SoVote

Mrs. Stephanie Kusie (Calgary Midnapore, CPC)

Jan/31/22 4:01:31 p.m.
Watch

Madam Speaker, it is always a pleasure to be in the House of Commons representing the wonderful people of Calgary Midnapore. I want to recognize the fantastic speech given by my colleague, the member for Langley—Aldergrove. He always speaks with so much wisdom and local experience when he speaks to what he has seen in his community. I was asked today to speak specifically about foreign affairs in response to the Speech from the Throne as a result of my time at Global Affairs Canada. Page 23 of the Speech from the Throne holds special importance regarding foreign affairs. The title of this section says, “This is the moment to fight for a secure, just, and equitable world.” This is the moment. Page 23 goes on to say, “In the face of rising authoritarianism and great power competition, Canada must reinforce international peace and security, the rule of law, democracy, and respect for human rights.” This is the moment. Frankly, when I look at the last six years and the Liberal government's approach to foreign policy, I would not say this is the moment. I would ask, when is the moment? I think it is impossible to be here in the House today and not mention what is going on in the capital. We should ask ourselves what brought these individuals here. Was it indifference, being ignored, not being heard? Canadians are sick of the division. They are sick of being treated as less than. They are sick of being gaslighted, as we saw in the House earlier today. They are sick of being told that their feelings are not valid. The government brought this group to Parliament Hill today. When Canadians voted, there was a plurality of Conservative votes, frankly, so when the Prime Minister talks about an obstructionist agenda, it is actually him obstructing the plurality of Canadian votes. I thought more about this. There is the same approach to foreign affairs as there is to everything the government does, and it is applied in all that it does: arrogance and indifference to the minority. It does not affect their electoral chances, so who cares? It is the same approach regarding foreign affairs. That is why there is no consistent foreign policy from the government. I will remind the government that we cannot conduct foreign affairs through social media, selfies and tweets. I ask again: When is the moment? If I look back on the actions of the government toward the major foreign affairs activities that have taken place in our world since the Liberals have been in office, I have the same question: When is the moment? We can look at Venezuela, for example, where there was no clear offer from the government to mediate the conflict. The government ignored the roles of Russia and China in aggravating the conflict in this country. Any assistance that came was always too little, too late. In fact, in Digest Venezuela today, it was reported that 96% of Venezuelans are living in poverty. This is even before we start to consider regional influences and the lack of help Venezuela has had within the region regarding migrants going to other places and those sorts of tolls. I ask again: When is the moment? When we think about Saudi Arabia, the Deputy Prime Minister used Twitter, of all facilities and methods, to speak out against the kingdom following the imprisonment of civil society activists on women's rights. She used Twitter, social media, when diplomacy should have been used, which is again a fault of the current government. What the government was able to do was expedite an export permit for $1.5 billion in arms to Saudi Arabia. That is pretty interesting when we consider what is going on in Ukraine today. The government did not speak up in December of 2018 when we saw the murder of journalist Khashoggi. I ask again: When is the moment with the current government? Regarding Hungary, since Orbán came into power we have seen him centralize that power. He has weakened the rule of law. He has taken away academic freedom and freedom of the press. Again, the current government has not taken a strong position against this leader who continues to infringe upon democratic rights and rules. I ask again: When is the moment? Then we have China. How can we forget China and the lack of action we have seen from the current government when China messes with our export market when it comes to soy and pork? The government did not stand up for us. Who can forget the story of the two Michaels? My own colleagues from Global Affairs Canada actually reached out to me to say that I needed to speak up on this and that more had to be done to help these individuals. It was again the weakness of the government, with no clear values and using social media, that resulted in such a lack of action and poor stance. Who can forget the plight of the Uighurs? We saw within the House a motion passed to support them, to stand up for their rights in China, yet the current government has done nothing since that time. I ask again: When is the moment? As the shadow minister for transport, I oversaw the heartbreaking study and injustice with respect to PS752. The current government did little more than a study, not to mention that the House passed a motion, once again, that we hoped would see the IRGC placed on the list of terrorists. The government does this all the time. It has a complete disregard for what the House decides to do. Whether it's with respect to the IRGC, the Uighurs or the documents regarding the lab in Winnipeg, the government has had a complete disregard for the House, never mind Canadians and the Canadians who are on Parliament Hill today. I ask again: When is the moment? The U.S.A. was previously our best friend, our closest ally. Then Trump got in and the Liberals would compare the opposition to him. Then Biden comes along, and they find out that they are actually powerless. When they went to the three amigos summit, it was not the three amigos summit. It was more like Canada: the third wheel. We got no wins out of CUSMA whatsoever, so I ask again: When is the moment? Finally, we come to Russia today, where we are seeing Ukraine, a close friend of Canada, not being given the help and support it deserves. I will tell the House when the moment was. The Conservatives have always stood for the strong values of justice, democracy, prosperity and the rule of law. Every decision made in a Conservative government was one of clarity and transparency, in complete opposition to the actions and positions of the current government. There was no foreign policy based on social media and no reactive foreign policy. That was the moment. Today is not the moment. Look outside. We must listen. We must understand. How we do something is how we do anything, at home or abroad. It is not “this is the moment”. It is “when is the moment?”

1217 words

All Topics

Context: House Hansard - 20 - Jan/31/22

Mrs. Stephanie Kusie

Jan/31/22 4:12:37 p.m.
Watch

Madam Speaker, the reality is that engagement in foreign affairs is at the lowest level it has been since 2015, both in developmental aid and election observations around the world, which have been completely pulled down by the current government. The member can certainly stand there and talk about the good feelings and the example that he feels the men and women there have set. I wish he and his government and their leadership would do the same.

78 words

Context: House Hansard - 20 - Jan/31/22

Mrs. Stephanie Kusie

Jan/31/22 4:14:09 p.m.
Watch

Madam Speaker, I think that, even though there is not a single leader, the group is made up of a lot of people who represent different segments of the population across Canada. The reason these people are here is because they have an opportunity to make themselves heard and tell us why they have problems and feel frustrated. I think that, as members from across the country, we have a responsibility to listen to them.

75 words

Context: House Hansard - 20 - Jan/31/22

Mrs. Stephanie Kusie

Jan/31/22 4:15:43 p.m.
Watch

Madam Speaker, the reality is that when we promote democracy, justice, the rule of law and human rights, as Conservative governments have always done, we create opportunities to have better social environments, better living environments and better environmental environments. I think that we have the same objective, which is to have a better world, but I believe that we need democracy, rule of law, human rights and an effort to have these as the building blocks and the base for a better world for everything.

85 words