Maria Mourani

[Petitions, November 20th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, I wish to present a petition signed by many people from Ahuntsic who want mining companies operating abroad to be regulated.

[Citizenship and Immigration, November 18th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, Ms. Djemai, who is 35, has been ordered removed from Canada this Friday, November 22. She is currently being treated for an aggressive form of breast cancer. Her oncologist has confirmed in writing that she cannot travel. For her treatment in Algeria, Immigration Canada doctors referred her to an allergist—completely irrelevant—who in turn referred her to an oncologist who is not taking any new patients until 2014.

Will the Minister of Public Safety issue a stay of removal until her condition stabilizes and her treatment in Algeria can be confirmed? This is a matter of life and death.

[Justice, November 7th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, the Conseil du statut de la femme du Québec recently released a report on forced marriages, which affect underage girls. They are forced by certain family members to marry someone they do not know, often overseas. Once married, these young girls are often raped and forced to remain overseas.

Does the Minister of Justice plan on criminalizing forced marriage, as Canada has done for other unacceptable practices such as female circumcision?

[Violence Against Women, November 7th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, according to the World Health Organization, nearly 35% of women are victims of physical or sexual violence committed by their partner. In Quebec, 19,373 domestic violence offences were recorded in 2011.

In Canada, an aboriginal woman is seven times more likely to be murdered than any other woman. We are still waiting for an inquiry to look into the cases of more than 600 missing or murdered aboriginal women.

Every day in Canada there are more than 3,000 women and 2,500 children living in various emergency shelters to escape domestic violence.

I want to commend all of the women's groups in Ahuntsic, in Quebec and all over Canada. They fight every day to ensure that our girls can one day grow up and live in a world where being a woman is not a risk factor for victimization.

Thank you for the work you do. You make Canada and the world a better place.

[Business of Supply, October 22nd, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to understand the motion.

I agree with the first part of the motion because we are in need of accountability. However, we are also talking about partisanship in an appointed Senate. We agree that senators are appointed through a partisan process. I have a hard time understanding how, under the current system, senators that are appointed by various governments could cease to be partisan. It is normal that they are partisan, that they participate in caucus and so on.

The other aspect that I do not understand is the link between partisanship and dishonesty. I understand that they want to do away with partisanship in the hope that it will result in accountability. I do not understand that though because members here in the House are partisan, yet I believe that we all have a strong sense of honesty.

There are a number of aspects in the motion that I do not understand.

[Petitions, October 22nd, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, today I would like to present a petition signed by many Quebeckers who are deeply concerned about Canadian mining companies abroad. They are concerned about the environment as well as the living conditions of indigenous peoples. The petitioners are simply calling for binding legislation to govern the activities of these companies abroad so that they comply with international human rights standards, which promote values we all share.

I am very proud to be presenting this petition, which is also sponsored by the United Church of Canada.

[Aboriginal Affairs, October 21st, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, I have seen an unacceptable lack of safety for women and children in first nations communities. Aboriginal women are seven times more likely to be murdered than other non-aboriginal women in Canada.

A few days ago, the UN Special Rapporteur found that the government must conduct an inquiry into the large number of missing and murdered aboriginal women. Many cases remain unsolved. Last March, the provincial and territorial human rights commissions made the same request.

What is the government waiting for? When will it launch a national public commission of inquiry?

[Criminal Code, June 18th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank my colleague very much. This is an excellent question.

In my view, brothels do not protect women. I talked about Germany, which has between 3,000 and 3,500 brothels now that prostitution has been legalized. Women are no safer as as result, and it has not reduced human trafficking at all.

I talked about the mega-brothels with all-inclusive packages where women are treated like pieces of meat—if you will pardon the expression, Mr. Speaker.

In fact, 1,700 men have visited the mega-brothels located near airports. They even complained on the Internet about the fact that a girl was not very effective and pretty much useless after 30 guys had used her.

Brothels do not protect women. In fact, they do nothing but legalize violence against women. Consider this simple analogy. Does legalizing homicide, making it legal to kill someone, make the action less violent? The answer is no.

Prostitution is a form of violence against women and children. We must get rid of prostitution here, in Canada.

[Criminal Code, June 18th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague. Ever since I have known her, she has been fighting for the passage of effective laws to deal with human trafficking. In Canada at this time, there are huge numbers of people suffering because of this phenomenon. We have to stop believing that human trafficking and prostitution are two different things. They are not two different things.

I would like to tell my colleague and the government that it is high time Canada produced a real law to combat procuring and prostitution in general, in order to eliminate this form of crime. The government should be leading the way.

If I were a member of the government, I would suggest that all members work together to produce this legislation. We could be the generation of members of Parliament that enabled Canada to be as modern and protective of victims as Sweden and the Scandinavian countries now are. Let us be those people.

[Criminal Code, June 18th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for his question.

In point of fact, he is quite right. The bill addresses human trafficking, and in Canada, most victims are also victims of sexual exploitation. About 80% are victims of sexual exploitation, but that figure can sometimes reach 90%.

In Canada, forced labour represents a minority of cases. Elsewhere in the world, however, the phenomenon is extremely widespread. I shall provide some recent data. Worldwide, for example, 115 million children are reportedly victims of forced labour. When I saw that figure, I admit I fell off my chair.

Human trafficking for the purposes of forced labour exists, and it also exists in Canada. We must confront this new form of crime. I have spoken to a number of people in the field and I have reached the conclusion that this issue is becoming increasingly prevalent in the area of domestic help, for example.

Yes, the bill will also protect those people.