House of Commons Hansard #14 of the 41st Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament's site.) The word of the day was post.
The Speaker Conservative Andrew Scheer
I have the honour, pursuant to section 11 of the Lobbying Act, to lay upon the table the report of the Commissioner of Lobbying for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2011.
The Speaker Conservative Andrew Scheer
I also have the honour to lay upon the table the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal's 2010 annual report.
Yukon Land Claims and Self-Government AgreementsRoutine Proceedings
Vancouver Island North B.C.
Conservative
John Duncan ConservativeMinister of Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development
Mr. Speaker, under the provisions of Standing Order 32(2) I have the honour to table, in both official languages, copies of the 2007-2009 biennial report of the Yukon land claims and self-government agreements.
Irene Mathyssen NDP London—Fanshawe, ON
moved for leave to introduce Bill C-253, An Act to amend the Access to Information Act (response time).
Mr. Speaker, the purpose of the bill is to ensure that timely responses to access to information requests are made. Delays have been quite common with these requests and the Canadian public deserve timely responses to their requests.
The bill would require that a report be sent to the requester setting out a full explanation for the delay and that it include a projected completion date.
I have made many access requests and have received lots of apologies, but months and months, even a year and a half later, I still had not received the information I required.
The bill would also require that the Information Commissioner include outstanding requests in his or her annual report to Parliament.
(Motions deemed adopted, bill read the first time and printed)
Irene Mathyssen NDP London—Fanshawe, ON
moved for leave to introduce Bill C-254, An Act to amend the Income Tax Act and the Employment Insurance Act (severance pay).
Mr. Speaker, the purpose of the bill is to assist people who lose their jobs and enable them to better manage their money.
First, to help people save for retirement, the bill would change the Income Tax Act to allow a taxpayer to apply for a one-time contribution of any severance pay to his or her RRSP.
The bill also calls for changes to the Employment Insurance Act to exclude severance pay from the determination of earnings when determining deductions from benefits or the commencement date of the payment of benefits. This would ensure that those who were laid off would receive their benefits sooner. It would enable them to manage to continue with their mortgage payments and to pay for their kids' education instead of waiting and waiting for the employment insurance benefits they deserve. It would also allow older workers to invest their severance in RRSPs without penalty.
(Motions deemed adopted, bill read the first time and printed)
Irene Mathyssen NDP London—Fanshawe, ON
moved for leave to introduce Bill C-255, An Act to establish and maintain a national Breast Implant Registry.
Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank my former colleague, Ms. Judy Wasylycia-Leis, for introducing the bill in previous Parliaments. Like her, I believe the bill is very important for the health and safety of women. It is essential that there be a registry of breast implants and that it be maintained so that if there are health risks associated with any implants, the people involved can be identified and contacted.
Women have suffered dreadfully in the past. We do not want to see that happen in future.
(Motions deemed adopted, bill read the first time and printed)
Irene Mathyssen NDP London—Fanshawe, ON
moved for leave to introduce Bill C-256, An Act to amend the Criminal Code (firefighters).
Mr. Speaker, I am very pleased to introduce this bill.
Firefighters put their lives on the line each and every day to protect us, our homes, our families and our communities. This bill would give added protection to firefighters because it would stiffen penalties for those who would attack or wilfully harm a firefighter.
We know there are plans afoot to get rid of the gun registry. Firefighters have indicated very clearly to me that they would be very concerned if no one knew where the guns were and they were going into a situation where their lives were under threat.
The bill also provides for stiffer penalties for those who directly and purposely commit arson.
(Motions deemed adopted, bill read the first time and printed)
Alex Atamanenko NDP British Columbia Southern Interior, BC
moved for leave to introduce Bill C-257, An Act to amend the Food and Drugs Act (mandatory labelling for genetically modified foods).
Mr. Speaker, this is a reintroduction of a previous bill I had. It is timely as it would amend the Food and Drugs Act to ensure there is labelling with regard to genetically modified foods.
Some may ask why this bill is necessary. Canadians are becoming more and more concerned about the food they eat. Independent research is difficult to find when dealing with this topic. There are scientists in the world who have found adverse effects. For example, studies were done on Monsanto's MON 810 corn in Europe. As a result, this corn has been banned in a number of European countries. Bulgaria has a total ban on GMOs because of health and environmental concerns.
This bill is about the choice of Canadians to determine what they want or do not want to eat.
(Motions deemed adopted, bill read the first time and printed)
Alex Atamanenko NDP British Columbia Southern Interior, BC
moved for leave to introduce Bill C-258, An Act to amend the Parliament of Canada Act and the Canada Post Corporation Act (use of resources by members).
Mr. Speaker, this is a reintroduction of a previous bill I had. It comes as a result of tampering with previous board of director elections at the Canadian Wheat Board. It says that MPs should not interfere with any democratic process, such as electoral processes, of any organization such as the Canadian Wheat Board or other crown corporations. It is my hope that we will ensure that does not happen.
