House of Commons Hansard #11 of the 40th Parliament, 2nd Session. (The original version is on Parliament's site.) The word of the day was women.

Topics

Olympic AthletesOral Questions

2:55 p.m.

Saanich—Gulf Islands B.C.

Conservative

Gary Lunn ConservativeMinister of State (Sport)

Mr. Speaker, the hon. member is absolutely correct, our athletes had an amazing weekend, winning 28 medals over the weekend, 14 of them gold. We are well on our way to owning the podium for 2010 Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games next year.

I want to share a bit of the excitement. John Kucera is the first Canadian man ever to win a downhill in Val d'Isère, France. In the ski cross, it was amazing who was up there. Both Aleisha Cline and Del Bosco won gold. In that event we won five of the six medals. Of course, Patrick Chan in the figure skating at the Four Continents was breathtaking in his performance.

We are winning. We will win gold at home and our athletes are making us all very proud.

The EconomyOral Questions

2:55 p.m.

Liberal

Ruby Dhalla Liberal Brampton—Springdale, ON

Mr. Speaker, in this time of growing economic crisis, hundreds of families in my riding of Brampton—Springdale are losing their jobs, being laid off and let go.

Chrysler eliminated its third shift. The result: 1,100 people jobless. ABC Plastics closed its doors. The result: hundreds of workers unemployed.

Now Nortel claims bankruptcy and its workers are listed as unsecured creditors. The result: no pay for their work.

What steps will be taken to ensure that employees of bankrupt companies are protected as secured creditors and that they get paid for their hard work.

The EconomyOral Questions

2:55 p.m.

Macleod Alberta

Conservative

Ted Menzies ConservativeParliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Finance

Mr. Speaker, that is a good question. If the hon. member had read the budget, she would have seen a provision in there to actually protect those wage earners who are faced with bankruptcy from their employer.

That, once again emphasizes why we need to get to work and pass the budget. Once all hon. members actually read the budget, they will realize all of the good things in it and they will get behind us and support our economic action plan.

InfrastructureOral Questions

2:55 p.m.

Bloc

Christiane Gagnon Bloc Québec, QC

Mr. Speaker, the minister responsible for Quebec made statements suggesting that the government will attempt to avoid taking responsibility and make the Government of Quebec and the City of Shannon pay for the water table contamination caused by the army.

The army is responsible for 100% of the damage, so it should assume 100% of the cost of the cleanup. Why is the minister trying to make someone else pay for something that is the army's responsibility by dipping shamelessly into the infrastructure envelope?

InfrastructureOral Questions

2:55 p.m.

Louis-Saint-Laurent Québec

Conservative

Josée Verner ConservativeMinister of Intergovernmental Affairs

Mr. Speaker, nothing could be further from the truth. On the contrary, the City of Shannon's infrastructure file is one of our priorities, and we will take care of it, as I said before. One thing is clear: the member for Québec will never be in government and will never be a cabinet minister, even if there were to be a coalition, so she is not the one with whom we will be resolving this issue.

EthicsOral Questions

2:55 p.m.

NDP

Bill Siksay NDP Burnaby—Douglas, BC

Mr. Speaker, the Cadman affair and subsequent lawsuit raised very serious allegations that sullied Canadian politics.

Last March, the Prime Minister said that the issue would “prove to be in court the biggest mistake the leader of the Liberal Party has ever made”.

Now, only days after the Liberals rubber-stamped the Conservative budget, we learn that Conservatives and Liberals have a secret deal and that the lawsuit has been dropped.

Will the government update Canadians on this closed door deal and why the biggest mistake has turned into a big flip-flop? How will we know the truth in the Cadman affair?

EthicsOral Questions

3 p.m.

Nepean—Carleton Ontario

Conservative

Pierre Poilievre ConservativeParliamentary Secretary to the Prime Minister and to the Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs

Mr. Speaker, the parties have settled the action. I have no further comments.

Health and SafetyOral Questions

3 p.m.

Conservative

Dean Allison Conservative Niagara West—Glanbrook, ON

Mr. Speaker, the Conservative government has consistently demonstrated its commitment to protecting the health and safety of Canadians.

