Debates of Oct. 24th, 2011

Financial Institutions

[Glenn Thibeault, NDP, Sudbury, ON]

Mr. Speaker, Canadian consumers need protection from the predatory practices of the banks and credit card companies.

Excessive interest rates and high ATM fees hit consumers' wallets, while skyrocketing merchant fees make prices higher in Canada than our neighbours to the south, yet the Minister of Finance and the approach of the government have little effect.

Will the minister now admit that his approach is not working and agree to pass binding legislation to protect Canadian families, as outlined in the NDP motion passed by this House in 2009?

[Jim Flaherty, Conservative, Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, as the hon. member probably knows, one of the Senate committees has been asked by me, in my capacity as Minister of Finance, to have a look at cross-border pricing.

The committee is already hearing witnesses. I appeared before the committee last week. I look forward to the Senate committee reporting back with the facts. I would be happy to share those facts with the hon. member.

Public Safety

[Elizabeth May, Green, Saanich—Gulf Islands, BC]

Mr. Speaker, my question today for the Prime Minister is in relation to the fact that in the next few days we will be seeing the Canadian office of the International Association of Firefighters, representing 22,000 Canadian professional firefighters, on Parliament Hill asking us for three specific things.

They are looking for a national public safety officer compensation benefit, for access to vaccines and anti-virals in the case of a flu pandemic and for changes to national building codes to make it safer for them when they do their job.

Will government members commit that we can get this done for our firefighters?

[Vic Toews, Conservative, Minister of Public Safety]

Mr. Speaker, we work very closely with the firefighters on a number of issues and we continue to look forward to working with them.

I might point out the specific example that our government brought in with respect to hazardous materials and the moneys we paid in that respect to help train the trainers. We also brought forward the tax credit for volunteer firefighters, which the opposition parties voted against, which was very unfortunate.

Certificates of Nomination

[Peter Van Loan, Conservative, Leader of the Government in the House of Commons]

Mr. Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 111.1, I have the honour to table, in both official languages, a certificate of nomination, with biographical notes, for the proposed appointment of Michael Ferguson as Auditor General of Canada. I request that the nomination be referred to the Standing Committee on Public Accounts.

Canada Pension Plan

[Scott Simms, Liberal, Bonavista—Gander—Grand Falls—Windsor, NL]

moved for leave to introduce Bill C-335, An Act to amend the Canada Pension Plan (deductions — disabled child).

Mr. Speaker, I will briefly describe the intention of this bill. As members know, a lot of amendments are proposed in this House regarding the Canada pension plan, employment insurance, old age security and the like. It is a very complex formula to provide people benefits once they reach 65 years of age or 60 if they choose to do so.

This bill would change the formula slightly to allow people to get credit for the years they were not working because they were looking after a disabled child. The way to do that through the tax system is through tax benefits they receive by looking after a disabled child in the earlier years of life, maybe in their 30s or 40s. We would ensure they would not be penalized for the years they missed, once they apply for their Canada pension plan at age 65. I think that would be a small change in the formula but the principle is sound, it is beneficial for them and substantial for people who are unable to work because, unfortunately, they must look after a child who is disabled.

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

Egypt

[Peter Van Loan, Conservative, Leader of the Government in the House of Commons]

Mr. Speaker, the consultation continues but I believe you would find unanimous consent for the following. I move:

That a take note debate on the subject of the ongoing violence and vicious attacks against Coptic Christians in Egypt, and their institutions, pursuant to Standing Order 53.1 take place on Thursday, October 27, and;

notwithstanding any Standing Order or usual practices of the House, when the House begins the said proceedings, no quorum calls, requests for unanimous consent or dilatory motions shall be received by the Speaker and; any member rising to speak during debate may indicate to the Speaker that he or she will be dividing his or her time with another member.

[The Speaker, Conservative, Andrew Scheer]

Does the hon. government House leader have the consent of the House to propose this motion?

[Some hon. members]

Agreed.

[The Speaker, Conservative, Andrew Scheer]

The House has heard the terms of the motion. Is it the pleasure of the House to adopt the motion?

[Some hon. members]

: Agreed.

[The Speaker, Conservative, Andrew Scheer]

(Motion agreed to)

The Environment

[David Tilson, Conservative, Dufferin—Caledon, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I have a petition from people all over Ontario who are concerned about the proposed mega-quarry, in Melancthon Township in Dufferin County, which is approximately 2,300 acres.

The petitioners are concerned by a number of things, one of which is that the proposed mega-quarry would remove from production some of Ontario's best farmland. They are asking that the Government of Canada conduct an environmental assessment under the authority of the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act on the proposed Highland Companies' mega-quarry development.

