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Mr. Garnett Genuis (Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan, CPC)

Dec/6/21 3:52:42 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the next petition speaks to the genocide of Uighurs and other Turkic Muslims in China. It calls on the House of Commons and the government to formally recognize that Uighurs in China have been and are being subjected to genocide and to use the Magnitsky act to sanction those responsible for the heinous crimes committed against the Uighur people.

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Mr. Garnett Genuis (Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan, CPC)

Dec/6/21 3:52:42 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the next petition highlights the human rights situation in Afghanistan. This petition was certified prior to the fall to the Taliban, and obviously these human rights circumstances have become even worse. It particularly highlights the horrific abuse faced by the Sikh and Hindu minority community in Afghanistan. It calls on the Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship to create a special program to help persecuted minorities. I wish this had been done prior to the fall to the Taliban. We would be in a very different position.

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Mr. Garnett Genuis (Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan, CPC)

Dec/6/21 3:52:42 p.m.
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Re: Bill C-6 Bill C-4

Mr. Speaker, the next petition highlights concerns associated with the definition of conversion therapy that was used in Bill C-6, in the last Parliament. Those concerns persist with respect with Bill C-4. The petitioners call on the House of Commons to ban all practices designed to coerce or degrade persons into changing their sexual orientation or gender identity. It also calls on the government to ensure that the definition is accurate, reflects the correct definition of conversion therapy and does not ban, for instance, private conversations that would take place that are not related to conversion therapy.

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Mr. Garnett Genuis (Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan, CPC)

Dec/6/21 3:52:42 p.m.
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Re: Bill S-240 Bill S-204

Mr. Speaker, the final petition I am tabling today is with respect to Bill S-223. The bill has had a number of different names and numbers. It is the bill that seeks to make it a criminal offence for a person to go abroad and receive an organ taken without consent. The bill has been in the works for over 15 years, trying to address forced organ harvesting and trafficking. It has been put forward in every Parliament I have been a part of, under Bills S-240 and S-204. Now it has been retabled in the Senate as S-223, and I am hoping against hope that this Parliament will finally be the one that gets it done. I commend all these petitions to the consideration of hon. members.

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Mr. Gord Johns (Courtenay—Alberni, NDP)

Dec/6/21 3:52:48 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, it is an honour to table this petition today on behalf of residents from Cumberland, Courtenay, Parksville and Port Alberni. They are calling on the government to address the preventable opioid overdose crisis resulting from fentanyl-poisoned sources. They cite that regulating to ensure safe sources with proper measures and bylaws will reduce the criminal element associated with street drugs, that problematic substance use is a health issue and is not resolved through criminalizing personal possession and consumption, and that decriminalization of personal possession is associated with dramatically reducing overdose deaths in the countries that have modernized their drug policies. Therefore, the petitioners are calling on the government, first, to declare the current opioid overdose and fentanyl-poisoning crisis a national public health emergency under the Emergencies Act in order to manage and resource it, with the aim to reduce and eliminate preventable deaths; second, to reform current drug policy to decriminalize personal possession; and last, to create with urgency and immediacy a system to provide safe, unadulterated access to substances so that people who use substances experimentally, recreationally or chronically are not at imminent risk of overdose due to a contaminated source. I thank these constituents in light of this health emergency and the lives that are being lost in the communities of my riding.

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Mr. Mark Gerretsen (Kingston and the Islands, Lib.)

Dec/6/21 3:54:16 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I rise today to present a petition on behalf of 261 constituents in my riding. They are calling on the government to enact just transition legislation that specifically aims to reduce emissions significantly, wind down fossil fuel subsidies and the industry in general, create good, clean green jobs that drive an inclusive workforce and development, expand the social safety net through new income supports, and pay for a transition by increasing taxes on the wealthiest corporations and financing through a public national bank.

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Mr. Mike Morrice (Kitchener Centre, GP)

Dec/6/21 3:55:09 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I rise today to present petition no. 10686748, wherein the petitioners call upon the House of Commons to commit to upholding the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada's calls to action by immediately halting all existing and planned construction of the Coastal GasLink pipeline project on Wet’suwet’en territory, ordering the RCMP to dismantle its exclusion zone and stand down, scheduling nation-to-nation talks among the Wet’suwet’en First Nation and federal and provincial governments, and prioritizing the real implementation of UNDRIP.

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Hon. Kamal Khera (Minister of Seniors, Lib.)

Dec/6/21 3:55:59 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I ask that all questions be allowed to stand.

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The Speaker

Dec/6/21 3:56:02 p.m.
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Is that agreed? Some hon. members: Agreed.

