Hon. Claude Carignan: Minister, I had several questions for you. Things don’t seem to be going very well in your department. I had to stick to one question, out of all the areas that concern me. This question is very important for the Montreal region, and it concerns firearms trafficking.

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Huge numbers of illegal firearms are coming across the border, especially across the St. Lawrence River through the Akwesasne reserve, and they end up on the streets of Montreal. There is a big problem with illegal guns in Montreal.

In a radio interview with Paul Arcand on September 16, 2021, Prime Minister Trudeau said, “We are working on tougher penalties for those who resell their weapons illegally.”

The host asked if that meant he was prepared to increase prison sentences, and Mr. Trudeau replied, “Absolutely.”

Mr. Trudeau was campaigning at the time, under the banner of the Liberal Party in those days. Once they came to power, however, not only did the Liberals not increase penalties, they actually reduced them by eliminating some mandatory minimum penalties in a bill.

What do you have to say to the listeners of Mr. Arcand, the most listened-to host in Canada, the ones who voted for the Liberals at that time?

Hon. Salma Ataullahjan: Minister, the 2019 Final Report of the National Inquiry Into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls noted that while Indigenous women represented only 4% of Canada’s population in 2016, they comprised nearly 50% of victims of human trafficking. In September 2019, just before the federal election that year, the Trudeau government reinstated the National Strategy to Combat Human Trafficking after cancelling the previous Conservative government’s strategy in 2016.

Minister, how much of the $75 million under your government’s strategy has been allocated to directly help and protect Indigenous women and girls against human trafficking? How has this funding been allocated?

Hon. Leo Housakos (Acting Leader of the Opposition): Minister, you are now the third minister for public safety to hold this portfolio since the Trudeau government began its 5G security review in September 2018. Multiple times since, your government has promised Canadians that a decision was coming in regard to banning Huawei from our 5G. We were told that we would get a decision before the 2019 election, and we were told again that we would get a decision after the 2019 election. Of course, we’re still waiting.

The endless delay and indecision from your government has gotten to the point that, earlier this month, Huawei actually trolled your government on Twitter asking, “What’s the opposite of being banned?” The Government of Canada is being openly mocked by Huawei, minister, and still we have heard nothing from the government. Minister, when will the NDP-Liberal government come to a decision, yes or no? Will we ban Huawei once and for all?