Debates of Feb. 25th, 2016

Government's Response to Petitions

[Kevin Lamoureux, Liberal, 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 one petition.

Transportation

[Marc Garneau, Liberal, Minister of Transport]

Mr. Speaker, pursuant to section 53 of the Canada Transportation Act, I am pleased to table the report on the Canada Transportation Act review this morning.

I wish to thank the hon. David Emmerson and his team for their valuable examination of how we can maximize our transportation system's contribution to Canada's economic growth.

Citizenship Act

[John McCallum, Liberal, Minister of Immigration]

moved for leave to introduce Bill C-6, An Act to amend the Citizenship Act and to make consequential amendments to another Act.

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

Interparliamentary Delegations

[Gord Brown, Conservative, Leeds—Grenville—Thousand Islands and Rideau Lakes, ON]

Mr. Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 34(1), I have the honour to present to the House, in both official languages, two reports of the Canadian delegation of the Canada-United States Inter-parliamentary Group. The first report concerns the Canadian/American Border Trade Alliance Conference that was held in Washington, D.C., United States of America, from October 4 to 6, 2015. The second report concerns the annual meeting of the Southern Governors' Association that was held in St. Louis, Missouri, United States of America, from October 15 to 6, 2015.

I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate the hon. member for Malpeque upon his election as the House co-chair of the Canada-United States Inter-parliamentary Group.

Special Joint Committee on Physician-Assisted Dying

[Rob Oliphant, Liberal, Don Valley West, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I have the honour to present, in both official languages, the first report of the Special Joint Committee on Physician-Assisted Dying entitled “Medical Assistance in Dying: A Patient-Centred Approach”.

I would like to take just a moment to thank the members of the committee—members of Parliament and senators—who worked both diligently and extremely faithfully on this difficult and rewarding study. We were unable to reach consensus. However, the majority of the committee members, representing both parties, were able to agree with the vast majority of the report.

I will acknowledge the dissenting report with disappointment that some members of the committee were unable to reach consensus with us. They fundamentally had a flawed understanding of a paragraph of the Supreme Court of Canada—

[The Speaker, Liberal, Geoff Regan]

Just a minute please. Members will know that the presentation of reports from committees is not a time for debate. It is simply a time to describe in a few words the report that is being presented. If the member has a last couple of words to finish up without entering into a debate, that would be appreciated.

[Rob Oliphant, Liberal, Don Valley West, ON]

Mr. Speaker, it is my pleasure to present the report. I thank all members of the committee for their very diligent work.

Liaison

[Judy Sgro, Liberal, Humber River—Black Creek, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I have the honour to present, in both official languages, the first report of the Liaison Committee regarding committee activities and expenditures.

Transport, Infrastructure and Communities

[Judy Sgro, Liberal, Humber River—Black Creek, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I have the honour to present, in both official languages, the first report of the Standing Committee on Transport, Infrastructure and Communities in relation to the Supplementary Estimates 2015-16.

Excise Act, 2001

[Ben Lobb, Conservative, Huron—Bruce, ON]

moved for leave to introduce Bill C-232, An Act to amend the Excise Act, 2001 (spirits).

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to introduce my private member's bill, seconded by the hon. member for Brantford—Brant, to reduce the excise tax on spirits.

Canadian spirits are world renowned, and our nation produces premium products that represent nearly $1 billion in exports each year. Lowering the excise tax rate would allow the Canadian spirits industry to invest and be more competitive in the global market. Canadian agriculture and tourism industries would also benefit from a more competitive spirits sector.

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

National Strategy for Alzheimer's Disease and Other Dementias Act

[Rob Nicholson, Conservative, Niagara Falls, ON]

moved for leave to introduce Bill C-233, An Act respecting a national strategy for Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias.

Mr. Speaker, first I want to thank the member for Don Valley West for seconding the bill. Also, I want to acknowledge a previous member, Claude Gravelle, who also raised this matter.

The bill has a number of changes that I support, of course,. It calls on the provinces and all stakeholders to develop a plan to co-operate in finding a cure and dealing with the challenges of Alzheimer's disease and other dementias.

