Debates of April 30th, 2012

Old Age Security

[Judy Foote, Liberal, Random—Burin—St. George's, NL]

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to present a petition on behalf of constituents from the area of Kippens, Stephenville Crossing and Stephenville in the western part of my riding. They have asked me to present this petition because they object to the Prime Minister's move to increase the age of eligibility for old age security from 65 to 67.

The petitioners say that they find it difficult enough as it is to make ends meet and to have to work another two years to qualify just does not make a lot of sense to them, especially if they work in an environment that is physically challenging, such as fish plants or on the ocean.

They ask that the Prime Minister and the government reconsider this decision and take into account what this will mean in terms of the toll it will take on senior citizens.

Rights of the Unborn

[Rob Merrifield, Conservative, Yellowhead, AB]

Mr. Speaker, on behalf of the residents in my constituency, I have two petitions.

The first petition calls upon Parliament to confirm that every human being be recognized by Canadian law as a human being by amending section 223 of the Criminal Code in such a way to reflect 21st century medical evidence.

Abortion

[Rob Merrifield, Conservative, Yellowhead, AB]

Mr. Speaker, the second petition is from constituents in my riding who ask that we speedily enact legislation to restrict abortion to the greatest extent possible.

Electro-Motive Diesel

[Irene Mathyssen, NDP, London—Fanshawe, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I have a petition from the community of London and former workers of Electro-Motive Diesel.

The petitioners want the Parliament of Canada to know that Caterpillar illegally removed equipment from the EMD plant, forced a lockout of its workers in December of 2011, demanded that they take a 50% reduction in wages, slashed benefits and asked them to accept a reduced and insecure pension plan. All the while, these workers had increased productivity by 20% and the company was making billions and billions in additional profits.

The petitioners want the Parliament of Canada to investigate the conditions of sale of Electro-Motive Diesel to Caterpillar and to immediately enforce any and all appropriate penalties should there be violations under the Investment Canada Act.

We would also like to see the Investment Canada Act strengthened so this does not happen to other workers in our communities.

Justice

[Scott Simms, Liberal, Bonavista—Gander—Grand Falls—Windsor, NL]

Mr. Speaker, I have a petition from Newfoundland and Labrador regarding criminal punishment.

The petitioners point out that crime has decreased over the past while and therefore we should put the emphasis on rehabilitation as opposed to just simply looking at criminal punishment as the only way to deal with crime.

The petitioners come from St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador, Conception Bay South, as well as Gander.

Rights of the Unborn

[Ron Cannan, Conservative, Kelowna—Lake Country, BC]

Mr. Speaker, on behalf of my constituents of Kelowna—Lake Country, it is an honour to table two petitions.

The first one is in reference to Canada's 400-year old definition of a human being. It says that a child does not become a human being until the moment of complete birth, which is contrary to 21st century medical evidence.

The petitioners call upon Parliament to amend section 223 of the Criminal Code in such a way as to reflect 21st century medical evidence.

Abortion

[Ron Cannan, Conservative, Kelowna—Lake Country, BC]

Mr. Speaker, the second petition is with respect to the fact that Canada is the only nation in the western world, in the company of China and North Korea, without any laws restricting abortion.

As the Supreme Court has said that it is Parliament's responsibility to enact abortion legislation, the petitioners call upon the House of Commons and Parliament assembled to speedily enact legislation that restricts abortion to the greatest extent possible.

The Environment

[François Pilon, NDP, Laval—Les Îles, QC]

Mr. Speaker, it is my pleasure today to present a petition signed by my constituents, who are urging the Conservative government to take immediate action and show leadership on the climate change issue.

41st General Election

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

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to present two petitions. The first concerns election fraud and is signed by residents of the Toronto area. They are asking the Prime Minister to hold an independent inquiry to discover the truth about who did what in the last federal election and to identify the person or persons responsible. We must protect our electoral system.

Animal Welfare

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

Mr. Speaker, the next two petitions that I am presenting come from residents of British Columbia. The first petition is from people in the Vancouver area and the second is from people in the Kamloops area.

