House of Commons Hansard #157 of the 39th Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament's site.) The word of the day was plan.
Agriculture and Agri-FoodCommittees of the HouseRoutine Proceedings
Cypress Hills—Grasslands Saskatchewan
Conservative
David Anderson ConservativeParliamentary Secretary to the Minister for the Canadian Wheat Board
Mr. Speaker, pursuant to the order of reference of February 27, 2007, I have the honour to present, in both official languages, the 12th report of the Standing Committee on Agriculture and Agri-Food respecting the 2007-08 main estimates.
Derek Lee Liberal Scarborough—Rouge River, ON
moved for leave to introduce Bill C-447, An Act to establish the National Security Committee of Parliamentarians.
Mr. Speaker, I am very pleased to introduce this bill which would establish a committee of parliamentarians to oversee and scrutinize national security within our Canadian parliamentary precincts. The committee would be a joint committee of senators and members of the House.
This bill is similar in format to that which had all party agreement in the last Parliament and which was introduced and died on the order paper at the time of dissolution of the last Parliament. I am hoping this bill will also have all party agreement in this Parliament. I am looking forward to the response of the government to this policy initiative.
(Motions deemed adopted, bill read the first time and printed)
Penny Priddy NDP Surrey North, BC
Mr. Speaker, there have been discussions and I believe if you seek it you would find unanimous consent for the following motion, “That this House officially apologize for the injustice of the 1914 Komagata Maru incident, and that this House further call on the Government of Canada to honour this apology by creating a permanent memorial in British Columbia to remember this incident”.
The Speaker Liberal Peter Milliken
Does the hon. member for Surrey North have the unanimous consent of the House to propose this motion?
National Security Committee of Parliamentarians ActRoutine Proceedings
Some hon. members
Agreed.
No.
André Bellavance Bloc Richmond—Arthabaska, QC
Mr. Speaker, together with the member for Compton—Stanstead, I am tabling another petition asking that the summer career placement program, which the government modified and renamed Canada summer jobs, be maintained and improved.
These signatures indicate that people are interested in creating good jobs for our young people and that they think the government made a mistake by cutting this program and centralizing it in Montreal and Ottawa. The Conservative government has also upset a lot of non-profit organizations and students who just want to be involved in their communities.
These 800 signatures are in addition to the thousands my Bloc Québécois colleagues and I have already tabled. The government must pay attention to these voices.
Bruce Stanton Conservative Simcoe North, ON
Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to present a petition on behalf of the grade five students of James Keating Elementary School in the great town of Penetanguishene in my riding.
The petitioners of course are actually the parents of these well-informed students. They draw the attention of the House to their concern about our continued dependence on fossil fuels and its impact on the quality of our air and on climate change. Of particular concern are the effects of climate change on polar bears' habitat in Canada's Arctic and how it is contributing to their depleting population.
They therefore call on the House to encourage the development of alternative energy sources, such as solar and wind power, and that all research and measures necessary to assure the survival of Canada's wildlife population which are impacted by climate change be conducted on a timely and urgent basis.
Peter Julian NDP Burnaby—New Westminster, BC
Mr. Speaker, today I am presenting three petitions.
The first is from several dozen community members in Burnaby—New Westminster and other locations in the Lower Mainland of B.C. who call on the government to condemn the Chinese government's persecution against Falun Gong practitioners.
Peter Julian NDP Burnaby—New Westminster, BC
Mr. Speaker, the second petition calls upon the government to amend the Canada Health Act and corresponding regulations to include IBI and ABA therapy as a medically necessary treatment for children with autism. The petition is signed by residents of Burnaby—New Westminster and other areas in the Lower Mainland of British Columbia.
Peter Julian NDP Burnaby—New Westminster, BC
Mr. Speaker, the final petition is signed by a number of constituents in Burnaby—New Westminster and other parts of the Lower Mainland. They call upon Parliament to accept the larger number of refugees and to lift barriers that prevent refugees from reaching Canada.
Mike Wallace Conservative Burlington, ON
Mr. Speaker, I have three petitions today that I would like to present to the House. The first petition deals with the victims of human trafficking which we have talked about here.
The petitioners, all from Burlington, request the government continues to work to combat trafficking of persons worldwide.
Mike Wallace Conservative Burlington, ON
Mr. Speaker, my second petition is signed by a large number of members from the Polish National Union Branch 17 in Burlington, Ontario. They are asking in the petition that the visitor visa requirements for the Republic of Poland that are now in existence be removed.
Mike Wallace Conservative Burlington, ON
Mr. Speaker, my final petition requests that the Government of Canada consider bowling to be considered an eligible sport under the children's fitness tax credit.
