Debates of Nov. 7th, 2012

Prairie Shelterbelt Program

[Ralph Goodale, Liberal, Wascana, SK]

Mr. Speaker, I have three more petitions to file today, all of them signed by people all across the province of Saskatchewan. In one petition they come from southwestern Saskatchewan, Golden Prairie, Maple Creek, Fox Valley and various other locations, then from Neilburg and in the Battleford area of Saskatchewan.

A second petition, again on the same subject, is from people around Chaplin, Saskatchewan, Mortlach, Parkbeg and various other communities, as well as Cupar, Southey and Earl Grey.

A third petition is signed by people in the Oxbow area, Glen Ewan, Alameda, Carnduff and various other locations in Saskatchewan, Aneroid and Ponteix among them.

All these petitioners draw attention to the fact that the government has cut funding for the prairie shelterbelt program and is in the process of selling off the historic tree farm at Indian Head, Saskatchewan.

The petitioners call upon the Government of Canada to maintain funding for the prairie shelterbelt program and specifically to maintain adequate financial support for the tree farm at Indian Head, which has been an integral part of prairie agriculture since 1901.

Canadian Catholic Organization for Development and Peace

[Gerald Keddy, Conservative, South Shore—St. Margaret's, NS]

Mr. Speaker, I rise in the House today to present a petition to the House of Commons from my riding of South Shore—St. Margaret's, primarily from the Hubbards-Black Point-St. Margaret's Bay area of the riding.

The petition is on the financial support for the Canadian Catholic Organization for Development and Peace.

Housing

[Marie-Claude Morin, NDP, Saint-Hyacinthe—Bagot, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I am honoured to rise today to present a petition signed by people in my riding calling on the House of Commons to pass Bill C-400 to adopt a national housing strategy.

Patent Act

[Bradley Trost, Conservative, Saskatoon—Humboldt, SK]

Mr. Speaker, I have a petition from constituents concerning Canada's Access to Medicines Regime. The petitioners are in support of Bill C-393.

Experimental Lakes Area

[Geoff Regan, Liberal, Halifax West, NS]

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to rise and present a petition from 56 people, most of whom are from my riding of Halifax West, but some also from the remainder of Halifax and from the province of Quebec.

The petitioners call upon the Government of Canada to recognize the importance of the Environmental Lakes Area to the Government of Canada's mandate to study, preserve and protect aquatic ecosystems, 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. I thank them for this petition.

Gatineau Park

[Mathieu Ravignat, NDP, Pontiac, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to rise today to present a petition that underscores the importance of protecting Gatineau Park. This petition has been signed by Canadians from coast to coast, from Newfoundland and Labrador to British Columbia. The petitioners are calling on the House of Commons to “adopt legislation giving the Gatineau Park the necessary legal protection to ensure its preservation for future generations”.

In other words, what the petitioners are telling us is that Gatineau Park is a Canadian treasure that must be protected as of today.

The Environment

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

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to present two petitions. The first petition is from residents in the area around Vancouver and Burnaby.

The petitioners call on the House to put forward a permanent legislated moratorium and ban on crude oil tankers on the British Columbia coast.

Canada-China Investment Treaty

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

Mr. Speaker, the second petition is from residents of Ontario, British Columbia and also in and around my riding.

The petitioners call upon the House to step up and find some way to avoid the ratification of the Canada-China investment treaty. We know that it no longer is before the House, having been tabled for 21 days without debate. The petitioners call on the House and members herein to find a way to stop ratification.

Development Assistance

[Raymond Côté, NDP, Beauport—Limoilou, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I am honoured to present a petition in support of Development and Peace. The petition calls on the government to finally achieve its target of 0.7% of Canada's GDP for official development assistance and to restore the $49.2 million in funding for the next five years to Development and Peace, a major development organization.

Access to Medicines

[Ève Péclet, NDP, La Pointe-de-l'Île, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I am honoured to present two petitions. The first petition is in support of Bill C-398 to reform Canada's access to medicines regime to facilitate the immediate and sustainable flow of generic medicines to developing countries. This could save millions of lives.

International Co-operation

[Ève Péclet, NDP, La Pointe-de-l'Île, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the second petition comes to us from Development and Peace, which is calling on the government to honour its international commitment to dedicate 0.7% of GDP to development assistance.

Shark Finning

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

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to present two petitions. The first petition is signed by thousands of Canadians. They call on the House of Commons to ban the possession, trade, distribution or offer for sale of shark fins in Canada, understood to be the raw, dried or otherwise processed attached fin or tail of any species of shark. Due to the over-fishing of sharks and shark fins and sharks' slow reproductive rates, the decline in shark numbers has upset the ocean ecosystem.

Experimental Lakes Area

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

Mr. Speaker, the other petition has also been signed by thousands of Canadians. They call on the House to save the ELA, Canada's leading freshwater research station. They call on the House to recognize the importance of the ELA to the Government of Canada's mandate to study, preserve and protect aquatic ecosystems. The petitioners ask that the government reverse its decision to close the ELA research station and to continue to staff and provide financial resources to the ELA at current or higher levels of commitment.

Employment Insurance

[Niki Ashton, NDP, Churchill, MB]

Mr. Speaker, it is my honour to present petitions signed by my constituents from communities like South Indian Lake, Norway House, Wabowden, Easterville, Cross Lake, Berens River, the Opaskwayak Cree Nation, Grand Rapids, Bloodvein and Nelson House.

