Debates of Dec. 10th, 2018

Rail Transportation

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

Mr. Speaker, speaking of trains, VIA Rail, a Crown corporation, would rather give a contract to Berlin for work that can be done in La Pocatière. They are taking Quebeckers' money and giving it to businesses that are competing with Quebec companies. That is some nerve. We are proud of our workers, and we stand by them.

Will the Minister of Transport stand by Quebec companies and workers and ask VIA Rail to reconsider that decision and award the rail car contract to our own companies?

[Marc Garneau, Liberal, Minister of Transport]

Mr. Speaker, as I have said many times, VIA Rail is in the middle of a procurement process to replace its Quebec City-Windsor fleet. VIA Rail is a Crown corporation that makes its own decisions, and it has to take into account our free trade agreements—with Europe, in this case—as well as WTO rules. Everyone has to play by the rules of the free trade agreements we are part of.

[Erin Weir, Independent, Regina—Lewvan, SK]

Mr. Speaker, the government says it will consider helping Alberta buy tanker cars. That is welcome news and I trust that the same offer will be extended to Saskatchewan. Transport in our region is limited not only for oil but also for people. The southern Prairies currently have neither passenger rail nor bus service.

Will the government consider restoring VIA Rail service between Winnipeg, Regina and Calgary to help the Prairies get back on track?

[Marc Garneau, Liberal, Minister of Transport]

Mr. Speaker, VIA Rail is responsible for passenger traffic across this country. It must do so based on a number of factors. At the moment, as we know, VIA Rail does pass through Saskatchewan. The Canadian goes from the eastern part of Canada all the way to Vancouver, so VIA Rail, as far as I know, still goes through Saskatchewan.

[The Speaker, Liberal, Geoff Regan]

The hon. member for Montcalm on a point of order.

[Luc Thériault, Bloc, Montcalm, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I seek the unanimous consent of the House for the following motion: That this House condemn the government's approval of the global compact for safe, orderly and regular migration in Marrakesh without debate in this House.

[The Speaker, Liberal, Geoff Regan]

Does the member have the unanimous consent of the House?

[Some hon. members]

Agreed.

No.

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Carleton, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I believe you will find unanimous consent for me to table the page from the Liberal Party platform showing the budget will be balanced by the year 2019.

[The Speaker, Liberal, Geoff Regan]

Does the hon. member have unanimous consent?

[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) I have the honour to table, in both official languages, the government's response to eight petitions.

Interparliamentary Delegations

[David McGuinty, Liberal, Ottawa South, ON]

Mr. Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 34(1), I have the honour to present to the House, in both official languages, the report of the Canadian Group of the Inter-Parliamentary Union respecting its participation at the 281st session of the Executive Committee of the Inter-Parliamentary Union, the 139th IPU Assembly and related meetings held in Geneva, Switzerland, October 12-18, 2018.

[Hedy Fry, Liberal, Vancouver Centre, BC]

Mr. Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 34(1), I have the honour to present, in both official languages, the reports of the Canadian delegation to the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly respecting its participation at the 17th winter meeting of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly in Vienna, Austria, February 22-23, 2018, and the 27th annual session of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly in Berlin, Germany, July 7-11, 2018.

Agriculture and Agri-Food

[Pat Finnigan, Liberal, Miramichi—Grand Lake, NB]

Mr. Speaker, I have the honour to present, in both official languages, the 14th report of the Standing Committee on Agriculture and Agri-Food in relation to Supplementary Estimates (A), 2018-19.

Finance

[Wayne Easter, Liberal, Malpeque, PE]

Mr. Speaker, I have the honour to present, in both official languages, the 27th report of the Standing Committee on Finance entitled “Cultivating Competitiveness Helping Canadians Succeed”. This report is the work of hundreds of Canadians who drafted over 500 submissions for the committee's consideration and approximately 300 witnesses who appeared before the committee from coast to coast to coast.

I want to thank members from all parties for their efforts and a special thanks on behalf of the committee to the clerks, David Gagnon and Alexandre Jacques, and to the analysts from the Library of Parliament, Andrew Barton, Brett Capstick, Michaël Lambert-Racine, Shaowei Pu and Ryan van den Berg. Without the efforts of the Library of Parliament, this fairly massive project would not be possible and I want to sincerely thank them and other committee members for their work and Canadians for their presentations.

