Debates of Sept. 17th, 2009

Interparliamentary Delegations

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

Mr. Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 34(1), I have the honour to present, in both official languages, the report of the Canadian parliamentary delegation of the Canadian section of the inter-parliamentary forum of the Americas, FIPA, respecting its participation in the 39th regular session of the General Assembly of the Organization of American States held in San Pedro Sula, Honduras, June 2 and June 3, 2009.

Extraterritorial Activities of Canadian Businesses and Entities Act

[Johanne Deschamps, Bloc, Laurentides—Labelle, QC]

moved for leave to introduce Bill C-438, An Act respecting the extraterritorial activities of Canadian businesses and entities, establishing the Canadian Extraterritorial Activities Review Commission and making consequential amendments to other Acts.

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to speak today to introduce a bill that will ensure that the extraterritorial activities of Canadian businesses and entities are conducted in a responsible and ethical manner, and that they adhere to international human rights and environmental standards.

This bill responds to the recommendations in the report from the National Roundtables on Corporate Social Responsibility and the Canadian Extractive Industry in Developing Countries, published in March 2007. I urge all of my colleagues in this House to vote in favour of this bill.

(Motions deemed adopted, bill read the first time and printed)

Hazardous Products Act

[Anita Neville, Liberal, Winnipeg South Centre, MB]

moved for leave to introduce Bill C-439, An Act to amend the Hazardous Products Act (products made with dog or cat fur).

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to rise today to introduce my private member's bill, An Act to amend the Hazardous Products Act (products made with dog or cat fur), which has been seconded by my colleague from Dartmouth—Cole Harbour.

While products that use dog and cat fur are banned in countries all over the world, these products remain legal and can be imported, exported and sold in Canada without labels.

I hope that all members of the House will support the bill to ban this deplorable trade.

(Motions deemed adopted, bill read the first time and printed)

Immigration and Refugee Protection Act

[Gerard Kennedy, Liberal, Parkdale—High Park, ON]

moved for leave to introduce Bill C-440, An Act to amend the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (war resisters).

Mr. Speaker, this bill is in response to the refusal of the Minister of Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism to show Canadian sensibility.

This is a simple bill with a clear purpose, which would apply Canadian sensibility to the issue of war resisters in Canada. The bill would make sure that people of good conscience who leave a war that is not approved by the United Nations and who would be subject to compulsion and stop loss in their own country would be eligible to become Canadian citizens.

The bill reflects the work and the wishes of a great deal of Parliament. It basically takes the spirit of two motions that have already been passed by a majority of Parliament and puts them in the form of law that would have to be followed by the minister and the ministry of immigration and citizenship.

(Motions deemed adopted, bill read the first time and printed)

Pension Benefits Standards Act

[Rob Oliphant, Liberal, Don Valley West, ON]

moved for leave to introduce Bill C-441, An Act to amend the Pension Benefits Standards Act, 1985 (disclosure of environmental, social and governance investment factors).

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased this morning to introduce a bill to amend the Pension Benefits Standards Act.

This bill will require public and private pension plan administrators to disclose considerations given to environmental, social and governance factors in the selection, retention and liquidation of investments in their pension funds.

Millions of Canadians have growing concerns about the long-term sustainability of their pension plans. The current financial crisis has led them to a new understanding of risk in pension fund investing. Today risk assessment needs to take into account broader ethical considerations regarding long-term sustainability.

Pension plan members want to know whether their fund managers have asked questions about the companies they invest in, such as how a company treat its employees, where it buys its supplies and from whom, how a company contributes to the community in which it does business, whether its business practices are fair and, most importantly, can the environment, the earth, sustain its business activities.

I would like to thank my colleague, the hon. member for Scarborough—Guildwood, for seconding this bill.

(Motions deemed adopted, bill read the first time and printed)

Employment Insurance Act

[Ralph Goodale, Liberal, Wascana, SK]

Mr. Speaker, we are scheduled under government orders today to begin dealing with Bill C-50, and I wonder if I could seek unanimous consent for the following motion.

