House of Commons Hansard #41 of the 38th Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament's site.) The word of the day was salaries.

Topics

Business of SupplyOral Question Period

3 p.m.

The Speaker

It is my duty pursuant to Standing Order 81(14) to inform the House that the motion to be considered tomorrow during consideration of the business of supply is as follows:

That the House recognize that the maintenance of the sockeye salmon stocks in the Fraser River is crucial for conservation and for commercial, recreational and aboriginal users; that the Government's investigation into the collapse of this resource cannot be considered independent; that this resource has been mismanaged; that past decisions have been made without the proper science; and that, as a consequence, the House call on the Government to establish an independent judicial enquiry to determine the cause of the collapse of the sockeye salmon stocks on the Fraser River.

This motion, standing in the name of the hon. member for Pitt Meadows—Maple Ridge—Mission, is votable.

Copies of the motion are available at the table.

Points of OrderOral Question Period

3:05 p.m.

Ahuntsic Québec

Liberal

Eleni Bakopanos LiberalParliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Social Development (Social Economy)

Mr. Speaker, I would ask the Chair to clarify two issues for me. Having occupied the chair and knowing that often there is too much back and forth, there are two issues that I feel I have to bring to the attention of the Chair.

The first issue is that certain hon. members on the opposition side, during a question in question period today, impugned motives. I understand the Standing Orders to indicate that we cannot, neither in the question nor the answer, impugn motives before an answer is given.

The second issue I would like to bring to the attention of the Speaker is the fact that there were questions asked today which should have been addressed, in my opinion, to a political party rather than a member of the House.

I would like some clarification on the two issues that I have raised.

Points of OrderOral Question Period

3:05 p.m.

The Speaker

Perhaps the member could assist the Chair by telling the Chair to which questions she was referring. I thought the questions that were asked today seemed to be about the responsibility of the government. If she could be more specific, I would be glad to review the matter and come back to the House in due course.

Points of OrderOral Question Period

3:05 p.m.

Liberal

Eleni Bakopanos Liberal Ahuntsic, QC

Mr. Speaker, I am referring to the question that was asked by the hon. member for Calgary--Nose Hill in particular, and also the questions that were asked by the hon. member for Simcoe--Grey.

Points of OrderOral Question Period

3:05 p.m.

The Speaker

I will be more than happy to review the questions that were asked, but my recollection at the time was that they were asking about the number of ministerial permits, or visas or whatever documents were issued at a specific time and place. I will review the matter. If that is not what they concerned, or if I misunderstood them, I will be more than happy to deal with the matter. My recollection at the time was that they were all right.

Of course the Speaker can make mistakes, painful as it may be to admit that, but it is a quick judgment call that is made at the last minute as these things transpire in the House. The Speaker does always try to do his best to uphold the rules and practices of the House, and I will continue to do that.

I thank the hon. member for her assistance.

Budget Implementation Act, 2004, No. 2Routine Proceedings

3:05 p.m.

Wascana Saskatchewan

Liberal

Ralph Goodale LiberalMinister of Finance

moved for leave to introduce Bill C-33, a second act to implement certain provisions of the budget tabled in Parliament on March 23, 2004.

(Motions deemed adopted, bill read the first time and printed)

PetitionsRoutine Proceedings

3:05 p.m.

Conservative

Guy Lauzon Conservative Stormont—Dundas—South Glengarry, ON

Mr. Speaker, as a member of Parliament for the riding of Stormont—Dundas—South Glengarry, I am proud to submit two petitions on behalf of concerned hard-working constituents of this great riding.

The first petition is on behalf of 120 school bus drivers. The petitioners say that driving a school bus is a highly responsible profession contributing to the safety and education of our children, that in the past a Canadian school bus driver could qualify for employment insurance benefits after working approximately 20 weeks and that under current rules, eligibility for benefits is based on the number of hours worked. They say that the federal government collects billions of dollars more in EI payments each year than it pays out in benefits.

Therefore, they call upon Parliament to enact legislation that would base eligibility for employment insurance premiums on the number of weeks rather than the number of hours worked.

PetitionsRoutine Proceedings

3:10 p.m.

