Debates of Dec. 9th, 2015

Democratic Reform

[Scott Reid, Conservative, Lanark—Frontenac—Kingston, ON]

Mr. Speaker, last June, the Prime Minister offered this rationale for opposing a referendum, “electoral reform has had a lot of trouble getting through plebiscites”. No kidding. In 2007, only 37% of Ontarians supported MMP. How much better if we had not let that silly referendum prejudice the outcome of Ontario's electoral reform process?

Fast forward to last October and the federal Liberals won only 39% of the vote. How exactly does 39% of the vote in an election constitute a better, clearer mandate for a specific form of electoral reform than 51% in a referendum?

[Maryam Monsef, Liberal, Minister of Democratic Institutions]

Mr. Speaker, for the first time in 10 years, Canadians are being listened to. Canadians voted for change and they voted for a change in our electoral process. We will be delivering on that commitment. I will be working with the government House leader to convene an all-party parliamentary committee to review the various electoral reform options available to us.

Taxation

[Xavier Barsalou-Duval, Bloc, Pierre-Boucher—Les Patriotes—Verchères, QC]

Mr. Speaker, on February 20, the Prime Minister promised the Board of Trade of Metropolitan Montreal that a Liberal government would immediately reinstate the tax credits for labour-sponsored funds in full. He kept saying that throughout the campaign.

Quebeckers really value these funds as tools that promote economic development and savings. Even though the Minister of Finance has a mandate to restore the tax credits, he is dodging the issue by saying that he wants to hold consultations.

The minister has a mandate to do this. When will he do it?

[Bill Morneau, Liberal, Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, we will keep our promise about tax credits for contributions to labour-sponsored funds.

The government is taking action on the priorities in its plan, including tax measures. Our immediate priority is to give middle-class Canadians a tax break as of January 1, 2016. That is why the government will be introducing legislative measures today to reduce middle-class tax rates.

Presence in Gallery

[The Speaker, Liberal, Geoff Regan]

I would like to draw the attention of hon. members to the presence in the gallery of the soon to be Honourable Dwight Ball, Premier-designate of Newfoundland and Labrador.

[Some hon. members]

Hear, hear!

Member for Ottawa—Vanier

[Andrew Leslie, Liberal, Orléans, ON]

Mr. Speaker, there have been consultations among the parties and if you seek it, you should find unanimous consent for the following motion, which I would like to read in both official languages out of respect for members of the House and especially the member for Ottawa—Vanier. I move:

That this House, desiring to record its deep appreciation of the distinguished and faithful service to Parliament and to Canada of the hon. member for Ottawa—Vanier, appoint this Member honorary Chair occupant, on a day to be designated by the Speaker.

I move:

That the House, desiring to record its deep appreciation of the distinguished and faithful service to Parliament and to Canada of the honourable member for Ottawa—Vanier, appoint this member honorary Chair occupant, on a day to be designated by the Speaker.

[Some hon. members]

Hear, hear!

[The Speaker, Liberal, Geoff Regan]

I take it from the reaction of the House that there is unanimous consent.

[Some hon. members]

Agreed.

[The Speaker, Liberal, Geoff Regan]

(Motion agreed to)

Information Commissioner of Canada

[The Speaker, Liberal, Geoff Regan]

I have the honour, pursuant to section 38 of the Access to Information Act, to lay upon the table the report of the Information Commissioner for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2015.

Pursuand to Standing Order 108(3)(h), this document is deemed permanently referred to the Standing Committee on Access to Information, Privacy and Ethics.

Payments in Lieu of Taxes Act

[Matthew Dubé, NDP, Beloeil—Chambly, QC]

moved for leave to introduce Bill C-201, An Act to amend the Payments in Lieu of Taxes Act (independent assessment).

Mr. Speaker, I do not want to spend too much time on this, since we have a vote coming up. However, I made an election commitment to reintroduce this bill at the first opportunity in order to ensure that the City of Chambly gets its fair share of payments in lieu of taxes.

I would also like to quickly thank the former MP for Halifax, Megan Leslie, who worked so hard on this issue and who seconded my bill in the last Parliament. Thanks to her good work, if we get the bill adopted Halifax will have a lot more money in its coffers and will get its fair share from the federal government as well.

I am looking forward to getting support, as the Liberal candidate in my riding promised in the last election.

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

Canadian Environmental Bill of Rights

[Linda Duncan, NDP, Edmonton Strathcona, AB]

moved for leave to introduce Bill C-202, An Act to establish a Canadian Environmental Bill of Rights and to make a related amendment to another Act.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to again table a Canadian environmental bill of rights. While similar measures have been enacted by the provinces and territories, no such law has been enacted at the federal level.

