Quebec’s Decision to Renew the Notwithstanding Clause on Bill 21
The Quebec Government has announced it will once again propose legislation to renew the pre-emptive use of the notwithstanding clause in the Law 21 case. The clause must be renewed every 5 years to shield a law that violates Charter rights in a manner that is not justifiable in a free and democratic society from being struck down by a court. While the decision is not surprising it is deplorable.
This law blocks people from wearing visible religious attire when working in multiple government jobs including teaching in public schools. In my view it violates freedom of religion and does nothing to achieve a secular society. But far worse is the use of the notwithstanding clause pre-emptively. If the Quebec legislature believes this law is reasonable it should allow a court to determine whether rights are unreasonably violated.
I pushed very hard for our federal government to take the position we have announced. That we will challenge Quebec (and any other provinces) pre-emptive use of the notwithstanding clause. Quebec has done this in both Law 21 and Law 96. There are two ways for us to challenge it. The Quebec Court of Appeals should shortly deliver a judgment in the Law 21 case and the federal government can intervene in the case before the Supreme Court. That has been the preferred option as there are real people and victims that will be before the court with an actual situation for the court to look at. The other option would be a reference to the Supreme Court. I am working very hard on this issue. I have met with the Attorney General and Liberal members of the Justice Committee to discuss this and will be meeting with some of my fellow Montreal area MPs next week. Please listen to my interview with Aaron and Natasha on CJAD where I explained what I will be doing and the different options of intervention:
Quebec will invoke the notwithstanding clause on Bill 21… again. (iheartradio.ca)
Parliamentary Secretary Role
Since I have been named, I have met with my Minister, met with her staff and department officials, and received multiple large binders to read and am in the process of receiving multiple briefings every day to bring me up to speed on department activities. This week on Friday will be the first Question Period where I cover my Minister and I have also joined the House Ethics Committee, which is one of the many committees whose work we touch. I received a very kind letter from the QCGN and very much appreciated their publicly expressing happiness about my appointment to a position where I can assist minority language communities through the Treasury Board’s responsibilities for the Official Languages Act. At the Ethics committee we are currently studying the government’s use of extraction software and its impact on privacy rights.
Please read the Suburban story on this:
Housefather regains Parliamentary Secretary role | City News | thesuburban.com
Justice Committee/Antisemitism
At the Justice Committee we adopted an amendment I proposed to the new bill establishing a method for review of claims of miscarriage of justice. The Bill has now been returned to the House. I am hoping to be able to move my motion calling for the Committee to study antisemitism in Canada with a focus on university campuses at our next meeting.
In my capacity as a co-chair of the International Task Force to Combat Online Antisemitism I met with my co-chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz this week to plan our next few months of activities and I met with senior leaders at Tik Tok to discuss improvements they could make to reduce antisemitism and other forms of hate on their platforms.
Medically Assisted Dying
I strongly support the recommendations of a House Committee to extend the date at which those with solely a mental illness can access medically assisted dying. The Liberals have introduced a bill to delay implementation for at least three years and I will vote for the bill.
Canada/Ukraine Free Trade Agreement
I voted in favor of the Bill to implement the Canada/Ukraine Free Trade Agreement. Ukraine and Canada both benefit from the relationship and given its war with Russia, this agreement was particularly important to Ukraine. I was very disappointed that my Conservative colleagues voted against the bill.
Israel and UN Votes
In my capacity as Chair of the Canada/Israel Friendship Group I met this week with the Israeli Ambassador and the Consul Generals for both Montreal and Toronto. We discussed multiple issues related to renewing of research and development agreements and the role Canada could now play to assist in the region as well as plans for the 75th anniversary of our diplomatic relationship coming up in May.
One of the things that I find most unfortunate is the general misconception about Canada’s votes at the UN when Israel is singled out for condemnation. Many of you have heard of UN Watch. On its website it has statistics how each country has voted on resolutions at the UN related to Israel. Below are the statistics since the Liberal Government has been in power since 2015 to today. As you will see Canada has by far the strongest support of Israel at the UN of any major country except the United States. I encourage you to read this carefully and send this on to your friends who are interested in this issue:
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Voting statistics on the 149 resolutions related to Israel at from 2015 to 2023 since the Liberal Party has been in power.
