Debates of Dec. 9th, 2020

Human Organ Trafficking

[Eric Melillo, Conservative, Kenora, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the last petition expresses concerns to the House of Commons about international trafficking in human organs. It calls on the government to prohibit Canadians from travelling abroad for that purpose and to render inadmissible to Canada all permanent residents or foreign nationals who have participated in such practice.

Human Rights

[Martin Shields, Conservative, Bow River, AB]

Mr. Speaker, the petitioners call on the House of Commons to formally recognize that Uighurs in China have been and are subjected to genocide. They call on the government to use the Magnitsky act to sanction those individuals who are responsible.

[Damien Kurek, Conservative, Battle River—Crowfoot, AB]

Mr. Speaker, I have three petitions signed by many Canadians.

The first petition recognizes that Uighurs in China have been and are subject to genocide and that mechanisms in law should be used to ensure those responsible for their heinous crimes are brought to justice.

Human Organ Trafficking

[Damien Kurek, Conservative, Battle River—Crowfoot, AB]

Mr. Speaker, the second petition is related to trafficking in human organs. The petitioners want to ensure that this horrific practice is criminalized in Canada.

Medical Assistance in Dying

[Damien Kurek, Conservative, Battle River—Crowfoot, AB]

Mr. Speaker, the third petition is to ensure that safeguards are put into the deeply flawed Bill C-7.

Human Rights

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

Mr. Speaker, I have three petitions to table today.

The first petition calls on the government to formally recognize that the Uighurs in China have been and are subject to genocide.

The petitioners call for the government to use the Justice for Victims of Corrupt Foreign Officials Act and sanction those who are responsible for these crimes being committed against the Uighur people.

Human Organ Trafficking

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

Mr. Speaker, the next petition is on organ harvesting.

The petitioners call on the House of Commons to amend the Criminal Code and the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act to prohibit Canadians from travelling abroad to acquire human organs removed without consent or as a result of a financial transaction and to render inadmissible to Canada any permanent residents or foreign nationals who have participated in this abhorrent trade in human organs.

Medical Assistance in Dying

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

Mr. Speaker, the final petition is on Bill C-7.

The petitioners are requesting that the Government of Canada return the safeguards it has removed specifically related to the 10-day reflection period and the number of witnesses, so someone is properly consoled and consulted.

Human Rights

[Michael Cooper, Conservative, St. Albert—Edmonton, AB]

Mr. Speaker, I have one petition to present.

The petitioners wish to bring the attention of the House to an ongoing campaign of gross human rights violations being perpetrated by the Chinese communist regime against Uighur Muslims. They call on the House to declare this to be a genocide and to impose Magnitsky sanctions on those responsible.

Firearms

[Brad Vis, Conservative, Mission—Matsqui—Fraser Canyon, BC]

Mr. Speaker, I have another petition from my constituents calling on the government to stop targeting licenced law-abiding firearms owners.

The petitioners call for our limited resources to be focused on anti-gang enforcement, reducing involvement of at-risk youth in gang violence and on providing the Canada Border Services Agency with the tools it needs to stop the flow of illegal guns into our country.

Sex Selection

[Brad Vis, Conservative, Mission—Matsqui—Fraser Canyon, BC]

Mr. Speaker, the second petition today addresses sex-selective abortion.

The petitioners highlight that while it remains legal in Canada, polling shows 80% of Canadians believe it should be illegal. We need to show Canadians the House supports gender equality at all stages of life.

Medical Assistance in Dying

[Brad Vis, Conservative, Mission—Matsqui—Fraser Canyon, BC]

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

Specifically the petitioners would like to restore the 10-day reflection period for people whose deaths have been determined to be reasonably foreseeable and to require medical professionals to do everything possible to enable the person to access life-affirming services to review their suffering, other than physician-assisted death.

Human Rights

[Brad Vis, Conservative, Mission—Matsqui—Fraser Canyon, BC]

Mr. Speaker, the next petition I have today has to do with the ongoing human rights abuses in China toward Uighur Muslims.

Human Organ Trafficking

[Brad Vis, Conservative, Mission—Matsqui—Fraser Canyon, BC]

Mr. Speaker, the final petition today has to do with organ harvesting. There are concerns about international trafficking in human organs and these petitioners call on the Government of Canada to do something about it.

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

Mr. Speaker, I rise on a point order. There are a couple more of us who have petitions to present. In these last days of this sitting of Parliament, I was wondering if I could get unanimous consent to present a few more petitions.

[The Deputy Speaker, Conservative, Bruce Stanton]

Does the hon. member have unanimous consent to extend the period for presenting petitions?

[Some hon. members]

No.

[The Deputy Speaker, Conservative, Bruce Stanton]

There is no unanimous consent to extend the period today. I would remind hon. members that, of course, there will be other opportunities to present petitions in the days ahead.