I move, “That, for the purposes of our consideration of Bill C-50, an act to amend the Employment Insurance Act, which will begin under government orders today, the House agrees to conclude its consideration of this bill at all stages by the normal time of adjournment tomorrow, including examination of the bill in the committee of the whole instead of a standing committee if that is necessary to meet this timetable”.

[The Speaker, Liberal, Peter Milliken]

Does the hon. member for Wascana have the unanimous consent of the House to propose this motion?

[Some hon. members]

Agreed

No.

[The Speaker, Liberal, Peter Milliken]

There is not unanimous consent.

Does the hon. member for Paquette have anything to propose?

[Pierre Paquette, Bloc, Joliette, QC]

Mr. Speaker, as I have said, perhaps the name of my riding will change to Paquette after I die, but for now it is still Joliette.

Further to what the House Leader of the Official Opposition was saying, several stakeholders have said things that substantiate our fears concerning Bill C-50, a bill to amend employment insurance. A few come to mind, including Pierre Céré of the Conseil national des chômeurs, Marc Bellemare of the Fédération des travailleurs et travailleuses du Québec, and Guy Chevrette of the Quebec Forest Industry Council. Moreover, the Minister of Public Works and Government Services has pubically stated that he could make no guarantees regarding the scope of Bill C-50. All of that leads me to ask for unanimous consent to adopt the following motion:

That, notwithstanding any Standing Order or usual practice of the House, Bill C-50, An Act to amend the Employment Insurance Act and to increase benefits, be deemed referred immediately to the Standing Committee on Human Resources, Skills and Social Development and the Status of Persons with Disabilities pursuant to Standing Order 73(1).

I seek the unanimous consent of this House to refer the bill to committee immediately.

[The Speaker, Liberal, Peter Milliken]

Does the hon. member for Joliette have the unanimous consent of the House to move the motion?

[Some hon. members]

Agreed.

No.

[The Speaker, Liberal, Peter Milliken]

There is no consent.

Justice

[Patricia Davidson, Conservative, Sarnia—Lambton, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to be able to rise today and present this petition on behalf of several of my constituents.

Whereas there is an urgent need to upgrade the level of punishments for repeat offenders under the Canadian Criminal Code, and whereas Canada continues to show inordinate levels of crime have been taking place in our community and dealt with by unsatisfactory outcomes, and whereas the time has come to take measures to ensure that these offenders are held accountable to the highest levels for their actions, we the undersigned respectfully petition the Canadian House of Commons as follows: that the Government of Canada introduce a new bill for punishment and convictions under the Canadian Criminal Code and implement stiffer penalties forcing Canadian insurance companies and commercial firms to pay higher tort suits.

We, the people, would like to request to have the Canadian House of Commons pursue the following: introduce a new bill forcing Canadian insurance companies and commercial firms to pay stiffer, higher settlements if the people they insure or employ cause serious or deadly accidents; introduce a new crime bill that will apply stiffer penalties toward repeat offenders; introduce a new crime bill that will give crown attorneys and police agencies more freedom to upgrade sentences from two years less a day to two years plus a day for those who continue to terrorize the safety of the communities via driving offences or violence.

[The Speaker, Liberal, Peter Milliken]

I hesitate to say much, but I want to warn the hon. member, and remind hon. members, that reading petitions is not permitted. It sounded to me as though this petition was being read, but I am not sure; I do not have a copy in front of me. Members are to give a brief summary of petitions rather than read them.

Employment Insurance

[Denise Savoie, NDP, Victoria, BC]

Mr. Speaker, I have a petition signed by my concerned constituents from the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers asking that the government improve employment insurance. It belongs to workers, they say. They ask that measures be introduced to reduce the number of hours for eligibility to 360 hours. They are asking that benefits be extended, especially in this difficult economic time, and they are asking that benefits be at least 60% of normal earnings.

