SoVote

Context: House Hansard - 281 - Feb/13/24

Mr. Peter Julian (New Westminster—Burnaby, NDP)

Feb/13/24 10:11:11 a.m.
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Mr. Speaker, we do have a date that has been fixed, which is March 17. We have, at this point, only 14 sitting days to get this bill not only through the House of Commons but also through the Senate, as the Minister of Justice said. My concern is the confusion. If this bill has not gone through both Houses, what we would end up with is a situation of utter confusion for something as fundamental as medical assistance in dying. To have that confusion is something that I do not think is acceptable to any Canadian. It is important that we get this right. It is important that we meet the deadline. What I am surprised about is that we do not have a consensus. This is the kind of situation where all parties should get together and facilitate getting this through the House because of the importance of not adding or installing the confusion that would surely result in us not meeting the deadline. My question for my colleague is very simple. Why is there not a consensus around this so that we can move it through the House this week without the use of time allocation?

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Context: House Hansard - 281 - Feb/13/24

Mr. Peter Julian

Feb/13/24 10:15:59 a.m.
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Mr. Speaker, on a point of order, I apologize. I misspoke. I said 14, but there are actually only nine sitting days, including today, before the deadline.

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Context: House Hansard - 281 - Feb/13/24

Mr. Peter Julian

Feb/13/24 10:37:47 a.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I am very concerned about the comments that I have just heard from the Conservatives saying that the debate should just go on for as long as Conservatives would like. That could take months. Our deadline is March 17. We have nine sitting days, including today, before the deadline. I wanted to make sure, because some of my Conservative colleagues were saying that they are concerned about having, as a condition, the sole underlying medical condition being a mental disorder. They did not want to see that. The provinces and territories certainly agree. Ten of the provinces and territories have written to say that their health care system is simply not ready to put that into place. What would happen, would the minister say, if we end up missing that deadline, going on for months afterward? What type of confusion? What situation would we find ourselves in, in Canada, if we follow the desire of the Conservatives to simply talk this out for months?

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Context: House Hansard - 281 - Feb/13/24

Mr. Peter Julian (New Westminster—Burnaby, NDP)

Feb/13/24 6:24:45 p.m.
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Re: Bill C-273

Madam Speaker, tomorrow, we have an important task. We are going to hold a vote on the principle of Bill C-273, which seeks to ban corporal punishment of children in Canada and repeal the section of the Criminal Code that has existed since 1892 that allows for corporal punishment of children. One of my colleagues just said that this bill needs to be amended. Tomorrow, we will vote on the principle, but amendments can certainly be presented in committee. In addition, it is important to mention, as my colleague from Winnipeg Centre just did, that 700 organizations across the country want MPs from Quebec and across Canada to vote in favour of the bill tomorrow. Dozens of those organizations are in Quebec, such as the Association des centres jeunesse du Québec, the Association des CLSC et des CHSLD du Québec, the Association des médecins en protection de l'enfance du Québec, the Association québécoise des centres de la petite enfance au Québec, and many others. They want us to vote in favour because they understand the impact of these punishments. Corporal punishment is linked to widespread and lasting personal and societal harm. As the organizations point out, 75% of substantiated cases of physical abuse in Canada are linked to corporal punishment. These organizations make it abundantly clear that section 43 of the Criminal Code must be repealed. Other countries are doing the same. It is important to point that out. Countries like Korea, Colombia, Japan, South Africa, France, Ireland, Argentina, Brazil, Poland and Spain have abolished corporal punishment of children. Tomorrow's vote in principle on the bill will allow us to join 65 countries around the world that have already held these debates and decided that section 43 of the Criminal Code should be abolished. I wanted to shout out to Corinne's Quest; Kathy and John Lynn of New Westminster, British Columbia; and all the organizations that have called for the abolition of section 43 of the Criminal Code. They have done that as the Truth and Reconciliation Commission tells us to in its call to action 6. After the horrendous genocide that happened in residential schools, they are saying now is the time to move forward on call to action 6. As my colleagues have mentioned, it has been eight years since those calls to action were issued. There has not been one call to action that has been advanced since 2022, and this means that members of Parliament tomorrow will have the ability to vote in principle on moving forward on call to action 6; removing section 43 of the Criminal Code, which dates back to 1892; and finally putting in place the kind of atmosphere for kids that we need to see in our country. I mentioned earlier many of the national organizations that are calling on parliamentarians to abolish section 43. They include the Anglican Church of Canada, Big Brothers Big Sisters, the Canadian Association of Elizabeth Fry Societies, occupational therapists, pediatric health centres, pediatric nurses, social workers, the Canadian Mental Health Association, the Canadian Red Cross, the YMCA, the YWCA and more than 65 countries that have called for the same thing, because they know that 75% of substantiated physical abuse cases in Canada arise from incidents of physical punishment. They say very clearly that it is time for Canada to move beyond an aspect of the Criminal Code that was put in place in 1892. It is time to heed the calls to action from the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. It is time to put in place call to action 6. It is time to learn from the past. Tomorrow, members of Parliament will have an important vote, the vote in principle to move forward from this aspect of the Criminal Code that justifies physical punishment of children. I hope that all those voices are heard and I hope that members of Parliament vote yes on Bill C-273.

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Context: House Hansard - 281 - Feb/13/24

Mr. Peter Julian

Feb/13/24 6:30:25 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I would ask for a recorded vote.

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