Debates of May 10th, 2023

Women and Gender Equality

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh!

[The Speaker, Liberal, Anthony Rota]

Order. Now we will hear what the question is.

The hon. member for Hamilton Mountain.

[Lisa Hepfner, Liberal, Hamilton Mountain, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the Conservatives do not believe in a woman's right to choose. Conservative MPs introduced legislation to reopen the abortion debate. They will march with anti-choice activists—

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh!

[The Speaker, Liberal, Anthony Rota]

I am not sure how many times I have to start this question over so that I can hear it, but I am going to ask everyone to listen. We do not have a choice on what the question is or what the answer is. Ours is to listen, everyone in here, and then we can debate it at another time, if we want.

The hon. member for Hamilton Mountain, hopefully for the last time.

[Lisa Hepfner, Liberal, Hamilton Mountain, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the Conservatives do not believe in a woman's right to choose. Conservative MPs introduced legislation to reopen the abortion debate. They will march with anti-choice activists tomorrow. They are beholden to Campaign Life Coalition and other groups that want to bring Republican-style abortion restrictions to this country, and the Leader of the Opposition uses misogynist hashtags in his YouTube videos.

It is clear Conservatives want to control women's bodies in Canada. What does the Prime Minister believe?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, I thank the member for Hamilton Mountain for her continued advocacy on women's rights.

Let me be clear: Abortion is health care in Canada. A woman's right to choose is hers, and hers alone. We will always stand with Canadian women and the vast majority of Canadians on this, which is why it is so disappointing to see yet another thinly veiled attempt by the Conservative Party of Canada to restrict a woman's right to choose.

The Conservatives are busy getting ready to march tomorrow in an anti-choice protest. We will be busy standing up for fundamental rights, including a woman's right to choose.

Disaster Assistance

[Blake Desjarlais, NDP, Edmonton Griesbach, AB]

Mr. Speaker, thousands of Albertans have been evacuated due to out-of-control wildfires. They do not know when they will go home or what they will go home to. Métis settlements and first nations communities are hit worst of all. The federal government has a responsibility to ensure the safety of indigenous evacuees and provide them with the basics, like water, food and shelter.

What does the Prime Minister have to say to the thousands of Albertans who are, as we speak, without basic necessities right now?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, my message to Albertans, indigenous and non-indigenous, is the same as our message to all Canadians who have faced terrible extreme weather events over the past years: We will be there for them.

We will continue to work with the provincial government. I spoke to Premier Smith, just on Monday, to assure her that we are going to be there with CAF supports, with resources, with whatever is needed.

We will be there to work with the Red Cross, and I encourage Canadians to continue to donate generously to the wildfire relief through the Red Cross to help families who are displaced.

We will continue to work with indigenous communities to ensure that they continue to lead on the safety of their communities.

We know we will work together and—

[The Speaker, Liberal, Anthony Rota]

The hon. member for Kitchener Centre.

Electoral Reform

[Mike Morrice, Green, Kitchener Centre, ON]

Mr. Speaker, Canadians overwhelmingly support creating a citizens' assembly on electoral reform. This past weekend, Liberal Party members strongly voted in support of it too, yet the Prime Minister will not make electoral reform a priority.

If not Canadians, and if not his own party, who else does the PM need to hear from before he is ready to act?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, as members of the House know, I am committed to and continue to be hopeful about replacing the first-past-the-post system with a preferential ballot.

I moved forward in 2015 to live up to that promise and to find consensus in the House of Commons. When we change something as fundamental as the way we elect members of the House, it has to be done with consensus. Unfortunately, there was no consensus on moving forward with a ranked ballot; therefore, we chose not to do it.

I continue to be open. If anyone wants to move forward with a preferential ballot, I am happy to talk with them, but we will not impose a change on Canadians.

Presence in Gallery

[The Speaker, Liberal, Anthony Rota]

I wish to draw the attention of members to the presence in the gallery of the finalists for the 2023 Shaughnessy Cohen Prize for political writing: Norma Dunning, Dale Eisler, Josh O'Kane, Andrew Stobo Sniderman, Douglas Sanderson and Chris Turner.

[Some hon. members]

Hear, hear!

