House of Commons Hansard #228 of the 41st Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament's site.) The word of the day was infrastructure.
The Speaker Conservative Andrew Scheer
I would like to draw the attention of hon. members to the presence in the gallery of the Hon. Andrew Swan, Minister of Justice and Attorney General for the Province of Manitoba.
Guy Caron NDP Rimouski-Neigette—Témiscouata—Les Basques, QC
Mr. Speaker, this morning, I sent a very important letter to the office of the Commissioner of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.
At the end of my remarks, I will seek the unanimous consent of the House to table it.
The letter pertains to a very troubling issue. As hon. members know, the government's budget must remain secret until it is tabled in the House in order to prevent certain individuals from acquiring privileged information from which they could derive personal benefit. Unfortunately, it seems that this is exactly what happened with the most recent budget.
The letter that I sent to the RCMP pertains to an information leak that occurred on March 20 with regard to a tariff reduction on hockey equipment.
Leaking budget information is a very serious offence and also a grave breach of the integrity of the House of Commons. That is why I wish to table this letter today for the benefit of all parliamentarians, who I am sure are as preoccupied as I am with upholding the integrity of our democratic institution.
The Speaker Conservative Andrew Scheer
Does the hon. member have the unanimous consent of the House to table the letter?
Wayne Easter Liberal Malpeque, PE
Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Human Resources and Skills Development gave serious misinformation to this House twice during question period.
She was ordered by the judge to pay out the—
The Speaker Conservative Andrew Scheer
Question period is over for today. If the hon. member has a follow-up question, he may try to ask a question at a later date, but not after question period is over.
Government Response to PetitionsRoutine Proceedings
Regina—Lumsden—Lake Centre Saskatchewan
Conservative
Tom Lukiwski ConservativeParliamentary Secretary to the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons
Mr. Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 36(8)(b) I have the honour to table, in both official languages, the government's response to 10 petitions.
Joe Preston Conservative Elgin—Middlesex—London, ON
Mr. Speaker, I have the honour to present, in both official languages, the following reports of the Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs: the 44th report in relation to the report of the Federal Electoral Boundaries Commission for the province of New Brunswick, and the 45th report.
The standing committee advises that pursuant to Standing Order 91.1(2), the subcommittee on private members' business met to consider items added to the order of precedence between February 27 and March 18, and recommended that the items listed herein, which had been deemed should not be designated non-votable, be considered by the House.
Dennis Bevington NDP Western Arctic, NT
moved for leave to introduce Bill C-485, An Act to amend the Canada Petroleum Resources Act (transfer approval).
Mr. Speaker, I rise today to put forward the bill to amend the Canada Petroleum Resources Act. The bill would amend section 85 of the act, requiring that all lease transfers must be approved by the minister, that there be a 60-day period of public comment before the minister makes his decision on these transfers, that all public comments must be available through the department's website and that the minister's decision must be made public through a notification in a local newspaper.
Under the current law, when an oil company transfers an oil or gas lease, especially in the offshore areas, it is only required to notify the minister. The minister has no ability to say yes or no to those transfers, even though the minister, when approving leases, has the ability to say yes or no to them. We would put these transfer opportunities back in the hands of the minister.
Canadians have been rightly concerned about the disposition of their natural resources through the sale of Nexen and through other things that have happened where foreign companies have taken over vast quantities of our Canadian natural resources.
With the great interest there now is in the Arctic, there is need for more protection and more understanding of the transfer potential of leases that are given in the Arctic. The bill would give that protection to Canadians and to the future of our natural resources industry.
(Motions deemed adopted, bill read the first time and printed)
Corneliu Chisu Conservative Pickering—Scarborough East, ON
Mr. Speaker, I am honoured to present another petition on behalf of the Canadians who fought in the Korean War, the Royal Canadian Legions 606 and 43, and constituents from my riding of Pickering—Scarborough East.
The petitioners call on the Canadian government to take the necessary steps for the Republic of Korea service medal to be recognized as a war medal of honour and awarded to Korean War veterans. The Korean War service medal was authorized in 1954 by the South Korean government for all United Nations troops who fought in Korea between June 25, 1950, and July 27, 1953.
Alex Atamanenko NDP British Columbia Southern Interior, BC
Mr. Speaker, I have another 200 signatures, this time from Ontario, in support of my Bill C-322. The petition basically states that, because horses are ordinarily kept and treated as sport and companion animals and are not raised primarily as food-producing animals and are commonly administered drugs that are strictly prohibited from being used in the food chain, petitioners call upon us here in the House of Commons to bring and adopt into legislation Bill C-322, An Act to amend the Health of Animals Act and the Meat Inspection Act, thus prohibiting the importation or exportation of horses for slaughter for human consumption, as well as horsemeat products for human consumption.
