Lois Brown

[Zero Tolerance for Barbaric Cultural Practices Act, March 12th, 2015]

Mr. Speaker, Canada has been very bold in addressing the issue of early and forced marriage. It was our former foreign minister along with our Prime Minister at the United Nations General Assembly in September 2013 who put early and forced marriage on the agenda at those meetings.

I have been in countries where I saw girls as young as 12 with babies on their hips. I asked them if the baby was their brother. They said, “No, this is my baby”.

I have spoken to doctors in other countries, who told me that these young girls come to their hospitals in such a state of far advanced delivery. They have lost so much blood. They are in such terrible medical condition that it is beyond the ability of the doctors to save their lives.

Our government is bold in its attempts to put maternal, newborn, and child health on the agenda for the millennium development goals. It is spending Canadian taxpayers' dollars to save moms and babies around the world.

Why would we not seek protection for girls and women right here in Canada?

[Zero Tolerance for Barbaric Cultural Practices Act, March 12th, 2015]

Mr. Speaker, I am thankful for the opportunity to speak on Bill S-7, the zero tolerance for barbaric cultural practices act.

Our government has repeatedly demonstrated its commitment to making Canadian communities safer for everyone, including by taking action to prevent and address violence against women and girls.

As the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration explained before the Senate committee, all violent acts committed against women and girls are indeed barbaric. It is this Conservative government that has taken, and will continue to take, action to address various forms of violence against women and girls.

There is increasing evidence that Canadians are being subjected to forced marriages. Our government has provided international assistance to individuals, including Canadian children, who were taken abroad for forced marriage.

While forced marriage can affect men and boys, it is predominantly a form of gender-based violence targeting women and girls. It is clear that more needs to be done to tackle these unacceptable practices, which may violate basic human rights, cause harm to the victims, and create barriers to full participation of women in our free and democratic society. These forms of gender-based violence are being addressed by Bill S-7.

The zero tolerance for barbaric cultural practices act contains important legislative measures, which would protect potential and actual victims of forced marriage. These measures would also provide protection against other harmful practices, which predominantly and adversely affect women and girls, such as polygamy and so-called honour-based violence.

In short, Bill S-7 proposes to set the absolute minimum age of marriage at 16 in the Civil Marriage Act and entrench in that same act the requirements that a marriage involve free and enlightened consent and that all previous marriages be dissolved prior to entering into a new marriage.

Bill S-7 would introduce changes to the Criminal Code to also criminalize active participation in an underage or forced marriage ceremony and removing a child from Canada for these same harmful purposes.

This bill would also expand the peace bond regime in the Criminal Code to provide for a new peace bond, which could be ordered by the court to prevent an early or forced marriage from taking place in Canada or prevent a child from being taken out of the country to be forced into a marriage.

Another important change to the Criminal Code proposed in this bill is to limit the defence of provocation so that it could not be raised in cases involving so-called honour killings and in many spousal homicides where the alleged provocation can often consist of verbal or other types of insults. Our government will not allow for a life to be harmed or taken with the excuse that one was provoked.

Finally, this bill puts forward important changes to the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act, which would specify that permanent residents or foreign nationals are inadmissible to Canada if they are or will be practising polygamy in the country, adding to the current provisions that prohibit the practice of polygamy in Canada.

I would like to focus my remaining remarks on the proposed amendments to the Criminal Code that would help prevent forced marriages from occurring in Canada or with Canadians taken abroad.

In some of the media coverage and debates related to Bill S-7, there appears to be a number of misconceptions about the provisions of the bill related to forced marriage, which I would like to address.

The first misconception is that the bill would ban individuals in a forced marriage from immigrating to Canada. Let me be very clear. The only immigration-related reform proposed in this bill relates to the introduction of a new inadmissibility in relation to the practice of polygamy. As regards forced marriage, this bill proposes to codify the requirement for free and enlightened consent to marriage in the Civil Marriage Act and to introduce additional measures in the Criminal Code to prevent forced marriages from occurring and to sanction those who would harm others by forcing them into marriage.

