Rathika Sitsabaiesan

[Petitions, March 12th, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, today I rise to present petitions on behalf of members of the greater Toronto area with respect to human rights in Sri Lanka.

We know the United Nations had a panel of experts who studied the conditions of what happened during the last phase of the war. There were credible allegations that war crimes and crimes against humanity took place on the island of Sri Lanka.

The petitioners call upon the Government of Canada to urge the United Nations to immediately establish an independent, international and impartial mechanism to ensure truth, accountability and justice in Sri Lanka.

[Air Service Operations Legislation, March 12th, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, on a point of order. it is hard for me to concentrate on my colleague's remarks as members opposite are carrying on loud conversations.

[Air Service Operations Legislation, March 12th, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, I want to comment on something the parliamentary secretary, as well as the minister, said. She said that the labour code did not support or call for government interference in collective bargaining. I agree with that statement, yet the minister and the parliamentary secretary do not seem to understand the importance of fair and free collective bargaining. The government seems to consistently interfere with that fair and free collective bargaining process. It continues to rob the parties involved of their hard-earned rights, the rights for both the employer to leverage its negotiations and lock out the employees, as well as the employees' right to leverage their solidarity and power to go on strike.

Why is the government on a full frontal attack on the hard-fought rights of workers and working people, the rights for which they fought for decades and decades?

[International Women's Day, March 8th, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, today I am happy to stand with my colleagues as we join people and nations around the globe to celebrate International Women's Day.

As young women, we have made many gains from our mothers and grandmothers. However, our work is not done and things are not getting any easier for women in Canada.

Since 2006, women in Canada have been the victims of a systemic attack. We have seen the slashing of funding for women's groups, the cancellation of funding for women's advocacy groups, the closure of 16 Status of Women Canada offices, the abolishment of the court challenges program, the elimination of pay equity, the scrapping of the long gun registry, a constant attack on unions and collective bargaining rights, and no child care funding initiatives. What is next is an attack on pensions and OAS, public service job cuts, cuts to services for Canadians, and the building of more prisons. Canadian women deserve better.

New Democrats are proud of the number of women and young women in our caucus who will continue to fight to protect the rights of women and work toward a Canada with gender equality.

[Canada-Jordan Economic Growth and Prosperity Act, March 1st, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, I wonder if my colleague could comment on how important he feels it is to have good labour practices in Canada and to ensure that good labour practices are entrenched in our free trade agreements to protect workers and elevate working conditions around the world.

[Petitions, March 1st, 2012]

Madam Speaker, the third petition is from many people in my constituency on the topic of human rights in the country of China. It concerns Falun Gong practitioners who say that Falun Gong is a peaceful and beneficial spiritual practice centred on the principles of truth, compassion, forbearance and a set of five meditation exercises. Falun Gong members have been persecuted since July 1999.

The petitioners call upon the Canadian government to continuously use every possible channel to call for an end to the persecution of Falun Gong members, especially at meetings with top Chinese leaders and at international forums, and to help rescue 12 family members of Canadian residents who are incarcerated for their belief in Falun Gong in China.

[Petitions, March 1st, 2012]

Madam Speaker, my second petition is from my riding of Scarborough—Rouge River. It calls upon the Government of Canada to act on human rights, in particular, in Sri Lanka.

The UN report, which was presented by an expert panel created by the secretary-general of the United Nations, found credible allegations that war crimes and crimes against humanity took place on the island of Sri Lanka during the last phase of the war.

Therefore, the petitioners call upon the Government of Canada to urge the United Nations to immediately establish an independent, international and impartial mechanism to ensure that truth, accountability and justice are attained in Sri Lanka.

[Petitions, March 1st, 2012]

Madam Speaker, I have three petitions to table today.

The first petition is with respect to the creation of a post-secondary education act in Canada. Canada is one of the only developed countries that does not have a post-secondary education act. The petitioners call for the creation of a post-secondary education act that would fall on three basic principles: first, good quality education; second, that it be publicly administered; and third, that it be available and accessible to all Canadians who wish to pursue post-secondary education.

The petitioners call upon the Government of Canada to create a post-secondary education act that would remove the federal funding for post-secondary education from the social transfer to the provinces and create a new transfer of funds dedicated solely for the purpose of post-secondary education. This petition has been signed by residents living in the areas of Calgary, Regina and Saskatoon.

[Petitions, February 28th, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, I have the pleasure to present petitions signed by members from southern Ontario supporting Bill C-322.

The petitioners state that horses are ordinarily kept and treated as sport and companion animals and are not raised primarily as food-producing animals here in Canada; that they are commonly administered drugs that are strictly prohibited from being used at any time in all other food-producing animals destined for the human food supply; and that Canadian horsemeat products that are currently being sold for human consumption in domestic and international markets are likely to contain these prohibited substances.

The petitioners call upon the House of Commons to bring forward and adopt into legislation Bill C-322, An Act to amend the Health of Animals Act and the Meat Inspection Act, thus prohibiting the importation or exportation of horses for slaughter for human consumption, as well as horsemeat products for human consumption.

[Firearms Registry, February 16th, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, since the beginning of this year, there have been four shootings in Scarborough. Three of these shootings occurred in my riding in the community of Malvern, the neighbourhood that I call home. These four shootings resulted in the deaths of two young men. That is two families and our entire community mourning the loss of their loved ones.

One of these victims was Chris Thompson. Chrissy, as we all lovingly referred to him, was a beloved local barber. He was the father of two and was an active community guy. He will be greatly missed.

The government says that it is tough on crime but is doing nothing to prevent crimes from being committed. It is doing nothing to engage and empower our youth. It is doing nothing to help those who think they have no other option.

Shamefully, as we saw last night, the members opposite celebrated the loss of one of our most effective gun violence prevention tools. The government's only crime prevention strategy is building megaprisons to house our youth.

The government can build all the prisons in the world but the victims of violence and their families would prefer that the violence did not happen in the first place.