In budget 2009, the government made significant investments into improving health care for all Canadians. As well, this Conservative government recently brought forward legislation to strengthen consumer product safety in Canada.

Could the Minister of Health please explain to the House what measures this government is prepared to take to ensure a secure environment for the handling of pathogens and toxins used in Canadian research?

Health and SafetyOral Questions

3 p.m.

Nunavut Nunavut

Conservative

Leona Aglukkaq ConservativeMinister of Health

Mr. Speaker, I am proud to say that this government is committed to the health and safety of Canadians. As such, this government will introduce the human pathogens and toxins bill. The bill would establish safe handling practices of the most dangerous pathogens and toxins. The bill would also balance the requirements of biosafety and biosecurity with the interest of strengthening scientific research in Canada.

I am proud of the actions being taken by this Conservative government. I hope the opposition will stand with our government to protect and promote the health and safety of Canadians.

Social HousingOral Questions

3 p.m.

Liberal

Alexandra Mendes Liberal Brossard—La Prairie, QC

Mr. Speaker, the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation today announced a significant drop in housing starts in January 2009, compared to the same month in 2008. Especially in urban areas, this slowdown means major job losses.

What does the Minister of Finance plan to do to get the necessary money out quickly so that social housing construction can bring about even a partial recovery of housing starts across Canada?

Social HousingOral Questions

3 p.m.

Haldimand—Norfolk Ontario

Conservative

Diane Finley ConservativeMinister of Human Resources and Skills Development

Mr. Speaker, that is exactly what we want to do with our economic action plan. We want to invest in affordable housing to help people, especially the most vulnerable.

We are trying to create many jobs by investing, including our announcement last fall, close to $4 billion for new and the renovation of social housing. These activities will create jobs right now and provide long term benefits for those who need it most.

Presence in GalleryOral Questions

February 9th, 2009 / 3 p.m.

Liberal

The Speaker Liberal Peter Milliken

I would like to draw to the attention of hon. members the presence in the gallery of the Hon. Kathy Dunderdale, Minister of Natural Resources and Deputy Premier of Newfoundland and Labrador.

Presence in GalleryOral Questions

3 p.m.

Some hon. members

Hear, hear!

Oral QuestionsPoints of OrderOral Questions

3 p.m.

Provencher Manitoba

Conservative

Vic Toews ConservativePresident of the Treasury Board

Mr. Speaker, in a question that was put to me, I answered a question from the member for Outremont. In the preliminary portion of his question, following my answer, he made an unparliamentary statement. I know the Speaker did not have the opportunity to hear that. I would ask the Speaker to review the transcript and make a ruling in respect to the comments made by the member for Outremont.

Oral QuestionsPoints of OrderOral Questions

3 p.m.

NDP

Thomas Mulcair NDP Outremont, QC

Mr. Speaker, the facts are abundantly clear. Quebec never did away with equity, as the Conservatives have done. I withdraw the word without hesitation, and I would just like to say that what the minister said was the opposite of the truth.

Oral QuestionsPoints of OrderOral Questions

3 p.m.

Liberal

The Speaker Liberal Peter Milliken

I will review both comments and the circumstances. I did not hear what the hon. member said at the time as I was calling for order.

It was because there was a great deal of noise in this House. I will review both comments and, if necessary, I will come back to the House.

Information CommissionerRoutine Proceedings

3 p.m.

Liberal

The Speaker Liberal Peter Milliken

I have the honour to lay upon the table the reports of the Information Commissioner of Canada concerning the Access to Information Act and the Privacy Act for the year 2007-08.

This document is deemed to have been permanently referred to the Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights.

Export Development CanadaRoutine Proceedings

3:05 p.m.

Okanagan—Coquihalla B.C.

Conservative

Stockwell Day ConservativeMinister of International Trade and Minister for the Asia-Pacific Gateway

Mr. Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 32(2) I have the honour to table on behalf of myself, in both official languages, the report prepared for the 2008 legislative review of Export Development Canada. I ask that the report be referred to the Standing Committee on International Trade.

Official LanguagesRoutine Proceedings

3:05 p.m.

