Debates of March 11th, 2021

Interpretation Services in the House of Commons—Speaker's Ruling

[The Speaker, Liberal, Anthony Rota]

I would like to come back to the question raised on March 8, 2021, by the member for Salaberry—Suroît concerning the wearing of certain masks during House proceedings.

The issue that the member raised is an important one because it affects members’ right to participate fully in sittings of the House.

Wearing masks is one of the many constraints related to the pandemic with which the House and its committees have had to deal this past year. The House is called on to reconcile everyone's efforts to follow public health guidelines with members' right to participate fully in proceedings while respecting our rules and practices.

The deliberations and recommendations of the Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs have provided a response to some of the concerns and eliminated obstacles that sometimes seemed unsurmountable. The same is true for the many discussions among House leaders and party whips that have allowed us to continue our work.

It is my understanding as well that discussions continued among the parties and that an agreement has been reached. In order to make the interpreters’ work easier, members who want to wear a mask during their interventions in the House and in committee will have to use procedure masks. These will be made available in the lobbies. At any other time, members may wear any mask they prefer.

We have witnessed, this past year, the importance of co-operating, negotiating and compromising. They are essential to the proper functioning of our parliamentary system.

I thank the hon. members for their attention.

I would also like to thank the hon. member for Salaberry—Suroît for having brought us to this point with the masks.

I also want to thank all members for the co-operation that has taken place. It really shows that Canadian democracy is working strongly and that people are working together. I am very proud to be a part of this chamber.

Conflict of Interest Code

[The Speaker, Liberal, Anthony Rota]

Pursuant to section 15(3) of the Conflict of Interest Code for Members of the House of Commons, it is my duty to lay upon the table the list of all sponsored travel by members for the year 2020, with a supplement as provided by the Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner.

Government Response to Petitions

[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, pursuant to Standing Order 36(8)(a) I have the honour to table, in both official languages, the government's response to seven petitions. These returns will be tabled in an electronic format.

National Day of Observance for COVID-19

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, in February last year, the coronavirus disease discovered in 2019 gave us a new word: COVID-19. However, even as COVID-19 took hold of our planet, even as this new word took over our lives, we found ourselves talking about other words too, about words that were not new at all: sacrifice and solidarity; compassion and community. When the pandemic hit last year, these words, words that have defined Canadians for generations, were suddenly given new meaning. It has been a tough year, a heartbreaking year, but it has been a year that we have faced together, and that is something we must never forget.

On this National Day of Observance for COVID-19, we remember the people we have lost: grandparents and parents; brothers and sisters; friends and colleagues. Each one was loved. Each one was special.

The pandemic is officially one year old. March 11, 2020, will always be the dividing line between before and after. For families and loved ones, each death is also a dividing line between before and after. Today we remember those who lost their lives to COVID-19. They are no longer with us, but we will never forget them.

The great wars of the 20th century gave us an oft-repeated phrase, one that is just as apt for those we lost this year to the pandemic: Lest we forget.

A year ago, Canadians were asked to stay home and stay safe, yet even apart, or perhaps because we were apart, our communities became stronger and stronger. Businesses stepped up to produce PPE when we needed it most. Some went from making hockey masks to face shields. It does not get more Canadian than that. Students and teachers learned how to do school online, and kids did the dishes while they were doing their homework. Young people across the country stepped up to help their neighbours and to serve their communities. Essential workers made sure the shelves were still stocked with food. People cheered from balconies in solidarity with health care workers, the heroes of the pandemic.

Brave women and men in the armed forces answered the call of duty for indigenous communities and for the greatest generation, now in long-term care homes. They were there for our parents and grandparents, and through that service we saw clearly that for every senior in Canada we must do better, and I know we will.

Despite all that, there is hope on the horizon. The vaccine rollout is picking up speed. Millions of doses are coming. Now is not the time to let our guard down.

