Frank Baylis

[Business of Supply, February 16th, 2017]

Madam Speaker, I find it fascinating to question ourselves. How did we get here, right here to this debate today?

In my riding of Pierrefonds—Dollard, Mr. Samer Majzoub, of the Canadian Muslim Forum, and I sat around, had a coffee, and discussed the concerns we had about rising Islamophobia. We looked at what we could do to shine a light and speak up against it. Together with his group, he came up with this petition. I will read the wording, because it is important:

Islam is a religion of 1.5 billion people worldwide. Since its founding more than 1400 years ago, Muslims have contributed, and continue to contribute, to the positive development of human civilization. This encompasses all areas of human endeavours including the arts, culture, science, medicine, literature, and more;

Recently an infinitesimally small number of extremist individuals have conducted terrorist activities while claiming to speak for the religion of Islam. Their actions have been used as a pretext for a notable rise of anti-Muslim sentiments in Canada; and

These violent individuals do not reflect in any way the values or the teachings of the religion of Islam. In fact, they misrepresent the religion. We categorically reject all their activities. They in no way represent the religion, the beliefs and the desire of Muslims to co-exist in peace with all peoples around the world.

We, the undersigned, Citizens and residents of Canada, call upon the House of Commons to join us in recognizing that extremist individuals do not represent the religion of Islam, and in condemning all forms of Islamophobia.

That is what happened.

At the time, this petition received the most signatures ever on an electronic petition in the history of Canada. In fact, it was double the previous ones.

Based on this petition, the fine leader of the NDP put forward a motion for unanimous consent. He asked that the House join the more than 69,742 Canadian supporters of the House of Commons petition e-411 in condemning all forms of Islamophobia. He asked for unanimous consent. He asked the House for unanimous consent to condemn all forms of Islamophobia.

Can members imagine what happened? The House agreed that yes, we condemn all forms of Islamophobia. The members on this side of the House said it, and the members on the other side of the House said it. The opposition said it, and the government said it. It was unanimous.

What came of that? The member for Mississauga—Erin Mills said she would put forward a motion to study how we could work on this problem. I will read her wording.

It said that the House “take note of House of Commons' petition e-411 and the issues raised by it; and...request that the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage undertake a study”, a study only, “on how the government could develop a whole-of-government approach to reducing”, and this is really important, “or eliminating”, and at this point she did not want to restrict it to Islamophobia, “systemic racism and religious discrimination including Islamophobia”, but it would not be limited to Islamophobia.

A petition, a motion with unanimous consent, and a study. The only thing she is guilty of is expanding it.

Today we are debating another motion brought forward because the word “Islamophobia” was in the member for Mississauga—Erin Mills' motion. Today that word has to come out, because politics have been played, because it just cannot be.

I did not hear one member speak up, in the four months since they all agreed to condemn Islamophobia, to say that this word was terrible.

The fine gentleman, the member for Edmonton Manning, 10 minutes ago, said, “I oppose anything I do not understand”.

I am speechless. I do not understand how a member could vote for a motion that receives unanimous consent and, four months later, say she does not understand the word. I am shocked. I have to put it down to one thing: politics. Cheap politics, shameful politics, shameful, cheap politics.

I looked up “Islamophobia”. It is very simple. It means hatred or fear of Muslims. Arachnophobia is an irrational fear of spiders. If I am afraid of spiders, I am at least not afraid to say the word “arachnophobia”. I am a little afraid of spiders, but I can still say the word. It is not that scary. Conservatives seem to have a problem saying the word.

[Systemic Racism and Religious Discrimination, February 15th, 2017]

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of Motion No. 103, a private member's motion put forward by the member for Mississauga—Erin Mills. I congratulate her for the work she has done to bring forward the motion.

Motion No. 103 asks the government to undertake a study looking at ways of reducing or eliminating systemic racism and religious discrimination, including Islamophobia. The key points of the motion are to tackle systemic racism and religious discrimination.

Let us start with systemic racism. Systemic racism exists whenever the system itself is designed or came about to inherently discriminate against one people. If a barrier is in place, some people say we should reach over the barrier and bring people to the other side, but tackling systemic racism and discrimination means removing the barrier.

My own family's history has been touched by the fight against systemic racism. More than 50 years ago, my mother, Gloria Leon Baylis, a young black immigrant from Barbados, was denied a job because of her skin colour, because of her race. When that happened, she did not throw a rock through a window at night or write graffiti on a wall. No, she took them to court. She found a young Jewish lawyer, who told her he would stand with her and take on the case. Remember that this was over 50 years ago, when such discrimination was commonplace and, quite frankly, accepted.

Her case would take over 12 years to be settled, and when it was done and she won, the perpetrators were fined the measly sum of $25, some $25 for a 12-year case. However, the case was never about money. Her case would be the first in Canada to be fought and won against racial discrimination in the workplace. After that, it would no longer be legal in Canada to deny someone employment strictly because of their race.

