Mr. Speaker, it is my turn to extend my regards to the Secretary of State for Nature, a Polytechnique survivor, and to the member for Bellechasse—Les Etchemins—Lévis, with whom I have the pleasure of working on the Standing Committee on the Status of Women. As she mentioned, it is an extremely active committee.
On behalf of the Bloc Québécois, I also wish to recognize the women and men who dedicate themselves every day to combatting violence against women. It is a never-ending battle that sees both wins and losses, but it continues to be fought tirelessly, with conviction and courage, by psychologists, social workers, women's shelter workers, police officers, and many other stakeholders of both sexes. They are all working relentlessly to fight violence against women. We are profoundly grateful to them and we unreservedly support their vital contribution to this cause.
In Quebec, November 25 marks the start of the “12 Days of Action to End Violence Against Women” campaign. I encourage all Quebeckers to use this time to reflect, to take action, to talk with others, to raise awareness, and to participate in events that focus on eliminating violence against women.
We must maintain constant vigilance against any sort of backsliding. We have seen some examples of that. According to the federal government, the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, which is observed annually on November 25, is “a global call to prevent and address gender-based violence...in all its forms”. The government says it is a “global call”, and yet shortly before this important date, the Prime Minister struck a deal with the United Arab Emirates and declared that Canada's foreign policy was no longer feminist.
According to Human Rights Watch, the United Arab Emirates' penal code “reintroduced the criminalization of consensual nonmarital sex....Unmarried couples who have a child face no less than two years in prison....Unmarried pregnant women face difficulties accessing prenatal health care and registering their children”. In the United Arab Emirates, domestic violence is tolerated and women must submit to men in matters relating to marriage, divorce and married life. In short, Emirati women are second-class citizens. The Prime Minister knows this; the Prime Minister knew this.
How did he react? He said that Canada no longer has a feminist foreign policy. We are far from a “global call” to “eliminate violence against women”. What is more, the Prime Minister failed to appoint a minister for the status of women to his first cabinet. He is not doing anything meaningful to get rid of assault weapons, despite the willingness expressed by previous Liberal governments to do so. The Prime Minister was unaware of PolyRemembers during the last election campaign. What this tells us is that the struggle for equality, for the advancement of women's issues and for the elimination of violence are far from over.
The Liberal Party is looking more and more like the Reform Party. It is oil, oil, oil and nothing to fight climate change. It is oil, oil, oil and nothing for gender equality, nothing to help eliminate violence against women. When the Prime Minister goes abroad to the G20 and says that Canada's foreign policy is not feminist, he is saying that money matters more to us than women. The Conservatives like hearing the Prime Minister make such statements. Former Conservative leader Erin O'Toole, in particular, was delighted by this. Abandoning feminism now, as the Prime Minister has done, establishes a value system in which women are clearly not at the top. The Prime Minister's term is off to a bad start.
We all have a responsibility to work to eliminate violence against women.
Every time a government waters down its discourse, every time it is tempted to sideline feminism because it might curtail business, every time it opts for neglect, silence, omission or concession when presented with a cheque for a huge amount of money, the cause of women is set back. These issues need to be addressed when women are being threatened and abused, not when their lives have improved and they are doing well.
The Liberals had an opportunity to send the world a message in support of women. They chose the opposite. It is a sad state of affairs and not a good way to start these days of action to end violence against women.
The Liberals should be ashamed of themselves.