Jag Sahota

[Canada—United Kingdom Trade Continuity Agreement Implementation Act, March 9th, 2021]

Mr. Speaker, the Liberals have had years to work on a new trade agreement with the United Kingdom and yet they waited until the last minute to restart trade talks and failed to negotiate any improvements in the Canada-U.K. trade continuity agreement over CETA. What are the member's thoughts on that?

[International Women's Day, March 8th, 2021]

Mr. Speaker, I am honoured to rise in the House today to mark International Women's Day.

Women's Day was first celebrated in 1911. In 1975, the United Nations passed a resolution declaring March 8 as International Women's Day. This is a day when we reflect on the progress we have made toward women's equality both here in Canada and around the world.

Just a few months ago, we were recognizing the 50th anniversary of the Royal Commission on the Status of Women. We discussed how vital this report was at highlighting many of the inequalities that women were still facing in society and how the government responded to them. However, as I said in my speech, working toward equality in Canada is never done. We need to continue to build on what has been done and work toward building a better future for the women yet to come.

As a female member of Parliament in the Conservative Party of Canada, I am proud of our continued advocacy and our long history of supporting women across our country. Not only was it under a Conservative government that a woman's right to vote was recognized, but women play a vital and leading role in our party today.

However, I have been disheartened by the continued lack of action by the Liberal government. The Liberal government says that it stands up for women. It wants to eliminate gender disparity and end violence against women, yet these sentiments appear to be nothing more than just words from the government. The Liberal Party added to its platform that it would develop and release a national action plan to combat gender-based violence, yet there is nothing.

One in three women and girls in Canada will face some sort of gender-based violence in their lifetime. With the ongoing pandemic, the detrimental effects of COVID and the restrictions that have largely confined us to our homes over the past year have resulted in women who are in abusive relationships being stuck in their homes with their abusers. This is heartbreaking to hear about. It is concerning that women continue to face this sort of degrading and brutalizing crime, both mentally and physically. No person should ever be subjected to that sort of treatment.

As the Conservative shadow minister for women and gender equality, I want to help contribute to the discussion about gender-based violence and work with my caucus toward developing policies that we can use to help eradicate gender-based violence in Canada. This is why for the past several months I have been meeting with organizations and individuals across Canada who work with and help individuals escape this abusive life.

The pandemic has also highlighted many of the inequalities that still exist in our society today. At the status of women committee, we have been hearing from witnesses that women are disproportionately represented in the numbers of people unemployed, not only because they work predominately in industries that have been hit the hardest, such as the retail and hospitality industries, but also because with children staying home from school or elderly parents who are at high risk of catching COVID, many women have left the workforce to take on the role of at-home caregiver. While people have started going back into the workforce, many women have chosen to remain at home.

We have heard from many witnesses how this is a concerning trend. Women play a vital and very important role in our economy and the risk of women not returning to the workforce can set women's advancement back decades. One of the advancements at risk is pay equity, an issue that was a major pillar in the first International Women's Day and in the royal commission.

Just the other day, the status of women committee was reviewing the implementation of the Pay Equity Act and had the Minister of Labour appear before committee. My Conservative colleagues and I were consistently asking the minister why it had taken so long to implement. We pointed to the fact that it was the Liberals' legislation, which even the PBO confirmed could have been implemented faster. The only response from the Minister of Labour on why it was taking over three years, with a minimum of another three years, to fully implement it was to not rush it.

Taking over three years to implement is not rushing; it is delaying. The government and the Prime Minister like to say that they stand up for women, but when it comes to actually standing up for and representing women, the government frequently and consistently turns its back on women.

Today, on International Women's Day and every day, Canada's Conservatives will continue to call on the Liberal government to take real, meaningful action to support women across Canada as we focus on securing our future. I know that under a Conservative government, led by the member for Durham, Canadian women will not only be well represented but heard by us and will see real action on the issues that matter the most.

I wish all women in Canada and across the world a happy International Women's Day.