As people continue to do what needs to be done, I know they find it reassuring when they see all their leaders working together across party lines and levels of government.

We are going through an unprecedented crisis. We will need every Canadian's talent, know-how and ideas to write the next chapter together. We cannot rebuild a just economy for all if we are divided. We cannot make major social initiatives a reality if we refuse to listen to one another.

Over the past year, we have worked together to get through this, and this year, we will keep working together to rebuild.

Compassion, community, sacrifice and solidarity are where we find meaning in the depths of grief. They are our light through a dark time. Every Canadian we lost to this virus will be remembered. Every shift done by a front-line nurse and every mask made by a Canadian worker will not be forgotten. We are stronger together today, tomorrow and always.

[Erin O'Toole, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, today we recognize a sombre national day of observance for COVID-19, a virus that has caused a crisis of historic proportions here in Canada and around the world. More than 22,000 Canadians have died from COVID-19, hundreds of thousands have fallen ill and millions have lost jobs or have had their work severely cut back.

Some Canadians passed away after not seeing their families or loved ones for months. Many parents have struggled to help their kids with online learning at home.

Canadians must also deal with a number of side effects associated with the pandemic. Many workers are concerned about the mental health of their colleagues. Thousands of cancer surgeries have been postponed. Drug and alcohol abuse rates have also increased. Domestic violence has become the shadow pandemic of COVID-19.

In British Columbia, there have been 60% more deaths from the opioid epidemic than from COVID-19. Increasing rates of domestic violence have been the shadow pandemic this past year. Youth mental health issues, presenting as anxiety or eating disorders, are alarmingly on the rise.

The true cost of this pandemic on the lives and livelihoods of Canadians of all walks of life has been staggering, yet after a year, Canadians are still not sure when we can expect life to get back to normal again. We all want to know when we can go back to work regularly, when we can see our classmates in school like we used to and when everyone can expect their vaccinations.

The Conservatives want the government to succeed. Everything is linked to the vaccine rollout. Our nation and our economic recovery depend directly on it. We must do everything we can to get Canadians back to work in every sector and in every region of the country. Canadians need the government to take action, especially to stop the spread of new variants.

Our front-line health care workers are exhausted. Nurses, PSWs, physicians and caregivers have put it all on the line for us this last year, and Canadians appreciate their efforts. Rebecca and I saw their hard work and dedication first-hand when our own family had an experience with COVID-19. We want to thank the dozens of health care workers at the Brewer Park assessment centre for working with us.

Thanks also to Josée Gauthier, our public health nurse.

Our front-line and essential workers deserve our thanks and praise. They also deserve our efforts to ensure that we can provide them with more support and certainty in the future. In the present, they deserve to know when they can expect their lives, which have been turned upside down perhaps more than any others, to return to normal. Small businesses that have been hanging on by a thread also deserve to know when main street can finally breathe a sigh of collective relief.

Canadians still do not know when they will get their first dose of vaccine. Meanwhile, our neighbours to the south will be able to begin their economic recovery, since more than 300 million Americans will be vaccinated by May.

We have worked together to help Canadians in this crisis, and while we have wanted to see more effective programs, we have still put the money and support out the door and worked on fixes after. Like many Canadians, we are frustrated by the slower pace of vaccines here than elsewhere, but we want the government to succeed for the health and well-being of Canadians so that we can get our lives back to normal and can address the unemployment, inequality and strain caused by the crisis.

We must also recommit, as Canadians, to ensure that our country is never again unprepared. We must learn the lessons, build capacity and ensure a swifter and more effective response in the future.

Today, as we see the effects COVID-19 has had on Canada, it is important to work together to improve our vaccination plan and our economic recovery.

Today, we pause, give thanks, remember, take a collective breath and redouble our efforts to beat COVID and get life back to normal. Let us gather up our true patriot love to ensure that Canada conquers COVID and emerges united and stronger than ever before.

Thank you.

