Debates of Oct. 19th, 2009

Infrastructure

[Pascal-Pierre Paillé, Bloc, Louis-Hébert, QC]

Mr. Speaker, using the Delcan report as a basis, the former director of Laval University's civil engineering department found that the Quebec City bridge is deteriorating very quickly and that only political will can result into concrete measures being taken regarding this issue. The same document, which was prepared for Transport Canada, tells us that the initial work was not done properly and that it will have to be redone.

Can the minister responsible for the Quebec City region tell us whether or not she will support the Bloc Québécois motion calling on the federal government to resume its ownership of the Quebec City bridge and complete the work that is needed as soon as possible?

[John Baird, Conservative, Minister of Transport]

Mr. Speaker, as I said earlier in question period, this government takes the health and safety of Canadians, particularly those in Quebec City and the bridge in question, very seriously. A legal issue with the bridge arose under the previous government, which has led to litigation.

We are committed to working with the Province of Quebec, Canadian National and all the parties involved to ensure we can come up with an agreement that is in the best interests of Canadian taxpayers and that will benefit the people of Quebec City.

Transportation

[Alex Atamanenko, NDP, British Columbia Southern Interior, BC]

Mr. Speaker, the Regional District of Kootenay Boundary has worked hard to make the Trail Regional Airport a huge success story. However, the airport will be shut down during the Olympics for over a month.

The city of Rossland has the possibility of hosting the Russian biathlon team for pre-Olympic training. The airport is a significant economic driver. A loss of revenue will mean an increase in property taxes, not a good way to celebrate the Olympics.

I have written many letters and met with ministers and government officials. My request for an urgent meeting among the Minister of Transport, the Trail city council and the president of Pacific Coastal Airlines has been denied.

Why does the Minister of Transport wish to impose economic hardship on the citizens of the lower Columbia basin?

[John Baird, Conservative, Minister of Transport]

Mr. Speaker, I know the member opposite has spoken to me repeatedly on this issue. We are working very diligently with our Olympic partners to provide a secure environment with the very minimal possible disruption to neighbouring regions of the province of British Columbia. This is a significant challenge.

Our commitment is to work in co-operation to ensure we do enough to ensure our athletes and the travelling public are safe. That is our objective.

It is interesting to note that the NDP did not want to support the Olympics taking place in Vancouver-Whistler. That is something that those of us on this side of the House strong supported.

Justice

[Steven Blaney, Conservative, Lévis—Bellechasse, QC]

Mr. Speaker, unlike Bloc members, who vote against anti-child-trafficking and exploitation measures, and unlike Liberal senators, who vote against the will of this House, against the will of Canadians, and who oppose putting an end to the two-for-one credit for criminals who are serving time, our government is taking concrete measures to fight crime. It is time for all parliamentarians to make victims of criminal acts the focus of their concerns.

I would like to know what the Minister of Public Works and Government Services and our government intend to do to fight white-collar crime.

[Christian Paradis, Conservative, Minister of Public Works and Government Services]

Mr. Speaker, during the last session, we introduced a bill to target major crimes of fraud and theft exceeding $5,000. These are serious crimes and many people have told us that we need to crack down on such offences. However, what did the opposition do? It gutted our amendments to the act. That is shameful.

This means that these criminals, these white-collar bandits and others can serve their time at home, on their couch. People no longer want this to be the case.

A bill will be introduced and will provide mandatory jail sentences for serious crimes. I hope that the opposition will support us at last.

Presence in Gallery

[The Speaker, Liberal, Peter Milliken]

I draw the attention of hon. members to the presence in the gallery of the Hon. Jeremy Harrison, Minister of Municipal Affairs for Saskatchewan.

[Some hon. members]

Hear, hear!

Public Accounts

[Peter Van Loan, Conservative, Minister of Public Safety]

Mr. Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 109, I am pleased to table the government's response to the report of the Standing Committee on Public Accounts entitled, “Chapter 7—Economy and Efficiency of Services—Correctional Service Canada”, December 2008, Report of the Auditor General of Canada, in both official languages.