Conservative

Guy Lauzon Conservative Stormont—Dundas—South Glengarry, ON

Mr. Speaker, the second petition concerns supply management, and it is signed by 794 concerned citizens of Stormont—Dundas—South Glengarry. It says, “much of the economy of this riding and of rural Ontario and Canada in general depends in large part on the profitability of dairy, egg, poultry and other types of farming, that candidates and representatives of the--

PetitionsRoutine Proceedings

3:10 p.m.

The Speaker

I hesitate to interrupt the hon. member, but he must know that he cannot read a petition. He must summarize it briefly.

PetitionsRoutine Proceedings

3:10 p.m.

Conservative

Guy Lauzon Conservative Stormont—Dundas—South Glengarry, ON

I was summarizing.

PetitionsRoutine Proceedings

3:10 p.m.

The Speaker

When the member said “it says” and started reading it, it sounded to me as though he was reading the petition, and he will want to summarize it.

PetitionsRoutine Proceedings

3:10 p.m.

Conservative

Guy Lauzon Conservative Stormont—Dundas—South Glengarry, ON

Mr. Speaker, the petitioners therefore call upon Parliament to urge the federal government to explicitly declare that supply management should be maintained.

PetitionsRoutine Proceedings

3:10 p.m.

Conservative

Jay Hill Conservative Prince George—Peace River, BC

Mr. Speaker, it is a pleasure for me to rise this afternoon and present three petitions to the House. The first is from citizens of Merlin, Ontario and Trail, B.C.

The petitioners would like to draw the attention of the House to the fact that Canadian Forces Housing Agency does provide housing for some of our military families who happen to live on base and many of those homes are below acceptable living standards, yet they face annual rent increases.

Therefore, the petitioners call upon Parliament to suspend any future rent increases for accommodation provided by the Canadian Forces Housing Agency until such time as the Government of Canada makes substantive improvements to the living conditions of housing provided for our military families.

PetitionsRoutine Proceedings

3:10 p.m.

Conservative

Jay Hill Conservative Prince George—Peace River, BC

Mr. Speaker, the second petition is from Weyburn, Regina, and Moose Jaw citizens in Saskatchewan.

The petitioners wish to draw to the attention of the House that adoptive parents make a significant social contribution to our society and that those parents often face significant adoption related costs, but out of pocket expenses are not tax deductible.

Therefore, they call upon Parliament to pass legislation to provide an income tax deduction for expenses related to the adoption of a child, similar to that contained in my private member's Bill C-246.

PetitionsRoutine Proceedings

3:10 p.m.

Conservative

Jay Hill Conservative Prince George—Peace River, BC

Mr. Speaker, the last petition I have this afternoon is on behalf of citizens in Fort St. John, Charlie Lake and, in particular, Pink Mountain in my beautiful riding of Prince George—Peace River.

The petitioners wish to call to the attention of the House that the addition of sexual orientation as an explicitly protected category under sections 318 and 319 of the Criminal Code could lead to individuals being unable to exercise their religious freedom as protected under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

Therefore, the petitioners call upon Parliament to protect the rights of Canadians to be free to share their religious beliefs without fear of prosecution.

PetitionsRoutine Proceedings

3:10 p.m.

Conservative

John Cummins Conservative Delta—Richmond East, BC

Mr. Speaker, I am sure the member opposite from Richmond would probably like to have his name on the bottom of the petition I have today. The petition recognizes that two million sockeye salmon were missing on the Fraser River this past summer. The petitioners are unhappy with the inquiry that the government is proposing be undertaken now.

Therefore, they call upon the government to initiate a judicial inquiry into the missing salmon.

PetitionsRoutine Proceedings

3:10 p.m.

Liberal

Lawrence MacAulay Liberal Cardigan, PE

Mr. Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 36 I am pleased to present a petition from a large number of constituents from St. Peters, Souris, St. Charles, in fact all through the Cardigan riding.

The petitioners want to draw to the attention of the House that children need protection from sexual exploitation. Therefore, the petitioners call upon Parliament to protect our children by taking necessary steps to raise the age of consent from 14 to 18 years of age.

PetitionsRoutine Proceedings

3:15 p.m.

Conservative

Peter MacKay Conservative Central Nova, NS

Mr. Speaker, I rise pursuant to section 36 of the Standing Orders to table a petition from citizens of Toronto, Ontario, and Antigonish, two booming metropolises.

