Debates of June 8th, 2022

Budget Implementation Act, 2022, No. 1

[The Assistant Deputy Speaker (Mrs. Alexandra Mendès), Liberal, Alexandra Mendes]

It being 11:45 p.m., pursuant to order made on Monday, June 6, it is my duty to interrupt the proceedings and put forthwith every question necessary to dispose of the third reading stage of the bill now before the House.

The question is on the amendment to the amendment.

If a member of a recognized party present in the House wishes to request a recorded division or that the subamendment be adopted on division, I would invite them to rise and indicate it to the chair.

The hon. member for Longueuil—Charles-LeMoyne.

[Sherry Romanado, Liberal, Longueuil—Charles-LeMoyne, QC]

Madam Speaker, I request a recorded division.

[The Assistant Deputy Speaker (Mrs. Alexandra Mendès), Liberal, Alexandra Mendes]

Pursuant to order made on Thursday, November 25, 2021, the recorded division stands deferred until Thursday, June 9, at the expiry of the time provided for Oral Questions.

[Kevin Lamoureux, Liberal, Winnipeg North, MB]

Madam Speaker, I suspect if you were to canvass the House, you would find unanimous consent to call it 12 o'clock so we could begin the late show.

[The Assistant Deputy Speaker (Mrs. Alexandra Mendès), Liberal, Alexandra Mendes]

Does the hon. member have the unanimous consent of the House?

[Some hon. members]

Agreed.

A motion to adjourn the House under Standing Order 38 deemed to have been moved.

International Development

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

Madam Speaker, the Minister of International Development assumed his role after significant concerns were raised about the approach he took while he was defence minister to respond to sexual harassment and assault allegations within Canada's military. It is important that he be willing to take a different approach in his new portfolio and raise the bar in calling international organizations to account for instances of sexual violence that occur within them.

International development can involve situations of significant power imbalance, so measures to prevent exploitation and to hold perpetrators accountable are crucial. We have seen too many instances of failures in this regard.

Earlier I asked the minister about serious allegations of exploitation and violence at the World Health Organization in Congo and also at UNWRA. He noted in response that he had raised those concerns with the WHO, saying, “they assured me that they are working on this.” I would suggest that a serious response to sexual violence requires more than taking the WHO at its word.

It is important to review the context. During an ebola outbreak in the DRC between 2018 and 2020, over 150 women came forward to report facing sexual exploitation by those involved in the WHO response, and 150-plus victims going on record suggests a deep and wide systematic failure of the WHO. The WHO's own report found at least 21 alleged perpetrators who were directly employed by them, including international and local staff.

Various countries have pushed the WHO to improve its procedures, and the EU responded by halting funds to the WHO in the DRC. This shows how serious our allies and partners are taking this matter, and rightly so.

Despite this scandal, Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus was reelected as the head of the WHO earlier this year. Now, Ghebreyesus has not exactly had an auspicious time as WHO head. In 2017, he announced, and then rescinded, an offer to make Robert Mugabe a WHO goodwill ambassador. It is hard to argue that someone is interested in taking a firm line against corruption and exploitation when they want to make Robert Mugabe a goodwill ambassador for their organization. So much for setting an example to employees. Notwithstanding all of the things that have happened since, such as cozying up to the Chinese government and launching baseless attacks against Taiwan, this issue of Robert Mugabe revealed enough.

International development should be about empowering everyday people who are victims of violence and oppression to take control of their lives and not about cozying up to dictators who claim that building their profile will somehow make the world a better place. The WHO needs to change, but does not seem to have the capacity or the leadership to turn itself around, and our response has not been as strong as our allies.

I would like the government to clarify how it plans to hold the WHO, leaders at the WHO and individual perpetrators of violence to account. It is not good enough for the minister to say that the man who wanted to make Robert Mugabe a goodwill ambassador has assured him of his personal goodwill towards victims.

My original question also mentioned allegations of sexual misconduct at UNWRA. These allegations were the subject of an investigation by the UN Office of Internal Oversight Services, which provided an internal review. The report concluded that there was no evidence of sexual misconduct, contrary to the allegations, however the report remains confidential and internal to the UN.

Although it is fair to acknowledge that not all allegations are borne out by a full investigation, I wonder if the government finds it acceptable that these allegations were dismissed on the basis of an internal investigation or that the resulting report was never made public. A full, unredacted version was never even shared with member states. Does this way of dealing with such allegations conform to what the government considers an appropriate standard for responding to allegations of sexual assault?

I hope that the minister or the parliamentary secretary will be able to provide a more detailed response about the position of the government and concrete action taken on these important matters.

[Darren Fisher, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Seniors]

Madam Speaker, Canada has zero tolerance for all forms of sexual misconduct and sexual violence, including sexual exploitation, abuse, sexual harassment and all forms of gender-based violence. We are deeply concerned with the power dynamics that allow for any form of sexual misconduct to occur, and we stand strong in our unwavering commitment to respond to these acts and continue working toward their prevention. Canada respects the courage of the survivors who come forward and speak out.