[Blake Richards, Conservative, Banff—Airdrie, AB]

Mr. Speaker, the Conservative Party feels that the report by the Liberal majority on the finance committee just reflects the broken promises of their government. Unfortunately, the Liberals have failed to balance the budget in 2019 as they promised, instead adding more multi-billion dollar deficits, more unchecked spending and more debt. The Liberals are also making it harder for our economy to grow through added regulations such as the pipeline-killing Bill C-69, payroll taxes and the carbon tax. As such, we are attaching a dissenting report that is also being tabled today.

Fisheries and Oceans

[Ken McDonald, Liberal, Avalon, NL]

Mr. Speaker, I have the honour to present, in both official languages, the 18th report of the Standing Committee on Fisheries and Oceans entitled, “Protection and Recovery of Endangered Whales: The Way Forward”. I want to thank all committee members for their input. I want to thank the clerk and the analysts for getting this prepared.

Public Safety and National Security

[John McKay, Liberal, Scarborough—Guildwood, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I have the honour to present, in both official languages, the 29th report of the Standing Committee on Public Safety and National Security regarding Bill C-83, an act to amend the Corrections and Conditional Release Act and another act.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs

[MaryAnn Mihychuk, Liberal, Kildonan—St. Paul, MB]

Mr. Speaker, I have the honour to present, in both official languages, the 17th report of the Standing Committee on Indigenous and Northern Affairs entitled, “The Challenges of Delivering Continuing Care in First Nations Communities”.

In this process we heard from communities about the challenges with receiving care, as well as the many facilities that do not have culturally appropriate services for indigenous people.

I want to thank everyone who raised the issues and brought them to our committee, as well as all of the people who participated.

[Cathy McLeod, Conservative, Kamloops—Thompson—Cariboo, BC]

Mr. Speaker, this is a very important issue. If we look at the original motion for this committee report, it was comprehensive in nature, and we supported it. It was a Liberal motion. However, what we were most challenged by was the fact that the Liberals did not do what they said they wanted to do in their motion, so we called this report “A Missed Opportunity”, because it missed the opportunity to do the comprehensive work that I think the witnesses expected from us as a committee. Therefore, I table a dissenting report today.

Human Organ Trafficking

[John Nater, Conservative, Perth—Wellington, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to table a petition signed by a number of residents in Ontario. As members know, Bill S-240 was passed unanimously earlier today. The petitioners are calling for the speedy passage of this bill through committee stage and finally passed through this House.

Vision Care

[Gord Johns, NDP, Courtenay—Alberni, BC]

Mr. Speaker, it is an honour to table a petition on behalf of constituents from coastal British Columbia, including Parksville, Ucluelet and Port Alberni. The number of Canadians with vision loss is expected to double in the next 20 years. In fact, just 1% of total expenditures on vision loss is invested in post-vision loss rehabilitation therapy. The petitioners are calling on the Government of Canada to commit to acknowledging eye health and vision care as a growing public health issue and to respond to it, particularly with respect to Canada's vulnerable populations of children, seniors, diabetics and indigenous peoples, through the development of a national framework for action to promote eye health and vision care. That would benefit all Canadians through the reduction of vision impairment resulting from preventable conditions and the modification of known risk factors.

Human Organ Trafficking

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

Mr. Speaker, I rise to table a petition calling on the House to give speedy passage to Bill S-240. They will be pleased to know that it has now passed unanimously at second reading. However, it remains to be considered at committee and by the House again at third reading. The petitioners recognize the evil of international organ harvesting and call on us to move forward on this issue as quickly as possible.

Firearms

[Cheryl Gallant, Conservative, Renfrew—Nipissing—Pembroke, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to present a petition signed by Canadians from the ridings of London West, London—Fanshawe and Guelph. The petitioners call on the House of Commons to respect the rights of law-abiding firearm owners and reject the Prime Minister's plan to waste taxpayers' money studying a ban on guns that are already banned.