Jim Karygiannis

[Egyptian Coptic Christians, October 17th, 2011]

Mr. Speaker, Coptic Christians in Egypt face persecution and discrimination. As the Arab spring unfolded in Egypt with people from all religious faiths joining together to overthrow the tyranny of Hosni Mubarak, the future looked brighter for Christians in Egypt. Unfortunately, under the new military government in Egypt, religious extremists seem to be able to carry out attacks on Christians and their churches with impunity. In the most recent attack, a Coptic church in upper Egypt was burned by religious extremists. When there was no reaction from the authorities, frustrated Copts gathered in Cairo's Maspero neighbourhood to protest the partial demolition of the church in Aswan province and call for the removal of the province's governor for failing to protect the church.

Army units fired on demonstrators with a resulting death toll of 25, most of whom were Copts, and scores were injured. Videos showed an armoured personnel carrier running people down. There could not have been a more callous expression of disregard by the Egyptian armed forces for the lives of Egyptian Christians.

Therefore, I am seeking unanimous consent for the following motion. I move:

That this House condemn the attacks on Egyptian Coptic Christians and their institutions; call on the Egyptian Government to ensure that the perpetrators of the attacks be brought to justice and bear the full weight of the law; and, ask the United Nations Human Rights Commission to investigate the plight of Egyptian Coptic Christians and issue a report on its findings.

[Foreign Affairs, October 6th, 2011]

Mr. Speaker, Majeed Uddin Ahmed, a Canadian citizen, together with his wife and their two Canadian children, ages five and one and a half, have been arrested and incarcerated in Saudi Arabia's notorious Dhaban prison for two weeks. One of the children is sick and requires medical care.

From the beginning, the minister was made aware of this situation. The family in Canada has been advised that it will have to wait until next week for news as officials have told them, “It is not in our route of travel”.

When will the minister order her officials to change their travel plans and bring these kids home?

[Multiculturalism, October 6th, 2011]

Mr. Speaker, on October 8, 1971, Prime Minister Pierre Elliott Trudeau introduced multiculturalism. Canadian multiculturalism represents the belief that no matter where one comes from or how long one has been in Canada, once the oath of citizenship is taken, one is a Canadian.

For too long political parties have relied on ethnic or cultural groups to vote for them. It is time that we integrate multicultural communities as full partners in the decision-making process of Canada. We need to ensure that all Canadians are fully engaged in the great experiment we call Canada. Multiculturalism is alive and well in Canada and it has a rightful place in our country.

We need to respect our fellow Canadians as equals. We need to accept them as full participants in all aspects of Canadian life. We need to celebrate their full participation in our communities. We need to embrace where it will take us. We need to come together as Canadians and show the world that in Canada we are all equal parts of the human race.

[Keeping Canada's Economy and Jobs Growing Act, October 6th, 2011]

You have to be kidding.

[Keeping Canada's Economy and Jobs Growing Act, October 6th, 2011]

You are drinking our own Kool-Aid.

[Business of Supply, October 4th, 2011]

Madam Speaker, we talk about people who commit suicide, people who are distraught and are way down at the bottom of the barrel, one could say.

However, there is something we should have at the back of our minds. We should be thinking about addressing the issue of people who commit suicide involuntarily or who are not cognizant that they are doing it. There are people who go out and drink and then compound their need to get high by taking drugs. Some of those people, through those means, commit suicide unknowingly, not wanting to do that.

Would the member also address the fact that a lot of people overdose, that people drink and take prescribed pills? Should we also, through the strategy that we are talking about creating here today, make sure that we address that particular issue?

[Business of Supply, October 4th, 2011]

Madam Speaker, I want to thank the parliamentary secretary for expressing the same concerns that we have. I also want to bring to the attention of the House a special individual.

Mental illness and suicide certainly play as important factors in all levels of life. In this House, we are probably among the strongest people, in that we keep very heavy schedules, we go back and forth to our ridings, and there is a lot of demand on our time.

Not too long ago a member of my colleague's caucus, the late Dave Batters, who was elected in Moose Jaw, said that he would not be running for election in 2008. In June 2009, he committed suicide. It also affects us in this House that we also are probably one of the toughest breeds of people in existence.

I wonder if my colleague would, in memory of his caucus colleague, agree with me that we need not only methods and best practices but also cash and a program in order to ensure that we have a national strategy, and that we need to put resources to it in order to prevent suicide in all levels of our society, even among the strongest here in the House of Commons.

[Sri Lanka, September 29th, 2011]

Mr. Speaker, during the last days of the civil war, the Government of Sri Lanka killed thousands of Tamil non-combatant refugees. International and United Nations human rights organizations have condemned the Sri Lankan government's cover-up. The government did nothing when thousands of people were butchered.

Will the Prime Minister take steps today to urge the Commonwealth to revoke Sri Lanka's membership until it holds the perpetrators to account and they are judged in international courts? Will he support calls from the international community for action against the Sri Lankan government?

[Safe Streets and Communities Act, September 27th, 2011]

Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the hon. member across the way for eloquently stating his ground. However, there was a point that I missed, and I would ask for clarification.

My colleague stated that the bill would help temporary foreign workers in Canada. He said that it would give the minister the right to extend their work permits. Then he went on to say that if there is an exotic dancer who applies and does not quality, then that person could apply for something else.

I wonder if the member is recommending to the people who want to come to Canada that they can shop around in how they could apply to come to Canada. That is what I understood from his wording. I am sure that if he looked through his speech, I think he might find that he made a mistake and might want to rephrase what he said.

[Safe Streets and Communities Act, September 27th, 2011]

Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for mentioning a couple of words. He kept talking about terrorism and about protecting Canadians abroad. He also said something about a shameful trend. I will tell him about a shameful trend.

A Canadian by the name of Colin Rutherford has been held by the Taliban for several months now. It will be a year in November. I have asked the government time and time again for information. This individual is being held by terrorists and his family is suffering

I want the hon. gentleman to tell me if that is not a shameful trend when the government is shutting up and is saying absolutely nothing to the family that wants to get news and wants to know what it is doing. Not only that, the government is even refusing to give me information.