[National Defence, March 8th, 2021]

Mr. Speaker, in 2018 at the status of women committee, the minister said, “inappropriate sexual behaviour of any kind is completely unacceptable and will not be tolerated in the Canadian Armed Forces.” Now we know that those were just words and nothing more. It is clear that the Prime Minister likes to say he stands up for women, but when it actually comes down to standing up for women, the government frequently and consistently turns its back on women.

How many more women need to come forward before the Prime Minister takes sexual misconduct seriously?

[National Defence, March 8th, 2021]

Mr. Speaker, in 2015, the then chief of the defence staff, General Vance, launched Operation Honour with the mandate to address and eliminate sexual misconduct within the military. Now we learn that allegations of sexual misconduct against General Vance were brought to the minister’s and Prime Minister's attention in 2018, and they actively chose to ignore them.

With today being International Women’s Day, why should women place their trust in the Prime Minister when he deliberately ignores sexual misconduct within the military at the highest ranks?

[National Human Trafficking Awareness Day, February 22nd, 2021]

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to rise today to mark Canada’s first National Human Trafficking Awareness Day.

Human trafficking is not something Canadians think of often, if at all, and when we do, we often think that this horrendous and dehumanizing crime is being committed elsewhere in the world. However, human trafficking happens right here in our own backyards. One in three victims of human trafficking is trafficked by an intimate partner, and this crime is quickly becoming the most lucrative crime in Canada. This is why it is important for us to raise awareness, to let Canadians know that human trafficking does exist here in Canada, to recognize the signs of a person being trafficked and to report it to local law enforcement.

I encourage all members of this House and all Canadians to visit the government’s website to learn more about human trafficking and help put a stop to this disturbing and dehumanizing crime.

[Employment, February 19th, 2021]

Madam Speaker, over the last six years, Alberta’s economy has been devastated by the policies of the Liberal government. The COVID-19 pandemic has only served to exacerbate these issues. For years we have heard the government say that the best interests of Canadians is its priority.

When will the government stop offering words to Albertans and start taking concrete action to protect our jobs?

[Committees of the House, February 16th, 2021]

Mr. Speaker, it is urgency that has brought this motion to the House. As I said, we are already about a year late in setting a day to talk about human trafficking and creating a campaign to deal with it. There was urgency a year ago, and to wait any longer makes this even more urgent.

[Committees of the House, February 16th, 2021]

Mr. Speaker, that is exactly the purpose of setting February 22 as a national awareness day to talk about these things. We pushed for this motion to be passed last year, but it did not happen. We are already a year late. Let us get on with it and pass this motion to declare February 22 as the national human trafficking day.

[Committees of the House, February 16th, 2021]

Mr. Speaker, the message would be that it is Canadian children and children from everywhere in the world who are being trafficked. This is not a message limited to Canadians; it is a message for the world. We need to protect our children, and awareness is the first step toward that. We should make sure we have a campaign, set on this day, to talk about becoming aware of the situation, how to identify where trafficking is about to happen and how to take steps to notify authorities so that it does not happen.

[Committees of the House, February 16th, 2021]

moved:

That the second report of the Standing Committee on Status of Women presented on Thursday, February 4, 2021, be concurred in.

Mr. Speaker, I will be splitting my time with the member for Peace River—Westlock.

I am pleased to rise today to voice my support for declaring February 22 as national human trafficking awareness day. Human trafficking is the recruitment, transportation, harbouring and/or exercising control, discretion or influence over the movement of a person in order to exploit that person, typically through sexual exploitation or forced labour. It is often described as a modern form of slavery.

Human trafficking is not something Canadians think of often, if at all. When we do, we often think that this horrendous and dehumanizing crime is being committed elsewhere in the world: somewhere that is less fortunate and that lacks effective law enforcement. However, as the Conservative shadow minister for Women and Gender Equality, I have learned from several of my colleagues, including the member for Peace River—Westlock, and from stakeholders and organizations across the country just how vast the human trafficking network is in Canada.

Statistics Canada's 2018 report on human trafficking indicated that 90% of human trafficking in Canada was reported in census metropolitan areas, and that 97% of victims are women and girls with 74% of them being under the age of 25. Of that 74%, 28% were under the age of 18. These numbers are absolutely horrifying and break my heart. These are not just numbers. These numbers represent somebody's daughter, son, grandson, granddaughter, niece or nephew. No one underage, particularly those who are trafficked, has the ability to consent to sexual acts or exploitation.

