Randall Garrison

[National Defence, February 2nd, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Foreign Affairs is in Rome today to discuss the coalition's campaign against ISIS. In the 2015 campaign, the Liberals promised to end the bombing, yet it is 2016 and the bombing is still continuing. Today, the Liberal government is discussing its plans with our allies in Rome while at the same time refusing to tell Canadians anything.

The media is now reporting that the government is planning a new, expanded mission on the ground in Iraq. Can the Minister of Defence confirm that he is considering expanding the number of Canadian troops on the ground in Iraq, yes or no?

[Resumption of debate on Address in Reply, January 25th, 2016]

Madam Speaker, I have not heard a better and more comprehensive statement of the challenges faced in a riding by any MP who has stood up on the throne speech.

I had the opportunity of meeting the new member for North Island—Powell River in her capacity as a community development worker. She has now listed all of the challenges in her riding. I wonder if she could tell us something about the innovative ways that communities in her riding are meeting those challenges.

[Resumption of Debate on Address in Reply, January 25th, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, I salute the community work the minister did before coming to the House.

I want to quickly ask her two questions.

First, as she may be aware, I put forward a bill to provide equal protections for transgendered Canadians, transgendered Canadians being some of the people who are quite often forced to use shelters and who are subject to some of the worst violence in the country. Would she join with me in urging the Minister of Justice to bring that forward as a government bill?

My second question has to do with the situation of those who are involved in sex work in Canada. Under the previous government, the Supreme Court decision that decriminalized sex work was, in effect, overturned by Bill C-36. Now many people, for whatever reason, involved in the sex trade are being subjected to discrimination and to a great deal of violence as a result of that bill.

What is the minister's position is on the recriminalization of sex work?

[Resumption of Debate on Address in Reply, January 25th, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, I, too would like to congratulate the Minister of Democratic Institutions on her election to the House. I had the privilege of working as an international human rights observer in Afghanistan and I know the great distance that she has come, both physically and culturally, to be here in the House. I certainly salute her and her family for their accomplishments.

I also want to congratulate her on her concern for those who have been marginalized in terms of democratic reform. I want to ask a question that New Democrats feel was missing from the Speech from the Throne and that is about the commitment to fight poverty. There are a few individual measures that the Liberals have talked about, but no overall plan. One of the things that was put forward in the last Parliament was the federal minimum wage and re-establishing that, something that the previous Liberal caucus voted for, but then tended to ridicule in the campaign. There was nothing about a boost to GIS for low-income seniors, to make sure that those who built this country do not end up living in poverty. Also, there was no commitment to close probably the biggest tax loophole there is and that is the tax loophole for CEOs who are investing in stock options and avoiding taxation.

I would like to ask the minister, with great respect, with her commitment to marginalization, where is the commitment from the government to actually systematically tackle poverty in this country?

[Resumption of Debate on Address in Reply, January 25th, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, I listened with interest to the hon. member for Nickel Belt's speech. I know that employment is always a big concern in his riding.

I wonder what his reaction is to his Minister of International Trade because the minister and his party expressed a lot of reservations about the trans-Pacific partnership during the election campaign. Now, the minister is saying that the trans-Pacific partnership is a done deal and will be endorsed by the government without any changes.

I know that people in my riding are certainly very concerned about its employment impacts, and also the loss of food security and the potential attacks on supply management.

I wonder what the hon. member thinks about this apparent change in the attitude of his government on the trans-Pacific partnership.

[Business of Supply, December 10th, 2015]

Madam Speaker, I thank the hon. member for Nanaimo—Ladysmith for her question.

First, I would like to take responsibility for the name for my riding. It was my suggestion that it be called Esquimalt—Saanich—Sooke, and I know that is hard for many people in this House to pronounce, but it does represent three of the most important communities, and the names take their roots from the first nations in our area. I appreciate the attempts to get the name right, but there is a little more work to be done.

When the hon. member asks about our commitment to our NATO allies, it is important to remember that the mission against ISIS is not a NATO mission. It is not a UN mission. It is not a multilateral mission. It is a collection of people who have decided on what tactics they will pursue.

If we go back to the multilateral agencies like the United Nations, the UN is suggesting something quite different, and something it believes is a more effective method of responding to the threat that ISIS presents because of the nature of its ideology, as I said in my speech.

[Business of Supply, December 10th, 2015]

Madam Speaker, I thank the member for his question, but I go back again to my speech. I pointed out three places where I think Canada could play a world leadership role, and we are failing to do that.

One is cutting off the flow of foreign fighters, and that means both some attention to domestic radicalization and some attention to international movements of those who are trying to assist ISIS.

I have talked repeatedly about the arms trade treaty and the necessity of cutting off the flow of arms to ISIS. They cannot do what they are doing if they are deprived of arms and ammunition.

The final place is the flow of funds that help support the entire operation. We need to cut off the oil sales. It sounds simple; it is not. It will be difficult, but I would love to see Canada taking an international leadership role in depriving them of the up to $3 million a day they make off oil sales.

[Business of Supply, December 10th, 2015]

Madam Speaker, to respond very directly, personally, as the NDP defence critic and somebody who represents one of the largest military ridings in the country, the biggest disappointment for me in the Liberal throne speech was that there was no commitment to sign the Arms Trade Treaty and to get that treaty ratified by this Parliament, and to then take a leadership role in cutting off the flow of small arms, not just to ISIS but to other terrorist organizations around the world.

[Business of Supply, December 10th, 2015]

Madam Speaker, calling on the ability of backbenchers to vote against the government would be rich coming from any other Conservative than that member, who did demonstrate his own independence.

The question the member raises about the policy of the Liberal government is an important one. What is the government policy? What is it planning to do? We have only heard these vague references to a training mission. I have raised my concerns about such a mission putting Canadian Forces members at great risk for uncertain benefits in the fight against ISIL.

[Business of Supply, December 10th, 2015]

Madam Speaker, the member's question proves the point I was trying to make in my speech, that unless we understand the nature of ISIS, we run the risk of giving it exactly what it is asking for and giving it a tool for recruitment.

What ISIS members want is the great military confrontation, which their version of Islam says will lead to the end of time, the great conflagration. This allows them to use that to command the loyalty of their followers and to recruit new followers.

What the United Nations has said is that a more effective strategy is not to allow them to expand but to cut off the flow of fighters, to cut off the arms, and to cut off the money without which they cannot expand and in fact they cannot continue to exist as a caliphate. Therefore, they lose the mandate to call on those radicalized supporters.