- Member of Parliament
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- Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan
- Alberta
- Voting Attendance: 67%
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- Jan/30/24 10:23:22 a.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the next petition I am tabling is calling for the release of an important democracy and human rights activist in Hong Kong. Ms. Chow Hang-tung, vice-chairwoman of Hong Kong Alliance, has been involved for many years in advocacy on human rights issues in China and Hong Kong. She has fought diligently for democracy and has encouraged Hong Kongers to participate in the pro-democracy social movement. She was arrested, charged under the national security law and sentenced to 22 months in prison as part of an effort to crush freedom and diversity of opinion in Hong Kong. She has also been awarded the outstanding democracy award by the Chinese Democracy Education Foundation.
Petitioners want to see the Government of Canada advocate for her release and to see all charges dropped, as well as advocate for the Hong Kong democracy movement and for the release of other unjustly detained political prisoners.
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- Nov/20/23 3:59:16 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, the third petition I am tabling is also dealing with a human rights issue involving the CCP. This petition is regarding the people of Hong Kong. Petitioners note how people in Hong Kong who have been involved in pro-democracy protests have been targeted for politicized prosecution. This includes those who are accused of national security law related offences, but it is not only the national security law that has been used to target people for politicized prosecutions in Hong Kong.
Petitioners note that Hong Kong people who have faced these charges have sometimes had difficulty gaining admissibility to Canada, and there is no reason people who have been involved in pro-democracy, pro-freedom human rights advocacy should be barred from entering Canada on the basis of trumped-up charges that have no relationship to real criminality or anything that would be criminal in Canada.
Petitioners therefore call on the Government of Canada to do the following: To recognize the politicization of the judiciary in Hong Kong and its impact on the legitimacy and validity of criminal convictions, to affirm its commitment to render all national security law charges and convictions irrelevant and invalid in relation to admissibility to Canada, also to create a mechanism by which Hong Kong people with pro-democracy movement related convictions might provide explanation for such convictions on the basis of which the government could grant exemptions to Hong Kong people who would otherwise be deemed inadmissible on the basis of criminality, and to work with like-minded allies and other democracies to waive criminal inadmissibility of Hong Kong people who are convicted for political purposes who otherwise do not have a criminal record.
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- May/15/23 4:30:31 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to table today a petition signed by many concerned Canadians about immigration from Hong Kong.
The petitioners note the various circumstances that have unfortunately contributed to the decline of the rule of law in Hong Kong, as well as threats to previous promises that had been made about democracy. The petitioners describe some of those events. They also raise concerns about the impact on the ability of those involved in the democracy movement to come to Canada. The petitioners believe rightly that those who are involved in the democracy movement and have had unjust charges applied to them as a result of their democracy advocacy and involvement in protests should not be prevented from coming to Canada on that basis.
There have been various prominent cases of well-known Hong Kongers like Phin Lao and Ray Wong who have experienced challenges coming to Canada as a result of an expectation that they present to police a certificate. There are many other cases from those who are not able to share their names. The petitioners of various backgrounds stand in solidarity with Hong Kongers and others who are concerned about how Canadian immigration needs to not discriminate against those who have been involved in the democracy movement.
The petitioners call on the Government of Canada to recognize the politicization of the judiciary in Hong Kong and its impact on the legitimacy and validity of criminal convictions, to affirm its commitment to render all national security law charges and convictions irrelevant and invalid in relation to inadmissibility provisions, to create a mechanism by which Hong Kong people with pro-democracy-related convictions may provide an explanation for such convictions on the basis of which government officials can grant exemptions to Hong Kong people who would otherwise be deemed admissible and to work with other allies, such as the U.K., the U.S., France, Australia and New Zealand, to waive criminal inadmissibility of Hong Kong people who have been convicted for political purposes and who otherwise do not have a criminal record.
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- Apr/26/23 4:07:37 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I am thankful for the opportunity to present a number of petitions to the House today.
The first petition deals with special immigration measures for people from Hong Kong. The petitioners note that recent Hong Kong graduates can apply for open work permits under a temporary public policy for Hong Kong residents. There are two pathways, stream A and stream B, that have been announced. Stream B requires graduates to have one year of work experience in Canada and to have graduated within the last five years from a Canadian or foreign equivalent post-secondary school. Canada has announced an extension of two years on stream A but has not addressed concerns around the time constraints for stream B.
