House of Commons Hansard #33 of the 41st Parliament, 2nd Session. (The original version is on Parliament's site.) The word of the day was plan.
Peggy Nash NDP Parkdale—High Park, ON
Mr. Speaker, the second petition concerns genetically modified alfalfa. The petitioners are concerned that genetically modified alfalfa will affect the organic sector in Canada and will affect high protein feed for dairy cattle and other livestock.
The petitioners ask Parliament to impose a moratorium on the release of genetically modified alfalfa in order to properly review the impact on the farmers of Canada.
Peggy Nash NDP Parkdale—High Park, ON
Mr. Speaker, my final petition calls for the House of Commons to respect the will of Canadians by enacting new legislation that will provide clear guidelines to physicians, and provide competent, fully informed and grievously ill patients the option to make their own end of life decisions.
Ted Hsu Liberal Kingston and the Islands, ON
Mr. Speaker, I rise today with a petition from Canadians from across the country. It is important for the government to know that this particular issue affects a large number of people.
The petition is with regard to the United States Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act . The United States government is demanding that Canadian banks provide confidential financial information to the IRS in the United States. This will be implemented through an intergovernmental agreement between the governments of the United States and Canada.
The petitioners are calling upon the Government of Canada to protect the privacy and rights, including the charter rights, of Canadians.
The Speaker Conservative Andrew Scheer
I see that there are still several members rising. We have already gone through quite a few minutes on a few petitions, so I will remind members that they are to keep their comments very brief when they are presenting their petitions so we can accommodate as many as we can.
The hon. member for Langley.
Mark Warawa Conservative Langley, BC
Mr. Speaker, the first petition that I have to present highlights the fact that 22-year-old Kassandra Kaulius was killed by a drunk driver. A group of people who have also lost loved ones to impaired drivers are calling for enhanced and stronger convictions for impaired driving.
Mark Warawa Conservative Langley, BC
Mr. Speaker, the second petition highlights the fact that discrimination against girls starts even before they are born. There are over 200 million girls missing in the world right now due to gendercide.
Jinny Sims NDP Newton—North Delta, BC
Mr. Speaker, I rise today to present a petition on behalf of my constituents in Netwon—North Delta and also from the Municipal Pension Retirees' Association. They are calling on the Government of Canada to increase the death benefits payable to all pension holders to a non-taxable amount of $4,000. The Canada pension plan death benefit amount has been capped at $2,500 since the late 1970s.
Jean Crowder NDP Nanaimo—Cowichan, BC
Mr. Speaker, I would like to acknowledge Mr. Jack Ferrero. He is calling on the Minister of Employment and Social Development to enact legislation that would allow those who have been on or who are on disability to gain the right to return to work with an employer, get livelihoods up and running, and get and maintain certificates of competency in their chosen fields.
Mike Sullivan NDP York South—Weston, ON
Mr. Speaker, residents in my community of York South—Weston who endured terrible flooding last July 8, in part caused by inadequate and antiquated sewers, have signed a petition calling on the Government of Canada to immediately take steps to fund urgent infrastructure projects in order to upgrade our sewer systems and avoid future property damage.
Chris Charlton NDP Hamilton Mountain, ON
Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to table a number of petitions today from Manitoba, Saskatchewan, southwestern Ontario and the Golden Horseshoe, including my community of Hamilton Mountain. The petitioners are asking the House of Commons to enact my bill, Bill C-201, on an urgent basis, because it does not make any sense that tradespeople be out of work in one area of the country while another region suffers from temporary skilled labour shortages.
Elizabeth May Green Saanich—Gulf Islands, BC
Mr. Speaker, I rise to present two petitions. The first is from residents of Thorndale, Ontario, as well as within my riding, Brentwood Bay, Victoria and Saanich. They are calling on the House to give favourable consideration to Bill C-442, my bill calling for a national lyme disease strategy. I am hearing from literally thousands of Canadians who hope that this bill can be passed to provide them some relief and some hope.
Elizabeth May Green Saanich—Gulf Islands, BC
Mr. Speaker, the second petition comes from residents of Denman Island, Courtenay, Prince Rupert and other areas of Ontario. Petitioners call on the House to press the administration, the Privy Council, not to ratify the Canada-China investment treaty, as it is a significant threat to Canadian sovereignty.
Hélène Laverdière NDP Laurier—Sainte-Marie, QC
Mr. Speaker, it is my honour to rise today to present two petitions.
