House of Commons Hansard #117 of the 41st Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament's site.) The word of the day was affordable.
The Deputy Speaker NDP Denise Savoie
I draw the attention of hon. members to the presence in the gallery of two ministers from Saskatchewan, the Hon. Rob Norris, Minister of Advanced Education, Employment and Immigration, and the Hon. Dustin Duncan, Minister of Environment, or I guess not.
Rodger Cuzner Liberal Cape Breton—Canso, NS
Madam Speaker, understanding and respecting the Standing Orders and traditions of the chamber, I know it is not proper and not accepted to make any reference to the whereabouts or absence of a particular member in the House. I would ask the Speaker to check Hansard on this. The Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of the Environment had referenced that I was commenting on the absence of a member from the House. When I spoke about the member for Stormont—Dundas—South Glengarry and the regional minister from P.E.I., it was about their absence on the file and the fact that people in their ridings were losing jobs, not any reference to their absence or physical whereabouts in the House.
Michelle Rempel ConservativeParliamentary Secretary to the Minister of the Environment
Madam Speaker, to respond to my colleague's point, perhaps he should be more careful when he questions where the backbenchers are on a Friday.
Elizabeth May Green Saanich—Gulf Islands, BC
Madam Speaker, of course, it will be for you as Speaker to conclude on the point of order by the member for Cape Breton—Canso and his question in question period. However, any plain understanding of his question at the time was that it was a rhetorical point asking where they are in speaking out for their constituents. It was never at all reasonable for the parliamentary secretary to think he was pointing out whether people were physically present in the House. It was, in fact, an absurd distortion of the member's question.
The Deputy Speaker NDP Denise Savoie
I thank the hon. members for their comments. We will review Hansard and, if need be, we will come back to the House on this matter.
Government Response to PetitionsRoutine Proceedings
Regina—Lumsden—Lake Centre Saskatchewan
Conservative
Tom Lukiwski ConservativeParliamentary Secretary to the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons
Madam Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 36(8) I have the honour to table, in both official languages, the government's response to seven petitions.
Ted Opitz Conservative Etobicoke Centre, ON
Madam Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 34(1) I have the honour to present to the House, in both official languages, the report of the Canadian delegation to the Canada-Europe Parliamentary Association respecting its participation in the meeting of the Standing Committee of Parliamentarians of the Arctic Region held in Stockholm, Sweden, February 14, 2012.
Peter Van Loan Conservative York—Simcoe, ON
moved for leave to introduce Bill S-6, An Act respecting the election and term of office of chiefs and councillors of certain First Nations and the composition of council of those First Nations.
(Motions deemed adopted, bill read the first time and printed)
Laurin Liu NDP Rivière-des-Mille-Îles, QC
Madam Speaker, I will present two petitions today.
The first petition concerns environmental hypersensitivity. The petitioners are from the Montreal area, which includes Mirabel and Saint-Eustache, and also from Sainte-Marthe-sur-le-Lac and other towns.
The petitioners are asking the House of Commons to designate the month of May as environmental hypersensitivity awareness and education month in Canada, thus joining a number of other countries that provide social and health services to their citizens who suffer from this medical condition.
Laurin Liu NDP Rivière-des-Mille-Îles, QC
Madam Speaker, my second petition concerns action on climate change and is also signed by people from the Montreal area.
They are calling on Parliament to implement the following political measures: take the necessary action by signing and implementing a binding international agreement to replace the Kyoto protocol; demonstrate national responsibility by undertaking to set national carbon emissions targets; and take action on climate change by playing a constructive role in the design of a green climate plan.
Blaine Calkins Conservative Wetaskiwin, AB
Madam Speaker, I have two petitions to table before the House today. The first is from several of my constituents and it deals with the national action plan to combat human trafficking. The signatories to the petition want to draw attention to the terrible circumstances that arise and result from human trafficking.
I am more than happy to table this on their behalf and just draw attention to the fact that my colleague, the member for Kildonan—St. Paul, is doing a great job on this file.
Blaine Calkins Conservative Wetaskiwin, AB
Mr. Speaker, the second petition is signed by quite a number of constituents from the central Alberta area who are very concerned about the number of traffic accidents caused by negligent driving, which result in death and serious harm to individuals, for which the penalty only seems to be traffic violations. They feel that is inadequate and is lacking in the sense of justice.
