Debates of Jan. 27th, 2021

Foreign Affairs

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, we have been highlighting our deep concerns about the situation in Xinjiang for many years to the Chinese government. We have also worked very, very closely with our international partners on holding them to account.

We take allegations of genocide extraordinarily seriously, and that is why we are going through the right processes in terms of establishing our perspective and our official position on that. I understand the desire to move quickly on that, but it is also extremely important that we move rigorously on it.

Health

[Helena Jaczek, Liberal, Markham—Stouffville, ON]

Mr. Speaker, we have a range of tools in our fight against COVID-19, and having access to quick test results is important in stopping the spread.

Can the Prime Minister provide an update on the status of rapid testing in Canada?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, I thank the member for Markham—Stouffville for her excellent work.

Testing is one of the most important tools we have to stop the spread of COVID-19. We are working around the clock on the approval and procurement of new testing technologies. We have approved six rapid tests to date and sent almost 15.9 million rapid tests to provinces and territories over the past months. Even yesterday, we shipped almost 250,000 Panbio tests to Ontario.

We will continue working with industry, the provinces and territories and public health experts to ensure that our communities have the tools they need to keep Canadians safe.

COVID-19 Emergency Response

[Alexandre Boulerice, NDP, Rosemont—La Petite-Patrie, QC]

Mr. Speaker, Air Canada flight attendants have been the victims of a serious injustice.

The Liberals could not care less about workers and are allowing large corporations like Air Canada to manipulate the Canada emergency wage subsidy with impunity and for their own benefit. Rather than maintaining the employment relationship with thousands of its employees, Air Canada is pocketing as much it can and laying off four out of five flight attendants, ignoring the subsidy's primary purpose.

Will the Liberals ever stop catering to the interests of large corporations and rich people? Will they ever put workers first?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, the wage subsidy was introduced to help workers, and that is what it has done for millions of workers across the country.

We will continue to ensure that the assistance goes directly to the workers. Any individual or company that does not follow the guidelines and deliver this government money as intended to help workers will suffer the consequences.

Raif Badawi

[Yves-François Blanchet, Bloc, Beloeil—Chambly, QC]

Mr. Speaker, there have been discussions among the parties, and if you seek it, you will find unanimous consent for the following motion:

That this House call upon the Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship to grant citizenship to Raif Badawi by exercising his discretion under section 5 of the Citizenship Act, which authorizes him to grant citizenship to any person to alleviate cases of special and unusual hardship.

[The Speaker, Liberal, Anthony Rota]

This being a hybrid sitting of the House, for the sake of clarity, I will only ask those who are opposed to the request to express their disagreement. Accordingly, all those opposed to the hon. member moving the motion will please say nay.

I hear none. The House has heard the terms of the motion. Is it the pleasure of the House to adopt the motion?

[Some hon. members]

Agreed.

[The Speaker, Liberal, Anthony Rota]

(Motion agreed to)

Girl Guides of Canada Act

[Alexandra Mendes, Liberal, Brossard—Saint-Lambert, QC]

Mr. Speaker, there have been consultations among the parties, and I believe if you seek it, you would find unanimous consent for the following motion:

That, notwithstanding any standing order or usual practice of the House, Bill S-1001, An Act respecting Girl Guides of Canada, be deemed read a second time and referred to a committee of the whole, deemed considered in committee of the whole, deemed reported without amendment, deemed concurred in at the report stage and deemed read a third time and passed.

[The Speaker, Liberal, Anthony Rota]

This being a hybrid sitting of the House, for the sake of clarity, I will only ask those who are opposed to the request to express their disagreement. Accordingly, all those opposed to the hon. member moving the motion will please say nay.

I hear none. The House has heard the terms of the motion. Is it the pleasure of the House to adopt the motion?

[Some hon. members]

Agreed.

[The Speaker, Liberal, Anthony Rota]

(Motion agreed to, bill read the second time, considered in committee of the whole, reported, concurred in, read the third time and passed)

Visual Displays

[Mark Gerretsen, Liberal, Kingston and the Islands, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I rise on a point of order.