I am very proud that my mother, a woman with an indomitable spirit, helped shape our nation by taking down the systemic racism in employment. This is what removing barriers is all about. Unfortunately, the battle is not over. To this day, the highest number of hate crimes are those against black Canadians.

Mr. Speaker, I will stop here and continue on later.

[Controlled Drugs and Substances Act, February 14th, 2017]

Mr. Speaker, everyone knows that there is a nationwide opioid crisis. We know that the government must take immediate action. We understand that there is a great need for supervised consumption sites. What impact does the hon. member for Vancouver Kingsway think that Bill C-37 will have in terms of promoting the introduction of these sites in communities where the need is great?

[Canada-European Union Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement Implementation Act, February 13th, 2017]

Mr. Speaker, I have a question for my colleague about extended pharmaceutical patent protection.

He mentioned extensions of three or three and a half years. However, from what I understand, it is two years. I would like some clarification on that.

[Business of Supply, February 9th, 2017]

As I mentioned earlier, Mr. Speaker, I am struggling to reconcile the difference between what I found when I did my consultations and what the Liberals found. I did not find any consensus, but listening to members across the aisle, it is clear that they found consensus.

What do we know for sure? We know that there have been a number of referendums in different provinces across our country seeking to change the system. In the referendum in Ontario mixed member proportional was proposed and two-thirds of the people voted against it. Fair enough. There was a different referendum for a single transferable vote in British Columbia, where 40% of the people said yes to a single transferable vote and 60% said no thanks. Just last year a plebiscite was done in Prince Edward Island. The province wanted to hear what everybody thought. Twenty-two per cent of the people wanted dual member. Mixed member received 29% and first past the post received 31%.

I was not able to find a consensus in my riding. The NDP seem to find a very strong consensus in all of their ridings. We disagree there. How do we reconcile that with what we know took place with all of these different referendums? What leads you to believe today that you are correct to say you see there is suddenly this great consensus?

[Business of Supply, February 9th, 2017]

Mr. Speaker, I, too, undertook to do consultations and I found that there was a core of people who were deeply interested in learning about electoral reform, but there were about as many people who felt that we were misplacing our energy. They asked why we were not focusing on the economy, on job creation, on the environment, or on health care. I received different feedback in that sense. The majority of people unfortunately that I tried to engage said that they were not that knowledgeable about the issue nor that interested. However, I did feel that the process was valuable, because I myself learned a lot about different procedures and different ways of voting, and the people who did engage also found that. However, I did find that there was no consensus. A lot of people said they were learning about the issue.

The member said that there was a clear consensus from her consultations, but that differs from what I found. I would like to understand a bit more about that.

[Public Safety, February 6th, 2017]

Mr. Speaker, Security Awareness Week starts today. This is an opportunity to make sure all Canadians feel safe.

Unfortunately, in the wake of the tragic shootings at the Centre islamique culturel de Québec, we can understand why many Canadian Muslims and members of other minority groups might feel vulnerable.

Can the Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness tell us what the government is doing to help these communities protect themselves?

[Statistics Canada, December 8th, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, during the last election and recently with the census, Canadians showed their belief in supporting good quality data from an independently trusted source. The data collected by Statistics Canada helps everyone—the private sector, governments at all levels, not-for-profit groups, and researchers—to make better decisions, and it is the cornerstone of this government's commitment to evidence-based decision making. Could the minister update the House on how he is ensuring the independence of Statistics Canada?

[Petitions, December 5th, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, I present an electronic petition initiated by Samer Majzoub, of Montreal, Quebec. The petition calls upon the House of Commons to recognize that extremist individuals do not represent the religion of Islam.

Since its founding more than 1,400 years ago, Muslims have contributed, and continue to contribute, to the positive development of human civilization. This encompasses all areas of human endeavour, including the arts, culture, science, medicine, literature, and much more. The petition also calls upon the House of Commons to condemn all forms of Islamophobia.

Canadians from every province and territory have signed this petition, and in a clear statement of support, the petition has garnered the most signatures in the history of electronic petitions, with 69,742 signatures.

[Islamophobia, December 5th, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, today I will be presenting a petition that condemns Islamophobia. In a powerful statement of support, this petition has garnered the most signatures in the history of e-petitions in Canada. Though I stand as a Liberal, this petition was supported across party lines.

I am proud to say that a motion condemning Islamophobia, based on this petition, was passed in the House of Commons with unanimous consent. I thank my colleagues across the aisle for their enduring commitment to the Canadian ideal of religious freedom. At times like these, we are a House united, stronger for our differences.

Let it be known that, while the clouds of hatred and intolerance darken parts of our world, here in Canada the light shines bright. In our country we value diversity. We, as a people, stand together to condemn all forms of religious discrimination.