Rights of the Unborn

[Leon Benoit, Conservative, Vegreville—Wainwright, AB]

Mr. Speaker, I am proud to present a petition on behalf of Canadians who note that Canada is a country that respects human rights, including the right to life. They note it has been 40 years, since May 14, 1969, when Parliament changed the law to permit abortion and that since January 28, 1988 Canada has had no law with respect to abortion.

They call on Parliament to pass legislation for the protection of human life from the time of conception to the time of natural death.

Foreign Affairs

[Brian Masse, NDP, Windsor West, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I am proud to rise to support this petition against the Canada-Colombia trade deal. The House has been debating the issue of Canada entering into a privileged trading relationship with a narcostate that has a history of murder against civil society members who have tried to unionize and provide a better life for many citizens.

The petitioners are calling for a commission to first look at the human rights issues, before Canada enters into a privileged trading relationship with such a state.

[Larry Bagnell, Liberal, Yukon, YT]

Mr. Speaker, I rise on a point of order to remind all members that a member cannot say whether they are for or against a petition, as the member just did. A member has to simply present the petition to Parliament.

[The Speaker, Liberal, Peter Milliken]

I may have missed the hon. member saying that, but I remind hon. members, as the member for Yukon has so ably done, that it is the case.

The hon. member for Renfrew—Nipissing—Pembroke.

Compensation from Railway Companies

[Cheryl Gallant, Conservative, Renfrew—Nipissing—Pembroke, ON]

Mr. Speaker, railways across the region are littered with flammable liquids. Small municipalities barely have the wherewithal to fund a volunteer fire department. Because the Railway Act does not provide for compensation to small municipalities for fires that the railways cause, the petitioners are calling upon Parliament to implement legislation that would provide compensation to the municipalities responsible for putting out the fires in their areas.

Taxation

[Paul Szabo, Liberal, Mississauga South, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I have three petitions today.

The first is another income trust broken promise petition on behalf of the constituents of Mississauga South. The petitioners want Canadians to remember the Prime Minister boasting about an apparent commitment to accountability when he said that the greatest fraud is a promise not kept.

The petitioners want to remind him that he promised never to tax income trusts, but he broke that promise and posed a 31.5% punitive tax, which permanently wiped out $25 billion of the hard-earned retirement savings of over two million Canadians, particularly seniors.

The petitioners call upon the Conservative minority government, now the Reform government, first, to admit that the decision to tax income trusts was based on flawed methodology and incorrect assumptions; second, to apologize to those who were unfairly harmed by this broken promise and the tax increase; and finally, to repeal the 31.5% tax on income trusts.

Public Safety Officers' Compensation Fund

[Paul Szabo, Liberal, Mississauga South, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the second petition is with respect to police officers and firefighters. The petitioners from my riding of Mississauga South would like to bring to the attention of the House that police officers and firefighters are required to place their lives at risk in the execution of their duties on a daily basis, that employment benefits of those public safety officers often provide insufficient compensation to the families of those who are killed in the line of duty and that the public mourns that loss when one of them loses their life in the line of duty. They wish to support, in a tangible way, the surviving families in their time of need.

The petitioners therefore call upon Parliament to establish a fund known as the public safety officers' compensation fund for the benefit of families of public safety officers killed in the line of duty.

Rights of the Unborn

[Paul Szabo, Liberal, Mississauga South, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the final petition is on the issue of abortion. These petitioners, many from my own riding, but from other places across Ontario, would like to draw to the attention of the House that Canada is a country that respects human rights and includes in its Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms that everyone has the right to life.

They also state that it has been 40 years, since May 14, 1969, when Parliament changed the law to permit abortion. Since January 28, 1988, Canada has had no law to protect the lives of the unborn child. The petitioners therefore call upon Parliament to pass legislation for the protection of human life from the time of conception until natural death.

[Rick Casson, Conservative, Lethbridge, AB]

Mr. Speaker, with respect to my many colleagues, I want to present a petition today.

Pursuant to Standing Order 36, I have the pleasure to present a petition that calls upon Parliament to pass legislation for the protection of human life from the time of conception until natural death.