43rd PARLIAMENT, 1st SESSION House of Commons Debates Official Report (Hansard) VOLUME 149 NUMBER 004 Tuesday, December 10, 2019 Speaker: The Honourable Anthony Rota CONTENTS (Table of Contents appears at back of this issue.) 175 HOUSE OF COMMONS Tuesday, December 10, 2019 The House met at 10 a.m. GOVERNMENT ORDERS ● (1010) [English] Prayer BUSINESS OF SUPPLY OPPOSITION MOTION—PROPOSED SPECIAL COMMITTEE ON CANADA- ROUTINE PROCEEDINGS CHINA RELATIONS Hon. Erin O'Toole (Durham, CPC): moved: ● (1005) That, in light of the prolonged diplomatic crisis with China, the House appoint a special committee with the mandate to conduct hearings to examine and review all [English] aspects of the Canada–China relationship including, but not limited to, consular, economic, legal, security and diplomatic relations: PRIVACY COMMISSIONER (a) that the committee be composed of 12 members, of which six shall be gov‐ The Speaker: I have the honour to lay upon the table the report ernment members, four shall be from the official opposition, one shall be from of the Privacy Commissioner on the application of the Personal In‐ the Bloc Québécois and one from the New Democratic Party; formation Protection and Electronic Documents Act and the Priva‐ (b) that changes in the membership of the committee shall be effective immedi‐ cy Act for the year 2018-19. ately after notification by the whip has been filed with the Clerk of the House; (c) that membership substitutions be permitted, if required, in the manner pro‐ [Translation] vided for in Standing Order 114(2); (d) that the members shall be named by their respective whip by depositing with Pursuant to Standing Order 108(3)(h), this document is deemed the Clerk of the House the list of their members to serve on the committee no to have been permanently referred to the Standing Committee on later than January 15, 2020; Access to Information, Privacy and Ethics. (e) that the Clerk of the House shall convene an organization meeting of the said committee for no later than January 20, 2020; * * * (f) that the committee be chaired by a member of the government party; (g) that notwithstanding Standing Order 106(2), in addition to the Chair, there be COMMISSIONER OF THE ENVIRONMENT AND one vice-chair from the official opposition, one vice-chair from the Bloc SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT Québécois and one vice-chair from the New Democratic Party; The Speaker: I have the honour to lay upon the table, pursuant (h) that quorum of the committee be as provided for in Standing Order 118 and that the Chair be authorized to hold meetings to receive evidence and to have to subsection 23(5) of the Auditor General Act, the 2019 fall re‐ that evidence printed when a quorum is not present, provided that at least four ports of the interim commissioner of the environment and sustain‐ members are present, including one member of the opposition and one member able development to the House of Commons. of the government; (i) that the committee be granted all of the powers of a standing committee, as [English] provided in the Standing Orders, as well as the power to travel, accompanied by the necessary staff, inside and outside of Canada; These reports are permanently referred to the Standing Commit‐ (j) that the committee have the power to authorize video and audio broadcasting tee on Environment and Sustainable Development. of any or all of its proceedings; and (k) that the Prime Minister, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, the Minister of Pub‐ * * * lic Safety, and the Canadian ambassador to China be ordered to appear as wit‐ nesses from time to time as the committee sees fit. QUESTIONS ON THE ORDER PAPER The Speaker: Since today is the final allotted day for the supply Mr. Kevin Lamoureux (Parliamentary Secretary to the Lead‐ period ending December 10, 2019, the House will go through the er of the Government in the House of Commons, Lib.): Mr. usual procedures to consider and dispose of the supply bill. Speaker, I ask that all questions be allowed to stand. In view of recent practices, do hon. members agree that the bill The Speaker: Is that agreed? be distributed now? Some hon. members: Agreed. Some hon. members: Agreed. 