Debates of June 3rd, 2016

Aerospace Industry

[Navdeep Bains, Liberal, Minister of Innovation]

Mr. Speaker, I disagree with my colleague. The government and I understand how important the aerospace industry is. That is why we are engaged with Bombardier. I am very confident that we will be able to find a solution that is good for the companies, the sector, and the public.

[The Assistant Deputy Speaker, Liberal, Anthony Rota]

That terminates question period. I thank everyone very much for respecting my hearing. We have a point of order from the member for Haliburton—Kawartha Lakes—Brock.

Oral Questions

[Jamie Schmale, Conservative, Haliburton—Kawartha Lakes—Brock, ON]

Mr. Speaker, it happened yesterday, but at least twice today, the parliamentary secretary for infrastructure stood and claimed there was no Minister of Infrastructure in the previous Parliament.

I would like to let the parliamentary secretary know that the member for Lac-Saint-Jean was the Minister of Infrastructure in the last Parliament, which disputes their claim that they had to spend a million dollars for—

[The Assistant Deputy Speaker, Liberal, Anthony Rota]

I believe that is turning into debate now.

On another point of order, we have the hon. member for Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan.

[Garnett Genuis, Conservative, Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan, AB]

Mr. Speaker, the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Democratic Institutions said that no amendments were accepted to the Fair Elections Act.

He knows that giving false information to the House is a serious matter. In fact, over 40 amendments were accepted to the Fair Elections Act. I would appreciate it if the parliamentary secretary might want to take the opportunity to correct the record on that point.

[The Assistant Deputy Speaker, Liberal, Anthony Rota]

I believe that is getting into debate as well.

On another point of order, we have the hon. member for Flamborough—Glanbrook.

[David Sweet, Conservative, Flamborough—Glanbrook, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I think you would find the chamber distressed today that we did not hear a report on “free the beer”, and I think if you seek it you would find unanimous consent to hear a report on “free the beer” so that we could have great interprovincial trade and make sure that all Canadians have access to their beer.

[The Assistant Deputy Speaker, Liberal, Anthony Rota]

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

[Some hon. members]

Agreed.

No.

Government 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)(b) I have the honour to table, in both official languages, the government's response to five petitions.

Canadian Heritage

[Hedy Fry, Liberal, Vancouver Centre, BC]

Mr. Speaker, I have the honour to present, in both official languages, the second report of the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage in relation to Bill C-210, an act to amend the National Anthem Act (gender).

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

Excise Tax Act

[Don Davies, NDP, Vancouver Kingsway, BC]

moved for leave to introduce Bill C-282, An Act to amend the Excise Tax Act and the Income Tax Act (extra-energy-efficient products).

Madam Speaker, I would like to thank the great member for Essex for seconding the bill.

In just two days, June 5, is World Environment Day. I am honoured to stand in the House today and introduce a suite of three environmental bills that will help Canada make progress in this important area. This bill is the first of them.

This enactment would promote greater energy efficiency among Canadian households by removing the sales tax on consumers and businesses for the purchase of eligible energy efficient products, and by providing a tax credit under the Income Tax Act for the purchase of these products.

The bill would provide financial incentives for individual families to lower their carbon footprint by reducing their energy consumption and use.

The existing energy star program helps consumers make informed choices by highlighting energy-efficient products, but the bill would go one step further by exempting such products from the GST or HST.

I urge all members to support this legislation and help save our environment.

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

Canadian Environmental Protection Act

[Don Davies, NDP, Vancouver Kingsway, BC]

moved for leave to introduce Bill C-283, An Act to amend the Canadian Environmental Protection Act, 1999 (electronic products recycling program).

Madam Speaker, once again I would like to thank the hon. member for Essex for seconding this bill.

With June 5 coming up, being World Environment Day, it is important that this chamber start moving to bring in legislation that would help Canada meet its global responsibilities to deal with climate change.

This bill would amend the Canadian Environmental Protection Act to require that a recycling program be put in place for electronic products that contain a substance that is specified on the list of toxic substances in schedule 1.

We all know that electronic products are increasingly common. There is no Canadian household that does not have a lot of them. They contain toxic substances that we should be proactive in ensuring do not go into our environment.

This legislation would work to create a national recycling program to divert these products from landfills and make sure we can help preserve our earth for future generations.

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

National Renewable Energy Strategy Act

[Don Davies, NDP, Vancouver Kingsway, BC]

moved for leave to introduce Bill C-284, An Act respecting a national strategy for the development of renewable energy sources.

Madam Speaker, once again this gives me a chance to highlight and thank the hard-working member for Essex for seconding this legislation.

