House of Commons Hansard #342 of the 42nd Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament's site.) The word of the day was community.

Topics

Business of the HouseOral Questions

3:15 p.m.

Liberal

The Speaker Liberal Geoff Regan

I thank the hon. member for Saanich—Gulf Islands, although I want to point out that it is not exclusively one group, and that is important.

Government Response to PetitionsRoutine Proceedings

3:15 p.m.

Winnipeg North Manitoba

Liberal

Kevin Lamoureux LiberalParliamentary 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 responses to 10 petitions.

While I am on my feet, I move:

That the House do now proceed to orders of the day.

Government Response to PetitionsRoutine Proceedings

3:15 p.m.

Liberal

The Speaker Liberal Geoff Regan

Is it the pleasure of the House to adopt the motion?

Government Response to PetitionsRoutine Proceedings

3:15 p.m.

Some hon. members

Agreed.

No.

Government Response to PetitionsRoutine Proceedings

3:15 p.m.

Liberal

The Speaker Liberal Geoff Regan

All those in favour of the motion will please say yea.

Government Response to PetitionsRoutine Proceedings

3:15 p.m.

Some hon. members

Yea.

Government Response to PetitionsRoutine Proceedings

3:15 p.m.

Liberal

The Speaker Liberal Geoff Regan

All those opposed will please say nay.

Government Response to PetitionsRoutine Proceedings

3:15 p.m.

Some hon. members

Nay.

Government Response to PetitionsRoutine Proceedings

3:15 p.m.

Liberal

The Speaker Liberal Geoff Regan

In my opinion the yeas have it.

And five or more members having risen:

Call in the members.

(The House divided on the motion, which was agreed to on the following division:)

Vote #905

Government Response to PetitionsRoutine Proceedings

3:25 p.m.

Liberal

The Speaker Liberal Geoff Regan

I declare the motion carried.

Bill C-76—Time Allocation MotionElections Modernization ActGovernment Orders

3:25 p.m.

Waterloo Ontario

Liberal

Bardish Chagger LiberalLeader of the Government in the House of Commons

moved:

That, in relation to C-76, An Act to amend the Canada Elections Act and other Acts and to make certain consequential amendments, not more than one further sitting day shall be allotted to the consideration of the report stage of the said bill and not more than one sitting day shall be allotted to the consideration of the third reading stage of the said bill; and

That fifteen minutes before the expiry of the time provided for Government Orders on the day allotted to the consideration at report stage and on the day allotted to the consideration at the third reading stage of the said bill, any proceedings before the House shall be interrupted, if required for the purpose of this Order, and in turn every question necessary for the disposal of the stage of the bill then under consideration shall be put forthwith and successively without further debate or amendment.

Bill C-76—Time Allocation MotionElections Modernization ActGovernment Orders

3:25 p.m.

Conservative

Stephanie Kusie Conservative Calgary Midnapore, AB

Mr. Speaker, I am surprised to see the government propose such an undemocratic measure on a bill that deals with democracy. What a joke.

We have a time allocation motion and an undemocratic action on a bill regarding democracy. This is just absolutely silly. I can certainly understand why the Liberals do not want to allow us the opportunity to talk more about this bill, and that is because it is so incredibly flawed and does a lot to prohibit democracy within our lovely nation.

Sadly, I see it more as a public relations exercise by the government than as an attempt to impede fraudulent action, foreign interference and foreign influence. It is certainly understandable that the Liberals would not want to continue discussion on a democracy bill that is, in fact, not democratic.

They are trying to appear to be saying that actions that impede democracy are bad, but sadly, the bill does not have the mechanisms to prevent fraud and interference. It does not go far enough, I am very sorry to say.

We put forward many amendments, on this side of the House, in an attempt to make the bill more watertight and to provide better electoral processes for Canadians, such as third parties having segregated bank accounts, as was recommended by the Chief Electoral Officer. However, this was another suggestion that was passed over by the government, unfortunately. In addition, there was third-party reporting between elections. These are the types of safeguards we, as the official opposition, tried to provide the Canadian public in an attempt to safeguard our democratic processes.

As for foreign influence, this bill would do essentially nothing to avoid the possibility of foreign influence. We have seen dire and negative consequences in other jurisdictions, such as the United States and in the Brexit outcome. Our very own Prime Minister said that he thought there was not much foreign influence or interference during the last federal election. How could we hope for much better, when the starting point of the Prime Minister's thinking is that there was not much, when in fact, not much was too much?

In addition, Conservatives had concerns with regard to non-residency voting requirements. We pleaded for the five-year requirement, the oath to return to Canada, and the place of residency, in addition to mentioning—

Bill C-76—Time Allocation MotionElections Modernization ActGovernment Orders

3:30 p.m.

Liberal

The Assistant Deputy Speaker Liberal Anthony Rota

The hon. member for Elmwood—Transcona is rising on a point of order.

Bill C-76—Time Allocation MotionElections Modernization ActGovernment Orders

3:30 p.m.

