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Results: 46 - 60 of 223
View Jag Sahota Profile
CPC (AB)
View Jag Sahota Profile
2021-04-16 14:19 [p.5770]
Madam Speaker, I am pleased to rise today to speak in support of my colleague from Perth—Wellington's private member's bill, Bill C-219, an act to amend the Criminal Code, sexual exploitation.
The purpose of this bill is to increase the maximum and minimum sentences for individuals found guilty of sexually exploiting vulnerable individuals, such as children and those with mental disabilities, under the Criminal Code. The reason that this bill is needed is so disheartening.
A Stratford man who worked for a social service agency and performed as a clown was convicted of obtaining sexual services for consideration involving a 25-year-old mentally disabled woman. The punishment for his crime was just two years of probation and a $2,000 fine. This man preyed on this woman, took advantage of her and was let off the hook with a slap on the wrist. Sadly, this is not an isolated incident.
In 2016, a Nova Scotian police chief was found guilty for sexually exploiting a teenage girl. A police chief, a person who we are taught to trust and go to for safety, abused his position and exploited a vulnerable individual. His only punishment was 15 months in jail. This is so disturbing.
As the shadow minister for women and gender equality, I have the opportunity to sit on the status of women committee. Recently, we tabled our report on the impacts of COVID-19 on women. One of the things that we learned about the devastating impacts of COVID and the consequences of the lockdowns was that women's shelters saw a significant decrease in the number of calls they were receiving from women.
Normally, a reduction in calls would be a good thing, but what we know is that during times of crisis, violence toward women actually increases. This meant that women were trapped at their homes with their abusers with no help. They were basically living in their own type of prison.
Women were not the only ones who saw an increase in violence directed at them. Cybertip.ca reported that, with children doing school remotely and spending more time on their computers, tablets and phones, it saw an 81% increase in the number of reports from youth who had been sexually exploited and reports of people trying to sexually abuse children.
The National Child Exploitation Crime Centre also reported that at the onset of the pandemic it saw offenders on livestreaming sites, social media and on the dark web looking for children to chat with online or to meet in person so they could sexually assault them.
It is hard to believe that in a country such as Canada, people who like to prey on these vulnerable individuals exist. We owe it to our children and to those most vulnerable to ensure that those who would prey on them for their own sexual pleasure are met with some of the toughest punishments.
This is why I fully support my colleague's private member's bill to bring in mandatory minimums on these criminals and strongly urge all members of this House to support it.
View Jenica Atwin Profile
Lib. (NB)
View Jenica Atwin Profile
2021-04-15 12:57 [p.5662]
Madam Speaker, resource development and extraction have offered some opportunities for first nation communities: training, jobs, accommodation agreements and perhaps economic prosperity in certain cases. The trouble with highlighting only the positive is that it lacks integrity; it comes off as disingenuous. We know many of the ways that resource development and extraction have actually used and abused indigenous territories and peoples.
Could the member comment on some of the ways that missing and murdered indigenous women are impacted by, say, man camps that accompany this development?
View Marc Serré Profile
Lib. (ON)
View Marc Serré Profile
2021-04-15 12:58 [p.5662]
Madam Speaker, obviously more work needs to be done. The House of Commons and all political parties need to support indigenous communities across the country. We need to ensure that we look at housing and clean water, and at the many issues facing first nations. We have many issues to deal with, and we will be taking action. We are making great strides. We need to promote the good that is happening in indigenous communities and we need to do better.
View Shannon Stubbs Profile
CPC (AB)
View Shannon Stubbs Profile
2021-04-13 11:06 [p.5481]
Madam Speaker, Bill C-22 would reduce penalties for all those crimes with firearms, except the member gave me a perfect segue. With Bill C-22, the Liberals would also soften consequences for other violent crimes, like prison breaches, criminal harassment, motor vehicle theft, theft over $5,000, breaking and entering a place other than a dwelling house, being unlawfully in a dwelling house, arson for a fraudulent purpose, causing bodily harm by criminal negligence, assault causing bodily harm or with a weapon, assaulting a peace officer causing bodily harm or with a weapon.
