House of Commons Hansard #174 of the 39th Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament's site.) The word of the day was firearms.
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.
Lawrence Cannon ConservativeMinister of Transport
moved for leave to introduce Bill C-64, An Act to amend the Pilotage Act.
(Motions deemed adopted, bill read the first time and printed)
James Bezan Conservative Selkirk—Interlake, MB
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 interparliamentary delegation of the Canadian section of the Inter-Parliamentary Forum of the Americas, FIPA, respecting its participation in the 16th meeting of the executive committee of the Inter-Parliamentary Forum of the Americas held in Brasilia, Brazil, from May 31 to June 1, 2007, and to the mission to the 37th regular session of the general assembly of the Organization of American States held in Panama City, Panama, from June 3 to June 5, 2007.
Gary Goodyear Conservative Cambridge, ON
Mr. Speaker, it is an honour to stand today and present the 56th report of the Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs. I must say that the committee worked very hard this year and I want to thank all members. It was a very cohesive and hard-working committee and all the peripheral staff worked so hard getting a number of things done. Indeed, this is our 56th report.
The report is regarding the order of reference of Monday, May 28, 2007, Bill C-54, An Act to amend the Canada Elections Act (accountability with respect to loans). The committee considered the bill in great detail, heard from a number of witnesses and experts and reports the bill with some amendments.
Massimo Pacetti Liberal Saint-Léonard—Saint-Michel, QC
moved for leave to introduce Bill C-461, An Act to recognize the injustice that was done to persons of Italian origin through their “enemy alien” designation and internment during the Second World War, and to provide for restitution and promote education on Italian-Canadian history.
Mr. Speaker, I am tabling a bill entitled “an act to recognize the injustice that was done to persons of Italian origin through their “enemy alien” designation and internment during the Second World War, and to provide for restitution and promote education on Italian-Canadian history”.
The history is too long to explain at this time. It will be done during second reading but during the second world war immigrants and Canadians of Italian origin were incarcerated and designated as enemy aliens. I would like to highlight that no charges were ever laid.
I tabled the same bill in 2005 prior to the Liberals signing a deal with the Italian community to create the well-known ACE program that would have righted these wrongs. However, in typical Conservative fashion, the government has denied the existence of the program and has decided not to honour the signed deal.
Therefore, I have no choice but to retable the bill. The bill is not unique or unprecedented in comparison to deals made with other cultural communities.
Why will the government not do the right thing and apologize to the Italian community for past injustices. Why does the government favour one community over another and pit Canadians against each other?
I thank the member for Eglinton—Lawrence for supporting the bill.
(Motions deemed adopted, bill read the first time and printed)
Leon Benoit Conservative Vegreville—Wainwright, AB
Mr. Speaker, it is my honour, on behalf of Dylan Cole McGillis, an unsuspecting victim of an unprovoked, violent and fatal attack, and on behalf of thousands of other Canadian citizens who were victims of violent crimes, to present this petition.
The petitioners request that the House of Commons introduce legislation whereby violent young offenders would be subject to mandatory minimum sentences regardless of age. A part of this, of course, we have done and more will be done.
This petition has about 20,000 signatures and more are being collected. Many of these signatures are from the constituency of Battlefords—Lloydminster and many others from Vegreville—Wainwright. Anyone who would like to add their names to this petition can do so online at www.dylanmcgillis.ca.
Daryl Kramp Conservative Prince Edward—Hastings, ON
Mr. Speaker, I wish to table today a petition on behalf of the residents of Prince Edward—Hastings and the surrounding area who are calling upon Parliament to end the registration requirement for non-restricted long guns.
After continuous delay with clearly no definable results, this petition is long overdue.
Paul Szabo Liberal Mississauga South, ON
Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to present this income trust broken promise petition on behalf of Peter Folkes of Markham, Ontario, who remembers that the Prime Minister was boasting about his apparent commitment to accountability when he said that there was no greater fraud than a promise not kept.
The petitioners remind the Prime Minister that he promised never to tax income trusts but that he recklessly broke that promise by imposing a 31.5% punitive tax which permanently wiped out over $25 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.
Olivia Chow NDP Trinity—Spadina, ON
Mr. Speaker, it is my pleasure to introduce three petitions. The first one is very timely, as we are about to debate the Aeronautics Act, Bill C-6.
