SoVote

Dec/8/22 7:22:34 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I know we are not supposed to reference whether or not a member is in the House. However, I noticed you referenced that the member had left the chamber just now. Is that proper?

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The Deputy Speaker

Dec/8/22 7:22:56 p.m.
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I can reference it when it comes to getting consent from a member. The hon. member for Vancouver East.

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Ms. Jenny Kwan

Dec/8/22 7:23:03 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, then it is okay to reference that the member for Scarborough North just left the chamber.

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The Deputy Speaker

Dec/8/22 7:23:12 p.m.
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The Chair can reference it for an amendment, but a member in the chamber cannot. The Chair reserves that right when it comes to getting consent for a motion. On the same point of order, the hon. parliamentary secretary to the government House leader has the floor.

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Mr. Kevin Lamoureux

Dec/8/22 7:23:30 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the member knows full well that what she has done is not appropriate. Being inside the chamber or outside the chamber is up to a member. The member opposite has no idea why the member is here or outside the chamber, and I find it disrespectful for her to make such a motion given that it is private members' hour and the member has brought forward a wonderful motion.

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The Deputy Speaker

Dec/8/22 7:23:59 p.m.
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On that same point of order, the hon. member for Vancouver East has the floor.

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Ms. Jenny Kwan

Dec/8/22 7:24:02 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I am sorry that the government member takes offence to the fact that I have a point of order to get clarity on the rules of the House. It is my right to do that. He says it is not my right to do so, so I demand that he retract that comment and apologize.

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The Deputy Speaker

Dec/8/22 7:24:20 p.m.
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I think I was clear enough when I said that the Chair can reference whether somebody is here or not but members cannot. I apologize if I was not clear on that. We should continue. I do not see any movement from the parliamentary secretary, nor would I expect any because of the clarification I tried to give as the Chair. The hon. member for Vancouver East.

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Ms. Jenny Kwan

Dec/8/22 7:24:56 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the government member is shouting things at me and is still calling “shame” as though I have no rights in the House. I was duly elected to the House, and just like anyone else, I can get up and ask for clarity from the Speaker, as I have done. There is—

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The Deputy Speaker

Dec/8/22 7:25:19 p.m.
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We are descending way too far into debate on what we should or should not be doing on a private member's motion. I will let the hon. parliamentary secretary have the last very short point of order.

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Mr. Kevin Lamoureux

Dec/8/22 7:25:37 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I do not want the record to reflect that I am the only one raising my voice inside the chamber. The member is doing the same thing.

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The Deputy Speaker

Dec/8/22 7:25:48 p.m.
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All right. Maybe it has just been a long day. Let us move on to the next speaker, the hon. Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Housing and Diversity and Inclusion.

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Mr. Paul Chiang (Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Housing and Diversity and Inclusion (Diversity and Inclusion), Lib.)

Dec/8/22 7:26:04 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I rise today to address Motion No. 63, which calls upon our government to condemn anti-Asian hate and all forms of racism and racial discrimination. The proposed motion seeks to address the troubling rise in anti-Asian racism and hate that this country has seen over the past several years. I thank my hon. colleague, Mr. Shaun Chen, the member of Parliament for Scarborough North, for bringing forward this motion and for raising this issue—

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Ms. Jenny Kwan

Dec/8/22 7:26:36 p.m.
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I have a point of order.

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Ms. Jenny Kwan

Dec/8/22 7:26:47 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, that is correct. It is about clarifying the rules of the House to see whether we are allowed to reference members by name.

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The Deputy Speaker

Dec/8/22 7:26:47 p.m.
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The member cannot refer to the name of the member presenting the motion, which I think is probably what the member for Vancouver East is standing on.

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The Deputy Speaker

Dec/8/22 7:26:56 p.m.
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Maybe we will have the parliamentary secretary start over without that reference.