NDP

Daniel Blaikie NDP Elmwood—Transcona, MB

Mr. Speaker, we have only half an hour to debate time allocation, and I believe a number of members would like to participate. I am wondering about the time allocated to particular members and if we could ensure that other members have an opportunity to participate in this limited debate.

Bill C-76—Time Allocation MotionElections Modernization ActGovernment Orders

3:30 p.m.

Liberal

The Assistant Deputy Speaker Liberal Anthony Rota

That is a very good point by the hon. member for Elmwood—Transcona. There was a change in Chairs, and the time ran a little long.

If the hon. member will wrap it up very quickly, we will get the minister's answer.

Bill C-76—Time Allocation MotionElections Modernization ActGovernment Orders

3:30 p.m.

Conservative

Stephanie Kusie Conservative Calgary Midnapore, AB

Mr. Speaker, I am not surprised to hear the hon. member from the NDP say that, because the NDP worked every step of the way with the government in impeding democracy in moving this bill forward, denying Canadians the opportunity to have their voice and the right to fair democratic processes.

I would ask the Minister of Democratic Institutions why Liberals do not want to see democracy served.

Bill C-76—Time Allocation MotionElections Modernization ActGovernment Orders

3:30 p.m.

Burlington Ontario

Liberal

Karina Gould LiberalMinister of Democratic Institutions

Mr. Speaker, I think Canadians know that it is neither the Liberals nor the New Democrats who are working to impede democracy, considering it was the previous government that introduced Bill C-23. In fact, most of the amendments my hon. colleague and opposition members proposed were to return this bill to Bill C-23, in which, unfortunately, the previous government went out of its way to limit the ability of Canadians to participate in our democracy. Therefore, it is a bit rich, and slightly laughable, to hear from Conservatives on the other side how strongly they value democracy and democratic participation in our country, when they did things to impede that process.

Bill C-76 would do much to repeal all those unfair elements in Bill C-23. It would ensure that the election in 2019 had the integrity Canadians deserve and expect and that the process would be fair and protected.

Bill C-76—Time Allocation MotionElections Modernization ActGovernment Orders

3:30 p.m.

NDP

Nathan Cullen NDP Skeena—Bulkley Valley, BC

Mr. Speaker, Canadians can tolerate quite a bit from our politics sometimes, whether they have a left or centre or right perspective. One of the things I have noticed that they cannot tolerate is straight-up hypocrisy.

I am looking at the member for Winnipeg North, who has now joined us here.

The member for Coast of Bays—Central—Notre Dame, who was here moments ago, moved a motion a couple of years ago in this place. That motion said we should never use the guillotine of time allocation to shut down debate in Parliament on any bills that deal with our democracy, because they are so fundamental.

One would have to ask the Liberals: How did we get here? There must have been some massive impediment that made them have to go back on their word and force time allocation on Parliament.

The bill to fix the unfair elections act, which New Democrats support, was introduced almost two years ago. They must have been working hard in those two years in the hope of getting this legislation through in time for the next election.

We have now found out that they did not work on the bill. They sat on the bill month after month. We pleaded with them to show us the bill so we could debate it and pass it through the House.

The Liberals introduced Bill C-76 so late that the Chief Electoral Officer has told them they blew the deadline. A bunch of things in the bill will not even happen for the 2019 election.

Canadians are very frustrated with the Liberals, especially with respect to issues around voting and democracy. They broke their sacred promise to make 2015 the last election under first past the post. We really thought they would have learned a lesson that the urgency of now is incredibly important. It was not important to them.

Now the Liberals are introducing the exact same motion, word for word, that Stephen Harper used to ram his bill through Parliament. They want to use it to force their legislation through Parliament and are looking around for someone to blame. They cannot find anyone.

My question for the minister is simple. We had an opportunity to fix privacy rules in Canada to ensure that our democracy and our voting are free and fair. Why did the Liberals choose to ignore all the evidence that the committee heard, which screwed up elections in England and the U.S.? Why did they choose to expose Canadian elections to hacking and tampering by foreign influences because parties will not have to follow any privacy rules whatsoever under this legislation?

Bill C-76—Time Allocation MotionElections Modernization ActGovernment Orders

3:35 p.m.

Liberal

Karina Gould Liberal Burlington, ON

Mr. Speaker, it is always a pleasure to work with my colleague on this file. It has been great having him as the critic for democratic institutions, particularly with respect to this piece of legislation. New Democrats are supportive of the bill and most of the elements in it. We are working hard to get this done.

As was noted, it is important to get this done in time for the 2019 election. Unfortunately, every time members went to move to clause-by-clause at committee, the Conservative members decided to filibuster. Therefore we find ourselves in a time crunch. However, I am very optimistic about moving the bill forward so we can ensure that our elections are protected.

When it comes to privacy and the issues the member raised, I would note that the particular examples he is talking about are private companies that fall under PIPEDA. The ethics committee is currently undertaking a study on this, and I look forward to hearing the results.

