Debates of June 5th, 2015

Employment

[Andrew Saxton, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank the member for Oxford for his hard work as well.

Canada saw a boost of 59,000 new jobs created in May. The vast majority of these new jobs were created in the private sector. Our low-tax plan is working. Since the depths of the recession, 1.2 million net new jobs have been created, nearly 90% full-time jobs and two-thirds in high-wage sectors.

While we are focused on creating jobs, the Liberal leader is pushing dramatic payroll hikes that would kill jobs and the NDP is pushing a $20 billion carbon tax that would hurt Canada's economy.

Canadians can count on our Conservative government.

Public Safety

[Maria Mourani, Independent, Ahuntsic, QC]

Mr. Speaker, former Alpine Canada ski coach Bertrand Charest is facing sexual assault charges involving 11 minors he once supervised. We recently learned that there are other victims. We know that Alpine Canada was informed of the situation and that it allegedly contacted the RCMP. However, there seems to have been no investigation for at least 15 years.

Will the Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness appoint an independent investigator to shed light on this entire matter?

[Roxanne James, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness]

Mr. Speaker, it is this government that has brought in more than 30 tough-on-crime and public safety measures to protect Canadians, including many bills that deal with sexual assault and crimes against children, which are the most horrific crimes of all. It is unfortunate that the member has not supported a single measure.

International Trade

[Manon Perreault, Independent, Montcalm, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the government is raising fears about our supply management system among farmers in Montcalm, Quebec and Canada. Negotiations are being held behind closed doors. The people most affected, the farmers, are being kept in the dark. This could mean the loss of thousands of farms. In Quebec, that translates to 3,500 farms and billions of dollars in economic fallout.

Can the minister reassure us that the trans-Pacific partnership will not jeopardize another segment of our economy by eliminating supply management?

[Parm Gill, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of International Trade]

Mr. Speaker, our government will continue to promote Canadian trade interests across all sectors of our economy, including supply management. That has never prevented us from successfully completing other free trade agreements, such as the free trade agreement with the European Union and South Korea.

We make no apologies for ensuring that any deal reached must be in Canada's best interests. As always, we will only sign a trade agreement if it significantly benefits Canadian businesses, workers and families.

Statistics Canada

[André Bellavance, Independent, Richmond—Arthabaska, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the Union des municipalités du Québec warned the government five years ago that eliminating the long form census would have a negative impact on municipalities because the quality and reliability of data would not measure up to that collected previously. We have learned that 1,128 municipalities, including almost 200 in Quebec, no longer have data about themselves. Statistics Canada was forced to wipe them off the map.

Will the government correct its mistake and make it possible for municipalities to better plan their development and efficiently meet their citizens' needs by reintroducing the detailed questionnaire?

[Gary Goodyear, Conservative, Minister of State (Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario)]

Mr. Speaker, Statistics Canada has said that the long form census, the national household survey, has yielded high quality data that covers 97%. The Chief Statistician says that the data is robust and contains valuable information.

I encourage the member to speak to Wayne Smith, the Chief Statistician of Canada, who has in fact said that the way we are now doing this form provides quality data and information that is quite useful.

Government Response to Petitions

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

Mr. Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 36(8) I have the honour to table, in both official languages, the government's response to 34 petitions.

Georges Bank Protection Act

[Peter MacKay, Conservative, Central Nova, NS]

moved for leave to introduce Bill C-64, An Act to amend the Canada-Nova Scotia Offshore Petroleum Resources Accord Implementation Act.

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

Finance

[James Rajotte, Conservative, Edmonton—Leduc, AB]

Mr. Speaker, I have the honour to present to the House, in both official languages, the 10th report of the Standing Committee on Finance in relation to Bill C-59, An Act to implement certain provisions of the budget tabled in Parliament on April 21, 2015 and other measures.

The committee has studied the bill and has decided to report the bill back to the House without amendment.

Animal Welfare

[Libby Davies, NDP, Vancouver East, BC]

Mr. Speaker, I am honoured to rise in the House today and present hundreds of petitions from the Association for the Protection of Fur-Bearing Animals.

The petitioners point out to Parliament that every year hundreds of thousands of dogs and cats are brutally slaughtered for their fur in a number of regions. They say that Canada should join the U.S., Australia and the European Union in banning the import and sale of dog and cat fur. They point out that we are the only developed country without such a ban.

I congratulate and thank this group for its hard work and diligence in collecting the thousands of petitions, which I have presented over a number of years in the House. I hope Parliament will pay attention to this issue and take action.

Tobacco Products

[Charmaine Borg, NDP, Terrebonne—Blainville, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I have the honour to present a petition from Canadians across the country who are calling on the government to ban fruit-flavoured cigarettes because they encourage young people to start smoking.

Firearms Regulations

[Bob Zimmer, Conservative, Prince George—Peace River, BC]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to recognize the efforts of Shawn Bevins and Canada's National Firearms Association for their efforts in presenting this petition signed by 29,470 Canadians.

