House of Commons photoWon his last election, in 2019, with 55% of the vote.
Business of Supply May 17th, 2017
Madam Chair, will the Government of Canada publicly support Taiwan's request for its traditional role as observer at the World Health Assembly? I say it in the context of no Government of Canada public protest or comment last year when China pressured ICAO, the International Civil Aviation Organization, in Montreal, Canada, to have Taiwan excluded as a traditional observer and, in fact, pressured the organization to prevent a Canadian journalist of Taiwanese origin from covering that event.
Business of Supply May 17th, 2017
Madam Chair, at least four Canadian citizens are currently in different sorts of detention in China today: Chinese Canadian billionaire Xiao Jianhua, who was kidnapped from his Hong Kong residence and transported to China and who has not communicated clearly and independently, freely, on his state and status; Sun Qian, a Falun Gong practitioner and a resident of Vancouver, detained since February; and two Canadians, John Chong and his wife Allison, detained for a year now in conditions in violation of international trade law.
We are accustomed to Global Affairs and the parliamentary secretary using privacy, and the interests of the prisoners, as a justification for no comment. However, in the recent release of unjustly held and tortured prisoners in China and in Iran, and I am talking about the Garretts in one case and Professor Hoodfar in another, while Canada welcomed these unjustly held and persecuted individuals back to Canada, there was not a single word of criticism for the absolutely unacceptable behaviour of their Chinese jailers and the government.
Business of Supply May 17th, 2017
Madam Chair, China's new ambassador to Canada, Mr. Lu Shaye, is demanding that China be allowed to negotiate in all sectors of the Canadian economy but has bluntly said that security concerns about state-owned enterprises and human rights abuses are simply not up for discussion.
How have you responded to that messaging?
Business of Supply May 17th, 2017
Madam Chair, China believes it is in negotiation, and the intention of the statement was to pursue discussions with an objective of a treaty.
Let me continue with regard to China. I am wondering what specific messages, since the minister assumed her current post, have been communicated by the Government of Canada to China with respect to China's reprehensible human rights record: extrajudicial detention; torture; organ harvesting; and any number of other international, and certainly under Canadian law, unacceptable practices.
Business of Supply May 17th, 2017
Madam Chair, I will be using my full time for questions. Let me begin by thanking the ministers for their attendance tonight. While I and my colleagues will have any number of questions regarding line items in the estimates, we will also examine and question policies and performance, following the great parliamentary tradition of regressive grievances before the granting of supply.
I will first begin by asking the minister for an update on the Canada-China high-level national security and rule of law dialogue, specifically the discussions on the extradition treaty and transfer of offenders treaty sought by China.
Just to avoid any etymological or grammatical quibbling on negotiation or discussion, Oxford Canada tells us that negotiations in pursuit of an objective, or treaty, are in fact negotiations.
Foreign Affairs May 16th, 2017
Mr. Speaker, in the war on terror, Canada most often follows the United States in designation of terrorist entities, such as al Qaeda or successor groupings. The latest incarnation, Hay'at Tahrir Al-Sham, is not on the U.S. list because it absorbed a U.S.-sponsored guerrilla body in Syria's multi-dimensional civil war. However, Canada, by also not listing this clearly terrorist composite group, is creating challenges for prosecution of terrorist funding or recruitment of Canadians by this group. Why will the government not act and designate?
Public Service Labour Relations Act May 16th, 2017
Mr. Speaker, I will give my colleague a chance to address the matter of the secret ballot with my question.
There seems to be a fairly significant contradiction between the Liberal government's defence of the secret ballot in corrupt United Nations commissions and agencies, for example, the United Nations Commission on Human Rights or the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women, which see secret ballots covering the way Canada voted for the election of non-democratic countries to significant positions on these bodies. Saudi Arabia is certainly notable in both of those cases.
How does the hon. member rationalize the objection to the secret ballot amendment before us today at the same time that she talks about respect for members of the RCMP?
Foreign Affairs May 11th, 2017
Mr. Speaker, the foreign affairs committee study of Canada's sanctions regimes revealed shocking dysfunction and incapacity among government departments and agencies tasked with detecting and prosecuting international financial fraud. The data provided by Mr. Browder to the Mounties reveals undetected money laundering in Canada of a sort more often associated with shady tax havens in Europe and the Caribbean.
The unanimous committee recommendations to stiffen Canada's sanctions laws are direct and uncomplicated. When will the government act to crack down on international fraudsters using Canada as a safe haven?
Foreign Affairs May 11th, 2017
Mr. Speaker, the Liberals have dragged their feet since the election on expanding Canada's sanctions laws. This week, there is powerful new evidence that Canada's laws governing criminal financial activity are dysfunctional. Revelations of elaborate Russian money-laundering schemes involving millions of dollars through Canadian shell companies only came to light because of details hand-delivered to the RCMP and journalists by anti-Putin crusader Bill Browder.
Just how long will the Liberals procrastinate on the foreign affairs committee's unanimous Magnitsky recommendations to get tough on corruption?
Ethics May 10th, 2017
Mr. Speaker, I was going to ask about powerful new evidence that Canada's sanctions monitoring, compliance, and enforcement of criminal financial activity is dysfunctional, and the Liberals foot-dragging in accepting the foreign affairs committee's unanimous Magnitsky recommendations to get tough on corruption, but I think more relevant is the Prime Minister's dysfunctional performance in question period.
Just how many times has he met the Ethics Commissioner?