(Motions deemed adopted, bill read the first time and printed)
Alex Atamanenko NDP British Columbia Southern Interior, BC
moved for leave to introduce Bill C-259, An Act to amend the Excise Tax Act (goods and services tax on school authorities).
Mr. Speaker, this is a very important bill for school authorities in our country. Currently, school authorities get a GST rebate of 68%. We want to make sure it is 100%, the same that municipalities receive.
School authorities in my riding are suffering because of a lack of adequate funding from the provincial government. They often have to make hard choices which involve decisions to shut down schools, which often pits one small community against another.
This would be a small step the federal government could do to ensure that school authorities had a little more cash as they put forward their budgets and try to overcome those difficulties.
(Motions deemed adopted, bill read the first time and printed)
Carolyn Bennett Liberal St. Paul's, ON
moved for leave to introduce Bill C-260, An Act to amend the Statistics Act (mandatory long-form census questionnaire).
Mr. Speaker, it is a pleasure to reintroduce the bill. It would enshrine the mandatory long form census into the Statistics Act so that never again would we have a census without the comparable data, which unfortunately happened this year. At least in the 2016 census there would be comparable data to 2006 and we would know whether or not our programs were working.
It puts the count in accountability. We hope that members opposite who care about accountability will understand the folly of removing the mandatory long form census and will support this bill.
(Motions deemed adopted, bill read the first time and printed)
Rick Norlock Conservative Northumberland—Quinte West, ON
moved for leave to introduce Bill C-261, An Act respecting a National Hunting, Trapping and Fishing Heritage Day.
Mr. Speaker, what an honour it is once again to introduce this bill. This will be the third time that this bill has been introduced. I am pleased that the member for Bruce—Grey—Owen Sound saw fit to second my bill.
The member and I share a heritage that is shared by many Canadians right across the country from coast to coast to coast. That is the love of the outdoors and conservation. That means being able to harvest deer and other animals, which is a tradition in this country. Hunting and fishing are not only traditions of Canadians but to this day, first nations people subsist on them. Their main way of feeding their families is by hunting and fishing.
My grandfather was a trapper. Many first nations, Inuit and aboriginals right across the country still use trapping as a major source of income.
I am pleased to introduce this bill in the 41st Parliament in the sincere hope that it comes to fruition.
(Motions deemed adopted, bill read the first time and printed)
Claude Gravelle NDP Nickel Belt, ON
moved for leave to introduce Bill C-262, An Act to amend the Holidays Act and to make consequential amendments to other Acts (St. John the Baptist Day).
Mr. Speaker, it is an honour to rise today to introduce my private member's bill, An Act to amend the Holidays Act and to make consequential amendments to other Acts (St. John the Baptist Day). This bill is seconded by the member for Gaspésie—Îles-de-la-Madeleine and would make St. John the Baptist Day a national holiday in Canada.
As Franco-Ontarians, my family and I have always enjoyed celebrating this holiday. French Canadians across the country have said that they support this important holiday.
I invite all members to support this bill, which will allow us to celebrate our rich Quebec, Franco-Ontarian, Franco-Manitoban, Franco-Albertan and Acadian culture on June 24.
(Motions deemed adopted, bill read the first time and printed)
Libby Davies NDP Vancouver East, BC
moved for leave to introduce Bill C-263, An Act to amend the Canadian Human Rights Act (social condition).
Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank my colleague, the member for Windsor—Tecumseh, for seconding this bill.
This bill is important because it would prohibit discrimination on the grounds of social condition. It would prohibit discrimination against people who are experiencing social or economic disadvantage on the basis of their source of income, occupation, level of education, poverty, lack of adequate housing, homelessness, or any other similar circumstance.
There are people in our society who have been economically and socially discriminated against based on those various grounds. They face terrible discrimination, whether it is with respect to housing or employment, or accessing public services or community services. It is important that the Criminal Code be clear, that it would be against the law to discriminate against someone on the basis of poverty.
I am pleased to introduce this bill today. I hope that all members of the House will support the bill, because we recognize discrimination as a serious issue in our society that needs to be addressed.
(Motions deemed adopted, bill read the first time and printed)
Libby Davies NDP Vancouver East, BC
moved for leave to introduce Bill C-264, An Act to amend the Criminal Code (social condition).
Mr. Speaker, this is a companion bill to the bill that I just introduced that would amend the Human Rights Act. This bill would amend the Criminal Code on the basis that we need to stop discrimination against people who are poor, disadvantaged or face homelessness.
This bill would create an amendment to the Criminal Code to establish an increased sentence where there is evidence that the offence was motivated by bias, prejudice or hate based on the social condition of the victim.
Unfortunately, we do have these kinds of cases in our society, and they are all too common. Therefore, it is important that there be recognition in the Criminal Code that it is a heinous crime and that a sentence be added to address when poor people are bashed, assaulted or discriminated against simply on the basis of their social condition.