There is probably no family in the country that can say it has not in some way been hurt by these particular diseases. We know they are increasing. There are more than 700,000 Canadians currently suffering from Alzheimer's and other related dementias. As we know, as the population increases, the word is that this is going to increase.

The bill has the support of a number of stakeholders, particularly the Alzheimer Society of Canada.

I would appreciate if all members could revisit this area, have a look at it; and I hope it gets the support of everyone when it comes up for second reading.

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

Canada Labour Code

[Karine Trudel, NDP, Jonquière, QC]

moved for leave to introduce Bill C-234, An Act to amend the Canada Labour Code (replacement workers).

Mr. Speaker, it is a great honour to present my bill to amend the Canada Labour Code. I thank my colleague from Saskatoon West for seconding this bill.

As a progressive opposition party, we care about advocating for the rights of workers in Canada. That is why I tabled a bill this morning to prohibit the hiring of replacement workers, also known as “scabs”, during strikes and lockouts under federal jurisdiction.

Passing this bill will send a strong message to workers across the country about the right to collectively negotiate working conditions as equals.

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

Criminal Code

[Larry Bagnell, Liberal, Yukon, YT]

moved for leave to introduce Bill C-235, An Act to amend the Criminal Code and the Corrections and Conditional Release Act (fetal alcohol disorder).

Mr. Speaker, I rise to introduce an act to amend the Criminal Code and the Corrections and Conditional Release Act with respect to fetal alcohol disorder, seconded by the member for Humber River—Black Creek.

I want to first give credit to the Canadian Bar Association and former president Rod Snow, whose recommendations form the basis of this bill, and the member for Charlottetown, who first tabled the identical bill on March 10, 2015. When the precursor to this bill was debated in this House, every member of every party who spoke were in favour to it.

It causes me great emotion to introduce this private member's bill to amend the Criminal Code to establish a procedure for the assessment of individuals who are involved in the criminal justice system and who may suffer from fetal alcohol disorder. It requires the court to consider a determination that the offender suffers from fetal alcohol disorder as a mitigating factor in sentencing.

The bill also requires Correctional Service Canada to recognize the existence of fetal alcohol disorder as a disability within that system.

This bill could alleviate so much human suffering of innocents, and I commend it into the hands of my colleagues, MPs and senators.

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

Payment Card Networks Act

[Linda Lapointe, Liberal, Rivière-des-Mille-Îles, QC]

moved for leave to introduce Bill S-202, an act to amend the Payment Card Networks Act (credit card acceptance fees).

Mr. Speaker, it is my great honour and pleasure to rise in the House to introduce my first bill. I thank the member for Thérèse-De Blainville, Ramez Ayoub, for seconding the bill.

The bill amends the Payment Card Networks Act to give the Governor in Council the power to limit the fees that the participants in a payment card network require from merchants who accept payments by credit card.

The aim is to reduce transaction fees, interchange fees, and the cost of credit cards for merchants. It is important to note that small businesses need some wiggle room, and we are the party for the middle class.

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

[The Speaker, Liberal, Geoff Regan]

I would remind hon. members not to mention other members' names, but rather their ridings.

Candidate Gender Equity Act

[Kennedy Stewart, NDP, Burnaby South, BC]

moved for leave to introduce Bill C-237, An Act to amend the Canada Elections Act (gender equity).

Mr. Speaker, I am proud to stand today and table the candidate gender equity act. This act seeks to amend the Canada Elections Act to create financial incentives for political parties to nominate more women, and to move toward gender parity in the list of candidates put forward in elections.

The Prime Minister voluntarily put in place this country's first gender-balanced cabinet. However, we need to make laws that reinforce the idea that men and women are intrinsically equal and that, because we are equal, the entire membership of this place should also be gender balanced. A record 88 women MPs were elected in the 2015 election, but women still hold only 26% of the seats in the House of Commons, which places us 53rd in the world when compared to other countries. This is unacceptable.

The bill I submit here today is based on successful measures found in other countries, such as France and Ireland. It has been drafted with the aid of a dozen international experts, including my wife, Dr. Jeanette Ashe.

We need real action to move toward gender parity in this place because, to paraphrase the Prime Minister, it is 2016.

