House of Commons Hansard #51 of the 40th Parliament, 2nd Session. (The original version is on Parliament's site.) The word of the day was organizations.

Topics

Government Response to PetitionsRoutine Proceedings

10 a.m.

Regina—Lumsden—Lake Centre Saskatchewan

Conservative

Tom Lukiwski ConservativeParliamentary 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 14 petitions.

Canada-Colombia Free Trade AgreementPetitionsRoutine Proceedings

10 a.m.

NDP

Bill Siksay NDP Burnaby—Douglas, BC

Mr. Speaker, this morning I have the pleasure to table petitions signed by people from Burnaby, other parts of British Columbia, Saskatchewan and Ontario who are concerned about the Canada-Colombia free trade agreement.

They note in particular their concern about violence against workers and members of civil society by paramilitaries in Colombia, pointing out that more than 2,200 trade unionists have been murdered since 1991 as well as violence committed against indigenous people, Afro-Colombians, human rights activists, workers, farmers, labour leaders and journalists.

They call on the Government of Canada to do a full human rights impact assessment while the agreement is being negotiated to ensure that the principles of fair trade would be taken into account with full environmental, social and human impact studies, so that the agreement sincerely respects labour rights and the rights of all parties affected.

Passport OfficesPetitionsRoutine Proceedings

10 a.m.

NDP

Charlie Angus NDP Timmins—James Bay, ON

Mr. Speaker, I am very proud to rise in the House with a petition from residents of the wonderful communities of Englehart, Matachewan, Kirkland Lake and the central Timiskaming region of Ontario, who are concerned about the lack of walk-in passport service in the northeast of Ontario.

I think it is the only rural region in Canada that does not have walk-in passport service. It means that residents who are in the mining industry and other areas who have to get emergency passports end up having to go to Toronto to get service. They are looking to establish a fully operational passport office in the city of Timmins to serve the people of all of northeastern Ontario and to alleviate the current workloads and delays.

Foreign AffairsPetitionsRoutine Proceedings

10 a.m.

Bloc

Johanne Deschamps Bloc Laurentides—Labelle, QC

Mr. Speaker, I am presenting this morning a petition that is part of the United for Peace campaign. It is signed by many Quebeckers and Canadians who generally support peacebuilding efforts in Canada and throughout the world.

The petitioners are calling upon the Parliament of Canada to recognize and support the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. They are also calling upon Parliament to show leadership in resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in a manner consistent with human rights and international law, and to encourage all parties to the conflict in the Philippines to resume peace talks. Finally, they are calling upon Parliament to support solutions that go to the roots of the conflict in Colombia.

Questions on the Order PaperRoutine Proceedings

10 a.m.

Regina—Lumsden—Lake Centre Saskatchewan

Conservative

Tom Lukiwski ConservativeParliamentary Secretary to the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons

Mr. Speaker, Question No. 93 will be answered today.

Question No. 93Questions on the Order PaperRoutine Proceedings

10 a.m.

Liberal

Scott Andrews Liberal Avalon, NL

With regard to the issue between the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador and the Department of Public Safety, and more specifically Correctional Services of Canada (CSC), regarding a new prison in Newfoundland and Labrador to be located in Harbour Grace: (a) are discussions currently ongoing between the federal government and the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador with regards to a new prison and, if so, (i) what is the status of these discussions, (ii) who has been involved in these discussions on behalf of the federal government, (iii) has there been any discussions with the federal Department of Finance or the Treasury Board Secretariat with regards to financing a new prison for Newfoundland and Labrador; and (b) has any investigation been undertaken with regard to structural requirements and, if so, (i) what is the capacity of any proposed new structure, (ii) what are estimated construction costs of a building to meet existing demand, (iii) what are the timelines for constructing such a facility?

Question No. 93Questions on the Order PaperRoutine Proceedings

10 a.m.

