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Mr. Tony Baldinelli (Niagara Falls, CPC)

Mar/4/22 12:16:13 p.m.
Watch

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to present an important petition, e-petition 3573, calling upon the Government of Canada to support freedom, democracy and human rights in Cuba. This petition was initiated by a local constituent in my riding of Niagara Falls, and it is an honour for me, as its sponsor, to present it here today.

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Mr. Gerald Soroka (Yellowhead, CPC)

Mar/4/22 12:16:40 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I rise today to present e-petition 3784, with over 1,700 signatures from constituents in my riding of Yellowhead. The petitioners are calling on the government to appeal to Canada Post to rescind its mandated vaccination practices and allow all employees affected to be able to return to work without prejudice.

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Mr. Gord Johns (Courtenay—Alberni, NDP)

Mar/4/22 12:17:06 p.m.
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Re: Bill C-201

Mr. Speaker, it is a privilege to rise and table this petition on behalf of residents of Courtenay, Cumberland, Bowser and Royston in my riding. They are citing that 83% of Canada's total firefighting essential first responders are volunteers. In addition, 8,000 essential search and rescue volunteers respond to thousands of incidents every year. The tax code of Canada currently allows volunteer firefighters and search and rescue volunteers to claim a $3,000 tax credit if 200 hours of volunteer services were completed in a calendar year. This works out to a mere $450 a year. They are calling on the government to increase the tax exemption from $3,000 to $10,000 to help essential firefighters and volunteer search and rescue people across this country. They are calling for the support of Bill C-201. It is timely, because the PBO just released a report this week to cite that this would cost taxpayers in Canada $40 million for 42,000 volunteer firefighters and first responders.

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Mr. Mike Morrice (Kitchener Centre, GP)

Mar/4/22 12:18:22 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, it is an honour to present a petition this afternoon from neighbours of mine in Kitchener. They too are concerned about companies across the country that are contributing to human rights abuses and environmental damage around the world. They call on this House to adopt human rights and environmental due diligence legislation that would, among other items, require companies to prevent adverse human rights impacts and environmental damage throughout their global operations in the supply chains, require companies to do their due diligence and result in meaningful consequences for companies that failed to do so.

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

Mar/4/22 12:19:04 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the next petition I am tabling calls on the government to finally do something that the House of Commons did a year ago, and that is to recognize that Uighurs and other Turkic Muslims in China have been and are being subject to an ongoing genocide. The petitioners note, in particular, the use of forced sterilization and abortion as being contraventions of the genocide convention provisions around preventing births within a group. There is evidence to suggest that not just one but all aspects of the genocide convention have been contravened by the actions of the Chinese Communist Party. The Government of Canada has an obligation in these cases, as a party of the genocide convention, not to wait for someone else's determination but to look at the facts and to respond accordingly. The petitioners want to see the government formally recognize this genocide and also to use the Magnitsky act, the Justice for Victims of Corrupt Foreign Officials Act, to sanction those responsible for this heinous crime.

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

Mar/4/22 12:19:04 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the next petition I am tabling highlights the humanitarian situation in Ethiopia. There is a great deal of concern about the ongoing conflict in Ethiopia, in particular, the situation in the Tigray Region. The petitioners call for a stronger response from Canada, a stronger international response. There are some elements that the petitioners are asking for that, at this point, are out of date, but the conflict continues to be a source of concern for parliamentarians as well as the petitioners. The need is there for greater government awareness of an intervention in support of human rights in Ethiopia.

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

Mar/4/22 12:19:04 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, it is a clear matter of international law that prisoners of war should be released when hostilities end. Petitioners in this case are following up on the terrible 44-day war in the Nagorno-Karabakh, or the Republic of Artsakh, noting the fact that there are still, today, Armenian prisoners of war who are detained by Azeri authorities. Various reports, including by Human Rights Watch, have detailed the deplorable conditions facing these prisoners of war. The petitioners condemn this ongoing, illegal detention of prisoners of war and call on the Government of Canada to do all it can to advocate for the release of these captives, condemn the ongoing incitement to violence, denounce the aggressive rhetoric from Turkey and Azerbaijan, and provide humanitarian assistance to those who have been affected by this conflict.

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

Mar/4/22 12:19:04 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the next petition I am tabling is in support of Bill S-223, a Senate bill that has now passed the Senate unanimously and is here before the House. The petitioners want to see this bill passed to make it a criminal offence for a person to go abroad and receive an organ that has been trafficked or taken without the consent of the person involved and, also, to support provisions in the bill that would create a mechanism by which someone could be deemed inadmissible to Canada as a result of their involvement in forced organ harvesting and trafficking. This bill has been before the House and the other place in various forms for about 15 years now. Everybody agrees. It has passed unanimously multiple times. It is time for this Parliament be the one to get a bill against organ harvesting and trafficking into law.

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

Mar/4/22 12:19:04 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the second petition I am tabling today deals with the important issue of firearms rights and firearms owners in my riding. The petitioners are objecting to the backdoor gun registry that the government was working on with respect to Bill C-71 from a previous Parliament. They are very opposed to the government's approach with respect to targeting responsible firearms owners rather than targeting the gun smugglers and distributors of illegal guns who are, in fact, the real cause of gun crime in this country.

