Debates of Nov. 2nd, 2009

Pension Benefits

[Judy Foote, Liberal, Random—Burin—St. George's, NL]

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to present two petitions on behalf of the people of Random—Burin—St. George's, the riding that I represent.

The first petition is from a group of fishermen and women in Newfoundland and Labrador who took early retirement at the request of the federal government back in 1998.

In 2007, Revenue Canada, the tax court, determined that only 25% of retirement benefits should be applied to the capital gains tax formula. However, 100% of the revenue was in fact taxed, leaving 850 fishers, 798 from Newfoundland and Labrador and 52 from the Quebec north shore, unfairly treated by the Government of Canada. There are 150 fishers who followed the recommendation of DFO at the time. They had their taxes treated fairly, and therefore each saved, on average, about $20,000.

The petitioners call upon the Government of Canada to recognize this unfairness and to do the right thing and treat all of these fishermen and women in the proper way.

Employment Insurance

[Judy Foote, Liberal, Random—Burin—St. George's, NL]

Mr. Speaker, the second petition has to do with the EI system.

The petitioners call upon the Government of Canada to put in place measures that would treat everyone fairly and to recognize the importance of the EI system to Canadians.

They are asking the government to increase benefit duration to at least 50 weeks in all regions, eliminate the two-week waiting period, allow claimants to qualify for entry-level EI benefits in all regions of Canada after working 360 hours, provide benefits that are at least 60% of normal earnings, use workers' 12 best weeks, suspend the allocation of severance pay, and be more flexible and innovative in the uses of EI work-sharing to keep people at work.

Canada-Colombia Free Trade Agreement

[Denise Savoie, NDP, Victoria, BC]

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to present this petition signed by hundreds of Canadians who wish to stop the Canada-Colombia trade deal.

The petitioners say they are concerned with the violence that is ongoing against workers and civil society by paramilitaries in Colombia who are associated with the Uribe government. Since 1991, 2,200 trade unionists have been murdered.

The petitioners believe that all trade agreements must be built on the principles of fair trade which respect human rights, labour rights and environmental stewardship.

Therefore, they ask Parliament to reject the Canada-Colombia trade deal until an independent human rights impact assessment is carried out, the resulting concerns are addressed, and the agreement is renegotiated along the principles of fair trade, which would take into consideration environmental and social impacts.

Nortel

[Massimo Pacetti, Liberal, Saint-Léonard—Saint-Michel, QC]

Mr. Speaker, today, because of the bankruptcy of Nortel, I have the honour to table a petition, signed by a number of Canadians who would like to bring something to the attention of the government.

The Companies' Creditors Arrangement Act and the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act currently do not protect the rights of all Canadian employees laid off by a company when they are receiving pensions or long-term disability benefits during bankruptcy proceedings. These people do not have any preferred status over other unsecured creditors. Employees are unlike any other creditors. They have been largely responsible for creating value for all stakeholders. Unlike debt holders, banks and suppliers, they are not diversified businesses taking risks and having access to tax writeoffs for financial loss. Currently under the Investment Canada Act, the federal government fails to ensure that proceeds of sales of Canadian assets to foreigners are allocated to Canadian employee-related claims before funds are permitted to leave the country.

Therefore, the following petitioners call upon Parliament, first, to amend the Companies' Creditors Arrangement Act and the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act to protect the rights of all Canadian employees and to ensure that employees laid off by a company receiving pensions or long-term disability benefits during bankruptcy proceedings obtain preferred creditor status over unsecured creditors; and, second, to amend the Investment Canada Act to ensure employee-related claims are paid from proceeds of Canadian assets sales before funds are permitted to leave the country.

Animal Welfare

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

Mr. Speaker, I have a petition that has to do with animal welfare. The petitioners say that because there is scientific consensus and public acknowledgement that animals can feel pain and can suffer that all efforts should be made to prevent animal cruelty and reduce animal suffering.

The petitioners say that over one billion people around the world rely on animals for their livelihood, and many others rely on animals for companionship. They are often significantly affected by natural disasters and yet are seldom considered during relief efforts and emergency planning despite their recognized importance to humans.

The petitioners therefore call upon the Government of Canada to support a universal declaration on animal welfare.

Fuel Prices

[Dan McTeague, Liberal, Pickering—Scarborough East, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to present a petition from over 150 Canadians from Montreal, Brampton, Barrie, Whitby, Kamloops, Aurora, Brossard and Laval.

The petitioners call upon the Canadian government and Parliament to pay more attention to the effect that high fuel prices are having on Canadians and on the economy.