I hope that if this bill is enacted and supported by the House, it will prevent that from happening. We need to have equality in this country so that people who have low incomes or who are poor will not face this kind of discrimination.
(Motions deemed adopted, bill read the first time and printed)
Rathika Sitsabaiesan NDP Scarborough—Rouge River, ON
moved for leave to introduce Bill C-265, An Act to establish criteria and conditions in respect of funding for post-secondary education programs in order to ensure the quality, accessibility, public administration and accountability of those programs.
Mr. Speaker, this bill comes from the history of how our education system is right now. Post-secondary education is not something that is easily accessible and affordable for all Canadians. This bill would enshrine the principles of good quality education and make post-secondary education accessible and affordable to all Canadians.
I sincerely hope that this House will adopt this motion during this session of Parliament.
I am proud to introduce this as my first private members' bill in the Canadian House of Commons.
(Motions deemed adopted, bill read the first time and printed)
Garry Breitkreuz Conservative Yorkton—Melville, SK
Mr. Speaker, since July 1999, the Chinese Communist Party launched an eradication campaign against the practitioners of Falun Gong. Its policy is to destroy their reputation, bankrupt them financially and eliminate them completely. It has led to the arbitrary detention and torture of hundreds of thousands of Falun Gong practitioners for their beliefs.
Eleven Canadian members are serving jail terms of up to 12 years simply for their belief in the Falun Gong faith.
The medical community, the UN Committee Against Torture and many other organizations have shown great concern that living Falun Gong practitioners have been slaughtered en masse for their vital organs for organ transplant tourism.
Free and democratic nations have a responsibility to condemn crimes against humanity and the shameless disregard for human life wherever they occur.
These dozens of petitioners publicly condemn the Chinese Communist regime's illegal persecution against the Falun Gong and ask for help to rescue the listed family members of Canadians who are incarcerated simply for their belief in the Falun Gong faith.
Pat Martin NDP Winnipeg Centre, MB
Mr. Speaker, I am proud to rise to present a petition on behalf of literally thousands of Canadians from all across the country calling upon Parliament to recognize that asbestos is the greatest industrial killer that the world has ever known. They point out that more people die from asbestos than all other industrial causes combined and yet, they point out, Canada remains one of the largest producers and exporters of asbestos in the world.
This petition calls upon Canada to stop spending millions of dollars subsidizing the asbestos industry, as well as to stop blocking international efforts to curb its use.
Therefore, the petitioners call upon Parliament to ban asbestos in all of its forms and institute a just transition program for any asbestos workers or miners and the communities in which they live in, 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.
Kevin Lamoureux Liberal Winnipeg North, MB
Mr. Speaker, many families here in Canada have attempted to get family members from abroad, particularly in countries like Philippines and India, to come to Canada to visit.
This petition asks the government to look at the way in which visitor visas are being issued and, in particular, how they are being denied. They ask that the government take more action so that family members from abroad are better able to come to Canada and participate in things such as funerals, weddings and other types of family celebrations. There are so many reasons.
It is with pleasure that I table this particular petition here today.
Questions on the Order PaperRoutine Proceedings
Regina—Lumsden—Lake Centre Saskatchewan
Conservative
Tom Lukiwski ConservativeParliamentary Secretary to the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons
Mr. Speaker, I ask that all questions be allowed to stand.
Motion that debate be not further adjournedResumption and Continuation of Postal Services LegislationGovernment Orders
York—Simcoe Ontario
Conservative
Peter Van Loan ConservativeLeader of the Government in the House of Commons
Mr. Speaker, with respect to the consideration of Government Business No. 3, I move:
That the debate be not further adjourned.
Motion that debate be not further adjournedResumption and Continuation of Postal Services LegislationGovernment Orders
Conservative
The Speaker Conservative Andrew Scheer
Pursuant to Standing Order 67.1 there will now be a 30-minute question period. I invite hon. members who wish to ask questions to rise in their place so the Chair has some idea of the number of members who wish to participate in this question period.
Given the number of members who have expressed an interest, I will ask members to keep their questions to one minute and the minister's response to one minute. In that way we will try to accommodate as many as possible.
Motion that debate be not further adjournedResumption and Continuation of Postal Services LegislationGovernment Orders
NDP
Yvon Godin NDP Acadie—Bathurst, NB
Mr. Speaker, we are all aware, unfortunately, that Canada Post locked out its employees, even though they wanted to go back to the bargaining table to ensure that Canada Post would honour the previous collective agreement and give Canada Post workers the benefits to which they were entitled.
The government refused to ask Canada Post to go back to the bargaining table, stating that it did not wish to interfere in the negotiations. But at the same time, it introduced back-to-work legislation and imposed wages that were lower than those that Canada Post had offered the workers.
My question is for the government. Why is the Conservative government imposing legislation that will give workers lower wages than what had already been agreed to by Canada Post? Why does the Conservative government have such hatred for the workers of this country?