House of Commons Hansard #167 of the 39th Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament's site.) The word of the day was budget.
Rod Bruinooge ConservativeParliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development and Federal Interlocutor for Métis and Non-Status Indians
Mr. Speaker, the opposition parties have shown no class and no ability to move forward on human rights for first nations people. They continue to dither and delay, much like the previous government did on so many fronts.
Thankfully, this government, with the Minister of Indian Affairs, is moving forward and extending human rights to first nations people. I am very proud to be part of that process.
Louise Thibault Bloc Rimouski-Neigette—Témiscouata—Les Basques, QC
Mr. Speaker, my riding covers over 8,000 square kilometres. Thirty-eight of the 41 municipalities in my riding are rural and located far from the main urban centre. Gasoline prices have an impact on my constituents' everyday lives and the economic vitality of the key sectors that affect them. Constant price hikes are putting rural communities at a real disadvantage. Once again this summer, it is likely that the rising price of gas will cost us dearly.
Given that in rural regions, nearly all travel is by road, and given that the price of gas affects agriculture, tourism and forestry, when will the Conservative government take action to address this problem that is hitting us especially hard?
Jacques Gourde ConservativeParliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Natural Resources
Mr. Speaker, gasoline prices depend on factors including world market trends, the price of crude, and local variables, such as competition and transportation costs. In Canada, only provinces and territories have the power to regulate gasoline prices. If it were up to the opposition parties, they would let the price of gas rise by 60% under Bill C-288. The opposition parties want Canadians to pay between $1.60 and $2.00 per litre.
Peter Van Loan ConservativeLeader 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 seven petitions.
Geneva Conventions ActRoutine Proceedings
Central Nova Nova Scotia
Conservative
Peter MacKay ConservativeMinister of Foreign Affairs and Minister of the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency
moved for leave to introduce Bill C-61, An Act to amend the Geneva Conventions Act, An Act to incorporate the Canadian Red Cross Society and the Trade-marks Act.
(Motions deemed adopted, bill read the first time and printed)
Peter MacKay ConservativeMinister of Foreign Affairs and Minister of the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency
Mr. Speaker, there have been consultations and I believe that if you seek it, you will find unanimous consent of the House for the adoption of the following motion:
That, in support of United Nations Security Council Resolution 1757, this House send a message to the Parliament of Lebanon to urge it to reconvene in order to establish the Special Tribunal to try those accused of the assassination of Rafiq Hariri.
The Deputy Speaker NDP Bill Blaikie
Does the hon. minister have the unanimous consent of the House to move the motion?
The Deputy Speaker NDP Bill Blaikie
The House has heard the terms of the motion. Is it the pleasure of the House to adopt the motion?
Carole Lavallée Bloc Saint-Bruno—Saint-Hubert, QC
Mr. Speaker, I seek the unanimous consent of this House to adopt the following motion. By the way, this motion is taken almost word for word from the motion unanimously adopted yesterday by parliamentarians in the National Assembly, which is the solemn symbol of a nation, as we know.
That in the opinion of the House, the government agree to the unanimous motion adopted yesterday by the National Assembly of Quebec, asking that it amend its bill amending the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act, the Companies' Creditors Arrangement Act, the Wage Earner Protection Program Act and chapter 47 of the Statutes of Canada, 2005, so that it fully respects Quebec's legislation, namely the provisions of the Civil Code and Code of Civil Procedure pertaining to the inability to seize RRSPs and RRIFs, as well as the jurisdictions of Quebec in this matter.
Special Tribunal for LebanonRoutine Proceedings
The Deputy Chair
No. There is no unanimous consent.
Ralph Goodale Liberal Wascana, SK
Mr. Speaker, I rise on a point of order. This item with respect to wage earner protection has been before the House now for many weeks and months, and various efforts have been made to try to find a way to break the impasse and make progress on legislation that all parties in the House say they support but recognize at the same time that there are some technical challenges.
