Jenny Kwan

Mr. Speaker, then why did the minister say that there was no systemic racism in Canada? The new national anti-racism strategy comes directly from the report “Taking action against systemic racism and religious discrimination including Islamophobia”. At committee, Senator Murray Sinclair stated, “systemic racism is the racism that's left over after you get rid of the racists. Once you get rid of the racists within the justice system...you will still have racism perpetrated by the justice system.” Senator Sinclair is absolutely correct. Has the minister even read the report?

Mr. Speaker, first nations, Métis and Inuit peoples in this country have suffered and continue to suffer from racial discrimination. In fact, this systemic form of discrimination is the oldest form of racism in this country, yet the Minister of Canadian Heritage and Multiculturalism stated that systemic racism somehow does not even exist in Canada. Oh yes, that is what Harper used to say.Will the Prime Minister apologize to indigenous peoples, on behalf of his minister, for this ignorant statement?

Mr. Speaker, 80 years ago, 20,000 to 80,000 Chinese women and girls were raped and approximately 300,000 people were killed. Some 200,000 women, known as comfort women, became sexual slaves to the Imperial Japanese Army forces. Former MP Olivia Chow moved a motion to recognize this, and it was unanimously supported. Across the country, events will be held to mark December 13 as Nanjing massacre commemorative day.Will the Prime Minister honour the victims and ensure that Canadians learn from this history by proclaiming December 13 as Nanjing massacre commemorative day?

Mr. Speaker, can members believe that over eight million Canadians cannot talk to a real person when they call government call centres? Whether it is about their EI, their pensions or immigration matters, call centres are a dead end. It is so bad at IRCC that over 70% of the callers could not even get through. That is 1.2 million people. No wonder. There are no service standards: no standards on access, no standards on timeliness, no standards on accuracy. Do the Liberals not believe that Canadians deserve the most basic level of service from their government?

Tell that to the children who are being tortured.

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister claims he is a defender of human rights, yet he will not speak up against Trump's racist ban. What is worse, once rejected by the U.S., those refugees cannot make a claim in Canada because of the safe third country agreement. So much for #welcometoCanada. Canadians no longer have confidence that the U.S. is a safe haven for refugees. If we do not suspend the agreement, Canada will be complicit in this discriminatory ban.Will the government immediately suspend the safe third country agreement, yes or no?

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister guaranteed that no Canadians would be mistreated while trying to cross the U.S. border, but what we have seen in case after case is very troubling. Muslim Canadians have been targeted. We have seen evidence on racial profiling and repeated cases of the privacy of Canadians being invaded.What will the government do to secure clear assurances for Canadians who wish to cross the border? When will the Prime Minister stand up for Canadians? After all it is Pink Shirt Day. Will he stand up to the bully?

Mr. Speaker, this year is the 81st anniversary of the Nanjing massacre. Approximately 300,000 people were killed and an estimated 200,000 women from Japanese-occupied territories were tricked or coerced into sexual slavery. A family member told me today my grandmother and mother never stopped talking about what happened and how shameful it was that so much of the world never even knew. On behalf of Order of Canada recipient Joy Kogawa and nearly 40,000 Canadians, I ask: Will the Prime Minister declare December 13 every year as Nanjing massacre commemorative day, yes or no?

Mr. Speaker, Amnesty International raised the alarm about the Liberal shift in public policy to cater to the alt-right. In Central and South America, sexual violence is rampant. Children as young as seven are faced with forced recruitment, yet the alt-right is vilifying refugees. They call it white nationalism. The Minister of Border Security is feeding into it by calling refugees asylum shoppers. With Bill C-97, they cannot even apply for protection in Canada. If the Liberals have the courage to stand by the right to remove, will they table those changes as a stand-alone bill in the House?

Mr. Speaker, with Trump's latest move, close to 60,000 Haitians in the U.S. may face deportation. This would no doubt lead to more Haitians trying to make irregular crossings to Canada. With winter setting in, it is dangerous, and no one wants to see more tragedies. It is time for Canada to reconsider the safe third country agreement. The UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination's most recent report called on Canada to at least temporarily suspend the safe third country agreement. Will the government do just that?

Madam Speaker, live-in care workers are providing an enormously valuable and much-needed service for Canadians. They leave their families behind to come to take care of Canadian families. If one is good enough to work here, then one is good enough to stay. Next week the minister will announce an increase in immigration levels. Will he provide an immediate pathway to permanent residence for live-in care workers, and in the meantime, will he crack down on the obscenely long backlogs in processing live-in care workers' family reunification?

Mr. Speaker, values need to be followed by action or what good are they? We are getting reports of massive raids by U.S. immigration, including a horrible story of a seven-year-old boy abandoned after officials arrested his mother at a football game. While a former Conservative prime minister serenades Mr. Trump, will the Prime Minister speak up? With another executive order expected soon, will the government finally denounce Trump's immigration policies and take any new actions to address the impacts on Canada?

Mr. Speaker, the United States is forcibly separating migrant children from their parents when they enter the U.S. to claim asylum. This cruel and unusual practice is Trump's way of stopping migrants from crossing. The U.S. also announced that it would no longer provide asylum in cases involving domestic and gang violence. These practices are blatant violations of every international law.Does the Prime Minister still really believe that the United States is a safe country—?

Mr. Speaker, even former Conservative minister Chris Alexander is calling for the suspension of the safe third country agreement. Trump is taking migrant children hostage and putting them in cages to advance his political agenda. The UN Commission on Human Rights calls this “unconscionable”. The UNHCR acknowledges that Trump's tactics are inhumane. Amnesty International calls it “nothing short of torture”.Will the Prime Minister state the obvious, that the United States is no longer a safe country for migrant children?

Mr. Speaker, the government seems to be having problems delivering on their promises to Syrian refugees. Some refugee families in Saskatoon waited nearly three weeks without money for food or rent. They had to rely on charity just to feed their families and avoid being evicted. They said they are frustrated, worried, embarrassed, and feel like they have to beg to survive. This is not acceptable.How many other families are in this situation, and what action will the minister take to ensure this does not happen to anyone else?

Mr. Speaker, throughout the byelection in Burnaby South, people made it clear to Jagmeet Singh that the Liberals only care about the wealthy and the well connected. Everyday Canadians are struggling to put food on the table. They cannot afford the medication that they need. While the Liberals will move heaven and earth to help the corporate elite, everyday Canadians are left behind. All Canadians deserve safe, affordable housing, public universal pharmacare and food on the table. No more delays. No more excuses. Will the Prime Minister put everyday Canadians first for a change, and make real investments in budget 2019 for the people who are most in need?

Mr. Speaker, the minister's mandate letter states, “It is important to acknowledge mistakes when we make them.” By now, surely the minister knows that it is wrong to say that there is no systemic discrimination in Canada. Systemic racism took its root in this country the moment white settlers came and began the colonization process. To claim that there is no systemic racism in Canada is a slap in the face of indigenous peoples.Will the minister do the honourable thing, admit that he was wrong and apologize?

Mr. Speaker, the Inland Refugee Society of B.C. is the only group that provides support to inland asylum seekers upon arrival. Its caseload has increased by 300%, and even CBSA directs asylum seekers to it. However, it gets zero support from the federal government. Without federal support, the organization will have to close its doors later this year.Instead of taking action, the minister has decided to ignore this dire situation. Will the government step up to the plate, or will it continue to abandon these NGOs that are struggling to stay afloat?