This is an important issue, but it requires a bit more study and I think we can find the right solutions.

Bill C-76—Time Allocation MotionElections Modernization ActGovernment Orders

3:35 p.m.

Conservative

John Nater Conservative Perth—Wellington, ON

Mr. Speaker, here we are once again with time allocation on an electoral reform bill, on a bill that would change how we run our elections.

I wish I could say I am surprised by the Liberals, but this is yet another failure on their part. They failed when they tried to do electoral reform. When they did not get what they wanted, they left it. Bill C-33, introduced in November 2016, was left unmoved and unloved on the Order Paper for the last two years.

The Chief Electoral Officer and the former chief electoral officer both said they needed legislation passed with royal assent by April 30 of this year, yet this legislation was not even introduced in this place until April 30. This was yet another failure on the part of the Liberals.

Why will they not just admit this is another attempt to game the system in their favour?

Bill C-76—Time Allocation MotionElections Modernization ActGovernment Orders

3:35 p.m.

Liberal

Karina Gould Liberal Burlington, ON

Mr. Speaker, Canadians know this legislation is important for our democracy. When it comes to important elements like vouching, and when it comes to ensuring that the most vulnerable among us can cast a ballot, this legislation would make that happen.

Experts across the country have called for the passage of the bill. Let us all work together and get this done. I sincerely hope that my colleagues on the other side of this place will recognize the important underlying democratic values and principles that are encompassed in Bill C-76 and will work with us to pass the bill in a timely way, because it is important for Canadians and it is important for Canadian democracy.

Bill C-76—Time Allocation MotionElections Modernization ActGovernment Orders

3:35 p.m.

Liberal

Robert-Falcon Ouellette Liberal Winnipeg Centre, MB

Mr. Speaker, the people of Winnipeg believe that the strength of our democracy depends on the participation of as many Canadians as possible. This bill would undo many of the unfair aspects of the Harper government's unfair elections act, as we would be making it easier and more convenient for Canadians to vote. We would be making the electoral process more accessible to Canadians with disabilities, caregivers and members of the Canadian Armed Forces, and we would be restoring voting rights to more than one million Canadians living abroad. This bill would strengthen our laws, close loopholes, bring in a more robust enforcement regime and would make it more difficult for bad actors to influence our elections.

After the 2015 election, the Chief Electoral Officer made over 130 recommendations on ways to improve how our democracy functions. After careful study and consideration by parliamentary committees both in the House and the Senate, and with the input of experts from across Canada, the Government of Canada introduced the elections modernization act. Could the minister speak about the deadline we face with the next election, as well as the 130 recommendations made by the Chief Electoral Officer and how we have implemented most of them?

Bill C-76—Time Allocation MotionElections Modernization ActGovernment Orders

3:35 p.m.

Liberal

Karina Gould Liberal Burlington, ON

Mr. Speaker, I thank my hon. colleague Winnipeg Centre for the important information contained in his excellent question. He did a very good job of summarizing some of the most important elements of in this bill.

With regard to implementation, it is extraordinarily important that we pass this bill quickly. This bill has been before the House for almost six months now. The committee has conducted an extensive study of it and has brought forward important comments and amendments. We have accepted amendments to this bill by both of the main opposition parties, which is important. Of course, these are amendments that would improve the bill and not return it to its former state with the Canada Elections Act.

As my colleague noted, the former CEO of Elections Canada brought forward over 100 recommendations for how we could improve the Canada Elections Act. Bill C-76 would implement 85% of those recommendations. I think we can all agree that the CEO of Elections Canada has the best interest of Canadians and Canadian democracy at heart, and this bill would do exactly that.

Bill C-76—Time Allocation MotionElections Modernization ActGovernment Orders

3:40 p.m.

NDP

Daniel Blaikie NDP Elmwood—Transcona, MB

Mr. Speaker, in the last Parliament, the previous government made a lot changes to the Elections Act that were controversial. Our party ran to repeal those changes. The Liberal Party ran to repeal those changes. We are three years into this Parliament and we still have not seen those changes made, and we had a pretty clear deadline from the elections commissioner for when those changes had to be made. We knew at the very beginning of the Parliament what it would take to repeal the changes that were made in the last Parliament. There was agreement between our party and the party currently in government, as well as a broad base of Canadians, that those changes needed to be repealed.

I am wondering how we got to where we are three years later. I will spare the partisan jabs. Why should a typical Canadian who was concerned about the integrity of the elections process, who felt that those changes made in the last Parliament needed to be repealed, not feel disappointed? The government had three years, two ministers of democratic institutions, three if we count an interim minister, who could not deliver just a basic repeal of the nefarious changes made in the last Parliament. That is the lowest bar it had to meet, and it had almost three years to get it done by April 30 of this year. It failed to do it. Why should Canadians not look at this as a major failure? Why should they not feel disappointed that at least those changes were not made by April 30 of this year to make sure that their intended repeal, as discussed in the last election, was on time and implemented by the next election? There are important issues that could have been addressed in a separate bill.