House of Commons Hansard #30 of the 40th Parliament, 3rd Session. (The original version is on Parliament's site.) The word of the day was veterans.
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 17 petitions.
Blaine Calkins Conservative Wetaskiwin, AB
Mr. Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 34(1), I have the honour to present to the House, in both official languages, the report of the Canadian NATO Parliamentary Association respecting its participation at the Transatlantic Forum held in Washington, D.C., United States of America, December 7 and 8, 2009.
Steven Blaney Conservative Lévis—Bellechasse, QC
Mr. Speaker, I have the honour to present, in both official languages, the second report of the Standing Committee on Official Languages.
In accordance with its order of reference of Wednesday, March 3, 2010, the committee has considered vote 20 under Privy Council in the main estimates for the fiscal year ending March 21, 2011, and reports the same.
Access to Information, Privacy and EthicsCommittees of the HouseRoutine Proceedings
Liberal
Paul Szabo Liberal Mississauga South, ON
Mr. Speaker, I have the honour to present, in both official languages, the fifth report of the Standing Committee on Access to Information, Privacy and Ethics.
In accordance with its order of reference of Wednesday, March 3, 2010, the committee has considered vote 40 under Treasury Board in the main estimates for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2011, and reports the same less the amounts in the interim supply.
David Tilson Conservative Dufferin—Caledon, ON
moved for leave to introduce Bill C-515, An Act to amend the Income Tax Act (release of taxpayer's notices of assessment).
Mr. Speaker, I am pleased and honoured to rise in the House today to introduce a bill to amend the Income Tax Act with respect to the release of taxpayer information. This is seconded by the member for Kildonan—St. Paul.
This bill would require the minister, upon a court order, to provide a taxpayer's notices of assessment to any person to whom the taxpayer has a legal obligation to make child support payments.
The bill is in response to the many single parents who continue to struggle to receive child support payments they are entitled to from those who have a legal obligation to provide such payments.
This change to the Income Tax Act would ensure delinquent parents can no longer evade their responsibilities by hiding behind a provision. It is the right thing to do for children and responsible parents who are rightfully entitled to this support.
(Motions deemed adopted, bill read the first time and printed)
Blake Richards Conservative Wild Rose, AB
Mr. Speaker, it is a pleasure to present three petitions today.
The first two petitions are comprised of several hundred signatures. The petitioners are calling upon Parliament to retain section 241 of the Criminal Code without changes in order that Parliament not sanction or allow the counselling, aiding or abetting of suicide.
Blake Richards Conservative Wild Rose, AB
Mr. Speaker, the other petition calls on Parliament to adopt a universal declaration on animal welfare.
Gerry Byrne Liberal Humber—St. Barbe—Baie Verte, NL
Mr. Speaker, it is a pleasure to table in the House certified petitions from constituents of Humber—St. Barbe—Baie Verte who ask that the government maintain the moratorium on rural post office closures and to withdraw the legislation to legalize remailers.
The petitioners also note that the post office is absolutely critical to the services provided in rural communities in particular. These petitioners come mostly from the area of La Scie, as well as York Harbour and Lark Harbour in my riding.
Jim Maloway NDP Elmwood—Transcona, MB
Mr. Speaker, I have two petitions to present today.
In the first petition, thousands of Canadians are joining the call to adopt Canada's first air passenger bill of rights, Bill C-310, which includes compensation for overbooked flights, cancelled flights and unreasonable tarmac delays.
The legislation has been in place in Europe since 1991 and was revamped in 1995. Under that legislation, Air Canada passengers receive compensation in Europe but when they fly in Canada they do not receive any such treatment. The bill would ensure that passengers will be kept informed of flight changes, whether delays or cancellations. The rules would need to be posted in airports and the airlines would need to inform passengers of their rights and the process to file for compensation. The bill deals with late and misplaced baggage. It also would require all-inclusive pricing by airlines in their advertisements.
Bill C-310 is not meant to punish the airlines. If the airlines follow the rules, they would not need to pay a dime in compensation.
The petitioners call on the Government of Canada to support Bill C-310, which would introduce Canada's first air passenger s' bill of rights.
Jim Maloway NDP Elmwood—Transcona, MB
Mr. Speaker, the second petition, signed by dozens of Canadians, calls on the government to match funds personally donated by the citizens of Canada for the victims of the Chilean earthquake.
