Debates of March 26th, 2014

Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development

[The Speaker, Conservative, Andrew Scheer]

In my opinion the yeas have it.

And five or more members having risen:

Call in the members.

(The House divided on the motion, which was agreed to on the following division:)

Vote #89

Committees of the House

[The Speaker, Conservative, Andrew Scheer]

I declare the motion carried.

Business of the House

[Paul Dewar, NDP, Ottawa Centre, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I was hoping to move this unanimous consent motion. If you seek it, I think you will find that there is unanimous consent among all parties for the following motion.

I move:

That this House note the allegations that war crimes, crimes against humanity, and other serious violations and abuses of human rights were committed during the Sri Lankan civil war; call for an independent international inquiry mechanism to establish the truth of these events, given the continued absence of a credible national process; welcome the report of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights on promoting reconciliation and accountability in Sri Lanka; and encourage the Government of Canada to continue taking a strong position on this issue at the UN Human Rights Council and in other international forums.

[The Speaker, Conservative, Andrew Scheer]

Does the hon. member have the unanimous consent of the House to move 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)

Motion No. 11

[Joe Oliver, Conservative, Minister of Finance]

moved that a ways and means motion to implement certain provisions of the budget tabled in Parliament on February 11, 2014 and other measures, be concurred in.

[The Speaker, Conservative, Andrew Scheer]

The question is on the motion. Is it the pleasure of the House to adopt the motion?

[Some hon. members]

Agreed.

No.

[The Speaker, Conservative, Andrew Scheer]

All those in favour of the motion will please say yea.

[Some hon. members]

Yea.

[The Speaker, Conservative, Andrew Scheer]

All those opposed will please say nay.

[Some hon. members]

Nay.

[The Speaker, Conservative, Andrew Scheer]

In my opinion the yeas have it.

And five or more members having risen:

Call in the members.

(The House divided on the motion, which was agreed to on the following division:)

Vote #90

Ways and Means

[The Speaker, Conservative, Andrew Scheer]

I declare the motion carried.

It is my duty, pursuant to Standing Order 38, to inform the House that the question to be raised tonight at the time of adjournment is as follows: the hon. member for Saanich—Gulf Islands, The Budget.

Bill C-13—Time Allocation Motion

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

moved:

That, in relation to Bill C-13, An Act to amend the Criminal Code, the Canada Evidence Act, the Competition Act and the Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters Act, not more than one further sitting day after the day on which this Order is adopted shall be allotted to the consideration at second reading stage of the Bill; and

that, 15 minutes before the expiry of the time provided for Government Orders on the day allotted to the consideration at second reading stage of the said Bill, any proceedings before the House shall be interrupted, if required for the purpose of this Order, and, in turn, every question necessary for the disposal of the said stage of the Bill shall be put forthwith and successively, without further debate or amendment.

[Peter Julian, NDP, Burnaby—New Westminster, BC]

Mr. Speaker, this is now the 58th time that closure, or time allocation, has been brought in this Parliament. We are talking about a sad record that has never occurred before in the history of Parliament.

There have been 58 times where debate has been shut down, and this is on a bill that has not been debated for months. Despite this, the Conservative government is trying to impose this bill and shut down debate, although there have been few speakers on the bill and it has not been debated for months.

I want to quote the Minister of Justice, from a comment he made back in 2004.

At that time, the minister made the following statement:

The speed with which the government has acted in this fashion in bringing about closure is a true signal as to how the Prime Minister and the government are going to treat the so-called democratic deficit that the Prime Minister has had a revelation on in discovering that a democratic deficit exists in the country.

This government is the democratic deficit. Fifty-eight times. That is totally inappropriate. When will this government start respecting Canadians and allow Parliament to debate important issues?

[Peter MacKay, Conservative, Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada]

Mr. Speaker, I thank the hon. member for his tantrum, I mean his question.

However, before I answer his question, on a point of order, I want to clarify at the earliest opportunity an answer that I gave in response to a question from the member for Charlottetown that became the subject of a point of order by the member for Mount Royal.

I have enormous respect for that member. The member for Mount Royal is in fact a predecessor minister of justice. He has contributed greatly to this place throughout his career, as an educator, a litigator, and an advocate.

For clarity, I wish to ensure that my answer did not imply that the Liberal government of the day “invoked”, which is the word that the member used, the notwithstanding clause, but threatened to use it. Members may recall that former prime minister Paul Martin, and certainly the member for Mount Royal—

[The Acting Speaker, Conservative, Bruce Stanton]

As we have discovered on this particular question, it is a matter of debate. I appreciate the minister's intervention, but I wonder, does he wish additional time to come back to the question that was before the House?

[Peter MacKay, Conservative, Central Nova, NS]

Mr. Speaker, I just want to finish my response to a point that was raised in question period on a point of order. I am simply responding.

[The Acting Speaker, Conservative, Bruce Stanton]

The House concluded that essentially this is a matter of debate. The question before the House is on the time allocation question, and we will move to that.

Questions, the hon. member for Gatineau.