Debates of May 14th, 2012

David Sweet Ancaster—Dundas—Flamborough—Westdale, ON

Mr. Speaker, I have the honour to present, in both official languages, the second report of the Standing Committee on Industry, Science and Technology in relation to its study of the main estimates 2012-13.

Kevin Sorenson Crowfoot, AB

Mr. Speaker, I have the honour to present, in both official languages, the fourth report of the Standing Committee on Public Safety and National Security in relation to its study of Bill C-350, An Act to amend the Corrections and Conditional Release Act (accountability of offenders), with an amendment.

Pierre-Luc Dusseault Sherbrooke, QC

Mr. Speaker, I have the honour to present, in both official languages, the third report of the Standing Committee on Access to Information, Privacy and Ethics concerning the statutory review of the Lobbying Act.

Pursuant to Standing Order 109 of the House of Commons, the committee requests that the government table a comprehensive response to the report.

Charlie Angus Timmins—James Bay, ON

Mr. Speaker, I am very honoured to rise on behalf of the New Democratic Party with its response to the ethics and privacy committee's review of the Lobbying Act.

We felt that in this committee all parties managed to do some very good work on the issue of lobbying. However, there are serious shortcomings that have to be pointed out and addressed, because Canadians expect accountability on the issue of lobbying.

While we support the overall recommendations, we have to note that the government restricted the witness list. It restricted it in such a way that Guy Giorno, former chief of staff to the Prime Minister, a man I would never normally quote except in an accusatory fashion, said that the committee had “larded the witness list” with consultant lobbyists who have a biased point of view.

The other really disturbing issue was the fact that the government members continually refused to allow the RCMP to be heard.

As a result, we have a number of recommendations.

We recommend that the lobbying commissioner be empowered to carry on investigations that have been handed over to the RCMP, because the RCMP has never followed through; that consultant lobbyists must report the ultimate client of their lobbying work in their monthly communications report, not just the firm for which they work; that we enshrine immunity provisions to protect the Commissioner of Lobbying and her delegates; that the Commissioner of Lobbying must retain a formal mandate to educate lobbyists and the members opposite; and that a list of all designated public office holders must be maintained—

The Speaker Andrew Scheer

Order. I will stop the member there.

The dissenting reports are supposed to be succinct and be somewhat similar in time to the amount of time that the member presenting the report took to do that.

Joe Preston Elgin—Middlesex—London, ON

Mr. Speaker, if the House gives its consent, I move that the 23rd and 24th reports of the Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs, presented to the House earlier today, be concurred in.

The Speaker Andrew Scheer

The question is on the motion. Is it the pleasure of the House to adopt the motion?

The Speaker Andrew Scheer

(Motion agreed to)

Ray Boughen Palliser, SK

Mr. Speaker, I rise to present a petition with strong support on behalf of residents of Saskatchewan, many of them living in my riding of Palliser.

The petitioners, all 4,642 signatures, would like to draw the attention of the House of Commons to section 810 of the Criminal Code, which states that the current protection for victims of stalking and criminal harassment is limited to a term of one year, and that victims of stalking and criminal harassment are re-victimized by the necessity to renew this protection on a yearly basis .

Therefore, the petitioners call upon the House of Commons to increase the length of protection provided to victims of stalking and criminal harassment.

Glenn Thibeault Sudbury, ON

Mr. Speaker, I rise to introduce two petitions. I will be brief on both.

With respect to the first petition, the petitioners would like the House to support the Act to Eliminate Poverty in Canada. The petitioners draw the attention of the House to the fact that poverty affects over 10% of Canadians and disproportionately affects aboriginal people, recent immigrants, people with disabilities and youth and children. Therefore, they call upon the government and Parliament to ensure swift passage of any bill that acts to eliminate poverty in Canada.

Glenn Thibeault Sudbury, ON

Mr. Speaker, I once again bring forward petitions signed by hundreds of individuals in my community who are seeking justice for an aboriginal man who they believe was wrongly convicted. John Moore was accused and convicted of second degree murder in a case in which the crown agreed he was nowhere near the scene of the crime and in which a trial determined that he played no part in planning the crime.

The petitioners call upon the Minister of Justice and the Attorney General of Canada to review the conviction in the case of R. v. Moore, recognize that a wrongful conviction occurred, overturn the conviction and enter an acquittal.

Judy Foote Random—Burin—St. George's, NL

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to present a petition on behalf of people from Newfoundland and Labrador, particularly people from my riding of Random—Burin—St. George's in the Coast of Bays area of the riding, who take great exception to the government's decision to raise the age of eligibility for OAS from 65 to 67. In particular, they are upset with the impact this will have on people who work in physically demanding environments, such as in construction and fish plants, as well as those who work in mentally challenging environments.

The petitioners call upon the government to reconsider this decision in light of the impact it will have on those particular individuals.