Members knows that on February 27 an 8.8 magnitude earthquake occurred in southern Chile and the Chilean Canadian community mobilized and held many fundraising events in Winnipeg and across the country to raise money.
People are asking when the Prime Minister will give the same treatment to the Chilean earthquake victims as he did for the victims of the Haitian earthquake and match funds personally donated by Canadians to help the victims of the Chilean earthquake.
Blaine Calkins Conservative Wetaskiwin, AB
Mr. Speaker, I have in my hands a petition signed by a handful of Albertans that call on the Government of Canada to support a universal declaration on animal welfare.
Mark Warawa Conservative Langley, BC
Mr. Speaker, I have three petitions to present.
The first petition deals with life and states that Canada is a country that respects human life and includes in the charter the freedoms of everyone who has the right to life. They are calling upon Parliament to pass legislation for the protection of human life from the time of conception until natural death.
Mark Warawa Conservative Langley, BC
The second petition, Mr. Speaker,deals with skin cancer.
As melanoma is a very serious problem, the petitioners are calling for support of a national skin cancer melanoma initiative to provide much needed access to newer drug treatments and funding for research and educational programs.
Mark Warawa Conservative Langley, BC
Mr. Speaker, the last petition deals with the long gun registry. It says that the long gun registry was originally budgeted to cost Canadians $2 million but the price tag has spiralled out of control to an estimated $2 billion a decade later and that the registry has not saved one life since it was introduced.
The petitioners are calling upon Parliament to support and pass any legislation that will cancel the long gun registry and to streamline the Firearms Act.
Charlie Angus NDP Timmins—James Bay, ON
Mr. Speaker, I have a petition signed by hundreds of residents of northern Ontario who are very concerned about the failure of the government to protect Canada's serious and vital interests.
These people are concerned about the decision by Xstrata to shut down the Timmins smelter, making it known that it is cutting all the refining jobs out of Ontario, hydrating the deposits in Sudbury and laying off thousands of workers. It is the same situation we see at Vale Inco where one of the greatest mining operations in the world is being turned into a third world operation. Of course, today we see that right after the government got a commitment from Georgia-Pacific that there would be no job losses, it has already started to fire people in Englehart, Earlton and Mississauga.
The petitioners are calling on the government to open up section 36 of the Canada Investment Act so that the regions that are being completely ripped off of their resources by these foreign companies can have access to the secret agreements that the government signed so we know when the government is failing to stand up for the interests of northern and resource-dependent communities.
Judy Wasylycia-Leis NDP Winnipeg North, MB
Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to present a petition on alcohol warning labels. This petition follows hundreds of other petitions I have tabled on this subject matter over the last eight years since Parliament almost unanimously supported my private member's motion to ensure labels on all alcohol beverage containers warning that drinking alcohol during pregnancy can cause birth defects.
The petitioners are very concerned that the present government, the previous government and the last six health ministers have refused to take action on this and have ignored the will of Parliament. They are doing a great disservice to this country by not ensuring that this one mechanism is added to the whole range of options to ensure that women do not drink while they are pregnant because it leads to fetal alcohol syndrome.
The petitioners remind us all about the ongoing news of the devastation caused by fetal alcohol syndrome, particularly the cost to our society, the devastation to families and the toll it takes in terms of our criminal justice system.
The petitioners implore the government to do what Parliament willed it to do eight years ago and to finally place these labels on all wine, liquor and beer bottles.
Jean Crowder NDP Nanaimo—Cowichan, BC
Mr. Speaker, I am presenting a petition requesting funding be restored to KAIROS.
KAIROS is a faith-based organization that promotes sustainable development, human rights and peace through education, advocacy and co-operative programs. It delivers benefits to hundreds of thousands of people in marginalized communities who are facing humanitarian crises as well as political oppression and who urgently need this service.
The decision to cut funding jeopardizes a number of projects, including a legal clinic to assist women who are victims of the ongoing violence in the Congo, women's organizations that protect against human rights abuses in Colombia, grassroots local supports to peace and human rights work, and various environmental initiatives. The decision to cut the funding severely impairs the capacity of this organization.
The petitioners call upon the Government of Canada to immediately restore its funding relationship with KAIROS and fund KAIROS overseas programs for the period from 2010 to 2013.
