John Cummins

[Petitions, October 28th, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, I have a petition to present today from residents primarily of Delta, British Columbia, who are concerned about the silting in of the secondary channels of the Fraser River.

There are many businesses along the channels leading into Ladner that cannot operate fish-buying businesses because the channel is silted in and the commercial vessels can only enter on high tide. There are people in very substantial float homes who, at low water, find that they are going aground and that the entrances and the floats that lead to their homes are tilted and quite dangerous.

The petitioners are calling upon the government to provide funding for silt removal and dredging on these channels, and I would support that call.

[Petitions, October 7th, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, it is my pleasure to present a petition on behalf of concerned residents of British Columbia. Their concern is with the infilling of the secondary channels of the Fraser River.

In the mid-1990s, the previous government stepped away from dredging these secondary channels. They have been filling up, causing a hazard for navigation, a reduction in habitat for fish and additional costs for people who live on the river. People who live in float homes in those channels are therefore actually put at risk.

They are calling upon the government to provide sufficient funding for adequate dredging of these channels, and to undertake an ongoing maintenance program to ensure that this problem is dealt with once and for all.

[Petitions, June 3rd, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, I have a petition signed by folks in my constituency and other communities throughout British Columbia and indeed Alberta.

The undersigned acknowledge that the Falun Gong is a peaceful and beneficial spiritual practice. They bring to the attention of the House that the Chinese communist party has launched an eradication program against them, and that the government of China and its agencies have put to death a large number of these practitioners

They call upon the Government of Canada to help stop these atrocities by the Chinese government and to condemn the communist Chinese regime for committing these crimes against humanity.

[The Economy, February 24th, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, commenting on the current global economic crisis in Newsweek, Fareed Zakaria notes that, “If President Obama is looking for smart government, there is much he...could learn from [Canada]”.

David Frum says that it is this government “that has met this crisis best” and “it is...[Canada]...who can most truly be said to offer hope and positive change” in these difficult times.

The Minister of Finance has noted that, “we conducted the most comprehensive pre-budget consultation in history” and then “laid out an economic action plan...to help cushion the impacts of the downturn, stimulate our economy, create and maintain jobs and support those hit hardest”.

Now is the time for Parliament to act and implement the economic plan set out in the budget. As parliamentarians, we need to set the political games aside and put the economic plan to work.

[The Budget, February 11th, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, in Canada's economic action plan, the finance minister announced a new home renovations tax credit. This tax credit will allow Canadians who spend up to $10,000 on home renovations to get a 15% tax credit.

Could the Minister of State for Small Business and Tourism tell us about the benefit for small and medium sized businesses and for Canadians?

[Petitions, February 2nd, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, I wish to present a petition signed by some of my constituents regarding what was Bill C-51, the natural health products bill. They express concern that if the bill goes ahead, 60% to 70% of natural health products may be taken from Canadian stores. They call on the government to stop the bill.

[The Budget, January 29th, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, Canada's economic action plan contains a number of important economic stimulus measures that will assist homeowners wishing to renovate and first time home buyers.

The home buyers plan will now allow first time home buyers to withdraw $25,000, $50,000 for couples, from their own retirement savings to purchase or construct a new home. The new first time home buyers tax credit will save new home buyers up to $750 on closing costs when buying a new home The new home renovation tax credit will provide tax relief for home renovation costs and will save Canadian families up to $1,350 on their 2009 taxes.

The Minister of Finance invited the public and members of Parliament from all parties to make recommendations for his 2009 budget. I am pleased he accepted my recommendation to update the borrowing limits for the home buyers plan to reflect the challenges faced by first time home buyers.

[Tsawwassen First Nation Final Agreement Act, June 16th, 2008]

Yes, Mr. Speaker. I would point out to my friend that this does not reduce first nations reliance on government funding. It simply redirects it. The money that is paid by taxpayers is simply going to be routed through the federal government and right back. There is no reduction in reliance. It is simply a shell game. The money is still going to flow and it has done nothing to increase--

[Tsawwassen First Nation Final Agreement Act, June 16th, 2008]

Mr. Speaker, it is a new relationship all right between Tsawwassen, B.C. and Canada. The member suggested that the comments I made about income taxes being paid by band members and non-members resident on the reserve was incorrect.

The information that I have and that I quoted from was given by the Department of Finance to the Tsawwassen Indian Band in a briefing prior to the band voting on the treaty. The band was assured that the income taxes of members resident on the reserve would not go to the federal government and that non-residents currently residing on the reserve would not pay taxes to the federal government but that they too would pay taxes to the band government. The band was reassured that probably 80% of the tax revenue that would be collected by the band would come from non-band members.

That was from the briefing note prepared by the Department of Finance. I do not think I was too far wrong unless the Department of Finance was misleading the band.

I never suggested that there would be an additional tax burden on the residents or the folks who are living on the reserve because their taxes will go to the Tsawwassen Band. In fact, they will be entitled to all the tax privileges that we all have, the write-offs and so on. The only difference is that at the end of the day the federal government will cut a cheque for the money they paid in taxes to the Tsawwassen Indian Band, which means there will be a shortfall for the rest of us. The estimate of that, given that the department has said that something like $1.5 million in federal taxes would have gone to the Tsawwassen Band in 2007 if the deal had been cut, is that $100 million will go to native bands in British Columbia after all of these treaties are concluded. That is straight tax money. If it is a 4:1 ratio, that is a lot of money.

The issue I raised about taxes still stands as I stated it. As I say, I have the full documentation from the briefing notes and the speaking notes that the Department of Finance used when it addressed members of the Tsawwassen Band prior to signing the treaty.

[Tsawwassen First Nation Final Agreement Act, June 16th, 2008]

Mr. Speaker, off the top the member noticed that the motions were broad, which is because that is all that is allowed. We have a bill that would put in effect the agreement and it is impossible to be specific on the motions any more so than I was.

It is interesting that the member referred somewhat to the issues that I raised as mere details. However, the fact that the band will make laws that prevail over federal law is not desirable in this country. The federal government has its constitutional powers and those powers should prevail because that is the way a federation should work.

Municipalities and provinces have their own areas. The provinces' responsibilities are recognized in the Constitution and the municipalities are given theirs by the provinces and, in a sense, that is what should happen here.

The member raised a number of issues. He talked about Chief Baird talking about this agreement transforming the community. That is, indeed, quite right. It will transform the community. Almost half of the land that will go to the band and half of the treaty lands that will result after the treaty is signed, which is a full 500 acres, will be taken over by the Vancouver Port Authority. It intends to put a rail marshalling yard, container storage and warehousing on those lands.

As I stated earlier, Bertha Williams, whose family has lived on that reserve since the beginning, will have her home and property expropriated by the band and they will end up right in the middle of that environmental mess. The issue then becomes what happens to the rest of the folks on that reserve. Their homes will be within a few hundred yards of this active rail yard, this 24 hour, seven days a week container storage area and all of the dust, dirt, light pollution and noise pollution that will flow from that industrial area.

The same thing happens to the community of Ladner, which is less than a mile from the reserve, or to Tsawwassen, which is probably a little more than a mile. That whole area will be industrialized. The greatest number of people who will be paying for this are the people who are currently living on the reserve and they represent a minority of the people who signed on to this deal.