I table on behalf of the petitioners, a petition calling upon the government to enact amendments to the Criminal Code, pursuant to sections 450 and 452, that deal with the punishments meted out for being in possession of counterfeit money or uttering these counterfeit documents.

The amendment calls for the lessening of charges from an indictable offence to a summary offence if the amount of counterfeit currency in question does not exceed the amount of $100.

PetitionsRoutine Proceedings

3:15 p.m.

Liberal

Raymond Simard Liberal Saint Boniface, MB

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to rise today to table a petition with 53 signatures from my riding of Saint Boniface.

The petitioners state that protecting the moral good of society is a natural and serious obligation of elected officials and that it cannot be left only to religious leaders and institutions. They say that the defence of traditional marriage as the bond between one man and one woman is a serious moral good and that marriage as a lasting union of a man and a woman to the exclusion of others cannot and should not be modified by a legislative act or a court of law.

They request that Parliament take whatever action is required to maintain the current definition of marriage in law in perpetuity and to prevent any court from overturning or amending that definition.

Questions Passed as Orders for ReturnsRoutine Proceedings

3:15 p.m.

Beauséjour New Brunswick

Liberal

Dominic LeBlanc LiberalParliamentary Secretary to the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons

Mr. Speaker, if Questions Nos. 5, 7 and 23 could be made orders for returns, these returns would be tabled immediately.

Questions Passed as Orders for ReturnsRoutine Proceedings

3:15 p.m.

The Speaker

Is that agreed?

Questions Passed as Orders for ReturnsRoutine Proceedings

3:15 p.m.

Some hon. members

Agreed.

Question No. 5Routine Proceedings

3:15 p.m.

Conservative

John Cummins Conservative Delta—Richmond East, BC

With regard to the environmental and economic issues posed by the development of salmon farm aquaculture sites in bays and inlets along the coast of British Columbia: ( a ) have guidelines been developed for the siting of open net salmon farm pens that would prohibit placement of salmon net pens in salmon nursery and juvenile rearing areas or migration routes in coastal inlets, bays and fiords and, if so, which of the farm sites presently in operation are in violation of these guidelines and which conform to the guidelines; ( b ) have authorizations or approvals been given for the establishment of salmon farm net pen aquaculture operations in the coastal waters of British Columbia and, if so, what are the locations, who is the operator of each approved site and what is the nature or type of authorization or approval given; ( c ) have species other than salmon been approved for these sites, if so what sites and species are involved and are these species now present in any of these approved sites; if so, which ones; ( d ) have provincial authorities licenced salmon farm net pen aquaculture operations in Canadian coastal waters without Canadian Environmental Assessment Act assessments and, if so, what is the specific location of each licence; ( e ) how many salmon farm sites are in operation without authorization and are awaiting approval under the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act, name or identify the sites and operator of each site; ( f ) what recommendations has the Commissioner for Aquaculture Development or the Office of Sustainable Aquaculture made to expedite Canadian Environmental Assessment Act environmental assessments and have individual site assessments been reduced or eliminated; ( g ) which of the sites licenced by a provincial authority and presently in operation are within five nautical miles of nursery or juvenile rearing areas or migration routes of wild salmon; ( h ) what studies or research have been undertaken or funded with regard to diseases and parasites associated with salmon net pen aquaculture, their possible transfer to wild stocks, and what were the findings; ( i ) what such diseases or parasites have been found at salmon net pen sites in each of the years 2000, 2001, 2002, and 2003, and what was the location of each farm site having these diseases or parasites; ( j ) has either the Pacific Fisheries Resources Conservation Council or Department of Fisheries and Oceans scientists ever advised the government of problems with sea lice and disease emanating from salmon sites that threaten wild salmon runs; if so, when, which farms and what wild stocks were involved; ( k ) has there been baseline research conducted of sea lice infestation on fish stocks on British Columbia’s central or north coast; ( l ) what is the level and composition of waste from net pen salmon aquaculture operations by farm site presently in operation; ( m ) what is the authorized density of fish at each site, and which of these sites exceed the authorized limits; ( n ) has the Department of Fisheries and Oceans established a carrying capacity for bays and inlets that may have a number of farm sites; if so, what is the carrying capacity by bay or inlet where such carrying capacity has been established and where such limits have been met or exceeded; ( o ) have PCBs been found in farmed salmon, how many times and at what level; ( p ) how many persons presently involved in salmon farm environmental assessments or reviews have been formerly employed by the British Columbia department responsible for aquaculture development and expansion; and ( q ) how many persons presently involved in salmon farm environmental assessments or reviews have been formerly employed by fish farm companies, who are they and which companies were they employed by?