Mr. Speaker, the cost to taxpayers for the Phoenix disaster is as high as $2.6 billion, and it will not be scrapped until 2023. Meanwhile, tens of thousands of workers continue to have their lives disrupted. My constituents called the pay centre and were told that it cannot help them. The minister told MPs to bring cases to her office directly. We have done that, and got nowhere. Budget 2019 will not fix this dumpster fire. More resources will be needed to fix this ongoing debacle.In what world is this an acceptable way to treat workers?

Mr. Speaker, A&L Hammer is being investigated by the IRCC for human trafficking. The victim, Roger Demoto, is a key witness in this case. He was scheduled to give evidence to the IRCC yesterday, but instead, the CBSA detained him and wants to deport him. It is absurd that the right hand does not know what the left hand is doing. We must do everything we can to combat human trafficking. Urgent action is required. Will the Minister of Immigration work with public safety to stay the deportation to avert this travesty of justice?

Mr. Speaker, climate leaders do not buy pipelines. Feminist prime ministers do not turf female colleagues because they speak truth to power. Humanitarian leaders do not shut their borders to asylum seekers during a refugee crisis. Now the Liberals have snuck in changes to refugee laws in the budget bill. That means people like Seidu Mohammed, an LGBTQ man from Ghana, whose asylum claim was accepted after he crossed irregularly from the U.S., will not even get a chance to apply. Lives are at risk. Will the Prime Minister do what is right and suspend the safe third country agreement?

Mr. Speaker, families told their truths. Sophie Merasty, who lost her sister Rose, said, “We have always known this was a genocide....The violence we face happens in all aspects of our lives—at every level, in every institution, in every interaction.”On behalf of all Canadians, will the Prime Minister honour this truth and state clearly that Canada committed genocide against indigenous women and girls and 2SLGBTQQIA people? Will he commit to implementing all recommendations from the inquiry, with dedicated resources and a timeline that is accountable to the public?

Mr. Speaker, border communities are bracing for another spike in irregular crossings. We know what the Conservative plan is. It is to follow Trump by shutting down the border and turning away refugees. However, we have not seen any plan from the government.People are risking life and limb to cross the border, but the Prime Minister has refused to suspend the safe third country agreement. We are seeing troubling comments from the Prime Minister, suggesting that some migrants are trying to game the system. Will the Prime Minister stop trying to look like a global humanitarian and just act like one?

Mr. Speaker, as a mother I want to know that my children are safe when I am at work. Quality, accessible and affordable child care is a must for every working mom, yet in 2018 with a so-called feminist Prime Minister, we still do not have a national child care program. UBC's Dr. Paul Kershaw said work-life conflicts of parents raising young children cost Canadian businesses an estimated $4 billion.If we can dump $4.5 billion into a leaky pipeline, why can we not have a national affordable child care program for all?

Mr. Speaker, under the safe third country agreement, refugees cannot apply for asylum in Canada if they are already in the U.S. Many refugees are crossing the border illegally, risking life and limb because they have no other option. Clearly, the Conservatives had no plan, and while the Liberals sound welcoming, they have implemented absolutely zero measures to address this situation. Things will only get worse. Will the Prime Minister finally act, suspend the unfair agreement, support border communities, and help those desperate refugees?

Mr. Speaker, last week, another Canadian came forward about being turned away at the U.S. border. Immediately following Trump's discriminatory ban, the Liberal government promised no Canadians would be affected. This is clearly not the case. Canadians are being stopped, interrogated, and turned away at the U.S. border, even though they have valid Canadian passports. Let us just call it for what it is, racial profiling, and it is outrageous.What is the minister doing to guarantee that Canadians are not being treated this way at the U.S. border?

Mr. Speaker, to strip someone of their Canadian citizenship is a very serious matter.Stephen Harper's Bill C-24 took away due process for Canadians, even in the case of an honest mistake. The Liberals promised a full repeal of Bill C-24, but so far they have failed to deliver. In fact, the government is aggressively pursuing citizenship revocation for up to 60 Canadians every month.When will the minister fix Bill C-24? Will he halt citizenship revocation until fairness has been restored?

That in light of the tabling of the final report of the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls, the government recognize the genocide committed against indigenous women and girls—

Mr. Speaker, Luisa Montoya and her family arrived in Canada in 2012, fleeing violence and extortion in Colombia. As a legacy case, they have been in limbo for six years. Luisa is married to a Canadian and their son Thomas was born in Canada. The family of seven is fully integrated and thriving. Violence in Colombia has displaced millions and the Canadian government has issued an alert to avoid travel there. However, this family is being deported on Christmas eve. This is a cruel way for the minister to meet his quota of deporting 10,000 asylum seekers.Will the Prime Minister direct his minister to intervene—

Mr. Speaker, sorry, it is because the former attorney general wants to tell her whole truth. What part of that does the government not get?No one is buying the government's talking points. The Liberals shut down the justice committee. They are moving heaven and earth to prevent Canadians from learning the truth.The former AG hired legal counsel to advise her on what she can and cannot say. Unlike the Prime Minister, she is not willing to break the law. The former Treasury Board president made it clear. The Liberals assume that the best interests of Canadians are their own political interests. They are one and the same. Is that the real reason the Prime Minister will not call a public inquiry?

Mr. Speaker, this morning, the University of Toronto's international human rights program released a shocking report on Canada's practice of detaining children in medium-security immigration jails. According to the report, Canada detains almost 250 children annually. Some of these children are even held in solitary confinement, in breach of international law and the charter. This is a disgrace.Will the government finally amend the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act and prohibit the detention of children?

Mr. Speaker, Canadians are calling for action. It is about lives, real lives, real people, real children being subjected to torture. Former minister Lloyd Axworthy, the chair of the World Refugee Council, and Allan Rock, former UN ambassador, are clearly stating that the U.S. is no longer a safe country for asylum seekers. Canada must not be complicit in this inhumane treatment of children.Will the Prime Minister find the courage and suspend the safe third country agreement?

Mr. Speaker, Liberals called out the Conservatives for cozying up to white nationalist Faith Goldy, but now the Prime Minister wants to close our border to asylum seekers who are fleeing persecution and violence with a law that prevents them from being able to apply for protection in Canada.When Faith Goldy supports the Liberal immigration policy, we know we are on the wrong side of the issue. By hiding it in a 392-page omnibus bill and refusing to refer it to the immigration committee, the Prime Minister is trying to sneak through this shameful law. Will the Prime Minister stop talking out of both sides of his mouth and withdraw this legislation?

Mr. Speaker, Canada's efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions are in shambles. The government committed to abolish fossil fuel subsidies by 2025, but the Auditor General concluded that the government had no intention to do so. The betrayal does not end there. What is worse is the Liberals now want to bail out a Texas-based oil company. Canadians do not want to give a handout to a big U.S. oil company. Why are the Liberals giving a blank cheque to Kinder Morgan?

Mr. Speaker, expert and institutional hearings of the missing and murdered indigenous women and girls inquiry are about to begin, and the Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs, the only indigenous political organization in B.C. with standing, has pulled out because the hearings “do not allow for a rigorous examination of the systems that contribute to violence against indigenous women and girls,” and the UBCIC “will not sit idly by as Canada touts an incomplete process as a success”. What action will the Prime Minister take to fix this dire situation?

Mr. Speaker, we must condemn discrimination whenever it arises, but words without action are meaningless. It is time to take some real action to address the Trump discriminatory immigration ban.Will the government lift Canada's caps on refugees, work with our global partners to help resettle those abandoned by the U.S., and immediately suspend the safe third country agreement, or will Canadians just be left with empty words?

