House of Commons Hansard #269 of the 41st Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament's site.) The word of the day was cigarettes.

Topics

Public SafetyOral Questions

3 p.m.

Conservative

David Wilks Conservative Kootenay—Columbia, BC

After going through several stop signs and, worse, failing to stop for a police officer.

Could the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Public Safety tell the House about the importance of obeying the laws of Canada?

Public SafetyOral Questions

3 p.m.

Portage—Lisgar Manitoba

Conservative

Candice Bergen ConservativeParliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Public Safety

Mr. Speaker, I do want to thank that member for his service to our country as a member of the RCMP.

The Leader of the Opposition's actions today show a complete lack of judgment, and they show a complete lack of respect for law enforcement. It is no surprise that that leader and his party vote against every piece of legislation we have to get tough on criminals.

Today, while we stand proudly as our Prime Minister, our leader is abroad making Canadians proud, the NDP know that their leader is running through stop signs and displaying disrespect for the RCMP who serve us on the Hill.

TelecommunicationsOral Questions

3 p.m.

NDP

Marc-André Morin NDP Laurentides—Labelle, QC

Mr. Speaker, at a time when the Conservatives are making cuts to our public services, the people of Laurentides—Labelle are too often forced to rely on poor-quality online services. For example, completing an application for employment insurance is becoming increasingly difficult.

The lack of reliable access to high-speed Internet is hampering social and economic development in my area, and it is the people who are suffering the consequences.

Will the government enact legislation to ensure that all citizens have access to high-quality Internet services, regardless of where they live?

TelecommunicationsOral Questions

3:05 p.m.

Simcoe—Grey Ontario

Conservative

Kellie Leitch ConservativeParliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Human Resources and Skills Development and to the Minister of Labour

Mr. Speaker, as the member opposite knows, Service Canada provides options for Canadians in many different ways, whether that is accessing one of the Service Canada offices within 50 kilometres of their home, accessing it through the Internet or accessing opportunities through outreach postings throughout the country.

We provide service across Canada. Canadians can even call in at 1-800 O Canada.

Intergovernmental RelationsOral Questions

3:05 p.m.

Bloc

Claude Patry Bloc Jonquière—Alma, QC

Mr. Speaker, this past January, the Minister of Industry told Quebeckers that his government was open to negotiating pragmatic agreements to optimize the management of public funds. This was nothing but lip service. His colleague, the Minister of Transport, Infrastructure and Communities, just refused to transfer infrastructure funding in full to Quebec. If the government transferred the money in full, it would help reduce bureaucracy and shorten the time it takes to complete projects.

What happened to the government's openness, and why will it not transfer Quebec's full share of the money?

Intergovernmental RelationsOral Questions

3:05 p.m.

Beauce Québec

Conservative

Maxime Bernier ConservativeMinister of State (Small Business and Tourism)

Mr. Speaker, the answer is simple. We respect the Constitution of Canada and we signed administrative agreements with the Government of Quebec a few years ago regarding the management of this money.

I remind my colleague that Ms. Marois, the Premier of Quebec, was a member of the Landry and Bouchard governments when we signed these agreements. These agreements are in accordance with the Constitution. They were in accordance with the Constitution at the time and they are in accordance with the Constitution now. We will continue to sign agreements along these lines.

Royal Canadian Mounted PolicePoints of OrderOral Questions

3:05 p.m.

Liberal

Sean Casey Liberal Charlottetown, PE

Mr. Speaker, I rise on a point of order.

I think if you seek it, you will find unanimous consent for the following motion:

That the House commend and thank the RCMP for the excellent work that they do protecting Parliamentarians and all staff who work in the Parliamentary Precinct, recognize that traffic regulations and signage are important for the safety of those working on the Hill including construction personnel and visitors, and that the House reminds all members, and staff that their full compliance and cooperation is required.

Royal Canadian Mounted PolicePoints of OrderOral Questions

3:05 p.m.

Conservative

The Speaker Conservative Andrew Scheer

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

Royal Canadian Mounted PolicePoints of OrderOral Questions

3:05 p.m.

