Ali Ehsassi

[Business of Supply, May 14th, 2019]

Mr. Chair, we also heard compelling evidence at committee on the link between animal cruelty offences and violence more generally. What evidence stood out in the minister's mind supporting the claim that persons who abused animals may go on to also commit violence against persons? In other words, are such offences generally gateway offences?

[Business of Supply, May 14th, 2019]

Mr. Chair, I will be providing 10 minutes of remarks followed by some questions for the minister.

I am pleased to have this opportunity to speak today. I will focus my remarks on Bill C-84, which was passed by the House of Commons on May 8, 2019. It proposes a number of important reforms to address bestiality and animal fighting. These reforms would offer greater protections to children, other vulnerable persons and animals.

With respect to bestiality, the bill responds to the 2016 decision of the Supreme Court of Canada in R. v. D.L.W. in which the court found that, absent a statutory definition of bestiality, the common law meaning of the term is limited to penetrative sex acts with animals. The consequence of this is that a gap has been identified in the law: bestiality offences do not apply to non-penetrative sexual acts with animals. This leaves children and other vulnerable persons without adequate protections from all acts of bestiality. Child protection and animal protection advocates, and members of the public, have called for legislative action to address this gap.

Bill C-84 proposes to remedy this by adding a definition to the bestiality offences that would include “any contact, for a sexual purpose, with an animal.” As mentioned by other hon. members, this definition would not apply to legitimate animal husbandry activities, such as artificial insemination. In fact, agricultural stakeholders have expressed their views, both in writing to the former minister of justice and before the Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights, that they have no concerns that the proposed definition would apply to current agricultural standards.

This proposed amendment received broad support from parliamentarians and witnesses who appeared before the justice committee. It pleases me to see members of all parties come together in support of a common desire to provide stronger protections for the most vulnerable members of society.

The committee also passed two motions related to enhancing Criminal Code protections for bestiality offences.

The first motion proposed to amend the Criminal Code to provide that a court may issue a prohibition or restitution order for a person convicted of a bestiality offence. In the case of a prohibition order, the court would have the authority to issue an order prohibiting the person from possessing, having control over or residing with an animal for any period, up to a lifetime ban. A restitution order would be available to order the person to repay the costs to an individual or organization of maintaining the abused animal. These types of orders are already available for the animal cruelty offences, and it makes sense that they should also be available for the bestiality offences.

The second motion passed by the committee would add the bestiality simpliciter offence to the list of offences for which a convicted person must adhere to the requirements of the National Sex Offender Registry. I believe that this is a meaningful amendment to the bill, as it would increase protections for public safety by recognizing that oftentimes, those who abuse animals will also commit violent acts against people, and as such, these individuals should be tracked.

Other hon. members supporting the bill mentioned that they thought the reforms did not go far enough to increase protections for animals. However, I believe the bill does offer important changes that target the most vicious forms of animal abuse, bestiality and animal fighting.

The amendments in the bill would address animal fighting in two ways. First, the amendments would increase the list of prohibited activities that support the animal fighting industry, including promoting, arranging or receiving money for animal fighting. This would make it easier to prosecute an animal fighting offence by clearly setting out the prohibited acts, thereby encouraging more prosecutions under the Criminal Code. The second amendment would expand the prohibition against keeping a cockpit to ensure that the provision applied to keeping an arena for the fighting of any animal. This amendment is particularly important considering that dogfighting is now the main form of animal fighting.

When the bill was being reviewed by the committee, it heard detailed evidence from the Canadian Veterinary Medical Association about the types of injuries that dogs suffered, including deep lacerations, broken bones and infections when forced to fight another dog. Law enforcement has reported that dog fighting, as with many illicit underground operations, is often connected to organized crime.

I am pleased that Bill C-84 will offer additional measures to combat animal fighting and make it easier for the criminal justice system to track these offenders.

The committee also passed a third motion, which the government supports, to delete the section in the offence of keeping a cockpit that required the destruction of birds found in a cockpit. This provision exists because such birds are often injured or trained to be aggressive and are unable to be held with other birds.

I agree with the position that the decision to destroy an animal should be made on a case-by-case basis after the animal has been examined rather than by operation of law. The destruction of animals that are seriously injured or aggressive, with no reasonable chance of recovery or rehabilitation, is already provided for under provincial animal protection legislation and does not need to be included in the Criminal Code. Moreover, it would be inconsistent with the objective of the amendment to the provision, which is to expand the prohibition on cockpits to apply to any animal and then to retain a provision that only applies to birds involved in cockfighting.

The measures proposed by Bill C-84 will strengthen public safety and protections for animals significantly. There has been much discussion about the correlation between violence against animals and violence against humans. In fact, in the United States the FBI has a national database that contains data on incidents of animal abuse in order to prevent violence against animals from escalating to violence against humans, including domestic abuse and serial murders. As well, many victims of domestic violence report that their abusers either abuse or threaten to harm pets in order to assert even more control over the victim. If a child witnesses animal abuse, that itself is a form of child abuse.