Mr. Speaker, have they consulted the first nations who said no to Kinder Morgan? Elections are about democracy. Elections are about fairness. Elections are about making sure everyone has an equal voice. The Liberals abandoned their promise to make every vote count. They promised that they would never shut down debate on an elections bill, and now they are doing exactly that. Why are the Liberals so determined to undermine democracy and fairness to all Canadians?

Mr. Speaker, yesterday the Prime Minister refused to denounce Trump's travel ban apparently because he was in Washington, yet no matter where he has been, the Prime Minister has actually never criticized Trump's racist immigration policies, even though they are having a direct impact on Canadians.From Vietnam to Iraq, Canada has a proud history of standing up to the U.S. on issues of principle. Now that he is back safe and sound on Canadian soil, will the Prime Minister summon the courage to denounce Trump's immigration policies?

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister likes to denounce the Ford government's anti-refugee sentiments, yet, shockingly, when it comes to changes to the asylum system, as we saw in the omnibus budget bill, the Liberals took a page out of the Conservative playbook for political gain.Now the Prime Minister is in a spat with Doug Ford over legal aid funding. The collateral damage is women fleeing gender-based violence and LGBTQ2-plus members faced with persecution. That means no representation at refugee hearings, detention reviews and deportation orders. This will put lives at risk.Will the Prime Minister stop the deportations until the legal aid crisis is resolved?

Mr. Speaker, government officials told the Inland Refugee Society of BC that they “cannot be seen” to be supporting undocumented refugees. Really? So much for the Prime Minister's “#WelcomeToCanada”. Inland is the only NGO in B.C. that provides immediate support for inland asylum seekers, and does it with a budget of only $180,000. A little support from the government can prevent this organization from shutting its doors. Why is the government choosing to abandon these vulnerable refugees?

Mr. Speaker, Canadians are alarmed and outraged by President Trump's immigration and travel ban. Inscribed on the Statue of Liberty are the words, “Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses”, but now it falls to other nations to step up and provide shelter to those fleeing violence and persecution. Canadians are staunch defenders of human rights who reject a ban based on race, religion, or place of birth. Will Canada do its part and immediately lift the 1,000 application cap on privately sponsored refugees?

Mr. Speaker, instead of going after fat cat CEOs and the tax havens wealthy corporations use to avoid paying their fair share, refugees are having their child benefits clawed back. The government failed to provide timely access for language training for many of the new arrivals, yet refugee families that do not respond quickly to the CRA are penalized immediately. Not only are those payments stopped, but, in two cases, refugee families were billed $27,000. Is that why the government is giving the CRA $1 billion to crack down on the middle class and those who are working hard to join it?

Mr. Speaker, the Liberals' promise to overhaul how asylum claims are processed is on hold indefinitely. The Prime Minister's “welcome to Canada” rhetoric is just a slogan. There has been no action on designated countries of origin, no action on giving the IRB the resources it desperately needs, and 1,000 cases are added to the huge backlog every month. The integrity of the entire system is under threat.Is the government blind to this, or is it just happy to break yet another promise?

Mr. Speaker, the government spent over $2.3 million to renovate Canadian military bases to serve as temporary lodgings for Syrian refugees, but they were never used, because at the last minute, the government changed course and decided to house the refugees in hotels at the cost of over $14 million. Those renovated military bases are now sitting empty. Will the government at least salvage something good from this wasteful mismanagement and use the renovated military bases as temporary shelters for the homeless?

Mr. Speaker, provisions in Bill S-3 would eliminate the discrimination against first nations women and their descendants once and for all. All that is needed is for this self-proclaimed feminist Prime Minister to bring those provisions into force with an order in council. It has been 18 months since this bill passed, and there is still no action.Will the Prime Minister get on with it and immediately enact recommendation 1.3 of the calls for justice so that the 270,000 first nations women and their descendants can finally be free of this sex-based discrimination?

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister just does not get it, does he? Climate leaders do not spend billions of dollars to build new pipelines, and they certainly do not put Canadian pensions on the line to do it. We are now hearing that the Canada pension plan may invest in the Liberals' reckless pipeline. The CPP has never been used to backstop political projects. As one senior reporter puts it, “This is bad, bad, bad.” Instead of investing in a clean energy economy, why are the Liberals putting Canadians' money and their pensions at risk?

Mr. Speaker, yesterday the Minister of Immigration was asked about the American treatment of refugees and he said, “nothing has changed”. Nothing has changed. Really?There is a massive immigration crackdown inside the U.S. Hundreds of refugees are risking life and limb to cross the border. Today Amnesty International has said Trump's “fear and scapegoating” has increased risk to human rights. All this and another executive order on immigration is on its way.Does the Prime Minister agree with the minister that nothing has changed and that the U.S. is still a safe country for refugees?

Mr. Speaker, “Government and its information should be open by default.” Those were the Prime Minister's exact words in his mandate letter to the Minister of Heritage.Secret, closed-door consultations on an anti-racism plan leaves Canadians and the organizations working every day to combat systemic racism in the dark.The minister should know by now about the value of openness and public accountability. After all, thanks to question period, he learned that systemic racism actually does exist in Canada.Will the minister do the right thing and open up the process?

Mr. Speaker, imagine receiving a letter from the government saying a husband and his wife are “not well matched”. Imagine the reason cited is because the wife is three years older than the husband. Imagine the marriage being in question because the wedding was not big enough.Mr. Baig's wife received that letter.The government routinely sends these letters out to spousal sponsorship applicants from Pakistan to “tease out a response”. “Offensive” and “insulting” do not even begin to describe this.What action will the Prime Minister take to rectify this systemic issue?

Mr. Speaker, when the Prime Minister promised to fix the temporary foreign workers program, I guess that was a Liberal promise and not a real one. What about the platform commitment to overhaul Canada's broken refugee system? Massive backlogs, unfair treatment, and lack of resources are threatening the integrity of our system.Was the promise to “deliver a safe, secure, and humane refugee system” a real promise or just another Liberal promise?

Mr. Speaker, Canadians are alarmed and outraged by President Trump's immigration and travel ban. Inscribed on the Statue of Liberty are the words, “Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses”, but now it falls to other nations to step up and provide shelter to those fleeing violence and persecution. Canadians are staunch defenders of human rights who reject a ban based on race, religion, or place of birth. Will Canada do its part and immediately lift the 1,000 application cap on privately sponsored refugees?

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister just does not get it, does he? Climate leaders do not spend billions of dollars to build new pipelines, and they certainly do not put Canadian pensions on the line to do it. We are now hearing that the Canada pension plan may invest in the Liberals' reckless pipeline. The CPP has never been used to backstop political projects. As one senior reporter puts it, “This is bad, bad, bad.” Instead of investing in a clean energy economy, why are the Liberals putting Canadians' money and their pensions at risk?

Mr. Speaker, Luisa Montoya and her family arrived in Canada in 2012, fleeing violence and extortion in Colombia. As a legacy case, they have been in limbo for six years. Luisa is married to a Canadian and their son Thomas was born in Canada. The family of seven is fully integrated and thriving. Violence in Colombia has displaced millions and the Canadian government has issued an alert to avoid travel there. However, this family is being deported on Christmas eve. This is a cruel way for the minister to meet his quota of deporting 10,000 asylum seekers.Will the Prime Minister direct his minister to intervene—

Mr. Speaker, this morning, the University of Toronto's international human rights program released a shocking report on Canada's practice of detaining children in medium-security immigration jails. According to the report, Canada detains almost 250 children annually. Some of these children are even held in solitary confinement, in breach of international law and the charter. This is a disgrace.Will the government finally amend the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act and prohibit the detention of children?

