44th Parl. 1st Sess.
June 6, 2022 11:00AM
- Jun/6/22 3:29:26 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, Canadians are suffering from inflation and the government's carbon tax. Petitioners state that several facts about the carbon tax drive up everyday essentials, including gas, groceries and heating, making life more expensive for everybody.
The petitioners are calling on the government to remove the carbon tax from farm fuels and all other fuels, as well as the GST. They are calling for the government to control its spending and reduce inflation. Finally, they want to see pipelines and other projects approved, especially LNG pipelines, which get clean, ethical energy to tidewater and to international markets, displacing fuel that is provided by authoritarian regimes and dictators.
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- Jun/6/22 3:31:35 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the second petition I am presenting today is from people from across Canada who want to review the National Advisory Committee on Immunization's finding that there was no transmission of COVID-19 on airplanes. According to WestJet's chief medical officer, Tammy McKnight, on April 23, 2021, “there have been no known cases of COVID-19 transmission onboard...aircraft.”
Therefore, the undersigned citizens of Canada are calling on the Minister of Transport and the Government of Canada to abolish the vaccine requirements for folks flying, both Canadians citizens and permanent residents, on domestic flights and all federally regulated industries and the COVID-19 mandates.
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- Jun/6/22 3:31:35 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the final petition I have today is from Canadians from across the country. They are calling on the government to protect human life at every stage of human development. Petitioners are calling on the government to support measures that protect human life and, as they note, all human life should be protected from the moment human life begins, which is at conception.
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- Jun/6/22 3:31:35 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the next petition I have to present is on behalf of Canadians who are concerned that certain charities could be targeted based on their views. The petitioners are calling on MPs to ensure that charities that hold views different from those of the government do not lose their charitable status.
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- Jun/6/22 6:45:54 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I would like a recorded division.
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- Jun/6/22 6:58:06 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I am rising today to follow up on the question I asked last week in regard to Ukraine and the increase in sex trafficking of women and girls. I pointed out that during the war and conflict, women and youth are often at increased risk of exploitation.
The U.S. “2021 Trafficking in Persons Report” notes that Ukraine has been a long-time source country for human trafficking victims. It states:
[T]he conflict in eastern Ukraine and Russia's occupation of Crimea have displaced more than 1.4 million people, and this population is especially vulnerable to human trafficking throughout the country....Traffickers reportedly kidnap women and girls from conflict-affected areas for sex and labor trafficking in Ukraine and Russia. Traffickers target internally displaced persons and subject some Ukrainians to forced labor on territory not under government control, often via kidnapping, torture, and extortion.
This report was from one year ago, before Putin's invasion of Ukraine. Now that millions of women and youth have fled Ukraine, we know that human traffickers have been targeting them.
I asked the minister what specific steps the government was taking to ensure that Ukrainian women and youth seeking refuge in Canada are not being trafficked or exploited. I appreciate that the Minister of Foreign Affairs agrees with the gravity of the situation, but I was disappointed that the only step she could commit to was raising it further with her G7 counterparts.
Canada is welcoming Ukrainian refugees to Canada. For sure there are traffickers looking to take advantage of this. We know that traffickers have already been trying to recruit women and girls from the refugee camps along the borders of Ukraine.
Further, once in Canada, unaccompanied minors are especially vulnerable to sex trafficking, so as Canada opens its arms to these women and youth seeking shelter, how is it ensuring they are not being lured or forced into sex trafficking? In Poland they receive flyers. Do Ukrainian refugees to Canada receive any sort of information warning them about sex trafficking or exploitation in prostitution when they arrive? Is it in their own language? Where do they go if they know they need help?
Canada's national human trafficking hotline is 1-833-900-1010. It operates 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and is available in Ukrainian. I am appalled that there does not seem to be any process in place to flag potential cases of sex trafficking.
My other great concern when it comes to fighting sex trafficking is that the government ignores one of the most important parts, which is the demand, the sex buyer. Sex trafficking exists only because there is a demand from sex buyers. With the significant number of displaced Ukrainian women and girls, the demand from sex buyers for them has increased. For example, Ireland's largest escort website offers sex buyers the opportunity to live out their “war-inspired fantasies” with Ukrainian women and reports a 250% increase in interest for Ukrainian women.
Valiant Richey, the OSCE special representative and coordinator for combatting trafficking in human beings, warned, “In some countries the spike [in online searches for buying sex from Ukrainian women] was as much as 600 per cent...there was an immediate interest in exploiting them.” An example he gave is from a recent operation in Sweden, where of 38 sex buyers who were arrested, 30 were attempting to access Ukrainian women specifically.
However, unlike in Sweden, the Liberal government refuses to tackle the demand from sex buyers. As a result, sex trafficking and gender-based violence increases. Therefore, I ask the government what steps it is taking to ensure that Ukrainian women and girls seeking refuge in Canada are protected from exploitation and sex trafficking.
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- Jun/6/22 7:05:51 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, the government often talks a good game, but getting it done is always a bit more of a challenge.
When it comes to fighting sex trafficking and forced prostitution, the Liberals have a strong anti-feminist policy of supporting sex buyers and decriminalizing them.
Sweden is an example of actual feminist policy on sex trafficking. For years, their feminist-led government has effectively reduced sex trafficking and exploitation by tackling the demand for sexual services. France has now joined with Sweden to encourage other countries to adopt this approach, which puts women’s equity first by targeting the purchasers of sex and not the sellers.
My question to the minister and the parliamentary secretary is this: Do they support Sweden and France’s approach to sex trafficking that puts women’s equality first, or will they continue to stand with the men who buy sex and exploit women?
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