This enactment would require the Minister of Natural Resources, in consultation with the provincial and territorial ministers responsible for energy, to develop and make public a national strategy for increasing the proportion of electricity generated from renewable energy sources in Canada to 90% as soon as possible, but not later than December 31, 2030.

The bill calls on the government to develop a national strategy to ensure that Canada ambitiously transitions its energy production toward renewable sources, such as solar, wind, or biomass.

I urge all members of the House to do their part in 2016 to ensure that our children and their children in generations to come can ensure they have a clean environment, with energy generated from renewable and sustainable sources.

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

National Standards for the Armoured Transport of Currency and Valuables Act

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

moved for leave to introduce Bill C-285, an act to provide for the development of national standards for the transport of currency and valuables by armoured car.

Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague, the hard-working member for Vancouver Kingsway. I would also like to acknowledge all the unionized Unifor workers who transport our valuables every day, across the country.

Currently, there are no national standards regulating the transport of valuables. This job requires training and equipment, and it is important to consider the size of the teams as well as workplace health and safety.

Since national standards for the health and safety of the general public just make sense, I hope that all members of the House will support this bill.

I want to shout out to the unionized workers of Unifor, who every day transport our valuables by armoured car right across the country . However, as members know, there is simply not the kind of national standards in place that we need for training, equipment, crew size, and health and safety regulations. That is a concern for the employees and the public as well. Therefore, I hope that members from both sides of this House will support this important legislation to put in place these national standards.

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

Property Rights

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

Madam Speaker, I have a petition today signed by 4,355 Canadian citizens with respect to property rights. It was presented by Shawn Bevins. I want to give him credit for the work he has put into this.

The petitioners are calling upon the House of Commons and Parliament to amend section 7 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms to include property rights. They propose that section 7 be amended to read, “Everyone has the right to life, liberty, security of the person and enjoyment of property and the right not to be deprived thereof except in accordance with the principles of fundamental justice.”

Justice

[David Yurdiga, Conservative, Fort McMurray—Cold Lake, AB]

Madam Speaker, I have three petitions which call upon the House of Commons to pass legislation that would recognize preborn children as separate victims when injured or killed during the commission of an offence against their mother, allowing two charges to be laid against the offender instead of one.

Public Safety

[Arnold Viersen, Conservative, Peace River—Westlock, AB]

Madam Speaker, I would like to present a petition signed by over 100 constituents of Toronto and Windsor asking that the health committee study and review access to online violent sexual material.

Iran

[David Sweet, Conservative, Flamborough—Glanbrook, ON]

Madam Speaker, I have two separate petitions on two different subjects.

The first petition calls upon the Government of Canada to maintain the listing of the Islamic Republic of Iran as a state supporter of terrorism, pursuant to section 6.1 of the State Immunity Act, for as long as the Iranian regime continues to sponsor terrorism.

Falun Gong

[David Sweet, Conservative, Flamborough—Glanbrook, ON]

The second petition is a large petition that calls upon Parliament and government to pass a resolution to establish measures to stop the Chinese Communist regime's crime of systematically murdering Falun Gong practitioners for their organs, to amend Canadian legislation to combat forced organ harvesting, and to publicly call for an end to the persecution of Falun Gong practitioners in China.

The Senate

[Marjolaine Boutin-Sweet, NDP, Hochelaga, QC]

Madam Speaker, I have a hundred or so signatures from my constituents in Hochelaga and elsewhere in Montreal who are calling on the government to abolish the Senate once and for all, since it is made up of unelected individuals who are not held accountable.

Justice

[Todd Doherty, Conservative, Cariboo—Prince George, BC]

Madam Speaker, I have two petitions from the good people of Cariboo—Prince George and all across Canada asking that preborn children be recognized as separate victims when harmed or killed during criminal attacks against their mothers.

[Cathay Wagantall, Conservative, Yorkton—Melville, SK]

Madam Speaker, people across Canada hear that all of the members in this House have the backs of women and believe in their rights. More and more petitions continue to come to this House from those people, calling on the current government to realize that forcing upon a pregnant woman the death or injury of her preborn child is a violation of a woman's right to protect and give life to her child.

[Kelly McCauley, Conservative, Edmonton West, AB]

Madam Speaker, I have a petition to submit, signed by several hundred residents of the Edmonton area. The petitioners are calling on the House to pass legislation which would recognize preborn children as separate victims when they are injured or killed during the commission of an offence against their mothers.

Questions on the Order Paper

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

Madam Speaker, the following questions will be answered today: Nos. 114, 116, and 117.