Debates of April 15th, 2021

Economic Relationship between Canada and the United States

[Raj Saini, Liberal, Kitchener Centre, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I have the honour to present, in both official languages, the first report of the Special Committee on the Economic Relationship between Canada and the United States, entitled “Enbridge's Line 5: An Interim Report”.

Taking of Screenshot of Parliamentary Proceedings

[Pablo Rodriguez, Liberal, Leader of the Government in the House of Commons]

Mr. Speaker, I rise today on a point of order with respect to the events that unfolded in the House yesterday during question period.

I would like to say that the conduct of the person who took the screenshot is not only extremely unfortunate, but it is mean-spirited and life-changing for one of our colleagues. Taking a photo of someone who is changing clothes and in the nude, and sharing it without their consent could very well be criminal. Did the person who took the screenshot give any thought to the ramifications of their actions? Did they think of the member's family, children, friends, or the fact that the Internet is forever? Are we really at a point in our politics where it is acceptable to try to destroy the reputation of and humiliate a colleague because someone finds a very unfortunate error and unintentional mistake to be funny? Our politics has taken a very dark and destructive turn, if this is the case.

It is difficult to accept that the MP for Pontiac, who has been such a champion for environmental protection and climate action, could be treated with such callous disrespect, so I would request that the Speaker commence an immediate investigation to determine who took the photo, so that the House can decide the appropriate action to take.

[The Speaker, Liberal, Anthony Rota]

I want to thank the hon. member for his intervention. I will take it under advisement, look into the situation and get back to the House if necessary.

Pest Control Products Act

[Jenica Atwin, Green, Fredericton, NB]

moved for leave to introduce Bill C-285, an act to amend the Pest Control Products Act (glyphosate).

Mr. Speaker, I thank my seconder and colleague, the member for Nanaimo—Ladysmith, who is always a strong proponent of protecting our environment.

Today I fulfill a promise I made to my constituents when I ran in 2019. It is an honour to present this bill with the important purpose of imposing a nationwide ban on the use of glyphosate, from our forests to our fields. The widespread use of glyphosate over New Brunswick forests and across Canada is a menace to human health and plant and wildlife biodiversity. There is a growing global consensus that glyphosate, deemed a probable carcinogen by the International Agency for Research on Cancer, has no place in our society.

Rather than allowing toxic chemicals to be sprayed in Canada until they are proven harmful, we should be exercising greater precaution and banning products until they can be deemed safe. Canadians have the right to breathe clean air, drink safe water and harvest healthy food from the land.

I want to thank the leadership of the tens of thousands of New Brunswickers who have bravely fought for years for this ban to be implemented in the hope of ensuring safer communities for generations to come.

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

Health-based Approach to Substance Use Act

[Don Davies, NDP, Vancouver Kingsway, BC]

moved for leave to introduce Bill C-286, An Act to amend the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act and to enact the Expungement of Certain Drug-related Convictions Act and the National Strategy on Substance Use Act.

Mr. Speaker, I am honoured to introduce the health-based approach to substance use act. I would like to thank my colleague, the hon. member for Vancouver East, for seconding this proposed legislation and for her tireless advocacy for evidence-based drug policy.

We all know that the situation is dire. Nearly 20,000 Canadians have died of overdoses in the last five years, and in the shadow of COVID-19, the opioid overdose epidemic has rapidly worsened across Canada. In British Columbia, over 1,700 people died of overdoses in 2020 alone, the deadliest year on record.

Decades of criminalization, a toxic illicit street supply and a lack of timely access to harm reduction, treatment and recovery services have caused this escalating epidemic. It is time to treat substance use and addiction as the health issues they truly are and to address stigma and trauma. This bill provides a comprehensive approach to do just that, by decriminalizing personal drug possession, providing for record expungement, ensuring low-barrier access to safe supply and expanding access to harm reduction, treatment and recovery services.

I call on all parliamentarians to support these urgent and necessary steps to address Canada's overdose epidemic.

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

Human Rights

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

Mr. Speaker, I am tabling a mere four petitions this morning.

The first petition highlights the situation of Uighurs and other Turkic Muslims in China. It highlights the ongoing genocide, which includes birth suppression, arbitrary detention, separation of children from their families, invasive surveillance, destruction of cultural sites, forced labour, forced organ harvesting, etc.

The petitioners call upon the government to do something it has not yet done, which is, as a government, to recognize that Uighurs and other Turkic Muslims in China are being subjected to an ongoing genocide. The petitioners also call upon the government to hold those responsible accountable through the Magnitsky act and address the issue of supply chain legislation, Canada having among the weakest supply chain laws in the world, to prevent the importation of products that are made through slave labour.

Ethiopia

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

Mr. Speaker, the second petition highlights the situation in the Tigray region of Ethiopia.

The petition calls for various measures by the government to step up its engagement with that situation, including engaging directly with Ethiopian and Eritrean governments on the conflict and promoting short-, medium- and long-term support and election monitoring in Ethiopia.

Conversion Therapy

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

Mr. Speaker, the third petition is about Bill C-6, the government's conversion therapy ban.

The petitioners are in support of banning conversion therapy but are concerned about the definition of “conversion therapy” that is used in the bill. They highlight the way in which this definition would apply very broadly to practices that have nothing to do with conversion therapy. Therefore, the petitioners call upon the House of Commons to address this drafting error, this problem in the definition, to fix the definition and to put forward a conversion therapy ban that properly defines the practice, one that all members in the House would support.

Human Organ Trafficking

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

Mr. Speaker, the fourth and final petition highlights Bill S-204, a bill currently in the other place, before the justice and human rights committee of the Senate.

