House of Commons Hansard #111 of the 40th Parliament, 3rd Session. (The original version is on Parliament's site.) The word of the day was standards.

Topics

Ensuring Safe Vehicles Imported from Mexico for Canadians ActGovernment Orders

5:40 p.m.

Some hon. members

Question.

Ensuring Safe Vehicles Imported from Mexico for Canadians ActGovernment Orders

5:40 p.m.

Conservative

The Deputy Speaker Conservative Andrew Scheer

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

Ensuring Safe Vehicles Imported from Mexico for Canadians ActGovernment Orders

5:40 p.m.

Some hon. members

Agreed.

Ensuring Safe Vehicles Imported from Mexico for Canadians ActGovernment Orders

5:40 p.m.

Conservative

The Deputy Speaker Conservative Andrew Scheer

I declare the motion carried.

(Motion agreed to, bill read the second time and referred to a committee)

Ensuring Safe Vehicles Imported from Mexico for Canadians ActGovernment Orders

5:40 p.m.

Conservative

Patricia Davidson Conservative Sarnia—Lambton, ON

Mr. Speaker, on a point of order, I would ask for consent to see the clock as 6:30 p.m.

Ensuring Safe Vehicles Imported from Mexico for Canadians ActGovernment Orders

5:40 p.m.

Conservative

The Deputy Speaker Conservative Andrew Scheer

Shall I see the clock as 6:30 p.m.?

Ensuring Safe Vehicles Imported from Mexico for Canadians ActGovernment Orders

5:40 p.m.

Some hon. members

Agreed.

A motion to adjourn the House under Standing Order 38 deemed to have been moved.

5:40 p.m.

Bloc

Claude DeBellefeuille Bloc Beauharnois—Salaberry, QC

Mr. Speaker, on July 16, at the same time as the municipalities concerned, we were informed by letter of the Canada Border Services Agency's intention to completely close two border crossings in my riding on April 1; one is in Franklin Centre and the other in Jamieson's Line.

This was all done in secret, in the middle of the summer, without public consultation. Once again, the Conservative government is being insensitive. Further evidence of its insensitivity is also seen in the fact that the municipal authorities of Franklin and Elgin, the American officials and elected representatives, business owners in the upper St. Lawrence region and I had all written to the minister and to the agency's president. We did not receive any news from them for months, not even so much as an acknowledgement of receipt. The people of the upper St. Lawrence region are essentially asking for a chance to explain their side of the story to the agency and the minister, and to inform them that such closures could cause harm to many companies, businesses and farmers who count on these border crossings to transport their goods to the U.S. market.

I have not even begun to talk about the tourist attractions in this region. Americans are quite drawn to this region for its many apple orchards. That is why people in the upper St. Lawrence region joined together in less than a month and signed a petition that was presented in the House of Commons in November. More than 5,000 people have expressed their displeasure with these threats of closure.

During the November 1, 2010, meeting of the Standing Committee on Public Safety and National Security, the President of the Canada Border Services Agency, Mr. Rigby, told us that he had been forced to make budget cuts.

The agency justified its decision by stating that crossings at these two locations are almost nil. The agency does not take into account that some vehicles have two or four passengers. He also stated candidly that there are no statistics on economic benefits. It would have been simpler to consult the people working there because, at this committee meeting, the labour union suggested some interesting alternatives that would save much more than the 5% budget reductions asked for by the government. Even our American neighbours have taken the initiative to write and ask the minister to reconsider his decision. They find that it is a question of public safety, even of saving lives. It is much easier and more beneficial to undertake consultations.

The Minister of Public Safety finally deigned to respond to my correspondence, and I received his letter on November 23. The minister stated that the Canada Border Services Agency could not reverse its decision to close the Franklin Centre and Jamieson's Line ports of entry and, of course, did not provide any solutions for the people affected.

The minister also said that he understood my concern for all the people inconvenienced by this decision. I would send that right back to him and ask him instead to have some compassion for the residents, the elected authorities and the business people of the upper St. Lawrence region.

I would ask him to agree to the request of our elected officials and the Mayor of Franklin, Ms. Yelle Blair, who asked him last week and this week to meet with the people in their community and, together, to find solutions.

This is the question I would like to ask today: when will the minister and agency representatives meet with the people living in my riding?

5:45 p.m.

Oshawa Ontario

Conservative

Colin Carrie ConservativeParliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Health

Mr. Speaker, coming from where I do, Oshawa, I realize how important it is for our border crossings to work efficiently, but we also have to be able to ensure security.

As the minister said in this House, CBSA does examine these things very carefully to ensure that money is being well spent on the crossings and things are being appropriately done. We know that CBSA has made certain recommendations, and we believe that those recommendations are consistent with the interests of Canadians who access these border crossings, as well as continuing to stimulate trade across the border with the Americans. Coming from Oshawa, I do realize the importance and the government recognizes the importance of a border that works as seamlessly as possible.

Since 9/11, we have had some challenges with moving forward to make sure that these borders are secure. It is a group agreement. We work in collaboration with our American partners and with local municipalities on both sides of the border. Security issues are very important and trade issues are very important, and we have to ensure that these crossings work appropriately with security.

Our government has actually made record amounts of investments in border crossings and border security. I can bring forward the investments we have made in NEXUS, in moving forward to allow people who move back and forth across the border a speedier crossing.

We can look at the investments we have made at border crossings, and I like to use the ones at Windsor-Detroit as examples. For years and years, this crossing had been ignored and our government has finally made huge investments and partnerships to move that forward so we can get more and more merchandise going over that bridge. I believe that merchandise is now at over $1 billion a day

Of course we have increased funding to Canadian border services.

Always, when these decisions are made, they are very difficult. I want to assure the member that when the government makes these decisions, we try to take the biggest picture possible to ensure that we are able to get people and goods across the border as seamlessly as possible, but also ensure that security objectives are being met.

5:45 p.m.

Bloc

Claude DeBellefeuille Bloc Beauharnois—Salaberry, QC

Mr. Speaker, today I would like to reiterate my hope that the authorities involved in this matter will understand how important it is for local populations to have their say about border crossing closures. People of all ages and all walks of life have rallied around this issue. Business people, firefighters, municipal elected officials and even American neighbours all agree. They should be the first to be consulted because the Canada Border Services Agency needs to understand that it makes no sense to close Franklin Centre and Jamieson's Line. These decisions should be based on more than just biased calculations about the number of users.

Once again, the dollar value of the economic fallout of these decisions is unknown, but the closures will definitely be disastrous for many people. Local economies and quality of life will deteriorate instead of improving.

I urge the minister to allow municipal elected officials to meet with representatives of the Canada Border Services Agency to talk about alternatives to closing these two ports of entry.

5:50 p.m.

Conservative

Colin Carrie Conservative Oshawa, ON

Mr. Speaker, it is challenging when these decisions are being made, because the long-term goal is to stimulate both trade and access across the border with the United States, our partner.

I would like to repeat that we examine these issues very carefully and we ensure that the money is being spent on border crossings appropriately. CBSA does make certain recommendations, and we believe they are consistent with the interests of Canadians who access these border crossings, as well as continuing to stimulate the trade across the border with our American neighbours.

5:50 p.m.

Conservative

The Deputy Speaker Conservative Andrew Scheer

The motion to adjourn the House is now deemed to have been adopted. Accordingly this House stands adjourned until tomorrow at 10 a.m., pursuant to Standing Order 24(1).

(The House adjourned at 5:50 p.m.)