The second misconception that I would like to address relates to the scope of the proposed criminal offence of participating in a forced marriage ceremony. The proposed offence would not criminalize mere passive attendance by a community member or relative at a forced marriage ceremony. Canadian criminal law does not impose liability on persons who are merely witnessing wrongdoing and failing to stop it. An individual who is merely at the scene without any active conduct that is specifically directed toward helping the marriage ceremony occur would not be subject to prosecution.

The law would require active participation in the ceremony, such as acting as a signatory witness, driving an unwilling bride to the ceremony, or restraining that individual so that she does not flee. Moreover, this active participation has to be coupled with actual knowledge that one of the parties to the marriage is marrying against his or her will. Mere suspicion or speculation that the marriage is forced would be insufficient to trigger criminal liability.

The third myth that I wish to dispel relates to concern that the victims of forced marriages would be forced to criminalize their family members. Our government has heard the concerns expressed by some victims that, although they do not want to be forced into marriage, they also do not wish to see their loved ones criminally prosecuted. For this reason, the bill is structured specifically to provide victims with a means of preventing a forced marriage from occurring in the first place through a process that would not involve a criminal prosecution.

That process would be a new and targeted peace bond. Peace bonds are preventive court orders contained in the Criminal Code. When individuals are subject to a peace bond, they have not committed a crime and so will not have a criminal record unless they choose to violate the court order. As a result, the bill would make it possible for a victim to get the protection she or he requires to prevent the forced marriage ceremony from happening without having to criminalize family members. The peace bond process would also not require the child to take an application to court, as the application is usually made by a police officer on behalf of the person who is afraid.

Finally, I would like to address one last misunderstanding related to the forced marriage provisions of this bill. Some people have claimed that this new offence is unnecessary, as the current criminal law is sufficient to address the use of force to make people marry against their will. While it is indeed true that much of the conduct employed to force someone into a marriage is already covered by one or more of the existing criminal offences, such as assault or unlawful confinement, this bill would fill a gap in the law specifically with the goal of preventing forced marriages from happening.

For example, currently child protection officials are often unable to intervene to protect a child from being removed from the country to protect him or her from a forced marriage abroad because the marriage itself is not a crime under the law. This new offence would make it clear that celebrating or assisting at an unwanted marriage within which sexual offences are expected to occur is in itself a crime, as it is a violation of the individual's basic human rights to choose whether and whom they will marry. Consequently, attempts to force someone into a marriage against his or her will or to remove a child from Canada for a forced marriage would be sufficient to warrant the imposition of a peace bond. This change could save lives, save young children, and avoid traumatizing them. One victim is too many. Nothing can justify the status quo, and closing our eyes on this is unacceptable.

It is this government's priority, under our great Prime Minister, to put an end to the victimization of Canadians, notably women and children from vulnerable segments of society. The legislative measures proposed in this bill are sincere and important steps to address and prevent specific forms of gender-based violence that require prompt action. It is simply unacceptable for any woman or girl in Canadian society to be subjected to the violence and abuse typically encountered in a forced marriage.

I urge all members to support this bill in the House of Commons.

[Committees of the House, March 10th, 2015]

Mr. Speaker, in 2010, our Prime Minister took on the initiative of maternal, newborn and child health as the flagship development project for Canada. Millennium development goals 4 and 5 related to maternal, newborn and child health. In 2010, when no one else was addressing the issues, we took a bold initiative and committed $2.85 billion to that to ensure the number of women who were dying in pregnancy or childbirth would be reduced, and that the number of children who were not making it to their fifth birthday would receive assistance to survive and thrive.

I am thrilled to tell the House that we have saved the lives of millions of moms and babies in countries where they never would have survived. I have visited many of these countries and I have seen the results of the success of our program.

