House of Commons Hansard #140 of the 41st Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament's site.) The word of the day was yea.

Topics

Bill C-38PrivilegeRoutine Proceedings

5:15 p.m.

Liberal

Kevin Lamoureux Liberal Winnipeg North, MB

Mr. Speaker, on the same point of order, the member from B.C.—

Bill C-38PrivilegeRoutine Proceedings

5:15 p.m.

Conservative

The Acting Speaker Conservative Barry Devolin

Order. The discussion from the Chair is not to do with what the hon. Conservative member from B.C. raised, but is rather on the question of privilege itself. If the member could restrict his comments to that, it would be greatly appreciated by the Chair.

The hon. member for Bourassa on a point of order.

Bill C-38PrivilegeRoutine Proceedings

5:20 p.m.

Liberal

Denis Coderre Liberal Bourassa, QC

Mr. Speaker, I have too much respect for you to say that you are easily influenced. However, it seems to me that the tone changed after the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons whispered in your ear.

As an MP, I think that if the official opposition has the right to raise a point of order, the Liberal Party of Canada has the right to respond appropriately. I find that attitude unacceptable. The member for Winnipeg North is in the right in this case. We are all equal. When we have something to say, we rise. The question of privilege is important because it applies to all members. I would not want anyone to have fewer rights than anyone else just because someone whispered in someone else's ear.

The official opposition had the right to raise its point of order in the appropriate way, and this is not about holding up a stopwatch and timing five, six or seven minutes. If the member can raise a point of order, he is fully within his rights to do so. We have to be careful not to provoke anyone. Even if they have a serious cough, they have to last the night. They should be careful and look after themselves right away.

The Liberal Party has as much right as any other party to express all its points of view. This is not a question of 5, 10 or 15 minutes. They all have the right to express their views, and so do we, because we belong to a party in the House, too.

Bill C-38PrivilegeRoutine Proceedings

5:20 p.m.

Conservative

The Acting Speaker Conservative Barry Devolin

The Chair would like to clarify for all hon. members, including the member for Bourassa, that this Chair is not influenced by individual members, and if the hon. member for Bourassa is suggesting otherwise, that is a serious accusation. If that is the point that is being made, that point needs to be made clearly.

It is quite clear that several minutes ago I pointed out to the hon. member for Winnipeg North that the right to speak in response to a question of privilege is essential and is respected in this place, but that does not mean that any member rising on a question of privilege has unlimited time on the floor.

Just a moment ago, the hon. member for Saint-Léonard—Saint-Michel pointed out that the hon. member for Winnipeg North was speaking on behalf of the Liberal caucus, that he was making important points and that he thought it reasonable that if the hon. member for Winnipeg North was given an additional five minutes, he could make those arguments. I was in agreement with that and was at the point of giving the floor back to the hon. member for Winnipeg North.

The hon. member for Bourassa.

Bill C-38PrivilegeRoutine Proceedings

5:20 p.m.

Liberal

Denis Coderre Liberal Bourassa, QC

Mr. Speaker, I have a lot of respect for this House and for the Chair. I started by simply saying that I have a huge amount of respect for you and I think you do an outstanding job.

However, that is why I was wondering, because I am very sure that you are not influenced. That is why I said that since the official opposition had given its opinion, standard practice is to allow my colleague a full chance to express himself. This is not a filibuster. As it is a question of privilege, the member for Winnipeg North should have the right to express himself.

With all due respect, I just wanted to share some of my 15 years of experience—that is not nothing—because I have seen all kinds of things. I know that the member for Winnipeg North is acting in good faith. We should give him the time to fully express his opinion because that is the point of a question of privilege.

Bill C-38PrivilegeRoutine Proceedings

5:20 p.m.

Liberal

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

Mr. Speaker, maybe I misspoke in offering five minutes. It was just a gesture of compromise. The member for Winnipeg North spoke for five minutes and was interrupted on two occasions. I would like it if the members opposite would not interrupt, because once a member has the flow going it does not make sense to start over again.

Bill C-38PrivilegeRoutine Proceedings

5:20 p.m.

Conservative

The Acting Speaker Conservative Barry Devolin

The hon. member for Winnipeg North rose at 4:57 p.m., which was fully 28 minutes ago, of which I would presume about 18 or 20 minutes was from the member.

I would like to point out to all hon. members that the Chair has not cut off the hon. member for Winnipeg North but has merely pointed out two things: first, that his time to address his point of privilege is not unlimited, and second, as I pointed out in the rules and will read again, “When satisfied, the Speaker will terminate the discussion”. This is to clarify that the Speaker does have the right to terminate this discussion whether an hon. member feels he or she is finished or not.

With that, I would give the hon. member five minutes to quickly make his summary at which point I would ask him to complete his remarks so that the House can move along with its business.

The hon. member for Winnipeg North.

Bill C-38PrivilegeRoutine Proceedings

5:25 p.m.