Francis Scarpaleggia Liberal Lac-Saint-Louis, QC
Mr. Speaker, I have 23 petitions here signed by Canadians who are appalled and puzzled by the government's decision to close down the Experimental Lakes Area, the greatest fresh-water laboratory in the world.
The petitioners do not understand why the government would close down the biggest fresh-water laboratory in the world.
LaVar Payne Conservative Medicine Hat, AB
Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to rise today to present a third petition, with hundreds of signatures, as I have in the past, that the House condemn discrimination against females occurring through sex-selective pregnancy terminations; and that all the members of Parliament support Motion No. 408 to condemn sex selection.
Anne-Marie Day NDP Charlesbourg—Haute-Saint-Charles, QC
Mr. Speaker, today, I am presenting a petition calling for the repeal of all of the definitions associated with employment insurance.
Frank Valeriote Liberal Guelph, ON
Mr. Speaker, I stand to present a petition from residents of my own riding of Guelph who wish to draw attention to the northern gateway pipeline. Given the substantial environmental risks associated with the pipeline, the petitioners request that the Government of Canada assume a neutral position and remove its support for the development of the pipeline, which would then allow for a fuller, fairer and impartial assessment of the pipeline by the National Energy Board and the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency, so that a proper, evidence-based decision could be made at the appropriate time.
James Rajotte Conservative Edmonton—Leduc, AB
Mr. Speaker, I rise today to present a petition on behalf of many people from Edmonton and area who are raising concerns with the Canadian government with respect to the treatment of Falun Gong practitioners in China.
Megan Leslie NDP Halifax, NS
Mr. Speaker, I am here to present two petitions today.
On the first, some folks came to my office and they are concerned about the phasing out of personal and designated production licences for medical marijuana. They ask that Health Canada leave the current provision as is, in addition to the creation of licensed production facilities and patient-led co-ops.
Megan Leslie NDP Halifax, NS
Mr. Speaker, the second petition is from some folks who realize that the water levels of Lake Huron have dropped tremendously over the past decade, causing serious economic and safety concerns to communities in that area. They depend on tourism, cottaging and boating, so the petitioners are asking that Natural Resources, Environment, Fisheries and Transport increase their efforts to significantly halt and reverse the ongoing loss of water from the Great Lakes Basin.
Kevin Lamoureux Liberal Winnipeg North, MB
Mr. Speaker, I stand today to table a petition from residents of Winnipeg who are expressing concerns in regard to the cutbacks to the Canadian Experimental Lakes Area. The petitioners are calling upon the government to reverse the decision to close the ELA research station, in recognition of the fine work that it does that is virtually world renowned.
Fin Donnelly NDP New Westminster—Coquitlam, BC
Mr. Speaker, I rise to present two petitions.
Petitioners are calling for a ban on shark fin imports. They say measures must be taken to stop the global practice of shark finning and ensure the responsible conservation management of shark fins. Therefore, they call on the Government of Canada to immediately legislate a ban on the importation of shark fin to Canada.
Fin Donnelly NDP New Westminster—Coquitlam, BC
Mr. Speaker, I also submit a petition to save the Coast Guard station at Kitsilano. The petitioners say that, whereas the recent decision by the federal government to close the Kitsilano Coast Guard station is a grave mistake that will undoubtedly cost and put in peril the lives of those on the shores and waters near Vancouver harbour, they call on the Government of Canada to rescind the decision and reinstate full funding to maintain the Kitsilano Coast Guard station.
Marie-Claude Morin NDP Saint-Hyacinthe—Bagot, QC
Mr. Speaker, I would like to table two petitions today.
The first concerns a Mexican family from my riding that has been deported. The petition is signed by people who want to see this family come back.
Marie-Claude Morin NDP Saint-Hyacinthe—Bagot, QC
Mr. Speaker, I introduced Bill C-400, on which we voted recently. It is about implementing a national housing strategy.
The government voted against it, but these people still want a national housing strategy to be developed.
Irene Mathyssen NDP London—Fanshawe, ON
Mr. Speaker, I have a petition from a number of Canadians who are very concerned about the changes to old age security and the increase of eligibility to age 67. They believe that this is a direct attack on the poorest of seniors.
The petitioners support the NDP motion of February 2012 calling on the government to make the necessary measures and changes that will eliminate poverty among seniors and increase the guaranteed income supplement so that we can lift every senior out of poverty.