York—Simcoe Ontario

Conservative

Peter Van Loan ConservativeMinister of Public Safety

Mr. Speaker, the reply from Correctional Service Canada is as follows:

With regard to a) the province struck a capital planning committee to discuss the replacement of Her Majesty's Penitentiary and invited Correctional Service Canada’s, CSC, participation.

(i) A number of meetings were held between the capital planning committee and the consulting firm engaged by the province to develop a design concept. The province also engaged a consultant to carry out a site impact analysis study in respect of the location of the replacement for Her Majesty's Penitentiary. The respective ministers responsible for corrections have met and exchanged letters on a number of occasions during the past year.

(ii) The regional administrator policy and planning of the Atlantic region is CSC’s representative on the provincial capital planning committee.

(iii) No discussions with the Department of Finance and/or Treasury Board Secretariat in respect of financing a new prison for Newfoundland and Labrador have occurred.

With regard to b) (i) (ii) (iii) CSC is unable to answer the specific questions for part (b) of the parliamentary question as they fall under the responsibility of the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador.

Starred QuestionsRoutine Proceedings

10 a.m.

Regina—Lumsden—Lake Centre Saskatchewan

Conservative

Tom Lukiwski ConservativeParliamentary Secretary to the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons

Mr. Speaker, would you be so kind as to call Starred Question No. 97. I ask that it be printed in Hansard as if read.

Question No. *97Starred QuestionsRoutine Proceedings

10 a.m.

NDP

Jim Maloway NDP Elmwood—Transcona, MB

Concerning the rehabilitation of the Disraeli bridges in the riding of Elmwood—Transcona in Winnipeg, which are expected to be closed for 16 months, did the government have any communications or requests for assistance from the Mayor of Winnipeg to shorten the length of that closure or to construct an additional span which when finished would allow for no closure at all and, if so, what are the details of these communications?

Question No. *97Starred QuestionsRoutine Proceedings

10 a.m.

Ottawa West—Nepean Ontario

Conservative

John Baird ConservativeMinister of Transport

Mr. Speaker, I am informed by Transport Canada that there are no records of communications or requests for assistance from the Mayor of Winnipeg concerning the rehabilitation of the Disraeli bridges.

I am informed by Infrastructure Canada that there are no records of communications or requests for assistance from the Mayor of Winnipeg concerning the rehabilitation of the Disraeli bridges.

Starred QuestionsRoutine Proceedings

10 a.m.

Conservative

Tom Lukiwski Conservative Regina—Lumsden—Lake Centre, SK

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

Starred QuestionsRoutine Proceedings

10 a.m.

The Speaker

Is that agreed?

Starred QuestionsRoutine Proceedings

10 a.m.

Some hon. members

Agreed.

Seal HuntRequest for Emergency DebateRoutine Proceedings

10:05 a.m.

Liberal

The Speaker Liberal Peter Milliken

The Chair has received a request for an emergency debate from the hon. member for Cape Breton—Canso. I will hear his arguments on this matter now.

Seal HuntRequest for Emergency DebateRoutine Proceedings

10:05 a.m.

Liberal

Rodger Cuzner Liberal Cape Breton—Canso, NS

Mr. Speaker, I stand before you with a request to hold an emergency debate.

I am sure all members of the House are very much aware of the actions taken by the European parliament to ban all products that are generated from the Canadian seal hunt. I cannot state emphatically enough the devastating impact this is going to have on rural communities throughout eastern Quebec, Newfoundland, Cape Breton, in fact, throughout all of the Atlantic provinces.

This is an international affront to Canada. We cannot sit back as a Parliament and stand for this. We have to stand together as a Parliament and make sure that all persons in the European parliament understand what is being undertaken in that house.

The seal hunt for many is the only opportunity they have to generate any household revenue throughout the course of the winter months. It may seem meagre to some, but when someone is trying to feed a family and pay the bills of an average household in a remote or rural area, in an outport or in a coastal community, it is significant.

What the European parliament has undertaken puts a great number of Canadians at risk, a great number of Canadian households at risk.

