Debates of Nov. 29th, 2006

Whistleblower Protection

[Gary Goodyear, Conservative, Cambridge, ON]

Mr. Speaker, yesterday the Auditor General confirmed exactly what happens when the Liberals govern: waste and mismanagement. An example involved Ron Stewart who took taxpayers for a $300,000 ride, including so-called business trips to the Grey Cup and high school reunions, indeed, good, serious government business. This case validates Canadians' choice in the last election, but it also highlights the need for strong whistleblower protection.

Will the President of the Treasury Board tell the House what he is doing to strengthen whistleblower protection in the federal accountability act?

[John Baird, Conservative, President of the Treasury Board]

Mr. Speaker, we want to create a culture within our public service where the men and women who serve Canadians and serve our government have the confidence that if they step forward to report wrongdoing, their concerns will be taken seriously. They will also have freedom to do so without fear of repercussions of losing their jobs or facing a demotion.

We have brought forward the most comprehensive, meaningful whistleblower protection ever tabled in Canadian history. Not a single union stepped forward before the Bill C-11 committee hearings, the Liberal bill to support it.

A lot of hard-working public servants are proud of our measures to protect whistleblowers.

Citizenship and Immigration

[Meili Faille, Bloc, Vaudreuil—Soulanges, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the Canadian Council for Refugees condemns the legal limbo into which individuals fall who have not obtained permanent resident status and who originate from countries for which Canada has imposed a moratorium on removal because of security concerns. In view of the flood of negative decisions handed down over the summer, there is little difference between the files that were rejected and those that were approved.

Given that two individuals having similar experiences are not given the same consideration, what changes is the minister prepared to make in order to make the decisions more just?

[Monte Solberg, Conservative, Minister of Citizenship and Immigration]

Mr. Speaker, the fact is the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees has lauded Canada for its leadership on refugee issues. When the member speaks of the moratorium countries, the fact is over 85% of the people in those situations are eventually allowed to stay in Canada because of the generosity of our system.

I would think that the member ought to be applauding this government for its work in helping refugees, including the $307 million in settlement funding that will help refugees live the Canadian dream.

[The Speaker, Liberal, Peter Milliken]

I know today is Wednesday, but since we are not sitting tomorrow, we will pretend it is Thursday, and the hon. member for Wascana, therefore, will want to ask a question.

Business of the House

[Ralph Goodale, Liberal, Wascana, SK]

Mr. Speaker, when we return to the House on Monday, there will be exactly two weeks left before the normal adjournment for Christmas. I wonder if the government House leader could inform us in his usual comprehensive way as to what he expects to be dealing with in the first week of December. Also, because there is only that two week window after we come back, I wonder if he could offer any advice about the second week of December as well. Specifically, I wonder if he plans at any point in that two week period to call Bill C-21.

[Rob Nicholson, Conservative, Leader of the Government in the House of Commons and Minister for Democratic Reform]

Mr. Speaker, I will do better than just tell the hon. member what will happen next week, I will tell him how we will conclude this week.

This afternoon we will be on the report stage of Bill C-24, the softwood lumber agreement. As you may know, Mr. Speaker, tomorrow and Friday the House will be adjourned for the Liberal leadership convention, and we will all be watching that with interest.

On Monday it is my intention to call ways and means Motion No. 12, a motion to refer Bill C-30, the clean air act, to a legislative committee before second reading. We will continue that week with Bill S-5, on tax conventions, and Bill C-34, on the first nations education agreement.

On Tuesday we will then consider the third reading stage of Bill C-24.

Later on that week it is my hope that we will begin the debate on the marriage motion. I will continue to consult my colleagues with respect to a date for the final vote on that. After that it is my intention to proceed with Bill C-28, the budget tax measures.

I hope that is of help to the hon. member.

Government Response to Petitions

[Tom Lukiwski, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons and Minister for Democratic Reform]

Mr. Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 36(8), I have the honour to table, in both official languages, the government's responses to seven petitions.

Interparliamentary Delegations

[Claude Bachand, Bloc, Saint-Jean, QC]

Mr. Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 34(1), I have the honour to present to the House, in both official languages, the report of the Canadian NATO Parliamentary Association respecting the visit of the Canadian delegation of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly's Political Committee and the Defence and Security Committee to Afghanistan, from May 17 to 21, 2006.

Finance

[Brian Pallister, Conservative, Portage—Lisgar, MB]

Mr. Speaker, I have the honour to present, in both official languages, the sixth report of the Standing Committee on Finance regarding prebudget consultations this year.

Mr. Speaker, if the House would give its consent, I would move that the sixth report of the Standing Committee on Finance be concurred in.

[The Speaker, Liberal, Peter Milliken]

Does the hon. member have the unanimous consent of the House to propose this motion?

[Some hon. members]

Agreed.

[The Speaker, Liberal, Peter Milliken]

(Motion agreed to)

Canada Post

[Andy Scott, Liberal, Fredericton, NB]

Mr. Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 36, I am pleased to present to the House a petition signed by a large number of residents of New Brunswick and most particularly of Fredericton.

