Debates of Oct. 27th, 2010

Oral Questions

[Serge Cardin, Bloc, Sherbrooke, QC]

Mr. Speaker, during question period, the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons, who was, as usual, avoiding answering questions, including those from the member for Terrebonne—Blainville, was saying spouting nonsense. He accused me of having attended an FLQ fundraising meeting. He also quoted comments made by a journalist, Denis Lessard. These were inaccurate comments that we tried to have removed from the newspaper, or at least corrected. He repeated both of these things.

When someone repeats something that is inaccurate, it becomes a lie. I would like him to apologize and to withdraw his comments.

[John Baird, Conservative, Leader of the Government in the House of Commons]

Mr. Speaker, let me underline the fact that I certainly in no way intentionally tried to mislead anyone. What I did say was to quote an article in La Presse by the well-respected journalist, Denis Lessard. I did not say that it was funding. What I did ask was if the member was present at a cocktail party that was organized by members, not for the FLQ. What I did ask was whether he was in attendance with an individual by the name of Rhéal Mathieu. I repeated the newspaper article and asked for clarification.

Might I suggest that the rather outrageous statements made in this place by the member's own party, the member's own leader and of his own caucus with respect to the integrity of the Minister of Natural Resources, that perhaps we take a look at all of this.

[Serge Cardin, Bloc, Sherbrooke, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I will answer his question, because over on this side, we answer questions when they are asked intelligently. There was an RRQ meeting on October 2. I was not there. There was no FLQ meeting. So I definitely was not there. I was a bit too young for that.

The leader's claims are based on the comments of a journalist. We know the people who work for the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons, and we know what kind of resources he has. If he is not able to check his sources, then I do not know what to say.

So, I ask the member to apologize, and to withdraw his comments.

[John Baird, Conservative, Ottawa West—Nepean, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the member opposite still has not said whether he was in attendance at a réunion de financement--

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh!

[John Baird, Conservative, Ottawa West—Nepean, ON]

Wait, I was in the middle of—

[The Speaker, Peter Milliken]

I will say right now, this appears to be a matter of dispute as to facts.

It is not the Speaker's role to determine who is right and who is wrong. I know there are disagreements over some things that are said in this House, but it is not up to the Speaker to decide either way.

The hon. member for Joliette is also rising on a point of order.

[Pierre Paquette, Bloc, Joliette, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the problem is that the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons made false statements about the member for Sherbrooke. The member for Lévis—Bellechasse also made false statements about the member for Gatineau. These were baseless attacks on the part of the Conservatives.

When we ask questions and go on the attack, we do so because we have done our research. For example, when we said that the Minister of Natural Resources was at a restaurant belonging to Mr. Padulo junior, a close friend of the Rizzuto clan, we checked our facts. When we said that Mr. Padulo senior was photographed with the Prime Minister, we had the photograph. This is not about debate. This is about respect for truth and the integrity of parliamentarians, especially members of the Bloc Québécois.

[Richard Nadeau, Bloc, Gatineau, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I heard what the member for Lévis—Bellechasse said. Tomorrow evening, the only thing on my agenda is getting ready to go to Newfoundland for the Fédération des francophones de Terre-Neuve et du Labrador. I am not giving a speech anywhere tomorrow evening, nor have I given any of my own money or my member's allowance to the organization hosting the conference tomorrow.

I would like the Conservative member who said that I support hate groups to explain himself and apologize.

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

Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank the member for Gatineau for his point of order. I would just like to remind him that in my question, I was referring to the fact that it was reported in an article published in Maclean's, which is a trustworthy magazine.

I would like to remind my colleague that his friends in the Réseau de Résistance du Québécois supported Maclean's Quebec bashing. In such cases, as my grandmother used to say, if the shoe fits, wear it, and if not, it is no big deal.

[Dominic LeBlanc, Liberal, Beauséjour, NB]

Mr. Speaker, I will try to tone things down for you.

In question period the Minister of National Defence referred to the issue of the cancellation of the EH-101 project. I thought it would be instructive to ask perhaps if you, Mr. Speaker, could seek unanimous consent in the House for me to table a document that would be very instructive to that point raised by the Minister of National Defence.

Of course I am referring to a document with which you will be very familiar, Mr. Speaker. It is the Reform Party of Canada's March 11, 1993, plan to in fact scrap the EH-101 purchase.

What is instructive about this document from the Reform Party is that the person who was policy director at the time that the Reform Party advocated the scrapping of the EH-101 project happens to occupy the Prime Minister's chair today.

[The Speaker, Peter Milliken]

Is the hon. member seeking unanimous consent to table this document? Does the House give its consent for the tabling of this document?

[Some hon. members]

Agreed.

