House of Commons Hansard #55 of the 40th Parliament, 3rd Session. (The original version is on Parliament's site.) The word of the day was post.
Carole Lavallée Bloc Saint-Bruno—Saint-Hubert, QC
Mr. Speaker, the Chair of the Canadian Private Copying Collective, Annie Morin, pointed out that, “By not allowing for a levy on MP3 players, the government is effectively saying that an artist’s work is of no value. But without the music, it is the MP3 player that has no value”.
This bill contains no provision to compensate artists for their work. Why is this government refusing to compensate artists fairly?
James Moore ConservativeMinister of Canadian Heritage and Official Languages
Mr. Speaker, the Canadian Recording Industry Association and the Canadian Independent Music Association said, “[Canadian artists] need better protection from online piracy to build a successful digital music market. We thank the government for taking this step to protect the right of artists”.
That is the response to an effective and responsible Conservative bill. It is a good bill and deserves the support of every party in the House.
Francis Scarpaleggia Liberal Lac-Saint-Louis, QC
Mr. Speaker, the government is winging it on an issue that is vital to Canada's economy and to the survival of our ecosystems. The Munk School of Global Affairs just informed the Minister of Foreign Affairs that his Bill C-26 is ineffective. This bill claimed to stop exports of water to the United States, but in reality, the bill is just a sieve.
Why not simply pass my Bill C-228, which reflects the recommendations from the Munk School, and which would save the government additional drafting costs?
Peter Kent ConservativeMinister of State of Foreign Affairs (Americas)
Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for his question but he is quite wrong.
Our government is standing up for Canadians by protecting our bulk water supply and the strengthened provisions found in Bill C-26 are complementary to existing freshwater protections at both the federal and provincial levels.
Francis Scarpaleggia Liberal Lac-Saint-Louis, QC
Mr. Speaker, the government is all over the map on the issue of bulk water exports.
On March 29, the environment minister said that there was no need for legislation to ban bulk water exports. A couple of weeks later, the Minister of Foreign Affairs tabled legislation that he wrongly claimed would protect Canada's water from being exported to the U.S. Do the two ministers ever speak to each other or does the Prime Minister forbid that?
Yesterday, the country's most renowned water experts politely told the minister that his bill was useless and even drew him a pictogram to explain why.
Why will the minister not take the bill I have already written for him and get on with it?
Peter Kent ConservativeMinister of State of Foreign Affairs (Americas)
Mr. Speaker, I would like to assure my hon. colleague that Canadian water is not for sale.
I am also correcting him in that Bill C-26 is a complementary bill to existing legislation. It would strengthen and clarify the bill and provide for complementary measures in both the federal and provincial bulk water areas.
Yvon Godin NDP Acadie—Bathurst, NB
Mr. Speaker, the government has decided to muzzle its parliamentary employees by preventing them from testifying in committee. It is sad to see that some ministers are acting like clowns in an effort to distract everyone from the real issues and turning committees into a circus.
We remember the Conservative guidebook on how to create chaos in committee, and now we see how it works. When the circus shows up on the news, it is a disgrace to all politicians. Whether we are in the House or in committee, decorum must be respected.
When will the Conservative government put an end to this circus and start respecting Parliament and all of its elected officials?
Jay Hill ConservativeLeader of the Government in the House of Commons
Mr. Speaker, we will continue to have our ministers appear at committee because we respect Parliament, we respect the concept and the principle of ministerial accountability and responsibility. Therefore, our ministers, as they did yesterday, will continue to appear before committee and defend the actions of not only themselves, but their staff, our government and their departments.
As for the hon. member's contention that the standing committees have become a circus, I remind him that the coalition has the majority on committees. If they end up with a—
Jean Crowder NDP Nanaimo—Cowichan, BC
Mr. Speaker, today the Conservatives are trying to stop a Canadian Human Rights Tribunal from hearing allegations that the government discriminates against first nations children.
According to its documents, the government does not provide equitable funding to deal with the problems contributing to the increase in first nations children ending up in state care. This has led to first nations children being six to eight times more likely than non-first nations children to end up in foster care.
Why is the government continuing to discriminate against first nations children and why is it trying to derail the tribunal?
John Duncan ConservativeParliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development
Mr. Speaker, the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal is not the correct venue. We simply fund child and family services and the provinces and first nations organizations run the services. We will present our position at the hearing.
However, since we came to office four years ago, we have taken multiple actions. We have signed tripartite agreements with five provinces. We have taken a proactive and preventive position with child and family services. Our funding has jumped to $550 million, the highest ever for this area.
Bev Shipley Conservative Lambton—Kent—Middlesex, ON
Mr. Speaker, Canadians know that criminals do not register their guns. Those Liberal and NDP members who voted in favour of Bill C-391 at second reading also know this.
