House of Commons Hansard #207 of the 37th Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament's site.) The word of the day was indian.

Topics

Physical Activity and Sport ActGovernment Orders

5:15 p.m.

The Acting Speaker (Mr. Bélair)

Is the House ready for the question?

Physical Activity and Sport ActGovernment Orders

5:15 p.m.

Some hon. members

Question.

Physical Activity and Sport ActGovernment Orders

5:15 p.m.

The Acting Speaker (Mr. Bélair)

The question is on Motion No. 4. Is it the pleasure of the House to adopt the motion?

Physical Activity and Sport ActGovernment Orders

5:15 p.m.

Some hon. members

Agreed.

Physical Activity and Sport ActGovernment Orders

5:15 p.m.

The Acting Speaker (Mr. Bélair)

I declare the motion carried.

(Motion No. 4 agreed to)

Physical Activity and Sport ActGovernment Orders

5:15 p.m.

The Acting Speaker (Mr. Bélair)

The question is on Motion No. 5. Is it the pleasure of the House to adopt the motion?

Physical Activity and Sport ActGovernment Orders

5:15 p.m.

Some hon. members

Agreed.

Physical Activity and Sport ActGovernment Orders

5:15 p.m.

The Acting Speaker (Mr. Bélair)

I declare the motion carried.

(Motion No. 5 agreed to)

Physical Activity and Sport ActGovernment Orders

5:15 p.m.

The Acting Speaker (Mr. Bélair)

The question is on Motion No. 8. Is it the pleasure of the House to adopt the motion?

Physical Activity and Sport ActGovernment Orders

5:15 p.m.

Some hon. members

Agreed.

Physical Activity and Sport ActGovernment Orders

5:15 p.m.

The Acting Speaker (Mr. Bélair)

I declare the motion carried.

(Motion No. 8 agreed to)

Physical Activity and Sport ActGovernment Orders

5:20 p.m.

Simcoe North Ontario

Liberal

Paul Devillers LiberalSecretary of State (Amateur Sport) and Deputy Leader of the Government in the House of Commons

moved:

Motion No. 10

That Bill C-54 be amended by replacing line 12 on page 3 with the following:

“9. (1) A not-for-profit corporation is hereby established to be called the Sport Dispute Resolution Centre of Canada, in this Act referred to as “the Centre”, which shall include a dispute resolution secretariat and a resource centre.

(2) The Centre is not an agent of Her Majesty.

(3) The Centre is not a departmental corporation or a Crown corporation within the meaning of the Financial Administration Act.

(4) For the purposes of the Federal Court Act, the Centre or an arbitrator or mediator who provides services under the auspices of the Centre is not a federal board, commission or other tribunal within the meaning of that Act.

(5) The Centre shall offer its services to, and communicate with, the public in both official languages of Canada.

(6) The head office of the Centre shall be at the place in Canada that is designated in the by-laws of the Centre.”

Motion No. 11

That Bill C-54, in Clause 17, be amended by replacing lines 25 to 27 on page 5 with the following:

“(c) the appointment and remuneration of the officers of the Centre;”.

Physical Activity and Sport ActGovernment Orders

5:20 p.m.

Simcoe North Ontario

Liberal

Paul Devillers LiberalSecretary of State (Amateur Sport) and Deputy Leader of the Government in the House of Commons

Mr. Speaker, you will note that Motions Nos. 12, 13 and 14 that were on the order paper were found by the Speaker not to be acceptable. I ask for unanimous consent that they be reinstated. Motions 13 and 14 are consequential motions from amendments that were made in committee and we request that there be unanimous consent to reinstate them.

Motion No. 12 is a amendment about the centre to be created, giving the board of directors authority to resolve disputes involving official languages.

I seek the unanimous consent of the House to restore these three motions.

Physical Activity and Sport ActGovernment Orders

5:20 p.m.

The Acting Speaker (Mr. Bélair)

Is there unanimous consent to reinstate Motions Nos. 12, 13 and 14?

Physical Activity and Sport ActGovernment Orders

5:20 p.m.

Some hon. members

Agreed.

Physical Activity and Sport ActGovernment Orders

5:20 p.m.

An hon. member

No.

Physical Activity and Sport ActGovernment Orders

5:20 p.m.

Liberal

Paul Devillers Liberal Simcoe North, ON

Mr. Speaker, the purpose of Motion No. 10 is to restore clause 9 to Bill C-54, and I quote:

9.(1) A not-for-profit corporation is hereby established to be called the Sport Dispute Resolution Centre of Canada—

Clause 9 provides that the centre shall be independent of the government and shall offer its services to, and communicate with, the public in both official languages of Canada.

The committee rejected clause 9 and we are in the process of restoring it.