To summarize, under Bill C-22, someone could break out of prison, steal a car to escape, break into several businesses, steal massive amounts of goods and cash, break into a home, assault the occupants with a weapon and then attack a police officer with a weapon. Apparently, according to the Liberal government, that is all worthy of a slap on the wrist and definitely no baseline consequence set by elected representatives.
In Canada, during the first six months of last year, there were 17,602 opioid deaths. That is 24 people per day, and a 54% increase over the same period of the previous year. Opioid deaths jumped nearly 60% last year in Ontario. In Alberta, 2020 was the deadliest year on record for overdoses.
Dr. Jennifer Jackson, an associate professor at the U of C's nursing program, says, “From the data we have available, more people are dying in Alberta from opioids than they are from COVID.”
As the opioid and overdose crisis grows, Canadians will be concerned to know that Bill C-22 would reduce consequences for drug trafficking; possession for the purpose of trafficking; importing, exporting or producing hard drugs such as heroin, cocaine and crystal meth, with increasingly deadly fentanyl.
The Liberals talk about how this would help those suffering with addiction, but the reality is that the police already have the tools and discretion to take alternative approaches with addicts other than only criminal charges and there are no mandatory minimum sentences for simple possession.
The truth is that the Liberals are not helping the vulnerable or acting with compassion in this measure in Bill C-22. Instead, they are enabling and enlightening the consequences for the very criminals who prey on people struggling with addictions during an unprecedented national overdose crisis.
One of the most galling aspects of Bill C-22 would be creating situations for offenders to revictimize by allowing those who commit violent crimes against women to return home instead of facing jail time. The sentences for these heinous criminal acts could be completed in the very places they occurred, next to the very people they victimized.
Incredibly, in Bill C-22, the Liberals aim to allow house arrests for kidnapping, abduction of a person under 14, sexual assault and human trafficking. The Liberal Bill C-22 says that criminals who kidnap, rape and enslave or trade human beings for sex should be at home in their own beds in our neighbourhoods instead of behind bars. It has not even been two full months since this House designated February 22 as National Human Trafficking Day.
StatsCan says that about 4.7 million Canadian women, 30% of all women in Canada, 15 years of age and older, have been victims of sexual assault at least once and 55% of women who identify as being in an indigenous group have experienced violence since the age of 15. The justice department says that in 86% of sexual assaults, the victim knows the accused; 41% were assaulted by an acquaintance; 28% by a family member; 10% by a friend; and 20% were victimized by a stranger. It is unjust and unconscionable that the government would enable convicted abusers to be sent to the places where they are most likely to have easy access to 86% of their victims, and even living under the same roof.
Human trafficking in Canada must end. There is not a single MP who disagrees. It is also true that human trafficking victims should not be at risk of being exposed to further heinous acts by the action of the government. Human trafficking victims and witnesses are often reluctant to come forward due to feelings of shame and mistrust of authorities. Certainly, Bill C-22 would do nothing to instill confidence in the system for victims or their loved ones.
StatsCan says that 1,400 human trafficking victims were reported by Canadian police over a 10-year period. Half involved other offences related to sexual services, physical assaults, sexual assaults or other sexual offences where Bill C-22 would reduce penalties. It is a fact that 97% of human trafficking victims are women and girls, half between the ages of 18 and 24, a third of them minors below the age of 18.
Several hundred kids in Canada are victims of this unimaginable evil and 92% of the victims know their abusers. Therefore, where do children go to escape when their abusers are put right back in the same place they found them? Violent crime victims already do not necessarily get notified when their abusers re-enter neighbourhoods. Bill C-22 would make it incumbent on the victims to uproot their lives to protect their personal safety. It says to victims that through some fault of their own, the burden now rests with them. One of the hallmarks of abusers is a shifting of responsibility and blame to victims, something that Bill C-22 does repeatedly.
Twice this year on February 18 and March 19, in written statements, the public safety minister said:
We are working together to build a safer and more resilient Canada, where all people are protected from human trafficking and its harms.
His department says that there were over 107,000 victims of police reported intimate partner violence in Canada in 2019; 80% were women.
How can the minister say that he is protecting Canadians from human trafficking and days later bring in a bill that would reduce the penalties for it and many of the other crimes abusers inflict on their victims? It is heartbreaking and it is infuriating.