Railway Safety

[Francis Scarpaleggia, Liberal, Lac-Saint-Louis, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to present a petition calling on the government to amend the Railway Safety Act to require that areas with high pedestrian volume, where trains are known to dim or extinguish their headlights, be fitted with large street lamps, powered by solar energy and operated by motion detector.

This petition is in response to a terrible accident that took place almost a year ago in Montreal around the tracks under the Turcot exchange where, unfortunately, three wonderful, talented young men were killed and two, fortunately, escaped. Apparently the lights were dimmed at that time.

There needs to be a way to ensure these areas are properly lit when a train is on its way so that, if there are people in the vicinity, they will be alerted to the fact that danger is coming.

Asbestos

[Pat Martin, NDP, Winnipeg Centre, MB]

Mr. Speaker, I have the honour to table a petition signed by literally thousands of Canadians from all across Canada who call upon Parliament to take note that asbestos is the greatest industrial killer that the world has ever known. They point out that more Canadians now die from asbestos than all other occupational and industrial causes combined and yet Canada remains one of the largest producers and exporters of asbestos in the world.

The petitioners also point out that Canada spends millions of dollars subsidizing the asbestos industry and blocking international efforts to curb its use. Therefore, they call upon the Government of Canada to ban asbestos in all of its forms and institute a just transition program for asbestos workers and the communities in which they live, to end all government subsidies of asbestos both in Canada and abroad, and to stop blocking international health and safety conventions designed to protect workers from asbestos, such as the Rotterdam convention.

Canadian Wheat Board

[Frank Valeriote, Liberal, Guelph, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I rise to present a petition signed by many western Canadian grain and barley farmers, the very farmers to whom the government is currently refusing to listen. They are concerned with the government's ideological plan to kill the Canadian Wheat Board without first holding a plebiscite of its membership as it is required to do by section 47.1 of the Canadian Wheat Board Act.

Western Canadian farmers' livelihoods are at risk should they lose the clout of the Canadian Wheat Board to set the best price for their grain, negotiate fair treatment and prices from the railways, and lower transportation costs among the many services it provides.

The petitioners demand that the Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food honour their wishes as expressed democratically through a plebiscite. As members know, the government failed to hold a plebiscite. As a result, the farmers held their own plebiscite and a full 62% of wheat farmers and 51% of barley farmers asked that the government maintain the single-desk system. This petition asks the government to honour their wishes.

Falun Gong

[Ron Cannan, Conservative, Kelowna—Lake Country, BC]

Mr. Speaker, I rise on behalf of my constituents of Kelowna—Lake Country to table a petition asking the Government of Canada to publicly condemn the Chinese communist regime's illegal persecution of the practitioners of Falun Gong and help rescue the listed family members of Canadians who are incarcerated in China simply for their belief in the Falun Gong faith.

Canadian Wheat Board

[Kevin Lamoureux, Liberal, Winnipeg North, MB]

Mr. Speaker, I present a petition with regard to the Canadian Wheat Board.

The livelihoods of western Canadian farmers are at risk should they lose the clout of the Canadian Wheat board to set the best price for their grain, negotiate fair treatment from the railways, lower transportation costs, and lose the many other services it provides.

The petitioners demand that the Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food honour their wishes as expressed democratically through a plebiscite. These wonderful prairie individuals want the government to listen to what the prairie farmers actually want.

Questions on the Order Paper

[Tom Lukiwski, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons]

Mr. Speaker, I ask that all questions be allowed to stand.

[The Speaker, Conservative, Andrew Scheer]

Is that agreed?

[Some hon. members]

Agreed.

[The Speaker, Conservative, Andrew Scheer]

The Chair has notice of a request for an emergency debate from the hon. member for Scarborough—Agincourt, however, the House has granted consent for a take note debate on the subject on Thursday.

The member for Scarborough—Agincourt is rising on a point of order.

[Jim Karygiannis, Liberal, Scarborough—Agincourt, ON]

Mr. Speaker, on a point of order. There was some confusion as to the date that the emergency take note debate would take place. Last week the House unanimously agreed that we needed to move on the issue and the government was given marching orders, yet last weekend there was a disagreement as to when the debate would be held. There was a general consensus that the debate would take place on Monday. However, now it is to take place on Thursday.

Mr. Speaker, I withdraw my request. However, I want the House to know that we are ready for the debate to take place tonight and unfortunately the government is not.

[The Speaker, Conservative, Andrew Scheer]

There is no need to engage in debate on this. The House did not grant unanimous consent last week for a take note debate to take place tonight. However, it did grant consent today for that to take place on Thursday. It is a simple matter in the eyes of the chair.

[Jim Karygiannis, Liberal, Scarborough—Agincourt, ON]

Mr. Speaker, there was consent and the parties talked about the debate taking place Monday night. Perhaps you were not privy to that information but there are members who were.