Debates of Dec. 6th, 2012

Bill C-377—Income Tax Act—Speaker's Ruling

[The Speaker, Conservative, Andrew Scheer]

I am now prepared to rule on the point of order raised on November 22, 2012 by the hon. member for Rosemont—La Petite-Patrie regarding the need for a royal recommendation for Bill C-377, An Act to amend the Income Tax Act (requirements for labour organizations), standing in the name of the hon. member for South Surrey—White Rock—Cloverdale.

I would like to thank the member for Rosemont—La Petite-Patrie for having raised the matter; as well as the hon. Parliamentary Secretary to the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons; the hon. House leader of the official opposition; and the members for Saint-Lambert, Cape Breton—Canso and South Surrey—White Rock—Cloverdale for their interventions.

In raising this matter, the member for Rosemont—La Petite-Patrie explained that the provisions of clause 1 of the bill would result in expenditures of public funds in a manner and for purposes not currently authorized. Specifically, he claimed that a new entity within the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) would have to be created to administer and enforce the provisions contained in the bill, and that there would be costs incurred in setting up a new computer system to meet the requirements of the legislation. These, he concluded, would constitute “new and distinct” costs, thereby creating a need for a royal recommendation.

Similarly, the member for Cape Breton—Canso argued that the bill envisioned a new function and purpose within the CRA and as such the terms and conditions of the royal recommendation that authorizes the agency's current spending would be altered. He also suggested that Bill C-377 would regulate the internal affairs of unions and the relationships with their members, thus giving the CRA a new labour relations function.

For his part, the Parliamentary Secretary to the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons rejected these arguments, claiming instead that the authority to spend for the purposes set out in the bill would fall under the general authority of existing broader provisions of the Income Tax Act, as well as the agency's general authorities under the Canada Revenue Agency Act. He illustrated this by referring to those portions of the Income Tax Act dealing with reporting requirements for charity organizations. He also stated that, should additional funds be required, the government would seek them from Parliament through an appropriation bill covering operating expenses.

The question before us is whether the implementation of Bill C-377 would constitute a new appropriation requiring a royal recommendation, or whether the costs would be administrative in nature and would fall under the ongoing mandate of the Canada Revenue Agency.

I would like to remind the House of the conditions under which a royal recommendation is required. As the member for Rosemont—La Petite-Patrie noted in his presentation, bills which authorize new charges for purposes not anticipated in the estimates require royal recommendations. House of Commons Procedure and Practice, Second Edition, at page 833 further states:

The charge imposed by the legislation must be “new and distinct”; in other words, not covered elsewhere by some more general authorization.

The Canada Revenue Agency already has the mandate to administer various tax and benefits regimes and to manage a broad range of other programs and activities. More specifically, section 5 of the Canada Revenue Agency Act mandates the agency to support the administration and enforcement of program legislation. Furthermore, in reviewing the documentation provided by the member for Saint-Lambert, which makes reference to specific cost information provided by the CRA in response to questions from the Standing Committee on Finance, the Chair notes the references made to section 220 of the Income Tax Act, which states:

(1) The Minister shall administer and enforce this Act and the Commissioner of Revenue may exercise all the powers and perform the duties of the Minister under this Act.

(2) Such officers, clerks and employees as are necessary to administer and enforce this Act shall be appointed or employed in the manner authorized by law.

In carefully reviewing this matter, it seems to the Chair that the provisions of the bill, namely the requirements for the agency to administer new filing requirements for labour organizations and making information available to the public, may result in an increased workload or operating costs but do not require spending for a new function per se. In other words, the agency, as part of its ongoing mandate, already administers filing requirements and makes information available to the public. The requirements contained in Bill C-377 can thus be said to fall within the existing spending authorization of the agency.

In a ruling given by Speaker Milliken on February 23, 2007, which can be found at page 7261 of Debates, he stated, in relation to the then Bill C-327, An Act to amend the Broadcasting Act (reduction of violence in television broadcasts), that:

Bill C-327 may or may not result in a greater workload for the CRTC, but the activities being proposed are within its mandate. If additional staff or resources are required to perform these activities then they would be brought forward in a separate appropriation bill for Parliament’s consideration.

