Debates of May 12th, 2006

The Environment

[Nathan Cullen, NDP, Skeena—Bulkley Valley, BC]

Mr. Speaker, we have heard the Minister of Natural Resources time and time again stand in the House and try to explain away why the cuts to the EnerGuide program happened, saying there is 50¢ on the dollar, a spin on bureaucracy. Yesterday the deputy minister of Natural Resources stood in committee and said that the costs were around 12¢ on the dollar. Wrong on the file, wrong on the environment.

What commitments will the government make when it heads to Germany next week to meet with the international committee on climate change to not further embarrass Canadians and to make some strong commitments on the environment?

[Christian Paradis, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Natural Resources]

Mr. Speaker, there was no mistake in that case. What the minister said was that 50 cents on the dollar goes to taxpayers, and that is what is unacceptable.

Canada--U.S. Border

[Claude DeBellefeuille, Bloc, Beauharnois—Salaberry, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the Government of Quebec intends to take a common stand with Vermont on the mandatory passport issue.

Does the government finally understand the major impact of this measure, and does it intend to ask the American government to reconsider its position?

[Peter MacKay, Conservative, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Minister of the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency]

Mr. Speaker, I can assure the hon. member that the federal government, along with the provinces and industry in Canada, is very concerned about this issue. We have taken every opportunity to raise it with the Americans. We are in a position now where we are receiving great cooperation and a free flow of information on this file. We will take every opportunity to raise the concerns as we have in the past.

I assure the hon. member this is under close scrutiny by the Prime Minister, by myself and by other members of the government.

Report of Chief Electoral Officer

[The Speaker, Liberal, Peter Milliken]

I have the honour to lay upon the table the report of the Chief Electoral Officer of Canada on the 39th general election, held on January 23, 2006.

This report is deemed permanently referred to the Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs.

Certificates of Nomination

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

Mr. Speaker, I have the privilege to table a certificate of nomination for a position to the Hazardous Materials Information Review Commission.

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 response to two petitions.

Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development

[Colin Mayes, Conservative, Okanagan—Shuswap, BC]

Mr. Speaker, as chair of the Standing Committee on Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development, I have the honour to present, in both official languages, the first report of the Standing Committee on Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development, regarding the Kelowna agreement.

Procedure and House Affairs

[Gary Goodyear, Conservative, Cambridge, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I have the honour to present the fifth report of the Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs.

In accordance with its order of reference of Tuesday, April 25, the committee has considered vote 5, House of Commons under Parliament in the main estimates for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2007, less the amount voted in interim supply, and reports the same.

Criminal Code

[Ed Fast, Conservative, Abbotsford, BC]

moved for leave to introduce Bill C-277, An Act to amend the Criminal Code (luring a child).

Mr. Speaker, I rise in the House to table a bill, which would amend the Criminal Code of Canada to provide tougher penalties for persons who use the Internet to lure children for sexual purposes. The maximum penalty for this crime would increase from five years to 10 years imprisonment. If passed, together with our government's Bill C-9, it will ensure that people who use the Internet to sexually exploit our children will spend hard time in jail, not life in the comfortable surroundings of their home.

Seventy-five per cent of Canadians use the Internet, many of these being children. Statistics show that in the past two years, luring of children over the Internet has increased an astounding 1,200%.

The bill is long overdue and is a significant first step in protecting our vulnerable children against sexual predators.

(Motions deemed adopted, bill read the first time and printed)

Employment Insurance Act

[Mark Eyking, Liberal, Sydney—Victoria, NS]

moved for leave to introduce Bill C-278, An Act to amend the Employment Insurance Act (benefits for illness, injury or quarantine).

Mr. Speaker, I stand in the House to introduce a bill that is not only important for many of my constituents in the riding of Sydney—Victoria, but also for many citizens in Canada who come upon an illness or an injury that removes them from the workforce.

As a previous business owner and now a member of Parliament, I have witnessed many of my employees falling into economic difficulties because of an injury or illness. The bill would help all valued employees, going through difficult times, until they could re-enter the workforce again.

(Motions deemed adopted, bill read the first time and printed)

DNA Identification Act

[Mike Wallace, Conservative, Burlington, ON]

moved for leave to introduce Bill C-279, An Act to amend the DNA Identification Act (establishment of indexes).

Mr. Speaker, it is my pleasure to introduce a bill today that would amend the DNA Identification Act to provide for the establishment of a human remains index and a missing persons index to help law enforcement agencies search for and identify persons who are reported missing.

This is a very important service to the families of those people who are missing from Burlington and from across the country.

