Debates of Sept. 26th, 2016

Health

[Rhéal Fortin, Bloc, Rivière-du-Nord, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the Quebec health minister has made a devastating discovery: the federal government imposes more conditions on assisting sick people in Quebec than it does on selling its armoured vehicles to Saudi Arabia. Yes, this was revealed by a Liberal health minister.

This would be yet another good reason why Quebec should become independent if our sick were not paying the price.

Will the minister change her approach and restore the amount of the health transfers to 6%, as the Government of Quebec is asking?

[Jane Philpott, Liberal, Minister of Health]

Mr. Speaker, Canadians are proud of their public health care system and they expect their government to make sure that it will always be there for them.

We know that the provinces and territories are on the front lines providing excellent care and that they know what improvements need to be made. However, I am going to meet with my provincial and territorial counterparts again in the coming weeks and we will continue our discussion on how to create a health care system that meets Canadians' needs.

[Luc Thériault, Bloc, Montcalm, QC]

Mr. Speaker, this government makes the wrong compromises in the wrong places. It compromised on gender equality, it compromised on the sale of arms to Saudi Arabia, it compromised on human rights in China, and it compromised on torture in Syria, but it refuses to compromise when it comes to helping sick people in Quebec.

My question is a simple one. Will the minister restore health transfer increases to 6%?

[Jane Philpott, Liberal, Minister of Health]

Mr. Speaker, I have had very good conversations with my colleagues, including the minister of health from Quebec. We have made it clear to them that we will increase investments in the Canada health transfer.

I have also talked with the minister of health from Quebec about other areas where we can make further investments. We appreciate their excellent work on the ground in Quebec in delivering care. We will be a good partner with them to increase investments and ensure that Canadians have the health care they need.

[Louis Plamondon, Bloc, Bécancour—Nicolet—Saurel, QC]

Mr. Speaker, under the federal government, the Government of Quebec has to jump through more hoops to take care of sick people than Saudi Arabia does to fire on dissidents. That is what it has come to: the Liberal government will not give sick people an inch but lets barbarians take a mile.

Will anyone in government start making sense, do as the Government of Quebec has asked, and restore health transfer increases?

[Jane Philpott, Liberal, Minister of Health]

Mr. Speaker, I am happy to announce that we are going to boost health transfers. Next year there will be more than $1 billion of additional money in the Canada health transfer.

I also look forward to making investments in areas where we believe the provinces and territories want to work to increase access to care, including home care, palliative care, and mental health care. I look forward to excellent conversations with my colleagues as we meet to discuss this and ensure Canadians have the care they need.

Oral Questions

[Sean Fraser, Liberal, Central Nova, NS]

Mr. Speaker, while I appreciate the hon. member for Niagara Falls drawing attention to my advocacy for Atlantic Canada, the suggestion that I do so alone is blatantly false when I am proud to stand alongside 31 other—

[The Speaker, Liberal, Geoff Regan]

Questions of what is true and what is false are not matters, thankfully, on which the Speaker is asked to decide. Therefore, it is a matter of debate.

Calgary Midnapore

[The Speaker, Liberal, Geoff Regan]

It is my duty to inform the House that the following vacancy has occurred in the representation.

The vacancy is that of the Hon. Jason Kenney, member for the electoral district of Calgary Midnapore, by resignation effective Friday, September 23, 2016.

Pursuant to subsection 25(1)(b) of the Parliament of Canada Act, I have addressed my warrant to the Chief Electoral Officer for the issue of a writ for the election of a member to fill this vacancy.

Protecting Burnaby Lakes and Rivers Act

[Kennedy Stewart, NDP, Burnaby South, BC]

moved for leave to introduce Bill C-302, An Act to amend the Navigation Protection Act (Burnaby Lake, Deer Lake and Brunette River).

Mr. Speaker, I rise to introduce a private member's bill to restore key environmental protections to local lakes and rivers of my riding of Burnaby South. The protecting Burnaby lakes and rivers act would re-add Burnaby Lake, Deer Lake, and Brunette River to the official schedule of waterways protected in Canada.

At the demand of the oil and gas lobbyists, the Conservatives under Stephen Harper gutted our environmental laws and removed protections for 98% of Canada's lakes and rivers. As a result, many proposed development projects, including some pipelines, no longer need environmental assessments or public consultations before proceeding.

The Liberals promised during the election that they would reverse these changes. They have yet to even table legislation to restore the protections that were lost. That is why I am putting forward this bill today on behalf of my constituents.

In my riding, where we just celebrated World Rivers Day yesterday, the stewardship of the Brunette River has been a stellar example of our community coming together to preserve our cherished waterways. We need to ensure that our lakes and rivers are protected so future generations can enjoy them as well.

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

Anti-terrorism Act, 2015

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

moved for leave to introduce Bill C-303, An Act respecting the repeal of the Acts enacted by the Anti-terrorism Act, 2015 and amending or repealing certain provisions enacted by that Act.

Mr. Speaker, today I am introducing a private member's bill that would repeal all aspects of Bill C-51, a bill in force for more than a year now, which still manages to infringe our civil liberties without making us safer.

This private member's bill is about doing away with the overly broad definition of national security contained in Bill C-51 that allows surveillance of those engaged in legitimate defence of their rights, including aboriginal people and environmentalists. It is about restoring the fundamental principles of Canadian privacy law. It is about doing away with the powers Bill C-51 gave to CSIS to act illegally in secret without oversight. It is about eliminating the prohibition on free speech contained in the new broad definition of supporting terrorism in the Criminal Code. It is about restoring the previous standard that required reasonable grounds for police action in national security, instead of the grounds of mere suspicion as contained in Bill C-51.