Hon. Marc Lalonde

[The Speaker, Liberal, Anthony Rota]

Following discussions among representatives of all parties in the House, I understand there is an agreement to observe a moment of silence in honour of our former colleague, the Hon. Marc Lalonde.

I would invite hon. members to rise.

[A moment of silence observed]

The House resumed from May 9 consideration of the motion.

Reference to Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs

[The Speaker, Liberal, Anthony Rota]

It being 3:24 p.m., pursuant to order made on Thursday, June 23, 2022, the House will now proceed to the taking of the deferred recorded division on the question of privilege in the name of the hon. member for Wellington—Halton Hills.

Call in the members.

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

Vote #316

Privilege

[The Speaker, Liberal, Anthony Rota]

I declare the motion carried.

Government Response to Petitions

[Kevin Lamoureux, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary 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 responses to five petitions. These returns will be tabled in an electronic format.

Foreign Affairs and International Development

[Ali Ehsassi, Liberal, Willowdale, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I have the honour to present, in both official languages, the 17th report of the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Development, entitled “Main Estimates 2023-24: Votes 1, 5, 10, 15, 20 and L30 under Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development, Vote 1 under International Development Research Centre, and Vote 1 under International Joint Commission”.

International Trade

[Judy Sgro, Liberal, Humber River—Black Creek, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I am very honoured today to present, in both official languages, the ninth report of the Standing Committee on International Trade, entitled “The United States’ Inflation Reduction Act of 2022: Trade Impacts on Certain Canadian Sectors”.

Ethiopia

[Stéphane Bergeron, Bloc, Montarville, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I have the honour to present a petition signed by 511 people, which reads as follows, and I quote:

WHEREAS: The war on the Tigray region of Ethiopia has led to more than 63,000 refugees fleeing to camps in neighboring Sudan, 2.2 million civilians internally displaced, and over 91% of the 6 million people in need of assistance; The forces of Ethiopia and invading forces of Eritrea and Amhara region have jointly waged another round of atrocities, war crimes, and crimes against humanity on civilians in Tigray; The war on Tigray has resulted in a man-made famine. The World Food Program estimates that 5.2 million people, 91% of Tigray's population, need emergency food assistance. Due to the siege and blockade, the people of Tigray are denied access to humanitarian aid and basic services; Sexual Gender-Based Violence has been systematically used as a weapon of war in Tigray by Eritrean troops, Ethiopian forces, and Amhara regional forces; and Since November 2020, Canada has provided $54.5 million in humanitarian assistance to Ethiopia for the crisis in Tigray. It is more likely that this assistance will be used by the Government of Ethiopia to purchase military armaments, including drones, instead of addressing the humanitarian needs in Tigray and other parts of Ethiopia. We, the undersigned citizens of Canada, call upon the House of Commons to: Immediately call on the Eritrean government to stop invading the Tigray region of Ethiopia and withdraw its forces from Tigray; Immediately call for unfettered humanitarian access to Tigray. Call for humanitarian discussion under Resolution 2417 (2018); Immediately withhold all non-life-saving funding from Canada to Ethiopia until the cessation of violence is achieved; Provide an update on how funds for humanitarian assistance Canada has been given to Ethiopia in support of the people affected in the Tigray region; and Immediately call to allow the UN-led inquiry commission to enter the Tigray region to conduct its investigation on crimes against humanity, war crimes, and humanitarian and human rights violations committed in Tigray.

[The Speaker, Liberal, Anthony Rota]

I would remind the member and all members that we ask for a concise summary of the petition.

The hon. member for Brampton North.

Climate Change

[Ruby Sahota, Liberal, Brampton North, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I rise to present a petition on behalf of the staff and students of Notre Dame Secondary School, a Catholic school in my riding of Brampton North.

Although the oil and gas sector is only 5% of the economy, it is responsible for 26% of Canada's emissions. The petitioners call for a hard cap on emissions from the oil and gas sector to address the climate crisis.

They give a five-point plan on how to do so, by restricting pollution, reducing emissions, addressing extraction methods and the burning of fossil fuels, and phasing out fossil fuel subsidies. They lay out a groundwork for a just transition to a net-zero economy by 2050.