Madam Speaker, let me offer my sincere congratulations to you on becoming the Assistant Deputy Speaker.
A common theme in the speech of my colleague across the way was urgency. If we look at the issues affecting the Canada-China relationship, whether it is fentanyl that makes its way to our shores that is affecting our communities through the opioids crisis, whether it is what our canola producers are going through, whether it is the detention of Canadians and the multiple human rights concerns, yes, we see that there is a sense of urgency. A special committee is not struck to study a relationship unless something is going seriously wrong. I would argue that the actions of the Chinese government over the past several years have pushed the House of Commons to this point.
We have confidence in the standing committees, but I think if the House were to pass this motion today and establish this special committee to tie all those threads together into one comprehensive area of study and report, it would send a strong message to the Government of China that we have taken notice of its actions and we say, “no more”. We have to put our foot down in the sand. We have to let China know that we are treating this issue with the seriousness that it deserves.