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

Mr. Speaker, with the symbol of the white rose, which I brought with me here today, Quebec has chosen to also declare today a day of remembrance. In normal times we would expect the commemoration to be held once the crisis is over, but it has been going on for far too long now, and it is important to tell all those who lost a loved one that we are with them.

More than 10,000 people in Quebec and more than 20,000 in Canada have lost their lives to COVID-19. In Quebec, nearly 300,000 people contracted the virus. These are not just statistics, they are faces, people who are no longer with us.

Like my colleagues, I want to say that we owe a debt of gratitude to health care workers and all those who work in education and child care. Three days after March 8, I would like to note that these frontline jobs are often held by women.

My thoughts go out to the most vulnerable, those whom the pandemic has made even more vulnerable, and to the people living in isolation, poverty and anxiety who are suffering even more and have become more fragile because of this disease.

I am also thinking of the health care system, which is stretched to the limit, of our public finances, which are under strain, and of the fear and despair that seem to have become part of daily life for many of us. Every glimmer of hope grows more uncertain as it is pushed back yet again.

Also on my mind are our seniors, who are facing multiple hardships. They are the most vulnerable of our fellow citizens, the ones most likely to die first from this disease. They are the most isolated among us, and they suffer the most from the loss of their buying power.

Still, I cannot help wanting to find something positive in all this. Obviously, we all know someone who has lost their life to this disease. It will be our duty and obligation to understand what happened and how it happened. We must first put our faith in knowledge and science to defeat the virus so we can put an end to all this.

We will then have to find the best way to kick-start the economy, not in terms of dollar amounts, but in terms of getting Quebeckers and Canadians back on their feet and back to their normal lives. We will have to rebuild our vaccination, medical and health care systems and rebuild a more bountiful and greener economy. It is my hope that we will have understood that this must be a more compassionate and just economy.

We will, of course, have to put ideology aside and strengthen our health care system, look back at what we did well and take stock of what we did not do well.

Above all else, may we always act with compassion, as we have the privilege of being healthy and being in a position to help those who do not have those same privileges. We must open our hearts to those who have struggled through this pandemic, even after being told over and over that everything would be okay. We must open our hearts to them.

[Jagmeet Singh, NDP, Burnaby South, BC]

Mr. Speaker, when we acknowledge today as the anniversary of this pandemic, it requires us to reflect on who has been impacted by this. We have all been impacted. We have all felt this pandemic in some way, but I want to take a moment to think about those who have been hardest hit by this pandemic. It is with great sadness that, when we reflect on who felt this pandemic the most and who bore the brunt of it, we come up with the answer that it was our seniors. Seniors, particularly those living in long-term care, bore the brunt of this pandemic with the worst conditions and with their lives. It is a national shame that it is the case.

I think about so many people, so many loved ones, who were lost when their families could not be with them in their last days. They were lost and families could not grieve their losses, many of which were preventable. It is hard to think about what losing 22,000 Canadians means, but an incredible event on the front lawn of Parliament really illustrated what that meant. Normally, when we see protests on the front lawn of Parliament, it is about the presence of people and how many people show up. In this moment it was about the absence of people. Empty shoes were laid out to represent those we had lost. We lost so many loved ones.

I think of a man I met in Windsor who talked about his father. With a lot of difficulty, he decided he needed to go into long-term care because of his complex care issues. He was in long-term care and caught COVID-19 right around the time the vaccines were announced. He ended up losing his life. To this day, his son is haunted with the thought that if his father had gotten the COVID-19 vaccine, maybe he would still be alive.

When we think about this pandemic, we need to think about those it has hit hardest. It is a national shame that our seniors in long-term care were the ones who bore the brunt of COVID-19. We always need to remember that we could have prevented those deaths. Had we made decisions, had we expedited the vaccination process, we could have saved lives. We need to think about that.