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Mr. Paul Chiang

Dec/8/22 7:27:04 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I rise today to address Motion No. 63, which calls upon our government to condemn anti-Asian hate and all forms of racism and racial discrimination. The motion seeks to address the troubling rise in anti-Asian racism and hate that this country has seen over the last several years. I thank my hon. colleague, the member of Parliament for Scarborough North, for bringing forward this motion and for raising these issues. Our government condemns all forms of racism and is committed to supporting all communities in Canada that experience the harmful effects of hate and racism, including people of Asian descent. Asian communities in Canada are a diverse group with varying histories, ethnicities, cultures and religions. According to the 2021 census, people of Asian descent make up 17% of Canada's population. Asian Heritage Month has been celebrated in Canada since the 1990s. In December 2001, the Senate of Canada adopted a motion proposed by Senator Vivienne Poy to officially designate May as Asian Heritage Month in Canada. In May 2002, the Government of Canada signed an official declaration to announce May as Asian Heritage Month. This spring we marked the 20th anniversary of Asian Heritage Month, and the theme this year was continuing a legacy of greatness. This theme emphasized the rich, diverse and historic paths that have laid the foundation for Asian communities in Canada to flourish. During Asian Heritage Month and the rest of the year, we celebrate the diversity, history, culture and contribution of people of Asian ancestry in Canada. In a society governed by the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, the Canadian Multiculturalism Act and the Canadian Human Rights Act, anti-Asian hatred and racism have absolutely no place in Canada. Hatred and racism pose a direct threat to the foundation of our democratic institutions, to the security of our communities and to our nationwide efforts to combat the pandemic and the myriad other challenges we are currently and collectively facing. While most Canadians are committed to equality and justice, racism and discrimination remain a significant problem, as we saw both during and following the surge of the COVID-19 crisis. During this time, we saw a significant increase in anti-Asian sentiment and hate. When we talk about anti-Asian racism, we are referring to historical and ongoing discrimination, negative stereotyping and injustice experienced by people of Asian descent based on others' assumptions about their ethnicity and nationality. Through the Chinese Immigration Act of 1885, a head tax was imposed on every Chinese person seeking entry into Canada, marking a period of legislated anti-Chinese racism. On June 22, 2006, the Government of Canada apologized in the House of Commons to Canadians of Chinese heritage who paid the head tax, their families and the Chinese community across Canada. Shortly after Japan's entry into the Second World War on December 7, 1941, Canadians of Japanese heritage were forcibly removed from Canada's west coast. In September 1988, the Government of Canada formally apologized in the House of Commons and offered compensation for the wrongful incarceration, seizure of property and disenfranchisement of Canadians of Japanese heritage during the Second World War. On April 4, 1914, the Komagata Maru sailed from Hong Kong to Shanghai and the Japanese ports of Moji and Yokohama, finally arriving in Vancouver, British Columbia in May 1914. Its passengers, mostly Sikhs from Punjab, India, who were all British subjects, challenged the continuous regulation of Canada's Immigration Act, which had been put in place in part to limit immigration from non-European countries. In May 2016, the government made a formal apology in the House of Commons to the victims and their relatives for the Komagata Maru incident. The government recognizes this historical wrong and recognizes the need to continue to combat racism and discrimination in our country. Unfortunately, issues of biases, stereotyping, racism and discrimination have only become more pronounced, with a surge of anti-Asian hate during the pandemic. For many Canadians, this is a daily lived reality. For example, according to the 2021 Canadian legal problems survey, the Chinese population was 10 times more likely to report being a victim of ethnic or racial discrimination than non-racialized people. Police-reported data supported this claim. In the first year of the pandemic, we saw a 37% rise in police-reported hate crimes, including an 80% increase of crimes motivated by hatred of race or ethnicity. There was also a disturbing 301% increase in hate crimes against the East Asian population. We know that racism is a problem in Canada and we are taking action. In 2019, Canada launched its three-year anti-racism strategy. As part of that, we have invested close to $100 million in a whole-of-government approach to address racism and discrimination. Early in the pandemic, when it became clear that certain social groups were being unequally impacted, the federal anti-racism secretariat of Canadian Heritage and Women and Gender Equality Canada co-founded the equity-seeking communities COVID-19 task force. This brought together 25 federal departments and agencies to guide our government in addressing the inequities generated by the pandemic. In May 2021, the federal anti-racism secretariat worked with Asian community leaders from across the country to co-create an official definition of anti-Asian racism, which has been integrated into Canada's anti-racism strategy. Our government is working with all of its partners collaboratively, with many federal departments; with provincial, territorial and municipal governments; and with communities across the country to address racism and hate against Asians. This includes funding for the digital citizen initiative designed to counter online disinformation, analyze the origin and spread of online disinformation, and build the capacity for communities to respond. In the past, funding went to projects designed to understand the origins and the spread of racist ideas or online disinformation targeting specific communities. Budget 2021 also provided $11 million over two years, starting in 2021-22, to expand the impact of the Canadian Race Relations Foundation. This includes scaling up efforts to empower racialized Canadians and to help communities combat racism in all of its forms. This investment, in part, enables the foundation to facilitate initiatives like the establishment of a national coalition to support Asian Canadian communities and to create a fund to support all racialized communities directly impacted by increasing acts of racism during the pandemic. This work is far from finished. In budget 2022, our government announced an investment of $85 million over four years for Canada's new anti-racism strategy. In addition, as announced in budget 2022, our government is also developing the first-ever Canada action plan on combatting hate, and this spring we carried out 21 engagement sessions with communities and partner organizations.

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Mr. Kevin Lamoureux (Parliamentary Secretary to the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons, Lib.)

Dec/8/22 7:36:58 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, it is a pleasure to rise and speak to my colleague's motion that he has presented to the House. Earlier, I asked the member a question about something I believe we need to see a lot more of. At the end of the day, when we talk about issues of racism and the motion that the member has brought forward, two things come to mind. First and foremost is recognizing Canada's history and our heritage and recognizing that we have done some things that have caused a great deal of harm. It is part of our history. We do need to remember that and we do need to reflect on it. The second thing is in regard to education. Many years ago during the 1990s, for a portion of my days when I was an MLA, I was responsible for tourism. A cross-cultural awareness report was brought forward by the Manitoba Intercultural Council. The report said that one of the ways in which we are going to combat racism is through education. When I think of education, I am not just talking about our school system, although that is important. I am talking about our work environment and other types of community facilities that are there. I say that because racism is there. It is very real and has an impact on some communities more than others. The Manitoba Intercultural Council was right in its recommendation that emphasized the importance of education. We see motions of this nature and days of recognition and we talk about those wonderful attributes of Canada's diversity and what our many cultures have to bring. I suggest that we could all use some form of cross-cultural education. Mr. Speaker, I will leave it at that until the next time the motion comes up for debate.

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The Deputy Speaker

Dec/8/22 7:39:07 p.m.
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When we do come back to this, the member will have about eight minutes remaining. The time provided for the consideration of Private Members' Business is now expired and the order is dropped to the bottom of the order of precedence on the Order Paper.

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