Debates of Nov. 21st, 2007

Public Accounts

[Shawn Murphy, Liberal, Charlottetown, PE]

Mr. Speaker, I have the pleasure to present, in both official languages, the first report of the Standing Committee on Public Accounts.

Very briefly, this report basically commends a number of witnesses who came before us on the RCMP issues. They are: Staff Sergeant Mike Frizzell, Staff Sergeant Ron Lewis, Chief Superintendent Fraser Macaulay, Ms. Denise Revine, Assistant Commissioner Bruce Rogerson, and Staff Sergeant Steve Walker. The report commends these individuals for their continued efforts to expose the mismanagement of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police pension and insurance plan administration in the face of great personal and professional hardship.

Bill C-2

[Rick Dykstra, Conservative, St. Catharines, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I have the honour to present, in both official languages, the first report of the legislative committee on Bill C-2.

I am speaking from this side, but I certainly want to comment that while there were some tight constraints put around the delivery of this report back to the House, every once in a while, even though it may not be recognized, all members from all parties of the House do work together on good legislation to move it forward.

We have delivered this back to the House a day in advance. My compliments to all members of the committee.

Scrutiny of Regulations

[Derek Lee, Liberal, Scarborough—Rouge River, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I have the honour to present, in both official languages, the first report of the Standing Joint Committee on Scrutiny of Regulations.

If the House gives consent, I intend to move concurrence in this report later today.

Canadian Heritage

[Gary Schellenberger, Conservative, Perth—Wellington, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I have the honour to present, in both official languages, the first report of the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage related to the directives from the governor in council amending the interpretation of the broadcasting policy or the telecommunications policy for Canada.

Electoral Boundaries Readjustment Act

[Brent St. Denis, Liberal, Algoma—Manitoulin—Kapuskasing, ON]

moved for leave to introduce Bill C-483, An Act to amend the Electoral Boundaries Readjustment Act (Northern Ontario).

Mr. Speaker, very briefly, this bill would support all MPs, all ridings in northern Ontario, which is a vast area. My own riding is 110,000 square kilometres and if trends continue, it will even get bigger, so this is a bill to ensure that at the very least, 9% of the seats in Ontario are allocated to northern Ontario.

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

Unborn Victims of Crime Act

[Ken Epp, Conservative, Edmonton—Sherwood Park, AB]

moved for leave to introduce Bill C-484, An Act to amend the Criminal Code (injuring or causing the death of an unborn child while committing an offence).

Mr. Speaker, I am deeply honoured to introduce my bill, entitled unborn victims of crime. This bill addresses the heart-rending grief that loved ones experience when a pregnant woman is assaulted or killed. My bill would provide a second offence for the injury or death of the unborn child.

I urge all members to support this bill, as it affirms the woman who has chosen to bring her child to term and to give it life.

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

Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms Day Act

[Andrew Telegdi, Liberal, Kitchener—Waterloo, ON]

moved for leave to introduce Bill C-485, An Act respecting a Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms Day.

Mr. Speaker, it is a privilege and an honour to present this bill in the year of the 25th anniversary of our Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms defines us as Canadians. It makes all Canadians who come from all over the world equal before the law.

This bill would enable Canadians to appreciate our past and our present and to look forward to the future.

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

Criminal Code

[Joy Smith, Conservative, Kildonan—St. Paul, MB]

moved for leave to introduce Bill C-486, An Act to amend the Criminal code (protection from sexual interference).

Mr. Speaker, it is an honour to present this bill today, especially because my own son worked in the ICE, or integrated child exploitation, unit. Canada needs stronger laws that not only target people looking for information to exploit children, but also to severely penalize those who advertise or distribute this type of information.

Along with our government's efforts to tackle violent crime, the bill focuses on tackling exploitive crimes against children. It is an honour to put this bill forward because, as we all know, human trafficking and the exploitation of children is on the rise across the globe and here in Canada and we all need to do things to ensure this terrible crime stops.

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

[Derek Lee, Liberal, Scarborough—Rouge River, ON]

Mr. Speaker, with the unanimous consent of the House, which I believe you would find, I move that the first report of the Standing Joint Committee on Scrutiny of Regulations, presented to the House earlier this day, be concurred in.

[The Speaker, Liberal, Peter Milliken]

Does the hon. member for Scarborough—Rouge River have the unanimous consent of the House to propose this motion?

[Some hon. members]

Agreed.

No.

Oral Questions

[Ralph Goodale, Liberal, Wascana, SK]

Mr. Speaker, I have a point of order arising out of question period. I have just obtained the preliminary Hansard from question period to verify the point that I have in mind, which I would like to raise at this time.

In question period, a number of questions were addressed to the government House leader with respect to the issue of redistribution of seats in the House of Commons and, particularly, the impact upon Ontario.

In response to the Leader of the Opposition, the government House leader at one point said, “When he”, that is the Leader of the Opposition, “was in cabinet they introduced bills twice to deal with redistribution and never once proposed increasing a single seat” with respect to Ontario.

That is factually incorrect. In 1996-97, four more seats were added for Ontario and two for British Columbia. In 2003-04, three more seats were added for Ontario, two for Alberta and two more for British Columbia.

