House of Commons Hansard #171 of the 39th Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament's site.) The word of the day was water.
Government Response to PetitionsRoutine 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, pursuant to Standing Order 36(8) I have the honour to table, in both official languages, the government's response to two petitions.
Rod Bruinooge ConservativeParliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development and Federal Interlocutor for Métis and Non-Status Indians
Mr. Speaker, under the provisions of Standing Order 32(2) I have the honour to table, in both official languages, copies of the Aboriginal Healing Foundation's 2006 annual report.
Interparliamentary DelegationsRoutine Proceedings
South Surrey—White Rock—Cloverdale B.C.
Conservative
Russ Hiebert ConservativeParliamentary Secretary to the Minister of National Defence
Mr. Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 34, I am here to present a House report from the Canadian branch of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association dealing with the 56th seminar on parliamentary practice and procedure held in London, United Kingdom, from March 5-16, 2007.
Anita Neville Liberal Winnipeg South Centre, MB
Mr. Speaker, I have the honour to present, in both official languages, the 21st report of the Standing Committee on Status of Women entitled, “Improving the Economic Security of Women: Time to Act”
Access to Information, Privacy and EthicsCommittees of the HouseRoutine Proceedings
Conservative
Bruce Stanton Conservative Simcoe North, ON
Mr. Speaker, I have the honour to present, in both officials languages, the fifth report of the Standing Committee on Access to Information, Privacy and Ethics.
Your committee has considered the certificate of appointment of Mary Elizabeth Dawson to the position of Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner which was referred to it on June 12, 2007 pursuant to Standing Orders 110 and 111. Your committee has examined the qualifications and competence of the nominee and agreed that the nomination of Mary Elizabeth Dawson as Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner of Canada be concurred in.
Wayne Easter Liberal Malpeque, PE
moved for leave to introduce Bill S-201, An Act to amend the Public Service Employment Act (elimination of bureaucratic patronage and geographic criteria in appointment processes).
Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to sponsor a bill from the other place, Bill S-201, An Act to amend the Public Service Employment Act.
First, the bill would “disallow the establishment of geographic criteria to determine an area selection for the purpose of eligibility and appointment processes”.
Second, the bill would “ensure that appointments to or from within the public service are free from bureaucratic patronage”.
The bill is as a result of the current public service guidelines that do not allow most good, qualified Canadians to apply for public service jobs within the national capital region. This bill would open up the criteria so that Canadians could apply for those good public service jobs and contribute to the employment in Canada and to the skills development, and to participate in the full range of public service jobs in the country.
(Motion agreed to and bill read the first time)
Defence Construction (1951) LimitedRoutine Proceedings
Port Moody—Westwood—Port Coquitlam B.C.
Conservative
James Moore ConservativeParliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Public Works and Government Services and Minister for the Pacific Gateway and the Vancouver-Whistler Olympics
Mr. Speaker, I arrived in the House about a minute too late for tabling of documents and I would like to table in the House of Commons two copies of the annual report on the Access to Information Act and the Privacy Act for Defence Construction (1951) Limited for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2007.
Therefore, I would ask for the unanimous consent of the House to table this report.
Marcel Proulx Liberal Hull—Aylmer, QC
Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to present a petition signed by many Canadians from the Eastern Townships in Quebec about the court challenges program.
The petitioners call upon Parliament to reverse its decision and re-establish the court challenges program in its entirety, including the necessary funding.
Michael Savage Liberal Dartmouth—Cole Harbour, NS
Mr. Speaker, I have the pleasure to present an income trust broken promise petition from Robert Farrington of Parry Sound, Ontario, the home of Bobby Orr, on behalf of many people who remember the Prime Minister boasting about his apparent commitment to accountability when he said that the greatest fraud was a promise not kept.
The petitioners remind the Prime Minister that he promised never to tax income trusts and then he broke that promise by imposing a 31.5% punitive tax which wiped out $25 billion in retirement savings of hard-working seniors in particular.
The petitioners call upon the Conservative government to first, admit that the decision to tax income trusts was based on flawed methodology and incorrect assumptions; second, to apologize to those who were unfairly harmed by this promise; and finally, to repeal the punitive 31.5% tax on income trusts.
