Mr. Speaker, I rise in debate tonight to follow up with a question that I raised some months ago with regard to ongoing and sustained support around refugees coming to Canada, and the government's plan to be transparent about that.
Today, given that it is Pride Month, I think it is very timely that we talk about the fact that the government has yet to commit to extending or making a program regular that was implemented under our former Conservative government and would see ongoing and sustained support for groups that are seeking to protect some of the world's most vulnerable people, and that is LGBTQ refugees, or people who are persecuted from that community from different parts around the world.
We certainly know that there are countries in which state-sanctioned violence and persecution of members of this community occur. Iran, for example, is a regime where there is actually state-sponsored and state-sanctioned persecution of members of these communities.
Right now in Chechnya we understand that there are gay men who have been rounded up and put in concentration camps simply because of who they choose to love. This is wrong. This is abhorrent. While we certainly have a lot of work to do at home here in Canada when we talk about protecting the rights of members of this community in our country, we also have a moral obligation, an imperative to use Canada's position as a human rights leader to protect those in situations such as this.
I would like to see the report on the study we had in the parliamentary committee become accelerated and hopefully tabled in this place before we rise. To date that has not yet happened. There is no report tabled in the House and that is of great concern to me, given specifically the situation that has unfolded in Chechnya and the fact that we are seeing escalations of violence against members of these communities in countries such as Iran.
It is one thing for the Prime Minister, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, or any member of the government committee to stand for a photo op with the pride flag, as was done today. It is a very different thing to move forward an agenda that would protect members of these communities who are some of the most vulnerable in the world, and we have not seen that.
Prior to the House rising for the summer, government members on the Standing Committee on Citizenship, Immigration and Refugees have the opportunity to table a report, which hopefully has cross-party support, with recommendations which would see regular and sustained funding for the pilot program that assisted members of this community coming to Canada. We heard from civil society groups that this is something that is very much supported. This program has been absolutely successful, yet we have not heard anything from the government and I think it is shameful.
Therefore, when will the government commit to ensuring that there is regular, ongoing funding for the pilot program started under our former Conservative government to accelerate and protect the needs of LGBTQ refugees from around the world?