Hélène Laverdière

[Marielle Franco, March 21st, 2018]

Mr. Speaker, being a black woman is to resist and survive all the time. Those were the words of Marielle Franco, a Brazilian city councillor, human rights advocate, and passionate LGBTQ activist who was murdered in Rio de Janeiro on March 14.

Marielle Franco was a symbol of hope, a voice for the voiceless. She fought against poverty, police brutality, and corruption. Too many women like Marielle Franco, Miriam Rodriguez Martinez, and Berta Caceres are being killed for defending human rights.

In the face of these unjust deaths, we need to make sure we protect the women who are speaking out for our collective rights. Canada needs to support the front-line activists standing up for justice, indigenous rights, and the environment.

Let us remember Marielle Franco and continue her work. May she rest in peace.

[Foreign Affairs, March 20th, 2018]

Mr. Speaker, the new criteria do not meet international standards, so where is this going?

The government refuses to release its report on Saudi Arabia's improper use of Canadian vehicles, allegations that have been confirmed by the Saudis themselves. The minister has even stated that she will not re-evaluate the existing arms export permits, despite evidence of human rights violations.

How can the government claim to have a progressive and feminist foreign policy when it continues to sell weapons to Saudi Arabia?

[Foreign Affairs, March 20th, 2018]

Mr. Speaker, according to the Prime Minister, we sold Jeeps to Saudi Arabia, but we now know that this multi-billion-dollar sale included a large number of armoured assault vehicles. Saudi Arabia is attacking its own civilians and committing atrocities in Yemen.

What does the Prime Minister think of Canada's potential complicity in these violations of international law?

[Petitions, March 20th, 2018]

Mr. Speaker, today I have the honour and pleasure of presenting a petition signed by over 2,000 people. They are concerned about railways that cut through cities and neighbourhoods across Canada, forcing people to take long detours or cross railways unsafely. The Minister of Transport has an obligation to take action and remove barriers between our neighbourhoods by creating safe, well-defined level crossings and foot bridges.

[Prime Minister’s Trip to India, March 1st, 2018]

Mr. Speaker, when the Prime Minister spends a week in another country, people expect him to come back with a lot of good things to show for it, ideally.

He has been back for almost a week now, and we still do not know what the purpose of the trip was. We need leaders who are 100% focused on Canadians' needs, not their own needs or those of their party.

When will we find out the true purpose of the trip?

[Prime Minister's Trip to India, February 28th, 2018]

Mr. Speaker, it is quite clear that the Prime Minister accomplished very little on his eight-day trip in India with a dozen MPs, all at the expense of taxpayers. He could have raised some issues that are important to Canadians, but no, all he managed to do was to create tension with a very important country in the region.

Is this how the Prime Minister wants to put Canada back on the world stage?

[Prime Minister's Trip to India, February 28th, 2018]

Mr. Speaker, in the aftermath of the Prime Minister's botched trip to India, he has actually managed to make things worse by blaming so-called factions in the Indian government for the invitation extended to Jaspal Atwal, a claim that was swiftly denounced by India's foreign affairs ministry as “baseless and unacceptable.”

Is the Prime Minister trying to create an international diplomatic crisis?

[Foreign Affairs, February 27th, 2018]

Mr. Speaker, Canada must put pressure on Syria and Russia to maintain and observe the ceasefire, not just for part of the day, but permanently. To act otherwise is an affront to our humanity.

The only way to bring peace to the Syrian people is to find a political solution and ensure that those responsible for atrocities are brought to account. Where is Canada in pushing for such a solution?

[Foreign Affairs, February 26th, 2018]

Madam Speaker, there seems to be some confusion because I am pretty sure that the objective was to talk about peacekeeping.

If my colleague wants to talk about re-engagement, a re-engagement that I have yet to see, and the issue of nuclear disarmament, I could remind him that 120 countries approved a convention to ban nuclear arms and that Canada disengaged from that exercise.

My colleague also talked about women in peacekeeping. Currently, only six out of Canada's 43 peacekeepers are women. He is talking about women, peace and security, but there is no money for Canada's action plan in that regard. They talk about their feminist international agenda, but they sell arms to Saudi Arabia. They talk about women in international development, but do not provide a penny more. In fact, the international development budget is decreasing. If that is re-engagement, then we have—

[Foreign Affairs, February 26th, 2018]

Mr. Speaker, the government is fond of saying that Canada is back, but one has to wonder where exactly we are, because we do not see much of Canada on the international stage. In any case, Canada's name rarely comes up in good news stories.

Consider peacekeeping. During the election campaign, the Liberals promised to recommit to peacekeeping. I have a feeling that we do not have the same definition of commitment, because all I see is a total lack thereof.

In November, right when we were hosting an international conference in Vancouver, Canada's contribution dropped to 62 peacekeepers. That is the weakest commitment since peacekeeping operations were first introduced over 50 years ago.

What happened between November and December? Canada's contribution dropped further from 62 to 43 peacekeepers. Incidentally, despite all the government's rhetoric on the role of women and the need for more women in peacekeeping operations, there are only six women among those 43 peacekeepers.

However, the Liberal government had made some very specific promises. In August 2016, it promised 600 troops and 150 police officers. By November 2017, all of a sudden, it was promising only 200 troops. For that matter, we have yet to see a single one of those troops.

The government says it will provide training and equipment. There are plenty of developed countries providing training and equipment, yet also doing the hard work on the ground. In the meantime, Canada is not doing its fair share. That leads to two problems, the first of which is fundamental. By carrying out peacekeeping operations, Canada could contribute to global peace and security and help protect civilians. However, we are not doing that. We are full of talk, but no action.

The second is that our refusal to live up to our commitments harms Canada's reputation. That goes for peacekeeping as well as for other files like climate change, as Canada will not even be meeting its Paris agreement targets. In the eyes of the international community, a country that says one thing and does another is a country that cannot be trusted. I do not know if the government actually thinks that that is how it will gain the credibility it needs to win a seat on the United Nations Security Council, but I really do not think this is the right approach.

I want this government to stop talking and stop making us promises only to reconsider them and put them off.

When will Canada truly return to peacekeeping?