Debates of Oct. 8th, 2020

Financial Administration Act

[Don Davies, NDP, Vancouver Kingsway, BC]

moved for leave to introduce Bill C-248, An Act to amend the Financial Administration Act (composition of boards of directors).

Mr. Speaker, I am honoured to rise today to introduce an important bill to Parliament. This legislation would amend the Financial Administration Act to require gender parity on the boards of directors of Crown corporations and agencies. I would like to thank the hon. member for London—Fanshawe for seconding this bill and for her tireless advocacy of gender equality.

Today in Canada, women make up only 27% of federal appointments to Crown corporation boards. Only 18% of director seats are held by women across all corporate boards in Canada, and 61% of boards are composed entirely of men. This is unacceptable and must change.

By adopting this legislation, the federal government can lead by example and take concrete action to advance gender equality in Canada. For systemic change to occur, we must change the system. I hope all parliamentarians will support this important and overdue initiative.

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

Physician-Assisted Dying

[Arnold Viersen, Conservative, Peace River—Westlock, AB]

Mr. Speaker, I have the privilege of presenting five petitions.

The first petition I am presenting is looking for additional safeguards in the euthanasia legislation. The government is pursuing, with reckless abandon, the expansion of euthanasia across the country. The petitioners say that rather than pursuing assisted dying, they would like us to pursue assisted living. With COVID, the plight of our elderly has been highlighted. These petitioners are calling on the government to pursue stronger safeguards for euthanasia.

Human Trafficking

[Arnold Viersen, Conservative, Peace River—Westlock, AB]

Mr. Speaker, the second petition I am presenting today was signed by 1,600 citizens of Canada and calls on the Government of Canada to move quickly to restore funding to organizations that help folks who have been caught up in human trafficking or sex trafficking.

Earlier in the year, the funding for nine organizations was cut by the federal government. NGOs like the London Abused Women's Centre lost their funding, which supports survivors of sex trafficking. The government failed to renew its funding this spring in the middle of the pandemic. Because of public pressure, some of these NGOs got their funding back, and this petition calls for the funding for all nine NGOs to be restored.

Sex Selection

[Arnold Viersen, Conservative, Peace River—Westlock, AB]

Mr. Speaker, the third petition I am presenting calls on the House of Commons to quickly pass the bill from my colleague from Yorkton—Melville. She has a bill calling for the condemnation of sex-selective abortion.

Firearms

[Arnold Viersen, Conservative, Peace River—Westlock, AB]

Mr. Speaker, the fourth petition is signed by Canadians across the country who are concerned about the order in council banning firearms across the country. They are calling on the government to reverse the order in council made on May 1 and to propose measures that will effectively address illegal firearms use in the country while respecting the rights of law-abiding citizens. They are calling on the government to enact substantial changes to Canada's firearms laws so that the government and the RCMP do not make unilateral decisions.

Human Rights

[Arnold Viersen, Conservative, Peace River—Westlock, AB]

Mr. Speaker, finally, and I thank the House for its indulgence today, I have a petition calling on the government to recognize the genocide that is being perpetrated against the Uighurs in China. We have probably all seen the photographs from the BBC report of the masked prisoners being loaded into cattle cars and brought to concentration camps. We have said never again over and over in this place, yet it appears it is happening again on our watch. Therefore, the petitioners are calling on the government to recognize the genocide and use the Magnitsky act in any way possible.

[The Speaker, Liberal, Anthony Rota]

I want to remind hon. members to be as succinct as possible when presenting petitions.

Presenting petitions, the hon. member for Kamloops—Thompson—Cariboo.

[Cathy McLeod, Conservative, Kamloops—Thompson—Cariboo, BC]

Mr. Speaker, I rise to present a petition for a number of Canadians across the country who are very concerned about the Uighur situation in China. They are looking for Magnitsky sanctions, among other mechanisms, to deal with this horrific issue.

Justice

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

Mr. Speaker, not to be outdone by my friend from Peace River—Westlock, I also have five petitions. We are in a race to see who can have the most children and also, apparently, who can table the most petitions.

The first petition is with respect to illegal firearms in Canada.

The petitioners are concerned about the import and use of illegal firearms. They think the government is failing to focus on this problem by instead banning legal guns and going after responsible firearms owners.

The petitioners are calling on the Government of Canada to reverse the Order in Council banning certain firearms imposed on May 1, and instead to propose effective measures for dealing with illegal guns, often smuggled into Canada, to actually focus on the real cause of gun crime.

Physician-Assisted Death

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

Mr. Speaker, the second petition is with respect to Bill C-7.

The petitioners are concerned that the government is removing vital safeguards that only a few short years ago the government said were very much essential.

The petitioners are calling on the Government of Canada to reconsider its decision to remove the mandatory 10-day reflection period, and to also reconsider its proposal in Bill C-7 to remove the requirements for independent witnesses.

Afghan Minority Communities

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

Mr. Speaker, the third petition brings attention to the human rights challenges and persecution faced by Afghanistan's Sikh and Hindu minorities.

The petitioners call for action from the Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship. They call for him to create a special program to help persecuted minorities in Afghanistan be directly sponsored by their communities here in Canada.

I note that this petition has the support of a letter signed by members of the Conservative, NDP and Green Party caucuses.

Human Organ Trafficking

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

Mr. Speaker, the fourth petition is about Bill S-204, a private member's bill in the Senate proposed by Senator Salma Ataullahjan that would make it a criminal offence for a person to go abroad and receive an organ in a case where there had not been consent for that organ to be given.

