COVID-19 travel scandal

In January 2021, Sweet was discovered to have travelled to the United States during the COVID-19 pandemic, despite the border between Canada and the United States being closed to nonessential travel and public health advisories to avoid unnecessary travel. Sweet received prior approval from Conservative Party leader Erin O'Toole for the trip, which was initially for a property issue but also, according to Sweet, for leisure. Sweet resigned from his role on the ethics committee and announced he would not be seeking re-election.^[15]

Mental health

Mental health is an issue that Sweet has repeatedly spoken about, particularly after the death of his daughter Lara in 2017. In his Member's statement following Lara's passing, he called upon the Government of Canada "to continue to adequately fund the Canadian Mental Health Commission" and "to be generous to the Canadian Mental Health Association and others who are deeply committed to the fight for mental wholeness."^[16]

in 2019, Sweet supported Private Members' Motion 174, which sought to introduce a National Strategy on Suicide Prevention. In the House of Commons, Sweet focused on speaking to the importance of such a strategy and, during his speech, gave an account of the day that his daughter committed suicide. "I share this painful and personal story to shed light on the importance of the initiative that the member from Timmins—James Bay is asking the House to consider, approve and undertake. Four thousand times a year someone takes their life in this country. It is true that it is not always someone's child or a youth or young adult, but all too often it is. I wanted my colleagues to know that their important and thoughtful vote to move this motion to a committee for study could eventually mean that the pain our family and thousands of other families endured could be significantly reduced. A national strategy could bring together all those individuals and organizations that are already doing great work on the front lines to address the mental health and suicide crisis, and bring them together to create synergies and best practices so that so many more people who are struggling could be helped."^[17]

During the 2019 Canadian Federal Election, Sweet campaigned on his record as an advocate for Mental Health by making it one of his five priorities if re-elected.^[18] He committed to advocating for increased funding for mental health research and programs, as well as promoting policies like the National Strategy on Suicide Prevention.

Training schools

Though not an area of federal jurisdiction, Sweet has repeatedly called for the Government of Ontario to launch a public inquiry into so-called "training schools" like the one he was sent to as a child. In a letter to then Attorney General Yasir Naqvi, Sweet told Naqvi that it was "disappointing that victims of only three of the sixteen institutions had been appropriately recognized, provided support and compensation", pointing out that of the thirteen that had not been recognized, all of them had been run by the provincial government.^[19] In his letter, Sweet argued that an inquiry would bring forward recommendations on how to avoid similar injustices in the future, inform the public who he said "deserve to know what happened to their children with their tax dollars", and demonstrate the Ontario government's commitment to justice for those harmed by flawed policies and actions. In response, Naqvi declined Sweet's request.

Foreign affairs and international human rights

Sweet is an outspoken critic of Iran, which he has described as a state that "terror, supports terrorist groups like Hamas and Hezbollah, imprisons, tortures and executes their own people and others."^[20] He has presented multiple petitions to the House of Commons calling upon the Government of Canada "to maintain the listing of the Islamic Republic of Iran as a state supporter of terrorism"^[20] and has opposed any rollback of sanctions against the country. Sweet has highlighted the plight of followers of the Baháʼí Faith in Iran, where they are subject to state sanctioned persecution, calling for the release of the Baháʼí Seven, Fariba Kamalabadi, Jamaloddin Khanjani, Mahvash Sabet, Afif Naeimi, Saeid Rezaei, Vahid Tizfahm, and Behrouz Tavakkoli, all of whom Sweet says were "wrongfully imprisoned".^[20]

A staunch supporter of the state of Israel, Sweet has traveled to Israel on multiple occasions, including alongside Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Governor General David Johnston. He has spoken out repeatedly in the House of Commons to condemn antisemitism and anti-Israel sentiments, including to denounce the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement, which Sweet has referred to as "nothing but thinly veiled antisemitism, and to be very frank, Jew hatred."^[21] Sweet has also condemned Israel Apartheid Week as being "a concerted effort to demonize and delegitimize the right of the State of Israel to exist and the Jewish people to have a safe homeland therein".^[22] He has similarly held both the position of chair and Vice Chair of the Canada-Israel Interparliamentary Group.^[23]

Sweet is a vocal advocate for human rights and religious freedoms, having served on the House of Commons Subcommittee on International Human Rights since he was first elected in 2006. Since then, the subcommittee has studied a wide variety of international human rights situations, including the situation Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar; child slavery and modern slavery; the persecution of Uyghur Muslims in China; the treatment of religious minorities in Pakistan; the protection of woman human rights defenders; and much more.

He served on the Steering Committee of the Canadian Parliamentary Committee to Combat Antisemitism Canadian Parliamentary Coalition to Combat Antisemitism (CPCCA) and on the CPCCA's Inquiry Panel which released a public report on July 7, 2011.^[24] In November 2012, Sweet received the 2012 Humanitarian Award from the Hamilton Jewish Federation for his work on CPCCA and in speaking out against racism.

Scleroderma

Sweet makes an annual Members Statement in the House of Commons each June to recognize Scleroderma Month in Canada, saying on June 1, 2006: "If there is a note of passion in my voice, it is because my own family has had to deal with the devastating effects of scleroderma. My mother passed away from complications of this disease and cancer."^[25] Sweet also attends annual Scleroderma walks in Hamilton and across Ontario to advocate for research to find a cure for the rare disease.