I hope that all parliamentarians will show courage. I hope that you, Mr. Speaker, will see the merit and the wisdom in hosting this debate to make sure that this issue gets a fulsome debate to show how Canadians are going to be hurt. I ask that you entertain this important issue and this request.

Seal HuntRequest for Emergency DebateRoutine Proceedings

10:05 a.m.

Liberal

The Speaker Liberal Peter Milliken

The Chair recognizes the importance of the issue raised by the hon. member for Cape Breton—Canso.

The Chair also notes that the Standing Committee on Fisheries and Oceans tabled a report on the subject of the seal hunt on February 11th. There are three motions for concurrence in that report standing in the names of three different hon. members on the notice paper which could be moved under concurrence in committee reports and generate a three hour debate on the subject immediately, if not sooner.

In the circumstances, I think the matter can be left to be dealt with by the House in the normal course since these motions are there. I do not know that it requires the use of the emergency debate provisions of the House.

Accordingly, I am going to deny the hon. member's request at this time.

Seal HuntRequest for Emergency DebateRoutine Proceedings

10:05 a.m.

Liberal

Ralph Goodale Liberal Wascana, SK

Mr. Speaker, I am rising on the same issue.

I would like to draw to your attention this one important fact that makes a distinction between what the official opposition whip has asked for today in terms of an emergency debate and the items that are on the order paper relating to a committee report.

The significant new event that has happened overnight is the decision taken by the European Union. This stands out as an international affront to Canada. It is extremely important, it seems to me, for the Parliament of Canada to act in an urgent manner in response to that.

The participation of parliamentarians in an emergency debate within 24 hours of the Europeans making their decision is the appropriate kind of response, not dealing with this matter as a routine item in respect of a committee report, but in fact, the Canadian Parliament taking an extraordinary measure in response to this extraordinary and inappropriate measure taken by the Europeans.

It is the symbolism of an emergency debate within 24 hours that I think is the important thing, and I would ask that you, Mr. Speaker, take that important urgency into account in your deliberations.

Seal HuntRequest for Emergency DebateRoutine Proceedings

10:10 a.m.

Bloc

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

Mr. Speaker, I agree with the remarks made by the House leader of the Liberal Party as well as with the request for an emergency debate made by my colleague, the whip of the Liberal Party. Indeed, the report that is on the order paper was tabled before the European Council's decision was known. This decision was made yesterday, and in view of the urgent situation it creates, especially in terms of its economic impact on many families in two regions of Quebec in particular, namely the Gaspé and the Magdalen Islands and the lower North Shore, with all due respect, Mr. Speaker, I think you should accept the request for an emergency debate that is before you.

Seal HuntRequest for Emergency DebateRoutine Proceedings

10:10 a.m.

Liberal

The Speaker Liberal Peter Milliken

In light of the representations, I will take the matter under further advisement and return to the House later this day with a decision on the matter.

In these circumstances, the parties may have discussions among themselves to determine whether it is possible to have another type of debate on a concrete motion.

In my opinion, the difficulty with an emergency debate is that there is no motion that condemns or says anything about what is happening. It is simply a motion for the adjournment of the House.

Members may wish to express their views on this matter in the form of a formal motion. That might be done by another technique that is open to hon. members to negotiate, if they choose to.

In any event, I will come back to the House at 3 o'clock with respect to the matter, having reviewed the points raised by the hon. members who have already risen on this point.

The House resumed from May 4 consideration of the motion that Bill S-2, An Act to amend the Customs Act, be read the second time and referred to a committee.

Customs ActGovernment Orders

10:10 a.m.

Bloc

Paul Crête Bloc Montmagny—L'Islet—Kamouraska—Rivière-du-Loup, QC

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to speak today on this bill which addresses the administration of customs.

In recent years, as the aftermath of 9/11, there has been a very marked tightening of customs security. There is at the same time an awareness that a balance must be struck between security and the need for proper service and for avoiding problems because of the way things are being done. If all the priority is given to security alone, the end result may be hindrance of the border-crossing mechanisms.

