Debates of Jan. 31st, 2014

Canada Post

[Marc-André Morin, NDP, Laurentides—Labelle, QC]

Mr. Speaker, in my riding of Laurentides—Labelle, the communities of Lac-du-Cerf, Sainte-Anne-du-Lac, Saint-Faustin-Lac-Carré, Rivière-Rouge, Amherst and Chute-Saint-Philippe are concerned about the closure of Canada Post offices. Six municipalities have already passed resolutions demanding that postal services continue.

Will the government listen to the people and elected officials in Laurentides—Labelle and work to find solutions instead of taking an axe to public services?

[Jeff Watson, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Transport]

Mr. Speaker, as the member will know, Canada Post delivered one billion fewer individually addressed letters in 2012 than it did in 2006. The Conference Board of Canada, in its report, projected that Canada Post could lose roughly $1 billion a year by 2020.

The member will also know, though, that Canada Post, as an arm's-length crown corporation, is responsible for its operations, including business and financial decisions. It is their five-point plan.

Agriculture and Agri-Food

[Gary Schellenberger, Conservative, Perth—Wellington, ON]

Mr. Speaker, last week, porcine epidemic diarrhea was detected in southern Ontario. Although this disease poses no risk to human health, it could have serious repercussions for Canada's pork sector. In addition to the already stringent inspections at the border, could the Minister of State for Agriculture please update the House on what else our government is doing to help industry combat this disease?

[Maxime Bernier, Conservative, Minister of State (Small Business and Tourism]

Mr. Speaker, I want to thank my colleague for the question but most importantly for his hard work on this file.

Yesterday the Minister of Agriculture announced emergency access to a vaccine to respond to the threat posed by porcine epidemic diarrhea. It will be available to pork producers in Canada for use under veterinary supervision as a precautionary measure against the virus. I would like to assure my colleagues that our government is continuing to work with the pork industry as a whole.

Government Services

[Claude Patry, Bloc, Jonquière—Alma, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Infrastructure, Communities and Intergovernmental Affairs has a poor attitude when it comes to Quebec's economy, and his own government is cutting services and relocating them far away from people.

Eliminating home mail delivery in urban areas, closing the passport office in Jonquière and closing the Service Canada office in Kénogami will hurt the economic development of these Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean communities.

When will the minister intervene and prevent the government from taking away the services that the people of Jonquière and Kénogami appreciate having nearby?

[Jacques Gourde, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, the Economic Development Agency of Canada is working in all regions of Quebec to develop the Quebec economy. This is one of our government's priorities, and it should be a priority for all MPs from Quebec.

Ethics

[Elizabeth May, Green, Saanich—Gulf Islands, BC]

Mr. Speaker, Canadians will remember the sorry tale, the scandal of Dr. Arthur Porter who once held the sensitive position of chair of the Canadian Security Intelligence Review Committee. As we all know, he is now in jail in Panama and fighting extradition to Canada. Appallingly, he is still a member of the Privy Council. He is a Privy Council officer. To be removed from that position, all the Prime Minister has to do is ask the Governor General to remove him. Why has this step not been taken?

[Paul Calandra, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Prime Minister and for Intergovernmental Affairs]

Mr. Speaker, I will take the member's comments under advisement and get back to her.

[Elizabeth May, Green, Saanich—Gulf Islands, BC]

Mr. Speaker, I certainly thank the hon. parliamentary secretary; that is a very encouraging response.

Perhaps we can have a government and an administration that styles itself as tough on crime but appears to be soft on its friends.

I am wondering if the parliamentary secretary could also take a message to the Prime Minister from one of my constituents, who would appreciate if the Prime Minister would urge his friend the mayor of Toronto to resign because it is an embarrassment to Canada to have someone with these charges against him—

[The Acting Speaker, Conservative, Barry Devolin]

Order. The question clearly goes beyond the administrative responsibilities of the Government of Canada and concludes question period for today.

The hon. member for Medicine Hat is rising on a point of order.

Oral Questions

[LaVar Payne, Conservative, Medicine Hat, AB]

Mr. Speaker, I am rising on a point of order. The member for Winnipeg Centre used very unparliamentary language towards me and our colleagues in the House. He also gave me the not-so-famous Pierre Elliott Trudeau salute. I expect a full apology, to me as well as to my colleagues here in the House. That is not acceptable in this place.

[The Acting Speaker, Conservative, Barry Devolin]

The Chair will take this on advisement, and I am sure this matter will come back before the House.

Foreign Affairs

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

Mr. Speaker, on behalf of the Minister of Foreign Affairs and pursuant to Standing Order 32(2), I have the honour to table, in both official languages, the following documents. The first of two reports is entitled “Report on Exports of Military Goods from Canada, 2010-11”; and, second, the 2011-12 progress report, “Canada's Action Plan for the Implementation of the United Nations Security Council Resolutions on Women, Peace and Security”.