It appears to the Chair that a similar situation would arise should Bill C-377 be enacted and, thus, that this particular ruling is directly relevant and applicable to the current circumstance.

A second ruling by Speaker Milliken, this one on December 3, 2010, Debates page 6803, in reference to then Bill C-568, An Act to amend the Statistics Act (mandatory long-form census), is also helpful. In that ruling it was apparent to the Speaker that the proposed legislation was not adding to or expanding upon the existing mandate of Statistics Canada and, thus, that the bill in question did not require a royal recommendation.

Accordingly, the Chair rules that Bill C-377 in its current form does not require a royal recommendation to proceed through the next stages of the legislative process.

I thank hon. members for their attention.

Information Commissioner

[The Speaker, Conservative, Andrew Scheer]

I have the honour to lay upon the table, pursuant to subsection 39(1) of the Access to Information Act a special report from the Information Commissioner entitled, “Report Cards 2011-2012”.

This report is deemed permanently referred to the Standing Committee on Access to Information, Privacy and Ethics.

Labrador Inuit Land Claims Agreement Implementation Committee

[Greg Rickford, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister 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 2010-11 annual report of the Labrador Inuit Land Claims Agreement Implementation Committee.

Federal Ombudsman for Victims of Crime

[Rob Nicholson, Conservative, Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada]

Mr. Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 32(2) I have the honour to table, in both official languages, the 2010-11 annual report of the Federal Ombudsman for Victims of Crime, as well as the government's response to the report.

Government Response to Petitions

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

Mr. Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 36(8) I have the honour to table, in both official languages, the government's response to five petitions.

National Defence

[James Bezan, Conservative, Selkirk—Interlake, MB]

Mr. Speaker, I have the honour to present, in both official languages, the fifth report of the Standing Committee on National Defence in relation to its study of maintained readiness of the Canadian Forces.

Pursuant to Standing Order 109 of the House of Commons, the committee requests the government to table a comprehensive response to this report.

Transport, Infrastructure and Communities

[Larry Miller, Conservative, Bruce—Grey—Owen Sound, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I have the honour to present, in both official languages, the fifth report of the Standing Committee on Transport, Infrastructure and Communities in relation to supplementary estimates (B) 2012-13.

Procedure and House Affairs

[Joe Preston, Conservative, Elgin—Middlesex—London, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I have the honour to present, in both official languages, the 34th report of the Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs in relation to supplementary estimates (B) 2012-13 under Parliament.

Decorum in the Chamber

[Bob Rae, Liberal, Toronto Centre, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I do not quite know when the appropriate moment would be to say something on this subject, but it is a little hard for us to carry on the normal business of the House without referring to the somewhat unusual transaction that took place on the floor of the House yesterday. I wonder if those who were involved in it would care to perhaps indicate their regret at what took place and the fact that we need to continue for the next several days in the House on the basis of a greater degree, perhaps, of civility and willingness to engage in public discourse without insulting each other.

[Peter Van Loan, Conservative, Leader of the Government in the House of Commons]

Mr. Speaker, I am happy to address that point.

Yesterday I went to speak to the opposition House leader with the intention of discussing my concerns with the point of order that had been raised related to a mistake that had been made by the Deputy Speaker during Tuesday night's vote. I know that mistakes happen. The Deputy Speaker is new and I am sure he is going to do a very good job, but I thought it was inappropriate for the New Democrats to raise a point of order in which they relied on that mistake and somehow suggested it was the responsibility of the government. To do that was inappropriate. It put me in a very difficult position. I did not wish, in defending the government, to be critical of the Deputy Speaker, and I tried very delicately to dance around the point. Mr. Speaker, you ruled appropriately in the circumstances.

I acknowledge that I used an inappropriate word when I was discussing this matter with the opposition House leader. I should not have done that and I apologize for that. I would expect the Leader of the Opposition to do the same, and I hope that at this point we can move forward and get on with the important business that Canadians want us to do.

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

Mr. Speaker, I thank the member for Toronto Centre for his intervention and some of the words from the government House leader with respect to his apology.

You and I will be having a conversation quite shortly, so any other more official statement coming from the official opposition would be a bit premature until you and I have spoken in private. Then we will be back to the House forthwith.