The border between Canada and the U.S. is a very long one. Obviously it can be crossed by road, or even just on foot, but it can also be crossed in a plane. This bill before us is an attempt to remedy the situation. The Bloc Québécois will be voting in favour of this bill because we feel that the measures it contains are appropriate. Time will tell whether they actually succeed in improving the situation on any ongoing basis, but the bill is evidence of good will and we hope it will be passed.

Primarily, though, this bill is designed to provide Canada Border Services Agency officers with the information, tools and flexibility they need to identify threats and prevent criminal activity, while ensuring that legitimate goods and travellers can cross the border efficiently. Under the amendments that have been announced, all businesses that are part of the import chain are required to provide the Canada Border Services Agency with electronic data on their shipments before the goods reach Canada.

In the last few years, particularly with the cooperation of the U.S., a system was put in place to ensure security within the companies themselves. Care is taken to ensure that the products are protected and isolated, and also that shipping does not reopen to question their seal or their security when handled, when additions are made to them, or when they are processed. This is what these amendments reflect.

With this advance electronic information on transportation, the Canada Border Services Agency will be able to make better decisions about admitting goods and analyzing the risks they pose to Canadians and Quebeckers. We see this as a positive measure. Of course, we have to ensure that implementing this electronic system will not interfere with existing laws and regulations, such as those governing privacy. However, in the transportation sector, this kind of situation occurs infrequently, and we have not seen any such complications in the existing act.

Other changes will allow the Canada Border Services Agency to fully establish customs controlled areas. These areas will be specific territories, legal entities. When an individual arrives at an airport, customs officers will have the authority to exercise the rights set out in the act. This will clarify notions that are set out in the existing act but that do not enable customs officers to take appropriate action. That is what this bill seeks to fix. Officers will enjoy greater freedom to examine goods and question and search people, regardless of where they are in these areas, not just at exit points, as the current law states. The current law does not allow officers to search individuals until they have left the customs controlled area. People exhibit all kinds of behaviours within the areas themselves, and in the past, situations have arisen that may have required officers to intervene, but they could not. This bill would resolve that problem.

At first sight, the bill seems adequate, but an in-depth review and close questioning of Canada Border Services Agency inspectors and government officials will be necessary. As I said at the start, we must not nitpick to the point where we would be creating a situation more complicated than the one we already have. What we need is a fluid border for land and marine crossings but also for the movement of people and goods by air.

That will be the primary concern of the Bloc Quebecois when the bill goes through detailed analysis in committee. That is why we will want to hear witnesses from the government agency and from companies that do transborder trade and want decent services. We can also expect that organizations advocating privacy protection and individual rights will want to make sure that the legislation does not complicate the situation on the Canadian side and does not undermine citizens' rights.

The bill was introduced on January 29, 2009 by the Conservative leader in the Senate and later sent to this House. We do not think that the introduction of bills first in the Senate which then sends them to this place is the best way to do things. It is always better to introduce bills first in the elected House of Parliament instead of the other chamber, where members are not elected. This way of proceeding should be changed to ensure the government does not use it to get around the urgency of certain issues or to introduce through the back door measures it does not want to introduce directly.

This bill is identical to the one introduced on December 2, 2008 and to Bill C-43, which was introduced on February 15, 2008 during the second session of the 39th Parliament. Both these bills died on the order paper. We can therefore understand how anxious the Canada Border Services Agency is to have the act finally amended. The Bloc will cooperate on passing the bill and will support it at second reading by not prolonging the debate. However, it will also make sure that the committee hears witnesses and considers the bill in a timely manner.

Bill S-2 amends the Customs Act to clarify certain provisions of the French version of the act and to make technical amendments to others. We felt it was important to correct these provisions. Often, bills are initially drafted in English, and there are regularly problems with the translation, which can lead to misinterpretation of the act once it comes into effect. These things must be corrected. The current bill makes much-needed improvements and should be passed as soon as possible.

