Debates of March 5th, 2009

Joe Preston Elgin—Middlesex—London, ON

Mr. Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 108(3)(a)(v), I have the honour to present, in both official languages, the eighth report of the Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs regarding matters related to webcasting of the House and its committees.

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

Kevin Sorenson Crowfoot, AB

Mr. Speaker, I have the honour to present, in both official languages, the fourth report of the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Development entitled, “Report on the Baha'i Community in Iran”.

Dawn Black New Westminster—Coquitlam, BC

moved for leave to introduce Bill C-334, An Act prohibiting the commission, abetting or exploitation of torture by Canadian officials and ensuring freedom from torture for all Canadians at home and abroad and making consequential amendments to other Acts.

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to reintroduce this important piece of legislation which unfortunately, although it came very close, did not make it to a vote in the last Parliament before the election was called.

I appreciate the help and support of the B.C. Civil Liberties Association which gave me a great deal of help in drafting the bill.

The bill is a comprehensive attempt to address the issue of torture. It makes it a criminal offence to use information known to be obtained using torture. It stops any officials from Canada from transferring prisoners into the hands of those who are suspected or known to use torture. It creates a government watch list of countries that are known to engage in torture. It prevents the use of national security provisions as a measure to withhold information about torture, which happened for months during the Afghan detainees scandal last year.

I urge all members of the House to join together to reject torture in all its forms and to support this very important bill.

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

John Rafferty Thunder Bay—Rainy River, ON

moved for leave to introduce Bill C-335, An Act to amend the Canada Labour Code (illness or injury).

Mr. Speaker, this bill will extend the allowable period of absence for illness and ensure that a worker cannot be dismissed, suspended, laid off, demoted or disciplined by an employer if the worker misses work due to serious illness for a period of up to 52 weeks. I believe this bill is fair and will protect seriously ill workers while ensuring that businesses remain viable.

This bill, if passed, will make a tremendous difference in the lives of many families right across Canada. I hope it receives the support of all the members.

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

Joe Preston Elgin—Middlesex—London, ON

Mr. Speaker, if the House gives it consent, I move that the eighth report of the Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs presented to the House earlier this day be concurred in. This report concerns a change to the Speaker's permission regarding the reproduction of the proceedings of the House of Commons and its committees.

Joe Preston Elgin—Middlesex—London, ON

(Motion agreed to)

Chris Charlton Hamilton Mountain, ON

(Motion agreed to)

Paul Szabo Mississauga South, ON

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to present what I believe is the 100th petition presented in the House in the last two Parliaments on the subject matter of the income trust broken promise. It comes to me from Mr. Robert Cherry in my riding of Mississauga South. Of course, this petition is being presented pursuant to Standing Order 36 and it is certified by the clerk of petitions.

Mr. Cherry and the other petitioners remember the Prime Minister's commitment to accountability when the Prime Minister said, “The greatest fraud is a promise not kept”. The petitioners want to remind the Prime Minister that he promised never to tax income trusts, that he recklessly broke that promise, and that he imposed a 31.5% punitive tax which permanently wiped out $25 billion of the hard-earned retirement savings of over two million Canadians, particularly seniors.

The petitioners call upon the Conservative minority government to admit that the decision to tax income trusts was based on flawed methodology and incorrect assumptions, as was demonstrated in the House of Commons Standing Committee on Finance, to apologize to those who were unfairly harmed by this broken promise, and to repeal the 31.5% tax on income trusts.

Members will recall that the Prime Minister and the Minister of Finance indicated that this was not a problem because the markets have recovered. I wonder what they would say today.

Chris Charlton Hamilton Mountain, ON

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to present two more petitions, both of which were circulated by members and supporters of the building trades. The petitioners come from all over Ontario, but many of them are from my riding of Hamilton Mountain.

Building trades across the country have lobbied successive governments for over 30 years to achieve some basic fairness for their members. They want tradespeople and indentured apprentices to be able to deduct travel and accommodation expenses from their taxable incomes so that they can secure and maintain employment at construction sites that are more than 80 kilometres from their homes.

It makes no sense, especially during this economic crisis, for tradespeople to be out of work in one area of the country while another region suffers from temporary shortages of skilled tradespeople simply because the cost of travelling is too high. To that end, they have gathered hundreds of signatures in support of my bill, which would allow for precisely the kinds of deductions their members have been asking for.

I am pleased to table these petitions on their behalf and share their disappointment that this item was not addressed in the last federal budget.