Some hon. members

Agreed.

Royal Canadian Mounted PolicePoints of OrderOral Questions

3:05 p.m.

Conservative

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?

Royal Canadian Mounted PolicePoints of OrderOral Questions

3:05 p.m.

Some hon. members

Agreed.

Royal Canadian Mounted PolicePoints of OrderOral Questions

3:05 p.m.

Conservative

The Speaker Conservative Andrew Scheer

(Motion agreed to)

Elections Canada--Speaker's RulingPoints of OrderOral Questions

3:05 p.m.

Liberal

Kevin Lamoureux Liberal Winnipeg North, MB

Mr. Speaker, I rise on a point of order.

I am aware of your ruling about the tabling of letters from Elections Canada, regarding the member for Selkirk—Interlake and the member for Saint Boniface, so this is not a request to table anything.

However, Mr. Speaker, could you inform the House if you have received any information from Elections Canada about any other members of Parliament who are not currently in compliance with the Elections Act, please?

Elections Canada--Speaker's RulingPoints of OrderOral Questions

3:05 p.m.

Conservative

The Speaker Conservative Andrew Scheer

If the hon. member for Winnipeg North examines the statement that I made last week, there is a very important question of privilege that the Chair is currently seized with. Pending the comprehensive ruling on all aspects of the question before me, I do not want to get into anything that would presuppose what would be in that ruling.

I ask the hon. member to be patient. The ruling will come and any additional information or any other context that might be put into the ruling, I trust, will satisfy the hon. member. If he can be patient, we will soon get it.

Oral QuestionsPoints of OrderOral Questions

3:05 p.m.

London North Centre Ontario

Conservative

Susan Truppe ConservativeParliamentary Secretary for Status of Women

Mr. Speaker, I rise on a point of order.

I am not sure if I heard correctly or not, so I wonder if I could have a point of clarification from the member for Timmins—James Bay.

Did he say in his statement that the female RCMP officer who puts her life on the line every single day was a meter maid? If so, I think he should apologize.

Oral QuestionsPoints of OrderOral Questions

3:05 p.m.

Conservative

The Speaker Conservative Andrew Scheer

I am not sure that is a point of order.

PetitionsPoints of OrderOral Questions

3:05 p.m.

Conservative

Mike Wallace Conservative Burlington, ON

Mr. Speaker, I rise on a point of order.

During routine proceedings today, I was presenting a petition and it was indicated to me that I was a little bit snippy with the Speaker. I just want to stand and apologize for that.

PetitionsPoints of OrderOral Questions

3:10 p.m.

Conservative

The Speaker Conservative Andrew Scheer

All is forgiven.

Business of the HouseOral Questions

3:10 p.m.

NDP

Nathan Cullen NDP Skeena—Bulkley Valley, BC

Mr. Speaker, it is nice to have that level of civility. I congratulate my friend across the way.

Before asking the usual Thursday question and before the government House leader across the way starts to talk about how he has been able to abuse Parliament over the past week, I would like to make a small observation for all those listening.

Of all the bills I am sure he is about to mention that are important, not a single bill passed through this legislative process in anything resembling a normal fashion. Bills S-8, S-15, S-17, S-2, S-6, S-10, S-16, C-56 and C-60, every single bill we have debated in the past week, operated under time allocation. I might parenthetically add that seven of them came from the Senate. It seems like a strange place for the government to get its agenda: a bunch of unelected, under-investigation senators, but so be it. It is the government's choice.

We tried to work with the government to find ways to allow the House to debate bills and to do so expediently. A good example is the Sable Island as a national park bill. For example, we offered up about five or six speakers who wanted to address the merits of the bill, which would have allowed the passage of that bill after they had spoken. The reaction from the leader from the other side was to move time allocation, which in fact ended up taking up more time in the House than the offer the NDP had made would have taken.

The Conservatives' strategy is sometimes bizarre. In fact, it is hard to figure out whether it is a strategy or not. I would like the Conservative member to enlighten me on this, even though the Conservatives' responses have no merit.