When I look at my party's record on this issue, I am grateful that we have taken this issue seriously and made significant overhauls to our Criminal Code to address this very serious crime. The member for Haldimand—Norfolk, during her tenure as the minister for Citizenship and Immigration and as minister for Human Resources and Skills Development Canada, introduced several changes to the temporary foreign worker program and the immigration act to prevent situations where temporary workers in Canada, including strippers, might be abused, exploited or possibly become victims of human trafficking.

In 2010 and 2012, former member of Parliament Joy Smith introduced and passed two private members' bills: Bill C-268, minimum sentence for offences involving trafficking of persons under the age of eighteen years, and Bill C-310, trafficking in persons. Bill C-268 amended the Criminal Code and set mandatory minimums for those who were convicted of trafficking anyone under the age of 18, while Bill C-310 addressed a major loophole in our Criminal Code and made sure that Canadians or permanent residents who went abroad for the purpose of exploiting or trafficking foreign individuals would be brought back to Canada for prosecution.

In 2012, our Conservative government launched a four-year national action plan to combat human trafficking. This included Canada's first integrated law enforcement team dedicated to combatting human trafficking, and increased front-line training to identify and respond to human trafficking, enhanced prevention in vulnerable communities, provided more supports for victims of this crime, both those who are Canadians and foreigners, and strengthened our coordination with domestic and international partners in combatting human trafficking.

Our Conservative government also recognized that the majority of people who are trafficked are trafficked for the purpose of sexual exploitation. This is why, when our government had to revisit Canada's law regarding prostitution and pass Bill C-36, the Protection of Communities and Exploited Persons Act, we put a heavy focus on protecting these victims.

Until this law was passed, those forced into the sex trade were often treated as criminals by the law instead of being treated as the victims. This law was a made-in-Canada approach recognizing that those who sell sexual services are often victims of human trafficking and often underage. We recognized those people as victims of a more heinous crime, and instead of further victimizing the victim, our Conservative government focused on the pimps and the johns. This included those convicted of procuring, recruiting or harbouring another person for the purpose of prostitution, with a maximum penalty of 14 years in prison. If the victim was a child, the penalty carried a mandatory minimum sentence of five years.

We have done a lot to address human trafficking in Canada and stand up for the vulnerable in our society. However, there is still much more work that needs to be done.

Despite all of our hard work as parliamentarians, human trafficking is still a growing crime in Canada and remains very much below the public radar. At the Standing Committee on the Status of Women, one of the facts we have constantly heard from witnesses is the importance of raising awareness to help combat the prevalence of human trafficking. That is why I strongly support declaring a national awareness day. It would give us an opportunity to create an awareness campaign to educate Canadians that this crime happens and happens locally. It would show them the signs of someone who is being or is about to be trafficked and how to report that to the authorities.

The time is now to act on this very important issue. It has been over 16 years since Canada added human trafficking offences to the Criminal Code and 14 years since the House unanimously adopted a motion to condemn all forms of human trafficking and slavery.

The motion also calls for making February 22 the day to be declared national human trafficking awareness day. I believe this is the best and most practical day to use. The Provinces of Ontario and Alberta already use February 22 as the day to bring awareness provincially. Also, the government's own special adviser for combatting human trafficking has said that they would like to see this day declared as the national human trafficking awareness day.

There are several motions from all parties on the Order Paper: Motion No. 45 from the Conservative member for Peace River—Westlock, seconded by the Bloc member for Shefford; Motion No. 59 from the NDP member for Edmonton Strathcona, seconded by the Green member for Nanaimo—Ladysmith; and Motion No. 57 from the Liberal member for Scarborough—Guildwood, seconded by the Green member for Nanaimo—Ladysmith. All of their motions call for the House to condemn all forms of human trafficking and slavery, promote awareness, take steps toward combatting human trafficking and declare February 22 as national human trafficking awareness day.

Human trafficking is one of the most lucrative and quickly growing crimes in Canada. I hope all members of the House will agree with me and join me in declaring February 22 as national human trafficking awareness day.