The hon. member for Selkirk—Interlake—Eastman is rising on a point of order.
An Act to amend the Customs Act
This bill was last introduced in the 42nd Parliament, 1st Session, which ended in September 2019.
This bill was last introduced in the 42nd Parliament, 1st Session, which ended in September 2019.
Ralph Goodale Liberal
This bill has received Royal Assent and is now law.
This is from the published bill.
This enactment amends the Customs Act to authorize the Canada Border Services Agency to collect, from prescribed persons and prescribed sources, personal information on all persons who are leaving or have left Canada. It also amends the Act to authorize an officer, as defined in that Act, to require that goods that are to be exported from Canada are to be reported despite any exemption under that Act. In addition, it amends the Act to provide officers with the power to examine any goods that are to be exported. Finally, it amends the Act to authorize the disclosure of information collected under the Customs Act to an official of the Department of Employment and Social Development for the purposes of administering or enforcing the Old Age Security Act.
All sorts of information on this bill is available at LEGISinfo, an excellent resource from the Library of Parliament. You can also read the full text of the bill.
The Assistant Deputy Speaker Anthony Rota
The hon. member for Selkirk—Interlake—Eastman is rising on a point of order.
James Bezan Conservative Selkirk—Interlake—Eastman, MB
Mr. Speaker, I would ask that the member get back to the point on Bill C-21. We are talking about border crossings, entries, and the way we handle visas and passports. She is off on a different tangent altogether.
The Assistant Deputy Speaker Anthony Rota
As I have said in the past, I think it is important that we allow members to take whatever course they may to get to the point they want to make.
The hon. member for Vancouver East, should she want to finish up and bring it back to the pertinent point.
Jenny Kwan NDP Vancouver East, BC
Mr. Speaker, yes, I would like to finish up.
My point was in response to the Minister of Public Safety on how Canadians chose the Liberals and not the Harper government. He is right. They did. However, Canadians also expected the current government to follow through on the commitments it made to Canadians, and it has failed on multiple levels.
On these issues of safety, security, and information sharing, we, the New Democrats, believe that Canadians want more from the government. I do not believe that they want our privacy information to be shared with the United States, with zero accountability by the United States, because we will not know what the U.S. will do with our data.
James Bezan Conservative Selkirk—Interlake—Eastman, MB
Mr. Speaker, I am listening to the arguments put forward by the NDP member in disbelief.
The member is worried about privacy, but every time she walks up to the border, she is providing her passport voluntarily, with all her private information. For those of us who have NEXUS cards, we already provided that private information to U.S. Customs and Border Protection so that we could get our NEXUS cards. Of course, the NDP is making the argument that we should let all the undocumented, illegal border-crossers jump the queue and come running across and flood our system here in Canada without providing the proper identification.
It is beyond me that NDP members are willing to trade away privacy and security in one area but then say the complete opposite when it comes to Canadians actually having to work with our U.S. neighbours so that we can have an expedited process in clearing the border.
Jenny Kwan NDP Vancouver East, BC
Mr. Speaker, when we go to the border and show our passports, they do not collect the information as data. That is the difference. They would be collecting the information as data, but then they will be sharing the information with we do not know who. By the way, the President himself made a clear statement saying that this information will not be subject to the laws of the United States in terms of privacy. Our own Privacy Commissioner raised concerns at committee about this. Maybe the member is telling us not to worry about it and that it is all good.
On the issue of asylum seekers, the fact of the matter is that these are irregular crossers who are coming over. Canada is a signatory to the UN Convention and Protocol Relating to the Status of Refugees, and because of that, we accept asylum seekers when they come to this country. After they arrive in this country, they will be processed accordingly and go through all the screening to determine whether they are valid refugees. If they are, through the IRB, they will have status here. If not, they will have to leave the country.
Members know this very well, but they persist in ensuring that misinformation is put out there in the broader community. All for what? It is to fearmonger, which is really the purpose of the Conservative Party's approach to asylum seekers, and that is just shameful.
Pierre Nantel NDP Longueuil—Saint-Hubert, QC
Mr. Speaker, I invite my colleague to listen carefully because we had a pretty good chuckle over how much the parliamentary secretary underestimated our immigration critic's ability to respond and her knowledge of the file.
This government thinks that it can do what it wants and sincerely believes that the public will accept any of its nonsensical policies. Is that not the problem with this government?