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Mrs. Cathay Wagantall (Yorkton—Melville, CPC)

Dec/6/21 3:56:28 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, under the Board of Internal Economy's decision on Tuesday, October 19, 2021, it fell to you, Speaker, to ensure that the decision was carried out in a manner that respected the inalienable rights of members to keep personal health information between themselves and their doctors private. I commend you in the way you did so. Clearly, the House sees you as fair in your decisions as the Speaker and affirmed that confidence by electing you to the chair for a second term. I thank the House of Commons nurse, human resources, health and wellness and the Sergeant-at-Arms for their highly professional, non-partisan, reasonable and accommodating efforts to ensure the safety of all members of Parliament and those who serve in other capacities throughout the precinct. I assure you my intervention will be concise, as I have no desire to unfairly or unreasonably delay the business of the House. My question of privilege challenges the government's motion passed in the House that imposed inappropriate conditions on the House of Commons nurse's professional ability and independence from political interference in determining whether a medical exemption should be provided to a member of Parliament. The House of Commons nurse made medical decisions that she, not politicians in this place, is professionally qualified to make, including being the one tasked to determine and follow up with parliamentarians who were in close contact with the member who contracted COVID. We are all glad to see him return in good health. It is my deep belief that this action by the government to control outcomes sets a dangerous precedent. It enables political interference in what should be the objective decision-making of medical professionals serving us as parliamentarians. Furthermore, it opens the door to the further abuse of members' privileges at the whim of whatever political party or parties are in power. What other actions could governing parties take to place arbitrary limitations on members of Parliament, if this self-awarded power to reduce or remove members' privileges continues to be allowed? I appreciate that you recognize my question of privilege as timely, due to the motion being implemented with directives at a very late hour on Friday, November 26. I was unable to have the required documents properly processed by my personal physician until the following week. The House of Commons nurse and human resources needed time to consider my application in light of the government's change to the mandate. In addition, I thought it prudent to wait until your decision on the question of the BOIE's authority to set the requirements for medical exemptions was heard, and it affirmed that the actions of the BOIE were outside of its jurisdiction. That being said, the government decided to move forward with a motion that mirrors the Board of Internal Economy's decision, while subjectively actually narrowing the acceptable reasons for medical exemptions that were already validated by the House of Commons nurse. I humbly request that you review and make a decision on my question of privilege, and affirm that the government's motion passed in the House does actually impose inappropriate conditions on the House of Commons nurse's professional medical authority and independence from political interference to determine whether a medical exemption should be provided to a member of Parliament. I thank you for this opportunity and certainly respect your deliberations and your decision.

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The Speaker

Dec/6/21 4:00:07 p.m.
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I thank the hon. member, and I will be returning. I notice the member for Timmins—James Bay is rising on a point of order.

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Mr. Charlie Angus (Timmins—James Bay, NDP)

Dec/6/21 4:00:19 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I rise on a point of order, because this is about the rights of all members to a safe work environment. It is about the obligations parliamentarians have to respect the law of Canada. The belief of some parliamentarians that they are above the law of Canada is troubling. We can look at the human rights rulings on privacy that have already been made. For someone to say that their right to keep their medical information private in a pandemic supersedes the right of a workplace to have a safe environment, those privacy rights do not trump the others. I did not use the word “trump” there deliberately, but it certainly had its effect. I would ask the Speaker to also consider recent court rulings. The ATU ruling on the TTC, and the Quebec Superior Court ruling, have been very clear about the needs and rights of the employer, which is us as the collective members of the House, not just to each other, but to the staff who work here and the cleaners. The claim by the Conservatives, that they believe they have the privilege to ignore pandemic law and the human rights and privacy rulings that have come down and that have all been clear, and that there is a privilege in the House to override them and put people at risk, is an infringement of my rights as a parliamentarian and my obligation to ensure that everyone in the House is kept safe. This is bigger than us. This is bigger than the bickering and bantering among the Conservatives, the Liberals and the Bloc. This is about the message we are sending to Canada right now. It is a message that in the House of Commons, in order to preserve the privileges of an elite group, the Conservative members can override the pandemic standards and the rights of privacy that have to be balanced with the rights of safety. Mr. Speaker, I would ask you to consider what we have seen already coming down from the Human Rights Commission. As for the issue of exemptions, I understand that it is not my business to look at the exemption of any member, but it is statistically ridiculous to suggest that a number of Conservatives can claim exemptions when we know that the medical exemptions are minutely small. We end up with parliamentarians coming in saying that they have pieces of paper stating they have an exemption, which is a ridiculous and unfair situation. A number of Conservatives are doing that. I will close with this. I have to share a lobby with Conservatives who walk around without their masks on. I am being put at risk by the fact that I do not know if any of them have these paper exemptions or if they have been vaccinated. I do not need to know, but I need to know that the House will be there to protect my rights and those of all the staff who have to deal with the Conservatives who walk around without masks on.