Liberal

Kevin Lamoureux Liberal Winnipeg North, MB

Mr. Speaker, it is somewhat disruptive in the sense that one tries to expand upon what one thinks is the core issue and then there are interruptions that come from the government side. I appreciate that there is some sensitivity, but I can honestly say that if the member from B.C. had listened closely to what I was citing as an example, the member would have heard how very relevant it is to the privilege that was raised by the NDP House leader. The privilege is all about information. It is about the rights of all members, not just opposition members. Believe it or not, there are even some Conservative backbenchers who would no doubt share the same opinion that I would have in regard to the importance of having information in order to make good decisions.

The example that I was giving in this budget document is that we are not talking about $10 million, we are talking about $100-plus million. These are tax dollars that are being allocated to provide compensation for those individuals who put in an application to become skilled workers to fill many of the jobs that we are unable to fill here in Canada. The Minister of Immigration made that decision.

I believe there is information that is critical for us to know. The immigration file is not alone. For example, does the government realize that those individuals who put in the application also would have paid for immigration services back home, consultant fees and so forth. It was not just a hard cost. Are they being fairly compensated?

I understand that now there is a possibility of a class action lawsuit against the government. We need to know that kind of information. We just need to look at the F-35. We know the government knew it had completely different figures and it sat on those numbers.

Parliamentarians of all political stripes need to understand just how important it is that we have access to that information. The NDP House leader stood in his place and argued that we are being denied that access. If we are being denied that access, how is it possible for us to make the decisions that are so critically important to all Canadians.

If we look at Beauchesne's Sixth Edition—

Bill C-38PrivilegeRoutine Proceedings

5:25 p.m.

Conservative

The Acting Speaker Conservative Barry Devolin

Order, please. As I read a few minutes ago, the Speaker will hear from members and others relating to a question of privilege. Again I will quote from the book, ”When satisfied, the Speaker will terminate the discussion”.

At this point, the Chair is calling orders of the day.

The hon. member for Ottawa—Vanier on a point of order.

Access to InformationPrivilegeRoutine Proceedings

5:25 p.m.

Liberal

Mauril Bélanger Liberal Ottawa—Vanier, ON

Mr. Speaker, I am rising on a question of privilege, for which I gave notice at the request of the Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, you may recall that, on Tuesday of last week, I rose on a question of privilege about not being able to receive information that allows me to do my work. I indicated at the time, if that information would be forthcoming before the weekend because I had to attend a convention, that the point would be moot.

An hour after I rose in the House to raise a question of privilege, my office did get a phone call to set up a briefing. You may recall, Mr. Speaker, that I had not at the time identified, nor will I now, which department, because my objective was not to be critical, aggressive or to be an attack the minister. It was only to seek and obtain information that is allowed to be obtained by all members of Parliament. The briefing was held on the Thursday, so that point is moot.

Mr. Speaker, I do not know how much time I have before you cut me off but there is a much broader—

Access to InformationPrivilegeRoutine Proceedings

5:30 p.m.

Conservative

The Acting Speaker Conservative Barry Devolin

Order, please. The hon. member for Ottawa—Vanier is rising on a point of order and he will be allowed to continue after the vote.

The House resumed from June 7 consideration of the motion.

Study on Income InequalityPrivate Members' Business

5:30 p.m.

Conservative

The Acting Speaker Conservative Barry Devolin

It being 5:30 p.m., the House will now proceed to the taking of the deferred recorded division on Motion No. 315 under private members' business.

Call in the members.

(The House divided on the motion, which was agreed to on the following division:)

Vote #284

Study on Income InequalityPrivate Members' Business

6:10 p.m.

Conservative

The Speaker Conservative Andrew Scheer

I declare the motion carried.

The House resumed from June 11 consideration of the motion.

Search and RescuePrivate Members' Business

6:15 p.m.

Conservative

The Speaker Conservative Andrew Scheer

The House will now proceed to the taking of the deferred recorded division on Motion No. 314.

(The House divided on the motion, which was negatived on the following division:)

Vote #285

Search and RescuePrivate Members' Business

6:20 p.m.

Conservative

The Speaker Conservative Andrew Scheer

I declare the motion defeated.

The House resumed from June 12 consideration of the motion that Bill C-293, An Act to amend the Corrections and Conditional Release Act (vexatious complainants), as reported with amendment from the committee, be concurred in.

Corrections and Conditional Release ActPrivate Members' Business

6:20 p.m.

Conservative

The Speaker Conservative Andrew Scheer

The House will now proceed to the taking of the deferred recorded division on the motion to concur in Bill C-293 at report stage under private members' business.

(The House divided on the motion, which was agreed to on the following division:)

Vote #286

Corrections and Conditional Release ActPrivate Members' Business

6:30 p.m.

Conservative

The Speaker Conservative Andrew Scheer

I declare the motion carried.

Corrections and Conditional Release ActPrivate Members' Business

6:30 p.m.

NDP

Chris Charlton NDP Hamilton Mountain, ON

Mr. Speaker, I understand from the member for Trinity—Spadina that there have been discussions and there is unanimous agreement for the following motion: that notwithstanding any Standing Order or usual practice of the House the hour for private members' business today be cancelled and the order for the resumption at second reading of Bill C-305, an act to establish a national public transit strategy, be dropped to the bottom of the order of precedence on the order paper.

Corrections and Conditional Release ActPrivate Members' Business

6:30 p.m.

Conservative

The Speaker Conservative Andrew Scheer

Is there unanimous consent for this?