The petitioners state that the Toronto Island Airport is heavily subsidized by taxpayers and has been losing money every year for the last 15 years. They note that the Toronto Port Authority lost $6 million this year in a $10 million business, that operating an airport is contrary to the vision of a clean, green and vibrant waterfront, and that the Toronto Port Authority is an unaccountable and rogue agency that was created against the wishes of Torontonians.
Therefore, the petitioners are calling upon the Government of Canada to first, abolish the Toronto Port Authority; second, close the Island Airport; and third, return the waterfront to the people of Toronto.
Olivia Chow NDP Trinity—Spadina, ON
Mr. Speaker, the second petition is from a large number of parents across Canada who say that high quality child care is a benefit to all children, that it enhances health and school readiness, that it reduces family poverty, that it promotes social inclusion and workforce productivity and that cancelling funding for new child care after a year eliminates the plans of communities to expand affordable child care to rural and other high needs communities in developing their child care plans.
Therefore, the petitioners call upon the Government of Canada to increase the funding for a national child care program and also protect child care and make it accountable by enshrining it in legislation with Bill C-303, the national child care act, to be a cornerstone of Canada, like the Canada Health Act.
Olivia Chow NDP Trinity—Spadina, ON
Mr. Speaker, the third petition is from petitioners also from across the country who say that many tradespeople can be out of work in one area of the country while another region suffers from temporary skilled labour shortages simply because the cost of travelling is too high, and that out of work tradespeople currently have to finance their own travel and accommodation should they wish to move to another region where there are jobs available.
Therefore, these petitioners are asking us to support Bill C-390, An Act to amend the Income Tax Act, which would allow tradespeople to deduct travel and accommodation expenses should they need to move to a new region for employment.
Robert Thibault Liberal West Nova, NS
Mr. Speaker, I present this income trust broken promise petition on behalf of Tracy Whiteside from Clarksburg, Ontario, who remembers the Prime Minister boasting about his apparent commitment to accountability when he said, “The greatest fraud is a promise not kept”.
The petitioners remind the Prime Minister that he promised never to tax income trusts but that he recklessly broke that promise by imposing a 31.5% punitive tax which permanently wiped out over $25 billion of the hard-earned retirement savings of over two million Canadians, particularly seniors.
The petitioners, therefore, call upon the government to admit , first, 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.
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, the following questions will be answered today: Nos. 210 and 213.
Wayne Marston NDP Hamilton East—Stoney Creek, ON
With regard to programs and spending by the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) within the riding of Hamilton East—Stoney Creek: (a) what was the amount spent in 2006; (b) what is the projected budget for 2007 and 2008 (if applicable and available); (c) how many CMHC-funded housing units for singles and families currently exist; (d) how many CMHC-funded housing units for singles and families are planned for 2006 and 2007; and (e) what is the amount that CMHC has provided to housing co-ops in the riding for maintenance over the last two years and what will be the amount over the next two years?
Question No. 210Questions on the Order PaperRoutine Proceedings
Medicine Hat Alberta
Conservative
Monte Solberg ConservativeMinister of Human Resources and Social Development
Mr. Speaker, CMHC administers housing programs through agreements with provinces and does not compile or analyze expenditure information by electoral district. Information on CMHC program spending is disclosed in annual reports. However, over the course of the 39th Parliament, CMHC has undertaken efforts to identify federal expenditures by postal codes which it has then summarized by electoral districts using a tool developed by Statistics Canada. While there is some promise in this approach, there is also a significant potential for error. However, CMHC has, to the best of its ability, verified the location of the units and program spending contained in this answer to try to ensure they are in the riding of Hamilton East--Stoney Creek.
With respect to programs and spending administered by Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, CMHC, within the riding of Hamilton East--Stoney Creek, CMHC does not administer any co-operative housing units in the riding of Hamilton East–Stoney Creek. It is to be noted that the responsibility for the administration of the bulk of the CMHC subsidized projects off reserve was transferred to the province of Ontario under the Canada-Ontario social housing agreement signed in 1999. There are additional units in the riding receiving ongoing federal assistance under the social housing agreement administered by the province of Ontario which are not included above. The province has the lead role for these units and does not report subsidies by project to CMHC.