I would like to thank Mr. Farrington for his dedication.
Paul Szabo Liberal Mississauga South, ON
Mr. Speaker, I also would like to present an income trust broken promise petition on behalf of Mr. Leif Stokkeland from Quebec who remembers that the Prime Minister was reflecting on his apparent commitment to accountability when he did quote the Gaelic proverb that the greatest fraud is a promise not kept.
The petitioners who signed this petition want to remind the Prime Minister that he promised not to tax income trusts and he broke that promise. He imposed a 31.5% tax, permanently wiping out about $25 billion of investment value of hard-earned retirement savings of over two million Canadians, and most of them were seniors.
The petitioners call upon the Conservative minority government to, first, admit that the decision to tax income trusts was based on flawed methodology as well as incorrect presumptions; second, to apologize to those who were unfairly harmed by this mother of all broken promises; and finally, to repeal this very punitive 31.5% tax on income trusts.
Gurbax Malhi Liberal Bramalea—Gore—Malton, ON
Mr. Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 36, I have the honour to present the following petition from my constituents of Bramalea—Gore—Malton. The petitioners call upon the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration to provide for visa bonds for visitors who apply for temporary resident visas to come to Canada as members of the visitors class, to give the immigration counsellors discretion over creating visa bonds, to establish minimum and maximum visa bond amounts as a guideline for immigration officials and to allow the visa bond to apply to either the sponsor or to the visitor.
Massimo Pacetti Liberal Saint-Léonard—Saint-Michel, QC
Mr. Speaker, I present this income trust broken promise petition on behalf of a petitioner who remembers the Prime Minister boasting about his apparent commitment to accountability when he said that the greatest fraud is a promise not kept.
The petitioners remind the Prime Minister that he promised never to tax income trusts, but he recklessly broke that promise by imposing a 31.5% punitive tax which permanently wiped out over $35 billion of hard-earned retirement savings of over two million Canadians, particularly seniors.
The petitioners therefore call upon the Conservative minority government to, first, admit that the decision to tax income trusts was based on flawed methodology and incorrect assumptions; second, to apologize to those who were unfairly harmed by this broken promise; and finally, to repeal the punitive 31.5% tax on income trusts.
Borys Wrzesnewskyj Liberal Etobicoke Centre, ON
Mr. Speaker, I rise on a point of order. As the Conservative member for Selkirk—Interlake introduced a private member's bill yesterday, Bill C-459, identical in its intent and outcome to my previously introduced bill, Bill C-450, I would like to seek consent for the following motion that deals with the 75th anniversary of famine genocide in Ukraine: That notwithstanding any Standing Order or the usual practices of the House, Bill C-450, An Act respecting a national day of remembrance of the Ukrainian Holodomor-Genocide, be deemed to have been read a second time, referred to a committee of the whole, reported without amendment, concurred in at report stage and read a third time and passed.
The Deputy Speaker NDP Bill Blaikie
The House has heard the terms of the motion. Is there unanimous consent for the member to move the motion?
Jean-Claude D'Amours Liberal Madawaska—Restigouche, NB
Mr. Speaker, I am seeking the unanimous consent of the House concerning Bill C-263, which has to do with eliminating the waiting period for employment insurance. I move: “That Bill C-263 be deemed to have been read a second time and referred to a committee of the whole, deemed considered in committee of the whole, deemed reported without amendment, deemed concurred in at report stage, and deemed read the third time and passed”.
The Deputy Speaker NDP Bill Blaikie
The House has heard the terms of the motion. Is there unanimous consent for the member to move the motion?
Marcel Proulx Liberal Hull—Aylmer, QC
I heard the point of order of my colleague from Madawaska—Restigouche.
I think this is so important that I am going to actually ask if you heard someone oppose it or if we actually had unanimous consent.
I am wondering, Mr. Speaker.
The Deputy Speaker NDP Bill Blaikie
I asked if there was unanimous consent and I heard members say no. That is all there is to it.
The Deputy Speaker NDP Bill Blaikie
I do not remember the Speaker ever being called upon to identify who said no and I am not about to start a new practice in this House.
