Debates of Nov. 16th, 2011

Oral Question Period

[Geoff Regan, Liberal, Halifax West, NS]

Mr. Speaker, as I pointed out today in question period, yesterday the Minister of State for Finance falsely claimed that the Liberal Party voted against an extension of time to convert RRSPs to RRIFs during the recent recession. In fact, the Liberal Party voted for clause 15 of Bill C-10 and the bill itself in 2009. He misled the House.

In view of the fact that my friend failed to take the opportunity during question period to stand up and do the right thing and apologize for misleading the House, I want to invite my friend to do what I know he has the class to do and to do so now. Perhaps while he is up, he could tell seniors why the government is refusing to give them more time to convert their RRSPs.

[Ted Menzies, Conservative, Minister of State (Finance)]

Mr. Speaker, it is nice to have an extension of question period.

As I said in my answer, it is hard to keep track of how much the Liberals vote against because most everything they vote against. The actual bill, they voted against.

[The Speaker, Conservative, Andrew Scheer]

It is important to remember that question period has ended and that if members have disagreements over facts or elements of motions, they should maybe take it up in the next question period.

I see the hon. member for Halifax West is rising again. I hope he has a point of order and not a continuation of the debate.

[Geoff Regan, Liberal, Halifax West, NS]

Mr. Speaker, it could become a question of privilege. In fact, this party voted for Bill C-10 in 2009. My hon. friend is misleading the House and I would invite him to withdraw his remark.

[Ted Menzies, Conservative, Macleod, AB]

Mr. Speaker, in fact, the hon. member is speaking about the wrong budget that it was initiated in. It was actually budget 2007 and the Liberals did vote against it in budget 2007.

[The Speaker, Conservative, Andrew Scheer]

We have heard enough on this issue. If members want to clarify their positions on it, they can do so at other opportunities but not through points of order.

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 responses to seven petitions.

Procedure and House Affairs

[Joe Preston, Conservative, Elgin—Middlesex—London, ON]

Mr. Speaker, pursuant to Standing Orders 104 and 114, I have the honour to present, in both official languages, the 10th report of the Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs regarding the membership of committees of the House. If the House gives its consent, I intend to move concurrence in the 10th report later this day.

Statistics Act

[Brian Masse, NDP, Windsor West, ON]

moved for leave to introduce Bill C-346, An Act to amend the Statistics Act (Chief Statistician and mandatory long-form census).

Mr. Speaker, it is my pleasure to have the member for Burnaby—New Westminster second this very important bill.

The bill would restore the long form census and also would make sure that politics was not involved in the hiring of the chief statistician. All members would be involved in selecting the chief statistician. The bill would give direct questioning to the chief statistician himself.

What is really important to note is Canada has thrown away its long form census. That undermines many surveys that are conducted because it is used in that process. This hurts the economy and the way we actually make decisions about spending. It is my pleasure to table this bill that would fix that problem.

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

Income Tax Act

[Brian Masse, NDP, Windsor West, ON]

moved for leave to introduce Bill C-347, An Act to amend the Income Tax Act (tax credit for gifts).

Mr. Speaker, it is my pleasure to introduce this bill.

In the last number of budgets the Conservative government has been reducing the charitable amount allowed when people make donations to charities. This bill would reverse that trend. The bill would provide for charities to get more money back at tax time so that they would be able to provide services in the community.

It is important to note that the not-for-profit charitable sector accounts for 8% of the Canadian economy. That sector has been suffering. It has had no tax policy changes. This bill would level the playing field and provide more of an economic hit for our country than a general corporate tax cut would.

I am pleased to table the bill in an effort to help support Canadian charities and to make sure that they remain sustainable with the economy the way it is right now.

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

Workplace Psychological Harassment Prevention Act

[Brian Masse, NDP, Windsor West, ON]

moved for leave to introduce Bill C-348, An Act to prevent psychological harassment in the workplace and to make consequential amendments to another Act.

Mr. Speaker, it is my pleasure to introduce this bill which deals with psychological harassment in the workplace. The bill was brought forward by a former Quebec member who is no longer in the House, but I have introduced it the last couple of times.

The bill would bring psychological harassment under the labour code. This bill would protect people who are psychologically harassed at work. There are laws similar to this in Ontario and Saskatchewan. This bill would make it more uniform and would protect workers from harassment in their workplace. We have seen the reason we need this kind of legislation in this country with the recent situation involving the RCMP.

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

Canada Consumer Product Safety Act

[Brian Masse, NDP, Windsor West, ON]

moved for leave to introduce Bill C-349, An Act to amend the Canada Consumer Product Safety Act and the Textile Labelling Act (animal fur or skin).

Mr. Speaker, it may not be common knowledge but many products on Canadian shelves actually have dog and cat fur in them. Over two million dogs and cats are slain for their fur which is imported into countries like Canada but consumers are not aware of that.

The bill would require that if dog or cat fur was used in a product, the product would have to have a label to that effect so consumers would know. This is important because of the inhumane nature involved in the slaying of dogs and cats, animals that we have as pets in Canada. If Canadians knew that their child's toy or a scarf or coat contained dog or cat fur, I am sure most Canadians would not choose those products.