Jenny Kwan NDP Vancouver East, BC
Mr. Speaker, indeed, the whole point of this is ensuring that Canadians have the assurance of the government that it has their best interests at heart. However, with this bill, New Democrats do not believe that the government has taken measures to ensure the interests of Canadians. Government members have not, frankly, answered the question the Privacy Commissioner put on the table.
The Assistant Deputy Speaker Anthony Rota
Order. It is my duty, pursuant to Standing Order 38, to inform the House that the questions to be raised tonight at the time of adjournment are as follows: the hon. member for Nanaimo—Ladysmith, Status of Women; and the hon. member for Saskatoon—Grasswood, The Environment.
Erin O'Toole Conservative Durham, ON
Mr. Speaker, I am happy to rise in debate for the second time on Bill C-21 and speak about changes to the Customs Act.
I am going to premise my remarks upon the fact that many people in this House of Commons change over time. Sometimes the change is dramatic. I have highlighted the dramatic change of the deputy House leader of the Liberals, my friend from Winnipeg North, who speaks in this House far more than everyone else. He is just a treasure trove of contrary positions on a whole range of issues, particularly how hurt he was personally during the Conservative government whenever there was an omnibus bill or use of time allocation. Now he organizes the use of time allocation for his House leader.
There are also ironies in looking at the long-time member from Saskatchewan, who is now our Minister of Public Safety, because he has been on both sides of every issue. He is doing so wonderfully today. He gave a speech that extolled the virtues of a common entry-exit system with respect to the United States. He also talked about tracking exit information of Canadians for a variety of reasons and how good those reasons were. What did he say about it in 2011? The entry-exit issue has been part of the beyond the border initiative the Conservative government worked with President Obama on for many years trying to make sure goods were delivered faster, that there was exchange of workers across the border, and that security protocols were respected.
What did the minister who is now pushing this rapidly through the House say in February 2011? He said:
If we have a common entry and common exit system, does it not follow that Canada no longer has sovereign Canadian control over immigration and refugees? Canadians need to know what is at risk.
It is ironic in 2018 to hear that minister talk about sovereign Canadian control over our border when his press conference earlier this week in Quebec with several other members of cabinet showed their inaction and incompetence has essentially surrendered any sovereign border controls in this country. This is due to inaction, due to the desire to keep their centre left coalition alive. They will not even do the basic enforcement of border rules and regulations. It is astonishing.
When the Conservatives were exploring the entry-exit system, it was a high priority for our American friends under the Obama administration. The minister expressed concern about it at the time, and now he is driving it through. What else did he say about this in February 2011? He conceded in many ways that if Canada, under the Conservatives, were to go to a common entry-exit system information sharing with the United States, it only should be done under specific circumstances. He said, “Could the Prime Minister at least guarantee minimum gains for Canada?”
What the minister was saying at the time was if Canada was to relent to the American request for the sharing of entry and exit information across our border, we should at least extract something in return. What is going to be the guaranteed minimum gains for Canada? That is what he asked for in opposition. In fact, why did the Conservative government not complete entry and exit information sharing with the American administration? We were fighting for Canadian jobs related to the Keystone XL pipeline. We wanted a gain. We wanted to be treated as a mature partner in the Canada-U.S. relationship. We were fighting for that gain so we did not rush through a bill like Bill C-21.
What has Canada achieved under the U.S.-Canada relationship under the Liberal government? What is the minimum gain we are getting now for this entry-exit sharing? Nothing. In fact, NAFTA is at risk. Our steel and aluminum exports are at risk.
We are not even consulted on decisions of a security nature made by the United States. The government cannot even get its answers straight on whether it is talking to the Americans about fixing the gap in the safe third country agreement.
The minister suggests they are talking. The immigration minister—
Jenny Kwan NDP Vancouver East, BC
Jenny Kwan NDP Vancouver East, BC
Actually I was listening quite intently. Frankly, he is not on topic. I leave that in your capable hands, Mr. Speaker.
The Assistant Deputy Speaker Anthony Rota
Once again, as I had mentioned earlier, I leave it to the members. I am sure no one elected anyone incompetent or anyone who cannot put together an argument. I am going to trust the ability of the individual members to come back to the issue. I am sure the hon. member will come back to the issue that we are discussing. He is just trying to make a point and is grabbing facts and figures to bring forward. I will leave it to his discretion and hopefully he will be debating the issue at hand.
Erin O'Toole Conservative Durham, ON
Mr. Speaker, through you to the member, I would recommend to her to use research as opposed to anger in her interventions here in the House.
I am talking about the minister who just gave a speech and was questioning her in her questions and comments on his views on Bill C-21—