The petitioners believe a serious lack of competition and transparency in the energy industry has hampered the free market to the detriment of all Canadians.

High fuel prices, they believe, inflate the price of everything we purchase, and of course, during this period of economic uncertainty they cannot ignore the effect that this has on the Canadian economy.

The petitioners also wish to draw to the attention of the government and the House of Commons that many countries around the world have an energy market monitoring agency and that energy superpowers like Canada need such an agency. They therefore call upon Parliament to finally acknowledge that the high price of fuel is damaging to the Canadian economy.

They ask for the reinstatement of the Office of Petroleum Price Information, which was abolished by the government in 2006 as an energy market information service similar to the U.S. energy information agency, and they also wish to begin hearings in the energy sector to determine how the government can foster competition and provide transparency in the energy market to eliminate the monopolistic efficiencies defence clause of the Competition Act.

Animal Welfare

[Carol Hughes, NDP, Algoma—Manitoulin—Kapuskasing, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I also want to table petitions in support of a universal declaration on animal welfare.

These petitions are signed by many of my constituents within the following communities: Thessalon, Blind River, Algoma Mills, Manitowaning, Little Current, Kagawong, Elliot Lake, Mindemoya, Spring Bay, Espanola, McKerrow, Hearst, Massey, Webbwood and Manitouwadge, as well as by people from some other ridings.

These petitioners are asking for the Government of Canada to support a universal declaration on animal welfare to prevent animal cruelty and reduce animal suffering given that people around the world rely on animals for their livelihood as well as for companionship.

Within the proposed declaration the petitioners would like to see a structure that includes a clause for relief efforts and emergency planning for animal welfare.

Questions on the Order Paper

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

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

[The Speaker, Peter Milliken]

Is that agreed?

[Some hon. members]

Agreed.

H1N1 Vaccines

[The Speaker, Peter Milliken]

The Chair has received a request for an emergency debate from the hon. member for St. Paul's. I will hear from her now.

[Carolyn Bennett, Liberal, St. Paul's, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I indeed did send a letter to your office this morning requesting leave to make the motion for the adjournment of the House, pursuant to Standing Order 52, for the purpose of discussing a specific and important matter requiring urgent consideration.

I now wish to move that motion for an emergency debate on the supply of H1N1 vaccines to high-risk groups and Canadians at large.

Information made public by the government in the last few days indicates that the supply and delivery of the vaccine available to local health authorities this week will fall well short of the previously announced levels.

Further reports across the country show that Canadians in high-risk groups are being turned away from vaccination centres because of lack of supply. The fact that many pandemic experts expect H1N1 to peak in the coming weeks adds urgency to the situation.

I believe all of us in the House feel a responsibility to our constituents to put on the record our concerns and their concerns and to advocate for early resolution of this urgent situation.

Speaker's Ruling

[The Speaker, Peter Milliken]

I thank the hon. member for St. Paul's for her submissions on this point. I have considered the matter since I received her letter and have now heard her arguments, and I believe the request does meet the exigencies of the standing order and accordingly, I will allow the debate this evening at the normal hour of daily adjournment.

The House resumed consideration of Bill C-50, An Act to amend the Employment Insurance Act and to increase benefits, as reported (without amendment) from the committee, and of the motions in Group No. 1.

Employment Insurance Act

[The Speaker, Peter Milliken]

Is the House ready for the question?

[Some hon. members]

Question.

[The Speaker, Peter Milliken]

The question is on Motion No 1. Is it the pleasure of the House to adopt the motion?

[Some hon. members]

Agreed.

No.

[The Speaker, Peter Milliken]

All those in favour of the motion will please say yea.

[Some hon. members]

Yea.

[The Speaker, Peter Milliken]

All those opposed will please say nay.

[Some hon. members]

Nay.

[The Speaker, Peter Milliken]

In my opinion the yeas have it.

And five or more members having risen:

Call in the members.

And the bells having rung:

At the request of the chief government whip, the vote on the motion will be deferred until the conclusion of government orders later this day.

The House proceeded to the consideration of Bill C-27, An Act to promote the efficiency and adaptability of the Canadian economy by regulating certain activities that discourage reliance on electronic means of carrying out commercial activities, and to amend the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission Act, the Competition Act, the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act and the Telecommunications Act, as reported (with amendments) from the committee.

Electronic Commerce Protection Act

[The Speaker, Peter Milliken]

There being no motions at the report stage, the House will now proceed without debate to the putting of the question on the motion to concur in the bill at report stage.