44th Parl. 1st Sess.
March 28, 2022 11:00AM
- Mar/28/22 3:30:16 p.m.
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The next petition I am tabling, Madam Speaker, by popular demand, is with respect to a Liberal Party election commitment. The Liberal Party has committed to politicize the charitable status determination to apply a values test to restrict pro-life organizations from having access to charitable status on the same basis. I know this is of grave concern not just to people who have those convictions but to people across the charitable sector who do not want to see the politicization of charitable status in this country. Petitioners call on the government to protect and preserve the application of charitable status rules on a politically and ideologically neutral basis, without discrimination on the basis of political or religious values and without the imposition of another values test, and to affirm the right of Canadians' freedom of expression.
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- Mar/28/22 3:30:16 p.m.
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The next petition, Madam Speaker, is quite timely in light of new emerging concerns about the violation of the ceasefire between Azerbaijan and Armenia. Petitioners are, in this case, concerned about the ongoing detention of Armenian prisoners of war. Petitioners call for the immediate release of those prisoners.
They are hoping the Government of Canada is also urgently seized with the violations of the ceasefire agreement we have seen recently and is standing for peace in the region.
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- Mar/28/22 3:30:16 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, the third petition that I am tabling is in support of a private member's bill that started in the Senate and now stands in my name in this House. Bill S-223 is a bill that would make it a criminal offence for a person to go abroad and receive an organ taken without a person's consent. It also would create a mechanism by which a person could be deemed inadmissible to Canada if they have been involved in forced organ harvesting and trafficking.
This is important and common-sense, no-brainer human rights legislation that we have been working on, including various members of Parliament before me, for about 15 years. Hopefully, this Parliament will be the one that finally gets it done.
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- Mar/28/22 3:30:16 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, the next petition that I am tabling highlights the situation in Hong Kong, including concerns about ongoing human rights issues in Hong Kong and also some of the challenges with the immigration measures that the government has put in place with respect to Hong Kong. The petitioners note that the immigration measures that have been put in place do allow someone who has been charged under the national security law, which is a politicized prosecution, to still be able to come to Canada. However, they do not contain the same clarity around those who have been charged under other offences but still in a highly politicized way.
Petitioners want the government to recognize the politicization of the judiciary in Hong Kong and its impact on the legitimacy and validity of any criminal convictions; to affirm its commitment to render all national security law charges and convictions irrelevant and invalid in relation to paragraph 36(1)(c), but also to create a mechanism by which, for anybody charged in relation to a pro-democracy activity, those convictions would not be a barrier to their ability to come to Canada; and to work with other like-minded partners to waive criminal inadmissibility of Hong Kongers convicted for political purpose who otherwise have no criminal record.
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Madam Speaker, I am pleased to be able to present a number of petitions in the House today.
The first is a new petition in support of a private member's bill I have just recently tabled, Bill C-257. It is great to see people are already keen on bringing forward petitions on it. The petitioners point out that it is important in a democracy to protect public debate and the exchange of differing opinions, noting that this bill would protect Canadians against political discrimination by adding political belief and activity as prohibited grounds of discrimination in the Canadian Human Rights Act. Petitioners want to see the House support Bill C-257, which would ban discrimination on the basis of political belief or activity and would defend the right of Canadians to peacefully express their political opinions.
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- Mar/28/22 3:30:16 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, the second petition that I am tabling highlights the situation in Ukraine and the horrific ongoing invasion we are seeing of Ukraine, an invasion that really began in 2014 but that we have seen an escalation of in recent weeks. Petitioners are calling on the government to take a number of points of action, some of which, we are pleased to see, have already been taken. The petitioners identify a number of actions that have not been acted upon yet.
The petitioners want the government to stand with the people of Ukraine in the threat facing Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity. They call on the international community to take decisive action against the Putin regime and ban Russia from international organizations such as the UNSC, OSCE, etc.; to impose full and swift sanctions against the Putin regime, including the removal of Russia from the SWIFT payment system, boycotting Russian oil and gas imports in Canada and Europe and securing energy agreements with western partners; to increase the supply of military equipment and lethal defence weapons to protect the territory and human rights of the people of Ukraine; to provide urgent humanitarian assistance to the people of Ukraine; and to provide vital assistance to refugees impacted by the conflict in Ukraine. They want the government to allow Canadians with family members in Ukraine to urgently bring family members to Canada for as long as the conflict persists. Conservatives have been calling for visa-free travel in that vein.
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- Mar/28/22 3:37:00 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, the next petition I am tabling highlights the human rights situation facing the Hazara community in Afghanistan. There were grave concerns about the human rights situation facing the Hazara ethnic minority in Afghanistan prior to the Taliban takeover. Things have become a great deal worse, of course, since then for the Hazaras and other ethnic and religious minorities.
The petitioners are calling on the government to recognize that the Hazaras have been victims of genocide, to designate September 25 as Hazara genocide memorial day and to continue to be actively seized with the violation of human rights among the Hazaras and all communities in Afghanistan under the Taliban.
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- Mar/28/22 3:37:00 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, the final petition I am tabling today is with respect to the situation in Ethiopia. Some of the asks in the petition text itself are a bit dated, but the petitioners are concerned about what is still an ongoing conflict in the Tigray region of Ethiopia. They call for the government to be actively engaged in advocating for human rights in Ethiopia and an end to the conflict. I know there are growing concerns about food security in that region and throughout the world in light of concerns about food supply as a result of the conflict in Ukraine. The petitioners want the government to engage directly and consistently with the Ethiopian and Eritrean governments regarding this conflict and to call for credible, independent investigations into all human rights abuses that have taken place.
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