In the first petition, the signatories point out that a number of communities in the south are reporting that their rights are not being respected and that their health and means of subsistence are being threatened by oppressive actions on the part of Canadian mining companies. They also point out that the Office of the Extractive Sector Corporate Social Responsibility Counsellor has too weak a mandate to resolve these issues and they are calling for the creation of a legal mechanism to establish an ombudsman for the extractive sector in Canada.
Hélène Laverdière NDP Laurier—Sainte-Marie, QC
Mr. Speaker, I also have the honour to present a petition from residents in my constituency, Laurier—Sainte-Marie, who join with the thousands and thousands of people demanding simply that the Senate be abolished.
Craig Scott NDP Toronto—Danforth, ON
Mr. Speaker, it is my privilege to rise to present a petition to the House calling for the creation of a legislated ombudsman mechanism for responsible mining. The petition, with over 150 signatories from Toronto—Danforth, was put together by the St. Ann's Roman Catholic Church development and peace chapter.
I am extremely grateful. They point out the problems with the existing office of the extractive sector for corporate and social responsibility and the fact that many Canadians, and many communities in the south, are concerned about the activities of Canadian mining companies.
Andrew Cash NDP Davenport, ON
Mr. Speaker, I have several petitions, but as time is tight I will limit it to one. Since we are debating pensions and the expansion of the Canada pension plan, this petition is from young workers in my riding who are calling on the government to enact a national urban worker strategy, which would, among other things, increase the pension and make it accessible for young people to imagine one day having a stable pension when they retire.
Matthew Kellway NDP Beaches—East York, ON
Mr. Speaker, it is my honour today to rise and present two petitions signed by citizens from in and around my riding of Beaches—East York.
The first petition calls upon the Government of Canada to restore protection of the Don River, including its east and west branches, to guarantee the continued right to navigation on all of Canada's lakes and rivers and to commit to meaningful public consultation prior to approval of any project.
Matthew Kellway NDP Beaches—East York, ON
Mr. Speaker, the second petition calls upon the Government of Canada to block any changes to the tripartite agreement that would allow jet airplanes or extensions of the Toronto Island airport runways, to stop subsidizing Porter Airlines, and to compel the federal Toronto Port Authority to pay millions of dollars of back taxes owed to the people of Toronto.
Questions on the Order PaperRoutine Proceedings
December 9th, 2013 / 3:25 p.m.
Regina—Lumsden—Lake Centre Saskatchewan
Conservative
Tom Lukiwski ConservativeParliamentary Secretary to the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons
Mr. Speaker, the following questions will be answered today: Nos. 75 and 80.
Paul Dewar NDP Ottawa Centre, ON
With regard to the Technology Partnerships Canada (TPC) and Strategic Aerospace and Defence Initiative (SADI) programs of Industry Canada: (a) how many new jobs are estimated to have been created as a result of each program, broken down into direct and indirect results; (b) how many new jobs are estimated to have been produced in the TPC program areas of (i) environmental technologies, (ii) enabling technologies, (iii) aerospace and defence; (c) how many previously existing jobs are estimated to have been maintained as a result of each program, broken down into direct and indirect results; (d) how many previously existing jobs are estimated to have been maintained in the TPC program areas of (i) environmental technologies, (ii) enabling technologies, (iii) aerospace and defence; (e) which ten projects created the most jobs per government dollar disbursed through each program and how many new jobs did each of these projects produce; (f) which ten projects maintained the most jobs per government dollar disbursed through each program and how many jobs did each of these projects maintain; (g) which ten projects created the fewest jobs per government dollar disbursed through each program and how many new jobs did each of these projects create; (h) which ten projects maintained the fewest jobs per government dollar disbursed through each program and how many jobs did each of these projects maintain; (i) how many TPC projects were approved in fiscal year 2006-2007; (j) how many SADI projects, with what total disbursement value, have been approved in each fiscal year from 2007-2013; (k) what percentage of SADI-funded projects are subject to conditional repayment based on gross business revenues; (l) what percentage of the total disbursements made through SADI are subject to conditional repayment based on gross business revenues and what is the dollar value of this subset of total disbursements; (m) how many SADI-funded projects have been required to accept unconditional repayment and what is the total value of the disbursements for these projects in dollars and as a percentage of total disbursements; (n) what are the forecasted repayments through each program for each of the next ten fiscal years (from 2013-2014 to 2022-2023), divided into conditional and unconditional repayments; (o) what was the difference between the total conditional repayments expected one year prior to each of fiscal years 2006-2007 through 2012-2013 and the actual repayments in each of those years; and (p) what was the name and position of the individual who authorized the editing of the online SADI Project Portfolio on September 4, 2013, which removed information about the type, purpose, and disbursement period for each project?