Mr. Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 109, I am pleased to table, in both official languages, the government's response to the 17th report of the Standing Committee on Public Accounts entitled: “Chapter 1, National Security: Intelligence and Information Sharing of the 2009 Status Report of the Auditor General of Canada”.

Public Safety and National Security

[Peter Van Loan, Conservative, Minister of Public Safety]

Mr. Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 109, I am pleased to table the government's response to the third report of the Standing Committee on Public Safety and National Security entitled, “Review of the Findings and Recommendations Arising from Iacobucci and O'Connor Inquiries”, in both official languages.

Justice and Human Rights

[Rob Nicholson, Conservative, Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada]

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to table, in both official languages, two government responses. The first is the government's response to the 10th report of the Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights entitled, “Ending Alcohol-Impaired Driving: A Common Approach”.

Public Safety and National Security

[Rob Nicholson, Conservative, Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada]

Mr. Speaker, the second is the government's response to the report of the Standing Committee on Public Safety and National Security entitled, “Statutory Review of the DNA Identification Act”.

Government Operations and Estimates

[Tony Clement, Conservative, Minister of Industry]

Mr. Speaker, on behalf of the Minister of Public Works and Government Services and pursuant to Standing Order 109, I am pleased to table the government's response to the seventh report of the Standing Committee on Government Operations and Estimates entitled, “In Pursuit of Balance: Assisting Small and Medium Enterprises in Accessing Federal Procurement”.

Government Response to Petitions

[Tom Lukiwski, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons]

Mr. Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 36(8) I have the honour to table, in both official languages, the government's response to several petitions.

Justice

[Rob Nicholson, Conservative, Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada]

Mr. Speaker, I am very pleased to have a new colleague join me here. Our tough on crime agenda is the right thing for Canada and we are looking for support right across the chamber here. This is encouraging.

Our government believes our justice system should not put the rights of criminals ahead of the rights of law-abiding Canadians. We have introduced numerous pieces of legislation that once passed will further protect Canadians.

We passed the Tackling Violent Crime Act and we have established the Federal Ombudsman for Victims of Crime. These are all steps in the right direction.

However, other bills that we currently have before Parliament are many, including the bill that would end the two for one credit for time served, to abolish the faint hope clause for murderers, to stop the use of house arrest for serious crime and require mandatory jail time for serious drug offences. These are all steps in the right direction. This is what Canadians are looking for.

As we have already said, we will take other measures to punish white collar criminals.

As I have already indicated in question period, we have put on notice a bill that will take direct aim at white collar crime in this country. I am again hoping that the opposition parties will listen to what Canadians are saying and make every effort to get these bills through and stop obstructing urgently needed law and order legislation.

Whether here in the House of Commons or in the Senate, we obviously need the co-operation in both, but these are all steps in the right direction for the safety and security of Canadians.

[Dominic LeBlanc, Liberal, Beauséjour, NB]

Mr. Speaker, you will be pleased to see that the member for Yukon has rejoined this side of the House.

When the government is in difficulty, whether it is allegations around the partisan handing out of infrastructure money or government cheques with Conservative logos appearing at ceremonies, its initial reaction is to push the reset button and pretend that there is a great crisis with respect to obstruction of justice legislation.

That is not true. Tomorrow, for example, we will be discussing Bill S-4 in the House, the identity theft bill. The only identity that appears to have been misappropriated may have been the Government of Canada's identity at recent cheque presentations. The government has had some difficulty with that.

The minister knows very well, for example, that we will support a bill strengthening the Criminal Code in the case of white collar criminals and economic crimes. As to preventing those who are guilty of massive fraud from carrying out their sentence at home, we will support the government in order to remove this part of the Criminal Code, something we called for several weeks ago.

The Minister of Justice looks for examples where the opposition has obstructed legislation with respect, for example, to removing the faint hope clause for those convicted of murder. We supported that legislation and we look forward to seeing the minister in committee this afternoon to continue to expedite that bill and pass it as quickly as possible.

With regard to restricting conditional sentences, or what has been known as house arrest, the minister knows that we support that legislation. We have in fact called on the government to strengthen that legislation and remove what is becoming an increasing practice of assigning conditional sentences, because we think the public finds that is no longer appropriate. The government is looking for an artificial crisis where one does not exist.

