House of Commons Hansard #98 of the 41st Parliament, 2nd Session. (The original version is on Parliament's site.) The word of the day was citizenship.

Topics

Riding Name Change Act, 2014Routine Proceedings

12:05 p.m.

York—Simcoe Ontario

Conservative

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

moved for leave to introduce Bill C-37, An Act to change the names of certain electoral districts and to amend the Electoral Boundaries Readjustment Act.

(Motions deemed adopted, bill read the first time and printed)

Public AccountsCommittees of the HouseRoutine Proceedings

12:05 p.m.

NDP

David Christopherson NDP Hamilton Centre, ON

Mr. Speaker, I have the honour to present, in both official languages, the following reports of the Standing Committee on Public Accounts: the fifth report, on Chapter 9, Offshore Banking — Canada Revenue Agency, of the Fall 2013 Report of the Auditor General of Canada; and the sixth report, on the Main Estimates 2014-15: Report on Plans and Priorities for 2014-15 and Performance Report for 2012-13 of the Office of the Auditor General of Canada.

Pursuant to Standing Order 109 of the House of Commons, the committee requests that the government table a comprehensive response to the fifth report only.

Criminal CodeRoutine Proceedings

12:10 p.m.

Liberal

Irwin Cotler Liberal Mount Royal, QC

moved for leave to introduce Bill C-610, An Act to amend the Criminal Code (cruelty to animals).

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to rise and introduce this legislation, which amends the Criminal Code's provisions on animal cruelty. In particular, it creates a new offence of inadequate and negligent care of animals. The bill establishes an offence for anyone who negligently causes unnecessary pain, suffering, or injury to an animal or bird, or, being the owner, wilfully or recklessly abandons it or fails to provide suitable and adequate food, water, air, shelter, and care for it. It also punishes those who negligently injure an animal or bird while it is being conveyed.

As hon. members know, Canada's animal cruelty laws are woefully out of date. They have not been updated since the 1890s. In my view, this bill represents an important step toward modernizing the law, although I realize more will be done.

Given the order of precedence, I realize this bill may not see debate before I leave Parliament. I would thus invite the government to consider adopting this legislation as its own and to introduce long-overdue animal cruelty reforms so that Canada's laws respect and protect animals against actions that show disregard or contempt for their security and well-being.

(Motions deemed adopted, bill read the first time and printed)

(On the Order: Introduction of Bills)

June 6, 2014--bill intituled: Bill C-37, An Act to change the names of certain electoral districts and to amend the Electoral Boundaries Readjustment Act--Mr. Peter Van Loan.

Riding Name Change Act, 2014Routine Proceedings

12:10 p.m.

York—Simcoe Ontario

Conservative

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

Mr. Speaker, I have a motion regarding Bill C-37 introduced earlier today. There have been extensive discussions among the parties and I anticipate you will receive unanimous consent for the following motion. I move:

Motion

That, notwithstanding any Standing Order or usual practice of the House, Bill C-37, An Act to Change the Names of Certain Electoral Districts and to amend the Electoral Boundaries Readjustment Act be deemed to have been read a second time and referred to a committee of the whole, deemed considered in committee of the whole, deemed reported without amendment, deemed concurred in at the report stage, and deemed read a third time and passed.

Riding Name Change Act, 2014Routine Proceedings

12:10 p.m.

Conservative

The Speaker Conservative Andrew Scheer

Does the hon. government House leader have the unanimous consent of the House to propose the motion?

Riding Name Change Act, 2014Routine Proceedings

12:10 p.m.

Some hon. members

Agreed.

Riding Name Change Act, 2014Routine Proceedings

12:10 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?

Riding Name Change Act, 2014Routine Proceedings

12:10 p.m.

Some hon. members

Agreed.

Riding Name Change Act, 2014Routine Proceedings

12:10 p.m.

Conservative

The Speaker Conservative Andrew Scheer

(Motion agreed to, bill read the second time, considered in committee, reported without amendment, concurred in, read the third time and passed)

Public SafetyPetitionsRoutine Proceedings

12:10 p.m.

Conservative

James Lunney Conservative Nanaimo—Alberni, BC

Mr. Speaker, I have a number of petitions to present but they are bundled into three issues.

The first petition is from about 680 persons from Nanaimo, across Vancouver Island and across British Columbia.

These citizens would like to draw the attention of Parliament to the murder of Kimberly Proctor. The petitioners are calling for changes to the Criminal Code dealing with young persons 16 years or older regarding trial, sentencing, and custody amendments to be known as “Kimberly's law”.

AgriculturePetitionsRoutine Proceedings

12:10 p.m.

Conservative

James Lunney Conservative Nanaimo—Alberni, BC

Mr. Speaker, I have four petitions bundled together from about 300 citizens from across my riding, Nanoose, Coombs, Errington, Parksville, and other places.

The petitioners are concerned about the right to save, exchange, and sell seeds.

I have another petition from citizens concerned about fair electoral representation--

AgriculturePetitionsRoutine Proceedings

12:10 p.m.

Conservative

The Speaker Conservative Andrew Scheer

Order. We will have to move on to the next one because the member has had the floor for over one minute now.