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

Mr. Speaker, I trespass on this very tentatively, but recall that the history of the length between these benches was to be two sword lengths. We would like the notion to be figurative. We do not like the notion that someone from one side of the House would march across to the other side.

I can only conclude the hon. government House leader is a sore winner. I hope we will never see this sort of thing again.

[The Speaker, Conservative, Andrew Scheer]

I will reserve the right to come back and address the House on this particular subject and appreciate the interventions.

Prohibiting Cluster Munitions Act

[Peter Van Loan, Conservative, York—Simcoe, ON]

moved that Bill S-10, An Act to implement the Convention on Cluster Munitions, be read the first time.

(Motion agreed to and bill read the first time)

Justice and Human Rights

[Jack Harris, NDP, St. John's East, NL]

moved:

That the seventh report of the Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights presented on Wednesday, March 28, 2012, be concurred in.

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to rise to present the motion that the report be concurred in. Organized crime in Canada is something that has been studied for a number of years by the justice committee. I was not involved at the commencement of it, but I was there in the session last spring for the preparation of the report and the hearing of the final number of witnesses.

My predecessor as justice critic, the hon. member for Windsor—Tecumseh, now the The Deputy Speaker of the House, was very much involved in the organized crime study. We took great interest in trying to find mechanisms that were going to work to take on organized crime and fix some of the issues within the justice system that made it ineffective and difficult to prosecute.

In fact, we had witnesses before the committee who talked about the issues and the difficulties. A prosecutor from Quebec talked about the difficulties with the prosecution of the Hell's Angels in Quebec and the breakup of the Banditos biker gang. They had to take very significant extraordinary measures in order to be able to carry out the prosecution of this very difficult element of organized crime in the province of Quebec.

It included the creation of specialized police task forces and the participation of a variety of different police agencies working together; lengthy police investigations, which targeted the whole criminal organization at all levels; the use of civil infiltration agents, which can be controversial but nevertheless were necessary; the creation of specialized teams of prosecutors such as the proceeds of crime bureau in 1996 and the organized crime bureau in 2000; and the construction of a particular courthouse, a special judicial services centre, in order to be able to have the kind of security that was needed to carry out these special prosecutions. As well, the renovation of several courtrooms around Quebec allowed for the holding of several megatrials in different places at the same time.

On the issue of megatrials, it is important to know that these create enormous difficulties for the judicial system. We have a system that assumes one is innocent until proven guilty and has myriad provisions for the protection of people who are accused of crime because of the consequences of the loss of liberty. These are important safeguards in our criminal justice system. We have our Charter of Rights and a system of justice that depends on the rule of law and not on the fact that someone decides that someone else is a criminal, so we have to prove these things.

In a significant trial such as the biker gang trials, for want of a better name, we have a large number of defendants, complicated procedures, multiple defence counsels acting at the same time, complicated provisions and the difficulty of the judge handling the case having to manage all of that.

As a result, our party co-operated with your suggestion, Mr. Speaker, that there be special legislation brought forward to deal with megatrials during the course of this study so that, at least, changes would be put in place to allow for a more proper and reasonable way to deal with them that would allow the administration of these trials to take place without compromising the rule of law, the presumption of innocence or the other protections that all citizens are entitled to.

We just cannot jump to conclusions in criminal matters, even if we are prosecuting someone we believe, and have evidence to support that belief, is engaged in a criminal activity or a criminal organization. We still have to provide that proof according to law at a fair trial. The shorthand in criminal law is that we have to have proof beyond a reasonable doubt in a trial that takes place in accordance with law.

Before I get too much into the report, I want to say that we need to have some special rules to deal with criminal organizations in Canada, but we have to be careful about what we are doing here. We must make sure that we are not using the notion of the existence of criminal gangs to frighten Canadians into believing that crime is everywhere and that we require extraordinary measures that ignore the rule of law and basic fundamental rights in our society, which could affect everybody. We have to ensure that all citizens have the right to fair treatment by our legal and judicial systems.

It is important to note that Canadians do feel safe. In 2009, a study done under the Statistics Canada rubric determined that 93% of Canadians felt either very satisfied or somewhat satisfied with their personal safety. It indicated they felt as safe as they had when the 2004 study was undertaken five years previously. Of the respondents, 90% said they felt safe when walking alone in their neighbourhood at night. When asked about the perception of crime in their communities, 62% of respondents said they believed the crime rate in their community had not changed over the past five years. There is a general feeling of community safety across the country. There is no fear in the land.

