Bill C-17 (Historical)

National Cemetery of Canada Act

An Act to recognize Beechwood Cemetery as the national cemetery of Canada

This enactment provides for the recognition of Beechwood Cemetery as the national cemetery of Canada.

[The Speaker, Peter Milliken]

Order, please. I have the honour to inform the House that a communication has been received as follows:

Rideau Hall

Ottawa

April 22, 2009

Mr. Speaker,

I have the honour to inform you that the Honourable Thomas Cromwell, Puisne Judge of the Supreme Court of Canada, in his capacity as Deputy of the Governor General, signified royal assent by written declaration to the bill listed in the schedule to this letter on the 22nd day of April, 2009, at 4:55 p.m.

Yours sincerely,

Dorothy Grandmaitre

for Sheila-Marie Cook

The schedule indicates that royal assent was given to Bill C-17, An Act to recognize Beechwood Cemetery as the national cemetery of Canada.

National Cemetery of Canada Act

[Jay Hill, Conservative, Leader of the Government in the House of Commons]

Mr. Speaker, momentarily, I will be proposing a motion by unanimous consent to expedite passage through the House of an important new bill, An Act to recognize Beechwood Cemetery as the national cemetery of Canada. However, before I propose my motion, which has been agreed to in advance by all parties, I would like to take a quick moment to thank my colleagues and the other parties for their cooperation in expediting this legislation.

This is a clear demonstration of how Parliament can work when we have set aside our partisan differences and work for the good of the Canadian people, who have entrusted us to represent them. This legislation was tabled just yesterday and, when passed, will establish for the first time ever a national cemetery for our country. Hereafter, governors general, prime ministers and Victoria Cross winners will be able to choose to be interred and commemorated there.

Once this important bill passes both houses and becomes law, we will finally have our own cemetery where Canadians can commemorate those who have dedicated themselves to the service of the public through high office or supreme military valour. I am very proud of this legislation and I am pleased that it will be expedited through the House.

Therefore, Mr. Speaker, I believe you will find unanimous consent for the following motion. I move:

That, notwithstanding any Standing Order or usual practices of the House, a member from each recognized party may speak for not more than 10 minutes on the second reading motion of Bill C-17, An Act to recognize Beechwood Cemetery as the national cemetery of Canada, after which the bill shall be deemed to have been read a second time and referred to a Committee of the Whole, deemed considered in Committee of the Whole, deemed reported without amendment, deemed concurred in at report stage and deemed read a third time and passed.

Business of the House

[Jay Hill, Conservative, Leader of the Government in the House of Commons]

Mr. Speaker, I thank my hon. colleague for those questions. It just seems like every Thursday, the Thursday question becomes the Thursday questions and becomes a longer and longer list.

Yesterday, the House adopted the budget implementation bill, which is now before the Senate. I would take this opportunity to urge all senators to deal with the bill quickly so that the funds that are provided by it will begin to flow and to help our country and Canadian families weather this economic storm as quickly as possible.

Today, we are continuing debate on the opposition motion.

Tomorrow, we will begin debate on report stage of Bill C-2, the Canada-European free trade agreement, followed by Bill C-13, the Canada grains, and Bill C-7, marine liability.

Monday, March 9 and Tuesday, March 10 shall be allotted days. As to the last day in this cycle, I am pleased to announce that it will be sometime during that week after our constituency week when members return to their ridings.

On Wednesday, we will continue with the Canada-European free trade bill. It will either be at report stage or third reading, depending on the progress that we make tomorrow.

When the debate on Bill C-2 is complete, we will call for second reading debate on Bill C-14, the organized crime bill, and Bill C-15, the drug offensive bill.

As my hon. colleague knows, the official opposition House leader, there have been discussions with all parties and, at this point in time, despite the acceptance and, indeed, the willingness of the government to move forward with these two crime bills as expeditiously as possible, unfortunately that is not the case with all parties and therefore we will not be able to proceed as quickly as possible.

However, on behalf of all Canadians who are worried about their safety and who want to move forward with this type of legislation, I do thank the hon. member and his party, the Liberal Party, for their support to try to move these bills very quickly through the process.

Following the justice bills, we will continue with the uncompleted business schedule for tomorrow, plus the new bill that was tabled this morning, Bill C-17, An Act to recognize Beechwood Cemetery as the national cemetery of Canada. I understand there may be interest in expediting this bill. I would hope, unlike the justice bills, that perhaps we can get agreement from all four parties to move very quickly with this bill at all stages and move it through.

As to private member's Bill C-285, I am always interested in discussing ways in which we can move quickly with legislation. This government certainly is interested in getting action on behalf of Canadians as fast as possible on all legislation that will positively impact on their lives. I am always open to those types of discussions.