Mr. Speaker, for the first time in decades, life expectancy in Canada could decrease because of the ongoing opioid crisis. Canada is the second-largest user of opioids behind the U.S. Purdue Pharma was found guilty of misleading the public and downplaying the risk of addiction, and was forced to pay $830 million. It is time for the Prime Minister to stand up to big pharma and seek justice for families. Will he launch a criminal investigation into opioid manufacturers and seek compensation for the costs of addressing the opioid crisis?

Mr. Speaker, imagine receiving a letter from the government saying a husband and his wife are “not well matched”. Imagine the reason cited is because the wife is three years older than the husband. Imagine the marriage being in question because the wedding was not big enough.Mr. Baig's wife received that letter.The government routinely sends these letters out to spousal sponsorship applicants from Pakistan to “tease out a response”. “Offensive” and “insulting” do not even begin to describe this.What action will the Prime Minister take to rectify this systemic issue?

Mr. Speaker, today the Department of Citizenship and Immigration still rejects permanent residency of family members based on their having a disability. The minister has admitted that this practice is outdated and “out of step” with what Canadians expect. The Liberals have been reviewing this issue for two years, and last week the minister met with the provinces, but there has still been no action. In the meantime, the future of families like those of Mercedes Benitez hangs in the balance.Will the minister stop discriminating against children with disabilities and scrap this outdated provision?

Mr. Speaker, stripping law-abiding former refugees of their permanent resident status simply because they travelled back to their country of origin is so wrong. Close to 300 people whose citizenship applications are on hold are faced with this. These are law-abiding people who have committed no crime, violated no immigration laws, and passed all requirements to become Canadian citizens, and they are being targeted for cessation.Will the government halt the proceedings for current cessation applications and repeal these absurd laws?

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister likes to denounce the Ford government's anti-refugee sentiments, yet, shockingly, when it comes to changes to the asylum system, as we saw in the omnibus budget bill, the Liberals took a page out of the Conservative playbook for political gain.Now the Prime Minister is in a spat with Doug Ford over legal aid funding. The collateral damage is women fleeing gender-based violence and LGBTQ2-plus members faced with persecution. That means no representation at refugee hearings, detention reviews and deportation orders. This will put lives at risk.Will the Prime Minister stop the deportations until the legal aid crisis is resolved?

Mr. Speaker, I rise on a point of order, and in a moment I am going to move a motion as well. We just heard in the question period exchange not only opposition members, including the Conservative House leader and other members, but the Prime Minister misrepresent to the House by suggesting that those who cross over at unofficial borders are doing this illegally. In fact, it states very clearly in section 133 of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act that it is not illegal for people to make crossings at unofficial border crossings. In fact, it is not a violation of the Criminal Code. Therefore, I would like to move a motion and call on the Prime Minister to apologize for using the term “illegal”.

Mr. Speaker, I rise on a point of order.I move, given that, (a) Canadians expect that changes to our laws should be democratically and rigorously debated in the House of Commons; (b) all parties in the House have spoken against the use of omnibus bills to hide changes in initiatives from scrutiny; (c) the world is experiencing a global refugee crisis; and (d) Lloyd Axworthy is condemning proposed changes contained in the omnibus budget bill to the asylum system, while Faith Goldy is cheering them on, that in the opinion of the House, (a) Canada is at serious risk of being on the wrong side of history and (b) the government must immediately withdraw division 16 of part 4 of Bill C-97 and table it as a stand-alone piece of legislation to ensure that Canada continues to live up to its obligations under international law.

Mr. Speaker, for decades, some Canadians have found themselves to be stateless due to a number of arcane laws. People could lose their citizenships just because they turned 28. Veterans who fought at Vimy Ridge are deemed not to be Canadians after all. A brother and sister in Syria, with a Canadian father, applied for Canadian citizenship under the same act and received opposite decisions. Why? Simply because the brother was born before 1977. That is absurd and illogical.When will the minister bring in legislation to fix the lost Canadians problems once and for all?

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister is creating two classes of refugees in Bill C-97 to pander to the right. Facing backlash, the government emailed Liberal MPs saying that no asylum seekers would be at risk. The Canadian Association of Refugee Lawyers and Amnesty International were clear: That is not true. The Liberals are desperate for a fix, but experts were explicit: There is no fix. Any people pretending the Liberal proposal is the same as the independent work of the IRB are fooling themselves.Will the Prime Minister do what thousands of Canadians are demanding and withdraw these dangerous provisions?

Madam Speaker, that is cold comfort to live-in care workers. Just so the minister knows, for live-in care workers, the average processing time is 51 months. That is four and a half years, and this is in addition to fulfilling their two-year work requirement. In comparison, for other economic categories, processing time is only six months. How can the minister justify this gross discrepancy in the treatment of live-in care workers, and will he immediately eliminate this obscene backlog?

Mr. Speaker, Canadians have submitted applications to privately sponsor at least 100 Syrian refugee families based in northern Iraq. These applications are being held up because Canada has no capacity to process them. If authorized, the UNHCR can step in and get the job done. Now to make matters worse, IRCC is considering Syrian-born refugees who have fled to northern Iraq as Iraqis. This means they will not be part of the Syrian refugee initiative. Just when will the minister quickly process these applications as promised?

Mr. Speaker, Canada's efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions are in shambles. The government committed to abolish fossil fuel subsidies by 2025, but the Auditor General concluded that the government had no intention to do so. The betrayal does not end there. What is worse is the Liberals now want to bail out a Texas-based oil company. Canadians do not want to give a handout to a big U.S. oil company. Why are the Liberals giving a blank cheque to Kinder Morgan?

Mr. Speaker, when the cameras are rolling, the Prime Minister wants people to regard him as a global humanitarian, but, behind closed doors, his government is quietly working to shut down Canada's border to asylum seekers who are forced to risk life and limb to get to safety. This has been happening since September of last year. The double-talk does not stop there. It was just last week that his Minister of Immigration said that having one continuous official border crossing all 9,000 kilometres is “not a real solution”. Liberals and Conservatives, what is the difference?

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister claims that survivors and family members are at the heart of the missing and murdered indigenous women inquiry, yet after-care for those who relive the trauma by testifying was a disaster. Many did not even know after-care existed, and those who did had a difficult time accessing it. Soledad, a survivor in my riding, struggled to the point where she lost her job. Her after-care plan fell through twice, and my office had to intervene in order for her to get the support she needed. Family members like Lorelei Williams were not even offered after-care. How is this putting survivors and family members at the heart of the inquiry?

Mr. Speaker, values need to be followed by action or what good are they? We are getting reports of massive raids by U.S. immigration, including a horrible story of a seven-year-old boy abandoned after officials arrested his mother at a football game. While a former Conservative prime minister serenades Mr. Trump, will the Prime Minister speak up? With another executive order expected soon, will the government finally denounce Trump's immigration policies and take any new actions to address the impacts on Canada?

Mr. Speaker, everyone knows that Bill C-27 furthers the private interests of the finance minister. The Conflict of Interest Act states that a minister is in a conflict “when he or she exercises an official power...to further his or her private interests or those of his or her relatives”. Will the Prime Minister just admit that his Minister of Finance has violated the Conflict of Interest Act, or is he just too busy working hard for the French villa owners, or those who are working hard to become French villa—

Mr. Speaker, children and their families who have been impacted for years by the no-fly list are on Parliament Hill today demanding an end to this human rights violation.There are children as young as six being denied from boarding flights. Canadians want to see a properly funded redress system in the 2018 federal budget, and they want an end to the hundreds, if not thousands, of false positives that have occurred to date.When will the government finally heed these calls and end this injustice for families once and for all?