We also need to think about front-line workers, whose courage was incredible in this pandemic. They put their lives in front of the pandemic and put their lives on the line. We are so thankful to them. However, they deserve more than our thanks. They need to be properly cared for and compensated, and we will continue to work for that.

We need to remember that all front-line workers are among the hardest hit. I am not just talking about health care workers, but also about those who work in retail and who hold all sorts of other jobs. They are the true heroes of this pandemic.

I also think about indigenous and racialized people who have been among the hardest hit. Indigenous communities have lived with the constant fear that an outbreak would be devastating to communities that have faced a historic and ongoing lack of access to health care. A pandemic would be devastating. To live with that fear and worry has been completely wrong, and it is why we need to make sure that, in our response to this pandemic and in vaccinating, these vulnerable communities receive the vaccine as quickly as possible.

I also want to reflect on how racialized people have been hit hard by this pandemic. Workers in factories, logistics, transportation and warehouses, who brought us food and continued the supply chain, could not work from home. They did not have that option. As a result, they were among those who were more likely to get infected by COVID-19, and again felt the brunt of this pandemic.

The impact of this pandemic has not only meant a terrible, horrible loss of life, it has also meant the loss of jobs and that small businesses have had to shut down. Specifically, women have been disproportionately impacted. Women have been more likely to lose their jobs because of this pandemic.

In our recovery, we need to never let this happen again.

To honour the memory of those who lost their lives during this pandemic, we need to take special, concrete measures to prevent the same thing from ever happening again.

First, we need to take care of our seniors by taking profit out of long-term care and ensuring that we have national standards to guide us. We need to use all of the knowledge we have gained during this pandemic to ensure that our seniors receive the best care possible.

We need to make sure that, moving forward, we remove profit from long-term care so our seniors no longer bear the brunt of any future outbreak, pandemic or serious event. Our seniors need to be protected, and there are clear steps we can take.

We know front-line workers need to be paid a dignified salary so they can do their work and are protected. We know that when we have a good quality of work, and good conditions of work, it directly means better care for our loved ones in long-term care.

We need to also make sure we are building resilient communities and investing in child care so women can return to work. We need to make sure we build the capacity to produce a vaccine in our own country, ideally owning it publicly so we are never in the same situation of being at the whim of international logistics and supply chain issues.

To prevent what happened with COVID-19 from happening again in the event of another pandemic, we need to invest in child care so that women, who were among the hardest hit, can return to work.

We need to have the ability to manufacture vaccines here in Canada. We also need a Canadian-controlled Crown corporation to manufacture vaccines and essential medications.

It is also important to immediately take real action to prevent a future pandemic.

When we remember the impact of this pandemic, it is not enough to remember the lives lost or the impact on jobs and lost businesses. We also have to commit to preventing this from ever happening again. There are steps we can take, and New Democrats are committed to making that happen.

[The Speaker, Liberal, Anthony Rota]

The member for Saanich—Gulf Islands on a point of order.

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

Mr. Speaker, I am seeking the unanimous consent of the House to give a short speech today.

[The Speaker, Liberal, Anthony Rota]

All those opposed to the hon. member's request will please say nay.

There being no dissenting voice, the request is accepted.

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

Mr. Speaker, I thank all of my colleagues who are in the House and those who, like me, are participating virtually.

Today is a day of observance in memory of all those we have lost over the course of this terrible year. More than 20,000 Canadians have died so far from COVID-19.

We share the same sentiments that others have expressed this morning for each person and each family. I sincerely thank the Prime Minister, the Leader of the Opposition, the leader of the Bloc Québécois and member for Beloeil—Chambly, and the leader of the NDP for their comments.

I do not want to try to throw more thoughts into the chamber this morning, other than to say that we all grieve. We grieve a very difficult year. As many members have said, for some people it was more difficult than for others. It was more difficult for our seniors in long-term care homes, for marginalized people and for indigenous communities, but it is hard to make a list without leaving someone out.

