Rob Oliphant

[COVID-19, November 26th, 2020]

Mr. Speaker, as the COVID-19 second wave hits, it is more important than ever that Canadians take action to protect themselves, their loved ones and their neighbours.

We know the drill: We wash our hands, practice physical distancing and wear a mask. However, we can do more, we can be smart. The COVID Alert app works. It tell us when we have been close to someone who has tested positive. We can then get tested quickly and break the cycle of infection.

Some 5.4 million Canadians have already done so. They know their privacy is secure and their health is protected. It will only be truly effective if everyone is connected.

Recently, I initiated a friendly challenge with the great member of Parliament for Milton to see which of our ridings could get the most COVID Alert app downloads. We have already had a lot of success, and of course, Don Valley West is going to win.

I want to now encourage all my colleagues from both sides of the House to find creative and fun ways to promote the COVID Alert app. We do not often have the chance to save lives.

[Citizenship Act, November 23rd, 2020]

Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the member for his support for this bill.

He began by speaking about the liberation of Holland, the liberation of the Netherlands, and the significant role the people of Canada had in that liberation. When I toured the sites of the liberation in the Netherlands for the 65th anniversary, I went with an indigenous soldier, who had helped liberate the Netherlands.

I would have much appreciated if the member had talked about the significant role that indigenous Canadians have played in those things, which would be a reason to want to recognize their treaty rights in our citizenship oath.

I want to quote Irene Plante, who said, “Kahgee pohn noten took”, which in Cree means, “the fighting has ended”. That symbolizes why we in this House need to stand, not to talk about prorogation or other things, but about the significant role that indigenous Canadians have played in the history of Canada and the world and make sure we honour them and their treaties.

I am wondering if the hon. member has an understanding of the role of indigenous people in the Canadian armed services and the liberation of the Netherlands.

[Points of Order, November 20th, 2020]

Madam Speaker, I rise on a point of order.

As the Speaker has ruled repeatedly over the years, it is just as inappropriate to say something indirectly as it would be inappropriate to say it directly. Earlier, at the very beginning of question period, the member for New Westminster—Burnaby I believe used an expression that everyone in the room knew was an inappropriate sentiment, using indirect language to say what he could not say directly.

I just want to raise that to your attention. There are still some of us who have sensibilities about certain words and we think that the Speaker should be aware of that.

[Foreign Affairs, November 20th, 2020]

Madam Speaker, we remain very concerned about Raif Badawi. I met with his wife, here in Ottawa, and the minister is in constant contact with his family. Protecting human rights, including the freedoms of expression, thought, conscience and religion, are integral parts of Canada's foreign policy.

We have raised the issue at the highest levels and we have called for clemency on many occasions.

[Foreign Affairs, November 18th, 2020]

Mr. Speaker, I would never undervalue the independence, the thoughtful nature of members of the IPU in their considered choice of their president. I do not think it is fair and it would be naive to say that there would be any kind of undermining that was done by any other country. Each of those members had a vote, and I will respect their votes and the decision of the organization of which I am proud to be a member.

I also respect the work of Senator Ataullahjan. I congratulate her for putting a candidacy forward and I look forward to working with her in a variety of ways in the coming weeks, months and years to come.

[Foreign Affairs, November 18th, 2020]

Mr. Speaker, I welcome the opportunity to speak about this subject tonight, for the second time in the House at adjournment proceedings, along with my colleague, the member for Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan.

With him, I want to echo my congratulations to Portuguese member of Parliament Duarte Pacheco who, overwhelmingly, was elected as the President of the Inter-Parliamentary Union.

I would like to remind the member and the House that the IPU is an important international parliamentary organization that I have been a supporter of and advocate for throughout my years as a parliamentarian. Also, I am hoping the member has had a chance to join the union since we last had the issue raised by him in the House.

Again, the IPU is a parliamentary organization, not a governmental organization. That is a key distinction. It is a long-standing practice that the Canadian government does not inappropriately interfere in the elections of interparliamentary organizations by advocating for one candidate, either of Canadian origin or from one of our allied countries.

That was the case here. Although we were disappointed to see that Senator Ataullahjan was not successful, as it is always a good thing to have Canadians in leadership roles internationally, we recognize the independence of Parliament as opposed to government.

