Joe Preston

[Committees of the House, June 10th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 104 and 114, I have the honour to present, in both official languages, the 15th report of the Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs regarding the membership of committees of the House.

If the House gives its consent, I intend to move concurrence of the 15th report later today.

[Committees of the House, June 10th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, I have two reports today. Pursuant to Standing Order 107(3), I have the honour to present, in both official languages, the third report of the Liaison Committee, entitled “Committee Activities and Expenditures, April 1, 2013 - March 31, 2014”.

This report highlights the work and accomplishments of each committee, and as well a detailed budget that funds the activities of the committee members. In addition, this is the final report for 2013-14 fiscal year. The information has been included to facilitate comparisons between fiscal years.

[Canada-Australia Relations, June 9th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, today we have the honour to welcome Prime Minister Abbott to Ottawa. His visit represents an opportunity for our two countries to deepen and strengthen our bilateral relations. Canada and Australia have long stood shoulder to shoulder on a range of global issues. We do so today on issues such as Ukraine, the Middle East, and the engagement of the Asia-Pacific region. Our co-operation is also extended to international fora, such as the United Nations, the Commonwealth, the World Trade Organization, and the G20, which will be hosted by Australia this year.

I would also like to commend Prime Minister Abbott's decision to repeal Australia's carbon tax, a tax that would raise the price of everyday goods and services, such as groceries, electricity, and gas. Our two countries will continue to work together to advance the principles of freedom, democracy, human rights, and the rule of law.

[Committees of the House, May 28th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, I have the honour to present, in both official languages, the 14th report of the Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs. The committee advises that, pursuant to Standing Order 91.1(2), the subcommittee on private members' business met to consider the order for a second reading of the Senate public bill and recommends that the item listed herein, which has been determined should not be designated not votable, be considered by the House.

[Committees of the House, May 26th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, I have the honour to present, in both official languages, the 13th report of the Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs.

Pursuant to Standing Order 97(1), the committee is requesting an extension of 30 sitting days to consider Bill C-518, An Act to amend the Members of Parliament Retiring Allowances Act (withdrawal allowance), referred to the committee on Wednesday, February 26.

[Committees of the House, May 14th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, well, that is two days in a row; my life is complete.

The agenda for the committee tomorrow is set from 11:00 until 1:00. We will be having the Leader of the Opposition before procedure and House affairs to explain the use of House funds for partisan purposes. Certain documents have been asked for from the House administration and from the NDP for this study. Some of the documents from the NDP are quite thin. The leader has suggested that he follows the rules. Let us hope that by 11:00 tomorrow morning, the New Democrats have followed the rules on the submission of the full lease.

[Rosy Rhubarb Festival, May 14th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, every year the village of Shedden, in my riding, comes together for the Rosy Rhubarb Festival, which celebrates the plant that put the village on the map.

Twenty-two years ago, a small group of people gathered together with an idea to promote Shedden and to also raise some money for a new community complex. From that small group of people, the great traditional Rosy Rhubarb Festival was born. As a result of that first festival and the hard work of many other groups working together, the Southwold Keystone Complex is now up and running.

Rosy Rhubarb won an award for rural excellence in the category of outstanding volunteerism, and to date, the Rosy Rhubarb fund has raised over $322,000 for the community.

Right now gardens are lush with ripe rhubarb. On June 6, 7, and 8, I encourage all to stop by and partake in the fun. Browse the yard sales, participate in the rhubarb pie auction, and indulge in local baked goods and the famous ice cream with rhubarb sauce.

[Fair Elections Act, May 13th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, I thank the member for noticing my green suit today in honour of the London Knights.

We have had a great number of good times together. The member served on the procedure and House affairs committee, and he remembers our good times together and what we were able to do.

I cannot speak for the Canada job grants. I guess the chair of the human resources committee could stand up here and tell us about that one. However, as chair of the procedure and House affairs committee, having heard the number of witnesses, and having shared anecdotal parts in my speech, I suggested why the why was our job.

I know in the member's riding he is the why. In my riding, hopefully I am the why, and the other candidates might be up against me.

[Fair Elections Act, May 13th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, as I said, I hear that voice in my sleep. Sometimes I sleep with the TV on, and he might very well be on it.

The answer is, as I shared during my speech, that over my number of years as the chair of procedure and House affairs, the Chief Electoral Officer has had much contact with us, has appeared at committee a number of times after each election, and shares with us a group of recommendations that he would like to see as changes to the Elections Act before the next election.

Of course he has done that. I think some 38 of his recommendations are in the fair elections act. The consultation at the committee level and in conversation with the Chief Electoral Officer has taken place.

[Fair Elections Act, May 13th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, I forgot I cannot refer to members of Parliament, including myself. I take it back and I apologize profusely for that breach in procedure. It is probably wrong that the chair of the procedure and House affairs committee did not do that right.

I made a number of phone calls. Every one of them said what my name was and who I was representing and gave a phone number where I could be reached. Then it went on with whatever the message was, such as reminding people that advance polls were tomorrow. At the end of it I again said what my name was and where I could be reached. If that is done properly, there is no trouble at all.

The CRTC told us at committee that there is much good use of telephones during campaigns, and they would be able to take on the role of how we work together as politicians during campaigns. There would be certain rules to follow, and we should all know them ahead of time or we should all be aware of them if we are not, but the CRTC would be able to take over and tell us if anything like robocalls happened. By adding this piece, by taking that whole electronic monitoring aspect and putting it into CRTC, I think we have been able to make it a better piece of legislation.

I would like to finish by thanking the committee, all of our witnesses, and Canadians who care a lot about how we get elected, how important it is that we do it properly, and how important it is that it be a rules-based system. In a mature democracy, from what I have heard from my constituents, asking people to prove who they are before they vote is probably appropriate. I also thank my helpers, the other members of the committee, for doing the hard lifting.