I want to think about the moments when we were at our best through this last year. In the first few months of the pandemic, we displayed virtually no partisanship. I can clearly remember that every bill that was passed up until September was passed unanimously. Particularly in those first three or four months, there were voices on the phone as we listened to updates and briefings from our civil servants, which happened daily as well as on Saturdays and Sundays.

We could not tell, when someone opened the microphone to ask a question, if that voice was a Conservative voice, a Liberal voice, a Green voice, a Bloc voice or an NDP voice. We were all saying the same things: Can we get help fast enough? Can we help people? Can we please regard the credit unions the same way we look at the commercial banks? Can we please do those things?

I want to call out to us, because while we commemorate a year of COVID-19, it is very clear it is not over. Our ability to get through this and to save lives depends on our bringing back the best of ourselves and setting aside partisan advantage. I know it is deeply baked into our DNA to try to take shots on both sides, government and opposition, but please, Canadians do not want to see us trying to gain partisan advantage as we think about an upcoming election. They want to see us work together, and that means provinces, the federal government and political parties here in Ottawa.

In looking for empirical evidence through the pandemic, which we do by looking for the science and the evidence, we see that those countries that have done particularly well through the pandemic have been marked in the media as those led by women leaders.

I want to mark one other thing, and this is not to score a political point myself but to make a point about political culture, which is that the countries that have women leaders have another thing in common: They do not use the first-past-the-post voting system. Our voting system encourages fractured politics. The system of reward and punishment for conduct goes toward rewards for doing the mean thing, rewards for finding the dog whistle, rewards for the wedge issue. Now is not the time for that. Even though we still live under first past the post, I urge us to behave and to judge our conduct as though we did not, to pretend that we really are able to say we collaborate today because we know we can collaborate tomorrow and it will not hurt us at the polls. We need, for however long this lasts, to bring out the best in ourselves, as we did at the very beginning of the pandemic when we set partisanship aside.

I love everyone individually and collectively. I really, truly do. We have to do this together. There is no other way.

We are now in a race between vaccines and variants. We have people who will be safe soon with their vaccinations and we have people who are still at risk, and in our society as a whole, we will mark best our ability to triumph over adversity when we conduct ourselves in ways that suggest there are no parties here. God bless everyone.

[The Speaker, Liberal, Anthony Rota]

I wish to inform members that the Dominion Carillonneur is dedicating her noontime recital today to those whom we have lost to COVID-19.

I encourage everyone to listen to it.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs

[Bob Bratina, Liberal, Hamilton East—Stoney Creek, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I have the honour on this day of commemoration to present, in both official languages, the sixth report of the Standing Committee on Indigenous and Northern Affairs, entitled “COVID-19 and Indigenous Peoples: From Crisis towards Meaningful Change”. I want to thank each member of the committee, from all parties, for working as a team to produce this report.

Pursuant to Standing Order 109, the committee requests that the government table a comprehensive response to this report.

Criminal Code

[Peter Julian, NDP, New Westminster—Burnaby, BC]

moved for leave to introduce Bill C-274, An Act to amend the Criminal Code (criminal interest rate).

Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague, the member for Rosemont—La Petite-Patrie, for supporting this bill, which puts an end to predatory practices.

As we know, Canadians are struggling to get through this pandemic and often have no choice but to rely on short-term loans. Canadian families looking to get a short-term loan to put food on the table or to deal with an emergency will find they are often subject to interest rates that, on an annualized basis, hit 400% or 500%. As a result, a loan of a few hundred dollars can become a debt burden of thousands of dollars.

This bill would end predatory lending. We have done the work, so we sincerely hope the government will incorporate this legislation into the upcoming budget implementation act.

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

Income Tax Act

[Scott Duvall, NDP, Hamilton Mountain, ON]

moved for leave to introduce Bill C-275, an act to amend the Income Tax Act (travel expenses deduction for tradespersons).