Saint Boniface Manitoba

Conservative

Shelly Glover ConservativeParliamentary Secretary for Official Languages

Mr. Speaker, on behalf of the Minister of Canadian Heritage and Official Languages, it is my pleasure to table today the 2006-07 annual report of the Department of Canadian Heritage on issues within its mandate with respect to official languages.

This report outlines initiatives supported through the Department of Canadian Heritage and 32 other federal institutions in applying the intent of the Official Languages Act. It shows our government's ongoing commitment to promote linguistic duality and the development of minority official language communities.

Human Pathogens and Toxins ActRoutine Proceedings

3:05 p.m.

Conservative

Leona Aglukkaq Conservative Nunavut, NU

moved for leave to introduce Bill C-11, An Act to promote safety and security with respect to human pathogens and toxins.

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

Procedure and House AffairsCommittees of the HouseRoutine Proceedings

3:05 p.m.

Conservative

Joe Preston Conservative Elgin—Middlesex—London, ON

Mr. Speaker, pursuant to Standing Orders 104 and 114, I have the honour to present, in both official languages, the fourth report of the Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs regarding the membership of committees in this House.

If the House gives its consent, I intend to move concurrence in this report later today.

Corporate Accountability of Mining, Oil and Gas Corporations in Developing Countries ActRoutine Proceedings

3:05 p.m.

Liberal

John McKay Liberal Scarborough—Guildwood, ON

moved for leave to introduce Bill C-300, An Act respecting Corporate Accountability for the Activities of Mining, Oil or Gas in Developing Countries.

Mr. Speaker, the purpose of this bill is to promote environmental best practices and ensure the protection and promotion of international human rights standards in respect of mining, oil or gas activities of Canadian corporations in developing countries. It also would give the Minister of Foreign Affairs and the Minister of International Trade the responsibility to issue guidelines that articulate corporate accountability standards for mining, oil and gas activities and it would require the ministers to submit an annual report to both Houses of Parliament on the operation of this act.

In the business section of The Globe and Mail this morning was a very timely article about this very issue. I am hoping that this bill will receive favour among hon. members here and that it will, in fact, create a debate on what is a very difficult issue for us all. I thank my friend for Lac-Saint-Louis for his generous support.

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

Criminal CodeRoutine Proceedings

3:05 p.m.

Conservative

Garry Breitkreuz Conservative Yorkton—Melville, SK

moved for leave to introduce Bill C-301, An Act to amend the Criminal Code and the Firearms Act (registration of firearms).

Mr. Speaker, it is an honour and a pleasure to table my private member's bill today entitled, an act to amend the Criminal Code and the Firearms Act (registration of firearms).

I would like to thank the member for Bruce—Grey—Owen Sound for seconding my bill and the member for Renfrew—Nipissing—Pembroke for co-seconding it, as well as the many other MPs who will likely be seconding it as well.

The bill proposes to discontinue the wasteful long gun registry that has not saved the life of a single Canadian. The registry has been a boondoggle since its inception. I believe members of Parliament from all political parties will see ample cause to shut it down.

I doubt there has ever been another government program that has gone 500 times over budget and been such a miserable failure. I hope everyone here will agree that our tax dollars should be invested in practical public safety measures that really do save lives.

We have been punishing law-abiding Canadian hunters, farmers and sport shooters for a decade, and it is time to focus on criminals and gangs who use firearms for all the wrong reasons.

The bill also invites the Auditor General to bring evidence and clarity to this issue so parliamentarians can make informed policy decisions on firearms law in the future.

I would also like to thank the people in Parliament and right across Canada who have supported me faithfully for 14 years in my quest to put an end to the long gun registry.

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

Procedure and House AffairsCommittees of the HouseRoutine Proceedings

3:10 p.m.

Conservative

Joe Preston Conservative Elgin—Middlesex—London, ON

Mr. Speaker, if the House gives it consent, I move that the fourth report of the Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs, presented to the House earlier this day, be concurred in.

Procedure and House AffairsCommittees of the HouseRoutine Proceedings

3:10 p.m.

Liberal

The Speaker Liberal Peter Milliken

Is that agreed?