No.

[The Speaker, Peter Milliken]

The hon. Minister of National Defence has a submission on this point.

[Peter MacKay, Conservative, Central Nova, NS]

Mr. Speaker, not being a member of the party that my friend opposite refers to, I would invite my friend to deposit it anywhere he wants.

[Navdeep Bains, Liberal, Mississauga—Brampton South, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I am getting up on a point of order to ask for unanimous consent with respect to a question I asked during question period. It pertained to consultants charging the government and taxpayers $3,400 for two press releases that contained about 1,300 words, and the minister of state in response said he would investigate the matter.

I have the press releases here, and I would like to table these documents to help the minister with his investigation. It is also worth noting that in one of the press releases the minister himself is quoted. Therefore I hope this helps in his investigation, especially because he is investigating himself.

Therefore I look forward to the support of all members in the House.

[The Speaker, Peter Milliken]

Does the hon. member have the unanimous consent of the House to table these documents?

[Some hon. members]

Yes.

No.

[The Speaker, Peter Milliken]

I suggest the member just send them to the minister.

Foreign Affairs

[Lawrence Cannon, Conservative, Minister of Foreign Affairs]

Mr. Speaker, under Standing Order 32(2), I have the pleasure to table, in both official languages, the treaties entitled “Agreement on Social Security between Canada and Romania” signed at Ottawa on November 19, 2009, and the “Administrative Agreement between the Government of Canada and the Government of Romania for the Application of the Agreement on Social Security between Canada and Romania” signed at Bucharest on June 1, 2010.

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 responses to 17 petitions.

Interparliamentary Delegations

[Russ Hiebert, Conservative, South Surrey—White Rock—Cloverdale, BC]

Mr. Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 34, I have the honour to present to the House the report from the Canadian branch of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association concerning the ninth Commonwealth Women's Affairs Ministers Meeting.

Justice and Human Rights

[Ed Fast, Conservative, Abbotsford, BC]

Mr. Speaker, I have the honour to present, in both official languages, the fifth report of the Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights.

In accordance with the order of reference of Monday, October 25, your committee has considered Bill S-9, An Act to amend the Criminal Code (auto theft and trafficking in property obtained by crime), and agreed on Tuesday, October 26, to report it without amendment.

Canada Transportation Act

[Ralph Goodale, Liberal, Wascana, SK]

moved for leave to introduce Bill C-586, An Act to amend the Canada Transportation Act (producer railway cars).

Mr. Speaker, thank you for the opportunity to introduce this bill today, a bill to amend the Canada Transportation Act in respect to producer car loading sites.

These sites across the Prairies, close to 300 of them, are crucial to every farmer's individual right to load his or her own grain cars for shipment to export, avoiding the regular grain elevator system. For more than 100 years, following a landmark case in the Supreme Court of Canada, farmers have had the right to load their own cars. The vast majority of grain, of course, is shipped in the conventional way, using and paying for the facilities of grain companies, but the Supreme Court ruled that farmers have the right to do it themselves as a safety valve against commercial exploitation.

Over the past decade, the number of producer cars ordered and shipped by individual farmers has nearly quadrupled, but at the same time, the number of railway sidings where loading sites are available has been more than cut in half. The accelerating closure of these sidings is the issue dealt with in this bill.

Closure can now be done on 60 days' notice with no due process for farmers. This bill would provide a longer notice period and a hearing process, and it would shift the onus onto the railways to show how the closure of a particular producer car siding is in the public interest. If they cannot discharge that onus, then the closure would not occur.

I know this measure has broad support among Prairie farmers, and I would urge all members of the House to support it too.

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

[Peter Julian, NDP, Burnaby—New Westminster, BC]

moved for leave to introduce Bill C-587, An Act to amend the Canada Transportation Act (railway noise and vibration control).

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to present the railway noise and vibration control act. I would like to pay tribute to the Quayside Community Board, particularly James Crosty and Brian Allen, who have been steadfast in pushing forward on this issue.

As members well know, many residents of our communities across the country cannot get a good night's sleep because of shunting, coupling, decoupling and excessive noise from railway operations in residential areas. This new bill would actually allow for the curtailing of railway operations at night, so there would be no more 3:00 a.m., 4:00 a.m. or 5:00 a.m. wake-up calls because of shunting, coupling and decoupling.

The railway companies have not been co-operative. Some existing amendments to the Canada Transportation Act have not been met with a kind of conciliatory approach by railways, and that is why we need to put in place something that protects the residents of these residential areas across the country.

Whether we are talking about residents of Burnaby—New Westminster, Winnipeg, Montreal, Toronto or Halifax, every Canadian deserves a good night's sleep, and that is why I am presenting this bill today.

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