Debates of June 9th, 2016

Human Touch Award

[Kyle Peterson, Liberal, Newmarket—Aurora, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to bring attention to a special constituent in my riding. Marjorie Brewster is 86 years young and has volunteered at the Southlake Regional Health Centre pediatric oncology clinic for the past 27 years, and can be found there four days a week. Marjorie lost her own son to leukemia when he was only nine years old. She treats the children at the clinic as if they were her own. She spends her own money on toys for children who are undergoing cancer treatment and brings joy to them and their families. She is a shining light for these families during some pretty dark days.

Marjorie has been awarded the prestigious Human Touch Award by Cancer Care Ontario, celebrating the unsung heroes on the front lines of cancer patient care. Marjorie is a shining example of the positive impact one can have in a community through volunteerism. Marjorie is making a difference in our community every day.

My special thanks to Marjorie.

Foreign Affairs

[Denis Lebel, Conservative, Lac-Saint-Jean, QC]

Mr. Speaker, ISIS has committed crimes against humanity aimed at Christians as well as other religious and ethnic minorities.

The United States has called this is a genocide. The United Kingdom has done the same.

Will the Prime Minister finally join Canada's allies and recognize that the crimes perpetrated by ISIS constitute genocide?

[Pam Goldsmith-Jones, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Foreign Affairs]

Mr. Speaker, Canada strongly condemns the atrocities and widespread abuses perpetrated by the so-called Islamic State against religious and ethnic communities. Whether ISIL's crimes constitute a genocide is not for us to decide. It is not a political determination. The determination is a legal one.

That is why we share the view of the governments of the U.S. and the U.K. and the UN Special Adviser on the Prevention of Genocide to the Secretary-General, that the situation must be the subject of an independent investigation by a competent court or tribunal.

National Defence

[Denis Lebel, Conservative, Lac-Saint-Jean, QC]

Mr. Speaker, we know that Canada needs new fighter jets. During the election campaign, the Prime Minister promised to hold a transparent and competitive process to purchase the fleet of jets.

Will the Prime Minister commit to act like a statesman and listen to what the experts have to say about this? Will he follow through on his promise to hold an open process to provide our men and women in uniform with the best equipment available so that they can serve our country well?

[Harjit S. Sajjan, Liberal, Minister of National Defence]

Mr. Speaker, as I said yesterday, I find it rich that the member is talking about open competition, considering they were going to be sole-sourcing the F-35. Right now we are in the process of doing our due diligence in making sure we have the right information, but no decision been made. However, we will be replacing the fighter.

[Denis Lebel, Conservative, Lac-Saint-Jean, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the signature to begin the F-35 process was made by the Liberals. Whatever, Canada needs new fighter jets. Whatever the Prime Minister claimed during his campaign, and no matter what was stated in his platform, it is now time for him to act like a statesman. Will the Prime Minister make the commitment to provide our men and women in uniform with the best equipment they need through a transparent and competitive process?

[Harjit S. Sajjan, Liberal, Minister of National Defence]

Mr. Speaker, our government is committed to making sure that our men and women have the right equipment, and we will continue to do so in all our services.

[Andrew Scheer, Conservative, Regina—Qu'Appelle, SK]

Mr. Speaker, the brave men and women of the Canadian Armed Forces do not ask for much. They go where we ask them to go, they follow orders dutifully, and they get the job done. The least we can do is help them protect themselves as they protect us. However, this is a Liberal hat trick. They pull our jets out and leave our troops vulnerable; they allow campaign promises to determine equipment purchases, instead of the military experts; and they break their promise for an open and competitive process.

Why is the minister putting politics ahead of the safety of our men and women in uniform?

[Harjit S. Sajjan, Liberal, Minister of National Defence]

Mr. Speaker, as a former serving member in combat, I can assure you that my government and I would never be putting our men and women in vulnerable situations.

Foreign Affairs

[Andrew Scheer, Conservative, Regina—Qu'Appelle, SK]

Mr. Speaker, weeks ago, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry stated that ISIS “kills Christians because they are Christians; Yezidis because they are Yezidis; Shia because they are Shia”.

The Obama administration has clearly and unequivocally labelled the atrocities committed by ISIS against these vulnerable minorities as crimes against humanity that constitute a genocide. Yet the Liberal government has the gall to say that there is not enough evidence and that further investigation needs to occur.

Are there any Liberals who are embarrassed that our Prime Minister is afraid to take a moral position and call the murder of innocents a genocide?

[Pam Goldsmith-Jones, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Foreign Affairs]

Mr. Speaker, let me be clear about what Secretary of State Kerry actually said, because the Conservatives on purpose leave out this paragraph. He said:

I want to be clear. I am neither judge, nor prosecutor, nor jury with respect to the allegations of genocide, crimes against humanity, and ethnic cleansing by specific persons. Ultimately, the full facts must be brought to light by an independent investigation....

That is what our government is doing, and that is why we sent a letter, and that is why we have received a response from the Iraqi ambassador thanking us for a strong stand against ISIL.

Physician-Assisted Dying

[Peter Julian, NDP, New Westminster—Burnaby, BC]

Mr. Speaker, in 2015, the Supreme Court of Canada rendered a historic unanimous decision. It recognized the constitutional right to medical assistance in dying in certain circumstances.

Instead of doing things right, the Liberals chose to play politics with this matter of rights. The Liberals refused to listen to the experts and rejected all of the opposition's substantive amendments.

How will they fix a bill that does not even respect Canadians' rights?

[Jody Wilson-Raybould, Liberal, Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada]

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to stand up and speak to medical assistance in dying, Bill C-14, the legislation we put forward to provide a national framework for medical assistance in dying in this country. This national framework would provide and strike the right balance between personal autonomy and protection of the vulnerable. This is a significant step forward for us as a country. It certainly respects rights, balances rights, and is justifiable and responsible in terms of the time frame we had to put it in place.