We have spent more than 14 hours debating and voting on time allocation motions in the past two weeks alone. I find it ironic that the government allots only five hours of debate to the content of the bill under time allocation, when the vast majority of our time is spent debating and voting on the time allocation motions and not on the bills. That is the Conservatives' way of doing business.

When will the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons learn that a hammer is not the only tool available for getting the work done?

Could the leader of the government tell us what his plans are for this week and the week following?

Business of the HouseOral Questions

3:10 p.m.

York—Simcoe Ontario

Conservative

Peter Van Loan ConservativeLeader of the Government in the House of Commons

Mr. Speaker, this time last week, I said that I hoped to have a substantial list of accomplishments to report to the House. Indeed, I do.

In just the last five days, thanks to a lot of members of Parliament who have been here sitting late at night, working until past midnight, we have accomplished a lot. Bill C-60, the economic action plan 2013 act, no. 1, the important job-creating bill, which was the cornerstone of our government's spring agenda, passed at third reading. Bill S-8, the safe drinking water for first nations act, passed at third reading. Bill S-2, the family homes on reserves and matrimonial interests or rights act, passed at third reading. Bill C-62, the Yale First Nation final agreement act, was reported back from committee and was passed at report stage and passed at third reading. Bill C-49, the Canadian museum of history act, was reported back from committee. Bill C-54, the not criminally responsible reform act, was reported back from committee this morning with amendments from all three parties. Bill S-14, the fighting foreign corruption act, has been passed at committee, and I understand that the House should get a report soon. Bill S-15, the expansion and conservation of Canada’s national parks act, passed at second reading. Bill S-17, the tax conventions implementation act, 2013, passed at second reading. Bill S-10, the prohibiting cluster munitions act, passed at second reading. Bill S-6, the first nations elections act, has been debated at second reading. Bill C-61, the offshore health and safety act, has been debated at second reading. Bill S-16, the tackling contraband tobacco act, has been debated at second reading. Finally, Bill C-65, the respect for communities act, was also debated at second reading.

On the private members' business front, one bill passed at third reading and another at second reading. Of course, that reflects the unprecedented success of private members advancing their ideas and proposals through Parliament under this government, something that is a record under this Parliament. This includes 21 bills put forward by members of the Conservative caucus that have been passed by the House. Twelve of those have already received royal assent or are awaiting the next ceremony. Never before have we seen so many members of Parliament successfully advance so many causes of great importance to them. Never in Canadian history have individual MPs had so much input into changing Canada's laws through their own private members' bills in any session of Parliament as has happened under this government.

Hard-working members of Parliament are reporting the results of their spring labours in our committee rooms. Since last week, we have got substantive reports from the Standing Committee on Public Accounts, the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Development, the Standing Committee on Agriculture and Agri-Food, the Standing Committee on Health, the Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs, and the Standing Committee on Government Operations and Estimates.

We are now into the home stretch of the spring sitting. Since I would like to give priority to any bills which come back from committee, I expect that the business for the coming days may need to be juggled as we endeavour to do that.

I will continue to make constructive proposals to my colleagues for the orderly management of House business. For example, last night, I was able to bring forward a reasonable proposal for today's business, a proposal that had the backing of four of the five political parties that elected MPs. Unfortunately, one party objected, despite the very generous provision made for it with respect to the number of speakers it specifically told us it wanted to have. Nonetheless, I would like to thank those who did work constructively toward it.

I would point out that the night before, I made a similar offer, again, based on our efforts to accommodate the needs of all the parties.

Today we will complete second reading of Bill S-16, the tackling contraband tobacco act. Then we will start second reading of Bill C-57, the safeguarding Canada's seas and skies act.

Tomorrow morning we will start report stage of Bill C-49, the Canadian museum of history act. Following question period, we will return to the second reading debate on Bill S-6, the first nations elections act.

On Monday, before question period, we will start report stage and hopefully third reading of Bill C-54, the not criminally responsible reform act. After question period Monday, we will return to Bill C-49, followed by Bill C-65, the respect for communities act.

