House of Commons Hansard #58 of the 41st Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament's site.) The word of the day was arrest.
Alice Wong ConservativeMinister of State (Seniors)
Mr. Speaker, our government continues to take strong action to support seniors. Since 2006, our government has provided billions in annual tax relief for seniors and pensioners, removed hundreds of thousands of seniors from the tax roll completely, introduced the largest GIS increase in a quarter century, and made significant investment in affordable housing for low-income seniors.
What did the opposition do? It voted against all of these measures.
David Wilks Conservative Kootenay—Columbia, BC
Mr. Speaker, Canadians gave our government a strong mandate to keep our streets and communities safe. Part of that means ensuring that a strong and effective RCMP continues to provide policing services in communities from coast to coast to coast. The red serge of the RCMP is a national icon and my constituents want to ensure an RCMP presence in their communities for years to come.
Would the Minister of Public Safety please update the House on the status of negotiations with contract policing jurisdictions?
Vic Toews ConservativeMinister of Public Safety
Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the member who, I might note, is a former member of the RCMP.
Canadians gave our government a strong mandate to keep our streets and communities safe. That is why our government is committed to assisting the provinces in offering strong and effective policing across the country.
I am proud to report that we have arrived at an agreement in principle with the provinces. This is a good deal for provinces that would strike an appropriate balance between giving police the tools they need to do their jobs and ensuring fairness for Canadian taxpayers.
Geoff Regan Liberal Halifax West, NS
Mr. Speaker, the Conservatives have admitted the phone campaign of lies to the citizens of Mount Royal.
The government House leader has actually said he is proud of these unsavoury tactics that seem to be straight from the era of Watergate.
Would the Prime Minister heed the calls of commentators, even Conservatives, apologize for this outrage against democracy, shut down his dirty tricks team and call on Elections Canada to investigate?
The Speaker Conservative Andrew Scheer
I did not hear anything in that question that fell under the administration of government. It seems to be a question of a third party. I just heard a question about a political party.
The hon. member for Trois-Rivières.
Robert Aubin NDP Trois-Rivières, QC
Mr. Speaker, today we have set an unfortunate record. As of today, over 1,000 families in my riding and neighbouring ridings are victims of the disaster known as pyrrhotite.
Imagine a huge earthquake: except for the time factor, this is the extent of the harm caused by pyrrhotite. The problem is the result of the federal standard—or lack thereof—for the aggregates used in concrete. For years, people have been calling for the review of this standard and for adequate financial support to put an end to this problem.
Will this government finally listen to the people of Canada or will it turn its back on them?
Peter Van Loan ConservativeLeader of the Government in the House of Commons
Mr. Speaker, issues of standards are regularly revisited by our government to ensure they recognize the most up-to-date science. We will be pleased to continue to look into that matter.
Brian Jean Conservative Fort McMurray—Athabasca, AB
Mr. Speaker, Canadians are concerned about crime. They gave our government a strong mandate to keep our streets and communities safe.
Our Conservative government is committed to ensuring that serious offenders receive sentences which reflect the serious nature of their crimes. Our government introduced and passed legislation to repeal the faint hope clause, to end sentencing discounts for multiple murderers, and passed the safe streets and communities act.
We are restoring Canadians' confidence in our justice system.
Would the Minister of Justice please update this House in respect of the legislation and where it stands today?
Rob Nicholson ConservativeMinister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada
Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to say that, thanks to this government, after today anyone charged and convicted of murder will no longer benefit from the faint hope clause. No longer will Canada be a country that gives automatic discounts for multiple murderers. We believe in standing up for victims. This government is on the right track.
Jonathan Tremblay NDP Montmorency—Charlevoix—Haute-Côte-Nord, QC
Mr. Speaker, day in, day out, the Conservatives refuse to recognize the importance of rural post offices. Cuts to Canada Post and the closure of postal outlets will deprive these communities of essential services and an important economic development tool. The Conservatives' campaign slogan was “our region in power”. If they want to give power to the regions, we have to work together. We know where the regions are, but we are still looking for the power.
Will the government commit to maintaining services everywhere, in all the regions?
Steven Fletcher ConservativeMinister of State (Transport)
Mr. Speaker, our government is committed to universally effective and economically viable postal services for all Canadians. That is why we introduced the Canadian Postal Service Charter and we are protecting rural mail delivery by banning closure of rural post offices. All Canadians deserve reliable postal service and that is what they are going to get.
Louis Plamondon Bloc Bas-Richelieu—Nicolet—Bécancour, QC
Mr. Speaker, the Governor General is upholding tradition. Like others before him, he does not seem to have a problem spending taxpayers' money for personal reasons. On October 7, 2011, the Queen's representative used a Challenger jet as though it were a taxi, leaving taxpayers to foot the $5,000 bill, despite his tax-free salary of $134,000.
Will the Prime Minister get over his obsession with the monarchy and will he ask the Governor General not only to pay that money back, but also to pay taxes on his salary, like all Quebeckers and Canadians?