The bill enacts into domestic law international commitments made decades ago by Canada. First, it enshrines the right of Canadians to a healthy and ecologically balanced environment. Second, it enshrines the Government of Canada's public trust duty to protect the environment, including legislating and enforcing environmental protection laws. Third, it extends to Canadians the right to hold their government accountable through access to environmental information, participation in decisions impacting healthy environment, and standing to seek judicial intervention where those rights are denied. Passage of the bill has become all the more critical to redress the erosion of environmental rights and protections wrought by the previous government.

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

Supreme Court Act

[François Choquette, NDP, Drummond, QC]

moved for leave to introduce Bill C-203, An Act to amend the Supreme Court Act (understanding the official languages).

Mr. Speaker, I rise in the House today to introduce a bill to amend the Supreme Court Act with regard to understanding the official languages. I am doing so in honour of my colleague Yvon Godin, the former member for Acadie—Bathurst, who worked so hard on this important file in order to fight for the right of all Canadians to argue their cases before the Supreme Court in the official language of their choice.

It is time to make it mandatory to appoint bilingual judges to the Supreme Court. Understanding both official languages should be an essential requirement. This is about equality between francophones and anglophones when it comes to access to justice. Since the Supreme Court is the highest court in the country, it is crucial that its judges be able to understand both official languages without the help of an interpreter.

I hope this bill will finally become law in the 42nd Parliament.

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

Canadian Human Rights Act

[Randall Garrison, NDP, Esquimalt—Saanich—Sooke, BC]

moved for leave to introduce Bill C-204, An Act to amend the Canadian Human Rights Act and the Criminal Code (gender identity and gender expression).

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to introduce a bill that, in fact, was passed twice by the House of Commons: in the 40th Parliament and again in the 41st Parliament, each time only to be blocked by the unelected Senate.

Before we can take up consideration of this bill again, more than five years will have passed since the House first voted to explicitly guarantee transgender and gender-variant Canadians the same rights and protections the rest of us already enjoy. Meanwhile, transgender people continue to suffer from high levels of discrimination and all too often, violence.

I was pleased to hear that the new government was prepared to act quickly on this fundamental rights question. I look forward to working with the Minister of Justice and members from all parties to ensure that either the government's bill or my bill is adopted as soon as possible.

Since I introduced Bill C-279 in 2001, seven provinces have added these same provisions to their human rights codes.

Let us start down the road toward full equality for transgender Canadians by acting quickly to fill this significant gap in our human rights legislation.

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

Assistant Deputy Chair

[The Speaker, Liberal, Geoff Regan]

I am now prepared to propose for the ratification of the House a candidate for the position of Assistant Deputy Speaker and Assistant Deputy Chair of Committees of the Whole.

Pursuant to Standing Order 8, I propose Mr. Anthony Rota for the position of Assistant Deputy Speaker and Assistant Deputy Chair of Committees of the Whole.

The motion is deemed moved and seconded. Is it the pleasure of the House to adopt the motion?

[Some hon. members]

Agreed.

[The Speaker, Liberal, Geoff Regan]

(Motion agreed to)

[Dominic LeBlanc, Liberal, Beauséjour, NB]

Mr. Speaker, there have been discussions among the parties, and I am hopeful that you will find unanimous consent for the following motion: that, notwithstanding any Standing Order or usual practice of the House, the Standing Committee on Finance may hold organizational meetings on December 9 and that the membership of the said committee shall be as follows: Wayne Easter, Raj Grewal, Steven MacKinnon, Jennifer O'Connell, Robert-Falcon Ouellette, Francesco Sorbara, Lisa Raitt, Ron Liepert, Phil McColeman, and Guy Caron; and, during its consideration of proceedings pursuant to Standing Order 83(1), the Standing Committee on Finance, together with any necessary staff, may travel within Canada and may authorize the broadcasting of its proceedings; and that, notwithstanding the provisions of Standing Order 83(1), the Standing Committee on Finance be authorized to present its report on the pre-budget consultations no later than February 5, 2016.

[The Speaker, Liberal, Geoff Regan]

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

[Some hon. members]

Agreed.

No.

The Environment

[Kennedy Stewart, NDP, Burnaby South, BC]

Mr. Speaker, as this is the first time that I am rising in the House, I want to thank the good people of Burnaby South for re-electing me. I also thank my staff and volunteers, and my wife, Jeanette, for supporting me all the way through the election.

I rise today to present a petition from many people in Burnaby who are opposed to the Kinder Morgan pipeline. I am sure they will be disappointed to hear today that the minister has decided to go ahead with the current NEB review process for that pipeline.

I urge the government to pay careful attention to this petition, which has been signed by people, including those who were arrested at the protest in Burnaby Mountain.

Questions on the Order Paper

[Kevin Lamoureux, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons]

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

[The Speaker, Liberal, Geoff Regan]

Is that agreed?