Bill S-204 would make it a criminal offence for a person to go abroad and receive an organ without consent. This deals with the horrific practice of forced organ harvesting and trafficking that we see in other parts of the world and the risk that Canadians might be complicit in that practice.

The petitioners are in support of Bill S-204 and want to see it passed by both Houses as quickly as possible.

Public Safety

[Terry Dowdall, Conservative, Simcoe—Grey, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I am honoured and privileged to rise in the House today to present this petition, which was initiated by Nicholas Martin. I am very proud of the fact that there are 36,600 signatures on this petition.

The petitioners are calling upon the government to reject Bill C-21 to save the jobs of thousands of Canadians; fully and unambiguously legalize airsoft and paintball so that citizens and residents can continue to purchase and use that sporting equipment; recognize that airsoft and paintball are safe activities that tens of thousands of Canadians participate in; recognize that airsoft and paintball do not represent any risk to public safety and banning them would not improve public safety; and not needlessly target law-abiding citizens who use airsoft and paintball for sporting purposes.

Chile

[Jenny Kwan, NDP, Vancouver East, BC]

Mr. Speaker, I am tabling a petition about the situation in Chile. The petitioners are Canadians who care deeply about what is happening in Chile. They observe that the social uprising in Chile, which started in October 2019, has led to massive detentions and other human rights violations in Chile and has continued during the pandemic.

Several independent international bodies have investigated and internationally denounced these violations, including a Canadian observation mission on human rights and an international human rights observation mission to Chile with Canadian participation, Amnesty International, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, the office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, and Human Rights Watch. They have filed condemning reports calling for immediate action, citing extreme human rights violations by the Chilean government and the use of political imprisonment as an instrument of repression.

It is, therefore, important for the Canadian government to take a role as a peacemaker and protector of human rights and follow the lead of dignitaries from other countries, like Germany, that have denounced military and police repression since October 18, 2019.

Ethiopia

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

Mr. Speaker, I am presenting a petition on the situation in Tigray. Since some of that material has been covered before, I will just mention a few relevant facts. The war crimes that are purported to have occurred in that region include indiscriminate shelling of civilian towns and villages, extrajudicial killings, at least one large-scale massacre, looting and sexual violence. All of these are drawn to the attention of the House by the petitioners.

In addition to the proposals that were mentioned by my colleague from Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan, the petitioners call for an immediate international investigation into credible reports of war crimes and gross violations of human rights law.

The Environment

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

Mr. Speaker, I am honoured to present a petition on behalf of constituents here in Saanich—Gulf Islands, the WSANEC indigenous territories, which we acknowledge with gratitude.

The WSANEC nation, which when anglicized is pronounced “Saanich”, has a very critical ecosystem called the Saanich Inlet. As the name suggests, it is an inlet from the Salish Sea with very little flushing capacity. The petitioners are very concerned that sewage becomes a problem in the Saanich Inlet, primarily from recreational vessels and some other sources. The petitioners seek the designation of the Saanich Inlet as a zero-waste discharge area.

Another example that friends on the east coast will know where this applies is the Bras d’Or Lake, which likewise is an inlet from the sea and is protected by a zero-discharge area.

The petitioners humbly request that the government take action and designate the Saanich Inlet as also a zero-waste discharge area.

Provincial Autonomy

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

Mr. Speaker, I have eight petitions to present today. Due to the possibility of an election, I want to make sure that they are in fact tabled.

The first petition is from constituents asking the government to take responsibility for creating a national unity crisis and ensure that there are no bureaucratic or legislative roadblocks for provinces that wish to exercise their constitutionally allowed measures of autonomy.

Fiscal Stabilization Program

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

Mr. Speaker, the second petition today is that the government immediately increase and backdate the fiscal stabilization program and work with provinces to ensure that they fix the current inequities in the equalization formula.

Natural Resources

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

Mr. Speaker, in the third petition today, the petitioners ask that the government formally recognize Alberta's place as an equal partner in the federation, remove any barriers to Alberta being able to develop its resources without interference and ensure unfettered international access to those resources.

The Senate

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

Mr. Speaker, in the next petition, the petitioners ask that the government take steps to establish equal representation in Canada's upper chamber, the Senate.

Property Rights

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

Mr. Speaker, in the next petition, the petitioners ask that the government seek the agreement of the provinces to amend the Constitution to include property rights.

Natural Resources

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

Mr. Speaker, in the next petition the petitioners ask that the Prime Minister apologize for the actions of former prime minister Pierre Elliott Trudeau and his incredibly destructive national energy program, and ensure that provinces are able to develop and market their natural resources.

Conversion Therapy

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

Mr. Speaker, finally, I table two petitions regarding the government's Bill C-6. They are substantially the same, with a little bit of difference in the wording. Petitioners agree that conversion therapy should be banned but express concern about the definition referenced in Bill C-6 and ask that the government make efforts to ensure that this is fixed.

[The Speaker, Liberal, Anthony Rota]

I remind hon. members that when they present petitions, they should be as concise as possible. I am not pointing to the last member because he did an excellent job at keeping it very brief. I compliment him on that.

Questions on the Order Paper

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

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

[The Speaker, Liberal, Anthony Rota]

Is that agreed?

[Some hon. members]

Agreed.

Bill C-15—Time Allocation Motion

[Mona Fortier, Liberal, Minister of Middle Class Prosperity and Associate Minister of Finance]

moved:

That, in relation to Bill C-15, An Act respecting the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, not more than one further sitting day shall be allotted to the consideration at second reading stage of the bill; and

That, 15 minutes before the expiry of the time provided for Government Orders on the day allotted to the consideration at second reading stage of the said bill, any proceedings before the House shall be interrupted, if required for the purpose of this order, and, in turn, every question necessary for the disposal of the said stage of the bill shall be put forthwith and successively, without further debate or amendment.