House of Commons Hansard #135 of the 40th Parliament, 3rd Session. (The original version is on Parliament's site.) The word of the day was americans.

Topics

Anti-drug StrategyOral Questions

3 p.m.

Conservative

Steven Blaney Conservative Lévis—Bellechasse, QC

Mr. Speaker, honest people from all regions of Quebec are worried about the drug scourge ravaging our communities. When he was in Val-d'Or, Abitibi, our Prime Minister was asked why we are not doing more to help the regions fight against drug traffickers.

Could the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Justice tell us what the government is doing to fight drug trafficking involving our children in all regions of Quebec?

Anti-drug StrategyOral Questions

3 p.m.

Charlesbourg—Haute-Saint-Charles Québec

Conservative

Daniel Petit ConservativeParliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Justice

Mr. Speaker, our priority is to fight crime and ensure the safety of our children in all regions of Quebec. Unfortunately, this priority is not shared by the Bloc and the leftist urban elite from the Plateau. That is why they voted against our Bill S-10.

This Conservative bill would ensure minimum sentences for criminals such as the one in Val-d'Or who sells drugs near schools. We hope that the Bloc will finally stop listening to its leftist urban elite friends from the Plateau and will listen to families in all regions who are asking for minimum sentences for the drug dealers who threaten our children.

Access to InformationOral Questions

3 p.m.

Liberal

Carolyn Bennett Liberal St. Paul's, ON

Mr. Speaker, the Standing Committee on Access to Information, Privacy and Ethics twice tabled a report on the urgent need to reform the way that Canadians access information from their government. This report had all party support. What did the government do? It ignored it. Now the Minister of Justice has misled Canadians, saying he is waiting for the parliamentary committee.

When will the government stop misleading Canadians and implement the unanimous recommendations of the parliamentary committee on access to information?

Access to InformationOral Questions

3 p.m.

Okanagan—Coquihalla B.C.

Conservative

Stockwell Day ConservativePresident of the Treasury Board and Minister for the Asia-Pacific Gateway

Mr. Speaker, this year over 75,000 requests have come in, which is an all-time record, because we as a government have encouraged this type of action from citizens. The majority of those requests are responded to within 30 days. At times when they are not responded to, over 80% of those times it is because individuals making the requests also want to access personal information from Canadians. Those parts of the reports have to be redacted. I think Canadians want us to protect their personal information from the requests of others.

Quebec City ArenaOral Questions

February 28th, 2011 / 3 p.m.

Bloc

Michel Guimond Bloc Montmorency—Charlevoix—Haute-Côte-Nord, QC

Mr. Speaker, while the Minister of National Defence has come out strongly in favour of a football stadium for the city of Halifax, the Conservative members from the Quebec City area are giving more excuses for their lack of action. Unlike Quebec City, Halifax does not even have any private partners.

How can the minister responsible for the Quebec City region explain that her Nova Scotia colleague is able to support a project that is just beginning to take shape when she is incapable of defending a project supported by the people, the City of Quebec, the Government of Quebec and the private sector?

Quebec City ArenaOral Questions

3 p.m.

Louis-Saint-Laurent Québec

Conservative

Josée Verner ConservativeMinister of Intergovernmental Affairs

Mr. Speaker, once again, the member is incorrect. Our Quebec caucus has fully supported the project from the beginning, and we did not wait for Bloc questions to do so.

That being said, what applies to Quebec City applies to all other cities: a business plan must be prepared and submitted to us for every project.

Government Response to PetitionsRoutine Proceedings

3:05 p.m.

Regina—Lumsden—Lake Centre Saskatchewan

Conservative

Tom Lukiwski ConservativeParliamentary Secretary to the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons

Mr. Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 36(8) I have the honour to table, in both official languages, the government's response to nine petitions.

Citizenship and ImmigrationCommittees of the HouseRoutine Proceedings

3:05 p.m.

Conservative

David Tilson Conservative Dufferin—Caledon, ON

Mr. Speaker, I have the honour to present, in both official languages, the ninth report of the Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration in relation to the supplementary estimates (C), 2010-11, votes 5(c), 7(c) and 10(c) under Citizenship and Immigration.

AsbestosPetitionsRoutine Proceedings

3:05 p.m.

NDP

Pat Martin NDP Winnipeg Centre, MB

Mr. Speaker, I am proud to rise today to table a petition signed by literally thousands of Canadians from coast to coast.

The petitioners call upon the Government of Canada to recognize that asbestos is the greatest industrial killer that the world has ever known, yet Canada remains one of the largest producers and exporters of asbestos in the world, dumping nearly 200,000 tonnes of asbestos into third world nations and developing nations. They also call upon the House of Commons to take note that Canada spends millions of dollars subsidizing the asbestos industry and blocking international efforts to curb its use. The petitioners call it “corporate welfare for corporate serial killers”.

Therefore, the petitioners call upon Parliament to ban asbestos in all its forms and institute a just transition program for asbestos workers and the communities in which they live. They also call upon the government to end all subsidies of asbestos both in Canada and abroad and to stop blocking international health and safety conventions designed to protect workers from asbestos and curb its use, such as the Rotterdam convention.

Criminal CodePetitionsRoutine Proceedings

3:05 p.m.