I want to be clear, however, that the Minister of Foreign Affairs and his office spoke with the senator a number of times. Her specific ask was for a letter that was co-signed by the Speakers of the House and the other place, the Senate, to be sent to the Canadian heads of mission around the world, and then shared by them with their host country Speakers. That is exactly what was done by Global Affairs. Those letters were shared by heads of mission with Speakers who were interested in the issue.

I also want to again say that I have known Senator Ataullahjan for many years, both here and in Toronto where we both come from. I profoundly respect the work she does on human rights and on other international issues. I also value my personal friendship with her.

The accusation that there is anything related to gender in the government's following of a long-standing practice on interparliamentary organizations is completely without basis in fact or reflective of our record. We stand on our intention to maintain a feminist foreign policy, as well as a feminist international development policy. We will stand with women and girls throughout the world and do so proudly, as I would hope every member of the House does.

[Business of Supply, November 17th, 2020]

Madam Speaker, I agree with that point. Very clearly, I think what the minister said this morning was that, indeed, the point of contact is the RCMP or the local police force if someone is being intimated, if someone is being harassed, if someone is being forced. His colleague, this morning, raised another—

[Business of Supply, November 17th, 2020]

Madam Speaker, that gives me an opportunity to talk about the danger of this kind of debate. What happens in this kind of a debate is people start vilifying people of a different ethnic nationality, a different ethnicity. When people start doing that based on foreign policy, I think every member of the House needs to stand up and say we need to be very cautious about the way we characterize any Canadian, regardless of their ethnic background.

It is very troublesome and very worrisome to me that people would start to raise issues about anybody, whether it is a Conservative, Bloc Québécois, New Democrat, Liberal or Green, having activities or events with people of any ethnic background because of some concern they have with the country that they might have come from at any other time.

[Business of Supply, November 17th, 2020]

Madam Speaker, I want to correct one part of what the member just said and that was that our government has done nothing. I would say he could more appropriately say that the perception is that we have done nothing.

I have been in opposition. I have sat on that side and on this side, and I know the difference. I know the way those on the other side of the House want to frame ideas, but believe me, this side of the House cares about Canadians' security. We care about Canadians' prosperity. We care about human rights, and we have a long history, far longer than anyone of that side of the House has in any of those issues.

We have been engaged in these issues since we were elected, and we will continue to be engaged in these issues, only we will not do it with broad rhetoric. We will not call people enemies with no evidence. We will not suggest that people should be thrown out of the country without due process of law. That is not the way we will work. We will continue to do this because the people of Canada have elected us to do our work, to do it carefully, to do it well and to not engage in that kind of work.

[Business of Supply, November 17th, 2020]

Madam Speaker, I rise today to speak with respect on this very important motion, which highlights concerns Canadians are having. I want to thank the member for Wellington—Halton Hills for raising this issue in the House. It is an issue that has occupied the Special Committee on Canada-China Relations, and this motion will draw some attention in the Canadian imagination to it.

I also want to thank the member for Malpeque, not only for sharing his time, but also for calming down the discourse on this topic a little, saying that there is very little dissension or disagreement in this House about our concerns. We share the concerns that people have about their individual security and about the activities of China in the international world.

We share concerns about arbitrarily detained Canadians Michael Spavor and Michael Kovrig. We share those concerns and are eager to work with opposition members to find a way to assert Canada's important issues with respect to foreign policy everywhere, particularly with respect to the bilateral issue when it comes to China.

This year marks the 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Canada and China. Indeed, the world has changed significantly in these 50 years. This milestone allows us to look back on 50 years of history, and even longer than 50 years, but also to look ahead. We can look at, as the Minister of Foreign Affairs has said, how we can do a restart. We can stop, look at where we are and recognize that we need to ensure we do not continue on in ways that could cause more difficulty for Canadians.

I am very glad that the member for Malpeque mentioned Dr. Norman Bethune because, when I have travelled to China, his name was mentioned everywhere. In only two years he established a relationship that is valued by Chinese people all over their country and is a matter of respect that Canadians hold.

I also want to mention another medical missionary, and that is Dr. Robert McClure. For over 25 years, from 1923 until 1948, Bob McClure was a medical missionary in China. In two years, Norman Bethune opened up the world's eyes to what was going on in China. What Dr. Bob McClure did was spend 25 years of his life establishing a deep and abiding friendship and relationship between Canada and China.

