House of Commons Hansard #13 of the 41st Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament's site.) The word of the day was businesses.

Topics

Procedure and House AffairsCommittees of the HouseRoutine Proceedings

3:30 p.m.

Conservative

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?

Procedure and House AffairsCommittees of the HouseRoutine Proceedings

3:30 p.m.

Some hon. members

Agreed.

Procedure and House AffairsCommittees of the HouseRoutine Proceedings

3:30 p.m.

Conservative

The Speaker Conservative Andrew Scheer

(Motion agreed to)

HealthCommittees of the HouseRoutine Proceedings

3:30 p.m.

Conservative

Joy Smith Conservative Kildonan—St. Paul, MB

Mr. Speaker, if the House gives its consent, I move that the first report of the Standing Committee on Health presented to the House earlier this day, be concurred in. This report concerns the proposed tobacco regulations.

HealthCommittees of the HouseRoutine Proceedings

3:30 p.m.

Conservative

The Speaker Conservative Andrew Scheer

Does the hon. member have the unanimous consent for the motion?

HealthCommittees of the HouseRoutine Proceedings

3:30 p.m.

Some hon. members

Agreed.

HealthCommittees of the HouseRoutine Proceedings

3:30 p.m.

Conservative

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?

HealthCommittees of the HouseRoutine Proceedings

3:30 p.m.

Some hon. members

Agreed.

HealthCommittees of the HouseRoutine Proceedings

3:30 p.m.

Conservative

The Speaker Conservative Andrew Scheer

(Motion agreed to)

Comments by the Member for Trinity—SpadinaPoints of OrderRoutine Proceedings

3:30 p.m.

Conservative

Mark Adler Conservative York Centre, ON

Mr. Speaker, I rise on a point of order. Yesterday, during debate on Bill C-4, the member for Trinity—Spadina said, in reference to the passengers of the SS St. Louis, in 1939, “They came without a lot of documentation and arrived on the shore of Halifax and Canada sent them away”.

This is an attempt to revise historical fact, as the passengers on the St. Louis had full documentation, including passports issued by the government of Nazi Germany stamped with a large j on them, plus entry visas for Cuba. However, Cuba turned them away due to the j on their passports.

The member for Trinity—Spadina owes the House, Holocaust survivors and the memory of the six million an apology for these unfounded spurious remarks.

What the minister is proposing in Bill C-4 is a process to determine whether undocumented people arriving on Canadian shores are bona fide refugees or not.

The 300 men and 650 women and children on the SS St. Louis were turned away, not because of lack of documentation, but because their documentation identified them as Jews.

As a child of a Holocaust survivor, I am appalled at her attempt to revise history and denigrate the memory of those who perished in the gas chambers at Auschwitz and the memory of the six million Jews who died at the hands of the Nazis to the boatloads of migrants recently arriving on Canadian shores with no or questionable documentation.

I call on the member for Trinity—Spadina to stand in her place today and take this opportunity to apologize.

Comments by the Member for Trinity—SpadinaPoints of OrderRoutine Proceedings

3:35 p.m.

Conservative

The Speaker Conservative Andrew Scheer

I believe this issue was raised yesterday and it was ruled to be a point of debate. I see no reason that this has changed from yesterday to today.

Comments by the Member for Trinity—SpadinaPoints of OrderRoutine Proceedings

3:35 p.m.

NDP

Charlie Angus NDP Timmins—James Bay, ON

Mr. Speaker, on the same point of order, the comments that the member is making is an attempt to take something that is one of the great profound tragedies of our history, what happened to those who came looking for sanctuary and who were turned away, and use it to smear another member of the House. That is a very serious thing, and I do not think it should be allowed to stand.

What the member spoke about was how some people who came to our country were not given the full right as citizens, people who came to our shores looking for help, who were turned away and who later died. This is no attempt, in any way, to denigrate the horror of the Holocaust.

