44th Parl. 1st Sess.
December 14, 2021 10:00AM
moved for leave to introduce Bill S-214, an act to establish International Mother Language Day
He said: Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to sponsor Bill S-214, which is an act to establish February 21 each year as international mother language day in Canada. This bill recognizes that, in addition to Canada's official languages, French and English, there are over 60 different aboriginal languages spoken in our nation. It also recognizes the important cultural and societal values of the first languages of so many Canadians who have chosen this country as their home.
Our thanks and congratulations to our champion, Aminul Islam in Surrey, and to Senator Jaffer, who sponsored this bill in the other place.
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moved that Bill S-202, An Act to amend the Parliament of Canada Act (Parliamentary Visual Artist Laureate), be read the first time.
He said: Mr. Speaker, I rise today to present Bill S-202, an act to amend the Parliament of Canada Act (Parliamentary Visual Artist Laureate). It is seconded by the hon. member for Saskatoon—Grasswood, a long-time promoter of heritage in this country, especially if it involves sports, and a great member of the heritage committee. This bill intends to create the position of parliamentary visual artist laureate and corrects a reference to the Canada Council for the Arts in the English version of the Parliament of Canada Act.
The mandate of the parliamentary visual artist laureate would be to promote the arts in Canada through Parliament, including by fostering knowledge, enjoyment, awareness and the development of arts. This position would highlight the importance of art in our culture and in our communities. It would serve as a method for historical preservation of Canadian arts. It will hopefully be studied soon by the heritage committee.
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moved that Bill S-206, An Act to amend the Criminal Code (disclosure of information by jurors), be read the first time.
He said: Mr. Speaker, I am very pleased to be the sponsor of Bill S-206, which passed in the Senate unanimously last week. This bill would implement a key recommendation of the unanimous 2018 justice committee report on juror supports initiated by the member for Cowichan—Malahat—Langford, who I am proud to have as the seconder.
More specifically, this bill would carve out a narrow exception to the jury secrecy rule so that former jurors who are suffering from mental health issues arising from their jury service could disclose all aspects of that service, including the deliberation process, with a medical professional bound by confidentiality. It would protect the integrity of the rule while seeing that former jurors could get the help that they need and deserve.
This bill is identical to Bill C-417 that I introduced, which passed this House unanimously in 2019. This is a common-sense, non-partisan bill that has enjoyed unanimous support. I urge its speedy passage.
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Mr. Speaker, it is an honour for me to present a petition today from citizens across Canada, looking to raise the issue of international human organ trafficking to the House of Commons.
The petitioners are calling on Parliament to work quickly to support Bill S-223.
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- Dec/14/21 10:16:57 a.m.
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Mr. Speaker, it is an honour to rise today to table a petition on behalf of residents from Cumberland, Courtenay and Royston in my riding.
They have supported this petition because of their concerns around food security and tackling poverty. The petitioners highlight that farmers markets are really a key, important tool in terms of COVID-19 recovery, and in terms of supporting domestic food systems and food security, and the local economy.
The petitioners are calling on the government to support a national matching program for all provincial farmers market nutrition coupon programs across Canada that would match provinces that already contribute to their farmers market nutrition coupon programs and encourage provinces that do not have such a program to implement one by offering matching funding.
This is a very important program in British Columbia. It is an honour to table this petition calling on the federal government to match this program in British Columbia.
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Mr. Speaker, I am presenting a petition today on behalf of Canadians calling for the prevention of international organ harvesting. In particular, they call upon the Parliament of Canada to speedily pass Bill S-223, which would prohibit Canadians from travelling abroad to acquire human organs removed either without consent or as a result of a financial transaction. The bill would also render inadmissible to Canada any and all permanent residents or foreign nationals who have participated in this abhorrent trade.
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- Dec/14/21 10:18:42 a.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I am presenting a petition from many Canadians today on the issue of organ harvesting, especially as it relates to Canadians travelling abroad to participate in it. It is terrible, and we need to stop it.
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- Dec/14/21 10:19:05 a.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the next petition highlights another international challenge: the situation in the Republic of Artsakh, also known as the Nagorno-Karabakh region. Following the Armenian-Azerbaijan war a ceasefire was established, but there are continuing concerns related to the detention of prisoners of war.
Petitioners call on the government to condemn Azerbaijan's illegal detention of Armenian prisoners of war and call for their immediate release; to use all the diplomatic tools available to advocate for the release of those held captive; to condemn ongoing state-sponsored anti-Armenian hatred in Azerbaijan; to denounce all aggressive rhetoric from Turkey and Azerbaijan against Armenian Artsakh; to provide the necessary humanitarian assistance to ensure the safety and viability of the population of Artsakh; and facilitate the exchange of the remains of fatalities.
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Mr. Speaker, I have a number of petitions to present today.
The first petition is with respect to Bill S-223. This is a bill on forced organ harvesting and trafficking, which a number of colleagues have tabled petitions on already. This is the same bill that was put forward in each of the last two Parliaments, and the bill has already passed the Senate.
Petitioners are calling on the government and the House of Commons to work together to finally pass legislation to prohibit forced organ harvesting and trafficking, and to prohibit Canadians from going abroad to receive an organ taken without consent.
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- Dec/14/21 10:19:05 a.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the next petition highlights an issue that is very important in my riding: carbon capture and storage technology. It is an important tool for fighting back against the challenges we face in terms of climate change.
Petitioners note the government's commitments with respect to emission reductions and call on the government to introduce new tax incentives to attract investment in the area of carbon capture, utilization and storage technology.