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, the following questions will be answered today: Nos. 78, 118 and 125.
Dan McTeague Liberal Pickering—Scarborough East, ON
With regard to Infrastructure Canada's answer to question Q-432 in the 2nd Session of the 40th Parliament, what are the details surrounding the $0.25 cost for the announcement of September 13, 2009 concerning the expenditure of $3,250,000?
Question No. 78Questions on the Order PaperRoutine Proceedings
Ottawa West—Nepean Ontario
Conservative
John Baird ConservativeMinister of Transport
Mr. Speaker, Infrastructure Canada has a contract with a supplier for the distribution of media advisories and news releases, through a Public Works and Government Services Canada standing offer. The rates charged under this contract are determined by distribution. The cost of $0.25 was incurred for faxing one copy of a media advisory, including a repeat the morning of the event, and one copy of a news release to the office of the Parliamentary Press Gallery.
Marc Garneau Liberal Westmount—Ville-Marie, QC
With respect to the Strategic Aerospace and Defence Initiative (SADI): (a) what funds have been provided by Industry Canada annually from SADI since the inception of the program; and (b) what funds have been announced but not yet allocated at this time?
Question No. 118Questions on the Order PaperRoutine Proceedings
Parry Sound—Muskoka Ontario
Conservative
Tony Clement ConservativeMinister of Industry
Mr. Speaker, with respect to the Strategic Aerospace and Defence Initiative, SADI: a) Since the inception of the SADI program, the following funds have been disbursed on announced projects on an annual basis: $9.6 million was provided in 2007-2008; $32.5 million was provided in 2008-2009; As of March 18, 2010, $16.7 million has been provided in 2009-2010.
b) There is a further $375.4 million yet to be allocated on the announced multi-year SADI projects referred to in a). These funds are expected to be disbursed as companies perform their research and development and submit their claims. These funds are expected to be fully disbursed by fiscal year end 2013-14.
Joe Volpe Liberal Eglinton—Lawrence, ON
With respect to the motion M-465 (Airline Passenger Bill of Rights), which was adopted unanimously by the House during the 2nd Session of the 39th Parliament on June 12, 2008, calling upon the government to bring forward a passenger bill of rights, what actions has the government taken since to bring forward an airline passenger bill of rights similar in scope and effect to legal instruments being either proposed or enacted by jurisdictions within Europe and the United States for the purpose of protecting passenger interests in a consistent and rules-based way and to provide a means of ensuring adequate compensation being offered by the airline industry to airline passengers who experience inconveniences such as flight interruptions, delays, cancellations, issues with checked baggage and other inconveniences incurred while travelling on commercial passenger airline services originating from anywhere in Canada?
Question No. 125Questions on the Order PaperRoutine Proceedings
Ottawa West—Nepean Ontario
Conservative
John Baird ConservativeMinister of Transport
Mr. Speaker, in response to Motion No. 465, the government developed Flight Rights Canada. This initiative was aimed at informing air travellers of their rights and recourse under the Canada Transportation Act, and also included a six-point code of conduct for Canada’s airlines. WestJet, Air Canada, Jazz and Air Transat recently incorporated Flight Rights Canada in their terms and conditions of carriage, making these provisions enforceable by the Canadian Transportation Agency.
Flight Rights Canada’s code of conduct of Canada’s airlines prescribes that carriers should: inform passengers about changes to flight times and schedule changes, and the reasons for any delays; provide alternate transportation or a refund to passengers if a flight is cancelled or overbooked; provide meal vouchers to passengers who are delayed by more than four hours, and hotel accommodation if the delay exceeds 8 hours; and provide passengers with opportunity to disembark from the aircraft after 90 minutes if the delay has occurred while the passenger is in the aircraft, if it is safe, timely and practical to do so.
This government supports consumer protection measures for the aviation industry, and is looking to ensure a balance between protecting passengers and ensuring a competitive industry.
Questions Passed as Orders for ReturnsRoutine Proceedings
Regina—Lumsden—Lake Centre Saskatchewan
Conservative
Tom Lukiwski ConservativeParliamentary Secretary to the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons
Mr. Speaker, if Questions Nos. 76, 79, 83, 84, 85, 86, 88, 91 and 92 could be made orders for return, these returns would be tabled immediately.