When the member for Trinity—Spadina speaks of this, and we see people coming out of war zones who are in desperate situations and who do not have proper documentation who may be turned away, this is a legitimate matter for debate. However, it is certainly not acceptable in the House to attempt to paint a member of this chamber as somehow denigrating the Holocaust.

I would ask the member to put those issues aside and debate issues as they are and not attempt to trash people's reputation in such a spurious manner.

Comments by the Member for Trinity—SpadinaPoints of OrderRoutine Proceedings

3:35 p.m.

Conservative

The Speaker Conservative Andrew Scheer

As I said, it is a point of debate, not a point of order.

AsbestosPetitionsRoutine Proceedings

June 22nd, 2011 / 3:35 p.m.

NDP

Chris Charlton NDP Hamilton Mountain, ON

Mr. Speaker, I have the honour of presenting a petition today that calls on the House of Commons to ban asbestos in all its forms and issue a just transition program for asbestos workers and the communities in which they work.

Asbestos is the greatest industrial killer that the world has ever known. It is banned for use in our country, yet Canada remains one of the largest producers and exporters of asbestos. It is more than ironic, indeed, I would suggest unconscionable, that we are taking asbestos out of Parliament buildings because of its deadly nature and yet we continue to export asbestos to other countries in the world.

To boot, as the petitioners rightly point out, Canada spends millions of dollars subsidizing the asbestos industry, which the signatories refer to as “corporate welfare for corporate serial killers”.

It is time Canada started acting with integrity on this issue.

The petitioners conclude by calling upon the government to stop blocking international health and safety conventions designed to protect workers from asbestos, such as the Rotterdam Convention.

I know that the rules of the House do not allow me to endorse this petition, but let me conclude by saying that, for the very first time, I find myself agreeing with former Conservative cabinet minister Chuck Strahl, who is now joining the chorus of Canadians urging the Prime Minister to move on chrysotile asbestos.

Falun GongPetitionsRoutine Proceedings

3:35 p.m.

Conservative

Rob Anders Conservative Calgary West, AB

Madam Speaker, I rise today to bring forth a petition to the House of Commons to condemn the illegal persecution of Falun Gong by the Chinese communist regime.

The petition, signed by Canadians, looks to help rescue the family members of Canadians who are incarcerated simply for their belief in Falun Gong in China: Liz-Hong He, Yu Yao, Ming-li Lin, Yun-he Zhang, Feng-jiang Tan, Ge-hong Yu, Ge-key-ang Han, Ying Zhang, Yan-hua Ge, Shen-lun Wang and Yu-shu Zhen. All are family members of Canadians who are serving jail times of up to 12 years simply for their belief in Falun Gong.

Many organizations, such as the UN committee against torture, have shown concern that Falun Gong practitioners en masse have been slaughtered for their vital organs.

Search and RescuePetitionsRoutine Proceedings

3:40 p.m.

Liberal

Judy Foote Liberal Random—Burin—St. George's, NL

Madam Speaker, I rise today to present a petition that I would prefer not to have to present. If the government decided to keep the Maritime sub-centre open in St. John's, Newfoundland, then this petition would be unnecessary. However, I will read the petition to point out how important it is to keep this facility open.

It states that the federal government is responsible for providing adequate and appropriate search and rescue operations to oversee the safety of seafarers off the coast of Newfoundland and Labrador; that the closure of the St. John's Maritime Rescue Sub-Centre would put into increased peril the safety of said seafarers; that an intimate knowledge of the Newfoundland and Labrador coastline is instrumental in assuring a quick response time when a situation arises; that the staff of St. John's Maritime Rescue Sub-Centre possesses the expertise and knowledge of our waters needed to adequately and appropriately serve our seafarers; and that the safety of our citizens should override fiscal priorities.

Therefore, the petitioners call on the Government of Canada to instruct the Department of Fisheries and Oceans to maintain a staffed Maritime rescue sub-centre in St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador and to ensure that services offered at this sub-centre are not reduced in nature or scope.

The seriousness of this situation cannot be underscored. It is important that the government reconsider its decision and keeps this centre open.

