Debates of April 10th, 2008

[The Speaker, Liberal, Peter Milliken]

The Chair has notice of a question of privilege from the hon. member for Charlottetown.

RCMP Deputy Commissioner Barbara George

[Shawn Murphy, Liberal, Charlottetown, PE]

Mr. Speaker, on February 12 of this year, I, on behalf of the House of Commons Standing Committee on Public Accounts, tabled in the House the third report of that committee. In the report, the committee was of the unanimous opinion that then RCMP Deputy Commissioner Barbara George provided false and misleading testimony to the committee on February 21, 2007, and the committee further recommended that the House find her in contempt and that no further action be taken.

Marleau and Montpetit, on page 862, state:

--the refusal to answer questions or failure to reply truthfully may give rise to a charge of contempt of the House, whether the witness has been sworn in or not.

I rise today on a question of privilege. Based upon the unanimous report of the committee, I would ask that you find that a prima facie case of contempt has been established. Should you so rule, Mr. Speaker, I would then be prepared to make the appropriate motion.

[The Speaker, Liberal, Peter Milliken]

I have heard the hon. member for Charlottetown and his submissions. I understand that the report he has tabled on this matter from the Standing Committee on Public Accounts was a unanimous report of the committee and accordingly I am prepared to find there is a prima facie case of privilege and will allow him to move a motion.

[Shawn Murphy, Liberal, Charlottetown, PE]

Mr. Speaker, I move, seconded by the member for Edmonton--St. Albert:

That the House of Commons find Barbara George in contempt of Parliament for providing false and misleading testimony to the House of Commons Standing Committee on Public Accounts on February 21, 2007; and that the House of Commons take no further action as this finding of contempt is, in and of itself, a very serious sanction.

[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]

I declare the motion carried.

(Motion agreed to)

Interparliamentary Delegations

[The Speaker, Liberal, Peter Milliken]

I have the honour to lay upon the table a report of an official visit for the 15th Canada-Mexico Inter-Parliamentary Meeting held at Mazatlan, Mexico, from February 17 to 19, 2008.

Scrutiny of Regulations

[Rob Moore, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada]

Mr. Speaker, I rise today on behalf of the Minister of Justice to table, in both official languages, the government's response to the report of the Standing Joint Committee on Scrutiny of Regulations.

International Trade

[Lee Richardson, Conservative, Calgary Centre, AB]

Mr. Speaker, today I have the honour to present, in both official languages, the fourth report of the Standing Committee on International Trade on the Canada-EFTA free trade agreement. Pursuant to its mandate under Standing Order 108(2), the committee has studied the free trade agreement between Canada and the states of the European Free Trade Association: Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland.

This is the first agreement to be tabled in the House of Commons under the federal government's new policy of allowing members of Parliament the opportunity to review and debate international treaties in the House of Commons for 21 days.

Income Trusts

[Paul Szabo, Liberal, Mississauga South, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to again present an income trust broken promise petition on behalf of a very large number of Canadians, all from the province of Alberta, who remember 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 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 that the decision to tax income trusts was based on flawed methodology and incorrect assumptions, as shown in the finance committee; 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.

Industrial Hemp

[Denise Savoie, NDP, Victoria, BC]

Mr. Speaker, I have a very interesting petition to present on behalf of many Victoria residents. They are asking the government to recognize that industrial hemp is a valuable fibre and a large biomass source that could be used to replaced many commonly used problematic materials. Right now I am wearing a shirt made of that material.

Industrial hemp could help farmers diversify their farm operations, so the petitioners are asking the government to invest in the construction of industrial hemp processing facilities to utilize the pulping of Canadian industrial hemp when making paper and other products and to utilize industrial hemp biomass in the making of biofuels, instead of food for fuel. I am very pleased to present this petition on behalf of my constituents.

Transport

[Dawn Black, NDP, New Westminster—Coquitlam, BC]

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to present three petitions from my people in my community.

The first petition calls on the Government of Canada to stop the deregulation of the transportation sector that has put Canadian lives at risk. Deregulation, they say, has resulted in more accidents across all transport sectors, including rail accidents in British Columbia that have involved hazardous waste. There has been a real increase in rail accidents. They support strong regulation, not voluntary regulation, and they are very concerned that the government's preference for self-regulation is putting Canadian lives at risk.

Afghanistan

[Dawn Black, NDP, New Westminster—Coquitlam, BC]

Mr. Speaker, my second petition deals with the war in Afghanistan. I have presented many of these petitions in the past. The people who have signed them call on Canada to rebalance the mission and begin the safe withdrawal of Canadian Forces from the counter-insurgency part of the mission in southern Afghanistan.

Immigration

[Dawn Black, NDP, New Westminster—Coquitlam, BC]

Mr. Speaker, my third petition deals with the issue of unification of families under the immigration system in Canada.

The petitioners say that unification, particularly of seniors with their families in Canada through immigration, is a core aspect of forming strong, healthy, vibrant families and communities in Canada. They believe that the current system calling for a 10 year residency requirement under Canada's income security program is wrong. They ask Parliament to amend the Old Age Security Act to eliminate the 10 year residency requirement and to work with provincial governments to waive the enforcement of sponsorship obligations in situations of genuine immigration sponsorship breakdown involving a senior.

I am pleased to present these petitions on behalf of my constituents.

Asbestos

[Pat Martin, NDP, Winnipeg Centre, MB]

Mr. Speaker, I have a petition here from thousands of Canadians from right across the country who point out that asbestos is the greatest industrial killer the world has ever known. In fact, more people die from asbestos poisoning than all other industrial reasons combined, yet Canada remains one of the world's largest producers and exporters of asbestos, dumping 220,000 tonnes per year into third world countries.

The petitioners call on Canada to ban asbestos in all its forms and institute a just transition program for the asbestos workers and communities. They also call upon Canada to end all government subsidies of asbestos in Canada and abroad and also call upon the government to stop blocking international health and safety conventions designed to protect workers from asbestos, such as the Rotterdam convention.

Questions Passed as Orders for Returns

[Tom Lukiwski, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons and Minister for Democratic Reform]

Mr. Speaker, if Question No. 208 could be made an order for return, this return would be tabled immediately.

[The Speaker, Liberal, Peter Milliken]

Is that agreed?

[Some hon. members]

Agreed.

Question No. 208

[Paul Dewar, NDP, Ottawa Centre, ON]

With respect to the procurement of temporary personnel services by the government over the last five years: (a) what are the total government expenditures for such services, on an annual basis as well as over the five year period; (b) on an annual basis, what amount is spent by department; (c) how much was spent annually, on a departmental or agency basis, in the National Capital Region alone; (d) what is the breakdown by province for such services; (e) which companies received contracts to provide temporary personnel services; (f) what is the annual combined total of all contracts awarded to each company; (g) on an annual basis as well as over the five year period, how many people were hired by temporary employment agencies to work for the federal government, nationally as well as in the National Capital Region; and (h) on an annual basis and by department or agency, how many employees were hired on a temporary basis, nationally as well as in the National Capital Region?

(Return tabled)

Questions Passed as Orders for Returns

[Tom Lukiwski, Conservative, Regina—Lumsden—Lake Centre, SK]

Mr. Speaker, I ask that all remaining questions be allowed to stand.

[The Speaker, Liberal, Peter Milliken]

Agreed?

[Some hon. members]

Agreed.

[The Speaker, Liberal, Peter Milliken]

It seems the hon. member for Joliette wishes to raise a point of order.