Mr. Speaker, can members believe that over eight million Canadians cannot talk to a real person when they call government call centres? Whether it is about their EI, their pensions or immigration matters, call centres are a dead end. It is so bad at IRCC that over 70% of the callers could not even get through. That is 1.2 million people. No wonder. There are no service standards: no standards on access, no standards on timeliness, no standards on accuracy. Do the Liberals not believe that Canadians deserve the most basic level of service from their government?

Mr. Speaker, government officials told the Inland Refugee Society of BC that they “cannot be seen” to be supporting undocumented refugees. Really? So much for the Prime Minister's “#WelcomeToCanada”. Inland is the only NGO in B.C. that provides immediate support for inland asylum seekers, and does it with a budget of only $180,000. A little support from the government can prevent this organization from shutting its doors. Why is the government choosing to abandon these vulnerable refugees?

Mr. Speaker, Canadians knew that Trump's anti-immigrant policies would create a climate of fear in the U.S. In August alone, over 5,000 asylum seekers crossed into Quebec and it doubled in B.C. NGOs are left grappling with this without any additional resources. At committee, Liberal MPs have shut down debate on this issue not once, not twice, but four times.Will the government finally agree to work with all sides of the House to develop a comprehensive and humanitarian approach to this critical situation?

Mr. Speaker, the fact is that over 2,000 migrant children are already in baby jails. The parents do not know where they are or when they will see them again.The head of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement confirmed parents' worst fears. He expects hundreds of separated children will never see their parents again. They will be lost in the system forever.Does the Prime Minister recognize that as long as Trump is in power, the U.S. will never be a safe country for asylum seekers?

Mr. Speaker, after quietly announcing the end of the current caregiver program, the minister was forced to change course by stating he would engage in consultations about the future of the program. At committee, IRCC officials committed to providing details of the consultation process to members. To date, no information has been provided even though multiple consultations have already taken place. My direct request to attend the consultation with caregivers in Ottawa was denied. We were told that it was not a consultation meeting. Why did the minister's staff mislead my office and why the secrecy?

Mr. Speaker, if you seek it, I think you will find unanimous consent of the House for the following motion: That the House recognize that 81 years ago Imperial Japanese army forces raped an estimated 20,000 to 80,000 Chinese women and girls and approximately 300,000 people were killed; that, after the Nanking massacre, the military sexual slavery system of the Japanese military expanded rapidly, and an estimated 200,000 women from Korea, the Philippines, China, Burma, Indonesia and other Japanese occupied territories were tricked, kidnapped or coerced to work in brothels to serve as “comfort women” to the Imperial Japanese army; that western eye witnesses in Nanking described the atrocities as “hell on earth”; that the House of Commons, in 2007, unanimously passed a motion in recognition that the Imperial armed forces of Japan used women as sex slaves during the Second World War; therefore, in the opinion of the House, the government formally acknowledge this by declaring December 13 of each year as Nanking massacre commemorative day in Canada.

Mr. Speaker, the government seems to be having problems delivering on their promises to Syrian refugees. Some refugee families in Saskatoon waited nearly three weeks without money for food or rent. They had to rely on charity just to feed their families and avoid being evicted. They said they are frustrated, worried, embarrassed, and feel like they have to beg to survive. This is not acceptable.How many other families are in this situation, and what action will the minister take to ensure this does not happen to anyone else?

Mr. Speaker, I rise on a point of order. Yesterday I moved a motion in this place, and it appeared that members from both the government and the official opposition sides had not supported the motion. However, it is now known that the appearance of opposition was completely unintentional. Therefore, Mr. Speaker, if you seek it, I think you will find the unanimous consent of the House for the following motion. I move:That, the House recognize that 81 years ago Imperial Japanese army forces raped an estimated 20,000 to 80,000 Chinese women and girls and approximately 300,000 people were killed; that, after the Nanjing massacre, the military sexual slavery system of the Japanese military expanded rapidly, and an estimated 200,000 women from Korea, the Philippines, China, Burma, Indonesia and other Japanese occupied territories were tricked, kidnapped or coerced to work in brothels to serve as “comfort women” to the Imperial Japanese army; that western eye witnesses in Nanjing described the atrocities as “hell on earth”; that the House of Commons, in 2007, unanimously passed a motion in recognition that the Imperial armed forces of Japan used women as sex slaves during the Second World War; therefore, in the opinion of the House, the government formally acknowledge this by declaring December 13 of each year as Nanjing massacre commemorative day in Canada.

Mr. Speaker, the minister's mandate letter states, “It is important to acknowledge mistakes when we make them.” By now, surely the minister knows that it is wrong to say that there is no systemic discrimination in Canada. Systemic racism took its root in this country the moment white settlers came and began the colonization process. To claim that there is no systemic racism in Canada is a slap in the face of indigenous peoples.Will the minister do the honourable thing, admit that he was wrong and apologize?

Mr. Speaker, that is not according to the Auditor General. The Prime Minister promised to abolish fossil fuel subsidies, and that promise was made with other G7 countries. He made this commitment over and over again. As we approach the next G7 summit, the world will be watching, and the lack of Canadian leadership will be glaring. Rather than paying off a Texas-based oil company and its fat-cat shareholders, will the government end fossil fuel subsidies and invest in a transition for energy workers toward a future in sustainable energy?

Mr. Speaker, under the safe third country agreement, refugees cannot apply for asylum in Canada if they are already in the U.S. Many refugees are crossing the border illegally, risking life and limb because they have no other option. Clearly, the Conservatives had no plan, and while the Liberals sound welcoming, they have implemented absolutely zero measures to address this situation. Things will only get worse. Will the Prime Minister finally act, suspend the unfair agreement, support border communities, and help those desperate refugees?

Mr. Speaker, 80 years ago, 20,000 to 80,000 Chinese women and girls were raped and approximately 300,000 people were killed. Some 200,000 women, known as comfort women, became sexual slaves to the Imperial Japanese Army forces. Former MP Olivia Chow moved a motion to recognize this, and it was unanimously supported. Across the country, events will be held to mark December 13 as Nanjing massacre commemorative day.Will the Prime Minister honour the victims and ensure that Canadians learn from this history by proclaiming December 13 as Nanjing massacre commemorative day?

Mr. Speaker, last week, another Canadian came forward about being turned away at the U.S. border. Immediately following Trump's discriminatory ban, the Liberal government promised no Canadians would be affected. This is clearly not the case. Canadians are being stopped, interrogated, and turned away at the U.S. border, even though they have valid Canadian passports. Let us just call it for what it is, racial profiling, and it is outrageous.What is the minister doing to guarantee that Canadians are not being treated this way at the U.S. border?

Mr. Speaker, Canada's immigration law discriminates against people with disabilities. Even the Minister of Immigration admits that this law does not align with Canada's values on the inclusion of persons with disabilities. The minister has been studying this issue since 2016. Committee members from all political parties agree that this law needs to be repealed. Still, there is no action. An impacted family member said, “I always thought Canada did not discriminate against people because they are different”. Will the minister adopt my private member's bill as a government bill and end this injustice?

Mr. Speaker, the United States is forcibly separating migrant children from their parents when they enter the U.S. to claim asylum. This cruel and unusual practice is Trump's way of stopping migrants from crossing. The U.S. also announced that it would no longer provide asylum in cases involving domestic and gang violence. These practices are blatant violations of every international law.Does the Prime Minister still really believe that the United States is a safe country—?

Mr. Speaker, the government spent over $2.3 million to renovate Canadian military bases to serve as temporary lodgings for Syrian refugees, but they were never used, because at the last minute, the government changed course and decided to house the refugees in hotels at the cost of over $14 million. Those renovated military bases are now sitting empty. Will the government at least salvage something good from this wasteful mismanagement and use the renovated military bases as temporary shelters for the homeless?