On International Women's Day, the Prime Minister talked about reaffirming gender equality so all women and girls could contribute to their full potential and be in a better, safe and more inclusive world. However, Kelly Franklin, the founder of Ontario-based Courage for Freedom says that predators are hiding in plain sight and that victims are younger and younger. She says that every 30 seconds another person becomes a victim of human trafficking.
The lives of women and girls are being stolen away more and more, but the Liberal plan is to go softer and easier on criminals that specifically target them.
Let us all vote against Bill C-22, because it is the right thing to do.
View Elizabeth May Profile
GP (BC)
View Elizabeth May Profile
2021-03-26 12:18 [p.5366]
Madam Speaker, it is an honour to present a petition today on behalf of constituents concerned about the ongoing crisis of violence against women. The petitioners note that this is particularly a crisis for indigenous women and girls, referencing the inquiry into missing and murdered indigenous women and girls and calling for the Government of Canada to implement all of the recommendations and calls for action, and to ensure that across Canadian society women have rights to leadership positions.
View Jagmeet Singh Profile
NDP (BC)
View Jagmeet Singh Profile
2021-03-25 14:28 [p.5264]
Mr. Speaker, seven women were killed in the span of six weeks in Quebec. We must put an end to this femicide immediately.
Violence against women is a pandemic within a pandemic. Organizations that support women need help immediately. We need a plan.
What is the Prime Minister waiting for?
What is the plan to stop femicide and save lives?
View Maryam Monsef Profile
Lib. (ON)
Mr. Speaker, one life lost is too many. We grieve with you.
We continue to put survivors at the centre of what we do.
There were 160 lives lost in 2020, and seven women lost in seven weeks in Quebec. Even one life lost is one too many. Our government will continue to work with frontline organizations that have already, over the past year, supported close to a million women, children and non-binary folks in their hour of need. We all must do more and in their memory, we will.
View Nelly Shin Profile
CPC (BC)
View Nelly Shin Profile
2021-03-08 14:18 [p.4663]
Mr. Speaker, today we celebrate the contributions of women across Canada. With the advocacy of the Famous Five, Canadian women won their rightful status as persons in 1929 and voted for the first time in 1916. We have made some progress, but when it comes to violence against women, under the current Liberal government we are far behind.
There is still no government action on the report on missing and murdered indigenous women and girls. The Prime Minister failed to acknowledge the systematic rape of Uighur women as genocide in Xinjiang by refusing to show up and vote on the motion. Women have been sexually assaulted at government quarantine sites, yet the minister continues to assert that these sites will keep Canadians safe and has failed to shut them down. In 2018 ombudsperson Walbourne informed the Minister of National Defence of a sexual misconduct complaint against General Vance, but the minister failed to act and the Prime Minister continues to cover up for the minister.
On behalf of the traumatized women who have yet to see justice, I would like to ask the Prime Minister when he will stop gaslighting women and start protecting them.
View Leah Gazan Profile
NDP (MB)
View Leah Gazan Profile
2021-03-08 14:46 [p.4668]
Mr. Speaker, last Thursday we heard very sad news that another indigenous woman had been murdered in the city of Winnipeg. She was loved and cherished by her family, community and friends. I send my love and sympathies. Government inaction is costing the lives of women, girls and 2SLGBTQ2IA individuals. Her life mattered and her life was of value.
How many more sisters have to be stolen before the government finally implements the 231 calls for justice of the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls?
View Gary Anandasangaree Profile
Lib. (ON)
Mr. Speaker, I extend my deepest condolences to the family of the individual the member referenced. Our hearts are with the survivors and families of missing and murdered indigenous women and girls and two-spirited and gender-diverse people.
In response to the first-ever national public inquiry on the ongoing national tragedy, our government is working with all provincial and territorial governments, as well as with indigenous leaders, survivors and families, to develop a national action plan that sets a clear road map to ensure that indigenous women and girls and two-spirited and gender-diverse people are safe.
View Brenda Shanahan Profile
Lib. (QC)
Mr. Speaker, when we asked Canadians to stay at home to limit the spread of COVID-19, we recognized that home was not a safe place for everyone. Today, as we celebrate International Women's Day, it is important to recognize that the fight continues.
