Mike Morrice

[Petitions, December 1st, 2022]

Mr. Speaker, I am proud this morning to rise on behalf of over 2,000 petitioners who recognize that housing affordability and homelessness are twin national crises. They note that private corporations and real estate investment trusts are rapidly buying up affordable units across the country and raising rents, and that this financialization of the housing market is inflating real estate prices. They are calling on the Government of Canada to implement a suite of eight different measures that would address this root cause of the housing crisis that we are in, including creating regulations for real estate investment trusts, putting in place a national standard for rent control and providing funding for non-profit and co-op housing.

[Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship, November 30th, 2022]

Madam Speaker, I am glad to hear of more resources being allocated. I hope to see those resources lead to improved outcomes for the people in my community who are separated from loved ones who may be sick or who may have had a baby and are waiting to meet their child for the first time. However, I would like to know better how the resources are being allocated to these so-called “non-routine” cases, which are the most time-intensive and heartbreaking that we deal with.

Could the parliamentary secretary share more about whether enough time and resources are being given to these non-routine cases and what percentage of cases are non-routine, as those are the ones having the most challenging situations, so that Ataklti can meet his daughter, and so that Naima can visit her sick mom?

[Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship, November 30th, 2022]

Madam Speaker, I am thankful for the opportunity to come back to my question for the immigration minister about challenges being faced by members of my community seeking to reunite with loved ones, and needing to work with Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada to do so.

One example is refugee claimants and permanent residents who first came here as refugees and who are now seeking to travel outside of Canada to be with family. In question period, I asked about Ataklti, a permanent resident in my community who applied for a travel document last February to join his wife in Sweden for the birth of their daughter. Ten months later, Ataklti's request has still not been processed and he is yet to even meet his daughter.

There are so many others in similar positions in Kitchener. Naima, for example, was sponsored by a local church in 2019 and came solo to Canada with her three young boys. Her husband is awaiting sponsorship by the same church group. She applied for a travel document for herself and her boys to visit her sick mother in a hospital overseas back in January. In February, the file was marked as urgent, and while Naima got her travel document, her children's applications have not been finalized yet so she cannot visit. For the past three months, Naima has been calling IRCC every two weeks to request updates. Will she ever get to visit her sick mom?

My team and I have been advocating to IRCC for both Ataklti and Naima without success to date. For my team and me this feels unjust. There is a gap between the two standards that exist in Canada. One is for people like me with citizenship. We can travel. I was just in Egypt, for example, for the annual climate negotiations a few weeks ago. However, those who came to Canada as refugees, like Ataklti and Naima, are being denied the same opportunity, even in life-or-death situations, with no timeline and seemingly no accountability.

This lack of a timeline and accountability also extends to other requests made by neighbours of mine to IRCC as we try to bring families back together. I have more examples.

Angeline is in Canada and is attempting to sponsor her husband Pouya to join her. They have been waiting since 2019. Since my office first inquired on their behalf, we have received no updates. Their file has been relegated to so-called non-routine status, which means that normal processing times simply do not apply.

Two other neighbours, Jess and her husband, are waiting to be reunited with their sons, who are now eight and 11 years old. Their applications for permanent residency for their sons were submitted back in 2019. All assessments have passed except for eligibility, which is under further review, so normal processing times do not apply. They have not received an update since 2020.

I know the Government of Canada can solve these issues. One example of this was the improvements made to processing passports, which was a significant concern back in the spring and has since been brought under control. People like Ataklti, Naima, Angeline and Jess and dozens more in my community have a right to travel and to be reunited with their loved ones.

I would like to know what the minister is doing to address systemic issues at Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada—

[Foreign Affairs, November 28th, 2022]

I have a point of order, Mr. Speaker, from today in question period. I sit very close to the member for Edmonton Strathcona. I want to note that she made multiple attempts to get her question out. I recognize that Standing Orders 16 and 18 are designed to ensure that a member can hear themselves and that members near them can hear them speaking also.

I would just like to offer my support for the member for Courtenay—Alberni with respect to ensuring that Standing Orders 16 and 18 are enforced during question period.

[Digital Charter Implementation Act, 2022, November 28th, 2022]

Madam Speaker, I appreciated hearing the thoughts of the member for Kingston and the Islands, but one proposed section that is a concern to me is proposed section 18(3), which states:

An organization may collect or use an individual’s personal information without their knowledge or consent if the collection or use is made for the purpose of an activity in which the organization has a legitimate interest that outweighs any potential adverse effect on the individual resulting from that collection or use

I wonder if the member could comment on the possibility of tightening up the language of what a legitimate interest is and if, in his view, this is something the committee could look at improving when the bill gets there.

[Public Complaints and Review Commission Act, November 25th, 2022]

Mr. Speaker, earlier today we heard an impassioned speech from the member for Hamilton Centre on Bill C-20, specifically mentioning a report from the Standing Committee on Public Safety and National Security entitled “Systemic Racism in Policing in Canada”. He noted there were 42 recommendations in that report, many of which have not been included in Bill C-20, including ensuring that indigenous people, alongside racialized and Black people, are on oversight bodies.

Could the member for Calgary Skyview comment on his level of support for going further, once this bill goes to committee, to see improvements made that would align more with reports like this?

[Petitions, November 25th, 2022]

Mr. Speaker, I am honoured to rise to present a petition today. The petitioners recognize that housing unaffordability and homelessness are twin national crises. They also note that the financialization of housing inflates Canadian real estate prices, and that corporations, numbered companies and real estate investment trusts are rapidly buying up affordable units and flipping them to market rate units.

Petitioners call on the Government of Canada to take significant action. They list eight specific actions the government could be taking, including redefining affordable housing to match a definition that reflects the economic realities millions of Canadians face. They encourage the government to create regulations with respect to real estate investment trusts, among others.

[Public Complaints and Review Commission Act, November 25th, 2022]

Mr. Speaker, words really matter in this place. The parliamentary secretary just referred to “our indigenous people”. Indigenous people do not belong to anyone in this country. I wonder if she could restate her response to the member for Nunavut, specifically with respect to the call from the member for Hamilton Centre to ensure there are indigenous people on the oversight body.

Does she not agree that recommendation No. 4 from the report previously mentioned should be in the bill?

[Criminal Code, November 24th, 2022]

Madam Speaker, I rise on a point of order. I have been listening attentively to the speech by the member. I am hearing her talk of Bill C-5 and mandatory minimum penalties. I do not believe any of that is relevant to Bill S-4.

I am wondering what your thoughts are on the relevance of the speech.

[Oil and Gas Industry, November 21st, 2022]

Mr. Speaker, I will pause just to say that, with regard to this word “inefficient”, I hope that the parliamentary secretary might move away from it. It is completely undefined. It lacks credibility when we are talking about these subsidies because it really does not mean anything at all. In fact, all of these subsidies are not helping us make progress at a time when we need to act urgently and immediately.

In terms of carbon capture and storage, I think the best analogy I can give the parliamentary secretary is that there are measures being taken, some of which he has mentioned, and those measures are kind of like after the snow has fallen and we start shovelling one bit at a time and we are making a little bit of progress here and there. The $8.6 billion to carbon capture is like when the snowplow then comes by and undoes all of our work.

As for that $8.6 billion, not one environmental group in the country has called for those funds. Do we know who has? The oil and gas lobbyists who were at COP27, unfortunately. Those are the ones calling for carbon capture.

When will the parliamentary secretary understand that we have to move away from exactly that?