The petitioners are requesting that Parliament change section 249(1)(a) of the Criminal Code to better define “dangerous to the public” to enable police officers to lay charges when a motor vehicle is operating improperly causing death.
Claude Gravelle NDP Nickel Belt, ON
Mr. Speaker, I have two petitions to present today. The first one calls on the Minister of Health and the House of Commons to pass Bill C-358, an act respecting a national strategy for dementia.
Canada is the only G7 country that does not have a national dementia strategy. These petitioners from my riding, from points like Hanmer, Val Caron, Blezard Valley, Chelmsford, Azilda and points right across my riding, are asking the government to support this bill that would introduce a national Alzheimer's strategy.
As we know, our citizens are getting older and there is an increase in Alzheimer's. The government should do more to help prevent Alzheimer's and help support workers who are looking after Alzheimer's patients.
Claude Gravelle NDP Nickel Belt, ON
Mr. Speaker, my second petition is again from many constituents right across my riding who are calling on the government to eliminate poverty in Canada.
With the introduction of the government's budget bill, which raises the eligibility age for OAS-GIS to 67 from 65, more and more Canadians will be living in poverty. These citizens in Nickel Belt are asking the government to help prevent poverty.
Elizabeth May Green Saanich—Gulf Islands, BC
Mr. Speaker, I rise today to present two petitions. The first one is primarily from petitioners living in the area of Kitchener—Waterloo and a few from Toronto. They want the House to take seriously the incredibly significant role played by our national public broadcaster, the CBC. They are urging the House to ensure that stable, predictable funding is provided to the CBC.
Unfortunately, as we know, budget 2012 cuts funding to CBC by about 10% but the petitioners, obviously, wish it were otherwise.
Elizabeth May Green Saanich—Gulf Islands, BC
Mr. Speaker, the second petition relates to the privatization through stealth, the commercialization of parts of our national parks service. The petition is primarily from residents of the Courtenay and Nanaimo areas of British Columbia who are concerned about the Glacier—Discovery Park walkway that was approved within Jasper. We have now heard that there will be a hot springs commercialized within the Banff and Jasper parks.
The petitioners want to ensure that the national parks remain primarily for ecological integrity.
Kevin Lamoureux Liberal Winnipeg North, MB
Mr. Speaker, I rise to present a petition regarding our seniors and the pension issue.
Many of my constituents are greatly concerned in terms of the direction the government is taking on the whole pension front. They state that people should be able to continue to have the option to retire at the age of 65, and request that the government not in any way diminish the importance and value of Canada's three major senior programs: OAS, GIS and CPP.
It is with pleasure that I am able to table this petition here today.
Questions Passed as Orders for ReturnsRoutine Proceedings
Regina—Lumsden—Lake Centre Saskatchewan
Conservative
Tom Lukiwski ConservativeParliamentary Secretary to the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons
Mr. Speaker, if Question Nos. 535 and 539 could be made orders for returns, these returns would be tabled immediately.
Questions Passed as Orders for ReturnsRoutine Proceedings
The Acting Speaker Mr. Bruce Stanton
Is that agreed?
Lawrence MacAulay Liberal Cardigan, PE
With regard to the Department of Fisheries and Oceans' (DFO) cuts to the Aquaculture Collaborative Research and Development Program (ACRDP): (a) how many jobs will be lost due to these cuts and in what region will any and all job losses occur; (b) what similar resources, if any, are available to small and medium-sized businesses in the aquaculture industry for research and development; (c) what has been the total budget allocated for the ACRDP in each of the past ten years; (d) what is the breakdown of all money spent by the DFO on the ACRDP over the past ten years; (e) with what companies has the ACRDP worked and where are they located; (f) what tangible benefits have been generated by research done by the ACRDP; and (g) is there a rise in correlated risks to the aquaculture industry that can be anticipated as money available for research is decreased?
(Return tabled)
Hedy Fry Liberal Vancouver Centre, BC
With respect to the possible detection of Infectious Salmon Anemia (ISA) Virus in the Pacific coast fish population: (a) since 2001, how many times have fish originating from the Pacific coast, both farmed and wild, been tested by the Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) for the presence of ISA; (b) what were the results of these tests; (c) at which laboratory (or laboratories) were these tests conducted; (d) what diagnostic tools were or are used by DFO to determine whether or not ISA is present in fish samples; and (e) is a reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) used or are other tools used?