Debates of June 1st, 2012

Fisheries and Oceans

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

Mr. Speaker, the quite unprecedented letter from four federal fisheries ministers all residing in British Columbia has been the subject of questions earlier today in the House.

I will quote from their letter to the Prime Minister. It reads:

...Canadians are entitled to know whether these changes were written, or insisted upon, by the Minister of Fisheries or by interest groups outside the government. If the latter is true, who are they?

I would like to ask an additional question. Where are they, in Canada or in Beijing?

[Randy Kamp, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans and for the Asia-Pacific Gateway]

Mr. Speaker, that is a bit of a strange question, but let me just reaffirm that we are fully committed to protecting the habitat of fisheries that provide tremendous benefit to Canadians.

We have come to the conclusion, with which many Canadians agree, that without greater focus, we are not able to do that in an effective way. Therefore, we will be focusing on recreational, commercial and aboriginal fisheries and doing that with excellence.

Border Security

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

Mr. Speaker, top Mounties have revealed that the government intends to allow U.S. law enforcement officers to operate on Canadian soil.

Is the minister actually planning to allow this as part of a Conservative security deal? Would it include the FBI, the Drug Enforcement Administration, U.S. immigration?

Will the minister table any draft agreement in the House so that this deal gets the scrutiny it deserves?

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

Mr. Speaker, Canadians and Americans share common security issues as well as economic interests. To protect and create jobs for Canadians, we must protect and strengthen our relationship, including our trade relationship and our security relationship with the United States.

The Conservative government has taken strong actions to make our borders more secure, while keeping them open to legitimate trade and travel.

There is more work to be done. Canadians can count on our government to get it done.

Syria

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

Mr. Speaker, I seek the unanimous consent of the House for the following motion:

That a take-note debate on the subject of the ongoing violence in Syria, pursuant to Standing Order 53.1, take place on Tuesday, June 5, 2012; and

notwithstanding any Standing Order or usual practice of the House, when the House begins proceedings under the provisions of Standing Order 53.1 on Tuesday, June 5, 2012, no quorum calls or dilatory motions shall be received by the Chair and; any member rising to speak during debate may indicate to the Speaker that he or she will be dividing his or her time with another member.

Mr. Speaker, I am seeking unanimous consent for this motion.

[The Speaker, Conservative, Andrew Scheer]

Does the hon. Leader of the Government in the House of Commons have the unanimous consent of the House to move 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)

Diamond Jubilee

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

Mr. Speaker, I have a second motion regarding the debate on the humble address to Her Majesty the Queen on the occasion of her Diamond Jubilee.

I move:

That, notwithstanding any Standing Order or usual practice of the House, when Government Motion number 13 is called following routine proceedings on Monday, June 4, 2012, no member shall speak for more than twenty minutes, with no questions and comments, provided that the members may divide their time with another member; the Speaker shall not receive any amendments; and when no member rises to speak or after 80 minutes of debate, whichever is earlier, the motion shall be deemed adopted.

[The Speaker, Conservative, Andrew Scheer]

Does the hon. minister 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)

Child Care

[Chris Charlton, NDP, Hamilton Mountain, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to table a petition today that is signed by hundreds of people from across Canada.

The petitioners are concerned about the lack of accessible and affordable child care. They want to know that their children are getting care of the highest quality and they want the government to know that child care is not only a recognized human right, but that it also creates jobs, makes Canada more competitive, helps achieve women's equality and builds local economies.

For all of these reasons, the petitioners call on the Government of Canada to legislate the right to universal access to child care and provide multi-year funding to provincial and territorial governments to build a national system of affordable, high quality, public and not-for-profit child care that is accessible to all children.

I know it is not appropriate for members to endorse petitions, but I want to indicate what a pleasure it is to be able to table this petition in the House today.

Rights of the Unborn

[Stephen Woodworth, Conservative, Kitchener Centre, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I rise to present a petition from Canadians from Cardston, Alberta, who point out that Canada's 400-year-old definition of a human being says that a child does not become a human being until the moment of complete birth, contrary to 21st century medical evidence.

The petitioners point out that Parliament has a solemn duty to reject any law that says some human beings are not human. They call upon the House of Commons to confirm that every human being is recognized by Canadian law as human by amending section 223 of our Criminal Code in such a way as to reflect 21st century medical evidence.

As the House would know, this would only support the high principle of universal human rights.

Conflict Minerals

[John McKay, Liberal, Scarborough—Guildwood, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I have a petition here signed primarily by folks from Winnipeg, Manitoba, who are concerned about the issue of conflict minerals.

The petitioners ask the government to have conflict minerals certified as conflict free, that any imported products be graded and labelled as to what degree it can be certified that they are conflict free and that all Canadian companies trading in these minerals be legislatively mandated to avoid all transactions with conflict minerals.

Human Trafficking

[Joy Smith, Conservative, Kildonan—St. Paul, MB]

Mr. Speaker, it is my pleasure today to present 856 petitions calling on the government to produce a national action plan to combat human trafficking.

As the House knows, in the last election the government committed to doing that, but there are people across the country who are eagerly awaiting for the contents of that national action plan.

Criminal Code

[Joy Smith, Conservative, Kildonan—St. Paul, MB]

Mr. Speaker, in addition, I have 1,984 signatures from all across this great nation.

The petitioners call upon the government to amend the Criminal Code to decriminalize the selling of sexual services and criminalize the purchasing of sexual services and to provide support to those who want to be free of the prostitution crime.

Food and Drugs Act

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

Mr. Speaker, I have three petitions to present.

In the first petition, the petitioners call upon the House of Commons to support Bill C-257, An Act to amend the Food and Drugs Act (mandatory labelling for genetically modified foods).

Animal Welfare

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

Mr. Speaker, with respect to the second petition, the petitioners call upon the Minister of Justice to introduce government legislation to amend the Criminal Code provisions on animal cruelty based on Bill C-229.

Poverty

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

Mr. Speaker, the last petition I am presenting in the House of Commons has to do with Bill C-233. The petitioners are calling on Parliament to quickly pass Bill C-233, An Act to eliminate poverty in Canada.

Abortion

[Randy Kamp, Conservative, Pitt Meadows—Maple Ridge—Mission, BC]

Mr. Speaker, I have the privilege today to present two petitions, both on the same topic, and both signed primarily by people from the Lower Mainland of British Columbia as well as the Fraser Valley.

The petitioners draw the attention of the House of Commons 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. They point out as well that the Supreme Court of Canada has said that it is Parliament's responsibility to do so.

They call upon the House of Commons to speedily enact legislation that would restrict abortion to the greatest extent possible.