We are putting forward our proposal today for what to do about the infringement of civil liberties in Bill C-51, and we await the government's putting a specific proposal forward.

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

Palliative Care

[Harold Albrecht, Conservative, Kitchener—Conestoga, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the petitioners who signed this petition point out that in the 41st Parliament the House of Commons unanimously passed a motion calling upon the government to create a national strategy on palliative care. However, they go on to point that it is impossible for a person to give informed consent to assisted suicide or euthanasia if appropriate palliative care is not available to them.

Therefore, our petitioners are calling upon Parliament to establish a national strategy on palliative care.

The Environment

[Kennedy Stewart, NDP, Burnaby South, BC]

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to present a petition on behalf of my constituents and people right across British Columbia who oppose Kinder Morgan's plan to build a new 890,000-barrel-a-day pipeline from Burnaby to Edmonton.

The petitioners say this project will bring massive environmental and economic risk, without any benefit, and that 40,000 barrels have already leaked from the existing pipeline.

The petitioners also bring to the attention of the government the point that although there is promise of part-time jobs, these jobs will be filled by temporary foreign workers and only 50 full-time permanent jobs will be created, which is not enough for them to take this risk.

I urge the government to take seriously this petition. There will be many more to come over the coming days.

Justice

[Kevin Waugh, Conservative, Saskatoon—Grasswood, SK]

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to present a petition signed by Canadians from my riding of Saskatoon—Grasswood.

The petitioners call upon the House of Commons to pass legislation that would recognize preborn children as separate victims when they are injured or killed during the commission of an offence against their mothers, allowing two charges to be laid against the offender instead of just one.

Health

[Carol Hughes, NDP, Algoma—Manitoulin—Kapuskasing, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I rise to table a petition as it relates to federal health and safety officers in northern Ontario.

The petitioners recognize how valuable the work of federal health and safety officers is in maintaining safe and healthy workplaces. Canada has lost more than half of its federal health and safety officers since 2005, so this is part of a bigger trim.

This is a very real problem in northern Ontario, which has a single officer covering the whole region. That person's work can be held up by just one injury, illness, or absence.

The only way to fix the problem is to add more officers in the region.

The petitioners join the call by the Public Service Alliance of Canada and the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives to address this critical shortage in the areas of postal services, air and rail transport and, of course, many other areas of the federal jurisdiction.

Natural Resources

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

Mr. Speaker, I would like to present this petition representing thousands of my constituents and Canadians across this country.

The petitioners call upon the Government of Canada to support residents, families, communities, and businesses of Canada by saying yes to liquefied natural gas and approve B.C. LNG projects such as Pacific NorthWest LNG; to establish as a clean energy global leader by providing access to much needed LNG resources to markets in areas such as Asia, assisting in the reduction of global GHG emissions; to reduce the federal deficit through significant contributions of federal, provincial, municipal governments via taxes and royalties related to LNG; and last, to help stimulate the economy and put Canadians back to work in rural communities, such as my own and the ones in northeastern British Columbia, with the approval of B.C. LNG projects.

Asbestos

[Sheri Benson, NDP, Saskatoon West, SK]

Mr. Speaker, I am honoured to present an e-petition signed by many folks and concerned citizens across Canada calling for the complete ban on all products containing asbestos, as well as ensuring that Health Canada and the federal government inform and educate all Canadians about, and provide funding to treat and prevent all ailments arising from, exposure to asbestos.

Included in their petition, the petitioners ask that we make it clear that Canada bans the importation and exportation of asbestos and asbestos products from Canada, that government websites stop promoting a safe-use level of asbestos, and that we ensure that the asbestos annex is listed as part of the Rotterdam Convention.

Human Rights

[David Tilson, Conservative, Dufferin—Caledon, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I have a petition from a number of residents in my riding who are supporters of the Falun Gong movement. They are asking for a number of things, one of which is that the Canadian Parliament pass a resolution to establish measures to stop the Chinese Communist regime's crime of systematically murdering Falun Gong practitioners for their organs.

Sex Selection

[Bev Shipley, Conservative, Lambton—Kent—Middlesex, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I have the honour to present two petitions.

The first petition deals with the fact that 92% of Canadians believe that sex-selective pregnancies should be illegal. This gendercide has created a global gender imbalance crisis, resulting in violence and the trafficking of girls. Therefore, the petitioners ask that members of Parliament condemn the discrimination against girls occurring through sex-selective pregnancy termination.

Impaired Driving

[Bev Shipley, Conservative, Lambton—Kent—Middlesex, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the petitioners in the second petition believe that the current impaired driving laws are too lenient and ask for the implementation of a new mandatory minimum sentencing for those persons convicted of impaired driving causing death. They also want the Criminal Code of Canada to be changed to redefine the offence of impaired driving causing death as vehicular manslaughter.

Human Rights

[Kevin Lamoureux, Liberal, Winnipeg North, MB]

Mr. Speaker, Falun Gong is a traditional Chinese spiritual discipline consisting of meditation, exercise, and moral teachings based on the principles of truthfulness, compassion, and tolerance. In July 1999, the Chinese Communist party launched an intensive nation-wide persecution campaign to eradicate Falun Gong practitioners. The petitioners are asking that we look at taking action to support the end of the persecution of Falun Gong practitioners in China.

Questions on the Order Paper

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

Mr. Speaker, I would ask that all questions be allowed to stand at this time.

[The Speaker, Liberal, Geoff Regan]

Is that agreed?

[Some hon. members]

Agreed.

The House resumed consideration of the motion that 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, be read the third time and passed, and of the amendment.