Motion No. 11 is a technical amendment necessary in light of the amendment adopted by the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage regarding the appointment of the executive director by the board of directors of the sport dispute resolution centre. This is similar to Motions Nos. 13 and 14 for which I had requested unanimous consent to reinstate. Maybe after further discussion I would make the request again for unanimous consent to have Motions Nos. 12, 13 and 14 reinstated. I understood that all parties were in agreement with those amendments.

Physical Activity and Sport ActGovernment Orders

5:20 p.m.

The Acting Speaker (Mr. Bélair)

To ensure we understand each other, the hon. secretary of state is asking for unanimous consent to reinstate Motions Nos. 12, 13 and 14 after the Speaker had said they were not acceptable. Is there unanimous consent?

Physical Activity and Sport ActGovernment Orders

5:20 p.m.

Some hon. members

Agreed.

Physical Activity and Sport ActGovernment Orders

5:20 p.m.

Simcoe North Ontario

Liberal

Paul Devillers LiberalSecretary of State (Amateur Sport) and Deputy Leader of the Government in the House of Commons

moved:

Motion No. 12

That Bill C-54, in Clause 17, be amended by replacing line 39 on page 5 with the following:

“cludes

(i) principles governing the use of English and French by the staff of the Centre in their communications, provision of services and daily work; and

(ii) a mechanism for resolving disputes”.

Motion No. 13

That Bill C-54, in Clause 21, be amended by replacing lines 4 to 10 on page 7 with the following:

“21. The board of directors shall appoint an executive director of the Centre.”

Motion No. 14

That Bill C-54, in Clause 23, be amended by replacing line 25 on page 7 with the following:

“without the approval of the board of directors.”

Mr. Speaker, Motion No. 12 is a technical amendment which would allow the sport dispute resolution centre of Canada to make bylaws regarding the principles governing the implementation of an official languages policy with respect to the use of English and French.

Physical Activity and Sport ActGovernment Orders

5:25 p.m.

Liberal

Paul Devillers Liberal Simcoe North, ON

Motion No. 13 is a technical amendment in light of the amendment adopted by the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage regarding the appointment of the executive director by the board of directors of the sport dispute resolution centre of Canada. As drafted the bill referred to the minister and that was changed in committee. Therefore this is simply a consequential amendment.

Motion No. 14 is a technical amendment made necessary by the adoption by the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage of an amendment providing that the executive director of the sport dispute resolution centre of Canada shall be appointed by the board of directors.

Physical Activity and Sport ActGovernment Orders

5:25 p.m.

Canadian Alliance

Chuck Strahl Canadian Alliance Fraser Valley, BC

Mr. Speaker, the group of amendments we are now dealing with, including the ones we have reinstated, are all about the creation of a sports dispute resolution centre. Many witnesses from the amateur sports and organizations both large and small who appeared before committee felt that this dispute settling mechanism for sports would be a useful body for them to handle issues rather than having to go to court or get into a messy legal battle.

Second, the witnesses felt the board would not only expedite relations between organizations and the government but that it could also provide arbitrators, mediators and so on who could offer their professional assistance to organizations that probably could not afford one on their own. It is a good idea and the organizations want it.

The clauses we put in actually improve the original bill. The board of directors would now be able to appoint its own executive director, someone who would actually run the day to day business, which is better than having the minister himself doing it. If we are going ask the board of directors to ride herd on this, it is only right that they hire their own executive director. In that sense we have improved the bill with the inclusion of that clause.

Overall, the amateur sport community will be well served by having this. Depending on what one thinks happened in the NHL, maybe we need the same sort of thing for professional sports, but that is another issue we will go through during next year's Stanley Cup. However, as for amateur sports, this dispute settling centre has good potential and I hope its establishment will serve the sports community well.

Physical Activity and Sport ActGovernment Orders

5:25 p.m.

Bloc

Robert Lanctôt Bloc Châteauguay, QC

Mr. Speaker, in connection with Motion No. 10, which concerns reinstatement of clause 9, it is vital to reinstate this, because it is one of the key points of the bill. It concerns the Sport Dispute Resolution Centre.

Having spoken with all athletes as well as a number of coaches, we find it obvious that this is both welcome and necessary. I trust that it will not be made mandatory.

I had proposed some amendments on this, making it a voluntary decision for the athletes to be part of this centre. Similarly, should they wish to take advantage of the centre's mediation or arbitration, the federations and Sport Canada would be required to participate.

These amendments were turned down in committee. Since the bill does not make reference to this, it is important not to deprive athletes of their rights, in other words, they must still have the right to decide to go to court.