Mr. Speaker, border communities are bracing for another spike in irregular crossings. We know what the Conservative plan is. It is to follow Trump by shutting down the border and turning away refugees. However, we have not seen any plan from the government.People are risking life and limb to cross the border, but the Prime Minister has refused to suspend the safe third country agreement. We are seeing troubling comments from the Prime Minister, suggesting that some migrants are trying to game the system. Will the Prime Minister stop trying to look like a global humanitarian and just act like one?

Mr. Speaker, when the Prime Minister promised to fix the temporary foreign workers program, I guess that was a Liberal promise and not a real one. What about the platform commitment to overhaul Canada's broken refugee system? Massive backlogs, unfair treatment, and lack of resources are threatening the integrity of our system.Was the promise to “deliver a safe, secure, and humane refugee system” a real promise or just another Liberal promise?

Mr. Speaker, to strip someone of their Canadian citizenship is a very serious matter.Stephen Harper's Bill C-24 took away due process for Canadians, even in the case of an honest mistake. The Liberals promised a full repeal of Bill C-24, but so far they have failed to deliver. In fact, the government is aggressively pursuing citizenship revocation for up to 60 Canadians every month.When will the minister fix Bill C-24? Will he halt citizenship revocation until fairness has been restored?

Mr. Speaker, two days after the purchase of the Kinder Morgan pipeline, the company received a letter from the government stating that it had committed four offences. It had gone months without filing mandatory monitoring reports with the government and first nations, and it exceeded safe underwater noise limits during expansion, endangering marine wildlife. Knowing about these violations and all the rest, why on earth would the government bail out Kinder Morgan with billions of Canadians' hard-earned money?

Mr. Speaker, we have just seen one of the horrors of Canada's so-called safe third country agreement with the U.S. A woman's body was found in a ditch near the Canada-U.S. border. The woman is believed to be an asylum seeker trying to enter Canada. Under the agreement, asylum seekers from the U.S. are turned away from legal ports of entry, forcing them to take great risks. After five months and nearly 3,000 asylum seekers crossing the border, what else is the government waiting for? How many more tragedies do we need to see before the government suspends the agreement?

Mr. Speaker, as a mother I want to know that my children are safe when I am at work. Quality, accessible and affordable child care is a must for every working mom, yet in 2018 with a so-called feminist Prime Minister, we still do not have a national child care program. UBC's Dr. Paul Kershaw said work-life conflicts of parents raising young children cost Canadian businesses an estimated $4 billion.If we can dump $4.5 billion into a leaky pipeline, why can we not have a national affordable child care program for all?

Mr. Speaker, provisions in Bill S-3 would eliminate the discrimination against first nations women and their descendants once and for all. All that is needed is for this self-proclaimed feminist Prime Minister to bring those provisions into force with an order in council. It has been 18 months since this bill passed, and there is still no action.Will the Prime Minister get on with it and immediately enact recommendation 1.3 of the calls for justice so that the 270,000 first nations women and their descendants can finally be free of this sex-based discrimination?

Mr. Speaker, the Liberals are quietly going ahead with the Conservatives' plan to shut the door for permanent residency for caregivers, meaning if their two-year work requirement is not completed prior to November 29, 2019, they are out of luck. There is often abuse in the program against caregivers, sometimes forcing them to end their work before the contract is completed. That means some will not be able to complete the 24-month work requirement. Does the minister think that is fair, or will he take action to ensure that caregivers are not penalized? Does he not agree that if people are good enough to work, they are good enough to stay?

Mr. Speaker, yesterday the Prime Minister refused to denounce Trump's travel ban apparently because he was in Washington, yet no matter where he has been, the Prime Minister has actually never criticized Trump's racist immigration policies, even though they are having a direct impact on Canadians.From Vietnam to Iraq, Canada has a proud history of standing up to the U.S. on issues of principle. Now that he is back safe and sound on Canadian soil, will the Prime Minister summon the courage to denounce Trump's immigration policies?

Mr. Speaker, the cost to taxpayers for the Phoenix disaster is as high as $2.6 billion, and it will not be scrapped until 2023. Meanwhile, tens of thousands of workers continue to have their lives disrupted. My constituents called the pay centre and were told that it cannot help them. The minister told MPs to bring cases to her office directly. We have done that, and got nowhere. Budget 2019 will not fix this dumpster fire. More resources will be needed to fix this ongoing debacle.In what world is this an acceptable way to treat workers?

Mr. Speaker, first nations, Métis and Inuit peoples in this country have suffered and continue to suffer from racial discrimination. In fact, this systemic form of discrimination is the oldest form of racism in this country, yet the Minister of Canadian Heritage and Multiculturalism stated that systemic racism somehow does not even exist in Canada. Oh yes, that is what Harper used to say.Will the Prime Minister apologize to indigenous peoples, on behalf of his minister, for this ignorant statement?

Mr. Speaker, families told their truths. Sophie Merasty, who lost her sister Rose, said, “We have always known this was a genocide....The violence we face happens in all aspects of our lives—at every level, in every institution, in every interaction.”On behalf of all Canadians, will the Prime Minister honour this truth and state clearly that Canada committed genocide against indigenous women and girls and 2SLGBTQQIA people? Will he commit to implementing all recommendations from the inquiry, with dedicated resources and a timeline that is accountable to the public?

Mr. Speaker, the changes to the asylum system the Prime Minister tried to sneak through in the omnibus budget bill show his true colours.Despite Liberal promises, there was no gender-based analysis done. When experts pointed this out at the immigration committee, government members had no answers. The changes will disproportionately impact women and girls fleeing violence by denying their right to seek protection in Canada. Forty-six women's organizations from across Canada sent an open letter to the Prime Minister condemning these changes. Will the Prime Minister do what is right and withdraw these provisions, or is he just content that his version of feminism is just for show?

Mr. Speaker, platitudes are no replacement for actions. As a proud immigrant Canadian, I know the importance of having one's family around when one is new to a country. Parents and grandparents are key supports in a family unit. However, some families are waiting for up to 10 years to be reunited, and that is when they are able to submit an application at all. This program needs more than a simple increase to the application quota; it needs a total overhaul. Will the minister fix the program so that families can be reunited quickly?

Mr. Speaker, climate leaders do not buy pipelines. Feminist prime ministers do not turf female colleagues because they speak truth to power. Humanitarian leaders do not shut their borders to asylum seekers during a refugee crisis. Now the Liberals have snuck in changes to refugee laws in the budget bill. That means people like Seidu Mohammed, an LGBTQ man from Ghana, whose asylum claim was accepted after he crossed irregularly from the U.S., will not even get a chance to apply. Lives are at risk. Will the Prime Minister do what is right and suspend the safe third country agreement?

Mr. Speaker, with Trump's latest move, close to 60,000 Haitians in the U.S. may face deportation. This would no doubt lead to more Haitians trying to make irregular crossings to Canada. With winter setting in, it is dangerous, and no one wants to see more tragedies. It is time for Canada to reconsider the safe third country agreement. The UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination's most recent report called on Canada to at least temporarily suspend the safe third country agreement. Will the government do just that?

Mr. Speaker, more and more people are demanding that Canada end the safe third country agreement with the U.S. Immigration lawyers are now saying that many refugee applications have to be rejected because of this agreement. The minister continues to turn a blind eye and be complicit to the reality these refugees are facing. On Friday in this House the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness admitted, “Obviously, a number of these issues are emerging”.If the government admits there is a problem, why will it not do anything about it?