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The Speaker

Dec/6/21 4:03:36 p.m.
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I believe the hon. member for Yorkton—Melville has raised her hand. Then we will go to the hon. member for Banff—Airdrie. Looking at this, I believe I have all the information I need to come back to the House with a decision, but I will let the hon. member for Yorkton—Melville go ahead and then the member for Banff—Airdrie if they can be brief. The hon member for Yorkton—Melville.

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Mrs. Cathay Wagantall

Dec/6/21 4:04:09 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I would like to make one comment that the member is missing. The very statements he made indicate that he does not have respect for the role of the nurse of the House of Commons, or that she will do her job properly to ensure that all members of the House, as well as all of those who work in the precinct, are safe and protected. That includes all of us. I will leave it at that.

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Mr. Blake Richards (Banff—Airdrie, CPC)

Dec/6/21 4:04:45 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I rise on the same point of order very briefly to respond to some of the comments made by the member for Timmins—James Bay. He made comments that were completely and utterly false. Those comments were baseless of any facts at all. I want to make it clear that the Conservatives have followed, and will continue to follow, all of the public health guidance in this place.

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The Speaker

Dec/6/21 4:05:08 p.m.
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I thank the hon. members for their input with respect to this point of privilege. I will return to the House with a ruling. I wish to inform the House that because of the ministerial statement, Government Orders will be extended by 28 minutes.

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Mr. Earl Dreeshen (Red Deer—Mountain View, CPC)

Dec/6/21 4:05:49 p.m.
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Re: Bill C-3

Mr. Speaker, I will be sharing my time with the member for Bow River. As this is my first opportunity to address the chamber during debate, I will first express my appreciation to my fellow parliamentarians on selecting you, Mr. Speaker, as our Speaker. You have also selected an excellent group of parliamentarians to serve us in your stead, so thank you very much. Before I proceed with my points on Bill C-3, please allow me to also thank the fine people of Red Deer—Mountain View, who have honoured me with the privilege to serve as their representative once again here in the House of Commons. None of us makes it to this place on our own, and from that perspective, I wish to recognize not only the numerous volunteers and staff who have supported me, and many throughout the five campaigns I have been in, but also my devoted family, who have stood steadfast beside me. Although serving my community is a tremendous honour, it can also take a toll on my family, and I am eternally grateful for their support. My wife Judy; our son Devin and daughter Megan; our son-in-law Hanno; and our grandchildren Julian, Serena and Conrad are indeed the inspiration for my service to my community. I would like to particularly highlight Julian, who will be turning eight this month, and put on my proud grandfather hat for a moment. Julian has a skill that I wish I had as a politician. When he asks someone their name, whether they are a clerk in a store, people at a library or teachers and students in his school, he knows and remembers their names and, with that, everything they would have spoken about in conversation. That ability is every politician's dream. Throughout Julian's journey in the health care world, he has never hesitated to put a smile on the faces of those caring for him. He has bravely faced procedures that most would struggle with and has never complained. He can manoeuvre his electric wheelchair better than most truckers, and I have seen first-hand the impact his nurses and doctors have made on his physical health and sense of security while in their care. It has been through this journey that Julian has given me the greatest pause to reflect upon the legislation that we have before us. I have a passion not only for everyone who seeks help in our health care system, but for those amazing individuals who help us through some of the most difficult and turbulent times of our lives. Indeed, they continually go above and beyond any part of their job description so that we can feel safe in our most vulnerable moments. My family, like most, is no stranger to all sides of the health care system. Because of this, I have looked intently at the legislation presented by the hon. Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada, legislation that would enact amendments to the Criminal Code of Canada to create offences around the intimidation, obstruction and interference of health care workers. The commission of such offences against a health care provider or against someone seeking to obtain such health services is to be treated by the courts as an aggravating sentencing factor, thus giving the courts specific directions at the time of sentencing. Since the start of the pandemic, we have seen a more urgent need to protect those who care for our loved ones when they are defenceless in the face of illness. The stress that accumulates around health care professionals in the best of times is overwhelming, and we must have the full weight of the law behind us to stop intimidation, obstruction and interference as they work tirelessly to do their jobs. Working without the threat of intimidation should be the most basic of rights that we afford to the most valuable assets of our health care system. We need to thank our health care workers with actions, not words. Even though the changes Bill C-3 seeks to address within the Criminal Code are not a new problem, we must send the bill to committee for further study and modifications to try to better protect our health care workers and patients. I am aware the Criminal Code already covers similar offences, such as intimidation, harassment, assault and incitement of violence, so if the courts already have authority and responsibility to assess the severity of the crime in sentencing, what are we really hoping to achieve? Believe me, no one wishes more than I do that we ensure the safety of our medical professionals and reduce the stress they may endure. However, will this legislative tool help? We will not know unless we send it to committee to study it further and, if need be, amend it. Recently I was sent the stories of 40 health care workers from central Alberta. What stood out was the number of times the words “stress”, “harassment”, “overworked”, “burnout” and “anxiety” were used as they spoke about their work environments. If the pandemic is to teach us anything, it is that we must look in depth at the giant holes we have in our system, holes that fail to protect the people who help us navigate our health care needs. More than ever, we see the importance of studying the protections already outlined in the Criminal Code and discussing the consequences of those harassing and vilifying patients and workers. With respect to the need to protest, it cannot come at the expense of our health care workers and patients. We cannot allow threats and bullying to limit access for those seeking and providing health care. We must study the bill at length and make sure we can strike a balance between our right to be heard and our right to be safe. Getting to know so many nurses, doctors and staff motivated me to follow in my father's footsteps as the chairman of the Elnora General Hospital board. I speak from both my heart and my experience when I express the need for this bill to be sent to committee, as it is crucial that unintended consequences of potential laws are investigated. There has always been an ongoing debate about omnibus legislation and, sadly, this bill is a shining example of how this process can sometimes be abused. However, we cannot let this technicality limit the wide-reaching potential the bill has and interfere with opportunities for debate and scrutiny. We must not lose sight of the one basic principle which ties together all of the proposed enactments: the principle that our health care professionals deserve more. I want to thank Sarah, a registered nurse providing care for patients in rural Alberta hospitals. She reached out to say that she did her very best throughout every single understaffed, overworked, stressful mandated shift, even when supplied with inadequate PPE. We owe Sarah our very best for further scrutiny of Bill C-3. Although she wishes to remain anonymous, my gratitude goes out to a registered nurse of 22 years who currently works at the Red Deer Regional Hospital Centre. She expressed that the last 18 months have been eye-opening, heartbreaking and exhausting. However, despite the difficult year, she has never wavered from her work at the labour and delivery unit. Not once did she put her fears and needs above those of her patients. I also thank Suzanne, who told me that being hired as a social worker at the Red Deer Regional Hospital Centre was one of the proudest moments in her life. Despite the unprecedented stress and anxiety she faces, she still loves her job as much as the first day she started. These are the stories of the heroes we could honour and further study with this bill. These are the voices that encourage me to stand here today and speak. As I mentioned earlier, I know from a profound personal place the importance of caring for those who care for us. We must ensure their safety and reduce the stress and anxiety that our medical professionals endure. It is time to send Bill C-3 to committee so that we can vet it at every possible stage. In closing, I once again thank you, Madam Speaker, for your service and for allowing me to thank the people who are most special to me. I thank you for letting me highlight the health care professionals who took the time to share their stories. I hope that as parliamentarians we can look for common-sense solutions to the potential overreach and unintended consequences regarding places where medical services are provided. I also hope the well-being of all involved is taken into consideration so that our doctors and nurses can concentrate on the myriad diseases and conditions that are taking their toll on the physical and mental health challenges facing society today. We must remember who we are fighting for and that they have never failed in fighting for us in our times of need. Health care workers may be human by birth, but they are heroes by choice.

