Tracy Gray

[Health, October 26th, 2020]

Mr. Speaker, we are only in October and already the drug overdose deaths in the Okanagan have surpassed that for the entire year of 2019. Unfortunately, the numbers are similarly surreal across British Columbia. One does not have to look far to find someone in my community who has a family member who has, unfortunately, fallen victim to addiction. This is a crisis and we need action now.

Why is the health minister continuing to drag her heels in taking action on addiction and recovery?

[Women Entrepreneurs, October 26th, 2020]

Mr. Speaker, entrepreneurs across the country are struggling just to get by during the pandemic, with female entrepreneurs being hit particularly hard and with Liberals continually getting emergency programs wrong. These are women like Angie, who is a professional hairstylist. In order to meet safety protocols, her salon is using a three-day work week rotation. She also has to now work 12-hour days, taking her away from her family, to bring in revenue that would normally take eight hours. This is because stacking is not being allowed, which is when one rotates between two clients at a time for efficiency. Women like Heather, who is a professional registered massage therapist, similarly have to work longer days to due to client distancing and cleaning protocols. She is a self-employed health care provider whose hourly rates are regulated, and she receives no PPE assistance. Both of these self-employed women are not eligible for any programs unless they dramatically reduce booking their long-time loyal clients.

It is obvious the Liberals do not understand the working environments of these entrepreneurs. Instead of focusing right now on ways to avoid scrutiny for their scandals, they should be focusing on fixing programs so Angie and Heather, and other Canadian women like them, can stop falling through the cracks.

[Health, October 22nd, 2020]

Mr. Speaker, a local constituent reached out to me about how their family's lives have been on hold due to COVID-19 testing. The dad called the testing centre on October 3. They went in for testing on October 6, the first available day. The dad received his test results on October 7 and the daughter's came in on October 12. This was a 10-day process for this family. The daughter was not able to go to school, and the dad was not able to work.

This is unacceptable. When are regions like the Okanagan Valley and the Lower Mainland going to receive rapid testing?

[International Trade, October 9th, 2020]

Madam Speaker, the ink is barely dry on CUSMA and now another Canadian industry may be facing tariffs on blueberries.

The U.S. is investigating if Canadian blueberry exports are negatively affecting its industry. Ninety-five per cent of fresh blueberry exports from British Columbia go to the United States. These potential tariffs will be devastating for blueberry farmers in places like the Fraser Valley and Nova Scotia.

When will the minister resolve this issue and give certainty to our blueberry farmers?

[Judges Act, October 2nd, 2020]

Mr. Speaker, when we are dealing with really big issues like what we are talking about here today, there is never one silver bullet; there are always multiple levers that can assist. This bill is one of those levers. It is important that our judicial system be fair and that we have judges who are properly trained and who will write into their decisions the rationale for those decisions. This is one of those levers that we are able to utilize as part of the greater conversations we are having in dealing with issues within our society.

[Judges Act, October 2nd, 2020]

Mr. Speaker, this bill shows what can happen when parliamentarians follow the full powers and processes of Parliament with a bill that has been amended and has already gone to committee at some point. It is really important for us to fulfill all of our duties and all of the processes that a bill should have, and it has brought us to this point today. Unlike in other situations when bills have not gone through full debate or have not been sent to committee, this is a really good example of what we can do to bring a bill to a better place. This our job and our role, and it is what we should continue to do.

[Indigenous Affairs, October 2nd, 2020]

Mr. Speaker, it has been another summer where my constituents have not been able to utilize the Okanagan Rail Trail to its full capacity. A section of the trail is closed due to the fact that the federal government has delays in administering an addition to reserve. People, dangerously, have to divert onto a highway.

This decommissioned CN Rail project is a model of co-operation between our local municipal governments and thousands of donors and volunteers. I wrote the indigenous services minister months ago, with no response. My constituents are getting frustrated. When will the minister resolve this land transfer?

[Judges Act, October 2nd, 2020]

Mr. Speaker, I am glad to be rising today to debate Bill C-3, an act to amend the Judges Act and the Criminal Code, otherwise known as the just act. This is an important piece of legislation. A version of it was first introduced in 2017 by former Conservative leader, Rona Ambrose. It was then called Bill C-337, the proposed judicial accountability through sexual assault law training act. I want to thank Ms. Ambrose for her leadership role in championing this bill and its important content over the last few years.

Ms. Ambrose has been a strong voice for women and sexual assault survivors. Bill C-337 received widespread support from stakeholders and from parliamentarians across party lines. Canada's Conservatives were proud to support the just act in a previous Parliament because we recognized that far too often the justice system fails to respect the experiences of victims of sexual assault.

Passing this legislation was also part of the Conservative platform in the last election and was one of the platform points I was glad to see included. I am looking forward to the bill being debated. I will take the next few minutes to speak about this legislation, which will ensure survivors of sexual assault are treated with dignity during the judicial process.

In the end this legislation is about bringing forth trust. The just act would require judges to continue their education on matters related to sexual assault law and social context. Sexual assault survivors need to know that those hearing their cases have the training, background and context to give them a fair trial. To better ensure that sexual assault survivors do not hesitate to come forward, we need a judicial system that they can trust will be fair.