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

Mar/4/22 12:19:04 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the next petition I am tabling is with respect to the situation of the Hazara community in Afghanistan. This is a minority community that was very hard pressed even prior to the Taliban takeover, and their situation has obviously become much worse. Many Canadians are concerned about the failure of the government to move quickly in helping Hazaras, other minorities and vulnerable Afghans leave in the context of the Taliban takeover. The petitioners want to see the government recognize in particular past genocides of the Hazaras as acts of genocide, and also to designate September 25 as Hazara genocide memorial day.

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The Deputy Speaker

Mar/4/22 12:25:13 p.m.
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I would like to congratulate the member on the new baby in his family. It is good to see that it has not slowed him down at all.

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

Mar/4/22 12:25:13 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the final petition I will be tabling today is with respect to the human rights situation in Afghanistan. I previously tabled a petition regarding the Hazara community. This one highlights the human rights situation of the Sikh and Hindu communities in Afghanistan. We know that other religious and ethnic minorities have already faced challenges prior to the Taliban takeover and face significantly more challenges now. The petitioners are asking the government to create a special program whereby these religious minorities could be sponsored directly to come from Afghanistan to Canada. If we had that special program in place prior to the Taliban takeover, many of the members of these communities would have been able to get out. Sadly, that did not happen, and more action is required to help the vulnerable minorities in Afghanistan.

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Mr. Mark Gerretsen (Parliamentary Secretary to the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons (Senate), Lib.)

Mar/4/22 12:25:38 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I ask that all questions be allowed to stand. The Deputy Speaker: Is that agreed? Some hon. members: Agreed.

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Stand
Deputy

The Deputy Speaker

Mar/4/22 12:25:49 p.m.
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Re: Bill C-10

I have the honour to inform the House that a message has been received from the Senate informing the House that the Senate has passed Bill C-10, an act respecting certain measures related to COVID-19.

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The Deputy Speaker

Mar/4/22 12:26:15 p.m.
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When we left it last time we were going into question period with the hon. member for Sarnia—Lambton. Questions and comments, the hon. member for Courtenay—Alberni.

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Mr. Gord Johns (Courtenay—Alberni, NDP)

Mar/4/22 12:26:27 p.m.
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Re: Bill C-8

Mr. Speaker, we keep hearing about inflation. We have heard about the housing crisis. Right now in my riding housing has gone up over 40% in value just in one year, especially in Port Alberni. People are being pushed out. We need non-market housing. There have been several applications made to the federal government, but it continues to give them the shuffle. More and more people are displaced or homeless. Right now, we have an opportunity, a partnership of multi-stakeholders wanting to purchase a hotel in the Alberni Valley to house the hardest to house. I might outline also that the Parole Board of Canada has written a letter of support for this proposal. It has outlined that there is not a single space for its clients to live when they are released through the federal parole system. That is very alarming and keeps the cycle of incarceration going. Therefore, I am calling on the federal government, and I would ask the member if she agrees, to invest quickly into non-market housing to address this need.

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Ms. Marilyn Gladu (Sarnia—Lambton, CPC)

Mar/4/22 12:27:43 p.m.
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Re: Bill C-8

Mr. Speaker, I agree that we are seeing concerns with respect to inflation, food inflation and affordable housing, all due to the failed policies and lack of action from the current Liberal government. What I do not understand is why the member and his entire party continue to prop up the government and support these failed policies that are causing inflation and this burden on the people of his riding as well as mine.

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Mr. Robert Kitchen (Souris—Moose Mountain, CPC)

Mar/4/22 12:28:21 p.m.
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Re: Bill C-8

Mr. Speaker, it is good to see you in the chair. I know the member is well aware that the Canadian taxpayer has the ultimate responsibility for the ever-increasing $1.2-billion debt the current Liberal government is continually escalating. The member also mentioned in her speech the carbon tax and the ever-increasing financial impacts of that. I know she is aware that when we look at the price of gasoline going up, even the 45¢ increase in gasoline we have seen over the last six months amounts to a 3¢ per litre GST increase to the government, not to mention the quarter of a billion dollars in GST that is being collected. I wonder if she could give us her thoughts on the impacts of the GST and the carbon tax.

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Ms. Marilyn Gladu

Mar/4/22 12:29:14 p.m.
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Re: Bill C-8

Mr. Speaker, I am extremely concerned that at a time when we see seniors and people on a fixed income really struggling to survive, the government has put three carbon tax increases on them, an increase in CPP premiums and the escalator tax on wine and beverages. To add insult to injury, that carbon tax comes with a tax on a tax. This is really crushing the ability of people to afford to live. I think it is outrageous that the government is doing that, and I would call on it to reverse the taxes it has put in place already so that people can afford to live.

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Mr. Gord Johns

Mar/4/22 12:30:06 p.m.
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Re: Bill C-8

Mr. Speaker, the member commented earlier about the NDP and the Liberals working together. This is what it looks like: It is actually the Liberal-Conservative coalition that cut and gutted the national housing strategy over 25 years ago. We have lost over 500,000 units because of the Liberal-Conservative coalition to not invest in non-market housing and to come up with incentives for developers to build housing and profit off the backs of people who need non-market housing and need it right now.

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House Hansard - 41