(Motions deemed adopted, bill read the first time and printed)

Immigration and Refugee Protection Act

[Nicole Demers, Bloc, Laval, QC]

moved for leave to introduce Bill C-280, An Act to Amend the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (coming into force of sections 110, 111 and 171).

Mr. Speaker, for four years now, the federal government has been stubbornly delaying the creation of the appeal division under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act. It is time that the government respected the legislation and implemented the appeal division, which is why I am introducing this bill.

(Motions deemed adopted, bill read the first time and printed)

Autism

[Mark Warawa, Conservative, Langley, BC]

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to present a petition with 56 signatures from parents in Ontario asking for medical treatment for their autistic children. They are also asking that there be the creation of academic chairs at universities in each province to teach treatment for autism.

Questions on the Order Paper

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

Mr. Speaker, the following questions will be answered today: Nos. 6, 7 and 8.

Question No. 6

[Garry Breitkreuz, Conservative, Yorkton—Melville, SK]

With regard to the federal Chief Firearms Officer Services Policy Manual which states: “An individual may be authorized to carry restricted firearms or certain handguns (as precribed in Section 12(6) of the Firearms Act) for two purposes: (1) protection of life, and (2) lawful occupation which includes employees of the armoured vehicle industry and those who require firearms for protection of life from wild animals while working in the remote wilderness”: (a) how many “protection of life” carry permits have been issued since December 1, 1998, in each province and territory; and (b) what types of firearms were applicants permitted to carry for their own protection?

[Stockwell Day, Conservative, Minister of Public Safety]

Mr. Speaker, the answer is as follows:

a) Nationally consistent standards for reporting authorizations to carry, ATC, issued and the centralized system to record the information were introduced for September 2004. ATCs have been issued as indicated in the following table between September 1, 2004, and April 20, 2006:

Province / Territory	Number of ATCs issued for protection against wildlife	Number of ATCs issued to armoured vehicle industry
British Columbia/Yukon	434	2,160
Alberta/Northwest Territories	116	1,489
Saskatchewan	19	619
Manitoba/Nunavut	9	645
Ontario	235	4,712
Quebec	73	2,566
New Brunswick	0	346
Nova Scotia	0	569
Newfoundland and Labrador	0	133
Prince Edward Island	0	56
Total	886	13,295

A third category of ATCs are issued for “protection of self or others”. We cannot release data on this category since the disclosure of this information could reasonably be expected to threaten the safety of individuals.

b) The types of firearms authorized through ATCs include restricted and prohibited classes; however, specific firearm descriptions are not available.

Question No. 7

[Garry Breitkreuz, Conservative, Yorkton—Melville, SK]

How many individuals are there in Canada who are considered too dangerous to own firearms including: (a) number of convicted violent criminals, prisoners and parolees; (b) number of persons prohibited from owning guns; (c) number of persons with an outstanding criminal arrest warrant; (d) number of persons charged with a violent criminal offence that are out on bail; (e) number of persons with a restraining order against them; (f) number of persons that have had their firearms licence refused or revoked; and (g) number of firearms licence holders that are under investigation for incidents that may result in their firearms licence being revoked?

[Stockwell Day, Conservative, Minister of Public Safety]

Mr. Speaker, with regard to Correctional Services Canada, CSC, for the purpose of responding to part a) of the member’s question, CSC has provided statistics on those federal offenders that have been convicted of murder or at least one Schedule 1 offence. For a complete list of Schedule 1 offences, please refer to the Corrections and Conditional Release Act.

Of the 12,661 federally incarcerated offenders, 756 are serving a sentence for a 1st degree murder offence¹ , 1,661 are serving a sentence for a 2nd degree murder offence², and 7,229 are serving a sentence for a Schedule I³ offence. Total equals 9,646.

Of the 8,340 federal offenders in the community, 168 are serving a sentence for a 1st degree murder offence, 1,415 are serving a sentence for a 2nd degree murder offence, and 3,554 are serving a sentence for a Schedule I offence. Total equals 5,137. The data is as of March 26, 2006.

With regard to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, RCMP, the Canadian Criminal Records Information Services, CCRIS, and the Canadian Police Information Centre, CPIC, contain criminal justice information entered by police agencies and some government agencies such as the Canada Border Services Agency and Correctional Services Canada. Although able to enter appropriate information, no agency is legally obligated to do so except in the case of Youth Criminal Justice. For this reason, the statistical information provided about data in CCRIS and CPIC repositories is not reflective of overall Canadian statistics. The RCMP was able to answer sub-questions b), c), d) and e):

b) The RCMP can only provide information on the number of records within CPIC where persons are prohibited from possessing a firearm, not the number of people prohibited from owning a firearm.