The bill also imposes additional requirements in customs controlled areas, grants the minister the power to authorize entry, amends provisions concerning the determination of value for duty and modifies advance commercial reporting requirements. The search powers of customs officers are expanded to include individuals and their goods that are in or are leaving a customs controlled area. The current Customs Act does not allow officers to go and get someone who refuses to be searched and stays in the buffer zone. This legal vacuum causes unacceptable situations and needs to be addressed.

The bill also provides that regulations may be enacted that describe the time frame and manner in which information about passengers may be provided by prescribed persons. This is the whole issue of personal information that I was talking about earlier. With regard to searches, we must ensure that customs officers do not have undue authority and that the rights of Canadian citizens and foreign travellers are properly protected.

The current Customs Act was passed in 1986 and is the result of the total revamping of the 1867 act. This shows that the customs sector has been around for a very long time. When Canada was created, a customs service was established and has evolved over the years. The pace of change seems to be accelerating, driven by the arrival of new electronic technologies that can be used both to improve the system, but also by people who want to bring illegal goods into Canada. In that regard, it is very important to ensure that our technologies are up to date in order to detect potential inadvertent errors or malicious acts.

As we have heard, since 1986, the act has been amended continuously in response to free trade and related international agreements, and to fine-tune international trade measures.

Again recently, we have seen how certain countries can also use customs legislation to practice a form of protectionism. We hope that is not the case at this time and that Canada does not anticipate that kind of situation. In the past, the fluidity of the border between Canada and the U.S. has benefited Canada and particularly Quebec. We also know, however, that since the establishment of free trade agreements that are casting the net wider in light of globalization, we are seeing increased competition. We must ensure that Canadian products are imported and exported properly. The same is true when it comes to people crossing our borders, and that is how we must look at this bill.

I will elaborate on this.

Clause 2 of the bill removes the authorization-by-regulation requirement by which the minister currently approves access to a customs controlled area by a person.

There will be no need for a regulation to allow that. It will be possible to do so directly under the act. The minister will be able to grant that access directly.

Clause 3 of the Bill removes an exemption that applied to persons boarding a flight to a destination outside of Canada who were leaving a customs controlled area. By the removal of this exemption, such persons are obligated to present and identify themselves to an officer and to report any goods obtained in the area and answer questions asked by an officer.

We will examine closely what this means in order to avoid administrative duplication, for example. It will be important to verify such concerns.

Clause 4 amends the regulation-making powers of the Governor in Council to include regulations prescribing the persons or classes of persons who may be granted access to customs controlled areas and the manner in which a person must present himself or herself upon leaving, or while in, a customs controlled area.

Therefore, these are fairly technical points that are being amended in order to give customs officers more latitude as well as the ability to act more quickly and efficiently within customs controlled areas.

Clause 7 amends the methods available to adjust the transaction value of the goods being imported when the vendor receives a benefit from a subsequent sale... This may lead to higher valuations and therefore higher duties being paid by importers.

They must try to state the real value of the goods to ensure that we do not open ourselves to the black market or to a market that does not reflect the true value of the good.

Clause 11 [amends the bill] so that a customs officer is authorized to conduct a non-intrusive examination of goods in the custody or possession of a person in or leaving a customs controlled area, in accordance with the regulations.

After seeing how people often behave in customs, it is important that, on occasion, action be taken to allow the non-intrusive examination of goods that is not detrimental to the individual and that does not create an undesirable situation for the person concerned.

We could say that this bill makes the connection between the customs provisions that impose duty and tariffs on importers and the security measures in various other laws.

The proposed amendments to the method of calculating the value of imported goods could reduce the number of disputed duty calculations. We hope that the number of disputes will decrease and that border traffic will flow more freely but with adequate control.

It is also thought that revenue from duties could increase if the value of goods imported is more likely to be adjusted upward as a result of the proposed changes to the methods for determining customs value. There is no point in pretending that the changes will probably result in additional revenue for the government because they will be taxed on the real value of the goods much more than is done at present.