Peter Van Loan ConservativeLeader of the Government in the House of Commons
Mr. Speaker, our government is always concerned about ensuring that government aircraft are used in the most cost-efficient manner to reflect the interests of the taxpayers. We are also very proud of the work done by the Governor General, standing in for our head of state, the Queen. We are very pleased that he is doing outstanding work on behalf of Canadians all across this country; we make no apologies. I think all members of this House should embrace that spirit and embrace the good work done by the Government of Canada.
Joe Comartin NDP Windsor—Tecumseh, ON
Mr. Speaker, I would indeed like to ask the Thursday question. The government is continuing this week with its antidemocratic use of closure for the 11th time since the beginning of this session, this time, for Bill C-10, the omnibus crime bill.
The end result of forcing bills like that through the House is that we end up with the ridiculous spectacle we had earlier this week of one minister of the Crown standing up and making amendments to the bill of another minister of the Crown and then having those amendments ruled out of order by you, Mr. Speaker. That is the end result of trying to force bills through the House this quickly.
We also end up with the result, if this bill does go through, of a severely flawed crime bill that will do this country absolutely no good.
Why does the House leader not agree with the official opposition, take the bill off the order paper and send it back to committee so it can be properly dealt with in an appropriate period of time?
We would also like to know when the last allotted day will be for this supply period and what will be the rest of the calendar for the coming week?
Peter Van Loan ConservativeLeader of the Government in the House of Commons
Mr. Speaker, this is here for law-abiding Canadians week.
This afternoon, we will continue debate on Bill C-26, the Citizen’s Arrest and Self-defence Act. If we finish that before 5:30, we will get back to Bill C-4, the Preventing Human Smugglers from Abusing Canada’s Immigration System Act.
We will conclude here for law-abiding Canadians week tomorrow, with third and final reading of Bill C-10, the safe streets and communities act. I expect the vote will be deferred until Monday before the bill moves to the other place where I am sure the senators will deal with the bill swiftly in keeping with our commitment to Canadians to pass the bill within 100 sitting days.
I noted the offer from the member for Mount Royal, which appears to be at least somewhat endorsed by the opposition House leader, and I will propose a motion in response, hopefully later today, that can address the amendments in question.
Monday will be the final allotted day for the supply period, which means that after debating an NDP opposition motion all day we will also be dealing with the supply bill that evening. I understand that the NDP has removed all its opposition motions from the order paper so we really have no idea what we will be debating that day. The House will have to await word from the NDP.
I am pleased to announce that next week in the House will be democratic reform week. During this week, we will be debating bills that are part of our principled agenda of democratic reform, specifically bills that would increase fair representation in the House of Commons, reform the Senate and strengthen Canada's political financing regime by banning corporate and big union loans.
The key part of democratic reform week will be Tuesday with report stage debate on Bill C-20, the fair representation act, which seeks to move Canada toward the democratic principle of giving each citizen's vote equal weight. I thank the procedure and House affairs committee for the consideration of this important bill. Report stage debate will continue on Friday, December 9.
On Wednesday, December 7, we will resume debate on Bill C-7, the Senate Reform Act , which seeks to give Canadians a say in who represents them in the Senate and limits the terms of senators. If more time is needed, which I hope will not be the case, Mr. Speaker, we will continue that debate on Thursday morning.
Filling out our democratic reform week agenda, on Thursday, we will start second reading debate on Bill C-21, the Political Loans Accountability Act. It is a bill which seeks to close the loophole which allowed wealthy individuals to bankroll leadership campaigns, thus circumventing the legal contribution limits.
Finally, there have been consultations, and in the interests of having members of the House use their place here in the forum of the nation to draw attention to an important issue that knows no party divisions and to encourage Canadians to sign organ donor cards, I, therefore, move, seconded by the Minister of Labour:
That a take-note debate on the subject of the importance of organ donations take place pursuant to Standing Order 53.1 on Monday, December 5, 2011.
Peter Van Loan ConservativeLeader of the Government in the House of Commons
Mr. Speaker, I believe you would also find unanimous consent for the following and related motion. I move:
That, notwithstanding any Standing Order or usual practice of the House, during the debate on Monday, December 5, 2011, pursuant to Standing Order 53.1, no quorum calls, dilatory motions or requests for unanimous consent shall be received by the Chair.
The Speaker Conservative Andrew Scheer
Does the hon. government House leader have the unanimous consent of the House to propose this motion?
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?
Geoff Regan Liberal Halifax West, NS
Mr. Speaker, I am rising on a point of order arising out of your ruling that my question did not relate to a matter of responsibility of the government.
I want to point that I was asking about Elections Canada, which, of course, reports through a minister of the Crown. There have, in the past, certainly been questions in this House about the in-and-out scheme, for example, which is under Elections Canada, that were not ruled out of order.
It seems to me that this is a matter that ought to be answered in this House. It is certainly within the power of the Prime Minister to call upon Elections Canada to investigate a matter where a political party appears to have been involved in improper activities.
Mr. Speaker, I would like your further ruling on the matter.