Mr. Speaker, if the government is bankrolling a Texas oil company over first nations' opposition, it has picked a side. Respecting the rights of indigenous people is not a formality. It cannot be an add-on or an afterthought. Free, prior, and informed consent means it needs to be real and it needs to be meaningful. Two hundred and thirty international organizations have signed a letter to criticize the government on precisely that.If the government is so confident that the process was not rigged, why is it fighting in court to stop the release of those documents? What is it afraid of?

Mr. Speaker, that is not what is says on the website. The chair of the Vancouver School Board is ringing the alarm bell on the fact that the federal government has consistently reduced the funding for the settlement workers in schools program. There has been a 20% funding cut at a time when refugee and immigrant families are increasing, forcing the school boards to cut essential positions and programs vital to the success of students and families.The government claims it wants refugees and immigrant families to succeed. Will the government put its money where its mouth is, reverse the cuts, and ensure that there is stable funding for the SWIS program?

Mr. Speaker, have they consulted the first nations who said no to Kinder Morgan? Elections are about democracy. Elections are about fairness. Elections are about making sure everyone has an equal voice. The Liberals abandoned their promise to make every vote count. They promised that they would never shut down debate on an elections bill, and now they are doing exactly that. Why are the Liberals so determined to undermine democracy and fairness to all Canadians?

Mr. Speaker, this year is the 81st anniversary of the Nanjing massacre. Approximately 300,000 people were killed and an estimated 200,000 women from Japanese-occupied territories were tricked or coerced into sexual slavery. A family member told me today my grandmother and mother never stopped talking about what happened and how shameful it was that so much of the world never even knew. On behalf of Order of Canada recipient Joy Kogawa and nearly 40,000 Canadians, I ask: Will the Prime Minister declare December 13 every year as Nanjing massacre commemorative day, yes or no?

Mr. Speaker, on a point of order, I believe my parliamentary privilege has been breached today.My question on deportation and legal aid funding was clearly directed to the Minister of Public Safety, who is responsible for CBSA. However, the Minister for Women and Gender Equality answered the question. I hope you will find it appropriate to invite the Minister of Public Safety to respond to my question.

Mr. Speaker, “Only countries that respect human rights and offer a high degree of protection to asylum seekers may be designated as safe third countries.” Twenty-two refugees risked life and limb crossing from the U.S. into Canada. No one risks their family's safety unless they have no choice. These refugees are blocked from the Canadian system while they are the U.S. because of the safe third country agreement.Does the minister still believe the U.S. is offering a high degree of protection to asylum seekers, yes or no?

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister claims he is a defender of human rights, yet he will not speak up against Trump's racist ban. What is worse, once rejected by the U.S., those refugees cannot make a claim in Canada because of the safe third country agreement. So much for #welcometoCanada. Canadians no longer have confidence that the U.S. is a safe haven for refugees. If we do not suspend the agreement, Canada will be complicit in this discriminatory ban.Will the government immediately suspend the safe third country agreement, yes or no?

Mr. Speaker, nearly four decades ago, Prime Minister Pierre Elliott Trudeau introduced reforms to the Canada pension plan to ensure that women were not penalized for time taken out of the workforce to raise kids. After styling himself as a feminist, the present Prime Minister chose not to include this important gender equality provision in the new CPP enhancement bill.Will the government commit to fixing this oversight to ensure that women are not penalized when it comes to new CPP benefits?

Mr. Speaker, while Trump closed the doors to those fleeing gang violence and domestic violence, yet many fleeing from Central America cite gang violence as the main reason to seek asylum. Trump's policy is in violation of the UN convention for gender-related persecution. As long as Trump is in power, the U.S. will never be a safe country for asylum seekers. Will the Prime Minister show the moral leadership by suspending the safe third country agreement?

Mr. Speaker, that is with the exception that people are fleeing and coming to border communities here in Canada because they do not feel safe in the U.S. anymore. The Liberals' Bill C-23 would give American border guards even more powers to question, search, and even detain Canadians on Canadian soil. There are already too many reports of Canadians being unfairly harassed or profiled at border crossings. The current pre-clearance system is working well, so why are the Liberals pushing this legislation forward? Why is the government working so hard to give even more powers to Trump's border guards?

Mr. Speaker, 27 migrant workers spent up to $5,000 to come to Canada for a job that never materialized. They signed an employment contract with Golden Eagle Farms, which is part of the Aquilini empire. They have valid employer-specific permits. It has been over six months, and they have yet to get work.If there was no work at Golden Eagle Farms for these migrant workers, how on earth did the Aquilini group get a positive labour market impact assessment for 280 workers?Will the minister stop this abuse and immediately issue open work permits for these women?

Mr. Speaker, during question period, the member for Don Valley West, chair of the citizenship and immigration committee, mentioned that a motion was moved at committee to extend the study on the Yazidi issue by one extra day and to have a report come out of that committee study. The member only suggested that it was to extend the meeting, which is not factually accurate. Therefore, I raise that as a point of order.

Mr. Speaker, the people in the Downtown Eastside fought long and hard for Crab Park and now the port plans to infill seven acres of the waterfront, posing a real threat to the park.The Conservatives gave sweeping powers to the port, allowing it to assess and approve its own projects, undermining accountability to Canadians. The port has even refused to meet with the mayor of Richmond on plans to convert agricultural lands into warehouses and shipping centres.Will the minister take action to ensure there is real accountability from the port, which thinks it is not answerable to anyone?

Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Immigration has left families and caregivers in the dark for months on what will replace the current caregiver program. This week, migrant workers' rights groups released a report calling on the minister to ensure caregivers would finally be given the respect and security they deserve. Experts and caregivers have been clear for decades. If they are good enough to work here, they are good enough to stay. There should be no more delay tactics. Will the Prime Minister do what is right and commit to providing caregivers permanent resident status on arrival?

Mr. Speaker, yesterday the Prime Minister became emotional when speaking about Syrian refugees. That is understandable, when we think about the hardships they faced before arriving here. Month 13 is just days away, and for many Syrian refugees, federal assistance will abruptly end. Yet over 30% have not had any language training, and B.C. has the longest waiting lists. In fact, I have met Syrian refugees who have been here for two years, and they still are waiting. How are they supposed to integrate into the workforce if they are still on a wait-list for language training?

Mr. Speaker, I still have many constituents who need help.Jack Layton's climate change accountability act was passed in this House not once but twice before it was killed by the unelected and unaccountable Senate, and former MP Megan Leslie was advocating a green new deal to avert a climate disaster 10 years ago. When the NDP asked the Minister of Environment to do more on the climate emergency, her response was “I don't get it.” The member for Edmonton Strathcona has tabled an environmental bill of rights for all Canadians. We have 11 years to act.Will the Prime Minister support the NDP's environmental bill of rights?

Mr. Speaker, by the minister's own admission, language is key to Syrian refugees' success. Amer Alhendawi has been here for almost a year, and he is still waiting for an ESL class. Thousands of refugees across the country have the same problem. Vancouver Community College has over 800 people on its wait list. It was forced to cancel classes because of an 8.5% funding cut by the federal government.How can the minister expect refugees to join the workforce if they cannot even access language training?

Mr. Speaker, Fadwa Alaoui is a Muslim Canadian born in Morocco. She has a Canadian passport, but that was not enough.Border guards berated her about how often she attends her mosque, what her views are about President Trump, and if she knew anyone killed in the Quebec City mosque attack. She was humiliated and four hours later she drove home.This kind of treatment goes directly against what the government has promised. What is the Liberal government doing about this situation? Can it confirm that there are no other Canadians who have faced this type of situation?