The number of records entered on CPIC for “prohibited from possessing firearms” is 201,097.

It should be noted that a person could be prohibited more than once or in more than one province and each prohibition will be captured as a separate record.

c) The CPIC system is designed in a way to capture all warrants. The system was not designed to differentiate between a criminal arrest warrant, for serious offences and a warrant for arrest, for such offences as non-payment of fines. As such, to provide this information, a manual search in the system would have to take place which would represent a major undertaking that would not fall within the limited time of response.

d) The RCMP is unable to provide this information as CPIC does not maintain this kind of statistical information. The CPIC system was not devised as a statistics tool, but rather a police investigative tool. As such, each police service would have to be contacted to verify if a specific individual is released with or without conditions.

e) There are 161,916 records on CPIC for probation category with recognizance orders. These orders include peace bonds (not of a criminal nature), recognizance and restraining orders.

With regard to the Canada Firearms Centre, CAFC, the center is able to answer sub-questions f) and g) only:

f) As of March 31, 2006, there have been 6,311 licence applications refused, and 10,915 licences revoked.

g) As of March 31, 2006, 11,050 licence holders were under investigation for incidents that may result in their firearms licence being revoked.

¹ Defined as first degree murder, capital murder or murder by a person under 18

² Defined as second degree murder or non-capital murder

³ Defined as being convicted of at least one offence on Schedule 1 of the CCRA

Question No. 8

[Gerry Ritz, Conservative, Battlefords—Lloydminster, SK]

With regard to the government and the Farmer Rail Car Coalition (FRCC): (a) has this group received any monetary support from any government ministry or Crown corporation and, if so, what form did this monetary support take; (b) were any third parties working on behalf of FRCC paid fees or per diems by any government ministry or Crown corporation for FRCC related work; (c) if loans were granted, what are the conditions of repayment; (d) did any registered lobbyists represent the FRCC to the government; (e) did any government ministry or Crown corporation provide any office space, administrative services or other services in kind to FRCC executives or representatives; (f) were any government funds provided to the interim management group which preceded the FRCC, or its member organizations, or any consultants or lobbyists doing work on behalf of the interim management group; and (g) if so, what are the terms and conditions of payment or repayment of any government funds disbursed?

[Carol Skelton, Conservative, Minister of National Revenue and Minister of Western Economic Diversification]

Mr. Speaker, the answer is as follows:

a) This group, FRCC and later 3302881 Canada Ltd., has received funding from Western Economic Diversification Canada,WD. There are five previous contracts, and one ongoing contract, as follows:

Approved Date	Federal Funding Approved	Type of Assistance
July, 1996	$365,000	Conditionally Repayable Contribution (Loan)
June, 2002	$100,000	Non-repayable Contribution
Sept, 2003	$200,000	Non-repayable Contribution
Oct, 2004	$117,000	Non-repayable Contribution
Apr, 2005	$195,000	Non-repayable Contribution
Current Assistance
Sept, 2005	$375,000	Non-repayable Contribution (Loan)
TOTAL ASSISTANCE	$1,352,000

b) Third parties working for FRCC were not paid any funds directly by the government. The expenditures made by FRCC, which qualified for government assistance, did include payments to third party consultants. While FRCC did pay lobbyists as well, these payments were not included in the expenditures reimbursed by WD. The lobbyists were paid by funds received from other sources.

c) The first and last contracts, conditionally repayable contributions, consisted of loans: $365,000 and $375,000. Repayment is conditional upon 3302881 Canada Ltd., or subsequent company formed for this purpose, being successful in purchasing, leasing or otherwise acquiring possession, use or control of all or any portion of the federal fleet, for subsequent leasing to the railroads.

FRCC, 3302881 Canada Ltd., has a fiscal year ending July 31. Repayment is to begin after they have operated for one complete fiscal year after receiving the railcars from the federal government, either through ownership or lease-to-purchase, with the first annual payment due on August 1, 2007. Repayments will be made in five equal annual installments of $148,000.

d) As mentioned, FRCC did hire lobbyists. However, these expenses were not included in the expenditures reimbursed by WD. The funds for the lobbyists came from other sources.

e) No.

f) All funds that were provided are listed above.

g) The terms of payment of the funds to FRCC are that the funds be used to assist FRCC to negotiate transfer of the grain cars from the federal government to FRCC. Terms of repayment are as noted above.

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. 1 could be made an order for return, this return would be tabled immediately.

[The Speaker, Liberal, Peter Milliken]

Is it agreed that Question No. 1 be made an order for return and that it be tabled immediately?

[Some hon. members]

Agreed.