The Liberal and NDP members who voted in favour of Bill C-391 at second reading owe it to their constituents to listen to them, not the Liberal leader, and vote to scrap the long gun registry.
Could the parliamentary secretary tell Canadians how our government is continuing to stand up for law-abiding Canadians?
Dave MacKenzie ConservativeParliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Public Safety
Mr. Speaker, I thank the member for his strong support for Bill C-391 and his hard work to scrap the wasteful and ineffective long gun registry.
The Liberal leader has chosen to whip his MPs into voting to keep the long gun registry. Why will the Liberal leader not let his MPs consider what the ministers from Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba and Yukon have to say?
The choice is clear for all MPs, especially those Liberal and NDP members who have voted for the bill at second reading. They either vote to scrap the long gun registry or keep the long gun registry.
Rodger Cuzner Liberal Cape Breton—Canso, NS
Mr. Speaker, today the vice-president of Enterprise Cape Breton Corporation announced that the federal government would not help support the dredging project in Sydney harbour. He stated that it was an unbudgeted item.
Nobody in our community ever expected this to come out of ECBC funds. This is an infrastructure project and it is one that should be supported by the government.
I ask the minister of infrastructure today to stand with the people of Cape Breton, not turn his back on them and walk away from this project, and tell us that he will support this vital project for our community.
Keith Ashfield ConservativeMinister of National Revenue
Mr. Speaker, as I have mentioned many times in the House, this is a complicated file, an expensive file and one that we are looking at in conjunction with Cape Breton Island. If we have something to announce, we will make that announcement.
Richard Nadeau Bloc Gatineau, QC
Mr. Speaker, as the Canadian navy celebrates its 100th anniversary, francophones have nothing to celebrate. It is still difficult, if not impossible, to work in French on Canadian naval ships. Moreover, just one ship out of 33 is bilingual. Only 15% of navy personnel are French-speaking, compared to 32% in the army.
There is a lack of political will to correct this situation, and does this not show that, for the Conservatives, French is just a second-class language?
Peter MacKay ConservativeMinister of National Defence
Mr. Speaker, that is not the case. In 2006, the Minister of National Defence began changing his approach towards official languages, and tremendous progress has been made since that time. The Commissioner of Official Languages, Graham Fraser, said that the Canadian Forces were extremely co-operative throughout the audit and had expressed a sincere desire to find long-term solutions.
Malcolm Allen NDP Welland, ON
Mr. Speaker, every year, millions of animals are shipped across Canada. Many are diseased or even die along the way and still end up on our plates. The Conservatives know this and are not doing enough to stop it.
Currently, there is only one inspector for every one million animals going through the system. Even when dead or diseased animals are detected, transporters are let off with a warning or a slap on the wrist.
With barbecue season starting, could the minister assure Canadians that diseased animals will not end up on their grills this summer?
Gerry Ritz ConservativeMinister of Agriculture and Agri-Food and Minister for the Canadian Wheat Board
Mr. Speaker, absolutely. The member opposite would be better served if he did not read these ridiculous articles that sometimes appear in magazines. Of course we question the numbers.
CFIA people are on site in these operations on a daily basis. They do a tremendous job. We have given them new moneys to work with and new compatriots to help them on those lines. Every time we intend to move forward with the CFIA to cover these types of situations, the NDP votes against it.
Michael Chong Conservative Wellington—Halton Hills, ON
Mr. Speaker, could the Minister of State for Science and Technology tell the House about this year's recipient of the Gerhard Herzberg Canada Gold Medal for Science and Engineering?
Gary Goodyear ConservativeMinister of State (Science and Technology) (Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario)
Mr. Speaker, it was a privilege to announce that Gilles Brassard from the University of Montreal has won the Gerhard Herzberg Canada Gold Medal for Science and Engineering. Brassard is an internationally acclaimed researcher in quantum cryptography and quantum teleportation.
This is another example of our government recognizing research excellence, ensuring that Canada attracts top researchers and that new researchers push the boundaries of innovation and discovery.
I congratulate Dr. Brassard, even though he gets no support from the Liberals.
Helena Guergis Independent Simcoe—Grey, ON
Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister told Canadians he was aware of serious criminal allegations against me and he called in the RCMP. His chief of staff, Guy Giorno, wrote a letter to the Ethics Commissioner outlining these specific allegations. The ethics office spoke with Derek Snowdy, read him the letter and he denied having said these things.
Snowdy testified under oath before a committee that he provided no information about any illegal or inappropriate actions on my part and called the party lawyer to complain about this misrepresentation.
If the Prime Minister is so confident that the party lawyer outlined these allegations to me, will he table this letter in the House?
John Baird ConservativeMinister of Transport
Mr. Speaker, the government has forwarded the serious allegations to the relevant independent authorities and to the member. We will let those independent authorities do their work.