Bob was a very close friend of mine. As I have reflected on Bob, his ministry and his medical practice, I am reminded that he talked about the basic desires and needs of the Chinese people as being the same as those of us living in Canada. They want healthy families, prosperity and respect for human rights. They want to be able to live with dignity in the world and to travel, and they want to be part of a global community. The Chinese people themselves are not different from us by nature.

However, as we look at what has happened in recent years, we have concerns. I do not think those concerns are on this side of the House or that side of the House. They are shared in this House. We are concerned about the erosion of human rights. We are concerned about the treatment of the Uighurs. We are concerned about the aspirations of Chinese people for their full rights and dignity. Even as we have seen a rise in the standard of living in China, we have seen a diminishing of human rights, and we are concerned about that. We should express that concern, and we will continue to express that concern.

We are also concerned about issues such as the arbitrary detention of Michael Spavor and Michael Kovrig. It is absolutely inappropriate. This government has been clear right from the beginning that we will not tolerate this. We have spoken up about that individually with China at every opportunity, every day, as well as with like-minded people from around the world. We are not resting until Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor have been returned home.

We stand up also for Canadians in other forms of detention. We have called again and again for clemency for Robert Schellenberg, making sure that the death penalty, which we are opposed to in this country, is not imposed on Canadians in China. It is absolutely critical that we stand up for these rights.

Canada, through the former CIDA, spent 30 years engaging in agricultural development and humanitarian assistance, ensuring that the base was laid for prosperity in that country. That has deepened our friendship and, I think, has deepened the expectation that we think China will hold Canada in high regard. It would be an understatement to say that we are disappointed in the way Canada is being held by China right now.

We will strongly assert that for the good of the Canada-China relationship, for the good of Canadians and Chinese citizens, we need to restart. We need to stop and look at this issue. We recognize that we did that in 2016, but the Canada of 2016 was not the Canada of 2020. Canadians' patience has been sorely tested by what has gone on.

We are concerned about these issues, but we are also mindful that it is an important economic relationship. It is an important cultural relationship. We have important academic relationships. We have students who travel back and forth between our countries. We have trade in goods and services. It is our second-largest trading partner, with almost 5% of our exports going to China.

We are mindful that this relationship is important. It is broken, but it is important. We want to dial down the rhetoric a bit to recognize that we are all on the same page in this House, and we have to find a way to restart and reclaim.

Getting to the particular motion on the floor today, I would say, very personally, I believe on this side of the House we are not against this motion. We recognize the concerns that have been raised, and the fears of Canadians and others in Canada, particularly since the imposition of the national security law. We recognize the concerns about Hong Kong and about people in Canada defending rights. We are concerned about interference.

We want to take the steps that are appropriate, not based on hearsay, and not throwing people out of the country because we hear something about them. We have due process in this country. We have courts. We have police procedures. We will do that, because we are a country of the rule of law.

However, we are mindful that interference by any foreign country, including China, is not acceptable. We are also mindful that Canadians are concerned about their cybersecurity, the Huawei 5G network and that decision. We are obviously concerned that we make that decision based on science, evidence and co-operation with other countries.

We recognize decisions have been made by our Five Eyes partners. We recognize that those decisions are important for us to understand, but we also recognize that we have an independent foreign policy in Canada. We do not just automatically do what even our like-minded partners want to do. We want to make sure that we have a thorough, thoughtful and careful process to make the best decisions for Canadians, making sure that security is foremost in our minds.

That is why I think we could come to an agreement in this House. We could drop the rhetoric. I am very glad that early on in this debate the member for Wellington—Halton Hills did indeed say he was open to discussion about how we could, perhaps in a small way, tweak this motion to find a way that we could all agree to it in this House.

I am hoping we have a chance to debate an amendment to this motion. That is why, at this point, I am putting forward an amendment to make a very small change to the motion that has been proposed by the member.

I move, seconded by the member for Winnipeg North, that we replace “make a decision on Huawei’s involvement in Canada’s 5G network within 30 days of the adoption of this motion” with “make a decision on Huawei's involvement in Canada's 5G network as soon as possible after the adoption of this motion”.

That would be my proposal to the House, to change that one part, just to make sure we have time to do the best of due diligence. We want to make sure we have the time to consult the partners we should be consulting, appropriately, to make sure that we engage in an independent foreign policy that will be for the betterment of all Canadians, and to do it well and carefully.

That is my proposed amendment.