Could the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Women and Gender Equality tell us what our government has done to support victims and survivors of gender-based violence during COVID-19, particularly in Quebec?
View Gudie Hutchings Profile
Lib. (NL)
View Gudie Hutchings Profile
2021-03-08 15:00 [p.4671]
Mr. Speaker, we took swift action to help women and children fleeing violence by granting up to $100 million to women's shelters and other organizations.
In Quebec, we are providing over $8 million for groups that offer shelter to women and victims of sexual assault. We provided funding to over 200 groups in Quebec, including the Montreal Sexual Assault Centre and Auberge Madeleine. Let us put an end to fear and violence.
View Mark Gerretsen Profile
Lib. (ON)
Madam Speaker, it is an honour to rise today to speak to this opposition motion, and I want to thank the member for Wellington—Halton Hills for introducing it. It is substantive and addresses a real and pressing issue, and I can honestly say, having had the opportunity to sit in the House today and listen to the speeches, questions and answers from all sides, that I genuinely feel more informed and understand this issue better than I did when I woke up this morning. I give credit to the member for that.
Our government has on many occasions spoken in the House about the work it is doing to strengthen the rules-based international order. In the wake of the Second World War, the foundations of this order were laid by numerous outstanding Canadians, including Louis St-Laurent and Lester B. Pearson. Since then, Canada has worked with other countries to build on those foundations. The result has been unprecedented periods of peace and prosperity. We have not achieved perfection, but we have certainly made progress. Respect for human rights lies at the heart of the rules-based international order.
The United Nations was founded on three pillars: to advance peace and security, development, and human rights. Its member states came together 72 years ago to approve the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, putting people, not states, at the centre of the new international order. This declaration lays out the obligations that all governments have to their citizens.
Today, the rules-based international order faces dire challenges. There are some governments that seem to believe in an international order that is not for the people but for the states. This is certainly not Canada's approach.
Canada stands up for human rights everywhere and at all times. Canada stands up for the people of Venezuela, for the people fleeing their homes in Myanmar, for the people of Yemen suffering in the midst of war, for the people of Belarus calling for free and fair elections and for the Uighurs facing repression, persecution and arbitrary mass detention.
It is clear that the promotion and protection of human rights deserve more attention than ever before. Canada is doing its share. However, the challenges are daunting across a whole range of human rights, especially now in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Freedom of opinion and expression and the freedom to think what we want and say out loud what we want are cores of our human identity, yet in too many countries this is under assault. On the multilateral front, Canada has consistently raised concerns regarding violations of freedom of expression, including freedom of the media at the UN Human Rights Council, at the UN General Assembly and in other international forums.
Canada has worked with its partners to pass resolutions at the UN on freedom of expression, human rights defenders, Internet freedom and for the safety of journalists. Canada helped found and co-chairs the Media Freedom Coalition, a group of 43 countries committed to addressing issues around freedom of press.
It is not only the freedom to speak that is under attack. Many governments are also cracking down on the freedom to love, lesbian, gay, bisexual, intersex and two-spirit people face discrimination and violence. Canada works to advocate for the rights of LGBTI persons in two areas: advocacy in the decriminalization of same-sex conduct and the elimination of violence and discrimination targeting LGBT people.
Canada has developed programming that addressed human rights training for police, the judiciary and schools. Canadian missions support the work of the local LGBTI civil society groups through the Canada fund and local initiatives. Canada also serves as co-chair on the Equal Rights Coalition, the world's first intergovernmental forum for the protection of the rights of LGBTI people. We continue to play a central role in the coalition.
People in some countries are deprived of their liberty and have their economic, social and cultural rights threatened because they are members of religious minorities. Canada's approach to promoting freedom of religion or belief includes advocating on behalf of persecuted faith and belief communities opposing religious hatred, discrimination and others, and fostering greater mutual respect and understanding through interfaith, intercultural dialogues.
