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Decentralized Democracy

House Hansard - 75

44th Parl. 1st Sess.
May 19, 2022 10:00AM
Context: House Hansard - 75 - May/19/22
Hon. Filomena Tassi
  • May/19/22 8:37:01 p.m.
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Madam Chair, what I would say is that as soon as we found out about the obligations, we stopped shipments. No more shipments were received. The contract was terminated subsequent to that.
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Mr. Garnett Genuis
  • May/19/22 8:37:15 p.m.
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Madam Chair, the minister said that the government first heard about these concerns in December 2020. Did the government immediately end shipments in December 2020?
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Hon. Filomena Tassi
  • May/19/22 8:37:30 p.m.
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Madam Chair, it was in January 2021. That was when we ended shipments.
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Mr. Garnett Genuis
  • May/19/22 8:37:38 p.m.
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Madam Chair, is the government still doing business with Sinopharm?
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Hon. Filomena Tassi
  • May/19/22 8:37:43 p.m.
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Madam Chair, Sinopharm provided a declaration to PSPC in April 2021. All deliveries were completed in December 2021.
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Mr. Garnett Genuis
  • May/19/22 8:37:55 p.m.
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Madam Chair, is the minister concerned about allegations of forced labour against Sinopharm, and when did the minister become aware of those allegations?
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Hon. Filomena Tassi
  • May/19/22 8:38:03 p.m.
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Madam Chair, in 2018, we implemented the policy on ethical procurement of apparel. The contract security program provides security screening for personnel and organizations to safeguard protected classified information. PSPC, when contracting, includes—
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The Deputy Chair
  • May/19/22 8:38:18 p.m.
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The hon. member for Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan.
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Mr. Garnett Genuis
  • May/19/22 8:38:20 p.m.
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Madam Chair, going back to Supermax, the British and American governments both discontinued purchases from Supermax long before the Canadian government did. The government claims that it only became aware of concerns about forced labour at Supermax after the Americans and the British had already discontinued purchases from Supermax. Why was the government not following the policies of our allies in this respect?
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Hon. Filomena Tassi
  • May/19/22 8:38:42 p.m.
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Madam Chair, what I will confirm is that as soon as allegations are made clear to us, we respond to those and we take those allegations very seriously.
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Mr. Garnett Genuis
  • May/19/22 8:38:54 p.m.
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Madam Chair, if the U.S. and the British governments had discontinued purchases, and the minister says the Government of Canada was not even aware that there were allegations, how is it that we are so far behind our allies in terms of being aware of these concerns?
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Hon. Filomena Tassi
  • May/19/22 8:39:09 p.m.
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Madam Chair, again, I will reiterate: when we hear of allegations, we take those allegations very seriously. We have terms in the contract that allow us to terminate the contracts. We act on allegations that we hear.
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Mr. Garnett Genuis
  • May/19/22 8:39:23 p.m.
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Madam Chair, it seems that the government should be listening to what our allies are doing and actually paying attention better to what is going on around the world. An independent analysis completed for the government last year by the University of Nottingham Rights Lab found that only five of 48 vendors had appropriate policies in place to mitigate risks around human trafficking and forced labour. Why do so few of our vendors have appropriate policies in place, and yet why have we only discontinued, as far as I am aware, one contract?
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Hon. Filomena Tassi
  • May/19/22 8:39:50 p.m.
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Madam Chair, what I would say is that we have implemented a number of measures in this regard to eradicate forced labour. Four ministers have mandate commitments in their mandate letters to move forward with the eradication of forced labour. For me, in PSPC, I am going to do everything I can to prevent forced labour in the supply chains. We have made progress and we are going to continue to move forward.
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Mr. Garnett Genuis
  • May/19/22 8:40:18 p.m.
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Madam Chair, the minister notes promises in mandate letters to bring forward future legislation. We do not have a timeline around that legislation, when it comes in, but meanwhile we are purchasing products from companies where our allies have already noticed and said that there is a problem with forced labour in their supply chain. Minister, that simply is not good enough. Does the government purchase any products at all that are produced in Xinjiang?
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The Deputy Chair
  • May/19/22 8:40:40 p.m.
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The hon. member has to address questions and comments to the Chair. The hon. minister.
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Hon. Filomena Tassi
  • May/19/22 8:40:46 p.m.
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Madam Chair, the member is being selective in repeating the things that I am saying. I am talking about the commitments and the progress that we have made. We have made progress. We have a code of conduct. We have provisions in our contracts that say if forced labour is used, then the contract is terminated. We have extended CUSMA obligations with respect to forced labour. We are moving.
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Mr. Garnett Genuis
  • May/19/22 8:41:12 p.m.
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Madam Chair, there are provisions in contracts that allow the termination of contracts, and contracts are simply not being terminated. My last question was this: Does the government purchase any products that are produced in Xinjiang?
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Hon. Filomena Tassi
  • May/19/22 8:41:25 p.m.
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Madam Chair, again, when we find out about forced labour issues that are raised to us, we take those seriously. We investigate those, and we will not procure product—
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The Deputy Chair
  • May/19/22 8:41:38 p.m.
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The hon. member.
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