Harold Albrecht

[Petitions, October 7th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, I have the honour to present a petition from citizens of Canada who want to see tougher laws and the implementation of new mandatory minimum sentencing for those persons convicted of impaired driving causing death.

The petitioners also want the Criminal Code of Canada to be changed to redefine the offence of impaired driving causing death as vehicular manslaughter.

[Mental Illness Awareness Week, October 6th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honour all the Canadians who are marking Mental Illness Awareness Week, a campaign to help open the eyes of Canadians to the reality of mental illness. Whether through a friend, family member, or colleague, at some point all Canadians will be affected by a mental illness. One in five of us will personally experience a mental illness.

The stigma attached to mental illness presents a serious barrier to diagnosis and treatment. Almost half of those who feel they have suffered from depression or anxiety have never sought the help of their doctor.

Tomorrow the Canadian Alliance on Mental Illness and Mental Health will host the Faces of Mental Illness breakfast here on the Hill. It offers us an opportunity to engage in a discussion about the reality of what suffering with a mental illness means.

Until we are as comfortable discussing our schizophrenia as our diabetes, we still have work to do. I invite my colleagues to attend tomorrow and to ask themselves how they can use their office to help stop the stigma surrounding mental illness.

[Nááts’ihch’oh National Park Reserve Act, October 2nd, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, I have the honour of working with my colleague who just finished his speech, as well as with my colleague from the NDP who spoke earlier. You will recognize that I tried to get a question in earlier, but there was not time.

I would just like to comment that had it not been for the lack of co-operation from our NDP partners, we probably could have been in committee already doing some work on some of these important initiatives to protect our environment. Maybe my colleague from the NDP could explain at some future date why we are still not in committee, but that is another matter.

My colleague from the Liberal Party just acknowledged his support for this bill, for which I am thankful. It is important that we continue to support efforts to protect our natural areas.

In response to a comment my NDP colleague made earlier, he gave the impression that we on this side do not want to protect our natural areas. I would just like to point out that since 2006, our government has made a sixfold expansion of the Nahanni National Park Reserve in the Northwest Territories. It is considered to be one of the most significant conservation achievements of a generation. We have secured almost 4,000 square kilometres of ecologically sensitive private lands. We have added an area nearly twice the size of Vancouver Island to the network of federally protected areas.

I wonder if my colleague from the Liberal Party would disagree with my colleague from the NDP, who just moments ago made some disparaging remarks about the effort on this side of the House to protect our environment and our protected areas through national parks.

[Canada-Korea Economic Growth and Prosperity Act, September 30th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, I wanted to pick up on a couple of points that my colleague made near the end of her speech, pointing out that 50% of Korean cars currently enter Canada duty free from the U.S. under NAFTA and that over 85% of Canadian production is exported. We know that is the current situation, but since the Korea-U.S. free trade deal was signed, U.S. auto exports to Korea have more than doubled from $340 million in 2011 to over $800 million in 2013. Since the Korea-EU agreement was signed, exports to Korea have doubled from $2 billion in 2010 to $4 billion in 2013.

Considering the facts that currently 50% of Korean cars can enter Canada through the NAFTA already, if we remove these tariffs would we not expect to find similar results to the U.S. and the EU after they signed their Korea free trade agreements, with auto exports actually doubling? Also, Ford set an annual sales record last year in Korea. From 2012-13, Ford was the fastest growing brand being sold in Korea. The concerns that the Ford Motor Company had and the concerns about possibly reducing numbers, I think these numbers would indicate the opposite.

[Canada-Korea Economic Growth and Prosperity Act, September 30th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank my colleague from British Columbia for his great speech outlining many of the benefits of the Canada-Korea free trade agreement.

All of us in the House know that during the 12 months following the Korea-U.S. agreement, our exports to Korea dropped dramatically. One of the sectors that was impacted most severely was the agricultural sector. In fact, in Ontario, there are current tariffs on pulses of 607% and of 30% on pork.

In my riding one of the producers, which is co-operatively owned and produces processed pork, knows that its exports stand to rise dramatically with the signing of the Canada-Korea free trade agreement. I am sure that if my colleague had had more time, he would have outlined many of the other agricultural areas in British Columbia that would benefit as well from the signing of this agreement. Could he take a few minutes to outline some of those benefits?

[Petitions, September 30th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, I have the honour to present four petitions from citizens of Canada from Manitoba, British Columbia, and Ontario. These citizens want to see tougher laws and implementation of new mandatory minimum sentencing for those persons convicted of impaired driving causing death. They also want the Criminal Code of Canada to be changed to redefine the offence of impaired driving causing death as vehicular manslaughter.

[Foreign Affairs, September 26th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, ISIL continues to terrorize the people of Iraq and Syria, particularly those who reject ISIL's twisted interpretation of Islam. Religious minorities remain at risk, such as Christians, Yazidis, Shia, and the Syrians. In July, ISIL destroyed Jonah's tomb, a venerated site of Christianity, Judaism, and Islam. Earlier this week, we learned that ISIL had struck again, this time destroying an Armenian church in Syria and a memorial to the Armenian genocide.

Can the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Foreign Affairs please comment on this developing situation?

[Protection of Communities and Exploited Persons Act, September 26th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, I listened to my colleague with interest. She recently heard the response of the parliamentary secretary in response to a question I posed regarding the experience of other jurisdictions that have implemented some form of what we sometimes refer to as the Nordic model. It is clear that the bill we have before us is crafted after that but is a huge improvement.

I am wondering how she can ignore the lived experience of communities, jurisdictions, and other nations that have gone a different route and experienced a rise in prostitution. Those who have implemented a variation of the Nordic model have seen an increase in safety for women and girls who are vulnerable to trafficking.

[Protection of Communities and Exploited Persons Act, September 26th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, this is certainly a subject that has captured the interest of many people across Canada. I remember near the end of the summer having a number of ladies visit me in my office and urge me to support the bill. They are very concerned about the protection, especially of women and girls.

One of the things that many constituents have also suggested is that we should just legalize it and that would end the problem. I was wondering if my colleague, the parliamentary secretary, could give some feedback from other jurisdictions that have used various models. We have sometimes heard in the House about the so-called Swedish model. We have heard about legalization. I would be interested in helping myself and my constituents understand better what the implications are and have been for those jurisdictions that have gone ahead with legalization.

[Canada-Korea Economic Growth and Prosperity Act, September 25th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, again, this just shows the kind of fearmongering that was here when NAFTA was signed.

We know that over 80% of the cars we produce in this country are exported. To suggest that by signing this free trade agreement with Korea we would somehow put auto jobs in jeopardy is simply not factual.

We also have some very clear protections in this agreement, which are sometimes referred to as snapback protections. Our protections are much higher than those offered to the U.S. in the Korea-U.S. free trade agreement.

It is pretty clear that, in the negotiations to get this agreement in place, all the due diligence was done. Canada has done a great job of protecting the auto sector. By the way, the auto sector supports this free trade agreement. Across the areas I represent, the auto sector is supportive because it does recognize the many benefits to all of the other sectors, which will benefit all workers in Ontario.