Debates of June 20th, 2012

Air Passengers' Bill of Rights

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

,

seconded by the member for Saanich—Gulf Islands, moved for leave to introduce Bill C-439, An Act respecting the rights of air passengers.

He said: Mr. Speaker, I rise today to introduce a private member's bill that would protect the rights of air travellers in Canada. The bill would provide compensation for certain unreasonable inconveniences, including overbooked flights, cancelled or delayed flights and lost luggage. This air passenger bill of rights would keep travellers informed about changes in their flight status. It would ensure that passengers are notified of their rights and their ability to apply for compensation. This new legislation would benefit both airlines and passengers, improving service for air travellers and bringing business to Canadian airlines.

(Motions deemed adopted, bill read the first time and printed)

Firearms Act

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

,

seconded by the member for Saanich—Gulf Islands, moved for leave to introduce Bill C-440, An Act to amend the Firearms Act (transfer).

He said: Mr. Speaker, it is my pleasure to introduce a straightforward act to amend the Firearms Act today. This bill would close the loophole in Canada's existing regulations to ensure that anyone selling or transferring a firearm is obligated to make sure that the buyer or recipient has a valid possession and acquisition licence, commonly called a PAL.

(Motions deemed adopted, bill read the first time and printed)

Rail Customer Protection Act

[Olivia Chow, NDP, Trinity—Spadina, ON]

moved for leave to introduce Bill C-441, An Act to amend the Canada Transportation Act (shippers' protection).

Mr. Speaker, the rail customer protection act would give every rail customer the right to have service agreements with rail companies, including performance standards, consequence for non-performance including penalties, proper notification for service changes and a requirement to use the dispute resolution process in the event of a disagreement.

Rail transport is the backbone of the Canadian economy. More than 70% of all service goods in Canada are shipped by rail, but the service is unreliable, resulting in hundreds of millions of dollars in economic damages every year. With this rail customer protection act, rail customers would finally get reliable and predictable rail freight services that deliver products on time.

(Motions deemed adopted, bill read the first time and printed)

Parliamentary Librarian

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

moved:

That pursuant to Standing Order 111.1, this House approve the appointment of Sonia L'Heureux as Parliamentary Librarian for a term of five years.

[The Speaker, Conservative, Andrew Scheer]

Is it the pleasure of the House to adopt the motion?

[Some hon. members]

Agreed.

[The Speaker, Conservative, Andrew Scheer]

(Motion agreed to)

National Public Transit Strategy Act

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

Mr. Speaker, there have been discussions among the parties, and if you were to seek it, I believe you would find unanimous consent for the following motion.

I move:

That notwithstanding any Standing Order or usual practice of the House, the recorded division on the motion for second reading of Bill C-305, an act to establish a national public transit strategy, be further deferred until Wednesday, September 19, 2012, immediately before the time provided for private members' business.

[The Speaker, Conservative, Andrew Scheer]

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

Women, Peace and Security

[Paul Dewar, NDP, Ottawa Centre, ON]

Mr. Speaker, if you seek it, I believe you would find unanimous consent for the following motion in response to an international campaign to stop rape and gender violence in conflict.

I move:

That this House condemns sexual violence and conflict and calls on the government to:

(a) reaffirm Canada's commitment to implement United Nations Security Council resolutions on women, peace and security and Canada's national action plan on women, peace and security;

(b) play a leadership role in international efforts to end sexual violence and bring about accountability and support survivors of sexual violence in conflict through Canadian diplomacy and development assistance;

and (c) support the efforts of organizations to draw attention to and denounce sexual violence.

[The Speaker, Conservative, Andrew Scheer]

Does the hon. member have the 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)

Canada Periodical Fund

[Thomas Mulcair, NDP, Outremont, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I have the honour to present a petition signed by over 3,000 members and supporters of the Franco-Manitoban community.

This petition is addressed to the Minister of Canadian Heritage and Official Languages and reads as follows: “We, the undersigned, residents of Canada, wish to draw your attention to statements made in the House of Commons on May 3 in which you confirmed that your government has an ongoing, clear and firm commitment to protect periodicals throughout the regions of Canada wherever there are official language minority communities.” Unfortunately, we have noted that the new funding formula for the Canada periodical fund does not take into account the situation facing our French-language weekly paper, La Liberté, whose funding will be cut by 50% by 2013. This decision will have a severe impact on our [Franco-Manitoban] community and will lead to the slow and inexorable demise of La Liberté. La Liberté has been Manitoba's only French-language newspaper for 99 years. On May 3, you said, “If it raises concerns, we could look into the regulations for our programming and if these concerns are justified, we could address them.” That is why we are confident that you will take our concerns seriously and reinstate funding for our newspaper.

“Therefore, we the petitioners call on the Minister of Canadian Heritage and Official Languages...to reinstate funding and correct the funding formula going forward so that La Liberté, Manitoba's only French-language newspaper, can continue in future to offer the high level of service it has been providing for the past 99 years.”

[The Speaker, Conservative, Andrew Scheer]

I see many members rising and I am sure that some members have more than one petition to present. I am going to strictly adhere to the rule regarding not making a speech when presenting a petition, so we will have brief summaries of the petitions and then move on very quickly.

The hon. member for Crowfoot.

Rights of the Unborn

[Kevin Sorenson, Conservative, Crowfoot, AB]

Mr. Speaker, I stand before you today with two petitions from 225 of my constituents from different parts of my riding in Alberta, such as Drumheller, Chestermere, Calgary, Okotoks, Rosebud, Morrin and Hussar.

According to current legislation, a child does not become human until the moment of complete birth. The lack of legislation in this area is a concern to these constituents.

The petitioners call upon Parliament to look into the definition of a human being. They would like to see an amendment to section 223--

[The Speaker, Conservative, Andrew Scheer]

The hon. member for Bonavista—Gander—Grand Falls—Windsor.

CBC/Radio-Canada

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

Mr. Speaker, I want to present a petition on behalf of 50 residents of Regina, Saskatchewan who want to save the essential services of their public broadcaster the CBC/Radio-Canada.

The petitioners state that the public consciousness of this country and the dialogue that we have from coast to coast to coast is maintained by the CBC. They want the government to invest--

[The Speaker, Conservative, Andrew Scheer]

The hon. member for Mississauga--Brampton South.