Furthermore, I have two treaties that I wish to table, entitled, one, “Acts of the 25th Congress of the Universal Postal Union” done at Doha on October 11, 2012; and finally, the exchange of notes between the Government of Canada and the Government of the United States of America constituting an agreement amending chapter 4 of annex 4 of the treaty between the Government of Canada and the Government of the United States of America concerning Pacific salmon, which was done in Washington on December 13 and 23, 2013. An explanatory memorandum is included with each treaty.

[Mauril Bélanger, Liberal, Ottawa—Vanier, ON]

Mr. Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 34(1), I have the honour to present to the House, in both official languages, the report of the Canadian delegation of the Canada-Africa Parliamentary Association respecting its bilateral mission to Cameroon concerning the creation of a senate in Cameroon, held from November 13 to 17, 2012.

The report was delayed because we were waiting to see the results of our delegation. Those results are described in our report.

The Environment

[Alex Atamanenko, NDP, British Columbia Southern Interior, BC]

Mr. Speaker, I have two petitions. The first one is from residents of Nelson, Castlegar, Trail, Rossland, Crescent Valley, Winlaw, Salmo, New Denver and Cranbrook, who are upset over the cuts to Environment Canada. They call upon Parliament to undertake a thorough assessment of the needs and priorities of Environment Canada's mandate, taking into account regional differences and specifics, and also to have Environment Canada conduct an assessment of the risks and impacts on environment and human health that may arise from these decisions.

Canada Post

[Alex Atamanenko, NDP, British Columbia Southern Interior, BC]

Mr. Speaker, on the second petition most of the 250 names are from my community of Castlegar. The petitioners would like the Government of Canada to instruct Canada Post to keep and expand public post offices instead of opening privately run offices or franchises, which seems to be the trend.

Genetically Modified Alfalfa

[Michael Chong, Conservative, Wellington—Halton Hills, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I present a petition from 70 or so constituents in my riding of Wellington—Halton Hills, mostly from the Rockwood area, who petition the government to put a moratorium on genetically modified alfalfa.

Climate Change

[Elizabeth May, Green, Saanich—Gulf Islands, BC]

Mr. Speaker, I rise to present two petitions today. The first is from residents of Salt Spring Island within my riding, as well as many from Vancouver. They call on the government to live up to the commitments that were made in a bill passed by the House of Commons but disgracefully defeated in the Senate without having a single day of hearings. It calls for meaningful reductions of greenhouse gases to 25% below 1990 levels by 2020.

The Environment

[Elizabeth May, Green, Saanich—Gulf Islands, BC]

Mr. Speaker, the second petition is from residents from Pender Island within my riding, calling on the government to ensure that the risky pipeline and tanker scheme proposed by Enbridge is not approved and that the islands and the coastline of British Columbia can be protected from tankers loaded with raw bitumen.

[Anne Minh-Thu Quach, NDP, Beauharnois—Salaberry, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I have a petition to present regarding the protection of navigable waters.

As part of one of its omnibus bills, the government managed to ensure that nearly all the waterways in Canada are no longer protected, apart from 62 rivers, 97 lakes and three oceans, which together represent less than 2% all of waterways.

The petitioners are calling on the government to guarantee permanent navigation rights on all lakes and, above all, to restore the former environmental assessment process.

Now, citizens are the ones having to ensure that our waters are protected, and at their own expense. Approximately 50 people have signed this petition.

Mining Industry

[Irwin Cotler, Liberal, Mount Royal, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I rise to present a petition from Canadians concerned about harsh and degrading working conditions in the resource and extraction industry around the world, particularly with respect to what have been described as conflict minerals used in electronic equipment such as cellphones.

The petitioners call on the government to impose standards for identifying the source of these component materials so that Canadians can be confident that when they buy electronics, they are supporting safe and humane business practices.

[Joe Preston, Conservative, Elgin—Middlesex—London, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I have a petition from some 40 members from St. Thomas and the area around it regarding the actions of Canadian mining companies.

Grenville Canal

[Mylène Freeman, NDP, Argenteuil—Papineau—Mirabel, QC]

Mr. Speaker, these petitioners are calling on the Government of Canada to cover the cost of repairing and restoring the shoreline and retaining walls of the Grenville Canal in my riding.

Even though it is considered a national historic site, the canal was forced to close in 2008 because of its decrepit state. For the past four years, elected officials and members of the local community have been joining forces to call on the federal government to preserve this historic canal, which is so important to the region.

I want my constituents to know that I fully support them in their efforts. It is time to demand symbolic recognition for this important canal.

Questions on the Order Paper

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

Mr. Speaker, I ask that all questions be allowed to stand.

[The Acting Speaker, Conservative, Barry Devolin]

Is that agreed?