Human Rights  Mr. Speaker, in 2016, the United Nations Human Rights Council created the position of UN independent expert on sexual orientation and gender identity. Unfortunately, distinguished international law professor Vitit Muntarbhorn completed only one year of his three-year mandate befo

Foreign Affairs  Mr. Speaker, rather than celebrating the first anniversary of another Liberal promise, I am sure Canadians would rather celebrate a contribution to peacekeeping. However, under both the Liberals and the Conservatives, Canada's contribution has been minimal. Despite this, Canada w

Human Rights  Mr. Speaker, it is clear the government has a problem knowing who is in charge of this one. What we are asking is that the Liberals make a commitment today to a just apology for the past injustices to the LGBTQ community. That means an apology by the Prime Minister in the House

Transgender Day of Remembrance  Mr. Speaker, today we are hearing many moving statements on Remembrance Day, but this afternoon I rise to mark another day of remembrance: the Transgender Day of Remembrance on November 20. People in communities across Canada and around the world will be remembering victims of tr

Foreign Affairs  Mr. Speaker, it is unacceptable that Canada will be welcoming the world to a conference on peacekeeping without making any specific commitment on a peacekeeping mission. To make matters worse, United Nations officials believe that the things being considered by Canada do not eve

Petitions  Mr. Speaker, I rise today to present petition e-1162 concerning Tibetan human rights defenders. This petition was originated by Namdol Tenzin from Scarborough, and it calls upon the Government of Canada to urge China to fulfill its international human rights obligations, to cre

Human Rights  Mr. Speaker, it would be ironic if the government makes a just apology to the LGBTQ community tomorrow, and then fails to act to address ongoing discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, gender identity, and gender expression. Failing to act will mean that the government

Human Rights  Mr. Speaker, after yesterday's historic apology to the LGBTQ community and with the answer we just had from the Prime Minister, we see an opportunity here to begin to address some of the unfinished business the Prime Minister has been talking about. In order to do that, will th

Committees of the House  Mr. Speaker, I listened to the member for Winnipeg North speak on this for 20 minutes, although I have to say it does seem longer. I have the same question as the Conservatives. What is the position of the government on this concurrence motion? Is it that the government is unwill

Committees of the House  Madam Speaker, I always listen carefully to the remarks from the member for Calgary Forest Lawn. He has a lot of experience here, and although we do not always agree, I find his contributions very valuable. Like him, I often have my office feeling besieged by people desperate to

Indian Act  Madam Speaker, I want to give the member an example from Vancouver Island that is even more egregious. We have 13 nations that make up the Nuu-chah-nulth Tribal Council, along with Ditidaht and the Hupacasath. Their cousins, Wakashan speakers, are Makah in Washington State, and w

Access to Information Act  Madam Speaker, I hate to say I enjoy this phenomenon that happens in the House when the Liberals and the Conservatives stand and accuse each other of being worse at things. Here again, the Conservatives say Liberals are worse than them and the Liberals say they were terrible, but

Access to Information Act  Madam Speaker, having heard the previous Liberal question about this great bill, I will ask the member about four snappy quotes. The first is, “The proposed reforms are just not good enough,” which was said by Toby Mendel, the executive director of the Centre for Law and Democr

Access to Information Act  Madam Speaker, I have to say that it is good to have the Conservatives onside in opposing Bill C-58, which rolls back access to information and would do nothing to eliminate delays. However, being the festive season and to be charitable, I will say that the member for Edmonton W

Expungement of Historically Unjust Convictions Act  Mr. Speaker, I thank the member for Edmonton Centre for his remarks today, as well as the government and the official opposition for co-operating to get this legislation to this point before we rise for Christmas. I have a concern with the remarks that the hon. member made about