The hon. member for Beaches--East York.

Workers' RightsPetitionsRoutine Proceedings

12:10 p.m.

NDP

Matthew Kellway NDP Beaches—East York, ON

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to present a petition in the House today that arises out of the collapse of Rana Plaza, a garment factory in Bangladesh. When it collapsed it killed 1,135 workers and injured another 2,500.

The petitioners draw the attention of the House to the fundamental right of all workers all over the world to work without fear for their safety and their lives.

Because the accord on fire and safety in Bangladesh is a critical mechanism for the safety of garment workers in Bangladesh, the petitioners call on the Government of Canada to endorse the accord--

Workers' RightsPetitionsRoutine Proceedings

12:10 p.m.

Conservative

The Speaker Conservative Andrew Scheer

Order. The hon. member for York West.

Impaired DrivingPetitionsRoutine Proceedings

12:10 p.m.

Liberal

Judy Sgro Liberal York West, ON

Mr. Speaker, I am proud today to present a petition from several citizens of Canada.

The petitioners want to see tougher laws and the implementation of new mandatory minimum sentencing for those persons convicted of impaired driving causing death.

Impaired DrivingPetitionsRoutine Proceedings

12:10 p.m.

Conservative

Maurice Vellacott Conservative Saskatoon—Wanuskewin, SK

Mr. Speaker, these petitioners from British Columbia also indicate that the current impaired driving laws are too lenient. They want to see that changed and toughened up so we have some new mandatory minimum sentences for persons convicted of impaired driving causing death.

The petitioners want the Criminal Code to be changed to redefine the offence of impaired driving causing death to vehicular manslaughter. They have some other good suggestions in their proposal as well.

Passport CanadaPetitionsRoutine Proceedings

12:15 p.m.

NDP

Tarik Brahmi NDP Saint-Jean, QC

Mr. Speaker, today I am presenting a petition signed by more than 1,000 people, most of whom signed it at my constituency office. These people are asking for a passport point of service in the Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu Service Canada centre.

Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu is a city of more than 100,000 people that does not have a passport point of service, while some Canadian cities with 9,000, 10,000, or 12,000 people have a passport point of service in their Service Canada offices. That is what the petitioners are asking for today.

Public MonumentsPetitionsRoutine Proceedings

12:15 p.m.

Liberal

Irwin Cotler Liberal Mount Royal, QC

Mr. Speaker, I rise to table a petition from residents of my riding calling for the removal of any public monument in the name of a person who has advocated or promoted genocide as defined by the Criminal Code.

In particular, the petitioners draw the attention of the House to the statue in my riding of Queen Isabella of Spain, who oversaw the iniquitous Spanish Inquisition, which included the expulsion of all Jews from Spain on pain of death and the forced conversion of those who remained also on pain of death.

The petitioners urge the House to consider legislation preventing the memorialization of persons who have committed deplorable acts such as these and to ensure we do not glorify those responsible for dark chapters in our--

Public MonumentsPetitionsRoutine Proceedings

12:15 p.m.

Conservative

The Speaker Conservative Andrew Scheer

Order. The hon. member for Scarborough Centre.

Criminal CodePetitionsRoutine Proceedings

12:15 p.m.

Conservative

Roxanne James Conservative Scarborough Centre, ON

Mr. Speaker, I have a number of petitions from across Canada regarding tougher penalties for sexual predators. The petitioners are concerned that current penalties for sexual abuse do not reflect the severity of the crime and the subsequent life-altering consequences suffered by the abused. They are calling for amendments to the Criminal Code so that sexual predators receive a minimum imprisonment term of 10 years for rape.

Genetically Modified OrganismsPetitionsRoutine Proceedings

12:15 p.m.

NDP

Malcolm Allen NDP Welland, ON

Mr. Speaker, I have two petitions to present. In the first one, petitioners call on the Government of Canada not to release GM salmon, GM fish, or GM fish eggs.

Agriculture and Agri-FoodPetitionsRoutine Proceedings

12:15 p.m.

NDP

Malcolm Allen NDP Welland, ON

Mr. Speaker, the second petition calls upon the government to enact a national food strategy for all Canadians across the country, and to bring it before the House and have a debate.

Just as a sidebar, Mr. Speaker, I initiated this particular petition and I would be more than happy to share it with the government. If it wants to bring it forward as legislation to enact a national food strategy, it would please the petitioners who signed this.

HealthPetitionsRoutine Proceedings

12:15 p.m.

Liberal

Kevin Lamoureux Liberal Winnipeg North, MB

Mr. Speaker, I have a petition from the residents of Guelph, which was provided by my colleague from Guelph. Petitioners across Canada there are calling for the government to require all producers and manufacturers to include potassium on the nutritional facts table on all food labels. They are seriously concerned that many prepackaged foods are not required to list potassium additives. In the best interest of those who must keep an eye on intake, like people suffering from heart and kidney diseases, hypertension, and many other conditions, they are calling on the government for assistance.

Questions on the Order PaperRoutine Proceedings

12:15 p.m.

Okanagan—Coquihalla B.C.

Conservative

Dan Albas ConservativeParliamentary Secretary to the President of the Treasury Board

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