In some respects it is ironic that when we look at the news on the television, particularly local television, a great deal of time is taken up with the reporting of court cases and what happens in the courts. Those types of stories always make the headlines in the local newspapers and television shows. They are easy to report and there are visuals of people being brought before the courts. Also, we have the overlay of American television with its extremely high crime rates and large numbers of homicides. Canadians seem to be able to filter through that and understand the difference between what is on TV and what their reality actually is.

I say that because it does belie the mantra we hear from the government on an ongoing basis, day after day, week after week, about how all these crimes are being committed and we need to take extraordinary measures and go into a whole series of extraordinary sentencing provisions, mandatory minimums, that fill up prisons. While the government does not like evidence-based decision making and seems to base most of its decisions on ideological approaches, the evidence is that these approaches will not work in terms of prevention.

On the other hand, with so many people in prison, we are now at the point where double-bunking is becoming the norm and will be, according to certain information recently released or leaked. Taking the general disapproval of double-bunking out of Correctional Services Canada's mandate and manual is an indication that the government considers double-bunking in prisons as something that is standard, natural and to be expected.

There have been a number of articles written on the results of that, and one recently, decrying that the provision is not only expensive but it would increase bad behaviour, illnesses and the brutalization of one inmate to another. As a result of overcrowding, it would cause an increase in crime and costs, a lack of rehabilitation programs, an increase in recidivism, et cetera. Those are some of the negatives of that.

It is worthwhile saying that, on the whole, Canadians are not buying the notion that we have a major crime wave happening and that we need to be protected by extraordinary provisions and by being tough on criminals, while not necessarily doing what needs to be done to actually prevent the crime.

According to the Criminal Intelligence Service of Canada, we have approximately between 700 and 900 criminal organizations in Canada. We have to be careful when we say that, because a criminal organization is not the same as a gang. It does not have to be a major organization. For the purpose of the law, any three people who work together with the purpose of committing ongoing criminal activity can be considered a criminal organization.

There was a concern among defence counsel over the years about calling three people who committed a crime together a criminal organization was an extraordinary measure, but that concern has been looked after.

In 2002 the number of people required to constitute a criminal organization was reduced from five down to three. The requirement that at least one of the members be involved in committing crimes for the organization within the past five years was also removed. There was also a broadening of the scope of offences that defined a criminal organization, which was previously limited to indictable offences punishable by five years. The term criminal organization does not mean a group of people who form randomly for the immediate commission of a single offence. Again, that is still on the edge of what ordinary people would consider a criminal organization.

There are three specific offences in relation to criminal organizations. The first has to do with the participation in the activities of a criminal organization, which is punishable by a term of imprisonment not exceeding five years. The second one is the commission of an offence for a criminal organization. The third is instructing the commission of an offence for the criminal organization. These offences are aimed at people working together in a criminal organization. Participating in that organization is deemed to be a crime, and it would have to be shown that the organization is engaged in committing crime. These are the basics of having a criminal organization, and the activities and offences that are designed to cut down on the number of criminal offences.

In Canada in terms of the criminal market that takes place with groups, the Criminal Intelligence Service of Canada in 2001 reported that financial crime accounted for approximately 11% of that activity. We are talking about things such as payment card fraud, which is the largest part of that market and continues to expand, card thefts, fraudulent card applications, fake deposits and so on. Securities and mortgage fraud is another area of the financial crime market in which organized crime has an interest.

Thirty-two per cent of criminal market activity is taken up with other illicit goods and services including theft, contraband such as alcohol and tobacco, the sex trade and human trafficking. Legislation often mentions foreigners engaged in human trafficking or bringing people into the country. The committee was told that by far the largest amount of human trafficking that takes place in Canada is actually domestic, that is Canadian girls being trafficked within Canada, and it is done through organized crime networks. Street gangs facilitate the recruitment, control, movement and exploitation of Canadian-born females in the domestic sex trade primarily in strip bars in several cities across the country.

We do have an important and crucial role to play in trying to prevent the exploitation and trafficking of young women in particular through criminal activity. We need to take special measures to ensure that the people engaged in that criminal activity can be prosecuted and punished and deterred.