Both groups of petitioners want the House to look favourably on private member's Bill C-322, submitted by the member of Parliament for British Columbia Southern Interior. The bill seeks to take action to stop the importation of horses for the purpose of slaughter for human consumption. This practice must stop and we must protect our horses.

[Libby Davies, NDP, Vancouver East, BC]

Mr. Speaker, I rise on a point of order. Thank you for your patience. There have been further discussions, and I believe if you now seek it you will find unanimous consent for the following motion. I move:

That this House pledges its support for the Not Myself Today campaign and urges all Canadians to show their commitment to improve mental health, and affirm the pledge of the campaign: ”that mental health can no longer be ignored. We are all affected. We are all touched by it.”

[The Speaker, Conservative, Andrew Scheer]

Does the hon. member have the unanimous consent of the House to propose the 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)

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 questions will be answered today: Nos. 526, 527 and 531.

Question No. 526

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

With regard to the Minister of Public Safety's assessment of applications for transfer to Canada by Canadian residents incarcerated abroad: (a) how many applications for transfer to Canada have been submitted by Canadian residents incarcerated abroad to the Correctional Service of Canada (CSC) since 2006 and, of these, (i) how many were accepted, (ii) how many were rejected; (b) of the rejected applications, how many have been judged by CSC not to represent a threat to re-offend; (c) of the rejected applications in (b), how many applicants have sought judicial recourse to overturn the Minister's decision; and (d) for the applicants in (c) who sought judicial recourse, how many judgements (i) have been rendered in favour of the applicant, (ii) have been rendered in favour of the Minister of Public Safety, (iii) have not yet been rendered?

[Vic Toews, Conservative, Minister of Public Safety]

Mr. Speaker, our Government is committed to making the protection of society the guiding principle in decisions affecting the corrections system. The Safe Streets and Communities Act made important amendments to the International Transfer of Offenders Act to enshrine in law a number of additional key factors in deciding whether an offender would be granted a transfer back to Canada. These factors would include whether, in the opinion of the minister, an offender would, upon return to Canada, endanger public safety; continue to engage in criminal activities following his or her transfer; and endanger the safety of any child, particularly in cases of offenders who have been convicted of sexual abuse.

Decisions would also take into consideration whether a criminal has been participating in his or her rehabilitation and cooperating with law enforcement. These amendments reflect the government’s commitment to strengthening the rights of victims, increasing the responsibility of offenders and making our communities safe.

With regard to (a), from January 1, 2006, to March 14, 2012, CSC received 1,657 international transfer applications from Canadian citizens convicted and sentenced abroad. Out of this number, the Minister of Public Safety rendered a decision on 730 cases. The other 934 applications are still in process, have been withdrawn by the applicants, denied by the sentencing country, deemed ineligible by either country, or the offenders were released by the other country and possibly deported to Canada.

Of the 730 decisions rendered, the Minister of Public Safety approved 514 and denied 216.

With regard to (b), under both the current International Transfers of Offenders Act, ITOA, and the amended act further to the passing of Bill C-10, the Safe Streets and Communities Act, CSC does not provide an opinion or a recommendation to the Minister of Public Safety. CSC’s mandate in processing the applications is mainly to collect, summarize and submit the relevant information to the Minister of Public Safety for decision.

With regard to (c), since 2006, of the number of rejected transfer applications, 36 applicants sought judicial recourse to overturn the Minister of Public Safety’s decision.

With regard to (d), 13 judgments were rendered in favour of the Minister of Public Safety, 15 judgments were rendered in favour of the applicants, and four judgments have yet to be rendered.

It should be noted that the total number of judgments does not match the number of applicants because some matters were discontinued.

Question No. 527

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

With regard to the Minister of Public Safety's assessment of applications for transfer to Canada by Canadian residents incarcerated abroad, since 2006: (a) how many pieces of correspondence have been sent to the Minister of Public Safety (i) by applicants, in order to protest the treatment of their file, (ii) by Members of Parliament, in order to protest the treatment of an applicant's file, (iii) by other third parties, such as lawyers or family members, in order to protest the treatment of an applicant's file; (b) for the correspondence identified in (a), how many responses have been provided (i) to correspondence from applicants protesting the treatment of their file, (ii) to correspondence from Members of Parliament protesting the treatment of an applicant's file, (iii) to correspondence from other third parties, such as lawyers or family members, protesting the treatment of an applicant's file; and (c) of the responses by the Minister of Public Safety identified in (b), (i) how many responses have been provided within one month, (ii) how many responses have been provided within two months?