Creation of a dispute resolution centre must not deprive anyone of his or her rights. I trust that it will be used as something extra, another extrajudiciary approach, that is the opportunity to opt for mediation or arbitration. People must, however, still have the possibility of going to court if that is important to them.

In other words, if two athletes decide its settlement is final, this must be respected. This represents a big step forward for athletes, because they will have a choice, but this must remain a choice and not be made an obligation. I hope that the bill will be interpreted in this way. There is no specific reference to this being mandatory or not, so I hope this is what will be done.

Now for the appointment of the executive director, it was important to move this amendment because we want this centre to be truly independent. We are creating an extrajudiciary entity, but there must be transparency and independence.

In this regard, when the minister or the secretary of state for amateur sport appoints the directors of this board, it is important for these directors to appoint the executive director. This will ensure transparency. Of course, this will also indirectly ensure accountability, since the board will operate at arm's length.

It is high time we had such legislation and co-operation with the provinces and with Quebec. I hope that people will talk to each other, that the ministers will get along, because physical activity and sport are extremely important for society, in terms of health, but also of unity and sport ethics.

We have not yet discussed the issue of sport ethics. The bill does not say much about it, but it is so important. As members know, we now have the World Anti-Doping Agency in Montreal, and this is wonderful for Quebec and for our athletes. It tells the whole world that doping in Quebec and in Canada is a thing of the past, and we must show leadership in this respect. I hope that we will make good use of this bill to achieve our objectives.

Of course, I congratulate the members of the subcommittee on amateur sport for reaching a consensus. We all had to make compromises. Personally, it goes without saying that I would like to see many amendments to this bill.

Again, I want to tell the secretary of state for amateur sport that we must not forget the amendments on the grounds of the decisions made by the dispute resolution centre, which must be put in writing. Deadlines should be included in this regard. As for the amendments that I proposed in this respect, I hope that the government will follow Quebec's procedure code, which is part of an act, not regulations, and I hope that the legislation will be amended to include these amendments.

The registration of a sentence must be included in the bill, not just in the regulations, as the government tried to do. The idea is not to have the dispute resolution centre work in isolation. This would be a mistake. Things as important as deadlines or the written reasons for an arbitral decision must be included in the bill.

Physical Activity and Sport ActGovernment Orders

5:30 p.m.

Progressive Conservative

Peter MacKay Progressive Conservative Pictou—Antigonish—Guysborough, NS

Mr. Speaker, I congratulate my colleague, who sits on the subcommittee on sport. I think that his comments are very important, particularly with regard to ethics in sport.

It is very timely as well in terms of the need to ensure ethics in sport and Canada's reputation both at home and abroad.

I want to commend the efforts of the minister and mover to put these three motions back into the bill. They add to and enhance the true intent of Bill C-54. He has displayed a degree of wind and stick handling that he was not able to mirror on the ice but was able to do here in the House. I feel he is quite supportive of athletics as demonstrated by those efforts.

As previous speakers mentioned, Motions Nos. 12, 13 and 14 are aimed at enhancing parity with respect to the centre itself in dealing with both official languages and dealing with the public. The subcommittee had broad consultations and received a great deal of input. Athletes, coaches, stakeholders and many individuals expressed their support for this type of dispute resolution centre.

I want to specifically mention the efforts of Sport Nova Scotia and Scott Logan for their input, direction and leadership on many issues relating to sport in my home province of Nova Scotia.

As the minister said, Motions Nos. 13 and 14 are somewhat technical in nature but stress the independence and the importance quite apropos of team work in allowing the board to take ownership over its decisions and to truly be a master of its destiny in building its own team, which I expect will work very closely for the betterment of sport throughout Canada.

These are certainly very important amendments. We are encouraged by the efforts of the minister to ensure they were included in the legislation. The Progressive Conservative Party once again expresses its support for these amendments as well as the entire bill.

Physical Activity and Sport ActGovernment Orders

5:35 p.m.

Canadian Alliance

Jay Hill Canadian Alliance Prince George—Peace River, BC

Mr. Speaker, the hon. Secretary of State for Amateur Sport asked for the unanimous consent of the House to reintroduce Motions Nos. 12, 13 and 14. From the comments I have heard I think everybody is supportive of those motions. The House ruled unanimously to allow that to stand.

However it struck me as a bit odd that this would proceed in such a manner. I have been here almost nine years and it is somewhat unique for me to find a situation where the Speaker has ruled on the admissibility of amendments and yet a minister of the government asks the House to overrule the Speaker. That is of concern to me and I do not know why it would not be of concern to the government, particularly the minister who has done this. I wanted to raise that at least for the viewing audience to consider.

On the other issue, Motion No. 10, which deals with the sport dispute resolution centre of Canada and other--