I wonder if I could ask the government House leader, if the opposition parties can arrive at a consensus on the appropriate method to fix this problem, will he agree to take it up with the Minister of Labour and the Minister of Industry in order to see if we can finally break this impasse and get this legislation properly in force?
The Deputy Speaker NDP Bill Blaikie
I am not sure that the member can ask the government House leader a question in the guise of a point of order, but the government House leader could rise on the same point of order and just by happenstance answer the question.
Peter Van Loan Conservative York—Simcoe, ON
Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to do that on the same point of order.
It was understood in November 2005 when the original legislation was passed that the legislation would be subject to further review to address certain technical issues before coming into force. In December 2006 the Minister of Labour filed a notice of ways and means motion, which is necessary before introducing the technical amendments to chapter 47.
I understand that the Minister of Labour does intend to table the ways and means motion and the bill once we have achieved all party support, and that is, as the Liberal House leader has pointed out, the barrier right now.
I do encourage all members to support the legislation and to get behind a process of meeting. I know we have discussed it in the past and I will continue to encourage the Minister of Labour and the representatives of the respective parties to resolve it. I do not think that is something that is going to be resolved on the floor of this House in the fashion that has been attempted several times this week by the Bloc Québécois. I do not think it is something that can be resolved among the House leaders. I think it requires the expertise of the individual critics and the minister responsible.
Pierre Poilievre Conservative Nepean—Carleton, ON
Mr. Speaker, I am proud to table a petition presented to me by hundreds of my constituents. They seek a national suicide prevention strategy.
There must be an increasing awareness and understanding about the impact of suicide on Canadians. There is a great need to develop, coordinate and build upon programs that reduce suicides across this country. That is why I rise today to present this petition on that subject. The petition has been presented to me by a very diligent group of constituents who are concerned about the issue. They are calling upon this Parliament and our government to act in order to prevent future suicides and help families that have been victims of those sorts of terrible tragedies.
Andrew Telegdi Liberal Kitchener—Waterloo, ON
Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to present a petition that comes to us from the board of directors of the Canadian Polish Congress, representing 800,000 Canadians of Polish heritage.
The petitioners call upon the government and Parliament to lift the visitor visa requirements for Poland, given the fact that Poland is a member of NATO and it is a member of the European Union.
Andrew Telegdi Liberal Kitchener—Waterloo, ON
Mr. Speaker, the other petition I have pertains to welcome the stranger. The petition talks about the need for Canada to increase the number of refugees that Canada accepts into Canada annually and to make it easier for them to reach Canada.
Mario Silva Liberal Davenport, ON
Mr. Speaker, I have a series of petitions signed by concerned people in our country calling upon Parliament to reverse its decision and re-establish the court challenges program in its entirety, including the necessary funding.
The court challenges program is an extremely important program that constitutes a unique means of access to the exercise of constitutional rights in Canada.
This program guarantees implementation of linguistic rights of Canada's official language minority communities, including access to education and government services in their own language.
I call upon Parliament to recognize the constitutional rights of all Canadians and re-establish the court challenges program.
Paul Szabo Liberal Mississauga South, ON
Mr. Speaker, I present this income trust broken promise petition on behalf of Rosemary Helmer from Ontario, who remembers the Prime Minister reflecting on 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 $25 billion of hard-earned retirement savings of over two million Canadians, particularly seniors.
The petitioners therefore call upon the Conservative minority government to admit that the decision to tax income trusts was based on flawed methodology and incorrect assumptions; to apologize to those who were unfairly harmed by this broken promise; and finally, to repeal the punitive 31.5% on income trusts.
Rahim Jaffer Conservative Edmonton Strathcona, AB
Mr. Speaker, it gives me great pleasure to present a petition signed by a number of members in my riding. I believe there are 210 signatures on it.
The petition calls on the Parliament of Canada to enshrine in legislation a permanent national ban on terminator technologies to ensure that these are never planted, field tested, patented or commercialized in Canada.