Debates of Dec. 8th, 2010

Oral Questions

[Some hon. members]

Agreed.

No.

[Stockwell Day, Conservative, President of the Treasury Board]

Mr. Speaker, my comments were quite clear. I said that these numbers were in print and she should actually read them. I am glad she has made a commitment to do that because maybe tomorrow she might ask how we were able to go about the task of reducing ministerial office budgets by $11 million. That would be a good question.

[The Speaker, Liberal, Peter Milliken]

I would urge hon. members to carry on the debate in the late show. It is a matter for debate rather than a point of order.

The House resumed from December 3 consideration of the motion that Bill C-568, An Act to amend the Statistics Act (mandatory long-form census), be read the second time and referred to a committee.

Statistics Act

[The Speaker, Liberal, Peter Milliken]

It being 3:10 p.m., pursuant to order made on Tuesday, December 7 the House will now proceed to the taking of the deferred recorded division on the motion at second reading stage of Bill C-568 under private members' business.

Call in the members.

(The House divided on the motion, which was agreed to on the following division:)

Vote #140

[The Speaker, Liberal, Peter Milliken]

I declare the motion carried. Accordingly, the bill stands referred to the Standing Committee on Industry, Science and Technology.

(Bill read the second time and referred to a committee.)

The House resumed from December 7 consideration of Bill C-389, An Act to amend the Canadian Human Rights Act and the Criminal Code (gender identity and gender expression), as reported (without amendment) from the committee.

Canadian Human Rights Act

[The Speaker, Liberal, Peter Milliken]

Pursuant to order made on Tuesday, December 7, the House will now proceed to the taking of the deferred recorded division on the motion at report stage of Bill C-389, under private members' business.

(The House divided on the motion, which was agreed to on the following division:)

Vote #141

[The Speaker, Liberal, Peter Milliken]

I declare the motion carried.

Canada's Engagement in Afghanistan

[Lawrence Cannon, Conservative, Minister of Foreign Affairs]

Mr. Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 32(2), I have the honour to table, in both official languages, a report entitled, “Canada's Engagement in Afghanistan—Quarterly Report to Parliament for the Period of July 1 to September 30, 2010”. And I have 11 more.

Exchange of Information on Tax Matters

[Lawrence Cannon, Conservative, Minister of Foreign Affairs]

Mr. Speaker, with the permission of the House and pursuant to Standing Order 32(2), I would like to table, in both official languages, the following 10 treaties:

Agreement between the Government of Canada and the Government of Anguilla under Entrustment from the Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland for the Exchange of Information with respect to Tax Matters, done at Bridgetown on October 28, 2010;

Agreement between Canada and the Commonwealth of The Bahamas for the Exchange of Information on Tax Matters, done at Nassau on June 17, 2010;

Agreement between the Government of Canada and the Government of Bermuda under Entrustment from the Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland for the Exchange of Information on Tax Matters, done at Hamilton, Bermuda, on June 14, 2010;

Agreement between the Government of Canada and the Government of the Cayman Islands under Entrustment from the Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland for the Exchange of Information on Tax Matters, done at Georgetown, Grand Cayman Island, on June 24, 2010;

Agreement between Canada and the Commonwealth of Dominica for the Exchange of Information with Respect to Tax Matters, done at Roseau on June 29, 2010;

Agreement between Canada and the Republic of San Marino for the Exchange of Information on Tax Matters, done at San Marino on October 27, 2010.

Agreement between Canada and Saint Lucia for the Exchange of Information on Tax Matters, done at Castries on June 18, 2010;

Agreement between Canada and the Federation of Saint Christopher (St. Kitts) and Nevis for the Exchange of Information on Tax Matters, done at Basseterre on June 14, 2010;

Agreement between Canada and St. Vincent and the Grenadines for the Exchange of Information on Tax Matters, done at Kingstown on June 22, 2010

Agreement between the Government of Canada and the Government of the Turks and Caicos Islands under Entrustment from the Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland for the Exchange of Information on Tax Matters, done at Cockburn Town, Grand Turk Island, on June 22, 2010.

[Tom Lukiwski, Conservative, Regina—Lumsden—Lake Centre, SK]

Mr. Speaker, I rise on a point of order today concerning Question No. 614, which appears on today's notice paper.

