Business of Supply  Mr. Speaker, at our committee this last Tuesday, a witness from the One Free World International presented a brief. In his comments he suggested that 400 young Yazidi girls had been rescued, yet they did not have the means to find their way to come to Canada as refugees. To my understanding, the same presentation was also made at the committee on foreign affairs.

Homelessness  Mr. Speaker, the city of Vancouver has released its finding for its 10th homelessness count, and the results are heartbreaking. Over a 24-hour period in March, staff and hundreds of volunteers counted a record-breaking 1,847 homeless people in Vancouver, a 6% increase from 2015, of which 38% of the homeless population was aboriginal peoples.

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship  Mr. Speaker, on the transportation loan question, there is nothing that would bar the government from retroactively waiving the transportation loan for those who arrived prior to November 4. Absolutely, the government can act on that, and it is much needed, by the way. The government has made ambitious promises around the commitment to address the Syrian refugee crisis.

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship  Mr. Speaker, I rose in the House in April to draw attention to government-sponsored Syrian refugees in Saskatoon. We learned that the government-sponsored refugees had not received their monthly funding for April. In fact, many families received their monthly assistance nearly three weeks late.

Transport  Madam Speaker, previous governments gave the ports sweeping powers, including the right to override land use decisions and the right to assess and approve their own projects. It is the opinion of many that we need to change the environmental assessment process to make it completely independent, transparent, inclusive, and consultative.

Transport  Madam Speaker, I am here to hold the Liberal government accountable to one of the major promises that it made to Canadians during the election campaign. The Liberals promised to make environmental assessments credible again. In their platform they stated, “We will immediately review Canada's environmental assessment processes and introduce new, fair processes that will restore robust oversight and thorough environmental assessments.”

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship  Mr. Speaker, by the minister's own admission, language is key to Syrian refugees' success. Amer Alhendawi has been here for almost a year, and he is still waiting for an ESL class. Thousands of refugees across the country have the same problem. Vancouver Community College has over 800 people on its wait list.

Spring Festival  Mr. Speaker, let me first acknowledge and congratulate the member for Don Valley North for bringing this motion forward. Indeed, this is a motion that I will certainly support. As well, I want to begin this debate by acknowledging the first peoples of this land for allowing us to build our lives here.

Spring Festival  Mr. Speaker, it is important to recognize the celebration of lunar new year or spring festival for the Asian community, so I welcome the member's motion. In order to further the celebration and the recognition of the contributions of the Asian community, what other suggestions might the member have to advance for the government to undertake that would give concrete results in recognition of the Asian community's contribution to building Canada?

Income Tax Act  Mr. Speaker, the middle income tax cut that is supposed to benefit the middle class, actually mostly benefits those on the very high end of income, certainly relative to the people in my community. People making $45,000 or less would not benefit one cent from this tax cut. According to the parliamentary budget officer, that is estimated to be 17.9 million Canadians.

Komagata Maru  Mr. Speaker, the Komagata Maru tragedy is a reflection of the discriminatory exclusion laws that existed in Canada. Nearly 400 passengers were refused entry into Canada. They were sent back to India and 20 were killed. The NDP has long advocated that a respectful apology be made in the House of Commons for this dark chapter of our history.

Business of Supply  Madam Speaker, I thank the member for Vancouver Kingsway for his comments. There is a lot of history there and knowledge as well. I would like to the ask the member, as the health critic, what some of the concerns are that he may have with respect to the TPP on health implications, particularly with respect to pharmacare.

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship  Madam Speaker, there are laws that are fair and just, and there are laws that are not. The cessation provisions contained in Bill C-31 is an example of an unjust and absurd law. This law discriminates against refugees by effectively setting up a two-tier system for permanent residents.

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship  Madam Speaker, I am calling on the Liberal government t repeal the cessation provisions of Bill C-31, Protecting Canada's Immigration System Act. Bill C-31 came into force on December 15, 2012, and it is retroactive. Cessation applications are being brought against permanent residents because it is alleged that refugees have re-availed themselves of protection by temporarily travelling back to their country of origin.

Transport  Mr. Speaker, the people in the Downtown Eastside fought long and hard for Crab Park and now the port plans to infill seven acres of the waterfront, posing a real threat to the park. The Conservatives gave sweeping powers to the port, allowing it to assess and approve its own projects, undermining accountability to Canadians.