The minister can rest assured that his bills will be passed as quickly as possible with the cooperation of the Liberal opposition in this House.

[Serge Ménard, Bloc, Marc-Aurèle-Fortin, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to point out right off that no government, Conservative or Liberal, has ever introduced in Parliament bills that put the rights of criminals ahead of those of law abiding citizens. Quebec, like Canada, enjoys a level of security that compares favourably with other democracies. No system is perfect, and the Bloc is prepared to collaborate with whatever improvements are needed to the justice system.

Thus, we have been proposing since 2007 the abolition of parole after one sixth of a sentence has been served and even introduced a bill to that effect, which the government rejected. We refused, however, to blindly imitate the worst of American practice because it leads nowhere. In the States, they imprison proportionally six or seven times the number imprisoned in Canada, and the crime rate is higher. The chance of being a victim of homicide is three and a half times greater there than it is here. That is what comes of having more people in prison and more unregulated weapons.

The Bloc Québécois advocates a justice system that is truly effective in reducing crime, a system based on the individualization of sentences. This approach has served us well and continues to do so. It must not be chucked out for short sighted electoral purposes.

[Joe Comartin, NDP, Windsor—Tecumseh, ON]

Mr. Speaker, when one hears the minister stand in the House, take advantage of the right he has to make a ministerial statement and put forth the ongoing ideological rant from the Conservatives about being harsh on crime in this country, they should look at the history of what has happened to see how serious they really are.

We wasted a whole year. The justice committee did not meet for a whole year, from March 11, 2008 until March of 2009. In every case, it was because of an action by the government. Initially, the chair of the committee filibustered and refused to call meetings. We wasted the whole of spring 2008 on that.

In the fall of 2008, the Prime Minister unilaterally decided that he would call an election, in breach of his own law. In December 2008, the government took the position that it would prorogue because it was afraid of what the opposition parties would do to it.

At any of those times, did the Conservatives ever ask themselves about the legislation that was needed to deal with crime right across this country? No, they did not. We have them up here again today. This year, they have been really slow at introducing any new bills into the House and then getting them to committee.

The committee missed a whole year of being able to do anything and every one of those delays was because of the conduct of the government, not any lack of work or co-operation by the opposition parties. When he stands in the House and says those things, we should look at his credibility.

Interparliamentary Delegations

[Claude Bachand, Bloc, Saint-Jean, QC]

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 NATO Parliamentary Association respecting its participation at the Spring Session 2009, held in Oslo, Norway, from May 22 to 26, 2009.

Foreign Affairs and International Development

[Kevin Sorenson, Conservative, Crowfoot, AB]

Mr. Speaker, I have the honour to present, in both official languages, the seventh report of the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Development requesting an extension of 30 sitting days to consider Bill C-300.

Environment and Sustainable Development

[James Bezan, Conservative, Selkirk—Interlake, MB]

Mr. Speaker, I have the honour to present, in both official languages, the third report of the Standing Committee on Environment and Sustainable Development in relation to an alleged question of privilege.

Fisheries and Oceans

[Rodney Weston, Conservative, Saint John, NB]

Mr. Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 108(2), I have the honour to present, in both official languages, the seventh report of the Standing Committee on Fisheries and Oceans in relation to the amendments to the Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Organization convention.

Business of Supply

[Michel Guimond, Bloc, Montmorency—Charlevoix—Haute-Côte-Nord, QC]

Mr. Speaker, there have been discussions among all parties and I believe you will find unanimous consent for the following motion:

That at the conclusion of today's debate on the opposition motion in the name of the member for Rimouski-Neigette—Témiscouata—Les Basques, all questions necessary to dispose of the motion be deemed put and a recorded division deemed requested and deferred until Tuesday, October 20, 2009, at 5:30 p.m.

[The Speaker, Liberal, Peter Milliken]

Does the member for Montmorency—Charlevoix—Haute-Côte-Nord have the unanimous consent of the House to propose the motion?

[Some hon. members]

Agreed.