House of Commons Hansard #94 of the 40th Parliament, 3rd Session. (The original version is on Parliament's site.) The word of the day was company.
A message from His Excellency the Governor General transmitting supplementary estimates (B) for the financial year ending March 31, 2011, was presented by the President of the Treasury Board and read by the Speaker to the House.
Government Response to PetitionsRoutine Proceedings
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 eight petitions.
John Baird Conservative Ottawa West—Nepean, ON
moved for leave to introduce Bill C-54, An Act to amend the Criminal Code (sexual offences against children).
(Motions deemed adopted, bill read the first time and printed)
Joe Preston Conservative Elgin—Middlesex—London, ON
Mr. Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 113(1), I have the honour to present, in both official languages, the 20th report of the Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs regarding the membership of the legislative committee on Bill C-49, An Act to amend the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act, the Balanced Refugee Reform Act and the Marine Transportation Security Act.
Procedure and House AffairsCommittees of the HouseRoutine Proceedings
The Speaker
Pursuant to Standing Order 113(1) the report is deemed adopted.
Libby Davies NDP Vancouver East, BC
Mr. Speaker, there have been consultations among the parties and I believe if you seek it you would find unanimous consent for the following motion. I move:
That, at the conclusion of today's debate on the opposition motion in the name of the Member from Toronto—Danforth, all questions necessary to dispose of the motion be deemed put and a recorded division deemed requested and deferred to Tuesday, November 16, at the expiry of the time provided for government orders.
The Speaker Liberal Peter Milliken
I have a question for the hon. member for Vancouver East. The conclusion of today's debate will be at 5:15 p.m., so if the question will be put and the division will be deemed requested and deferred until Tuesday, what do we do from 5:15 p.m. until 5:30 p.m.? I understand there is a deferred division at the conclusion of the time allotted for government orders, which would be at 5:30 p.m.
I wonder if perhaps the House leader could clarify what the intention is in light of this because, of course, the bells will not ring for half an hour, 15 minutes or whatever starting at 5:15 p.m.
Gordon O'Connor Conservative Carleton—Mississippi Mills, ON
Mr. Speaker, I believe our preference is to have the bells start at 5:15 p.m. for the vote on the budget tonight at hopefully 5:45 p.m.
The Speaker Liberal Peter Milliken
Is it agreed that the bells begin at 5:15 p.m. even though this division is deferred?
The Speaker Liberal Peter Milliken
So we will treat 5:15 p.m. as though it were 5:30 p.m. for the purposes of the other division. I am glad this was clarified and I appreciate the co-operation of all hon. members.
The House has heard the terms of the motion proposed by the hon. member for Vancouver East. Does she have the unanimous consent of the House to propose the motion?
Frank Valeriote Liberal Guelph, ON
Mr. Speaker, today I am presenting two petitions. The first petition concerns animal welfare.
Ensuring that animals are treated justly and that their welfare is protected needs to be a priority for the government. There is unquestioning consensus among members of the scientific community that animals can feel pain and they do suffer as a result of abuse or inhumane conditions.
Over one billion people around the world rely on animals for their livelihood and, as such, signatories to this petition find it incumbent upon the Government of Canada to act to better protect animals. Moreover, animals are often significantly affected by natural disasters and yet are seldom considered during relief efforts and emergency planning.
It is for those reasons that I submit this petition urging the government to support a universal declaration on animal welfare.
Frank Valeriote Liberal Guelph, ON
Mr. Speaker, my second petition urges the Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada to amend the Criminal Code to better reflect the growing incidence of violence against public transit, school bus, paratransit and intercity operators.
Over 40% of bus operators have indicated that they have been physically assaulted in their careers and that this needs to change. In 2008, there were 2,064 reported incidents of assault committed against transit workers and, as such, the signatories of this petition ask that the government take action to address the alarming and very dangerous escalation of violence against transit operators by amending the Criminal Code so that they are legally recognized in the same fashion as peace officers.
Michel Guimond Bloc Montmorency—Charlevoix—Haute-Côte-Nord, QC
Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to present a petition on behalf of 250 workers in local 1751 of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers who work at Air Canada's maintenance and overhaul units, as well as members of their families. The petitioners are calling on the Minister of Finance to ensure that Air Canada or its subsidiaries comply with the Air Canada Public Participation Act, which requires that Air Canada maintain three operational centres in Winnipeg, Mississauga and Montreal. At stake are 23,000 direct and indirect jobs.