[Peter Julian, NDP, New Westminster—Burnaby, BC]

Mr. Speaker, two courts, the Alberta Court of Appeal and the Ontario Superior Court, say that what the Minister of Justice just said is wrong, and we trust those court decisions.

The Liberals have badly mishandled medically assisted dying. It should have been non-partisan and evidence-based, and they have made it political. They steamrolled Parliament to pass an unconstitutional bill. Now the Senate is refusing to pass the legislation without the amendments we proposed.

Liberals know full well that their bill will not survive a court challenge. Will they now admit that the bill must be fixed, and will they fix it?

[Jody Wilson-Raybould, Liberal, Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada]

Mr. Speaker, I disagree with the premise of the question. The reality is, with respect to the court decisions from Alberta and otherwise, that those court decisions were with respect to specific amendments that were in place prior to June 6. They were not decisions with respect to Bill C-14, the legislation we have put forward.

The Supreme Court of Canada provided great deference to Parliament to put in place the necessary and balanced approach to medical assistance in dying, and that is exactly what we have done in Bill C-14.

[Ruth Ellen Brosseau, NDP, Berthier—Maskinongé, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the Liberals are in a mess entirely of their own making. The NDP tried to bring all parties together at the special committee. We tried to fix the bill at second reading. Then we tried again to fix the bill at report stage. Every step of the way, we proposed solutions based on witness recommendations, and the Liberals just rejected them all, every step of the way. Will the Liberals finally admit that they have made a mistake, and will they fix the bill to make sure it respects the rights of Canadians?

[Jane Philpott, Liberal, Minister of Health]

Mr. Speaker, as my colleague has already indicated, we responded to the Supreme Court of Canada decision and put in place a piece of legislation that would allow Canadians to have the autonomy they require to access medical assistance in dying, while simultaneously upholding the protection of vulnerable people. It is our hope that the Senate will deal with this legislation and that we will be able to, as soon as possible, allow Canadians who want that access to have it. However, we want to also, at the same time, make sure vulnerable people are protected, and we will do the work necessary.

[Ruth Ellen Brosseau, NDP, Berthier—Maskinongé, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the government needs to stop providing false information.

We can protect vulnerable people and respect the rights of Canadians. The government rejected all of the opposition's proposals to make Bill C-14 consistent with the charter and Carter. As a result, the Senate is making the same proposals. If the bill is not amended, it will be challenged.

How can the Liberals justify forcing people who are sick and vulnerable to go to court to protect their rights?

[Jane Philpott, Liberal, Minister of Health]

On the contrary, Mr. Speaker, because of the legislation we put in place, ideally as soon as possible, people who require dignity in their last days of life would be able to have that access. Right now, unfortunately, there is no legislation in place; there is a patchwork of regulatory processes across the country that do not adequately respect the safeguards that need to be there. We hope our colleagues will work with us to see that this legislation passes at the earliest possible date.

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship

[Michelle Rempel, Conservative, Calgary Nose Hill, AB]

Mr. Speaker, yesterday, under fire for ignoring the plight of the Yazidis, the minister said, “...acceptance of refugees is based on those who are most vulnerable...”.

Hundreds of thousands of Yazidi people have been murdered, tortured, raped, sold into sexual slavery, and forced from their homes at the hands of ISIS. These are the most vulnerable people in the world. ISIS has committed genocide and war crimes against ethnic and religious groups in the country, including Yazidis. Why does the minister not feel any urgency in helping these people?

[John McCallum, Liberal, Minister of Immigration]

Mr. Speaker, of course the situation facing Yazidis is deplorable, but from the beginning we have welcomed vulnerable refugees as determined by the United Nations, irrespective of religion. In addition, we are admitting refugees from other countries, including Yazidis. We are very proud of the fact that we have admitted almost four times as many refugees as did the Conservatives.

[Michelle Rempel, Conservative, Calgary Nose Hill, AB]

Mr. Speaker, department officials, on May 12, admitted that they had processed nine cases of Yazidis as part of tens of thousands of people brought to Canada by the government's Syrian refugee initiative.

We then learned that the minister had been approached months ago about a plan to bring 400 Yazidis girls to Canada. He denied hearing about this. Shaarey Zedek Synagogue in Winnipeg is raising funds to bring Yazidis to Canada.

With so many Canadians wanting the government to act on this, why is the minister completely ignoring the plight of these girls?

[John McCallum, Liberal, Minister of Immigration]

Mr. Speaker, the number nine is wrong. Our department does not record the nationalities or religions of the refugees.

I have, in fact, spoken to the individuals in that synagogue to which the member refers. We had a good conversation. We are working actively to bring those refugees to Canada as soon as possible. Her facts are wrong.

We are working very hard to admit refugees of all descriptions, including Yazidis.

[Joël Godin, Conservative, Portneuf—Jacques-Cartier, QC]

Mr. Speaker, people in Saint-Ubalde in my riding joined forces and raised $25,000 to cover a refugee family's expenses for one year.

They rented a house and made all the arrangements. I visited the house and there are even photos of the family on the refrigerator. The family is still waiting for an arrival date. This situation was urgent during the Liberals' campaign.

Will the minister speed up the process, show some respect for people in the regions, and allow them to welcome the family this summer?

[John McCallum, Liberal, Minister of Immigration]

Mr. Speaker, we have already expedited the process. A few weeks ago, I said that anyone who had submitted an application before March 31 would arrive in Canada by the end of this year or early next year.

Our challenge is that Canadians are so generous that it is hard to admit refugees fast enough. However, we are doing our best and we have expedited the process. It is wonderful to see how generous Canadians are.