176 COMMONS DEBATES December 10, 2019 Business of Supply Hon. Erin O'Toole: Mr. Speaker, this is a very important debate ues that we are respected for and have been respected for since that our Parliament is seized with today and I want to thank the Confederation. leader of the Conservative Party and our caucus for bringing this to Parliament. This is an example of how this Parliament can fulfill its function, challenging the government, holding it to account for a record which on foreign affairs is quite weak, but also proposing All governments in the modern era, going back to that of the methods that allow for better resolutions. That is what this opposi‐ Prime Minister's father, have tried to balance the need to engage tion day motion and the proposal of a special committee of Parlia‐ trade, do business and help develop parts of China, alongside the ment on Canada-China relations are all about. need to push on human rights, democratic reform, rule of law and a higher standard in global affairs, so there is a tremendous opportu‐ I want to start off with two reflections. The first is that today nity. marks one year since Canadians Michael Spavor and Michael Kovrig were arrested by Chinese state authorities and detained without charge, and without access to a lawyer or to the rule of law. They were arbitrarily detained as a diplomatic response to a lawful ● (1015) extradition arrest performed by Canada, a rule of law country, on behalf of the U.S. and a decision by a U.S. court. Canada acted with full respect of its rule of law traditions and China's actions have re‐ flected and reminded us that there is no rule of law. I am frustrated that in recent years the Communist Party of China seems to be stepping back from its path of engagement as a serious I am sure I speak for all Conservatives, parliamentarians and law-abiding world power. Canadians in saying that we stand in solidarity with the families of the two Michaels. We want their well-being to be safeguarded and we want to see them return home to Canada as quickly as possible. Today, we will be talking about many facets of the Canada-China Years ago, before my election to Parliament, I spoke at a busi‐ relationship with its many challenges and some opportunities. ness luncheon in Toronto. The law firm I was at, like many export‐ However, we are not going to speak further about the two Michaels, ing companies in Canada, saw the tremendous growth potential in out of respect for that case and the need for a resolution. China, the second-largest economy, with growth rates in the double digits in recent decades. I introduced the ambassador to China at What is promising about this motion is the specialized committee the time, who was speaking to a Toronto business audience. I used that we are proposing. It would be all-party and multidisciplinary, a Chinese proverb: One generation plants the trees, the next genera‐ with the ability to look at all aspects of the Canada-China relation‐ tion enjoys the shade. ship from complex consular cases to national security issues, to trade, to global affairs, within the context of a committee that can go in camera and respect secret and sensitive information. That is probably the best venue to come up with a plan for a swift resolu‐ The hard work going into the early development of modern Chi‐ tion for the situation of Mr. Spavor and Mr. Kovrig. I hope the gov‐ na was started by Pierre Trudeau and continued through all prime ernment takes that into consideration when they consider voting on ministers, and goes back to iconic Canadians like Norman Bethune our motion later today. and hundreds of missionaries and other Canadian citizens who en‐ gage with China. These relationships have planted the trees. We I hope all members of this House realize this could be an oppor‐ have done the hard work. We should be enjoying the shade now. tunity to actually take the politics out of it, but allow us to do our That proverb ended up being the ambassador's favourite expression, job because Canadians are concerned about the well-being of these because it gets to the heart of diplomacy: We do the hard work so citizens. Canadians are well seized with issues related to China, that future generations can benefit. from the South China Sea islands, to Huawei, to the situation with the Uighurs, to Chinese ambitions in the Arctic as a self-declared “near-Arctic state”, a new diplomatic term that really did not exist until they created it. Canada has been a leading partner in China's development from The challenge of the China relationship is the foreign policy its being a truly developing country into the world's second-largest challenge that Canada will face over the next generation. This is a economy, a global power. We have been at the forefront with Dr. perfect opportunity for a specialized committee of parliamentarians Bethune and have been there to help with agricultural practices. We to examine it to make sure that Canada gets the balance right. have been there with our CANDU technology to provide green‐ house gas emission-free power through nuclear generating stations The second thing I will say at the outset of my remarks is that in a country that is too reliant on coal.