[Vic Toews, Conservative, Minister of Public Safety]

Mr. Speaker, regarding correspondence--i.e., ministerial dockets--on the subject of international transfers sent to Correctional Service of Canada for response or information, search results indicate that there are over 2,000 entries in CSC’s tracking system and archive. In order to determine which of the letters fit the parameters of the question and in order to categorize the types of letters based on the way the question is organized, a manual review would be required.

Moreover, certain international transfer cases are associated with letter-writing campaigns. An individual case may have upwards of 400 letters associated with it. CSC tracks these campaigns in a different manner. A separate, but similar, manual review would be required in order to incorporate this type of correspondence into the response.

In both cases, a manual review could not be completed within the established timeline.

Question No. 531

[Anne Minh-Thu Quach, NDP, Beauharnois—Salaberry, QC]

With regard to Health Canada, Sandoz Canada and the most recent drug shortage: (a) what were the latest inspection reports by Health Canada regarding Sandoz Canada and its Boucherville plant in particular; (b) although the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) required Sandoz to improve several production lines at its Boucherville plant, did Health Canada consider this plant to be sufficiently safe; (c) what correspondence did Health Canada and the FDA exchange regarding Sandoz or injection drugs between April 1, 2011, and March 12, 2012; (d) did Health Canada receive a notice from the FDA or Sandoz following the FDA’s visit to Sandoz in August of 2011; (e) did Health Canada receive a copy of the letter from the FDA to Sandoz Canada on November 18, 2011; and (f) if so, when did Health Canada receive this letter?

[Leona Aglukkaq, Conservative, Minister of Health and Minister of the Canadian Northern Economic Development Agency]

Mr. Speaker, Health Canada most recently conducted a good manufacturing practice, GMP, inspection from January 24 to February 10, 2012, of Sandoz Canada’s Boucherville plant, where products for sale in Canada are manufactured. No risk to the health and safety of Canadians using health products manufactured at the Sandoz Boucherville facility for sale in Canada was identified by Health Canada. A report was issued to the company on February 20, 2012, with the observations of deficiencies noted in the plant. Most GMP inspections result in the identification of deficiencies. This alone does not automatically result in a non-compliant rating. The deficiencies reported in the February 20, 2012, report were not considered to be critical, and a ‘compliant’ rating was issued. For more information on GMP, members may visit the following link: http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/dhp-mps/compli-conform/gmp-bpf/index-eng.php.

Information was exchanged between Health Canada and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, FDA, during the November 2011 and March 2012 period. This information included a heads-up notice that Health Canada received on November 8, 201,1 from the FDA, advising of its intention to issue and post a warning letter to Novartis International AG in Switzerland, Sandoz’s parent company, regarding three facilities: the Boucherville, Quebec, site and two facilities in the United States. The FDA’s heads-up also included a copy of the FDA’s deficiencies noted during its August 2011 inspection, FDA form 483. In response to this heads-up, Health Canada Inspectors inspected Sandoz’s Boucherville facility on November 17, 2011. As part of this visit, it was confirmed that the only Boucherville product that was ultimately mentioned in the FDA warning letter was not sold in Canada. As such, no risk to the health and safety of Canadians was identified from this product. Health Canada did not receive an advance copy of the FDA warning letter.

In March 2012, the FDA confirmed that no further action would be required of Sandoz subject to the remediation plan to be taken at Sandoz U.S.A. sites and the action plan following the fire at the Sandoz Quebec site. It should also be noted that the U.S. FDA inspection report concerning the deficiencies noted by the U.S. FDA on November 8, 2012, has yet to be finalized.

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 Questions Nos. 528, 529, 530 and 532 could be made orders for returns, these returns would be tabled immediately.

[The Speaker, Conservative, Andrew Scheer]

Is that agreed?