Debates of Oct. 29th, 2012

Public Safety

[Rick Norlock, Conservative, Northumberland—Quinte West, ON]

Mr. Speaker, Hurricane Sandy is bearing down on the northeastern United States today. Media are reporting serious rains, winds and some localized flooding. It is expected that Hurricane Sandy will hit Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia in the coming days.

Could the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Public Safety please, once again, reassure Canadians on preparations for the upcoming storm?

[Candice Bergen, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Public Safety]

Mr. Speaker, our government stands ready to assist the provinces with the effects of Hurricane Sandy if that assistance is required. The Canadian Forces and the Canadian Coast Guard are standing ready to assist. Health Canada has reviewed the national emergency stockpile and the Government Operations Centre is working around the clock to ensure that all necessary assets are in place.

We encourage all Canadians to ensure that they, too, are ready to deal with the hurricane. We encourage them to visit the website getprepared.gc.ca to ensure that their families have emergency plans in place.

Government Spending

[Charmaine Borg, NDP, Terrebonne—Blainville, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the Conservatives promised that the cuts announced in their most recent budget would not affect service to Canadians.

We have learned that the next wave of layoffs will affect project development officers at Human Resources and Skills Development Canada, and that all of those positions in the Montreal north shore office will be affected.

Organizations that provide assistance to the community will no longer be supported, and Canadians will be the ones who lose out the most.

Why are the Conservatives attacking community organizations?

[Diane Finley, Conservative, Minister of Human Resources and Skills Development]

Mr. Speaker, Canadians entrusted us with the responsibility of spending their tax dollars wisely. That is why over the last few years we have been reviewing how we could deliver programs and services to Canadians and finding better, more efficient and effective ways of spending their tax dollars, while maintaining levels of service.

There is more than one way to do things. We are looking for the best way.

The Environment

[Bruce Hyer, Independent, Thunder Bay—Superior North, ON]

Mr. Speaker, dozens of towns in northern Ontario, including Kenora, Dryden, Sioux Lookout and Lake of the Woods, have passed resolutions demanding that the Conservatives reverse their decision to close the Experimental Lakes Area. Thousands of people from the Kenora riding are among the 25,000 Canadians who have signed petitions to save the ELA.

Instead of taking his orders from the Prime Minister, will the member of Parliament for Kenora actually stand up for his constituents?

[Maxime Bernier, Conservative, Minister of State (Small Business and Tourism)]

Mr. Speaker, we are very proud of our investments in research and development. It is too bad that the NDP chose not to support our last budget, which increased investments in that area.

Furthermore, we want to transform how the National Research Council operates in Canada. We want to turn it into a more productive research centre that focuses on science and innovation.

Presence in Gallery

[The Speaker, Conservative, Andrew Scheer]

I would like to draw to the attention of hon. members the presence in the gallery of Mr. Philip Bradbourn, Chairman of the Delegation for Relations with Canada of the European Parliament.

[Some hon. members]

Hear, hear!

[Jean Crowder, NDP, Nanaimo—Cowichan, BC]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to seek unanimous consent to move the following motion: That, notwithstanding any Standing Order or usual practice of the House, clauses 206 to 209, related to the changes to the Indian Act, be removed from Bill C-45, A second Act to implement certain provisions of the budget tabled in Parliament on March 29, 2012 and other measures and do compose Bill C-47; that Bill C-47 be entitled “an act to amend the Indian Act”; that Bill C-47 be deemed read a first time and be printed; that the order for second reading of the said bill provide for the referral to the Standing Committee on Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development; that Bill C-45 retain the status on the order paper that it had prior to the adoption of this order; that Bill C-45 be reprinted as amended; and that the Law Clerk and the Parliamentary Counsel be authorized to make any technical changes or corrections as may be necessary to give effect to this motion.

We are proposing this motion in order to conduct a thorough review of the potential impact of this legislation on first nations across the country.

[The Speaker, Conservative, Andrew Scheer]

Does the hon. member have the unanimous consent of the House to move this motion?

[Some hon. members]

Agreed.

No.

Rights of the Unborn

[Patricia Davidson, Conservative, Sarnia—Lambton, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to rise today to present two petitions. One petition is in support of Motion No. 312.

International Waterway Borders

[Patricia Davidson, Conservative, Sarnia—Lambton, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the second petition requests the House to have a full review of the standing requirements to report for the maritime borders of waterways on international borders and that we consider harmonizing the regulations and policies between Canada and United States.

Asbestos

[Pat Martin, NDP, Winnipeg Centre, MB]

Mr. Speaker, I have a petition signed by hundreds of people from the Sarnia—Lambton region who call upon the Government of Canada to take note that asbestos is the greatest industrial killer that the world has ever known. The petitioners point out that more Canadians now die from asbestos than all other industrial or occupational causes combined.

