Business of Supply  Mr. Speaker, I welcome the member to the chamber and I welcome his question. I would respectfully disagree that there has been no success with respect to the Canada-China relationship. We are going through a difficult period, but the longevity of that relationship commenced by the first Trudeau to serve as prime minister in the House is a strong one, as it needs to be.

Business of Supply  Mr. Speaker, I thank the member for Cowichan—Malahat—Langford for his comments and for his contributions to the House. It is an interesting question, but I would offer up a couple of aspects in response. First, rarely do we have a special committee struck to study a relationship between two singular nations.

Business of Supply  Mr. Speaker, everything I have learned in this chamber in the last five years has been about the delicacy of dealing with consular matters and the delicacy of dealing with matters that affect people's lives very severely, including when we have two people unjustly imprisoned in a foreign territory.

Business of Supply  Mr. Speaker, I want to start by indicating I will be sharing my time with the member for Mississauga Centre. I am very pleased to rise today to address this important motion that has been raised by the member for Durham. Obviously I want to acknowledge that it has been one year since Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor were arbitrarily detained in China.

The Dalai Lama  Madam Speaker, today is the 30th anniversary of the award of the Nobel Peace Prize to His Holiness the Dalai Lama. As the member of Parliament for Parkdale-High Park, I take great pride in representing the largest Tibetan diaspora in North America. The Dalai Lama is not just a leader for the people of Tibet; he is a leader for us all.

Resumption of Debate on Address in Reply  Mr. Speaker, I congratulate the member for St. John's East on his return to the House. He is an experienced member who had a brief involuntary interregnum and I welcome him back to the chamber. On both of those points, it is in absolute good faith that we are engaging with pharmacare and starting a dialogue on dental care.

Resumption of Debate on Address in Reply  Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for the question and I congratulate him on his election and his family history. I want to note two things. First, the oil subsidies are not as simple as they appear. The oil subsidies also include subsidies to indigenous communities, specifically those in Canada's north.

Resumption of Debate on Address in Reply  Mr. Speaker, it is a tremendous honour to receive my first question in the chamber in this new Parliament from a former parliamentary intern. I congratulate the member for Mission—Matsqui—Fraser Canyon. We are now a group of three. Judy Wasylycia-Leis, whose name I can mention in this chamber as she is no longer here, was the first intern to be elected.

Resumption of Debate on Address in Reply  Mr. Speaker, it is a pleasure to be back in this chamber and I want to start by thanking my constituents in Parkdale—High Park for returning me for the second time to this chamber. It is an honour and a privilege to serve them, one I do not take lightly. I also thank the most important people in my life in terms of getting me to where I am today, the people who gave me guidance as a young child and then as a young man: my parents, Lou and Sul Virani.

Criminal Code  Mr. Speaker, I want to compliment the member for West Nova for his work in contributing today and his contributions at the justice committee, which we will significantly miss as he goes back to practice in the fall. However, I want to draw on that legal experience and ask the member two questions that relate to the same feature.

Criminal Code  Mr. Speaker, I want to start by saying to the member for Victoria how refreshing it is to have him contribute to this evening's debate, especially hot on the heels of the contribution from the Conservative member who preceded him. His erudite analysis is a welcome contribution, and I will freely admit to him that we miss those kinds of interventions at the justice committee.

Criminal Code  Mr. Speaker, the notion that due process is somehow an erosion of democracy development is categorically false and it betrays the development that has occurred in the country and every other western democracy in the last 50 years. The notion that it is a great time to be a criminal, a quote from the member's statement, is insulting to all members in the chamber.

Questions on the Order Paper  Mr. Speaker, the Office of the Chief Electoral Officer of Canada has not received any communication from the government, including from any minister’s office, about the 2016 compliance agreement signed by SNC-Lavalin Group Inc. and the Commissioner of Canada Elections, CCE. The CCE is responsible to ensure that the Canada Elections Act and the Referendum Act are complied with and enforced, including the negotiation of compliance agreements.

Toronto Raptors  Mr. Speaker, at a YMCA, in 1891, a Canadian named James Naismith invented the game of basketball. Yesterday night, 128 years later, a Canadian team, our Toronto Raptors, brought the NBA championship home. There were doubters and cynics, but there was also a steely resolve, the resolve of die-hard fans and ones more recently on the bandwagon, who got on board in Jurassic Park from coast to coast to coast in this country and beyond.

Criminal Code  Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to join the second reading debate on Private Member's bill, Bill C-206, an act to amend the Criminal Code. At the outset, I want to to acknowledge the laudable objective of the bill and thank the member from Yellowhead for giving us the opportunity to debate this important social issue this evening.