The petitioners request and call upon the Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness and the Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada to repeal part 4(3) of the schedule to the regulations prescribing certain firearms and other weapons, components and parts of weapons, accessories, cartridges, magazines, ammunition and projectiles as prohibited or restricted.

Lac-Mégantic

[Tarik Brahmi, NDP, Saint-Jean, QC]

Mr. Speaker, today, I am presenting a petition signed by dozens of people from Lac-Mégantic who are calling on the Government of Canada to set up an independent commission of inquiry, and I stress the word “independent”. The purpose of this commission of inquiry would be to shed light on the tragic events that occurred on July 6, 2013 in Lac-Mégantic, leaving 47 dead.

Feminine Hygiene Products

[Irene Mathyssen, NDP, London—Fanshawe, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I have two petitions to present today.

The first petition is from the last group of Canadians who were concerned about the tax on feminine hygiene products. I present this petition to let the House know how very determined and how very grateful these Canadians are that the tax is finally gone.

Canada Post

[Irene Mathyssen, NDP, London—Fanshawe, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the second petition is from citizens who are very concerned about the situation regarding door-to-door delivery.

The petitioners believe that the post office provides an important link in our country and that the lack of delivery will unfairly impact seniors and persons living with mobility issues. There are 8,000 jobs at stake. It will negatively impact small business, charitable organizations and families.

The petitioners ask the government to stop these devastating cuts to our postal services.

Agriculture

[Réjean Genest, NDP, Shefford, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I have the honour to present a petition on behalf of several hundred people from the Eastern Townships who are calling on the government to respect the rights of small family farmers to store, trade and use seeds.

Child Poverty

[Rathika Sitsabaiesan, NDP, Scarborough—Rouge River, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to present a petition on behalf of hundreds of Canadians from across the country who are calling on the House to adopt Motion No. 534 to eradicate child poverty in Canada.

I want to thank all of the petitioners for their hard work and thank the House for supporting the motion. I hope we will be able to move forward to actually create an action plan to end child poverty in this country.

Tobacco Products

[Tyrone Benskin, NDP, Jeanne-Le Ber, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I have three petitions to present.

The first is a petition signed by youth and adults who are calling for the government to ban the flavouring of tobacco products as it leads to increasing addictive behaviour in young people. This is something the petitioners are not in agreement with.

Consumer Protection

[Tyrone Benskin, NDP, Jeanne-Le Ber, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the second petition that I am presenting is signed by Canadians who want life to be more affordable. More specifically, they are calling on the government to eliminate pay-to-pay fees, curtail the activities of payday lenders and set limits on the price of gas.

Labelling of Products

[Tyrone Benskin, NDP, Jeanne-Le Ber, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the final petition is signed by a number of individuals across the country who are calling for legislation with regard to the proper marking of carcinogenic materials in the products we use on a daily basis.

Maternal and Child Health

[Niki Ashton, NDP, Churchill, MB]

Mr. Speaker, I am honoured to rise in the House to present a petition that is signed by Manitobans and many first nations across the province. They are all calling on the Minister of Health and the federal government to support maternal and child health programming in their communities and to support the work the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs has been doing in this area, work that has been recognized as being a great success and a model. We certainly hope that this work will continue to be done.

Questions on the Order Paper

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

Mr. Speaker, Question No. 1166 will be answered today.

Question No. 1166

[Hedy Fry, Liberal, Vancouver Centre, BC]

With regard to Health Canada’s drug review process for prescription drugs: (a) what percentage of approved prescription drugs currently on the market had a double-blind study conducted as part of their submissions to Health Canada; and (b) what percentage of prescription drugs approved in 2014 had a double-blind study conducted as part of their submissions to Health Canada?

[Rona Ambrose, Conservative, Minister of Health]

Mr. Speaker, part (a) of this question cannot be answered definitively. There are currently 8121 marketed human prescription drugs by drug identification number, DIN, as of April 30, 2015. This number includes both innovative and generic drugs. Many of these various drugs, vaccines and prescription medications were authorized decades ago using a paper-based system. As such, Health Canada databases do not capture detailed information on the evidence used to approve the drugs. A fact sheet on how drugs are reviewed is available at: www.hc-sc.gc.ca/dhp-mps/prodpharma/activit/fs-fi/reviewfs_examenfd-eng.php.

With regard to (b), the defined scope for this response was all submissions that received a notice of compliance, NOC, in calendar year 2014 that met the criteria for the summary basis of decision, SBD. Please see: www.hc-sc.gc.ca/dhp-mps/prodpharma/sbd-smd/index-eng.php. This includes all new active substances, all priority-new active substances and all subsequent entry biologics that received an NOC in 2014. A total of 27 submissions were within the scope for calendar year 2014. Of these 27 submissions, 63% contained double-blind clinical studies to support efficacy. Submissions that fall outside the scope of the summary basis of decision project are difficult to search by clinical study due to database and IT limitations.