(Return tabled)

Question No. 7Routine Proceedings

3:15 p.m.

Conservative

John Cummins Conservative Delta—Richmond East, BC

With regard to the environmental and economic issues posed by the development of halibut or sablefish aquaculture: ( a ) has a comprehensive environmental impact analysis of halibut and sablefish aquaculture been completed under the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act, Fisheries Act, the Navigable Water Protection Act or some other authority and what were the findings; ( b ) has a comprehensive economic impact and cost/benefit analysis of halibut and sablefish aquaculture been undertaken to determine the total impacts and net economic benefits to British Columbia and Canada been completed and what were the findings; ( c ) have the locations of nursery and juvenile rearing areas of various species of halibut and sablefish in coastal inlets, bays and fiords of British Columbia been established and if so where are they; ( d ) have guidelines been developed for the siting of halibut and sablefish aquaculture that would prohibit placement of halibut and sablefish net pens in nursery and juvenile rearing areas in coastal inlets, bays and fiords; ( e ) have authorizations or approvals been given for the establishment of halibut and sablefish net pen aquaculture operations in the coastal waters of British Columbia and if so what are the locations; ( f ) is a sablefish hatchery operation or operations, that would have as its objective the providing of stock for sablefish aquaculture operations, under construction and if so what is its location or locations and what measures have been undertaken to ensure that its production will not be placed in net pen aquaculture operations in Canadian waters until assessments under the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act have been completed and authorizations given under either the Fisheries Act or the Navigable Waters Protection Act; ( g ) has Fisheries and Oceans Canada undertaken or funded research into the development of halibut and sablefish aquaculture and if so what were the results and what species of sablefish were studied; ( h ) have provincial authorities licenced halibut and sablefish aquaculture operations in Canadian coastal waters without Canadian Environmental Assessment Act assessments and if so what is the specific location of each licence; ( i ) which of the sites licenced by a provincial authority are within five nautical miles of nursery or juvenile rearing areas of wild halibut or sablefish; ( j ) what studies or research have been undertaken or funded to ensure that these provincially licenced sites are not within five nautical miles of a halibut or sablefish nursery or juvenile rearing area; ( k ) what studies or research have been undertaken or funded with regard to diseases and parasites associated with halibut or sablefish aquaculture, their possible transfer to wild stocks, and what were the findings; ( l ) what studies or research has been undertaken or funded with regard to the level of escapes from net pens, whether escaped halibut and sablefish tended to migrate north toward Alaska or south toward California in the manner that wild stocks do and what were the findings; ( m ) what is the level and composition of waste from Fisheries and Oceans Canada experimental halibut and sablefish aquaculture operations or experimental operations funded or authorized by Fisheries and Oceans Canada; ( n ) what is the cost shared funding arrangement for the research and development work undertaken by Fisheries and Oceans Canada; ( o ) what is the cost to Fisheries and Oceans Canada with regard to all research and development activity involving halibut and sablefish aquaculture, including staff time, salaries and contributions; ( p ) what is the nature of the consultations with halibut and sablefish fishermen with regard to the development of halibut and sablefish aquaculture; ( q ) what measures have been established to compensate fishermen should halibut and sablefish aquaculture lead to a collapse of wildfish stocks or a reduction in fish caught; ( r ) what measures have been established to compensate fishermen should the production and marketing of farmed halibut and sablefish aquaculture lead to a decline in market prices for halibut and sablefish and a resulting loss of the income by fishermen; and ( s ) what measures have been established to restrict or prohibit the export of live halibut or sablefish broodstock?

(Return tabled)

Question No. 23Routine Proceedings

3:15 p.m.

Conservative

Gurmant Grewal Conservative Newton—North Delta, BC

With regard to temporary resident visas, for each year from 1997 through 2003: ( a ) what is the global approval rate for applicants to Canada; and ( b ) what are the ten countries from which Canada has received the largest number of applications and, for each country, identify by year: (i) the total number of applications received; (ii) the total number of applications that were rejected; and (iii) the non-return rate for people granted temporary residence visas?

(Return tabled)