On page 520 of O'Brien and Bosc it states:

Since questions must be coherent and concise, the Clerk may split a question into two or more questions if it is too broad.....

To prove the point that this question is not concise, I would like to read the question into the record. The question reads as follows—

[The Speaker, Liberal, Peter Milliken]

We are on tabling of documents, I would remind the hon. parliamentary secretary. Can we not do this after routine proceedings?

I thought the member was rising to table some responses to petitions, and reading this question might take half an hour. I do not think we want to go through all of that right now when members are waiting to table petitions and are looking forward to the response to various petitions that the parliamentary secretary is about to table.

Perhaps we could deal with tabling of documents, and go to the point of order after.

The hon. parliamentary secretary.

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 response to six petitions.

Interparliamentary Delegations

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

Mr. Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 34(1), I have the honour to present to the House, in both official languages, the report of Canadian NATO Parliamentary Association respecting its participation at the visit of the committee on the civil dimension of security to the observer program of exercise Armenia 2010, held in Yerevan, Armenia, from September 16 to 17, 2010.

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

Mr. Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 34(1), I have to the honour to present to the House, in both official languages, the report of Canadian NATO Parliamentary Association respecting its participation at the visit of the subcommittee on east-west economic co-operation and convergence held in Prague, Czech Republic, from September 29 to October 1, 2010.

Transport, Infrastructure and Communities

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

Mr. Speaker, I have the honour to present, in both official languages, the sixth report of the Standing Committee on Transport, Infrastructure and Communities regarding Bill C-42, An Act to amend the Aeronautics Act.

The committee has studied the bill and decided to report the bill back to the House with amendments.

Public Accounts

[Joe Volpe, Liberal, Eglinton—Lawrence, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I have the honour to present, in both official languages, the following reports of the Standing Committee on Public Accounts.

The 21st report, main estimates, 2010-2011: part III, 2010-2011 report on plans and priorities and 2008-2009 departmental performance report of the Office of the Auditor General.

Second, the 22nd report, chapter 1, Canada's economic action plan, of the fall 2010 report of the Auditor General of Canada.

The 23rd report, chapter 4, electronic health records, of the fall 2009 report of the Auditor General of Canada, and “Electronic Health Records in Canada--An Overview of Federal and Provincial Audit Reports” of the spring of 2010 report of the Auditor General.

Pursuant to Standing Order 109 of the House of Commons, the committee requests that the government table a comprehensive response to each of these three reports, and we look forward to receiving same.

Status of Women

[Hedy Fry, Liberal, Vancouver Centre, BC]

Mr. Speaker, I have the honour to present, in both official languages, the seventh report of the Standing Committee on Status of Women regarding Canada's position on polygamy.

Pursuant to Standing Order 108(2) the committee believes that polygamy goes against the right to equality between men and women and recommends that the government affirm that this practice does not reflect the values of gender equality.

Income Tax Act

[Irene Mathyssen, NDP, London—Fanshawe, ON]

moved for leave to introduce Bill C-601, An Act to amend the Income Tax Act and the Employment Insurance Act (severance pay).

Mr. Speaker, today it is my privilege to table new legislation on severance pay and employment insurance benefits.

In the London community and across Canada, we have experienced the effects of plant closures and job losses and heard the stories of Canadians who have worked at plants for more than 30 years, only to be let go due to plant closures.

My bill is intended to address these often catastrophic economic disasters that families face, to reverse these setbacks and to replace them with hope and optimism.

The bill would allow any worker who has lost his or her job through no fault of that individual to make a one-time-only lump sum payment over the maximum allowable investment into their RRSP without financial penalty. It also would ensure that workers receive the maximum amount of EI benefit for which they are eligible.

After years of work, no individual should have to give up retirement security, a family home, the dreams of their children or hope for the future.

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

Nobel Peace Prize

[Irwin Cotler, Liberal, Mount Royal, QC]

Mr. Speaker, there have been discussions among the parties, and I think you will find unanimous consent for the following motion. I move:

That, in the opinion of the House, Nobel Peace Prize winner Liu Xiaobo and his wife Liu Xia should be permitted to attend the Nobel Peace Prize Ceremonies in Oslo on Friday, December 10th 2010.

[The Acting Speaker, Conservative, Barry Devolin]

Does the hon. member have the unanimous support of the House to move the motion?

[Some hon. members]

Agreed.