These Canadians are living in communities that depend on seasonal industries, aboriginal communities that are very concerned about the changes made by the government to EI for seasonal workers. These community members and seasonal workers are asking the federal government to reverse its position and maintain full EI coverage for seasonal workers. It is my honour to share their voices in the House of Commons.

Questions on the Order Paper

[Tom Lukiwski, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons]

Mr. Speaker, the following question will be answered today: No. 894.

[The Acting Speaker, Conservative, Bruce Stanton]

Is that agreed?

[Some hon. members]

Agreed.

Question No. 894

[François Choquette, NDP, Drummond, QC]

With regard to VIA Rail passengers with reduced mobility: (a) how many anchoring mechanisms are currently installed per railway car to accommodate persons with reduced mobility; (b) does VIA Rail have a policy on accommodating people with reduced mobility and, if so, what is it; (c) does VIA Rail keep a file concerning accessibility requests for persons with reduced mobility and, if so, how many requests does it receive on average per (i) day, (ii) week, (iii) month, (iv) year; (d) how many accessibility requests for persons with reduced mobility have been received over the past five years; (e) how many complaints has VIA Rail received concerning accessibility for persons with reduced mobility over the past five years; (f) what were the grounds for the complaints to VIA Rail concerning persons with reduced mobility, did VIA Rail take concrete measures to correct the situation and, if so, what were they; (g) what changes does VIA Rail plan to make to its facilities to accommodate groups with more than two travellers with reduced mobility; (h) what is the estimated cost of modifying a railway car to accommodate more than one person with reduced mobility; and (i) are data available on the accessibility of VIA Rail trains for people with reduced mobility compared to other passenger trains elsewhere in the world and, if the data show differences in accessibility, why hasn’t something been done to address these differences?

[Steven Fletcher, Conservative, Minister of State (Transport)]

Mr. Speaker, in response to (a), there is one anchoring mechanism, wheelchair tie-down, used to accommodate persons who are confined to a wheelchair installed in 86 railway cars used by VIA Rail Canada.

In response to (b), VIA’s policy is that customers with special needs will be treated with the same dignity, respect and care as those who do not require special attention. This policy applies to all types of persons with disabilities, be it physical or mental, permanent or temporary, including children and those travelling on a rail pass. A special service request is added to the passenger reservation file to ensure the file is queued to the appropriate agent, who will make necessary arrangements and confirm available services. Special service requests must be made at least 24 hours in advance, 48 hours in cases of special meals, electric adaptors, stretchers and special stops. All VIA trains are accessible to travelers in wheelchairs and are equipped with wheelchair tie-downs, narrow wheelchairs, tools to reduce the width of certain manual wheelchairs, and grab bars in washrooms. The availability of these services varies according to the train equipment in use. Please see following link for more info: http://www.viarail.ca/en/useful-info/special-needs/reduced-mobility.

Regarding (c) and (d), there is no file or report concerning accessibility requests for persons with reduced mobility. In response to (e), VIA received 101 complaints over the 2008 to 2012 period.

In response to (f), of the 101 complaints received over the five-year period, 47 pertained to on train services related issues, 50 pertained to station services and four to reservations. In response to (f) (i) and (ii), yes, VIA Rail responded to every customer complaint by telephone or by email and followed up where appropriate. This involved in many situations informing and/or reviewing the customer level of service provided by VIA Rail and options available. In other situations the complaints were reviewed and discussed with the activity groups involved with employee follow-up involving assistance related issues.

In response to (g), requests by persons with reduced mobility are handled by VIA Rail’s telephone sales office and travel options are determined based on the group’s travel needs and mobility restrictions as well as the train equipment type and accommodations available. For example, personal manual wheelchairs that are collapsible can be stored in the baggage rack within a passenger rail car while electric wheelchairs can either be accommodated in the assigned wheelchair tie-down or transported in the baggage car where assigned. VIA’s current plans in regard to accessible transportation pertain to the installation of an improved redesigned wheelchair tie-down and accessible washroom in its Renaissance and LRC equipment, Head End Power, HEP 1 sleepers.

Regarding (h) and (i), Via Rail Inc. does not have this information.

Questions Passed as Orders for Returns

[Tom Lukiwski, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons]

Mr. Speaker, if Question Nos. 895 and 898 could be made orders for return, these returns would be tabled immediately.

[The Acting Speaker, Conservative, Bruce Stanton]

Is that agreed?

[Some hon. members]

Agreed.

Question No. 895

[Hélène LeBlanc, NDP, LaSalle—Émard, QC]

What is the total amount of government funding, for each of fiscal years 2010 and 2011, allocated within the constituency of LaSalle—Émard, specifying the department or agency, initiative, and amount?

(Return tabled)

Question No. 898

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

With regard to government communications: (a) what is the (i) headline or subject line, (ii) date, (iii) file or code-number, (iv) subject-matter of each press release which contains the phrase “Harper government” issued by each government department, agency, office, Crown corporation, or other government body since May 1, 2012; (b) for each such press release, was it distributed (i) on the web site of the issuing department, agency, office, Crown corporation, or other government body, (ii) on Marketwire, (iii) on Canada Newswire, (iv) on any other commercial wire or distribution service, specifying which such service; and (c) for each press release distributed by a commercial wire or distribution service mentioned in (b)(ii) through (b)(iv), what was the cost of using that service?