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, the following questions will be answered today: Nos. 170, 184 and 202.

Question No.170

[Lianne Rood, Conservative, Lambton—Kent—Middlesex, ON]

With regard to compensation for farmers who produce products subject to supply management resulting from signing the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement and other trade agreements: (a) broken down by type of producer (dairy, chicken, etc.), what is the total amount of compensation sent to farmers in (i) 2019, (ii) 2020; (b) in the year immediately following August 19, 2019, when a news release was put out by Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada announcing that $345 million in compensation will be paid to dairy producers in the first year in the form of direct payments, how much was actually paid out; and (c) for all planned payments over the next five years, broken down by type of producer, what are the (i) dates, (ii) amounts, (iii) formula used, (iv) name of trade agreement compensation was related to?

[Marie-Claude Bibeau, Liberal, Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food]

Mr. Speaker, in regard to part (a) of the question, the dairy farm investment program, which was established as a result of the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement, provided $61,852,928.14 in fiscal year 2018-19 and $61,686,884.48 in fiscal year 2019-20 in dairy compensation.

In regard to part (b), the dairy direct payment program provided $338,634,952.78 in fiscal year 2019-20 as compensation for dairy farmers.

Finally, in regard to part (c), details related to planned payments for eligible producers of supply-managed commodities are still being determined.

Question No.184

[Maxime Blanchette-Joncas, Bloc, Rimouski-Neigette—Témiscouata—Les Basques, QC]

With regard to the erosion of multiple government services in the Quebec administrative region of the Lower St. Lawrence over the past 25 years: (a) how many and which departments and agencies, in full detail, have reduced or increased their staffing in the abovementioned region; (b) what is the exact number of public service jobs involved; (c) what specific impact studies were completed as part of the decision-making process that led to these staffing reductions; (d) what performance assessments and analyses were conducted as part of this process in each of these departments and agencies; (e) exactly how much in overall payroll did the transferred or abolished jobs amount to; (f) what were the full costs incurred by the government to relocate public servants and their families; and (g) what socio-economic analyses did the government conduct before the various decisions to abolish or relocate these jobs, including the list of the various findings of the public consultations on these issues?

[Greg Fergus, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the President of the Treasury Board and to the Minister of Digital Government]

Mr. Speaker, the government is strongly committed to recruiting and retaining a dynamic and diverse workforce that can deliver on its priorities.

The size and makeup of the public service fluctuates in response to government priorities and program requirements. Deputy heads have an ongoing responsibility to manage staffing and workforce adjustment decisions within their organizations.

Workforce adjustment is a situation that occurs when a deputy head decides that the services of one or more indeterminate employees will no longer be required beyond a specified date because of the discontinuance of a function or a lack of work, a relocation in which the employee does not wish to relocate, or an alternative delivery initiative.

All indeterminate employees in the core public administration, both represented and unrepresented, are covered under workforce adjustment agreements.

Question No.202

[Jack Harris, NDP, St. John's East, NL]

With regard to government litigation: how much has it cost the government to litigate the case of Abousfian Abdelrazik and his claims that Canada violated his rights under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, including the value of all legal services, disbursements, and costs awards for Federal Court file numbers T-727-08, T-1580-09, and DES-3-18, from June 1, 2008, to the present?

[David Lametti, Liberal, Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada]

Mr. Speaker, with respect to the costs incurred by the government to litigate the case of Abousfian Abdelrazik and his claims that Canada violated his rights under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, to the extent that the information that has been requested is or may be protected by any legal privileges, including solicitor-client privilege, the federal Crown asserts those privileges. In this case, it has only waived solicitor-client privilege, and only to the extent of revealing the total legal costs, as defined below.

The total legal costs, actual and notional costs, associated with Mr. Abousfian Abdelrazik Charter claims, both at the Federal Court, Federal Court file number T-727-08, T-1580-09, T- 889-10 and DES-3-18; and Federal Court of Appeal, Federal Court of Appeal file number A-370-09, since June 1, 2008, amount to approximately $9.3 million. This amount covers the costs associated with the numerous procedures, including interlocutory motions and appeal thereof that have been filed in these court cases over a period of more than 12 years. The services targeted here are litigation services provided, in this case, by the Department of Justice, as well as litigation support services. Department of Justice lawyers, notaries and paralegals are salaried public servants and therefore no legal fees are incurred for their services. A “notional amount” can, however, be provided to account for the legal services they provide. The notional amount is calculated by multiplying the total hours recorded in the responsive files for the relevant period by the applicable approved internal legal services hourly rates. Actual costs covered in the total amount mentioned in this response include file-related legal disbursements as well as costs awards. The total amount mentioned in this response is based on information currently contained in Department of Justice systems, as of October 23, 2020.