Iraqi people need to know that Canada is with them for the long haul.

May I be so bold as to conclude my speech with the words that General Dallaire used to sign off his fateful message to the United Nations, words that seem just as fitting here: “Where there's a will, there's a way. Let's go.”

[Todd Doherty, Conservative, Cariboo—Prince George, BC]

Mr. Speaker, I want to thank our hon. colleague for his comments and his participation in this discussion today.

I am the father of three incredible, beautiful girls. Time and again, we have heard the stories of the rape, murder, and enslavement of Yazidi women and girls. During his speech, the member said that things have changed, that because of the government's actions, things have changed. The facts of the matter are this. There are still women and girls being taken, enslaved, raped, tortured, and murdered. I implore my hon. colleague. Is he not a father?

Let us put politics aside and put ourselves in that place. It is unbelievable. Can the member not see that Canada must be doing something right now?

If we could bring 25,000 Syrian refugees into Canada in that short time, surely we can do something to get these women and young girls out of such a terrible situation.

[Marc Miller, Liberal, Ville-Marie—Le Sud-Ouest—Île-des-Soeurs, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I thank the hon. member for his intervention. I can truly sympathize. I am the father of three children, including a girl. I understand the personal nature of his implication, and it should inflect in part our actions and our thoughts today.

It is difficult for me to reflect on my family without thinking what I would not do to protect them. I am a legislator in this noble House to represent the people in my riding and their needs. But quite obviously, when we see what is in the nature of the report, things touch us on a very personal basis, and my thoughts immediately turn to my wife and particularly my daughter. I do sympathize with the member's emotions today.

There seems to be this notion that Canada can act alone. It is almost a comic-book approach to international relations. It is odd; it is misguided. It does not reflect the reality of what exists on the international level. We are working with 65 countries. We are doing what we can. This caucus will certainly push to do more, and clearly more needs to be done.