Debates of Oct. 17th, 2013

Information Commissioner of Canada

[The Speaker, Conservative, Andrew Scheer]

I have the honour, pursuant to Section 38 of the Access to Information Act, to lay upon the table the report of the Information Commissioner of Canada for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2013.

Pursuant to Standing Order 108(3)(h), this report is deemed permanently referred to the Standing Committee on Access to Information, Privacy and Ethics.

Government Response to Petitions

[Tom Lukiwski, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons]

Mr. Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 36(8), I have the honour to table, in both official languages, the government's response to 255 petitions.

Respect for Communities Act

[Rona Ambrose, Conservative, Minister of Health]

moved for leave to introduce Bill C-2, an act to amend the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act.

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

Business of the House

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

Mr. Speaker, I will try this again. There have been discussions among the parties, and I believe you will find unanimous consent for the following motion:

That, notwithstanding any Standing Order or usual practice of the House, when Government Motion No. 1 is called, no Member shall speak for more than 10 minutes, with no question and comment period, provided that Members may divide their time with another Member; the Speaker shall not receive any amendments; and when no Member rises to speak or after 40 minutes of debate, whichever is earlier, the motion shall be deemed adopted on division.

[The Speaker, Conservative, Andrew Scheer]

Does the hon. government House leader have the unanimous consent of the House to propose the motion?

[Some hon. members]

Agreed.

[The Speaker, Conservative, Andrew Scheer]

(Motion agreed to)

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

Mr. Speaker, I have another couple of motions.

Once again, there have been discussions among the parties and I believe you will find unanimous consent for the following motion:

That, notwithstanding any Standing Order or usual practices of the House, Statements by Ministers shall be taken up following Question Period today.

[The Speaker, Conservative, Andrew Scheer]

Does the hon. government House leader 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)

Committees of the House

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

Mr. Speaker, finally, there have been discussions, and I expect unanimous consent to the following:

That the Standing Committee on Veterans Affairs be the committee designated for the purposes of section 20.1 of the Enhanced New Veterans Charter Act.

[The Speaker, Conservative, Andrew Scheer]

Does the hon. government House leader 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)

[Craig Scott, NDP, Toronto—Danforth, ON]

Mr. Speaker, in the spirit of the previous unanimous consents, I rise to seek the unanimous consent of the House for a motion related to the Prime Minister's tabling yesterday of pro forma Bill C-1, which symbolically asserts the supremacy of Parliament and the authority of the House to deliberate and take decisions.

The government is accountable to the House for its actions, as Bill C-1 signalled. Unfortunately, the Prime Minister may need more than Bill C-1 to remind him of this.

Accordingly, I would like to seek the unanimous consent of the House to move the following motion, which reaffirms what the House previously adopted in 2010, and which I had also placed on the order paper before prorogation ironically killed the motion.

I move that the House reaffirm its expressed will and support of the motion moved by Jack Layton on March 17, 2010, that in the opinion of the House, the Prime Minister shall not advise the Governor General to prorogue any session of any Parliament for longer than seven calendar days without a specific resolution of the House of Commons to support such prorogation.

Let there be no mistake that the government and the Prime Minister have not honoured the will of the House as expressed in March 2010. Canadians deserve better than democracy with dishonour.

[The Speaker, Conservative, Andrew Scheer]

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

[Some hon. members]

Agreed.

No.

Genetically Modified Alfalfa

[Scott Brison, Liberal, Kings—Hants, NS]

Mr. Speaker, I have the honour to present a petition from Nova Scotian citizens on the issue of genetically modified alfalfa.

The petition says that the undersigned citizens of Canada draw to the attention of the House the following: That Monsanto's Roundup Ready genetically modified alfalfa requires variety registration before it can be legally sold as seed in Canada, but it has already been approved for human consumption and environmental release in Canada. It also says that genetically modified alfalfa has been and is currently planted in test plots in Canada, that unwanted contamination from GM alfalfa is inevitable, that organic farming prohibits the use of genetic modification and that the organic sector in Canada depends on alfalfa as a high-protein feed for dairy cattle and other livestock, and also as an important soil builder.

Therefore, the petitioners call upon Parliament to impose a moratorium on the release of genetically modified alfalfa—

[The Speaker, Conservative, Andrew Scheer]

Order. I will stop the hon. member there, as he has had the floor for a little over a minute and it sounded suspiciously as if he might have been reading the petition, which we are not supposed to do.

I will move on now to the hon. member for Burlington.

Canadian Broadcasting Corporation

[Mike Wallace, Conservative, Burlington, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I have a petition here signed by a large number of constituents of mine from the Roman Catholic faith who were upset and appalled by the CBC program This Hour Has 22 Minutes when it made fun of the sacrament of Holy Communion, which they found to be a very objectionable and disrespectful attack on their faith. I would like to put that on the table.