Kerry Diotte

[Attack in Edmonton, October 2nd, 2017]

Mr. Speaker, Saturday evening, the people of Edmonton were subjected to a cowardly act of terror. Above all else, our thoughts and prayers are with the victims of this attack and their loved ones.

Canada is regarded as a nation of peace. When that peace is shattered, as it was in Edmonton this weekend, the effects are felt right across the country. Often we feel outrage at an attack on our fellow citizens, but instead of focusing on anger, we must focus on our strength. Our strength as a nation is that everyone is free to live and worship as they choose.

If anyone needs a model of strength to look to for inspiration, look no further than the great city of Edmonton, and especially its first responders. These women and men put the safety of the public before their own, and there is no telling how many lives they saved on Saturday evening.

Canada is not immune to the threat of global terror, but we can, and we must, face it head on, and we will.

[Tourism Week, May 31st, 2017]

Mr. Speaker, this week is Tourism Week. Canada's tourism industry is an important economic driver. It helps create jobs and grow the economy.

This week is a chance to celebrate Canada's natural beauty, events, and vibrant cultures. From coast to coast to coast, Canada has so much to showcase. Today I would like to highlight Edmonton.

For one thing, Edmonton is truly a festival city. In fact, we have so many festivals, they are hard to keep track of. There are dozens of them. There is the Fringe Festival, the Folk Festival, the Street Performers Festival, the Heritage Festival, and let us not forget the granddaddy of Edmonton festivals, K-Days. It is centred in my north-side riding of Edmonton Griesbach.

I would like to invite everyone to Edmonton this summer for our festivals, our attractions, and our warm hospitality. Come for the fun and leave with great memories.

[Petitions, May 30th, 2017]

Mr. Speaker, I rise to table a petition from my constituents with regard to genetically modified foods.

The petitioners are calling on the House of Commons to establish mandatory labelling of all genetically modified foods.

[Crimean Tatars, May 18th, 2017]

Mr. Speaker, today is the 73rd anniversary of the Soviet regime's brutal deportation of the Crimean Tatars. On May 18, 1944, Soviet forces ripped Crimean Tatars from their homes. They packed them onto cattle cars and sent them on a long, dark journey to central Asia. Thousands died. It was an attempt to eradicate a small nation from the very face of the earth. In other words, it was genocide.

Today Crimean Tatars face renewed peril at the hands of Vladimir Putin's illegal occupation. Once again they face attacks on their freedom of speech, their faith, and, in many cases, their lives. The same evil ideology is at play in the Soviet regime's attempt to destroy the Crimean Tatars and in modern-day Russia's theft of Crimea from Ukraine.

The Liberal government must do more to stop this Russian aggression.

[Multiple Sclerosis Awareness Month, May 3rd, 2017]

Mr. Speaker, today, in honour of Multiple Sclerosis Awareness Month, I am wearing a carnation. It shows my solidarity with my late friend Ted Marianix and the entire MS community.

Canada has the highest rate of MS in the world. Sadly, MS is Canada's disease. We must join together across the nation to improve life with MS for Canadians.

Let us take the case of Joshua Kelndorfer, a 13-year-old from Edmonton. His mother was diagnosed with MS when he was just one year old. Joshua said this:

I see the impact that MS has on my mom and I want to do something about it. I see the pain she feels and I pray every night that she will wake up without MS. I want MS to leave my family. I want a cure for MS, for my mom and for all the other families living with this terrible disease. I know the way to find a cure is by raising money for research.

Joshua is right. Let us keep raising money to find a cure.

[Supervised Injection Sites, April 3rd, 2017]

Mr. Speaker, last week I hosted a standing-room-only town hall meeting. The town hall was about four supervised injection sites proposed for north central Edmonton.

One of those will be in my riding of Edmonton Griesbach. I would like to thank the expert panellists who were there. Thanks go to Shelley Williams, deputy police chief Brian Simpson, Heather Stanchfield, Cris Basualdo, Ratan Lawrence, and Dr. Oluseyi Oladele.

Everyone wants a healthy and safe community, and we all want to help people struggling with addictions. At the meeting, though, opinions differed on these controversial facilities. However, one thing is clear: the people whose houses are a stone's throw away are not too pleased, and they do not feel that they were sufficiently consulted about the locations.

The Liberal government promised thorough consultations about these injection sites nationwide. People living near these sites deserve more say.

[Operation UNIFIER, March 21st, 2017]

Mr. Chair, we have heard a lot of praise for all that Canada has done for Ukraine, from all sides of the House, but I am troubled by the fact that sometimes it is a little empty. I wonder, and I would love to find out from my colleague across the way, why the majority of Liberals failed to support my bill, Bill C-306, that condemned the deportation of the Crimean Tatars as genocide. I have yet to hear a good explanation for that. I would love to hear it.

[Operation UNIFIER, March 20th, 2017]

Mr. Chair, Canada has proven that it is a big friend of Ukraine. What happens in the United States is irrelevant. We have to give everything we possibly can to Ukraine. We cannot leave it short. Ukrainians are in a battle for their lives and their liberty and we have to step up to the plate to show that we have been friends and will continue to be friends, and give Ukraine every tool it could possibly need to beat back the aggression it is experiencing right now.

[Operation UNIFIER, March 20th, 2017]

Mr. Chair, as far as we are aware, Ukraine wants it. All of the double-talk about it maybe not being good enough or maybe it is already getting some form of it is irrelevant. We should go to the source, straight to the horse's mouth, to get the information. Ukraine is very much in favour of getting this and it wants it. Who are we to argue? The Ukrainians are on the front lines. We should provide it. It is as simple as that.

[Operation UNIFIER, March 20th, 2017]

Mr. Chair, my colleague makes a great point. If there is anything we can do to support the situation in Ukraine, why should we not be doing it? He is quite correct that there has not been a good explanation for ending this practice. I would certainly urge the governing Liberals to step up to the plate and explain why we are not coming to Ukraine's defence in this regard.