The official opposition provided a supplementary report to the report tabled on March 12 in which we indicated that, while we supported the majority of the recommendations in the report and worked collaboratively with the other parties on the Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights with the objective of recommending new strategies for the government in the fight against criminal activity and criminal organizations, we promoted an effective and balanced approach to combatting organized crime. Some of the measures that are in the report we do not support.

Our approach has involved the emphasis on three pillars: prevention, policing and prosecution. It is founded on the conviction that the fight against organized crime must be taken to its root in the recruitment of youth into street gangs and into this kind of criminal activity.

Obviously, there is a need for some of the measures that have been implemented here. In terms of prosecution and having a proper foundation for megatrials, we worked with the government to pass Bill C-2 in June 2011 in order to do that. We wanted to ensure that the judiciary had the necessary tools to make an effective prosecution when dealing with megatrials. Through this balanced and effective approach, we supported the majority of the recommendations.

Unfortunately, the government fell back to its knee-jerk reaction, to the things that it wants, to paint in one corner, by using mandatory minimum sentences. We have opposed that consistently.

We also found objectionable the first recommendation following paragraph 100 recommending the amendment of the Criminal Code to impose mandatory minimum sentences for criminal organization offences. We do not believe that is necessary. Judges across the land share the concern that all of us have, which is that organized criminal activity is a scourge on communities and that significant sentences are being imposed and will continue to be imposed to provide the kind of deterrence that is necessary to help persuade and ensure that we do not have large numbers of people engaged in criminal activity. In fact, some of the offences, for example, members of criminal organizations who instruct individuals to commit an offence, in other words, carrying out in an organized way and actually telling people to do criminal acts, they are already liable to life imprisonment under section 467.13 of the Criminal Code of Canada. They are already taken extremely seriously by the law and by the judges.

We are concerned about the proposed disclosure model, which could potentially require defence counsel to disclose its plan of defence to the crown. It is not adequate to avoid that. We are concerned about the change recommended here that would allow electronic eavesdropping without proper judicial oversight and the need for warrants in all cases. It is an unnecessary expansion of powers. We have fought against this and will continue to fight against it.

One of the serious problems is that not enough attention is being paid to legal aid, so we end up having people defending themselves, which slows down prosecutions and makes it more difficult to do so.

[Kevin Lamoureux, Liberal, Winnipeg North, MB]

Mr. Speaker, I find this to be a fascinating issue in the sense that from my perspective we could not spend enough time debating this issue inside the House of Commons.

As many members might recall, I was elected during a byelection a couple of years ago in which the issue was about crime, safety and people wanting to feel safe in their own homes.

Winnipeg North is a beautiful community with lots of wonderful attributes but it has a relative small but very harmful group of individuals who cause serious concerns for many, if not most, residents in the city of Winnipeg. I hope to address this in more detail at a later point.

As coincidence would have it, I have a petition, which I was hoping to table a little later this morning. I circulated the petition in Winnipeg North and now I have individuals responding to it. The residents of Winnipeg North are sending a very clear, strong message to the Prime Minister saying that the Government of Canada needs to do more to prevent crime from happening and that one of the best ways to do that would be to provide programming that is an alternative for young people, as opposed to them getting involved and engaged in gangs. Our young people need to have more creative activities, especially after school, and for those youths in particular who are dropping out of school. We need to start getting tough on some of the causes that allow too many young people to get involved in gangs.

I wonder if the member might want to provide comment on that.

[Jack Harris, NDP, St. John's East, NL]

Mr. Speaker, I could not agree more with the hon. member for Winnipeg North. When a city like Winnipeg is affected by young people being attracted to gangs, getting involved in criminal activity, doing harm to ordinary citizens and invoking fear, people become extremely concerned, not only about what is happening to their community but that young people are attracted to that and do not have any other alternatives.

The street gangs play a role within the prison system. When they are caught, whether it be for some petty crime or some serious crime and they end up in prison, they become part of the gangs that operate in prisons as well.

One of the major focuses needs to be prevention. We should place our first line of attack against organized crime into prevention by ensuring we have good programs for young people and that young people have opportunities, whether it be to complete their education, finish school or get some trade, occupation or educational experience that gives them hope in their lives.