Ralph Goodale Liberal Wascana, SK
Mr. Speaker, first, with respect to the business before the House, I wonder if the government House leader would lay out the plan that he has in mind to carry the business of the House through until Friday of next week, at least.
Second, we have two more supply days to be designated in this parliamentary semester. I wonder if the minister is in a position to designate which days those will be.
I also understand that he may be giving some consideration to the matter of a possible take note debate with respect to the important issues surrounding multiple sclerosis. I wonder if he is in a position to specify when that matter might be coming before the House.
Finally, on this issue of witnesses appearing before committees, the minister has made the point that the government is making ministers available to committees and that is fine insofar as it goes. However, that is not a justification for blocking other people from coming to the committees. I wonder if the minister could indicate what legal authority he or the government has for what appears to be a double standard. Any other Canadian called before a committee would be required to appear. What is the legal authority for insisting that ministerial assistants will not appear?
Jay Hill ConservativeLeader of the Government in the House of Commons
Mr. Speaker, that is quite a number of questions and I hope I have them all. My hon. colleague, the opposition House leader, says they are good questions. Indeed, they are very good questions and I appreciate him posing those questions today. I will go first to the business before the House and then I will get to his other questions.
We will continue today debating the report stage of Bill C-9, the jobs and economic growth act. As I said on Tuesday, Canadians are expecting this bill to pass before we rise for the summer.
I pointed out some of the consequences of not adopting Bill C-9 by the summer. Payments would not be authorized for over $500 million in transfer protection to our provinces. Bill C-9 also authorizes appropriation of $75 million for Genome Canada, $20 million for Pathways to Education Canada to provide support for disadvantaged youth, $10 million for the Canadian Youth Business Foundation, and $13.5 million for the Rick Hansen Foundation. These payments and many others cannot be made until Bill C-9 receives royal assent.
This process, I would remind the House, began on March 3, some three months ago, when the Minister of Finance delivered his budget. We debated the budget on March 5, 8, 9 and 10. On March 24, we adopted the ways and means motion required to introduce the jobs and economic growth act.
The bill was introduced on March 29. It was debated for five days at second reading and finally referred to the Standing Committee on Finance on April 19. The committee reported it back on May 14 without amendment. The opposition had almost a month to offer up amendments but reported the bill back without amendments.
This is the fourth sitting day that we have been debating report stage. The opposition and particularly, I would contend, the NDP have had the opportunity to raise their concerns. However, I want to point out a Speaker's ruling from April 14, 1987 in which he addressed this issue. He stated:
It is essential to our democratic system that controversial issues should be debated at reasonable length so that every reasonable opportunity shall be available to hear the arguments pro and con and that reasonable delaying tactics should be permissible to enable opponents of a measure to enlist public support for their point of view. Sooner or later every issue must be decided and the decision will be taken
I would also like to quote House of Commons Procedure and Practice, at page 210, which states:
it remains true that parliamentary procedure is intended to ensure that there is a balance between the government's need to get its business through the House, and the opposition's responsibility to debate that business without completely immobilizing the proceedings of the House.
Following Bill C-9 today, we will call Bill C-10, Senate term limits, and Bill S-2, the sex offender registry legislation.
Beginning tomorrow, if necessary, we will continue with Bill C-9, followed by Bill C-2, the Canada-Colombia free trade agreement.
Next week we will continue with the business from this week, with priority given to Bill C-9 and Bill C-2. In addition to the bills just mentioned, the government will call for debate on Bill C-22, protecting children from online sexual exploitation, Bill C-23, eliminating pardons for serious crime, and Bill C-24, first nations certainty of title. As usual, the government will give priority consideration to any bills reported back from committee or received from the Senate.
Thursday, June 10, shall be an allotted day. That was an additional question that my hon. colleague, the official opposition House leader, asked during his customary Thursday question.
The other thing he noted was a date for an important take note debate dealing with multiple sclerosis. That date has not been set yet, but there have been consultations between myself and my counterparts, the House leaders from all three opposition parties, and I am sure that we can arrive at a suitable date in the very near future.
On the issue of committee witnesses and that we are blocking other people, I would be interested to know who those other people are that we are blocking. I am not aware of any. I have said repeatedly in the House of Commons over the last week or so that we intend to uphold the principle of fundamental value of Parliament, which is ministerial accountability.
Our ministers have been appearing and will continue to appear at the standing committees. It is my contention and I would ask any Canadian who is interested in viewing, and in some cases where there is no video record, reading the Hansard of standing committees to see the types of questions and antics that the combined opposition coalition is resorting to.
In most cases, we had our very junior people. These are young people. They are people who are probably about the same age or perhaps even younger than my children. These young people are dragged before the standing committees. The opposition subjects them to abuse and intimidation tactics.