Question No. 75Questions on the Order PaperRoutine Proceedings
Port Moody—Westwood—Port Coquitlam B.C.
Conservative
James Moore ConservativeMinister of Industry
Mr. Speaker, with regard to (a) to (h), the department cannot release data on jobs created or maintained on individual TPC and SADI projects because it is commercially confidential information.
With regard to (i), 18 TPC projects were approved in 2006-07 for a total authorized assistance of $484.6 million.
With regard to (j), in 2007-08, one project was approved for $19.6 million in SADI-authorized assistance. In 2008-09, nine projects were approved for $395.4 million in SADI-authorized assistance. In 2009-10, six projects were approved for $25.4 million in SADI-authorized assistance. In 2010-11, seven projects were approved for $375.6 million in SADI-authorized assistance. In 2011-12, one project was approved for $399,386 in SADI-authorized assistance. In 2012-13, five projects were approved for $73.8 million in SADI-authorized assistance. In 2013-14, two projects have been approved to date for $10.2 million in SADI-authorized assistance.
With regard to (k), 55% of SADI-funded projects are subject to conditional repayment terms based on gross business revenues.
With regard to (l), 59% of total disbursements made through SADI are for projects subject to conditional repayment based on gross business revenues. The dollar value of this subset is $364.1million of $620.7 million in total disbursements.
With regard to (m), 14 projects under SADI have accepted unconditional repayment. The total value of the disbursement for these projects is $256.6 million, representing 41% of the total disbursements.
With regard to (n), Industry Canada regularly adjusts its short-term repayment expectations to reflect current economic realities and the progress of projects within its portfolio. Revised forecasts are published annually as part of the report on plans and priorities supplementary information tables, available at http://www.ic.gc.ca/eic/site/017.nsf/eng/h_07289.html.
With regard to (o), forecast repayment expectations are the amounts reported in reports on plans and priorities, available at http://www.ic.gc.ca/eic/site/017.nsf/eng/07306.html.
With regard to (p), as part of the redesigning of the website, the Industrial Technologies Office executive director authorized the elimination of information that was either no longer relevant, such as outdated industry statistics, or that was already available on the Industry Canada website.
The information about the type, purpose, and disbursement period for each project is available under the following link: http://www.ic.gc.ca/eic/site/icgc.nsf/eng/h_07018.html.
Jean-François Fortin Bloc Haute-Gaspésie—La Mitis—Matane—Matapédia, QC
With regard to the preliminary report of the Commissioner of Official Languages on the closure of seven of 11 science libraries, made public on October 10, 2013: (a) does the Department of Fisheries and Oceans plan to follow Commissioner Graham Fraser’s recommendation and keep the Maurice Lamontagne Institute library open by preserving its jobs and budget; and (b) does the Department plan to (i) establish, as part of the Department’s upcoming cost reduction measures set out in Economic Action Plan 2013, mechanisms to genuinely consult, at the initial stage of the decision-making process, official language minority communities that may be affected by a decision, (ii) determine the impact of any future decisions affecting these communities as part of all decision-making and operational processes, (iii) take steps to compensate for the negative impact of future decisions when they are likely to be detrimental to the development and vitality of the official language minority communities they affect?
Gail Shea ConservativeMinister of Fisheries and Oceans
Mr. Speaker, the preliminary investigation by the Office of the Commissioner of Official Languages concluded that the new structural model for DFO’s scientific libraries does not restrict services to the public or impact the employees under part IV, communications with and services to the public, and part V, language of work, of the Official Languages Act, and the nine complaints received are deemed unfounded under these two parts of the act. The Commissioner of Official Languages has provided recommendations to the department with regard to part VII of the act, advancement of English and French. Fisheries and Oceans Canada supports the promotion of Canada’s national languages and the development of both language communities across this country. In this regard, the department has provided comments to the Office of the Commissioner of Official Languages on the preliminary investigation report. Discussions are ongoing, and we look forward to receiving the final report.
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 Questions Nos. 76, 78, 79, 82, 83, 84, 87 to 94, 96, 97 and 99 could be made orders for returns, these returns would be tabled immediately.
The Speaker Conservative Andrew Scheer
Is it the pleasure of the House that the aforementioned questions be made orders for return and that they be tabled immediately?