Unfortunately, the government has actually failed to continue to promote this type of activity in our cities and communities. We are quite unhappy about that, as it does lead to this type of activity.

[Chris Alexander, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of National Defence]

Mr. Speaker, none of us on this side of the House would dispute the vital importance of tackling the issue of organized crime, especially when it brings higher murder rates to cities like Winnipeg, which the member for St. John's East just mentioned, and Halifax and Edmonton. We all regret that those rates are higher than elsewhere in Canada and higher than they should be.

The member and I worked together on the national defence committee. He well knows there are almost 100,000 regular force members and reserve members who are waiting for their justice system to be updated and brought into the 21st century on the basis of recommendations made by former chief justice Antonio Lamer.

We were scheduled to discuss Bill C-15 in this House this morning. We, on this side, hope to get back to that debate.

Will the hon. member not agree with me that, in light of the importance of our justice system and the importance of keeping it modern, after 18 months of waiting for that bill to get to committee, now is the time to get it there where it can be amended?

We have discussed and agreed on some amendments that can be made but those amendments are best made in committee. It would be expeditious, wise and in the spirit of the points he has just made for the bill to be sent to committee at the earliest possible date, preferably today.

[Jack Harris, NDP, St. John's East, NL]

Mr. Speaker, I waited in vain for some relevance to the issue of organized crime. I think the kind of discussion that my friend refers to is something that should take place between he and I and not on the floor of this House. We, obviously, would want to see a vigorous modernization of the legislation to which he speaks but, unfortunately, we have not seen the commitment to get that to this point.

There are two types of organized crime that are of most concern. One is the street gangs that my colleague for Winnipeg North talked about. The other is the organized criminal activity of the drug trade, the sex trade and the human trafficking, the biker gang type of activities. These gangs not only engage in significant organized crime but they also intimidate people and engage in serious criminal activity. We also hear from time to time about corruption.

There are several categories of organized crime but the one that people are most affected by is the kind of street gang crime in which mainly young people or younger people are involved. A diversion to get them away from that activity and providing significant preventive work is an important way to diminish that. The tools in the Criminal Code can be used and the prosecutorial efforts need to be there but the prevention side is key to keeping our communities safe.

[Nycole Turmel, NDP, Hull—Aylmer, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank my colleague for his presentation about our position on organized crime. On this day, December 6, I believe it is very important to speak about what is happening in particular to women. I am referring to human trafficking, which primarily affects women. In Canada, these women are victims of sexual exploitation and they are also forced to work as domestics. We are unaware of their situation, and often these women have no way out.

I would like my colleague to talk a little more about prevention. What can we do in Canada about this? As parliamentary leaders, what can we do to prevent such situations? We cannot just dole out punishment. This government is always talking about punishment instead of prevention and justice for the people who are exploited.

[Jack Harris, NDP, St. John's East, NL]

Mr. Speaker, outside of education and a change in the attitude of society, I think it is difficult to prevent all domestic violence. We need to have substantial tools and support for women who are in those circumstances to be able to take another path, get out of those circumstances and be safe. Support for women's shelters and alternative means of support is desperately necessary.

The equality of women is a continuing struggle in terms of being able to exist in our society on an equal footing with men. I think that support, encouragement and raising their independence to the same level is a very big key. I think focusing on prevention is a longer term task. Obviously, having the right criminal justice tools to deal with domestic violence is extremely important.

In acknowledging today as a day on which we all seek to remember and be concerned about violence against women, it is a very timely intervention by my colleague.

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

Mr. Speaker, I must say that I have to agree with my colleague, the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of National Defence. What we are seeing here this morning is a continuation of a one-man filibuster from the member for St. John's East. He does not want to continue debate on Bill C-15, strengthening military justice in the defence of Canada act and does want to send it to committee. I do not know why. It is beyond the grasp of most of us in this House.

Therefore, regrettably, I must move, seconded by the member for Kitchener—Conestoga:

That the debate be now adjourned.

[The Deputy Speaker, NDP, Joe Comartin]

The question is on the motion. Is it the pleasure of the House to adopt the motion?

[Some hon. members]

Agreed.

No.

[The Deputy Speaker, NDP, Joe Comartin]

All those in favour of the motion will please say yea.