The petitioners are very much in support of Bill S-204 and want to see it passed quickly.

Human Rights

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

Mr. Speaker, the fifth and final petition highlights the absolutely horrific situation facing Uighur Muslims in China and the persecution they are facing at the hands of the Chinese Communist Party.

The petitioners are calling on the Government of Canada to have the courage to match action with words and apply Magnitsky sanctions against those responsible for these modern-day concentration camps.

[The Speaker, Liberal, Anthony Rota]

Before we continue, I want to remind hon. members to bring their petitions to the table themselves, and when moving around the chamber to please remember to put on their masks. We do not want to endanger anyone's life in the chamber.

Income Tax Act

[Scott Simms, Liberal, Coast of Bays—Central—Notre Dame, NL]

Mr. Speaker, I appreciate this time to introduce a very important petition, one that I agree with substantially.

The petition concerns our children in the midst of COVID-19, considering the arts in particular. Dance, drama and the visual arts are very important for our children, especially now with so many children out of school, throughout the summer of course. Even now it is hard for them to get back into the arts. For physical activity and social interaction, the arts in education, dance, drama and visual art, are very important.

This brings me to the petition I want to introduce, which is good for owner-operators of academies and studios, and provides financial assistance to parents who want the arts to be more accessible for our kids to partake in.

Here is the petition, precisely:

We, the undersigned, citizens of Canada, call upon the Government of Canada to classify children’s arts (dance, drama, visual arts) in the same educational category as music, and provide HST/GST-exempt status, retroactive to January 1, 2019.

This is a great proposal for getting our kids back into the arts so that they can flourish. I want to particularly thank Denise Vokey of St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador, and also Lee Newman and Tom Carter of the Stouffville Academy of Music and Dance for bringing this to my attention. We look forward to the government's response.

Human Rights

[Rachael Thomas, Conservative, Lethbridge, AB]

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in the House on behalf of constituents from across Canada who are raising the issue with regard to the Uighur Muslim minority in China, who are currently being persecuted at the hands of their own Communist government.

The individuals who have signed this petition are calling on the Government of Canada to take action on behalf of this vulnerable group of people.

Trans Mountain Pipeline

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

Mr. Speaker, it is an honour to present a petition. It was signed some time ago, so events have moved, but it is still relevant. It is petition 10619710, previously certified, in the matter of the Trans Mountain Pipeline, the Government of Canada's decision to buy it from Kinder Morgan, the amount of money the petitioners believe was wasted in buying it and a plea to the government, as most of the $13 billion of additional costs has not yet been expended, to halt financial support to the Trans Mountain Pipeline.

Human Rights

[Marty Morantz, Conservative, Charleswood—St. James—Assiniboia—Headingley, MB]

Mr. Speaker, I am delighted to rise to present my first petition in this place. It is also about the persecution of the Uighurs. The petition says in part that it is clear that the UN conventions around the prevention and punishment of the crime of genocide have been breached. Canada cannot remain silent in the face of this ongoing atrocity. The petition formally requests we recognize that Uighurs in China have been, and are being, subject to genocide and to use the Magnitsky Act in this case.

As it is my first time standing, I was reminded of one of my favourite writer's quotes when I was reading this petition. Elie Wiesel, writer and Holocaust survivor, said, “We must always take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented.”

[Alex Ruff, Conservative, Bruce—Grey—Owen Sound, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I have a petition on behalf of Canadians who call on the House to formally recognize the genocide and atrocities against the Uighur population and Muslim minorities in China, and for us to take the appropriate action via sanctions. As someone who was deployed to countries where genocide has occurred, we need to stand up against this now.

[Karen Vecchio, Conservative, Elgin—Middlesex—London, ON]

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. I too have a petition for action on this as well, like so many of my colleagues, to say we stand against the genocide that is happening to the Uighurs. Just as many of my colleagues have stated, this is an issue that many Canadians are standing strong on. We should be against this genocide and bring forward the Magnitsky Act.

[Jamie Schmale, Conservative, Haliburton—Kawartha Lakes—Brock, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I wish to join my colleagues in presenting this petition signed by Canadians from across this great country. The petitioners call upon the Communist Party of China to stop its horrific human rights abuses against the Uighurs and also ask the Government of Canada to impose sanctions on those responsible.

[Len Webber, Conservative, Calgary Confederation, AB]

Mr. Speaker, I have a petition regarding the issue in China. It brings attention to the Uighur Muslims and the ongoing campaign of Uighur birth suppression by the Chinese Communist Party, which includes methods such as forced sterilization and abortion. It is estimated that up to three million Uighurs and other Muslim minorities have been detained in what have been described as concentration camps. We would like to use the Magnitsky Act to impose sanctions on those who are responsible for these heinous crimes.

Sex Selection

[John Williamson, Conservative, New Brunswick Southwest, NB]

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to table this petition with 98 signatories. They call on Parliament to pass a Criminal Code prohibition on sex-selective abortions. The petitioners are drawing to the House of Commons' attention that sex-selective abortions are legally permitted in Canada. I believe a broad consensus exists among Canadians to end this abhorrent practice. As parliamentarians, we too must be clear on this. I hope this consensus will be respected and reflected in the House of Commons.

Questions on the Order Paper

[Kevin Lamoureux, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the President of the Queen’s Privy Council for Canada and to the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons]

Mr. Speaker, I would ask that all questions be allowed to stand at this time.

[The Speaker, Liberal, Anthony Rota]

Is that agreed?