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Ms. Marie-Hélène Gaudreau (Laurentides—Labelle, BQ)

Dec/6/21 4:15:30 p.m.
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Re: Bill C-3

Madam Speaker, once again, congratulations on your appointment. I have been listening to the debate for several hours now. I believe everyone knows the Bloc Québécois is in favour of this bill. We are always there to support workers. I would like to ask my colleague a question. What does he think of our legislative agenda? We waited 65 days to be back in the House of Commons despite the urgent need for action. Today is December 6. Anyone who, like me, listened carefully to question period can see that we have a lot of problems to address. Why can we not get moving on these urgent matters right away?

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Mr. Earl Dreeshen

Dec/6/21 4:16:15 p.m.
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Re: Bill C-3

Madam Speaker, truly, the fact that the government decided we would take a number of months off for the most expensive cabinet shuffle we have had in a long time is rather frustrating because there are so many things we could have continued with and done. There are many issues, and perhaps some of the bills the government would have come forward with would have helped us in a lot of different areas. I was happy to hear these particular motions and that we have the chance to talk about them. The irony, of course, is that we do not have our committees set up yet. Our intent is to get to that as quickly as possible. It is just another one of the unintended consequences of having an election.

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Ms. Lisa Marie Barron (Nanaimo—Ladysmith, NDP)

Dec/6/21 4:17:17 p.m.
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Re: Bill C-3

Madam Speaker, since the beginning of the pandemic, the Conservative Party has not pushed for nor won anything for workers. In fact, the Liberals and the Conservatives have consistently opposed paid sick leave. For almost two years, the Conservatives did nothing to push for 10 days of paid sick leave. Why did the Conservatives abandon workers when they needed help? Have they now seen the light in supporting 10 days of paid sick leave?

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