Now that the government House leader knows that seats were indeed added for Ontario, I think he will want to correct the record now that he knows he misspoke.

[The Speaker, Liberal, Peter Milliken]

The hon. government House leader is rising to respond to this. I am not sure it is a point of order at all. It sounds like a matter of debate, but the government House leader wishes to say something in the circumstances.

[Peter Van Loan, Conservative, Leader of the Government in the House of Commons and Minister for Democratic Reform]

Mr. Speaker, I quite agree with the House leader for the Liberal Party. That bill did in fact, under the old formula, which significantly underrepresented Ontario, Alberta and B.C., add additional seats. It was a small number as he indicated, four, in contrast with our bill which is ten.

The real point that I was attempting to make was that it did not add a fair representation level for Ontario nor for Alberta and B.C. The Liberals took action then that did not have a fair representation level.

However, in terms of additional seats, the member is correct.

Mr. Speaker, while I have the floor, I have a point of order on a different point. It addresses the question of the issue of the environment minister identifying people in the gallery.

In your consideration, Mr. Speaker, I would encourage you to look at an incident that occurred on February 3, 2004 when you were Speaker when the member for LaSalle—Émard, who was prime minister at the time, said in Hansard:

In the new economy education comes in many forms. Over the last several years I have visited many union training centres. They are an essential part of our education system and they should have a much stronger relationship with government.

There are many union leaders, some are in the gallery, with whom I have had--

At that point there was a bit of tumult in the House. Then the Speaker, quite rightly, intervened and said:

The right hon. Prime Minister knows that referring to the presence of persons in the gallery is against the rules. He would not want to set a bad example for other members, however interested, and I would urge him to refrain from this.

That appears to have been the only admonition or punishment meted out on the occasion. I suggest that is consistent with the Speaker's conduct today.

[The Speaker, Liberal, Peter Milliken]

To deal with the point of order raised by the House leader for the official opposition, I think that is a matter for debate and we have had the debate so that is finished.

However, with respect to the second point of order, I appreciate the comments from the government House leader. I am sure that in considering any additional punishment that might be meted out to any hon. member, I will bear in mind his very succinct remarks and references to other precedents. I know there are many. This is a lapse that occasionally occurs in the House, sometimes directly and sometimes less directly. The Chair has to try to weigh what is appropriate in the circumstances in each case. I know that the Minister of the Environment was quite repentant.

Scrutiny of Regulations

[Derek Lee, Liberal, Scarborough—Rouge River, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I would seek the unanimous consent of the House to revert to motions and, if there is unanimous consent, I would move that the first report of the Standing Joint Committee on Scrutiny of Regulations, presented to the House earlier today, be concurred in.

[The Speaker, Liberal, Peter Milliken]

Does the hon. member for Scarborough—Rouge River have the unanimous consent of the House to propose the motion?

[Some hon. members]

Agreed.

[The Speaker, Liberal, Peter Milliken]

Is it the pleasure of the House to adopt the motion?

[Some hon. members]

Agreed.

[The Speaker, Liberal, Peter Milliken]

(Motion agreed to)

Visitor Visas

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Nepean—Carleton, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to present a petition on behalf of constituents of Polish heritage. The petitioners note that Canadian citizens no longer require visitor visas to visit Poland.

Therefore, the petitioners call upon Parliament to lift the visa requirement for the Republic of Poland.

CP Rail

[Gary Goodyear, Conservative, Cambridge, ON]

Mr. Speaker, today I wish to table a petition of well over 1,000 signatures. These petitioners from across Canada, specifically in my riding of Cambridge, in North Dumfries township and in Oxford county, have raised serious concerns about the Canadian Pacific Railway and its lack of civic, social, corporate responsibilities, as well as its refusal to cooperate and respect the communities it steamrolls through.

CP is flaunting the fact that federal laws have little jurisdiction over it and the petitioners say that they will not be railroaded by the railroad.

The petitioners ask that the Department of Transport, the Department of the Environment, the Department of Fisheries and Oceans, the Minister of Public Safety, as well as the Minister of Health use their collective influence to immediately require the Canadian Pacific Railway to appropriately protect the environment, show some respect for Canadians and start acting like good neighbours should.

Afghanistan

[Pauline Picard, Bloc, Drummond, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to present to the House a petition from citizens of the riding of Drummond, who are asking the House of Commons and the government to make a clear commitment to the withdrawal of troops from combat zones in Afghanistan in February 2009.

Furthermore, the current mission must be rebalanced by lessening the military aspect and increasing humanitarian support.

Asbestos

[Pat Martin, NDP, Winnipeg Centre, MB]

Mr. Speaker, I have a petition signed by thousands of Canadians who call upon Parliament to note that asbestos is the greatest industrial killer the world has ever known and yet Canada continues to be one of the largest producers and exporters of asbestos in the world. Canada allows asbestos to be used in construction materials, textile products and even children's toys.

The petitioners ask Parliament to note that the United States Senate unanimously passed, on October 4, bill 742, the bill to ban asbestos from that country.

Therefore, the petitioners call upon Parliament to ban asbestos in all its forms, end all government subsidies for asbestos, both in Canada and abroad, and stop blocking international health and safety conventions designed to protect workers from asbestos, such as the Rotterdam Convention.