The 2016-17 graduates who met the five-year graduation requirement at the time of applying for their open work permit are falling out of eligibility to apply for permanent residency under stream B of the scheme by the time their work permits are received and they have fulfilled the hours of work requirement. Those who signed this petition call upon the Minister of Immigration to remove the five-year restriction to include all persons who fulfill the educational credential requirement of stream B.
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- Apr/19/23 3:55:24 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the second petition deals with immigration from Hong Kong. In particular, a desire has been expressed to still allow those who have been convicted of political offences as part of political persecution in Hong Kong to come to Canada. However, petitioners note that, in practice, the exemptions given only apply in cases of convictions under the national security law. In many cases, there has been persecution of Hong Kong democracy activists through other means than the national security law.
Therefore, petitioners call on the Government of Canada to recognize the politicization of the judiciary in Hong Kong and to affirm its commitment to render all national security law charges and convictions irrelevant and invalid in the context of considering Canadian immigration. It also calls on the government to create a mechanism by which Hong Kong people with pro-democracy movement-related convictions may provide an explanation for such convictions. Based on the explanation, the government can then grant exemptions.
Finally, they call for the government to work with other allies to ensure that Hong Kong people are not barred from coming to Canada on the basis of criminal record-related provisions if they were convicted based on political purposes and are not otherwise criminals.
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- Mar/28/22 3:30:16 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, the next petition that I am tabling highlights the situation in Hong Kong, including concerns about ongoing human rights issues in Hong Kong and also some of the challenges with the immigration measures that the government has put in place with respect to Hong Kong. The petitioners note that the immigration measures that have been put in place do allow someone who has been charged under the national security law, which is a politicized prosecution, to still be able to come to Canada. However, they do not contain the same clarity around those who have been charged under other offences but still in a highly politicized way.
Petitioners want the government to recognize the politicization of the judiciary in Hong Kong and its impact on the legitimacy and validity of any criminal convictions; to affirm its commitment to render all national security law charges and convictions irrelevant and invalid in relation to paragraph 36(1)(c), but also to create a mechanism by which, for anybody charged in relation to a pro-democracy activity, those convictions would not be a barrier to their ability to come to Canada; and to work with other like-minded partners to waive criminal inadmissibility of Hong Kongers convicted for political purpose who otherwise have no criminal record.
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- Feb/9/22 3:56:57 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the fourth petition I am tabling, also about human rights in the PRC, highlights the situation in Hong Kong. It notes that Canada needs to be committed to free and fair trials, judicial independence and the rule of law. There have been increasing violations of fundamental human rights in Hong Kong.
The petitioners call upon the Government of Canada to facilitate access to Canada, and applications to come to here, for those who have not committed any crimes in a real sense but have been convicted of political offences in Hong Kong; to affirm its commitment to render all national security law charges and convictions irrelevant and invalid in relation to paragraph 36(1)(c) of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act; and to ensure that anyone convicted of any other political crime is also able to come to Canada.
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- Feb/3/22 10:16:28 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, the second petition deals with the situation specifically in Hong Kong, and is another human rights issue that falls at the feet of the Chinese Communist Party. It notes various human rights abuses.
It calls on the Government of Canada to recognize the politicization of the judiciary in Hong Kong and its impact on the legitimacy and validity of criminal convictions, and to affirm its commitment to render all National Security Law charges and convictions irrelevant and invalid in relation to section 36(1)(c) of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act. It calls on Canada to create a mechanism by which people who have been charged with any politically related charges dealing with the democracy movement in Hong Kong be able to come to Canada, and that these would not be an impediment for them. It also calls for Canada to work with the U.K., the U.S., France, Australia, New Zealand and other democracies to waive criminal inadmissibility for Hong Kong people convicted for political purposes, who do not otherwise have criminal records.
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- Dec/13/21 3:21:50 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I have a number of petitions to present in the House today, and I appreciate the opportunity.
The first petition, and I know these are greatly anticipated by my colleagues, especially the Minister of Justice, who will want to listen carefully to this one, because it pertains to people from Hong Kong who are seeking to come to Canada. They are concerned about a criminal conviction that is not, by any standards, a real criminal conviction, which is that they have been persecuted as a result of being involved in democratic activism and protests that are not a criminal offence in Canada. They are concerned that if they were convicted of offences that are unrelated to the national security law but are still related to pro-democracy activism, they will be barred from entry to Canada.
The petitioners call on the government to take appropriate steps to create mechanisms whereby people who have been involved in a democracy movement and have been convicted on trumped-up charges in Hong Kong would still be able to make applications to Canada. I know the petition will have the support of many members.
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