Debates of June 3rd, 2009

National Philanthropy Day Act

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

Mr. Speaker, I do not really understand what the member means by “normal consultation”. The four whips met. We are members of the Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs, and we have been asking the Chair to submit this report for two weeks now.

I do not see what the problem is. We even talked about this yesterday. The Liberal Party's deputy whip was there. The Chair of the Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs is at his wit's end, and for good reason. I feel the same way right now.

[The Acting Speaker, Conservative, Barry Devolin]

The hon. member for Elgin—Middlesex—London sought unanimous consent and did not receive it.

(Bill C-33. On the Order: Government Orders:)

June 1, 2009—Bill C-33, An Act to amend the War Veterans Allowance Act—the Minister of Veterans Affairs.

War Veterans Allowance Act

[Jay Hill, Conservative, Leader of the Government in the House of Commons]

Mr. Speaker, there have been consultations among all the parties and I think and hope you would find unanimous consent for the following motion. I move:

That, notwithstanding any Standing Order or usual practices of the House, Bill C-33, An Act to amend the War Veterans Allowance Act, be deemed to have been read a second time and referred to a Committee of the Whole, deemed considered in Committee of the Whole, deemed reported without amendment, deemed concurred in at the report stage and deemed read a third time and passed.

I draw attention of the House to the words “without amendment” because there was some issue about whether it was going to be amended or not. It is not amended.

[The Acting Speaker, Conservative, Barry Devolin]

Does the hon. government House leader have the unanimous consent of the House to move this motion?

[Some hon. members]

Agreed.

[The Acting Speaker, Conservative, Barry Devolin]

The House has heard the terms of the motion. Is it the pleasure of the House to adopt the motion?

[Some hon. members]

Agreed.

[The Acting Speaker, Conservative, Barry Devolin]

(Motion agreed to, bill read the second time, considered in committee of the whole, reported without amendment, concurred in, read the third time and passed)

Public Safety and National Security

[Gordon O'Connor, Conservative, Minister of State and Chief Government Whip]

Mr. Speaker, there have been the usual consultations among the parties and I believe you will find consent for the following revised travel motion. I move:

That notwithstanding the motion adopted on Friday, May 29, 2009, in relation to its study of correctional services, mental health and addictions, 12 members of the Standing Committee on Public Safety and National Security be authorized to travel to Saskatoon and Maple Creek, Saskatchewan, Kingston, Ontario, Montreal, Quebec and Dorchester, New Brunswick, in June 2009 and that the necessary staff accompany the committee.

[The Acting Speaker, Conservative, Barry Devolin]

Does the hon. chief government whip have the unanimous consent of the House to move the motion?

[Some hon. members]

Agreed.

[The Acting Speaker, Conservative, Barry Devolin]

The House has heard the terms of the motion. Is it the pleasure of the House to adopt the motion?

[Some hon. members]

Agreed.

[The Acting Speaker, Conservative, Barry Devolin]

(Motion agreed to)

Employment Insurance

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

Mr. Speaker, I am here today to present a petition on behalf of many people in Newfoundland and Labrador and from the riding of Random—Burin—St. George's that I represent.

It is a petition that calls on the government to acknowledge that we are in fact in a crisis in this country. The petitioners are looking for some measures that will see EI become much more accessible for those people who are losing their jobs.

The problem we have is that the country is in a recession. We are in a crisis. It is time that the government acknowledged that we really need to do something, especially when we have companies that are laying people off, sometimes through no fault of their own. We are finding a lot of people without employment. They need to be able to turn to EI.

This is a program that they have paid into. It is their money. They are asking to make that program much more available to them and for the government to recognize that this is a serious situation.

We all know that it should take 28 days to be able to access EI, once one has been laid off and had a two week waiting period. That is not happening.

In fact, in my riding we have people waiting as long as 70 days to access EI. In some cases, they then get a letter telling them that it is going to take even longer.

Then the government is telling us that it is putting in measures to try to make sure that this speeds up. That is not happening.