The petitioners state that the Government of Canada has traditionally supported an enhanced mail delivery in all corners of the country. The petitioners state that the people of Canada require their mail to be delivered in a timely and efficient manner. Whereas many citizens, the sick, shut-ins and persons with disabilities, face barriers daily regarding accessibility issues, the petitioners call upon the House of Commons and the minister responsible for Canada Post to maintain traditional mail delivery and service instead of implementing changes that are causing people to travel long distances from their homes to receive their mail.

Marriage

[Ron Cannan, Conservative, Kelowna—Lake Country, BC]

Mr. Speaker, today I have the privilege of presenting five petitions to the House. The first four are signed by over 550 of my constituents of Kelowna--Lake Country who request that the government reopen the debate on same sex marriage.

Agriculture

[Ron Cannan, Conservative, Kelowna—Lake Country, BC]

Mr. Speaker, this petition requests that the Canadian government ban genetic use restriction technologies in grain seeds, ensuring that this technology never be tested or planted in Canada. I present these petitions to the House and appropriate committee.

Child Care

[Bill Siksay, NDP, Burnaby—Douglas, BC]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to table three petitions today. One is signed by people in the lower mainland of British Columbia, including some from Burnaby--Douglas, who call on the government to achieve multi-year funding to ensure that publicly operated child care programs are sustainable for the long term, to protect child care by enshrining it in legislation with a national child care act to be a cornerstone of Canada like the Canada Health Act, and to help end child poverty by using the $1,200 allowance to enhance the child tax benefit without taxes and clawbacks.

Chemical Pesticides

[Bill Siksay, NDP, Burnaby—Douglas, BC]

The second petition, Mr. Speaker, is again from residents of the lower mainland of British Columbia, including some from Burnaby--Douglas, who call on the House of Commons and Parliament assembled to recognize that human and environmental health should take precedence in legislative decision making as well as in the product approval process in every jurisdiction in Canada.

The petitioners call on us to enact legislation banning the use of chemical pesticides for cosmetic purposes until rigorous independent, scientific and medical testing of chemical pesticides and a parliamentary review of the results are conducted for both existing and new products and to apply the precautionary principle in regard to restricting future allowable usage.

Automotive Industry

[Bill Siksay, NDP, Burnaby—Douglas, BC]

Finally, Mr. Speaker, I would like to table a petition from quite a few people in the Windsor and southwestern Ontario area. They call on the Government of Canada to cancel negotiations for a free trade agreement with Korea which would worsen the one-way flood of automotive products into our market. They call on the government to develop a new automotive trade policy that would require Korea and other offshore markets to purchase equivalent volumes of finished vehicles and auto parts from North America as a condition of their continued access to our market.

The Environment

[Keith Martin, Liberal, Esquimalt—Juan de Fuca, BC]

Mr. Speaker, on behalf of hundreds of my constituents of Esquimalt--Juan de Fuca, it is my honour to present, pursuant to Standing Order 36, these petitions which ask Parliament to honour a legal commitment to the Kyoto treaty and to further pledge to reduce Canada's greenhouse gas emissions by 30% below the 1990 level by 2020, and to 80% by 2050 as the Federation of Canadian Municipalities and the State of California have done.

Marriage

[Tina Keeper, Liberal, Churchill, MB]

Mr. Speaker, I am tabling two petitions on behalf of people in the Churchill riding on the issue of marriage.

[Maurice Vellacott, Conservative, Saskatoon—Wanuskewin, SK]

Mr. Speaker, I am privileged to present in the House this afternoon petitions from several hundred individuals from across Canada. There are a number from Quebec, New Brunswick and different provinces and territories across the country.

The petitioners are simply asking that there be a reopening of the definition of marriage. They make the point that marriage is, in their view, the permanent union of one man and one woman to the exclusion of all others. Marriage is a natural institution and not merely a bundle of rights and benefits subject to the equality provisions of section 15 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

The petitioners ask that this be revisited so that we redefine marriage as the union between one man and one woman to the betterment and well-being of Canadian society.

They call for that to be reopened, to repeal and to amend the Marriage for Civil Purposes Act in order to promote and defend marriage as the lawful union of one man and one woman to the exclusion of all others.

Homelessness Initiative

[Christian Ouellet, Bloc, Brome—Missisquoi, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I want to thank my colleague from the riding of Drummond for this petition from the Refuge La Piaule du Centre du Québec Inc., which, like previous petitions, calls for the SCPI and RHF programs to be renewed immediately because people are currently living in insecurity—that is how they word it—and will leave their jobs if this program is not renewed immediately.

It is essential to maintain the actions and services of the community agencies that contribute to preventing homelessness and that support people faced with this reality and everything that comes with it.

Inuit Sled Dogs

[Stockwell Day, Conservative, Minister of Public Safety]

Mr. Speaker, I have the honour to table, in both official languages, the final report on the review of allegations concerning Inuit sled dogs in the period between 1950 and 1970.

We went to the government archives in order to find documented files. The RCMP went back and interviewed nearly 200 former police officers and civilians who worked or lived in the North during that period.

The report indicates there was no government policy or evidence for the destruction of sled dogs, nor was there any program to diminish the way of life of northern residents.

Questions Passed as Orders for Returns

[Tom Lukiwski, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons and Minister for Democratic Reform]

Mr. Speaker, if Question No. 105 could be made an order for return, this return would be tabled immediately.