On Tuesday, we will also continue any unfinished business from Friday and Monday. We could also start report stage, and ideally, third reading of Bill S-14, the fighting foreign corruption act that day.

Wednesday, after tidying up what is left over from Tuesday, we will take up any additional bills that might be reported from committee. I understand that we could get reports from the hard-working finance and environment committees on Bill S-17 and Bill S-15 respectively.

Thereafter, the House could finish the four outstanding second-reading debates on the order paper: Bill C-57; Bill C-61; Bill S-12, the incorporation by reference in regulations act; and Bill S-13, the port state measures agreement implementation act.

I am looking forward to several more productive days as we get things done for Canadians here in Ottawa.

Business of the HouseOral Questions

3:15 p.m.

Conservative

The Speaker Conservative Andrew Scheer

The hon. member for Skeena—Bulkley Valley is rising.

Amended Report on Bill C-54PrivilegeOral Questions

3:15 p.m.

NDP

Nathan Cullen NDP Skeena—Bulkley Valley, BC

Mr. Speaker, I just wanted to respond to the point of privilege brought by my friend from Kingston and the Islands. He brought a point of privilege regarding data, and more importantly, data the government was using that was not correct in terms of constructing its argument for a bill. He took that as a point of privilege, an invocation that I think is quite serious.

Our research team prepared a report for the justice department entitled “Description and Processing of Individuals Found Not Criminally Responsible on Account of Mental Disorder Accused of 'Serious Violent Offences'”. This report was central to the discussions on Bill C-54, the not criminally responsible reform act, both in the House, where the report was tabled, and at the Standing Committee on Justice and Human rights, which studied the legislation.

The report was given to the Department of Justice in November 2012. On March 14, 2013, the department was notified that there was an error in this report. The government was provided with a corrected version on March 18 of that same year. We know this as a sure fact from a committee witness who said:

That error was discovered on March 14th and immediately communicated to the Minister's office, and a revised report was provided on March 18th with that data corrected

There was also a note attached to the report when it was tabled, saying that a significantly amended version of this report was provided to the Department of Justice on March 18, 2013, so that is not in dispute. Whether there was an incorrect report that was then corrected and given to the government has all been established as fact.

However, the Conservatives nonetheless continued to cite from the old report and even tabled the old report on March 27, thus providing misleading information to the House and all members of Parliament. The numbers between the two reports varied significantly and have had an impact on how we have been studying and debating legislation and making decisions on policy concerns.

A small example is that the original report said that 38.1% of sex offenders found not criminally responsible and accused of a sex offence had at least one prior NCR finding. That number was changed in the report to 9.5%. When MPs were debating, the information they had given to them by the government said that almost 40% were true in these cases. The actual number was less than 10%.

It also said that 27.7% of those accused of attempted murder had one NCR finding. That number was then changed to 4.6%, and the figure of 19% accused of murder or homicide with one prior NCR was changed to 5.2%. There was a dramatic one-fifth, one-quarter and one-tenth difference in the numbers. These are not small or trivial. They are significant.

According to O'Brien and Bosc, contempt of Parliament is “any action which...tends to obstruct or impede the House in the performance of its functions; obstructs or impedes any member or officer of the House in the discharge of their duties; or is an offence against the authority or dignity of the House”.

According to the same authors, “deliberately attempting to mislead the House or a committee” is a form of contempt.

The 22nd edition of Erskine May: Parliamentary Practice also states on page 63:

it is of paramount importance that ministers give accurate and truthful information to Parliament, correcting any inadvertent error at the earliest opportunity

This would not be the first time the Chair has found a prima facie case of contempt of the House related to misleading the House and committees.

In 2003, the former privacy commissioner, George Radwanski, was found in contempt of the House for providing deliberately misleading testimony during hearings of the Standing Committee on Government Operations and Estimates on the financial management and staffing of the Office of the Privacy Commissioner, November 6.

In 2008, the RCMP deputy commissioner, Barbara George, was found in contempt of this House for providing misleading testimony during the Standing Committee on Public Accounts hearings into allegations of mishandling of the RCMP pension and insurance plans.