Therefore, the signatories from the Sarnia and Lambton area of the province of Ontario call upon Parliament to ban asbestos in all of its forms, to ban the abstraction, production, sale and export of asbestos in all of its forms and to stop the importation of asbestos laden products from other countries.

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 the 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 and to require follow-up care.

Justice

[John Weston, Conservative, West Vancouver—Sunshine Coast—Sea to Sky Country, BC]

Mr. Speaker, I have the honour to rise today to present a petition from a large group of people from the riding I represent. They are concerned about women caught in prostitution.

The petitioners propose that there be no move to decriminalize prostitution and in fact that the onus be moved against those who are the buyers of the services of prostitutes.

Public Safety

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

Mr. Speaker, I have three petitions today. The first one is from citizens in my riding concerned about the smart metres.

The petitioners call upon Parliament to convene a panel of experts to hold public hearings to review the need to update Safety Code 6, based on recent scientific evidence that existing requirements do not adequately protect the safety and health of Canadians.

International Aid

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

Mr. Speaker, my second petition is also from folks in my riding, in Procter, Nelson and other areas, supporting Bill C-398.

The petitioners say that because of the devastation AIDS has caused in Africa, they call upon the House of Commons, without significant amendment, to facilitate the immediate and sustainable flow of life-saving generic medicines to developing countries.

Animal Welfare

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

Mr. Speaker, the third petition is in support of my Bill C-322, An Act to amend the Health of Animals Act and the Meat Inspection Act (slaughter of horses for human consumption).

The petitioners call for the prohibition of importation or exportation of horses for slaughter for human consumption, as well as horsemeat products for human consumption. There are over 300 names from Ontario.

Experimental Lakes Area

[Bruce Hyer, Independent, Thunder Bay—Superior North, ON]

Mr. Speaker, once again I rise to present petitions from the residents of Dryden, Ontario on the topic of the Experimental Lakes Area.

In the 2012 budget, the government made the ill-advised decision to close the ELA, depriving Canadians of the groundbreaking scientific advancements it provided. I have two more petitions on the same subject, one from Ear Falls, Ontario, and the other from New Brunswick and Nova Scotia. I am receiving dozens and dozens of these every day from across Canada.

Access to Medicines

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

Mr. Speaker, I have a petition that has been certified by the clerk. It has been signed by a number of residents in my riding of Kitchener—Waterloo and others across the Waterloo region.

The petition expresses a concern, which I certainly share, regarding the devastating impacts of HIV-AIDS in developing countries, particularly in Africa. The petition calls upon the government to reform Canada's access to medicines regime and to make the regime more workable.

Environmental Lakes Area

[Fin Donnelly, NDP, New Westminster—Coquitlam, BC]

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to submit a petition to save the Environmental Lakes Area, the ELA.

There are thousands of Canadians from across the country who have submitted their names. The petitioners want the Government of Canada to recognize the importance of the ELA to the Government of Canada's mandate to study, preserve and protect aquatic ecosystems; to reverse the decision to close the ELA research station; and to continue to staff and provide financial resources to the ELA at the current or higher level of commitment.

Old Age Security

[François Choquette, NDP, Drummond, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I have two petitions to present today. The first one is from my constituents of Drummond, who are asking the Conservative government to protect old age security. They are completely against the two-year increase in the age of eligibility for old age security. They feel that it is a shameful attack on the neediest members of our society.

Chemicals Management Plan

[François Choquette, NDP, Drummond, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I have another petition from constituents in my riding and the surrounding areas. It has to do with Environment Canada's chemicals management plan. Currently, we do not know how toxic the chemicals we are using to extract shale gas are. We do not yet know what their impact will be on the environment and on our health.

It will take a long time for the chemicals management plan to work. According to some estimates, we will have to wait until 2020 before we know the hazards of all the chemicals currently being used. In addition, cuts to this plan have been announced in the budget, which will hinder efforts to determine the toxicity of the chemicals. That is why I am presenting this petition.

Agriculture and Agri-Food

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

Mr. Speaker, it is my honour to present a petition from constituents in my riding, from Salt Spring Island, Galiano and throughout Saanich. The petition calls upon the Minister of Agriculture, with whom I have had several personal conversations on the matter, to reconsider the closing of the plant health centre, which for 100 years has served the interests of science in understanding viruses. Since 1960, it has been the national centre for the quarantine of plant viruses. It is simply not feasible to pursue the current plan to move these facilities to the Okanagan.

Therefore, I table this petition, which is calling for the plant health centre to remain open, on behalf of my constituents.