Foreign Affairs  Mr. Speaker, repression has intensified against women defending their rights in Saudi Arabia. Many have been arrested, detained, and charged with crimes such as “suspicious contact with foreign parties“ or “undermining the security and stability of the state”. One of the detainees is a former University of British Columbia student, Loujain al-Hathloul.

Export and Import Permits Act  Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for his question. I could not agree more. This is just more smoke and mirrors, more grandstanding. They say Canada is going to accede to the Arms Trade Treaty, but they are taking on only a tiny part and ignoring large chunks of it. Similarly, the government claims to be feminist, yet it sells arms to Saudi Arabia.

Export and Import Permits Act  Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank my colleague for her question and also for her tenacity and professionalism when asking questions in the House despite the problems with her voice. It is true that some countries have not signed on to the treaty. Very few countries have not signed it.

Export and Import Permits Act  Mr. Speaker, as I said earlier, I do not like calling it a loophole, because when a loophole covers almost half the treaty it becomes something else entirely. Perhaps someone has a better idea of what word we can use. “Gaping hole” is a good expression. These are just some of the points that experts raised from the outset.

Export and Import Permits Act  Mr. Speaker, she said fully binding on Canada. If all elements of the treaty were fully binding on Canada, that would mean, to go back to two examples I gave, that the minister would have to review the export permits at the time the new information emerged. The Liberals are refusing to include this.

Export and Import Permits Act  Mr. Speaker, I want to start by reminding the House of certain facts, to counteract the falsehoods spread by some government representatives over the last few days. For example, they claim we are opposed to Canada's accession to the Arms Trade Treaty. It may be trendy to spread fake news, but these people know full well that what they say is not true.

Export and Import Permits Act  Mr. Speaker, I would say it is more like half a step or maybe a quarter step. The NDP completely agrees. We have been pressing the government to accede to the Arms Trade Treaty for years, and now the government is not even half acceding, maybe a third or so. There are still loopholes in this bill that place it in direct and open conflict with the Arms Trade Treaty, such as the refusal to reassess export permits should new information be revealed.

Foreign Affairs  Mr. Speaker, the Israeli supreme court gave the green light to demolish Khan al-Ahmar, a Palestinian Bedouin village. Many Canadians have written to me to underline the fact that the Government of Canada has been silent on this matter and on the Government of Israel's announcement that it will build more illegal settlements in the occupied territory.

Export and Import Permits Act  Mr. Speaker, I find it interesting that the Minister of Families, Children and Social Development is the one answering questions this evening, seeing as the arms we sell to other countries often destroy families and kill children. That is why this is such an important topic. The committee did indeed study this issue, and the experts told the committee that the government's bill conflicts with both the letter and the spirit of the treaty.

Foreign Affairs  Mr. Speaker, the parliamentary secretary said that we are advocating for human rights in the Philippines. I am sure we are advocating for human rights in Saudi Arabia also, but on the other hand, we are selling them arms. My colleague also said that the Minister of Foreign Affairs would have done a human rights analysis of any potential export permit.

Foreign Affairs  Mr. Speaker, I am here to talk about the sale of Canadian helicopters to the Philippines, whose president said that he once threw someone out of a helicopter and would not hesitate to do it again. He sees that as a good way to get rid of political opponents. This sale was the subject of a deal between the Department of National Defence and the Philippines government brokered by the Canadian Commercial Corporation.

Foreign Affairs  Mr. Speaker, last week, the Israeli government announced a plan to build 2,500 new illegal settlement units in the occupied West Bank. This week, Canada signed a modernized free trade agreement with Israel, which includes a visit from the Israeli economy minister. Can the minister tell the House whether the government considers the illegal settlements to be part of the Israeli territory for the purposes of this agreement?

Export and Import Permits Act  Madam Speaker, robust export and import rules that enable us to export to Saudi Arabia, have Canadian producers sell arms to South Sudan or send helicopters to the Philippines, we have a different definition of strong. The main point I wanted to make is that my colleague seemed to suggest that we would be voting against this bill for partisan reasons.

Export and Import Permits Act  Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague for his question. He may have missed my speech because I was very clear: we fully support the ratification of the Arms Trade Treaty, but it has to be done properly. We cannot just say that we have signed the treaty, we have to abide by it. However, we are completely opposed to this bill, which makes a mockery of the Arms Trade Treaty and does not comply with it.

Export and Import Permits Act  Madam Speaker, I would like to thank my colleague. She does tremendous work on the nuclear disarmament file, which is a major concern for the NDP. I am pleased to have this opportunity to rise in the House today to congratulate her on the extraordinary work she is doing. My colleague made a key point about something that we are unfortunately seeing on a number of files.