Citizenship and ImmigrationPetitionsRoutine Proceedings

3:40 p.m.

NDP

Matthew Kellway NDP Beaches—East York, ON

Madam Speaker, one of the very first events I attended as a member of Parliament was a Mother's Day event put on by the South Asian Women's Rights Organization. It should have been an event of happiness and celebration, but it was an event of many tears and much frustration owing to the unreasonable delays in the processing times of immigration applications to reunite families of new Canadians.

The women at this event asked that I introduce into the House a petition. The petition requests that the House ensures that Citizenship and Immigration Canada addresses the imbalance of the parents and grandparents immigration processing times and makes global service standards equitable.

I am honoured to so present this petition.

HealthPetitionsRoutine Proceedings

3:40 p.m.

Liberal

Lawrence MacAulay Liberal Cardigan, PE

Madam Speaker, I am pleased to present a petition that was put together in conjunction with the Relay for Life. This petition is from a group of people in eastern Prince Edward Island who are with the Cancer Society. They are very concerned about the cost of drugs and have asked me to present this petition to the House.

The participants of the Relay for Life 2011 know that the financial burden of the care and treatment can be significant for those fighting cancer and their families.

Therefore, the petitioners call upon the government to implement a catastrophic drug program that would improve access to necessary medication for all Islanders.

The EnvironmentPetitionsRoutine Proceedings

3:40 p.m.

NDP

Nathan Cullen NDP Skeena—Bulkley Valley, BC

Madam Speaker, I have several petitions to present today. The first two petitions are signed by hundreds of constituents from my riding and right across British Columbia.

The first petition calls for a ban on supertanker traffic on British Columbia's north coast. It explicitly names the Enbridge gateway project as a threat to our economy, our culture and very way of life.

Aboriginal AffairsPetitionsRoutine Proceedings

3:40 p.m.

NDP

Nathan Cullen NDP Skeena—Bulkley Valley, BC

Madam Speaker, the second petition is signed by dozens of my constituents.

The petitioners call upon the government to not only follow-up on the apology that was made to first nations for the abuses that took place at residential schools, but to redistribute the funds for the Aboriginal Healing Foundation.

These constituents find it an utter hypocrisy that the government on one hand would apologize for past mistakes, but then continue those mistakes by not supporting the good work of groups like the Aboriginal healing Foundation.

AsbestosPetitionsRoutine Proceedings

3:45 p.m.

NDP

Nathan Cullen NDP Skeena—Bulkley Valley, BC

Madam Speaker, the last petition is quite timely. Today Canada shamefully took its place on the world stage refusing the consensus to list chrysotile asbestos as a dangerous substance in the international convention.

Petitioners from across Canada call for an outright ban of the export of this most dangerous element as it is the world's leading industrial killer. It is a known cause of cancer for many years now. Yet the Conservative government somehow feels comfortable being utterly complicit in the support and promotion of asbestos around the world.

Finally, today in Copenhagen, India came on board and said that asbestos must be listed as a dangerous substance, and these petitioners back that up.

Guaranteed Income SupplementPetitionsRoutine Proceedings

3:45 p.m.

Liberal

Kevin Lamoureux Liberal Winnipeg North, MB

Madam Speaker, at the time we are winding down and the budget is going through the final process, the petition that I bring forward is from signatories asking for the government to recognize that the amount of supplement given under the GIS just is not enough to cover the costs of seniors.

They are calling on the government to recognize the need to give more to our seniors through the GIS. It is with pleasure that I table this petition today.

Questions on the Order PaperRoutine Proceedings

3:45 p.m.

Regina—Lumsden—Lake Centre Saskatchewan

Conservative

Tom Lukiwski ConservativeParliamentary Secretary to the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons

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

Questions on the Order PaperRoutine Proceedings

3:45 p.m.

NDP

The Deputy Speaker NDP Denise Savoie

Is that agreed?

Questions on the Order PaperRoutine Proceedings

3:45 p.m.

Some hon. members

Agreed.