Earlier this week, one of your deputies ruled on whether slogans could be worn on face masks. She had indicated that they could not. I notice that the member for Battle River—Crowfoot is wearing the exact same mask that she had ruled on. In addition to that, I have noticed that a couple of members of the Bloc Québécois actually have their party logo on their masks.

I was wondering if you would like to take this opportunity to make the ruling again so that all members could be made aware of that ruling.

[Gérard Deltell, Conservative, Louis-Saint-Laurent, QC]

Mr. Speaker, just a few minutes ago, or less than an hour ago, you let a member express himself even though he was not respecting the rules. I just want to make that point.

[The Speaker, Liberal, Anthony Rota]

I want to clarify. Usually there is some flexibility during statements by members. However, the hon. member is right. I let the member talk because it was not something that caused a negative feeling for members of the House. The House leaders are discussing that subject to determine what will and will not be allowed.

We are not allowed to have a slogan or anything that represents something on a mask or in general in the chamber. I will be coming back to the chamber with a definitive answer on that, once I have consulted the leaders in the House.

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

Mr. Speaker, a discussion took place on Monday, when it was brought up because that particular logo on a mask had something to do, specifically, with a very real thing within my constituency.

I have seen various members of all parties do similar things at different points in time. The NDP, the Bloc Québécois and Liberals have very clearly displayed certain types of messaging, including some of the backdrops that the Liberals have used in their video conferences.

In this act of consideration, when it comes to an issue that is of real and significant importance: not a slogan, but something that truly affects 1,000 jobs within my constituency, simply standing up for—

[The Speaker, Liberal, Anthony Rota]

We are getting into the area of debate right now. I just want to clarify to all the members in the chamber and virtually, again, that I will be coming back with a definitive answer. I want to consult the House leaders to make sure that we have everyone on board and we have a very clear policy. It has been very fuzzy in the past, and we have let some things slide. I think we want to make sure we have a clear understanding of where we are going with this.

[Scott Reid, Conservative, Lanark—Frontenac—Kingston, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I want to inform the discussion you are going to have. I am very glad you are doing this, because you are right. The rule, the convention or the practice really has been fuzzy in the past.

We are dealing with a situation regarding the Bloc Québécois masks in particular, but also the mask of my colleague from Alberta. Nobody would know this was a problem if the member had not raised it, because these people were not in the camera shot.

A relevant precedent to take into account here is the practice regarding how one is dressed in the House of Commons. The expectation that one will wear a tie and be in business attire is important when one is speaking. It seems to me there is a clear distinction between when one is speaking, or in the camera shot, and when one is not. That is a relevant precedent to take into account as you form your decision.

[The Speaker, Liberal, Anthony Rota]

I want to thank the hon. member. It will certainly be discussed among the House leaders.

Criminal Code

[The Speaker, Liberal, Anthony Rota]

It being 3:27 p.m., pursuant to order made Monday, January 25, the House will now proceed to the taking of the deferred recorded division on the motion at second reading stage of Bill C-238 under private members' business.

Call in the members.

[And the bells having rung:]

[The Speaker, Liberal, Anthony Rota]

Given that this is the first recorded division on a Private Member's Business item in this Parliament, and with the implementation of hybrid sittings, I would like to take a moment to explain the new process to hon. members.

We will begin with the sponsor, whether he is participating in person or virtually.

We will then proceed to the vote for members participating in person who are in favour of the motion, beginning with the back row of the side of the House on which the sponsor sits.

The members on the other side of the House will then vote, again beginning with those in the back row. The votes of those who oppose the motion will then be recorded in the same order.

Finally, we will call members who are participating by video conference one by one in alphabetical order and by party based on the list at the table.

The list of members voting by video conference has now been established for use by the table.

(The House divided on the motion, which was negatived on the following division:)

Vote #41

[The Speaker, Liberal, Anthony Rota]

I declare the motion defeated.

The House resumed from January 26 consideration of the motion that Bill C-224, An Act to amend An Act to authorize the making of certain fiscal payments to provinces, and to authorize the entry into tax collection agreements with provinces, be read the second time and referred to a committee.