Madam Speaker, this bill, an act to amend the Income Tax Act, would accomplish three things: eliminate a long-standing tax unfairness for building trade workers, improve labour mobility, and give businesses access to an effectively larger pool of qualified tradespeople.

Currently, paragraph 8(1)(h) of the Income Tax Act generally allows an income tax deduction for employees who have work-related travel expenses that have not been reimbursed. However, a CRA interpretation continues to deny that to those working in the building trades because of the nature of the work on what are called “job sites”, often making it difficult to avoid social programs such as employment insurance. My bill would fix that by allowing a tax deduction for travel expenses for tradespeople or apprentices who are required to secure or maintain employment in construction activity at a job site.

The passing of this bill would project a net savings to the government and is the right thing to do.

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

Business of the House

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

Madam Speaker, there have been discussions amongst the parties, and if you seek it, I think you will find unanimous consent to adopt the following motion:

I move:

That, notwithstanding any standing order, special order or usual practice of the House, Bill C-24, An Act to amend the Employment Insurance Act (additional regular benefits), the Canada Recovery Benefits Act (restriction on eligibility) and another Act in response to COVID-19, be disposed of as follows:

(a) if the bill is adopted at second reading, consideration in committee take place on Thursday, March 11, 2021, and the committee be instructed to report the bill to the House that same day by depositing it with the Clerk of the House, provided that the Minister of Employment, Workforce Development and Disability Inclusion, be ordered to appear as a witness, and that if the Committee has not completed clause-by-clause consideration by 11:00 p.m., all remaining amendments submitted to the Committee shall be deemed moved, the Chair shall put the question, forthwith and successively without further debate, on all remaining clauses and amendments submitted to the Committee, as well as each and every question necessary to dispose of clause-by-clause consideration of the Bill;

(b) no notice of motion of amendment at report stage shall be given; and

(c) report stage and third reading stage of the bill be ordered for consideration on Friday, March 12, 2021, and that, when the Order is read for consideration for the motion at report stage, the motion to concur in the bill at report stage be deemed carried on division and the House then proceed immediately to consideration of the Bill at third reading, provided that, at the conclusion of the time provided for Government Orders or when no member rises to speak, whichever is earlier, the bill be deemed read a third time and passed on division.

[The Assistant Deputy Speaker, NDP, Carol Hughes]

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. All those opposed to the motion will please say nay.

There being no dissenting voice, I declare the motion carried.

(Motion agreed to)

Treatments for ALS

[Heather McPherson, NDP, Edmonton Strathcona, AB]

Madam Speaker, today I rise to present a petition submitted by my dear friend Mr. Norm MacIsaac and signed by over 25,000 Canadians.

These thousands of Canadians, whether they are patients, caregivers, friends and family, or concerned citizens, urge the government to do much more to support Canadians living with ALS.

The petitioners are calling on the Minister of Health to create a pilot project to reduce delays in accessing innovative and potentially life-saving treatments.

I want to be very clear: This petition is extremely important and has the support of the ALS caucus, which has members from all five political parties represented in this House. This is not a partisan issue, and I have worked very hard with my colleagues on the issue of ALS treatment and the need to rapidly improve access. For people living with ALS, time is simply something they do not have. For so many of the courageous people battling this debilitating disease—the husbands and wives, the sons and daughters, the friends—time is running out.

Health of Animals Regulations

[Martin Shields, Conservative, Bow River, AB]

Madam Speaker, I would like to present the following petition.

We, the undersigned citizens of Canada, draw the attention of the House of Commons to the following:

Whereas the Government of Canada's proposed amendments to the health of animals regulations applying to livestock identification and traceability pose a threat to the future of agricultural exhibitions, fairs and rodeos;

Whereas the proposed changes would place onerous regulations on volunteer-run agricultural exhibitions, fairs and rodeos and discourage their operations;

Therefore, we, the undersigned, call on the House of Commons to take the following actions to address this situation: consult carefully with agricultural societies, exhibitions and fairs in developing these regulations and ensure that new traceability requirements do not harm agricultural societies, exhibitions and fairs so that future generations can enjoy these activities.