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

Federal Law--Civil Law Harmonization Act No. 3

[Rob Nicholson, Conservative, Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada]

moved that Bill S-3, A third Act to harmonize federal law with the civil law of Quebec and to amend certain Acts in order to ensure that each language version takes into account the common law and the civil law be read a first time.

(Motion deemed adopted and bill read the first time)

Procedure and House Affairs

[Joe Preston, Conservative, Elgin—Middlesex—London, ON]

Mr. Speaker, if the House gives its consent, I move that the 10th report of the Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs presented to the House earlier this day be concurred in.

[The Speaker, Conservative, Andrew Scheer]

Is that agreed?

[Some hon. members]

Agreed.

[Joe Preston, Conservative, Elgin—Middlesex—London, ON]

(Motion agreed to)

Mining

[Yvon Godin, NDP, Acadie—Bathurst, NB]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to present a petition signed by more than 540 residents in my riding who oppose the opening of the Elmtree mine. This mine will operate for a very short 18 months, but it will cause significant damage to the residents and the environment in the Chaleur region. This mining operation will lower property values and diminish the quality of life of the local people. The Nigadoo River basin and Chaleur Bay will be polluted, which will threaten the drinking water of a number of residents in my riding.

They are calling on Parliament and the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency to refuse to give the Castle Resources mining company a mining permit.

Multiple Sclerosis

[Peter Braid, Conservative, Kitchener—Waterloo, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I have a petition certified by the clerk of petitions. The petition is from constituents in my riding and is regarding the CCSVI treatment for multiple sclerosis.

[Ralph Goodale, Liberal, Wascana, SK]

Mr. Speaker, I have another petition to present from a number of people in western Canada, particularly in and around Saskatoon. They are concerned about Canadians who are suffering from both chronic cerebrospinal venous insufficiency and multiple sclerosis, and the fact that many of those Canadians are denied testing or treatment for CCSVI in Canada.

The petitioners are calling upon the Minister of Health to consult broadly with experts who have practical experience in treating CCSVI. They call upon the Minister of Health to proceed urgently with phase III clinical trials. They ask the Minister of Health to develop a follow-up scheme so that the case history of these patients can be properly tracked.

I am pleased to present that petition today.

Health of Animals Act

[Alex Atamanenko, NDP, British Columbia Southern Interior, BC]

Mr. Speaker, I have three petitions. The first is in support of my Bill C-322.

The petitioners state that horses are ordinarily kept and treated as sporting and companion animals. They are not raised as food-producing animals. They are commonly administered drugs which are prohibited for use in the food chain. The petitioners ask the House of Commons to adopt into legislation an act to amend the Health of Animals Act and the Meat Inspection Act, thus prohibiting the importation or exportation of horses for slaughter for human consumption as well as horsemeat products for human consumption.

The petitioners are from New Brunswick.

Canada Post

[Alex Atamanenko, NDP, British Columbia Southern Interior, BC]

Mr. Speaker, I have never had a petition as big as this one. There are over 2,000 names, of which 1,000 come from Quesnel, British Columbia, over 300 from Nelson in the West Kootenay region, and the rest from other parts of British Columbia.

These citizens are concerned that Canada Post announced it will be removing mail processing from local cities, towns and communities in British Columbia and sending it to Vancouver, which it is already doing. This has resulted in the reduction of services and loss of good-paying jobs, which has negatively affected our communities.

The petitioners are calling upon the Government of Canada to support local economies by preserving local jobs and maintaining mail processing at post offices in local cities, towns and communities throughout British Columbia.

The other petition deals with the same subject in regard to the post office.

The petitioners are asking that prior to making any changes to their mail processing and transportation network, Canada Post conduct a thorough and in-depth study into the service and economic impact on local communities and use those results to hold full, open and transparent consultations with local communities that will be impacted by the changes.

Multiple Sclerosis

[Kirsty Duncan, Liberal, Etobicoke North, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to present a petition regarding chronic cerebrospinal venous insufficiency, CCSVI.

While the government has announced clinical trials for CCSVI, all there is right now are announcements. What is needed is action.

Canadians with MS cannot afford to wait as any delay possibly means more damage.

Some 30% to 50% of MS patients who are untreated worsen by one EDSS score in one year and 50% with relapsing remitting MS later develop a progressive form of the disease for which there are no drugs.

Therefore, the petitioners call on the Minister of Health to consult experts actively engaged in the diagnosis and treatment of CCSVI to undertake phase III clinical trials on an urgent basis with a large patient participation in multiple centres across Canada and to require follow-up care.

Canadian Broadcasting Corporation

[Wladyslaw Lizon, Conservative, Mississauga East—Cooksville, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to present a petition to the House on behalf of concerned Canadians regarding the public funding of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.

The petitioners are asking the government and the House to end the public funding of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. The corporation receives about $1.1 billion per annum. That gives it an unfair advantage over its private sector competitors.

Public Transit

[Olivia Chow, NDP, Trinity—Spadina, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I am presenting a petition on behalf of petitioners in my riding.

The petitioners call upon the Government of Canada to support my Bill C-305 and to enact a Canadian public transit strategy. They desire a fast, reliable, accessible and affordable public transit system across Canada. They want the federal government to provide a permanent investment plan to support public transit, establish a federal funding mechanism for public transit, and work together with all levels of government to provide sustainable, predictable, long-term and adequate funding for public transit.