Knowing that these things had not been done fully and that the issue was still in front of us, we held a conference in Toronto last year where the Prime Minister committed another $3.5 billion for the 2015 to 2020 timetable. We hope to see that complemented with money from our donor partners, from the private sector, from—

[Committees of the House, March 10th, 2015]

Mr. Speaker, we recognize that many of these countries, particularly in Africa, are blessed with an enormous amount of natural resources they need to get to market. Finding those countries' comparative advantage and helping them get that to market will be so important to the health of the overall economy of each country and to seeing that economy grow and be sustainable.

When I was in Mozambique just 15 months ago, Canada made a contribution of $15 million to the African Minerals Development Centre. The event in Mozambique was attended by every minister of mines from all 54 countries in Africa. They are all intent on seeing legislation go through in their individual countries.

At the same time we made the contribution, we were working together with our partners in the U.K. and in Australia. They were the second largest donors to that project after Canada. We have set up an institute in Canada at École Polytechnique and at Simon Fraser University in B.C. That institute is there to assist and advise countries like the DRC on getting its minerals successfully out of the ground, getting them to market and getting that money into their economies as real revenue and real jobs for the people in those countries.

[Committees of the House, March 10th, 2015]

Mr. Speaker, I will be sharing my time with the member for Lanark—Frontenac—Lennox and Addington.

On July 16, 2014, the government tabled “Government Response to the Fourth Report of the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Development, 'A Weapon of War: Rape and Sexual Violence Against Women in the Democratic Republic of Congo — Canada’s Role in Taking Action and Ending Impunity'”.

This report contained 12 recommendations that notably called on the Government of Canada to continue championing the role of women in international peace and security and working toward greater respect for the human rights of women in countries of concern, particularly the Democratic Republic of Congo. The government response to the standing committee's report welcomed the committee's findings, agreed with most of its recommendations, and addressed all of them comprehensively.

Promoting the role of women in international peace and security and enhancing respect for women's rights and their well-being are key priorities of the Government of Canada. That is why Canada not only champions the end of sexual violence against women and girls but also demonstrates leadership in international efforts to promote the role of women in bringing about peace, rebuilding societies after conflicts, improving maternal, child, and newborn health, and eliminating child, early, and forced marriage.

Allow me to speak of our multi-pronged approach in these areas. The government is continuing to advocate for the empowerment of women in decision-making processes, including in peace processes. We have and will continue to encourage the full and equal participation of women in international peace and security and to encourage new governments in fragile states and in countries in transition to democracy to increase the number of women in key leadership and decision-making positions.

We have taken a leadership role in international efforts to foster the effective implementation of the United Nations Security Council resolutions on women, peace, and security, including by continuing our leadership advocacy and coordination role as chair of the group Friends of Women, Peace and Security at the UN in New York.

Canada is deeply concerned about the plight of sexual violence survivors in the Democratic Republic of Congo, especially in the context of conflict in the east. Canada has regular exchanges with the government of the DRC on a range of human rights issues, including sexual and gender-based violence. Canada also makes its positions and concerns known to the DRC through multilateral fora.

Canada is encouraging the government of the DRC to review its national legislation in order to eliminate discrimination against women and to foster greater respect for women's human rights. As part of the UN universal periodic review of the DRC in 2009, Canada recommended that the government of the DRC arrest and bring to justice those who perpetrate sexual violence.

In 2014, Canada also recommended expediting the reform of the judiciary and the security system to improve access to justice and the protection of the population as part of a national strategy to fight violence against women and girls. Canada collaborates and engages with the UN, donors, and other members of the international community to support projects and initiatives that benefit the DRC and involve its government, notably through field presence in the country and the Great Lakes region.

In the past eight years, Canada's Stabilization and Reconstruction Task Force, also known as START, has contributed more than $19 million for projects specifically related to sexual and gender-based violence in the DRC and other countries, including Colombia, Afghanistan, and South Sudan. In 2013, the former minister of foreign affairs announced a further $5 million for projects to prevent sexual violence in conflict by supporting, for example, the documentation and prosecution of sexual violence crimes. Furthermore, in October 2014, the former minister of foreign affairs pledged a $10-million contribution to address sexual and gender-based violence in ISIL-affected areas.

