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Decentralized Democracy

House Hansard - 228

44th Parl. 1st Sess.
October 3, 2023 10:00AM
Context: House Hansard - 228 - Oct/3/23
The Assistant Deputy Speaker (Mrs. Carol Hughes)
  • Oct/3/23 4:52:26 p.m.
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I will check for quorum. And the count having been taken: The Assistant Deputy Speaker (Mrs. Carol Hughes): I thank the hon. member for raising this matter. Right now we do have quorum in the House. The hon. parliamentary secretary.
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Context: House Hansard - 228 - Oct/3/23
Mr. Michael Barrett
  • Oct/3/23 6:38:11 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, the saying goes that one eats an elephant one bite at a time, and I am happy to hear from the parliamentary secretary that we have convinced the government to take a small bite, but what we need to know is when. When is it going to implement that foreign agent registry? One needs to be registered in this country to lobby for the food bank, but we do not register, or require registration of, people who are paid by foreign governments and are operating on our soil with the interests of their foreign government, like the dictatorship in Beijing. It took the Liberals the better part of a year, with all kinds of time wasted on their special rapporteur process, to actually name the justice who is going to be responsible for the inquiry into foreign interference. What I would like from the parliamentary secretary this evening is for her to reassure Canadians. On what date will they introduce legislation for the foreign agent registry?
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Context: House Hansard - 228 - Oct/3/23
Mr. Kevin Vuong
  • Oct/3/23 6:59:17 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, the parliamentary secretary talks about training. That is great. The issue is this. What is the result? I will tell him what the result is. In May of 2022, Canada was host to the world AIDS summit. There were African delegates invited to our country on Canadian government letterhead who could not get visas, which were immensely delayed or outright rejected. In October of 2022, Toronto, my home city, was supposed to host the Gabon-Canada trade investment forum. Not a single delegate from Africa who had been invited on Canadian government letterhead was able to secure a visa. How does the parliamentary secretary reconcile these two? There is a clear problem and if the government does not act it is going to be escalated. We as a country cannot afford any more international embarrassment. More importantly, what is happening is not living up to our standards or values. What is the government going to do to address this issue before it gets worse?
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