SoVote

Mr. Tom Kmiec (Calgary Shepard, CPC)

Jun/9/23 12:14:38 p.m.
Watch

Mr. Speaker, I have four petitions to table today on behalf of my constituents. The first one is on foreign interference. Specifically, petitioners are drawing attention of the House and the government to the fact that, so far, there has not been a public inquiry called. The petitioners are very concerned about the special rapporteur's conflict of interest with the Prime Minister and those who have been hired by him and assigned by him to work on his report. They are calling on the government to conduct a full, open, independent public inquiry into Beijing's election interference to give Canadians the transparency they need in order to restore their trust in Canada's civic and parliamentary institutions.

119 words

Context: House Hansard - 210 - Jun/9/23

Mr. Tom Kmiec (Calgary Shepard, CPC)

Jun/9/23 12:15:21 p.m.
Watch

Mr. Speaker, my second petition is from Hong Kongers and those with heritage from Hong Kong. The petitioners are drawing the attention of the House to the following: On February 6, 2023, Canada announced that it would extend and expand the Hong Kong pathway open work permit program for eligible Hong Kongers by extending the open work permit scheme for an additional two years and making additional changes to it in pathway stream B. However, those changes are not sufficient to save more pro-democracy movement Hong Kongers. The petitioners want the following to be changed: They want the requirement for an obtention of a police certificate from Hong Kongers to be annulled and not a requirement; they want eligible open work permit holders in Canada not to have to submit it; and they want it to apply when they apply for permanent residency in Canada through Hong Kong pathway stream B. They believe that the police certificate requirement and making Hong Kongers seek that from the constabulary in Hong Kong puts them all in danger.

176 words

Context: House Hansard - 210 - Jun/9/23

Mr. Tom Kmiec (Calgary Shepard, CPC)

Jun/9/23 12:16:23 p.m.
Watch

Mr. Speaker, the third petition is from petitioners from the riding of Calgary Shepard, my constituents. They are drawing the attention of the House to the fact that there are over 53,000 internationally trained nurses, doctors and physicians in Canada. They say that we should copy what we do for skilled trades in the Red Seal program and create a blue seal program that would make the processes simpler for the recognition of international credentials within a 60-day standard. That way, more doctors and nurses would be licensed; streamlining the process would also help us fill the shortages of workers in health care.

105 words

Context: House Hansard - 210 - Jun/9/23

Mr. Tom Kmiec (Calgary Shepard, CPC)

Jun/9/23 12:16:58 p.m.
Watch

Mr. Speaker, my final petition comes from Venezuelans both in my riding and all across Canada who are calling the attention of the House to the disaster that is the Maduro Communist regime in Venezuela. I have very little affection for the regime, but I have a lot of affection for the people of Venezuela. Petitioners are drawing the attention of the House to some important numbers. As per the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees' figures in 2022, more than 6.1 million Venezuelans have left Venezuela since 2015. Canada promised to welcome an additional 4,000 migrants from the Latin American region by 2028. Moreover, Canada announced at the Summit of the Americas in Los Angeles, in June 2022, that it also planned to bring in 50,000 more agricultural workers from Mexico, Guatemala and the Caribbean. Petitioners are calling for the following two things: to create a Canada-Venezuela humanitarian visa program to help Venezuelans and the family members of Canadian Venezuelans with permanent residency to come to Canada, providing them with the ability to work and study while in Canada; and to provide those Venezuelans who are already in Canada the option to extend their visitor status, work permits and study permits, so they can continue to live and work here in Canada temporarily and not be sent back to that awful Communist regime.

228 words