Canada's efforts to fight sexual violence have been producing results in the Democratic Republic of Congo since 2006. Over 60,000 survivors have accessed health and psychological support and care. Over 15,000 survivors have acquired new skills and can sustain income-generating activities. Over 800 perpetrators have been convicted.

Canada's contributions strengthen coordination and partnerships among all stakeholders involved in preventing and fighting sexual violence, notably provincial authorities, local administrations, the judicial system, police forces, civil society organizations and communities. By building capacity and a responsibility for fighting sexual violence locally, Canada is helping to ensure that the Congolese authorities and Congolese society in general have the means to sustain the above mentioned gains made.

In 2014, Canada also provided $24.7 million to respond to humanitarian needs in the DRC. This includes assistance for projects with humanitarian partners whose activities include support to the survivors of sexual violence. These partners include Doctors Without Borders, which provides health care for conflict-affected populations, including survivors of sexual violence; and the International Committee of the Red Cross, which works to address the health and psychological needs of sexually and gender-based violence survivors. This assistance to the DRC is complemented by funding to improve the humanitarian systems' overall response to sexual and gender-based violence.

Canada has provided $1 million in support to the International Organization for Migration to strengthen protection in refugee camps, especially as it concerns the prevention of gender-based violence. The $3 million in support provided to the United Nations population fund is also building the capacity of the humanitarian system to prevent sexual and gender-based violence, and to improve the quality and accessibility of gender-based violence-related services during humanitarian crises.

In 2013, the Government of Canada contributed $4.5 million to six Canadian organizations working with local partners in DRC, including on issues related to victims of sexual violence in those areas affected by conflict.

Canada takes a regional approach in the Great Lakes Region by working with 11 African women's organizations in Burundi, Rwanda and Congo to address women's rights and promote peace. An additional $5 million has been provided to the ICRC in 2014, especially to improve its capacity to prevent and reduce sexual violence in five countries, including the DRC.

Canada recognizes that the resource rich developing countries must harness their resources to achieve economic growth and poverty reduction. However, extractive operations often take place in complex operating environments, including in countries with weak governance capacity and where corruption and conflict are prevalent. This is why the government has worked with the private sector and civil society organizations to enhance responsible resource development and transparent governance in the extractive sector globally.

Canada strongly supports international efforts to sever the link between natural resources and conflict and to advance initiatives that help extractive sector companies respect human rights.

As a founding member of the Kimberley Process, Canada remains fully supportive of its objectives to increase accountability, transparency and effective governance of the trade in rough diamonds. Given the relevance of our diamond sector as well as the sustainability of the industry as a whole to reputational risks, Canada is a strong advocate for improved collaboration on enforcement of the certification scheme among member countries, including the DRC, as well as the broader reform efforts to ensure the continued relevance and credibility of the Kimberley Process as a whole.

Promoting the role of women in international peace and security, enhancing respect for women's rights and providing protection against sexual violence are key priorities for our government. We have and we will continue to address them vigorously and comprehensively.

[Pipeline Safety Act, March 9th, 2015]

Mr. Speaker, I am very pleased to hear that the opposition has had an epiphany.

In one of my questions earlier, I mentioned my respect and regard for engineers in Canada. I grew up in the home of a chemical engineer, who has done an enormous amount of industrial work across Canada. Waste water was a specialty of my father's. I also have a son-in-law who is very concerned about the environment and providing energy for Africa. He has a doctorate in electrical engineering, and he is currently in Ghana building solar fields to provide electrical energy for a country that is so desperately in need. I have never met people who are more concerned about the environment than the engineers of Canada.

When I was looking at some of the websites and learning a bit about what our engineers were doing in Canada to preserve the environment, I looked at the Schulich School of Engineering. It is active in research that crosses all departments in the engineering school, including civil, chemical, mechanical, geomatics, and electrical engineering, and it collaborates with all departments of geoscience and biological sciences. It says that it is a leader in pipeline integrity, maintenance and management.