Source: Canada – UN Watch Database As of February 6, 2024 |
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| In order of support for Israel | In favor of Israel | Against Israel | Abstentions | ||||||
| 1 | USA | 95% | 0% | 5% | |||||
| 2 | Canada | 83% | 4% | 13% | |||||
| 3. | Australia | 40% | 21% | 40% | |||||
| 4 | Hungary | 16% | 64% | 20% | |||||
| 5 | Czech Republic | 9% | 65% | 26% | |||||
| 6 | Brazil | 7% | 76% | 17% | |||||
| 7 | United Kingdom | 7% | 70% | 23% | |||||
| 8 | DRC | 4% | 70% | 26% | |||||
| 9 | Austria | 7% | 75% | 18% | |||||
| 10 | Colombia | 5% | 81% | 14% | |||||
| 11 | Germany | 4% | 70% | 26% | |||||
| 12 | Italy | 1% | 72% | 27% | |||||
| 13 | Sweden | 1% | 78% | 21% | |||||
| 14 | France | 0% | 72% | 28% | |||||
| 15 | Spain | 0% | 79% | 21% | |||||
| 16 | Russia | 0% | 85% | 15% | |||||
| 17 | Pakistan | 0% | 100% | 0% | |||||
| 18 | Argentina | 0% | 90% | 10% | |||||
| 19 | India | 0% | 89% | 11% | |||||
| 20 | China | 0% | 100% | 0% | |||||
This week, a constituent approached me with a terrible situation that I wanted to share with you in the hopes of raising awareness about elder abuse. A resident of our riding was called last week about her grandchild being in jail. The call used Artificial Intelligence to replicate her family member’s voice, giving legitimacy to the call. The scammer instructed their grandmother to transfer them $5000 so they could be released from jail. Then the phone was passed to an “officer” who assured her that she would be reimbursed once there was a trial. A few days later, another call came, asking her yet again for more money before it became evident that this was a scam.
Please be vigilant, do not give money to someone who calls you over the phone. Please insist on calling people back and checking anything that seems suspicious with friends, family members or police.
Other tips are to never give your SIN number to anyone who is not your employer. Remember that the CRA will NEVER refund you through e-transfers and ensure you know the sender before clicking on links in emails. These scams are very sophisticated and please take all steps possible to protect yourself.
What additional information is there about the Canada Dental Benefit?
I have received many calls and emails about this, so I want to clarify for everyone about the Canada Dental Benefit. As of this month everyone 72 years of age and older should receive their letter if they are eligible and can call to register with the code in the letter and your social insurance number.
Those eligible:
- Have a household income of $90,000 or below;
- Have filed taxes in 2022;
- Are a Canadian citizen;
- Do not have access to other dental plans;
Stolen Cars
Today, I stood with Minister Dominic LeBlanc as he announced a federal investment of $28 million to tackle the export of stolen vehicles. Auto theft is a growing challenge in Ontario, Quebec and across the country. With this new funding, the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) will have greater capacity to detect and search containers with stolen vehicles, as well as enhance collaboration and information sharing with partners in Canada and internationally.
Tomorrow there will be a summit on this issue bringing together police, federal and provincial and municipal officials, car manufacturers and insurers.
BEWARE: Grandparent scam
This week, a constituent approached me with a terrible situation that I wanted to share with you in the hopes of raising awareness about elder abuse. A resident of our riding was called last week about her grandchild being in jail. The call used Artificial Intelligence to replicate her family member’s voice, giving legitimacy to the call. The scammer instructed their grandmother to transfer them $5000 so they could be released from jail. Then the phone was passed to an “officer” who assured her that she would be reimbursed once there was a trial. A few days later, another call came, asking her yet again for more money before it became evident that this was a scam.
Please be vigilant, do not give money to someone who calls you over the phone. Please insist on calling people back and checking anything that seems suspicious with friends, family members or police.
Other tips are to never give your SIN number to anyone who is not your employer. Remember that the CRA will NEVER refund you through e-transfers and ensure you know the sender before clicking on links in emails. These scams are very sophisticated and please take all steps possible to protect yourself.
What additional information is there about the Canada Dental Benefit?
I have received many calls and emails about this, so I want to clarify for everyone about the Canada Dental Benefit. As of this month everyone 72 years of age and older should receive their letter if they are eligible and can call to register with the code in the letter and your social insurance number.
Those eligible:
- Have a household income of $90,000 or below;
- Have filed taxes in 2022;
- Are a Canadian citizen;
- Do not have access to other dental plans;