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Member of the Joint Interparliamentary Council Whip of the New Democratic Party Member of the panel of chairs for the legislative committees

Heather McPherson

  • Member of Parliament
  • Member of the Joint Interparliamentary Council Whip of the New Democratic Party Member of the panel of chairs for the legislative committees
  • NDP
  • Edmonton Strathcona
  • Alberta
  • Voting Attendance: 67%
  • Expenses Last Quarter: $141,604.97

  • Government Page
Context: House Hansard - 220 - Sep/19/23
Ms. Heather McPherson (Edmonton Strathcona, NDP)
  • Sep/19/23 8:08:48 p.m.
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Mr. Chair, we are hearing from diaspora communities that they are afraid. They are afraid of violence being perpetrated against them and their loved ones. The threat against this particular individual was known, yet this individual still lost his life, was still murdered. I am just wondering what the government can do to reassure members of the diaspora community. What can the government do to make Canadians feel safe again in their homes, in their communities and in their places of faith?
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Context: House Hansard - 220 - Sep/19/23
Ms. Heather McPherson
  • Sep/19/23 7:45:13 p.m.
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Mr. Chair, that is a very important question. I am a member of the Canada-China committee as well, and at that committee we have also heard members of the diaspora telling us time and time again that they are afraid, that they need more action by the government and that they need more steps taken to protect them. This is not something that is new. In fact, one of the things that I mentioned in my speech is that they have been actually telling government representatives about this for 30 years. Therefore, a couple of things need to happen. When we look into the foreign interference study, we need to make sure that we are looking at China, Russia, Iran and India, because those are the four countries that we have been told have the biggest influence on our democracy or carry out the biggest interference in our democracy. That is one step that we can take. We need to have a registry so that we can know who these players are. We need to understand. Most importantly, we need to listen to the diaspora when they tell us what is happening in their communities. When they tell us that they feel unsafe and when they tell us that things are happening that are wrong and are an attack on our democracy and our sovereignty, we need to listen, and I do not think we have done that very well.
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