Mr. Speaker, instead of going after fat cat CEOs and the tax havens wealthy corporations use to avoid paying their fair share, refugees are having their child benefits clawed back. The government failed to provide timely access for language training for many of the new arrivals, yet refugee families that do not respond quickly to the CRA are penalized immediately. Not only are those payments stopped, but, in two cases, refugee families were billed $27,000. Is that why the government is giving the CRA $1 billion to crack down on the middle class and those who are working hard to join it?

Mr. Speaker, yesterday, the Minister of Immigration said the government was providing funding for groups like the Inland Refugee Society of B.C. That is simply not true. NGOs like the Inland Refugee Society do not get a penny from the federal government. With a 300% increase in its caseload, it is running out of basic resources. Without urgent intervention, it will have to close its doors.Will the Prime Minister support the Inland Refugee Society of B.C., yes or no? We need to do more than just tweet about it.

Mr. Speaker, “Government and its information should be open by default.” Those were the Prime Minister's exact words in his mandate letter to the Minister of Heritage.Secret, closed-door consultations on an anti-racism plan leaves Canadians and the organizations working every day to combat systemic racism in the dark.The minister should know by now about the value of openness and public accountability. After all, thanks to question period, he learned that systemic racism actually does exist in Canada.Will the minister do the right thing and open up the process?

Mr. Speaker, sorry, it is because the former attorney general wants to tell her whole truth. What part of that does the government not get?No one is buying the government's talking points. The Liberals shut down the justice committee. They are moving heaven and earth to prevent Canadians from learning the truth.The former AG hired legal counsel to advise her on what she can and cannot say. Unlike the Prime Minister, she is not willing to break the law. The former Treasury Board president made it clear. The Liberals assume that the best interests of Canadians are their own political interests. They are one and the same. Is that the real reason the Prime Minister will not call a public inquiry?

Mr. Speaker, the Liberal government continues to devalue the contributions of parents and grandparents. First it was family reunification based on the luck of the draw. After scrapping that colossal failure, it was right back to the Conservative plan to make families race, at breakneck speed, just to submit an application before an arbitrary cap was reached. It took all of 11 minutes yesterday before the door was slammed shut. Now families have to wait another year to even have a shot at submitting an application.Will the Liberal government do what is right and cancel the cap?

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister guaranteed that no Canadians would be mistreated while trying to cross the U.S. border, but what we have seen in case after case is very troubling. Muslim Canadians have been targeted. We have seen evidence on racial profiling and repeated cases of the privacy of Canadians being invaded.What will the government do to secure clear assurances for Canadians who wish to cross the border? When will the Prime Minister stand up for Canadians? After all it is Pink Shirt Day. Will he stand up to the bully?

Mr. Speaker, the Liberals' promise to overhaul how asylum claims are processed is on hold indefinitely. The Prime Minister's “welcome to Canada” rhetoric is just a slogan. There has been no action on designated countries of origin, no action on giving the IRB the resources it desperately needs, and 1,000 cases are added to the huge backlog every month. The integrity of the entire system is under threat.Is the government blind to this, or is it just happy to break yet another promise?

Mr. Speaker, I rise on a point of order. There has been talk among the parties, and I am very hopeful that if you seek it, you will find unanimous consent for the following motion:—

Mr. Speaker, the online application process for the parents and grandparents sponsorship program was a farce. Grace had tried to apply for four years, but the link did not even show up for her on the IRCC website, despite her upgrading her Internet. Yuna felt cheated, as no one told her about the game rules. She opened the form at 9:01. It said she had 10 minutes to complete it. She finished it in three. Then she went over it to make sure everything was correct, but after seven minutes, she was kicked out. Later she heard that she only had to fill out the name and the contact information to be accepted.How is this a fair process? What will it take for the minister to do the right thing and eliminate the cap?

Mr. Speaker, for years, successive Liberal and Conservative governments mismanaged Canada's immigration program, creating huge backlogs and long wait times. People are forced to live in uncertainty or to be separated for long periods of time. It currently takes nearly a year and a half to sponsor a child and more than two years to sponsor a spouse.Can the minister explain and inform this House on what concrete actions he will take to shorten wait times and to help reunite families quickly?

Mr. Speaker, four temporary foreign workers have won the right to a class action suit against Mac's and the immigration consultant companies owned by Kuldeep Bansal. The migrant workers paid as much as $8,500 to Bansal to obtain jobs with Mac's, only to arrive in Canada and find that those jobs did not exist. An FOI revealed that LMIAs were issued for 486 positions for Mac's. The CBSA has investigated this case for five years and recommends that charges be laid. Why has the government not acted on the recommendations of the CBSA?

Mr. Speaker, then why did the minister say that there was no systemic racism in Canada? The new national anti-racism strategy comes directly from the report “Taking action against systemic racism and religious discrimination including Islamophobia”. At committee, Senator Murray Sinclair stated, “systemic racism is the racism that's left over after you get rid of the racists. Once you get rid of the racists within the justice system...you will still have racism perpetrated by the justice system.” Senator Sinclair is absolutely correct. Has the minister even read the report?

Madam Speaker, live-in care workers are providing an enormously valuable and much-needed service for Canadians. They leave their families behind to come to take care of Canadian families. If one is good enough to work here, then one is good enough to stay. Next week the minister will announce an increase in immigration levels. Will he provide an immediate pathway to permanent residence for live-in care workers, and in the meantime, will he crack down on the obscenely long backlogs in processing live-in care workers' family reunification?

Mr. Speaker, the Harper government quietly latched on to an interpretation of sharia law to block international adoptions from Muslim majority countries in 2013. This strange rule applies in countries that do not even follow sharia law. Meanwhile, families like Sarah's are blocked. It has been six years and Sarah still cannot unite with her adopted son. The orphanage is now demanding that Sarah bring him home or give him up. Why did the Liberals take three years to just review this bizarre policy? Will the government stop using an interpretation of sharia law for adoptions?

Mr. Speaker, at committee, CBSA officials stated that applying the safe third country agreement to the entire Canadian border would be more dangerous. The Minister of Immigration has said that it is not a workable solution. The parliamentary secretary to public safety stated that it would only drive asylum seekers further underground. A Liberal member has warned that this Conservative idea would make Canada a “one-man island where we do not allow others in.”Will the Prime Minister just clearly state that applying the safe third country agreement to the entire Canadian border is off the table?

Mr. Speaker, yesterday the Minister of Immigration was asked about the American treatment of refugees and he said, “nothing has changed”. Nothing has changed. Really?There is a massive immigration crackdown inside the U.S. Hundreds of refugees are risking life and limb to cross the border. Today Amnesty International has said Trump's “fear and scapegoating” has increased risk to human rights. All this and another executive order on immigration is on its way.Does the Prime Minister agree with the minister that nothing has changed and that the U.S. is still a safe country for refugees?

Mr. Speaker, Canadians are calling for action. It is about lives, real lives, real people, real children being subjected to torture. Former minister Lloyd Axworthy, the chair of the World Refugee Council, and Allan Rock, former UN ambassador, are clearly stating that the U.S. is no longer a safe country for asylum seekers. Canada must not be complicit in this inhumane treatment of children.Will the Prime Minister find the courage and suspend the safe third country agreement?

Mr. Speaker, I have a news flash for the Prime Minister. The human rights commissioner condemned this policy and calls it unconscionable. This is destroying lives. If Canada does not step up, then we are complicit. Nearly 2,000 children have been sent to mass detention centres, and over 100 of them are under four years old.Will the Prime Minister stand up for migrant children and suspend the safe third country agreement?