Rail Transportation Safety

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

Madam Speaker, I am rising to present a petition this morning from residents of Pitt Meadows, British Columbia. The petitioners ask the House to review the increased environmental impacts of the noise and the out-of-character nature, as they present it, of an increase in capacity for intermodal transportation involving the expansion of an existing intermodal rail facility. They are very concerned this will do serious damage to the quality of life and the adjacent environment of Pitt Meadows, British Columbia. It is my honour to present their petition.

Canada Pension Plan Investment Board

[Alistair MacGregor, NDP, Cowichan—Malahat—Langford, BC]

Madam Speaker, today I am pleased to rise to present e-petition 2966, signed by people across Canada in support of my private member's bill, Bill C-231, which would amend the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board Act. The petitioners note that the current value of the Canada pension plan fund investments is over $400 billion and that many of these investments are and have been invested in companies with very questionable track records, such as weapons manufacturing, human and labour rights abuses, and are significantly contributing to climate change.

The petitioners further note that the people of Canada expect our investments to be carried out in a principled way and that the investment policy standards and procedures of the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board must take these factors into account to ensure its long-term financial health.

Seeing as Bill C-231 is having its final hour of debate tomorrow, I will take this opportunity to ask my colleagues' support so our pension investments do not in any way contribute to human misery around the world.

Public Safety

[Michelle Rempel, Conservative, Calgary Nose Hill, AB]

Madam Speaker, today I have the honour of rising and presenting e-petition 2574, which is the largest parliamentary petition in Canadian history. Over 230,000 Canadians have signed this petition to stop firearm violence in Canada. This petition acknowledges that firearm violence in Canada is caused by firearms that are smuggled in illegally from countries such as the United States and are related to gang violence.

The petition calls upon the government to recognize that law-abiding firearms owners in Canada, such as hunters and sports shooters, are some of the most highly vetted in the world and that the data shows they are not the problem when it comes to firearm violence. They are opposed to the government's “do nothing” approach to tackling the real issue.

Over 230,000 Canadians are standing united to call upon the government to scrap the May 1, 2020 order in council decision related to confiscating legally owned firearms and instead pass legislation that would target criminals, stop the smuggling of firearms into Canada, go after those who illegally acquire firearms and apologize to legal firearms owners in Canada. I am proud to present the petition, and I thank the almost one-quarter million Canadians who are standing up for what is right.

The Environment

[Kristina Michaud, Bloc, Avignon—La Mitis—Matane—Matapédia, QC]

Madam Speaker, on behalf of the Association québécoise des organismes de coopération internationale and as the Bloc Québécois climate change critic, I am very pleased to present this petition, which has been certified correct and has been signed by more than 2,630 concerned citizens who are calling on the Government of Canada to contribute its fair share to climate justice.

Canada's current climate policies are woefully inadequate to limit average global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius, and they are putting us on a path to catastrophic warming. It is great to propose net-zero emissions by 2050, but we must take the necessary steps to reduce our national greenhouse gas emissions. We need to do more, and we need to do it now. Time is running out.

[Kevin Lamoureux, Liberal, Winnipeg North, MB]

Madam Speaker, I rise on a point of order. This has been raised on previously, but members are introducing petitions and they are often going far beyond the intent of our rule, which is to just state the intentions of the petition. I am wondering if you could just reinforce that issue.

[The Assistant Deputy Speaker, NDP, Carol Hughes]

I do appreciate the hon. parliamentary secretary's intervention. It is a point that was raised yesterday as well, and I do want to remind members that they are to read a summary of their petition and not put their personal point of view forward.

We will continue with presenting petitions. The hon. member for Cypress Hills—Grasslands.