This, sadly, is not the first time we have discussed instances of the Conservative government misleading the House and Canadians. In this case, the Conservatives purposely used the old and incorrect numbers, because they made a better case for their version of the legislation. They used the numbers that pleased them instead of using the facts that were true. This was detrimental to members of all parties and to the members of the committee studying the bill based on incorrect data.

Correct numbers give us the ability to develop good policy, but the current government members, we have seen far too often, are not interested in science-based policy-making.

Misleading the House and Canadians is a very serious breach of the rules of governing both our democracy and this institution.

I therefore support the request from the member for Kingston and the Islands that the proper measures be taken.

Amended Report on Bill C-54PrivilegeOral Questions

3:20 p.m.

Conservative

The Speaker Conservative Andrew Scheer

I thank the hon. member for his further contribution.

Orders of the day.

The House resumed consideration of the motion that Bill S-16, An Act to amend the Criminal Code (trafficking in contraband tobacco), be read the second time and referred to a committee, and of the motion that this question be now put.

Tackling Contraband Tobacco ActGovernment Orders

3:20 p.m.

NDP

Jean Rousseau NDP Compton—Stanstead, QC

Mr. Speaker, as I mentioned earlier, I will be sharing my speaking time—that is, the five minutes I have left—with the excellent member for Churchill.

Earlier, I spoke about how tobacco is a substance that is extremely hazardous to peoples' health. I also spoke about the lack of resources, and not just financial resources. Sometimes it is just material or human resources that are needed. It may be that all that is needed is a little time.

Not only is contraband a serious public safety and health problem, but it also results in a loss of tax revenue for various levels of government. The majority of tobacco manufacturers are located in Ontario and Quebec, and that is also where most contraband tobacco enters the country. That is where most tobacco is manufactured and where most contraband tobacco enters and leaves the country. Why? This happens by land and by water. Why is that?

As I said earlier, it is unacceptable that the resources are not being allocated to really fight this.

I found myself wondering about that earlier. I was also thinking that the RCMP recognizes that the increase in organized crime linked to contraband tobacco boosts other crimes. Contraband tobacco funds other criminal activities, such as weapons and drug trafficking.

Introducing mandatory minimum sentences of 90 days, 180 days and two years less a day will not resolve the situation. We know that in organized crime, when a person, a candidate, a soldier—excuse my language—is no longer needed or must be retired, he is replaced. There are pools of recruits who will commit all kinds of crimes. Increasing minimum sentences or further criminalizing contraband tobacco by making a small change to the Criminal Code will not reduce this crime.

There was a seizure in the Eastern Townships the day before yesterday. Unfortunately, 16 troublemakers were involved and they were all repeat offenders connected in some way to organized crime groups. These groups are increasingly organized in terms of technology, computer resources and vehicles.

I would like to tell you a story about something that happened in my riding. A package fell from the sky and all of a sudden a jet boat appeared to pick up the package and quickly take it across the border. The RCMP and the Sûreté du Québec had not done maintenance on their patrol boats in the previous two years and were therefore unable to reach the destination or the target. That is an example of the lack of resources I was talking about and the very serious consequences it can have.

Organized crime has the resources to easily transfer groups, vehicles and goods from one place to another. Why? Because the current government is not doing its job on the ground. It is not looking after the safety of communities or, more importantly, Canadians' health.

As I said before, provincial governments have worked hard to discourage the use of tobacco and drugs and even to prevent young people from suffering the serious consequences of membership in a criminal organization. A great deal of preventive work has been done with young people, and that work must continue. Young people need support. The government must allocate enough money for the youth centres that are located throughout Quebec, so they can hire leaders in the summer. The leaders are often young university students or other community members who help the municipalities and supervise young people during sports activities.

For example, in my riding, in Rock Forest in Deauville, there is a skateboard park. Young people love this sport. They are happy, they are outside and they are developing.

Needlessly exposing them to crime will do nothing to protect the future of our society and the safety of our people.