What we are asking for is the 360 hours to qualify and for eligibility to be standard in all regions of the country. We want to increase the benefit duration to at least 50 weeks in all regions. We want to eliminate the two week waiting period. We want to provide benefits that are at least 60% of normal earnings, use the worker's 12 best weeks, and suspend the allocation of severance pay.

The other thing that the signatories to this petition are asking is that there be more flexible, innovative use of EI work-sharing to keep people at work.

Library Materials

[Merv Tweed, Conservative, Brandon—Souris, MB]

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to present five petitions from Alberta, Ontario, Manitoba and New Brunswick in support of my private member's bill, Bill C-322, An Act to amend the Canada Post Corporation Act (library materials).

Rights of the Unborn

[Chris Charlton, NDP, Hamilton Mountain, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I rise in the House today to present a petition that is signed by students at St. Thomas More High School in my riding of Hamilton Mountain. Twenty-seven of the students came to Ottawa to participate in the March for Life and used the opportunity to give my office their petition calling for a legislative reversal of the current law on abortion.

I want to commend these students for their engagement in the political process. They clearly understand that in a democratic country like Canada, it is their right to express their views directly to the House of Commons by petitioning Parliament.

While the rules of the House do not allow me to endorse or oppose the call for action in any petition, I think it is important for all constituents in my riding to know that as their member of Parliament I fully support the right of all citizens to have their voices heard in this chamber through the petition process, even in cases where I do not support the content of the petition itself.

For that reason, I am pleased to table this petition on behalf of the students of St. Thomas More, and look forward to working with them on the full spectrum of issues that confront us as elected members in the House.

Human Rights

[Dean Allison, Conservative, Niagara West—Glanbrook, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to present two petitions that have been submitted to me by concerned constituents.

The first petition was largely organized by Pastor Gill and it urges the Government of Canada to take action against the persecution of religious minorities around the world, especially in Christian communities in the Kandhamal district of India. This is an issue of great concern to a large number of my constituents, and I would hope that it is given due and careful consideration.

Volunteer Service Medal

[Dean Allison, Conservative, Niagara West—Glanbrook, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the second petition calls for the government to respectfully recognize volunteer servicemen and women by means of the issuance of a new Canadian volunteer service medal. My constituents would like to see a solid recognition of volunteer servicemen and women who have done so much to build on the proud tradition of the Canadian Forces.

Falun Gong Practitioners

[John Cummins, Conservative, Delta—Richmond East, BC]

Mr. Speaker, I have a petition signed by folks in my constituency and other communities throughout British Columbia and indeed Alberta.

The undersigned acknowledge that the Falun Gong is a peaceful and beneficial spiritual practice. They bring to the attention of the House that the Chinese communist party has launched an eradication program against them, and that the government of China and its agencies have put to death a large number of these practitioners

They call upon the Government of Canada to help stop these atrocities by the Chinese government and to condemn the communist Chinese regime for committing these crimes against humanity.

Questions on the Order Paper

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

Mr. Speaker, Question No. 122 will be answered today.

Question No. 122

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

With regard to departmental programming: (a) what was the total funding allocated to each program in each department in the 2008-2009 fiscal year; (b) what was the total funding spent in each program in each department during the 2008-2009 fiscal year; and (c) where were the funds spent under each program in each department, allocated by (i) town or city, (ii) project name, if applicable, (iii) dollar value?

[Vic Toews, Conservative, President of the Treasury Board]

Mr. Speaker, with respect to the question above, the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat cannot provide detailed information in support of this inquiry as it is not available at this time.

A detailed reconciliation of final departmental expenditures by vote and program activity is provided in volume II of the Public Accounts. This reconciliation of actual expenditures by vote and program activity can be found in volume II of the Public Accounts for fiscal year 2007-08, but the data for the recently concluded fiscal year 2008-09 will not be available until the fall of 2009. The Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat does not have information in support of departmental expenditures by town or city, project name and dollar value.

Questions Passed as Orders for Returns

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

Mr. Speaker, if Questions Nos. 123, 126, 127, 128, 131 and 135 could be made orders for returns, these returns would be tabled immediately.