In addition, Canada is committed to building a more inclusive world, free from racism. As recent events at home and abroad have made increasingly clear, systemic racism is a global concern, a root cause of exclusion and one of the greatest barriers to our collective well-being. As we work at home to dismantle systemic racism, which continues to impact indigenous peoples, Black Canadians and other racialized people, we are also promoting anti-racism and inclusion abroad by continuing to lead the conversation about the value of inclusion and respect for diversity with our international partners bilaterally and multilaterally.
Canada also continues to be committed to the struggle to see the human rights of women fully recognized. Canada is a long-standing advocate for the advancement of gender equality, the empowerment of women and girls, and the realization of their human rights both at home and abroad. Internationally, Canada has a long-standing commitment to the human rights of women and girls, with the affirmation of feminist values at the core of our foreign policy efforts, including the launch of our feminist international assistance policy.
One of the most the most effective ways of improving the status and well-being of women and girls is by ensuring their full, equal and effective participation in decision-making at all levels politically, economically and socially. Canada works in a multilateral context with the Human Rights Council and other forums to champion issues such as eliminating violence against women and ending early and forced marriage. We need women's leadership to catalyze the change we want to see globally and help tackle many of the world's most intractable problems. Many governments that deny basic human rights to their own citizens are cracking down on people who stand up for the rights of their neighbours.
Canada recognizes the key role played by human rights defenders in promoting and protecting human rights and strengthening the rule of law. The promotion of respect for human rights defenders is critical and inclusive, safe and prosperous for societies. Canada is concerned with the rising threats against human rights defenders, such as enforced disappearances, arbitrary arrest, unlawful imprisonment, torture and unfair trials.
Canadians are reminded every day about the importance of human rights, and they expect their governments to be vigorous advocates for human rights at home and abroad. This is why the government is committed to protecting people at risk of persecution and to speaking out against the regimes that violate the fundamental freedoms of their people, including those that engage in torture and other forms of mistreatment.
Canada highly values the rules-based international order and will continue to co-operate with the international community and civil society to put an end to torture. In addition, Canada has made it clear that it opposes the death penalty and supports the abolition of the death penalty internationally. Canada undertakes clemency intervention in all cases where Canadians are facing execution in foreign jurisdictions.
In an era of rapid technology and technological developments, Canada strongly believes that the human rights and fundamental freedoms individuals have offline must also be protected online. Through its participation in the Freedom Online Coalition, Canada has affirmed the importance of supporting Internet freedom for individuals worldwide, as well as links between digital inclusion and the protection and promotion of human rights.
Every human being is born with human rights. That is the reason for Canada to commit itself to building respect for those rights. However, while human rights have intrinsic value, they also have practical value. The societies where diversity and human rights are respected, societies that adopt inclusive approaches so that all citizens can contribute, are the most successful. Canada believes that all governments must recognize that they are accountable to their own people. We need to remember that people are at the heart of the international rules-based order.
There is much to be done to build greater respect for human rights globally. To reach our maximum potential, all governments must do their part. Canada will continue to work to advance respect for human rights by standing up and by reaching out.
View Rachel Blaney Profile
NDP (BC)
Madam Speaker, the member spent a lot of time talking about inclusion, women's leadership and Canada being a face of how to do it right to the international community.
I just want to remind the member that almost 20 months ago the government made a commitment to release an action plan to implement all 231 individual calls for justice in the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls report. In my riding, we have organizations that are fundraising by making pins, so they can put up billboards to let people know about the indigenous women and girls who have gone missing whom families have been looking for, in some cases for decades.
I am wondering when the government is going to stand up and show that kind of leadership. It is so important, when we look at the atrocities across the world, and particularly today in China, that Canada perform that leadership as well. Could the member could speak to that?
View Mark Gerretsen Profile
Lib. (ON)
Madam Speaker, I appreciate the member's intervention. I have always gotten along great with her when we have had the opportunity to be on committee together.
I can honestly say that I am extremely proud of the progress this government has made. Is there more work to do? There absolutely is more work. Will there always be more work to do? I imagine there will be, long after both she and I are no longer in this House.
It is a relationship that has led to consequences and actions that will require decades to repair. We need to do as much as we can now, and move as quickly as we can. I would completely agree with the member that this relationship is something that needs to be worked on, and there will always be more to do.
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