Liberal

Borys Wrzesnewskyj Liberal Etobicoke Centre, ON

Mr. Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 36 I am pleased to present a petition signed from Acadia University and Queen's University students in support of Bill C-380. The purpose of this bill is to add “sex”, the legal term for “gender”, to the list of identifiable groups, which currently includes “ethnicity”, “race”, “religion” and “sexual orientation” in relation to hate propaganda provisions in the Criminal Code.

These university students are well aware that half of Canadian women have experienced at least one incident of physical or sexual violence since the age of 16 and that violence against women is often motivated by gender-based hatred.

For the sake of our sisters, our mothers and our daughters, the petitioners urge the government to adopt Bill C-380 and add “gender” as a category into our hate crimes legislation.

AfghanistanPetitionsRoutine Proceedings

3:05 p.m.

NDP

Jim Maloway NDP Elmwood—Transcona, MB

Mr. Speaker, I have a petition signed by dozens of Canadians calling for an end to Canada's military involvement in Afghanistan.

In May 2008, Parliament passed a resolution to withdraw Canadian Forces by July 2011. The Prime Minister, with agreement from the Liberal Party, broke his oft-repeated promise to honour the parliamentary motion and, furthermore, refuses to put it to a parliamentary vote in the House.

Committing 1,000 soldiers to a training mission still presents a danger to our troops and an unnecessary expense when our country is faced with a $56 billion deficit. The military mission has cost Canadians more than $18 billion so far, money that could have been used to improve health care and seniors' pensions right here in Canada.

In fact, polls show a clear majority of Canadians do not want Canada's military presence to continue after the scheduled removal date of July 2011. Therefore, the petitioners call upon the Prime Minister to honour the will of Parliament and bring the troops home now.

Online Sexual ExploitationPetitionsRoutine Proceedings

3:10 p.m.

Liberal

Anthony Rota Liberal Nipissing—Timiskaming, ON

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to present four petitions signed by my constituents in Nipissing—Timiskaming.

The first three encourage the government to review the current legislation surrounding the sexual exploitation of children over the Internet.

Public SafetyPetitionsRoutine Proceedings

3:10 p.m.

Liberal

Anthony Rota Liberal Nipissing—Timiskaming, ON

Mr. Speaker, the fourth petition calls upon the Minister of Public Safety to approve Marc Emery's transfer from an American prison once that transfer request is received.

I am proud to table these petitions on behalf of the engaged and interested citizens of Nipissing—Timiskaming.

Questions Passed as Orders for ReturnsRoutine Proceedings

3:10 p.m.

Regina—Lumsden—Lake Centre Saskatchewan

Conservative

Tom Lukiwski ConservativeParliamentary Secretary to the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons

Mr. Speaker, if a supplementary response to Question No. 591 originally tabled on January 31, 2011, could be made an order for return, this return would be tabled immediately.

Questions Passed as Orders for ReturnsRoutine Proceedings

3:10 p.m.

Liberal

The Speaker Liberal Peter Milliken

Is that agreed?

Questions Passed as Orders for ReturnsRoutine Proceedings

3:10 p.m.

Some hon. members

Agreed.

Question No. 591Questions Passed as Orders for ReturnsRoutine Proceedings

3:10 p.m.

Liberal

John McKay Liberal Scarborough—Guildwood, ON

With respect to the provision within the Official Development Assistance Accountability Act which sets out a duty of consultation for the competent Ministers: (a) which international agencies and civil society organizations were consulted by Ministers in 2008 and 2009; (b) what were the themes and subject areas of those consultations; (c) what were the views expressed by civil society organizations and international agencies on those themes and subjects; (d) how were those views taken into account when forming opinions under the Act; (e) did the consultation process invite consideration of the human rights impact of aid provided in target countries and, if not, why not; (f) was participation by international agencies and civil society organizations open-ended or limited to a select group of participants; and (g) was the consultation process public?

(Return tabled)

Questions Passed as Orders for ReturnsRoutine Proceedings

3:10 p.m.

Conservative

Tom Lukiwski Conservative Regina—Lumsden—Lake Centre, SK

Mr. Speaker, I ask that the remaining questions be allowed to stand.

Questions Passed as Orders for ReturnsRoutine Proceedings

3:10 p.m.

Liberal

The Speaker Liberal Peter Milliken

Is that agreed?

Questions Passed as Orders for ReturnsRoutine Proceedings

3:10 p.m.

Some hon. members

Agreed.

Questions Passed as Orders for ReturnsRoutine Proceedings

3:10 p.m.

NDP

Olivia Chow NDP Trinity—Spadina, ON

Mr. Speaker, I apologize, I was outside but there were lots of people in front of me and I missed motions. I would ask for the unanimous consent of the House to return to motions.

Questions Passed as Orders for ReturnsRoutine Proceedings

3:10 p.m.

Liberal

The Speaker Liberal Peter Milliken

Is there unanimous consent to revert to motions at this time?

Questions Passed as Orders for ReturnsRoutine Proceedings

3:10 p.m.

Some hon. members

Agreed.

No.

LibyaRequest for Emergency DebateRoutine Proceedings

3:10 p.m.

Liberal

The Speaker Liberal Peter Milliken

The Chair has received an application for an emergency debate from the hon. member for Scarborough—Agincourt and I will hear his submissions on this point now.