Bill Siksay NDP Burnaby—Douglas, BC
Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to table a petition signed by over 100 residents in my constituency of Burnaby—Douglas and some from neighbouring ridings who call on the government to extend generous financial support to the 2009 World Police and Fire Games by, at a minimum, matching the support extended to the last Canadian host city of these games.
They further point out that the World Police and Fire Games provide an important opportunity to support law enforcement and fire personnel who provide such important services to our communities, often at risk to their personal safety and lives. They also note that the World Police and Fire Games will have a significant and positive economic impact for the many communities hosting the event on the lower mainland of British Columbia.
Questions on the Order PaperRoutine Proceedings
Regina—Lumsden—Lake Centre Saskatchewan
Conservative
Tom Lukiwski ConservativeParliamentary Secretary to the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons and Minister for Democratic Reform
Mr. Speaker, I ask that all questions be allowed to stand.
Questions on the Order PaperRoutine Proceedings
The Acting Speaker Mr. Royal Galipeau
Is it agreed?
The House resumed consideration of the motion.
Yvon Godin NDP Acadie—Bathurst, NB
Mr. Speaker, I rise on a point of order. There have been discussions between the parties and I believe you will find unanimous consent to the following motion. I move:
That notwithstanding any Standing Order or usual practice of this House, that the current debate on the motion from the member for Skeena—Bulkley Valley be extended to 1:30 p.m. this afternoon.
Opposition Motion—The EnvironmentBusiness of SupplyGovernment Orders
Some hon. members
Agreed.
The Acting Speaker Conservative Royal Galipeau
When the House last considered this motion, there were four minutes left for the hon. Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Transport and he has the floor.
Opposition Motion—The EnvironmentBusiness of SupplyGovernment Orders
Fort McMurray—Athabasca Alberta
Conservative
Brian Jean ConservativeParliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Transport
Mr. Speaker, you will notice the great cooperation from this side of the House in relation to that last motion, and indeed that is what we are trying to do with Canada's environment.
We want to take serious steps to make the environment, the air that Canadians breathe, better. As such, I am going to continue on, notwithstanding that I said this just before question period. I am going to continue from where I left off, and that is, on the issue of asthma and the health of Canadians.
We know that asthma is increasing in our population and in fact, I stated that it more than tripled in children aged zero to 14 over the past 20 years. According to the 1996-97 national population health survey, over 2.2 million Canadians have been diagnosed with asthma by a physician. That is 12.2% of children and 6.3% of adults in Canada. Indeed as I mentioned, my youngest child has asthma.
The quality of life for these people is dramatically affected by not taking action on the environment, by the previous 13 years of the previous Liberal government not taking action. That is why this government feels that we cannot accept what the NDP has put forward.
We want to take action now. We are done consulting. We want to make Canadians' health better. Indeed, it is clear that we need to take action to reduce all potential causes that increase incidents of illness and death, especially those which affect our children.
This government's approach will provide us with the authorities and tools which are so necessary in order to launch this fight against those terrible pollutants, to address the sources of both indoor and outdoor air pollution while setting in motion a very realistic plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
I am proud of this government's motion, of these great steps that this Minister of Environment has taken, and the real action plan to come forward. Our mandatory reductions will reduce the impact of greenhouse gases and air pollution on the environment and the health of Canadians, which is so important to all Canadians.
These regulations will have real tangible benefits and I think many people do not realize how important these benefits will be. The estimated benefits by 2015, from the Conservative agenda for the reduced risk of death and illness associated with our air quality improvements, will be over $6 billion annually. That is correct, over $6 billion annually.
This puts the health benefits from air pollution reductions in the same broad range as the economic costs of meeting the air pollution and GHG emission targets. These have been calculated at less than 0.5% of our annual GDP. Thus in the short term, the GHG emission reduction strategy that we have put in place is balanced by the air pollution benefits.
This government's objective is to minimize or eliminate risks to the health of Canadians posed by environmental contaminants in the air. That is our goal. It is a very aggressive agenda, but we will get it done. As has been seen by Canadians, we do get the job done and we will continue to get the job done.
I sat in on Bill C-30 and I saw what the NDP was doing. I saw what the Liberals were doing. I saw what the Bloc was doing. What they were doing was playing politics with Canadians' lives, with the health of Canadians, and we in this government are not going to let that happen.
I looked at the aggressive agenda of the NDP to play politics. It is sort of like watching a person play Twister, not getting anything done but making a lot of confusion in the process, and indeed that is not what this government is going to do.
That is why our government has introduced one of the toughest plans in the world today on turning the corner on greenhouse gases and air pollution. Our government is bringing in mandatory, not voluntary, targets. We are going to get the job done for Canadians on the issue of the environment.