We also need a system which understands the laws of consent. With that considered, it is easy to support the bill. This legislation, if passed, would also require judges to provide reasons for their decisions in sexual assault cases. This is another important step in the right direction that will provide more clarity in the process. Requiring the rationale for these decisions will provide documentation in these cases, including an understanding of the thought process of a judge.

I remember many years ago I took training at the Justice Institute of British Columbia in Vancouver for a regulatory tribunal I was appointed for. The training involved how to articulate in writing the thought processes that brought me to my decision. When I previously heard about this bill, I was surprised that this process did not exist when judges had to provide reasons for their decisions in sexual assault cases.

Having judges be clear on the factors that led to their decision-making and discuss each component of that factor on cases of sexual assault increases transparency, which is important for our courts and for victims. This may lead to more well-thought-out decisions as well. We hear of situations where the justice system fails to respect the experiences of victims of sexual assault. The reality is that presently there are evident gaps in the current process. These gaps have resulted in sexual assault survivors seeing the justice system fail to respect the experiences of victims of sexual assault.

Some sexual assault survivors have said that they have lost faith in the judicial process completely. It was not too long ago that victims, especially women, were blamed for sexual assault. Before laws were put in place improving the process, it was common for judges to factor in things such as the length of a woman's skirt or whether she had had a past relationship with the perpetrator when determining if something was deemed to be criminal.

We may now look back on those days with disbelief that it ever happened, but we are far from having all the tools to ensure our judiciary, which is trained to look at sexual assault cases, is at the best of its ability. In fact, we hear too often the stories of this still happening in 2020, both in Canada and across the world. I am sure many of us have examples of this.

We have heard of victim blaming and of stereotypes. It is wrong and yet somehow it still happens. One story that continues to stick in my memory is when a judge, during court proceedings, asked a victim of sexual assault why she could not just keep her knees together. Comments such this are shocking. They show where there are gaps in the process of training the judiciary when it comes to sexual assault.

According to statistics from Canada's Department of Justice, 83% of sexual assaults were not reported to the police. This means that four in every five sexual assaults that occur are not filed with the police, let alone given a chance to go to trial and potentially lead to a conviction.

This figure is shocking and raises important questions about why the reported four in five victims of sexual assault feel that they cannot report what has happened. Is it because they feel they will be victim-blamed? Is it because they feel they will not be believed? Is it because they feel there may be a lack of evidence? Is it because they feel embarrassed? Maybe it is because they have heard of other cases where sexual assault was not taken seriously. Unfortunately, I know of a woman who chose not to report an incident that happened to her.

In further studies by the Department of Justice on this issue, victims of sexual assault were asked to rate their level of confidence in the police, the court processes and the criminal justice system in general. Few participants stated that they were very confident.

Bill C-3 would make an improvement in this trust factor on the judicial side of this process. Sexual assault victims would be better safeguarded and know that the judge in their case has up-to-date training in sexual assault law and understands the modern context of situations that can arise. This is important. If this bill would even slightly increase the confidence of sexual assault victims to bring come forward and report their situation to the police, then it is common sense that we should pass it.

Other important factors from the Department of Justice that stood out to me are that women between the ages of 15 and 24 have the highest rate of being a victim of sexual assault, and that self-reported sexual assault incidents very often involve an offender who is known to the victim, disproportionately more than other crimes such as physical assaults and robberies.

Young women need to know that the judicial system is fair and that they can trust it, even when it comes to reporting someone who is known to them. What message does it send to a young woman who is a sexual assault survivor who feels the judicial system did not give her a fulsome trial? The criminal justice system must work toward eradicating stereotyping and biases.

When it comes to supporting sexual assault survivors, this House must do all it can to improve the process. We must ensure that those who go through this have a fair and impartial process. Any legislation that would do this is something that should be enacted.

In my constituency, I sat with a woman in a coffee shop while she explained in detail her assault experience. I did not know what to say. The only thing that came out was, “I am so sorry that happened to you.”

My team and I have received emails and calls from those in Kelowna—Lake Country about the just act, as well as about improving the process for sexual assault victims. I have also had many conversations with those in Kelowna and Lake Country on their experiences with the process locally and how they believe it can be improved for sexual assault cases. We know that the Okanagan is not immune to this problem, and the just act comes up as one piece to address this issue.

I am looking forward to Bill C-3 moving to the next stage in the legislative process. This is an important bill for sexual assault survivors. I hope members in this House will support it when it comes to a vote.

[Resumption of Debate on Address in Reply, October 1st, 2020]

Mr. Speaker, the throne speech refers to creating one million jobs. One of the methods stated in the throne speech is to extend or expand the wage subsidy. It also went on to say that it will work with businesses to meet their needs. It seems there will be some changes that will be happening.

Today, I received a communication from a local business owner wondering what that means. It is really important that business owners can plan.

What does that mean and what does that look like? Business owners need to have certainty now. Also, how is that creating jobs? The way it works is that it helps to subsidize the wages of workers. How is that actually creating jobs?

[Resumption of Debate on Address in Reply, October 1st, 2020]

Madam Speaker, the intervenor mentioned small business and, in particular, farmers and food producers. We know there are still a lot of gaps within the existing programs, especially for farmers and food producers. The way a lot of the programs are structured make them not applicable. In the throne speech, under small business, is a list of existing programs with no further details on how they might be expanded and no listing of any new programs.

I am wondering if the member can elaborate on what it looks like for small business, agriculture and food producers, with new programs or expanding existing programs.