Under federal renovation programs, some $566,600 was committed for 43 units in the riding between January 1, 2006 and December 31, 2006. CMHC is unable to provide a forecast of how many more units and dollars will be committed in 2007 and 2008, since this will depend on the number of applications approved.
The province of Ontario administers the Canada-Ontario affordable housing program agreement. According to information provide by the province of Ontario, there was not any commitment under this program in the riding of Hamilton East -Stoney Creek in 2006. It should be noted that the province of Ontario is not required to provide forecasts of units planned by riding to CMHC.
Richard Nadeau Bloc Gatineau, QC
With regard to leases signed by the government in the National Capital Region, what is: (a) the number of such leases expiring in 2006 in the Ottawa region and in the Outaouais region; (b) the number of such leases expiring in 2007 in the Ottawa region and in the Outaouais region; (c) the number of such leases expiring in 2008 in the Ottawa region and in the Outaouais region; and (d) the number of vacant premises in the Ottawa region and in the Outaouais region in 2007?
Question No. 213Questions on the Order PaperRoutine Proceedings
Port Moody—Westwood—Port Coquitlam B.C.
Conservative
James Moore ConservativeParliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Public Works and Government Services
Mr. Speaker, the response is as follows: Office Space: a) Expiring leases in calendar year 2006: 68* (57 NCA Ontario and 11 NCA Quebec) b) Expiring leases in calendar year 2007 : 64 (56 NCA Ontario and 8 NCA Quebec) c) Expiring leases in calendar year 2008 : 93 (87 NCA Ontario and 6 NCA Quebec) d) Vacant premises in NCA for 2007: 5 (4 NCA Ontario and 1 NCA Quebec)
Commercial Space: a) 125 leases signed by the government expiring in 2006 in the NCA Ontario and 43 leases signed by the government expiring in 2006 in the Outaouais region; b) 115 leases signed by the government expiring in 2007 in the NCA Ontario and 15 leases signed by the government expiring in 2007 in the Outaouais region; c) 28 leases signed by the government expiring in 2008 in the NCA Ontario and 9 leases signed by the government expiring in 2008 in the Outaouais region d) 34 vacant premises in the NCA Ontario and 1 vacant premises in the Outaouais region in 2007.
*For this report, we assumed that each available option would be exercised. Between June 2006, the date on which question No. 59 was answered, and December 31, 2006, PWGSC amended four leases that were expiring in 2006 to postpone the end date to a subsequent year. The consequence of doing this was that the number of expiring leases was reduced on response a) of question No. 213.
Questions Passed as Orders for ReturnsRoutine 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, if Question No. 207 could be made an order for return, this return would be tabled immediately.
Colleen Beaumier Liberal Brampton West, ON
With regard to the Department of Canadian Heritage’s Plans and Priorities for the Multiculturalism Program: (a) for the fiscal years 2005-2006 to 2009-2010, what is the actual and planned spending for all multiculturalism programs falling under the program activities “Promotion of Intercultural Understanding” and “Participation in Community and Civic Life”; (b) for the fiscal years 2005-2006 to 2009-2010, was any multiculturalism funding reallocated and will any multiculturalism funding be reallocated and, if so, (i) to which departments, (ii) how much funding has each department specifically received or will receive, (iii) to what purposes specifically; (c) for the fiscal years 2005-2006 to 2009-2010, was any multiculturalism funding allocated or will any multiculturalism funding be allocated and to what purpose; (d) what was the total value of multiculturalism funding authorized and released by the Minister’s Office on the last two days of the 2006-2007 fiscal year; (e) in 2006-2007, what was the total value of multiculturalism funding allocated by the Department but not released to reimburse actual expenditures occurred by the organization; (f) who specifically is the “Multiculturalism Champion” and what is his or her mandate; (g) who specifically sits on the Departmental Steering Committee on Multiculturalism and what is its mandate; and (h) once multiculturalism is mainstreamed into the day to day operations of the Department, will the Multiculturalism Program exist as an independent program or department and will it or will it not receive funding directly as an independent program?
(Return tabled)
Tom Lukiwski Conservative Regina—Lumsden—Lake Centre, SK
Mr. Speaker, finally, I ask that the remaining questions be allowed to stand.