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- Dec/14/21 10:19:05 a.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the next petition I am tabling highlights the human rights situation in Burma. It notes that in the coup earlier this year, there were a large number of people killed and detained. There is also the systematic killing, abducting and torturing of civilians by Myanmar security forces, and the fact that the Tatmadaw does not have a mandate to represent Myanmar and has been outlawed by the National Unity Government as terrorists responsible for gross human rights violations.
The petitioners have a number of asks of the government: to recognize the National United Government as the only legitimate governing body of Myanmar; support its efforts to establish a federal democratic and pluralistic country that respects the rights of all ethnic communities, including the Rohingya; designate the Tatmadaw as a terrorist organization and cut all diplomatic ties with it; provide humanitarian aid for refugees displaced by countrywide crackdowns and the bombing of villages and towns, such as Karen, Kachin and Chin states; and provide financial support for detainees and civil workers who have joined the civil disobedience movement against the junta.
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- Dec/14/21 10:19:05 a.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the next petition that I am tabling highlights concerns about the situation in Ethiopia. Some of the specific information in this petition is a bit dated, but the conflict, in particular in the Tigray region, continues to be a significant concern for many Canadians and people around the world.
Petitioners note that Ethiopia is a large recipient of Canada's international development assistance, and they want to see more engagement from the government with respect to this situation, including working to end the conflict; supporting peace and mediation; and calling for full humanitarian access, independent monitoring and international investigation into the credible reports of war crimes and gross violations of human rights.
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- Dec/14/21 10:19:05 a.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the next petition is from people who are concerned about the definition used for conversion therapy in a number of conversion therapy bills. Petitioners want to see efforts made to fix the definition. They support efforts to ban conversion therapy, but they want to clarify what is being referred to in the definition of “conversion therapy”.
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- Dec/14/21 10:19:05 a.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the next petition highlights the issue of Canadians struggling with mental health challenges and a bill that passed in the last Parliament allowing medically facilitated suicide for those facing mental health challenges.
Petitioners note that the Canadian Mental Health Association has said that it is a recovery-oriented organization and does not believe that mental illnesses are irremediable. Therefore, the undersigned call on the government and on Parliament to oppose any effort to classify mental illness as irremediable, or to allow state-administered or supervised killings based on mental health challenges.
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- Dec/14/21 10:19:05 a.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the next petition highlights the persecution of Uighurs and other Turkic Muslims in China. It outlines a number of the abuses they have faced: birth suppression, political and religious indoctrination, arbitrary detention, separation of children from families, invasive surveillance, destruction of cultural sites, forced labour and forced organ harvesting.
Petitioners want to see stronger engagement from Parliament, as well as from the government, in response to these issues. The House of Commons has recognized that Uighurs face genocide. However, the government has not been willing to take that step. Petitioners call on the government to formally recognize that Uighurs and other Turkic Muslims in China have been and are being subjected to genocide, and to use the Justice for Victims of Corrupt Foreign Officials Act, the Magnitsky act, to sanction those responsible for heinous crimes committed against the Uighur people.
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- Dec/14/21 10:27:12 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, the next petition I am tabling is with respect to the persecution of Falun Gong practitioners in China. Petitioners note the ongoing persecution of Falun Gong practitioners, including organ harvesting as part of that persecution, and that extensive evidence points to 14 key officials and former officials of the Chinese Communist regime who demonstrate primary culpability in human rights atrocities committed against Falun Gong practitioners.
Petitioners call on the government to deploy all legal sanctions, including freezing assets and barring entry to Canada, against perpetrators involved in these abuses. They want to see the government use the Magnitsky act to target those who have been involved in the persecution of Falun Gong practitioners.
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- Dec/14/21 10:27:12 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, the final petition I am tabling today highlights the situation of the energy sector and the fact that the Trans Mountain expansion project would create many jobs and new opportunities for Canadians. It also highlights the benefit of Canadian energy and calls on the government to support the expansion of the Trans Mountain pipeline.
I commend all of these important petitions to the consideration of members.
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Madam Speaker, the next petition highlights the situation of the Hazara people in Afghanistan. This particular petition was certified prior to the Taliban takeover, and there were significant human rights concerns about the violence against the Hazara community in Afghanistan, which goes back a very long time. The Hazara community has experienced successive waves of violence. The situation is particularly dire now for the Hazara community, as well as for Sikhs, Hindus, Christians and other minority communities in Afghanistan.
This petition, in particular, is calling on the government to formally recognize the 1891-93 ethnic cleansing perpetuated against the Hazaras as genocide and to designate September 25 as a Hazara genocide memorial day. The petition also supports Bill C-287 from the last Parliament, which aimed at ensuring development assistance was always contributing to the advancement of peace and security and focusing on the well-being of all individuals, including minority communities.
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- Dec/14/21 10:27:49 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, I rise on a point of order.
As you know, Standing Order 36(6) gives a maximum of 15 minutes for petitions. There are 338 members of Parliament. If one member of Parliament is able to monopolize half of that time, which is what just happened, unfortunately other members of Parliament may not be able to present their petitions.
I would ask you continue what has been our normal practice, which is to allow members of Parliament to present a handful of petitions, maybe two or three, and then move on to other members of Parliament in order to avoid one member of Parliament taking half of the 15 minutes allotted to petitions.
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- Dec/14/21 10:28:36 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, I rise on the same point of order.
Respectfully, I believe the NDP House leader may not have noticed, but I actually went last. All of the other members who wanted to table petitions went before me. Also, the member will also know the standing order prescribes a limited amount of time per petition, and I think I exercised a greater economy of words per petition than members of his own caucus have. I cannot help that I have an active constituency and many people who want me to raise issues in the House.
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