Global Affairs Canada has taken a number of steps in order to prevent sexual exploitation and abuse from happening in the first instance and when it does happen, to address it, end impunity and increase accountability. GAC pursues a coordinated approach across programming, analysis and advocacy, and expects its funding recipients not only to have measures in place to prevent and protect, but also to respond and investigate using a survivor-victim-centred approach.

Canada responds to complex international crises through an established international humanitarian response system comprised of United Nations agencies. This mainly involves providing financial assistance to help meet urgent needs on the ground. The flexibility provided by monetary assistance is essential in complex, fluid operational environments like the one we saw in the Democratic Republic of Congo and what we are seeing today in Ukraine, which is allowing humanitarian organizations to procure relief items and to deploy key equipment and trained personnel quickly and efficiently through established and coordinated humanitarian networks.

Canada has taken a number of steps to hold the World Health Organization accountable and to ensure that incidents of sexual misconduct by staff are prevented in the future. When the allegations surfaced in the media in late 2020, Canada called on the WHO to initiate an immediate thorough and detailed assessment of the institutional policies, operational processes, leadership culture and circumstances that allowed sexual misconduct to go unreported to leadership and member states.

Internal investigations of WHO staff are currently under way. Canada is monitoring this situation closely to ensure that staff are held accountable and face consequences for any sexual misconduct that may have occurred once investigations into allegations have been concluded. When sexual misconduct and violence occur, such as in the DRC, Canada's immediate priority is to take a victim-survivor-centred approach safely and securely in a manner responsive to the complex environment.

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

Madam Speaker, respectfully, the member shared general values but did not respond to important specific questions.

Our allies have taken stronger responses to ensure that the rubber meets the road here, for instance, by withdrawing funds to the WHO in the DRC. Expressing these aspirations and concerns is not lining up with the strong measures being taken by our allies.

I also asked the member a specific question following up on the issue of UNWRA. Does the government believe it is acceptable when there is an internal investigation where we are told the allegations are without merit, and yet there is no publication of that report and it is not even made available to member states?

The same question applies in the case of the WHO scandal. When there are scandals involving alleged sexual misconduct at UN agencies, they have internal reports done and the reports are not made public or even shared with member states. Is that really a victim-centred approach? Does the government think that is an acceptable approach?

[Darren Fisher, Liberal, Dartmouth—Cole Harbour, NS]

Madam Speaker, I do want to thank the member for coming here at close to midnight tonight. I begrudgingly say that the member has been finding a way to grow on me over the last seven, eight, nine, 10 months, which I thought several years ago would probably never be possible. I want to thank him for the work that he does. I do get a kick out of him every now and again. I have found in the most recent months that he has quite a good sense of humour.

Canada closely follows the WHO's work to strengthen its capacity to prevent and respond, and monitors WHO- and UN-led investigations, including those focused on the role that senior management played in preventing and addressing sexual misconduct during the Ebola crisis.

Canada remains committed to working together with donors to ensure that any culpable staff are held accountable and face consequences once investigations into allegations have been, as I said, concluded.

The UN Office of Internal Oversight Services, the OIOS, conducted an investigation into allegations of misconduct among several—

[The Assistant Deputy Speaker (Mrs. Alexandra Mendès), Liberal, Alexandra Mendes]

The hon. member for Spadina—Fort York.

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship

[Kevin Vuong, Independent, Spadina—Fort York, ON]

Madam Speaker, we are here this evening because the government has made a commitment to resettle 40,000 Afghan refugees, a commitment that we are failing to deliver on. How many have we actually welcomed? It is only 15,000.

While the minister pats himself on the back for welcoming 37.5% of our commitment, people are suffering. While the minister pats himself on the back for a failing grade, people are dying.

How many people are hiding in abandoned buildings trying to evade the Taliban's wrath, who would kill not only them but everyone they hold dear, like women and children? It does not matter who, because the Taliban are a group of people who have put individuals into cages and set them on fire.

The government is keeping 25,000 terrified people waiting. Canada made a commitment. The government is not delivering, and people are dying because of it.

Even of the 15,000 who have made it, how many were because of the government and how many were because of the heroic efforts of civil society organizations like the Veterans Transition Network? It stepped up in the absence of government leadership to help resettle at least 2,061 refugees. Sadly, as even the CBC reported, even it has had to stop its efforts because its staff were so exhausted by “logistical nightmares” and “bureaucratic red tape”.

Since November of last year, I have had the extreme privilege of working with the Cassels law firm in Toronto in the hopes of savings the lives of people who have assisted Canada in Afghanistan. They were our nation's lawyers in Kabul, but right now it seems their lives do not matter very much. Enough with the excuses; bring them to Canada now.

