Joy Smith

[Violence Against Women, December 8th, 2010]

Mr. Speaker, Monday was the National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women and we solemnly remembered the 14 young women who were murdered on December 6, 1989. On this 21st anniversary, we must take note that we must not only remember, but we must also act.

Today violence against women and young girls continues across our nation and throughout our globe. Prostitution is a serious form of violence against women and girls in Canada, especially impacting first nations women. Our government has taken this issue seriously and has committed to upholding the Criminal Code provisions that were struck down in Ontario.

In addition, I would encourage all members of the House to support changes that would vigorously target the purchasers of sexual services and not the women who are prostituted and to provide support for those who wish to escape prostitution.

[Justice, December 2nd, 2010]

Mr. Speaker, today the Ontario Court of Appeal rendered a decision to stay the Ontario Superior Court decision on the Bedford prostitution challenge that struck down this country's key prostitution laws. This means that these laws remain in effect until April 29, 2011, or until the appeal is heard by the Ontario Court of Appeal.

Could the Minister of Justice please comment on today's ruling?

[Committees of the House, December 2nd, 2010]

Mr. Speaker, I have the honour to present, in both official languages, the 10th report of the Standing Committee on Health entitled, “An Examination of the Potential Health Impacts of Radio-Frequency Electromagnetic Radiation”.

[Questions Passed as Orders for Returns, December 2nd, 2010]

Mr. Speaker, I rise on a point of order. I am requesting that we revert to reports.

[Committees of the House, November 24th, 2010]

Mr. Speaker, I have the honour to present, in both official languages, the ninth report of the Standing Committee on Health in relation to its study on stem cell donation in Canada.

The committee adopted five motions on Tuesday, November 23.

[Liberal Party of Canada, November 16th, 2010]

Mr. Speaker, recently in Winnipeg, the leader of the Liberal Party made insulting and offensive comments that were supported by his Liberal candidate, Kevin Lamoureux. The Liberal leader insinuated that Julie Javier, a Filipino Canadian with an impressive professional and community background, is only running so she could steal votes from the Liberal candidate in the Filipino community because of her heritage.

Virginia Guiang, former executive director of the Philippine Canadian Centre of Manitoba, said it best when she said:

It’s offensive for [the Liberal leader] to insinuate that members of ethnic communities all vote the same way. Putting Canadians into voting blocks based on ethnic origin is old school Liberal politics and it has no place in today’s Canada. Women, Filipinos, and members of other ethnic communities are individuals who can make up their own mind. We are not voting machines that just blindly go and vote Liberal.

The Liberal leader and his candidate need to apologize.

[Committees of the House, October 28th, 2010]

Mr. Speaker, I have the honour to table, in both official languages, the eighth report of the Standing Committee on Health in relation to Bill C-36, An Act respecting the safety of consumer products.

The committee has studied the bill and has decided to report the bill back to the House with amendments.

[Petitions, October 25th, 2010]

Mr. Speaker, I also have another petition from the residents in my constituency, petitioning the House of Commons to amend the animal transport regulations under Canada's Health of Animals Act, to be consistent with the findings of the EU Scientific Committee on Animal Health and Animal Welfare, to reduce transport times for pigs, poultry, horses, calves and lambs to eight hours, and to twelve hours for cattle, sheep and goats, and to ensure adequate enforcement of the regulations.

They ask that these amendments be passed quickly.

[Petitions, October 25th, 2010]

Mr. Speaker, I have a petition here from members in my riding calling upon the Government of Canada to stop all funding of the International Planned Parenthood Federation.

It is said that the establishment has abortion as an international human right and that the Planned Parenthood Federation lobbies aggressively to impose permissive abortion laws on developing nations.

[Human Trafficking, October 21st, 2010]

Madam Speaker, before Parliament adjourned for the summer, my private member's bill, Bill C-268, was adopted by the Senate and given royal assent. This bill created a brand new offence of trafficking a minor and carried stiff penalties.

Today I am pleased to announce to this House that this new offence has been applied for the first time in Canada. This past week, a man from Milton, Ontario was charged with trafficking a minor. After kidnapping and gang-raping a young 17-year-old girl, the trafficker viciously forced her into prostitution.

I want to commend the police officers who worked hard to bring this case forward. I also want to thank members on all sides of this House who supported Bill C-268. The bipartisan efforts that led to the success of this legislation must not fade. Human trafficking is a heinous crime and it will take a unified effort here in Parliament to eliminate the modern-day slavery that now exists across our nation.