One of the things we do know is that there are occasionally some difficulties with the pipelines, but those problems are miniscule in comparison with the problems with the pump stations. We know the engineers are exceedingly diligent in the work they do to keep the pump stations active and working properly. That is their job.

One of the NDP members talked about sustainable jobs in our economy. The Pipe Line Contractors Association of Canada is made up of people who have very reliable and well-respected companies in Canada. They are prominent people in our society who work hard to ensure the integrity of those pipelines. They talk about some of the job opportunities. They are looking at skilled occupations and trades, and jobs in the transportation industry, logistics, equipment operating, management, and supply testing and inspection.

If we take a look at the opportunities that the Energy East pipeline would provide in the development phase alone, we are talking about more than 8,300 full-time direct jobs and 5,300 indirect jobs. In the operational phase, there would be 900 full-time direct jobs and thousands of indirect jobs. It will look at local hiring for the most part.

We need pipelines. We need to ensure that the people who have the demand for energy in their homes, automobiles and businesses across the country have the fuel they need to keep them going. This is an economic driver for Canada.

We said earlier that we were blessed with enormous resources. Our country has been blessed with resources beyond comparison. Those resources are there to be the economic driver for our country.

The bill would bring safety and security to our pipeline management. In the process, it would create jobs for Canadians, jobs for our young people and jobs for our engineers. That is good news for every one of us.

[Pipeline Safety Act, March 9th, 2015]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to recognize in the House that if my colleague drives, flies, heats her house, or eats, she is part of the consumer demand. All of us here are a part of that, so we all bear a responsibility.

One of the things I would like to do first of all is recognize the incredible innovation of the engineers who are building these pipelines and have actually done the construction.

I was very privileged when I was a university student to work in an engineering office where there was both a civil and an industrial end. One of my responsibilities in the drafting office was to work under the design draftsman who prepared the drawings. We had to go out and inspect the pipelines that were being put in for the water, sewer, and gas lines. I often had to tell contractors that they needed more granular B down there to put the pipeline in place. I feel that I was privileged to have the opportunity to do that.

I wonder if the member knows how much incredible engineering has gone into the construction of the actual pipeline. Does she know that when they send these intelligent pigs through to investigate the integrity of the pipeline, they can detect a piece of corrosion that is the size of a piece of rice? There is such incredible engineering that goes into it. I compliment our engineers for the design work they have done.

I wonder if the member would be prepared to hear from some of the engineers who have done the design work in our universities and construction companies here in Canada, and ask them for their opinion on the safety of our pipelines going across Canada.

[Pipeline Safety Act, March 9th, 2015]

Mr. Speaker, my colleague spoke a bit about the engagement that the government wants to have with aboriginal communities as we move forward with pipelines. I wonder if she could talk just a little more about the opportunities that this is going to present for our aboriginal youth, employment opportunities and moving forward with new places and new careers.

[International Development, February 27th, 2015]

Mr. Speaker, Canada has been deeply committed to ensuring that children get education. We continue to work with our partners globally on these issues to look for ways that we can help. We have been one of the largest contributors to helping in Iraq to make sure that the children there are being taken care of, and in Syria as well.

We look at the great success we have had in Afghanistan with getting the girls into schools, millions of girls in school today who were never there before.

We are watching with our allies. We will continue to do that, and we will put our money where it gets the best effect.

[Pipeline Safety Act, February 26th, 2015]

Mr. Speaker, all of my colleagues on this side of the House have talked about the importance of job creation. One of the groups with whom we know we need to work is the aboriginal community, and my colleague talked about that. We know that the natural resource sector employs thousands of people from the aboriginal communities. In fact, more than 13,000 aboriginal people were employed in the energy sector in 2012.

I wonder if my colleague would comment very briefly on what opportunities this would offer to our aboriginal youth.