Debates of Oct. 18th, 2012

Public Sector Integrity Commissioner

[The Speaker, Conservative, Andrew Scheer]

I have the honour, pursuant to section 38 of the Public Servants Disclosure Protection Act, to lay upon the table the special report of the Public Sector Integrity Commissioner concerning an investigation into a disclosure of wrongdoing.

This report is deemed permanently referred to the Standing Committee on Government Operations and Estimates.

Government Operations and Estimates

[Tony Clement, Conservative, President of the Treasury Board and Minister for the Federal Economic Development Initiative for Northern Ontario]

Mr. Speaker, in accordance with Standing Order 109, I have the honour to table, in both official languages, the government's response to the seventh report of the Standing Committee on Government Operations and Estimates on strengthening parliamentary scrutiny of estimates of supply.

Jobs and Growth Act, 2012

[John Baird, Conservative, Ottawa West—Nepean, ON]

moved for leave to introduce Bill C-45, A second Act to implement certain provisions of the budget tabled in Parliament on March 29, 2012 and other measures.

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

Canadian Heritage

[Rob Moore, Conservative, Fundy Royal, NB]

Mr. Speaker, I have the honour to present, in both official languages, the fifth report of the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage in relation to Bill S-201, An Act respecting a National Philanthropy Day.

The committee has studied the bill and has decided to report the bill back to the House without amendments.

Safe Foods for Canadians Act

[Gerry Ritz, Conservative, Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food and Minister for the Canadian Wheat Board]

moved that Bill S-11, An Act respecting food commodities, including their inspection, their safety, their labelling and advertising, their import, export and interprovincial trade, the establishment of standards for them, the registration or licensing of persons who perform certain activities related to them, the establishment of standards governing establishments where those activities are performed and the registration of establishments where those activities are performed, be read the first time.

(Motion agreed to and bill read the first time)

Criminal Code

[Massimo Pacetti, Liberal, Saint-Léonard—Saint-Michel, QC]

moved for leave to introduce Bill S-209, An Act to amend the Criminal Code (prize fights).

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to introduce Bill S-209, An Act to amend the Criminal Code (prize fights).

This legislation seeks to amend the Criminal Code by expanding the list of permitted sports under the prize fighting provisions. This change to Canada's prize fighting laws is long overdue.

Mixed martial arts have come a long way as a sport in the past 20 years. Their safety record is admirable, their product is popular throughout Canada and worldwide, and the list of Canadians like Georges St-Pierre who excel at this sport is constantly growing.

I am proud to do my part as a member of Parliament to modernize our laws, since this particular part of the Criminal Code has not been updated since 1934.

Currently, close to 100,000 Canadians who practice combat sports, some of these sports are recognized by the International Olympic committee, such as judo and tae kwon do, can be considered to doing so illegally under the current provisions of the Criminal Code. Bill S-209 would merely correct this oversight so that Canada can effectively regulate acceptable combat sports openly.

Seeing as how this bill is non-controversial and is a sensible piece of legislation that clearly addresses a blind spot in the Criminal Code, I look forward to seeing the bill passed expeditiously with the support and co-operation of all members.

(Motion agreed to and bill read the first time)

[Gerry Ritz, Conservative, Battlefords—Lloydminster, SK]

Mr. Speaker, there has been consultation with all of the parties regarding the second reading of Bill S-11, the safe foods for Canadians act, and I would ask for unanimous consent for the following motion. I move that notwithstanding any Standing Order or usual practice of the House, Bill S-11, An Act respecting food commodities, including their inspection, their safety, their labelling and advertising, their import, export and interprovincial trade, the establishment of standards for them, the registration or licensing of persons who perform certain activities related to them, the establishment of standards governing establishments where those activities are performed and the registration of establishments where those activities are performed, be deemed read a second time and referred to the Standing Committee on Agriculture and Agri-Food.

[The Speaker, Conservative, Andrew Scheer]

Does the hon. minister have the unanimous consent of the House to propose this motion?