I would like to thank the members of the committee and the witnesses who appeared before us for their helpful testimony and important examination of the bill. As a result, three meaningful motions were passed by the committee and then supported in the House. The discussions that have taken place and the suggested amendments have produced a bill that has been strengthened through consensus and collaboration.

It is important that the bill be enacted as soon as possible, given the importance of these proposed amendments.

I have questions for the minister. I have heard from my constituents that they are pleased that our government is taking important steps with Bill C-84. Some even pointed out to me that these reforms did not go far enough. Has the minister encountered this sentiment from Canadians or stakeholders?

[Housing, April 9th, 2019]

Mr. Speaker, the Toronto Community Housing Corporation is the largest social housing provider in Canada and the second-largest in North America.

Last week, the Prime Minister was in Toronto to make a $1.3 billion housing announcement, the largest federal housing investment in Canadian history. Could the Minister of Families, Children, and Social Development inform the House how this record investment will provide tens of thousands of Toronto families safe and affordable homes?

[Human Rights, March 19th, 2019]

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to call the attention of the House to the plight of renowned Iranian civil rights lawyer Ms. Nasrin Sotoudeh.

Human rights activists around the world were appalled to hear recently that this courageous lawyer has been sentenced to 38 years of imprisonment for having merely pursued her noble calling of defending the voiceless in Iran. Most recently she acted as a lawyer for women who sought to exercise their inalienable right to remove their hijabs.

A recipient of the prestigious Sakharov human rights award for her tireless advocacy, Ms. Sotoudeh is a paragon of strength and integrity. Her baseless and arbitrary sentence is defenceless and an egregious violation of the most fundamental of human rights.

As Canadians, we have always stood tall in defending towering figures who have proven to be tireless champions for the rights of others. As such, we should be resolute and spare no effort in joining the international—

[Eric Hoaken, February 7th, 2019]

Mr. Speaker, on Sunday, February 3, the legal community lost one of its most respected and celebrated lawyers, Eric Russell Hoaken. Eric's greatest love was undoubtedly his four children, Greta, Miles, Thea and Celia. His love for them was only rivalled by the adoration he had for his wife, Lisa.

Beyond family, he loved the law and the legal community, and be assured, the legal community certainly loved him back. His dedication, piercing wit and keen intelligence earned Eric much acclaim as a litigation star, yet Eric was always striving to have an even greater impact, and he devoted much energy to mentoring others. He served on the board of directors of both The Advocates' Society and the International Academy of Trial Lawyers.

Eric's infectious spirit left a profound mark on all those who had the privilege of knowing him. His integrity and professionalism exemplified the highest traditions not only of the bar but of humanity itself.

[Lunar New Year, February 5th, 2019]

Mr. Speaker, today marks the beginning of the lunar new year for members of the Canadian Chinese community and Seollal for the Korean Canadian community. We mark the arrival of the Year of the Pig, a great symbol of prosperity.

The lunar new year is an opportunity for members of our communities to reflect on the successes of the past year and to look forward to new beginnings. It is also a great time to build deeper connections with our friends, families and neighbours.

On behalf of my riding of Willowdale, I wish to mark this happy occasion as a year filled with peace, prosperity, good health and great happiness. Gong xi fa cai. Gong hey fat choy. Gong xi. Gong xi. Xin nian kuai le. Saehae bok manui badeuseyo.

[Points of Order, December 11th, 2018]

Mr. Speaker, as you are aware, the federal government funds Waterfront Toronto. Therefore, I would like to pose a question to the Minister of Infrastructure and Communities.

[Points of Order, December 11th, 2018]

Mr. Speaker, on a point of order, I would like to revert to the question I posed earlier.

[Infrastructure, December 11th, 2018]

Mr. Speaker, there is no resource more precious to the residents of Toronto than Lake Ontario, yet last week the Government of Ontario unexpectedly fired the provincial appointees to the board of Waterfront Toronto.

For over a decade, Waterfront Toronto has spearheaded the revitalization of the waterfront area by developing parks, streets and new neighbourhoods with affordable housing. The rash dismissal of the chair of the Waterfront Toronto board has everyone in Toronto worried and concerned. Therefore, I would like to ask the—

[Budget Implementation Act, 2018, No. 2, November 27th, 2018]

Madam Speaker, my hon. friend has alluded to the fact that the budget bill is a lengthy one, and I could not agree with him more, the reason being that we are doing quite well and we are leading the G7 in terms of economic growth, but our work is not done. It is absolutely imperative that we continue to tackle various issues.

This budget, as the member is fully aware, is all about ensuring that we have a competitive, sustainable and fair system. Therefore, every single one of the various issues that are addressed in this budget focus on addressing the issue of ensuring that we have more inclusive economic growth and that all Canadians can share in the new prosperity.