Charlie Angus NDP Timmins—James Bay, ON
Mr. Speaker, I am proud to rise in the House and present a petition brought forward by many people across Canada who are concerned about the government's very unbalanced approach to copyright, particularly its provisions on digital locks, the technological protection measures.
It is one thing to have technological protection measures on copyrighted works to ensure they are not stolen or pirated, but to put technological protection measures in place to erase the rights that Canadians would otherwise be able to enjoy would interfere with the rights that Canadians have, rights that are defined under Canadian parliamentary tradition. Serious questions are being raised about its effect on education and the development of further arts.
Many of these petitioners are concerned that what will end up happening is the locking down of content that Canadians have paid for.
I would like to present this petition and call upon the government to recognize that we need a balanced approach on the digital lock provisions under Bill C-32.
Leon Benoit Conservative Vegreville—Wainwright, AB
Mr. Speaker, I rise today to present a petition on behalf of constituents, mostly from Edgerton and Chauvin in my constituency, who note that bullying is becoming a very significant problem in Canada. Particularly with the new communication methods, including the Internet, email, cell phones, et cetera, bullying is becoming easier for people to carry out.
The petitioners call upon Parliament to consider introducing legislation that would target putting an end to bullying.
Dan McTeague Liberal Pickering—Scarborough East, ON
Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to offer a petition that was presented to me by President Elsie Hetherman of the Pickering Veterans Association. It is very fitting, given the rally that will be here on the Hill on November 6.
We were presented this petition by dozens of second world war and Korean War veterans, and so its significance is not to be underestimated.
The hundreds of veterans from our communities of Pickering, Ajax, Markham and Scarborough call upon the government to enact the new veterans charter and other federal acts, programs and regulations. They ask that the government reintroduce legislation to recreate all lost programs, benefits and certain legislation, including that which is contained in the Pension Act, and place a regulatory moratorium on the reductions to VAC.
They also wish to emphatically renew the mandate of the veterans ombudsman, Colonel Pat Stogran, and implement legislation guaranteeing the veterans ombudsman is always a veteran and his office is independent from the agency.
We understand that there are several other grievances but in light of November 11, I think this is very timely.
Ron Cannan Conservative Kelowna—Lake Country, BC
Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the opportunity to rise on behalf of constituents in the Okanagan who are tabling a petition with regard to Bill C-474. They have concerns with respect to the seeds regulations and support amending the seeds regulations to require an analysis of potential harm to export markets be conducted before the sale of any new genetically engineered seed is permitted.
Judy Foote Liberal Random—Burin—St. George's, NL
Mr. Speaker, I rise today. on behalf of all Canadian women who are over the age of 40, to present a petition calling upon the Government of Canada to work with the provinces and territories to improve screening practice to reduce breast cancer mortality.
On the weekend, I attended the 2010 National Conference for Young Women Living with Breast Cancer. The guest speaker at that event was Yvonne Jones, the leader of the Liberal Party in Newfoundland and Labrador and the leader of the official opposition. Yvonne, who is just 42 years old, has just been diagnosed with breast cancer.
Breast cancer diagnosed in women in their forties accounted for an estimated 16.5%. or one in six of all breast cancer deaths. There are approximately three million Canadian women in the 40 to 49 age category. Mammographs, mammography and screening for that group for 10 years would save 2,100 lives.
However, significant differences exist across jurisdictions. They include policies regarding the screening of women 40 to 49 in high risk women. Breast cancer screening programs offered by Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick and Newfoundland and Labrador do not accept women age 40 to 49, while in British Columbia, Yukon, Northwest Territories, Alberta with a referral, Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island do. Nunavut does not have an organized screening program at the moment
The women who signed this petition at the conference, and there will be other petitions coming, are asking the federal government to establish funding and programs so that all provinces and territories have an organized screening program, that women aged 40 to 49 be eligible for free-of-charge breast screening to begin at age 40, and that all women be able to self refer to each province's screening program.
The problem right now is that women cannot do that until they are 50 years old. Therefore, we are calling upon the federal government to work with the provinces and territories to improve screening practices to reduce breast cancer mortality in our country.
Questions on the Order PaperRoutine Proceedings
Regina—Lumsden—Lake Centre Saskatchewan
Conservative
Tom Lukiwski ConservativeParliamentary Secretary to the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons
Mr. Speaker, I ask that all questions be allowed to stand.