[Some hon. members]

Agreed.

No.

[Nathan Cullen, NDP, Skeena—Bulkley Valley, BC]

Mr. Speaker, I rise on this point of order because I am slightly confused by what the Minister of Agriculture just proposed. He suggested in his submission that there had been some sort of consultations that had been agreed to by the other parties. The bill sat in the Senate for more than 120 days. The bill was also killed by the government by prorogation. We have told the government quite clearly that we are looking to expeditiously move this through to the second phase into the committee for study--

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh!

[Nathan Cullen, NDP, Skeena—Bulkley Valley, BC]

Allow me this, Mr. Speaker, because I thought the government actually had some respect for the parliamentary process. If the Conservatives sought some urgency on this, clearly more than four months in the Senate does not describe urgency. If they had sought some urgency on this, why was it killed through prorogation in the previous iteration of the bill. It seems like a strange idea that they would now come through and say that there have been consultations to do what the minister has just suggested when there have not been.

We will move this expeditiously through while respecting the democratic principles that I thought we had all agreed with.

Business of Supply

[Nycole Turmel, NDP, Hull—Aylmer, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I believe there is unanimous consent among all parties to adopt the following motion. I move:

That, notwithstanding any Standing Order or usual practice of the House, at the conclusion of today's debate on the opposition motion in the name of the Member for Welland, all questions necessary to dispose of the motion be deemed put and a recorded division deemed requested and deferred to Tuesday, October 23rd, 2012, at the expiry of the time provided for Government Orders.

[The Speaker, Conservative, Andrew Scheer]

Does the hon. member for Hull—Aylmer have the unanimous consent of the House to move 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)

Rights of the Unborn

[Leon Benoit, Conservative, Vegreville—Wainwright, AB]

Mr. Speaker, I am still getting petitions in which the petitioners ask that Canada's 400-year-old definition of a human being be debated, be dealt with at committee and be changed to reflect the knowledge gained through modern science.

Multiple Sclerosis

[Kirsty Duncan, Liberal, Etobicoke North, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to present this petition regarding CCSVI. The Conservative dominated Senate committee is refusing to hear from those who have MS. Can anyone imagine a committee silencing a cancer patient, a heart patient or someone living in poverty? Why, then, are MS patients being silenced as well as a well-known Canadian CCSVI expert, Dr. Sandy McDonald? Why is the government shutting down these important voices?

The petitioners call for 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 at multiple sites across Canada and to require follow-up care.

Justice

[Roxanne James, Conservative, Scarborough Centre, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I have a number of petitions today from concerned Canadians asking that Omar Khadr be tried for treason under the laws of Canada for his actions against coalition forces in Afghanistan.

Security Certificates

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

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to present two petitions. The first relates to the use of security certificates.

The petitioners from the Toronto area call on the House to note that the use of these provisions really offends traditions of common law and respect for human rights going back to Magna Carta and they ask for the House to take action against security certificates.

The Environment

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

Mr. Speaker, the second petition is from residents of the Vancouver area calling for the House to take action to ensure that the coastline of British Columbia is safe from the risk of spills from large supertankers.

[Lawrence MacAulay, Liberal, Cardigan, PE]

Mr. Speaker, I have the honour to present a petition on behalf of a number of Canadians who wish to draw to the attention of the House that freshwater is essential for life and vital to the social, spiritual and economic well-being of Canadians. Canada's Experimental Lakes Area is a unique world-renowned facility for freshwater research and education. Since 1968, the ELA has been a global leader in conducting whole ecosystem experiments that have been critical in shaping environmental policy and understanding the human impact on lakes and fishers.

Therefore, the petitioners call upon the House to recognize the importance of ELA to the Government of Canada's mandate to study, preserve and protect aquatic ecosystems, reverse the decision to close the ELA research station and continue to staff and provide financial resources to the ELA at the current or higher level of commitment.

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.