A short time ago, my hon. colleague, the member for Calgary Forest Lawn, raised in this House the tragic death of Nazifa, who was a 10-year-old girl murdered by the Taliban because her father worked with our military in Kandahar. How many more children will die before the government honours our nation's word?

Just two weeks ago, I was in Warsaw and met with a number of Afghan refugees who were rescued by Poland. Poland has also welcomed 3.6 million Ukrainian refugees. The Afghan refugees need our help. They want to resettle in Canada.

I met with an Afghan couple, he a journalist and she a teacher. He showed me the messages that he had received from the Taliban telling him they would kill him and his wife and any family members they could find.

I also spoke with a former justice of the Supreme Court of Afghanistan. She told me about how she cannot go back because when the Taliban took over, they opened the doors of the prisons and released all the criminals, criminals she had convicted of heinous crimes.

What happened to the government's feminist foreign policy? Canada made a commitment. People's lives are at risk, and the government must honour our nation's word.

What is the plan for the 25,000 people who are waiting for the government to honour its word? Give us a timeline. Please.

We are at 15,000 now. When will we hit 20,000 or 25,000? When will we hit 40,000 refugees?

[Darren Fisher, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Seniors]

Madam Speaker, following the humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan last summer, the government initially committed to resettling 20,000 vulnerable Afghan refugees. We have now increased that commitment and will bring at least 40,000 Afghans to Canada.

On July 23, 2021, the Government of Canada announced special immigration measures for individuals with a significant and/or enduring relationship with the Government of Canada, along with their accompanying family members. On August 13, we announced a special humanitarian program focused on resettling Afghan nationals who are outside of Afghanistan and who do not have a durable solution in a third country. This program focuses on women leaders, human rights defenders, LGBTQI individuals, and journalists and people who assisted Canadian journalists. We have also created a pathway to permanent residence for extended family members of former Afghan interpreters who previously immigrated to Canada under the 2009 and 2012 public policies.

IRCC has mobilized its global network, and all available resources are being devoted to this effort. IRCC is also prioritizing the processing of privately sponsored Afghan refugees. The department is harnessing the generosity of Canadians, including through sponsorship agreement holders and through individual and corporate donations for private sponsorship.

Yesterday, as the member said, we marked an important milestone by welcoming our 15,000th Afghan refugee to Canada. Hundreds more are arriving each week, including 300 privately sponsored refugees today.

I think it is important to put Canada's commitment to Afghans into a global context. Per capita, our goal of bringing at least 40,000 Afghan nationals to Canada places us among the top countries in the world when it comes to resettlement, second only to the United States on numbers alone. In terms of raw numbers, our commitment of 40,000 is larger than that of the United Kingdom and Australia, and is the same as the one being pursued by the European Union, which has ten times the population of Canada.

We remain firm in our commitment to resettle at least 40,000 Afghan nationals as quickly and as safely as possible, and we will not stop until the work is done.

[Kevin Vuong, Independent, Spadina—Fort York, ON]

Madam Speaker, as the son of refugees, I applaud the government's commitment to 40,000, but my question for my hon. colleague is, when? He has spoken about the importance of supporting members of the LGBTQ community and activists. There is Rainbow Railroad. When are we going to be able to support them to come over?

I talked about Canada's law firm in Kabul and Mr. Shajjan. His 28 lawyers are still stuck in Afghanistan. When will they be brought over?

I have talked about a number of journalists and a justice, but there is also an Afghan interpreter who is now seven months pregnant. She is wife to a veteran of our nation and is in a third party country right now, Pakistan. She has still not been able to make her way here.

When can they come to their new home?

[Darren Fisher, Liberal, Dartmouth—Cole Harbour, NS]

Madam Speaker, we are one of the only countries in the world to have implemented a humanitarian stream to welcome even more Afghan refugees based on their particular vulnerabilities. Individuals are referred by designated partners that are trained and experienced in assessing vulnerability and operating in situations of mass displacements and humanitarian hardship. Our referral partners include the United Nations Refugee Agency, Front Line Defenders, ProtectDefenders.eu and Canadian private sponsors.

In light of the current situation in Afghanistan, we will waive the requirement for a refugee status determination for private sponsorship applications. Also, our government is going to work with partners to utilize the economic mobility pathways pilot, an innovative program designed to help skilled refugees resettle in Canada, to welcome even more Afghan refugees.

We have not wavered in our world-leading commitment to resettle at least 40,000 Afghan refugees in Canada. As I said, earlier today Canada welcomed another 300 Afghan refugees.

[The Assistant Deputy Speaker (Mrs. Alexandra Mendès), Liberal, Alexandra Mendes]

The hon. member for Leeds—Grenville—Thousand Islands and Rideau Lakes not being present to raise during Adjournment Proceedings the matter for which notice has been given, the notice is deemed withdrawn.

The motion to adjourn the House is now deemed to have been adopted. Accordingly, the House stands adjourned until later this day at 10 a.m., pursuant to Standing Order 24(1).

(The House adjourned at 12:05 a.m.)