The purpose of the provisions of the bill that require information to be provided in advance is to improve the risk assessment of goods at the border. In the past, particularly with the implementation of what is called C-TPAT, an American law to ensure oversight of what is happens in factories, we have seen that there is no rechecking done at each stage during transport. We hope that there could be this new type of facility for the new powers granted. Combined with the creation of the broader search power for officers in customs controlled areas, this measure could reduce the number of dangerous counterfeit products entering Canada through customs controlled areas.

We have seen in the past that goods entering Canada were in fact illegal copies that infringed rights and patents that had been paid for, for example, but most importantly they were goods that could have negative impacts on health and that could even affect children’s health. As well, there are people who travel and may bring back samples of products. We also want to ensure that there is less and less counterfeiting occurring, to eliminate the problem at the source rather than having this unacceptable situation.

We are also told that border services officers may now search persons only when they leave controlled areas. In future, it will be possible to do that inside the controlled area itself, and this will be easier because we know that, at present, the officer questions people as they leave and can even conduct a search if the officer thinks it necessary.

In the new scenario, officers will be able to ask the same kinds of questions inside the controlled area, and if there are reasonable grounds, they will be able to conduct a search. They will be given adequate training and people who enter a controlled area will be informed of the possibility of a search. They would have notice. So we see the bill as a whole and the perspective the minister wishes to take.

I hope that this bill will reflect a different philosophy from the one we see at present in the government’s approach, for example in connection with Mr. Abdelrazik's return to Canada. He is a Canadian citizen who is currently at the embassy in Khartoum and wants to return here. There is an international convention that allows him to return to his country, even if he is on a UN no-fly list.

The Canadian government is currently refusing to apply the agreement that it signed. The government behaves this way in regard to a symbolic matter, but we certainly hope it does not when it comes to the implementation of an actual piece of legislation, such as the one we will be voting on with Bill S-2. If this kind of behaviour turns up in other similar cases, if it occurs in the enforcement of a law, if the bill we are voting on allows this sort of thing, I think these kinds of excesses would be totally unacceptable. That is why the committee must ensure that the bill respects with all individual rights.

I invite all groups that want to make presentations to do so in committee. When the bill comes back to us at report stage and at third reading, all the necessary changes will have been made to ensure that customs officers can do their jobs more effectively and satisfactorily and speed up border crossings for airlines, while at the same time showing respect for the citizens who are being processed, both Canadians and people from abroad who are visiting us.

Over the last few years, there has been a major drop in tourism to Canada. Every time we make a decision about customs, we should ensure that we are not adding another obstacle, as we did to some extent by increasing the cost of passports.

The Americans now require passports of people even when they are using a land crossing and we have seen the additional costs involved. This will probably cause some American families interested in vacationing in Canada to go instead to another American state. For a family of four or five, that is an additional cost that could equal the cost of two, three or even four vacation days. As a result, some will prefer to stay in the United States and spend their money there, even though we were trying to create a free trade area in which everyone would benefit from more exchanges.

When we pass bills like S-2, we will have to adopt a perspective and take an approach that avoids this kind of complications. We will also have to look into whether the situation will be different at small airports and large airports. We should ensure as well that the customs controlled areas that are created—I am thinking of small airports like those in Gatineau or Rivière-du-Loup where there are no customs services as such—do not require additional security services to be established that are not necessary and currently not required.

We will have to pay particular attention to this if we want to have a bill that facilitates the flow of people rather than impeding it.

I will conclude on that note and encourage the House to pass this bill as soon as possible.

Customs ActGovernment Orders

10:30 a.m.

NDP

The Acting Speaker NDP Denise Savoie

Is the House ready for the question?

Customs ActGovernment Orders

10:30 a.m.

Some hon. members

Question.

Customs ActGovernment Orders

10:30 a.m.

NDP

The Acting Speaker NDP Denise Savoie

The question is on the motion. Is it the pleasure of the House to adopt the motion?

Customs ActGovernment Orders

10:30 a.m.

Some hon. members

Agreed.