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

National Strategy for Safe Disposal of Lamps Containing Mercury Act

[Darren Fisher, Liberal, Dartmouth—Cole Harbour, NS]

moved for leave to introduce Bill C-238, an act respecting the development of a national strategy for the safe disposal of lamps containing mercury.

Mr. Speaker, I am honoured to rise today to introduce my private member's bill, an act respecting the development of a national strategy for the safe disposal of lamps containing mercury. I would like to thank the hon. member for Central Nova for being my seconder.

In my riding of Dartmouth—Cole Harbour, we have a one of a kind facility called Dan-X Recycling. Dan-X is a company that completely breaks down and recycles spent mercury-bearing light bulbs, creating value and reducing dangerous waste in our landfills. I am proud to have such a facility in Dartmouth—Cole Harbour recycling these light bulbs every day.

We tell consumers to step out of the room if they break if they break a CFL light bulb, to worry about mercury vapour in the air, but we do not protect our land and our waterways from toxic mercury by ensuring the safe disposal of these bulbs.

I believe that with a national strategy we can provide real, environmental leadership and protect our waterways, our lands, and our future. I hope the bill will receive support from all members of this House.

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

Fairness in Charitable Gifts Act

[Ted Falk, Conservative, Provencher, MB]

moved for leave to introduce Bill C-239, An Act to amend the Income Tax Act (charitable gifts).

Mr. Speaker, my private member's bill is short-titled “fairness in charitable gifts act”. I am very honoured to have the seconder contribute to this. My seconder is the member for Perth—Wellington, and I thank him for that.

The bill recognizes the value and the good work that registered Canadian charities are doing, both secular and faith based. It celebrates the work that is happening in the area of health care through hospital foundations, and through organizations that do health research like cancer, heart and stroke, and the Alzheimer's Society. It celebrates the good work that charities are doing in education, promoting higher education. It celebrates areas where charities are contributing to our social services, like food banks, homeless shelters, addictions counselling, and refugee resettlement.

The bill would better enable registered Canadian charities to attract donations by providing the same favourable percentage of federal tax credits that a political donation would receive.

I believe, I think all members in this House believe, and I think Canadians believe that feeding a politician should be no more important than feeding the hungry. I look forward to speaking further to the bill.

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

Income Tax Act

[Bryan May, Liberal, Cambridge, ON]

moved for leave to introduce Bill C-240, An Act to amend the Income Tax Act (tax credit — first aid).

Mr. Speaker, today I am excited to rise in this House to introduce my private member's bill, a bill that would save lives and improve the quality of life for all Canadians.

Students across this country benefit from a federal tuition tax credit, helping to make post-secondary education more affordable. The bill proposes a similar, non-refundable tax credit for anyone who takes life-saving first aid, CPR, or AED training.

Canadians with skills and knowledge in first aid and CPR are able to help others in emergency medical situations. The value of a life saved or injury prevented, and the knowledge of what to do in an emergency is a skill that we should all have.

The rate of survival for those suffering from cardiac arrest is increased by 50% to 500% if a bystander has CPR training. With the bill we can show that Parliament recognizes the life-saving power of first aid and CPR and show Canadians that we value that training.

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

Canada Labour Code

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

Mr. Speaker, there have been discussions among the parties and if you seek it I think you will find unanimous consent for the following motion.

That, notwithstanding any Standing Order or usual practice of the House, on Friday, February 26, 2016, the House shall consider Bill C-4, An Act to amend the Canada Labour Code, the Parliamentary Employment and Staff Relations Act, the Public Service Labour Relations Act and the Income Tax Act, at second reading, and, when no member rises to speak or at the expiry of the time provided for Government Orders, whichever is earlier, all questions necessary to dispose of the second reading stage of the Bill shall be deemed put and a recorded division deemed requested and deferred until Monday, March 7, 2016, at the ordinary hour of daily adjournment.

[The Speaker, Liberal, Geoff Regan]

Does the hon. parliamentary secretary have unanimous consent of the House to move the motion?

[Some hon. members]

Agreed.

[The Speaker, Liberal, Geoff Regan]

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, Liberal, Geoff Regan]

(Motion agreed to)