House of Commons Hansard #278 of the 42nd Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament's site.) The word of the day was fisheries.
Ahmed Hussen LiberalMinister of Immigration
Mr. Speaker, our immigration system is based on respectful rules and standards, but there is also room for compassionate and humanitarian considerations with respect to any particular case.
The member opposite knows that I cannot go into the details of a particular case due to privacy concerns, but I am happy to meet with him at the end of question period to see what I can do for him.
Anju Dhillon Liberal Dorval—Lachine—LaSalle, QC
Mr. Speaker, women have a right to choices when it comes to their health. An important part of women's health involves access to a variety of safe and effective forms of contraception. However, the Public Service Health Care Plan currently covers only oral contraceptives.
What has the government done to correct this situation for more than 650,000 federal public servants and their family members?
Joyce Murray LiberalParliamentary Secretary to the President of the Treasury Board
Mr. Speaker, I thank the member for Dorval—Lachine—LaSalle for her question and for her hard work.
Empowering women and respecting their rights, including reproductive health rights, is what our government does. In the public service that means we are putting women and the health of women first, including their choice of contraceptives.
I am very happy to announce that effective April 1, non-oral contraceptives will be covered under the public service health care plan. As promised, we worked hard and collaboratively with the unions to bring this about, and we have delivered.
Gérard Deltell Conservative Louis-Saint-Laurent, QC
Mr. Speaker, all Canadians love our national anthem, O Canada.
Unfortunately, I have noticed over the past few months that CBC and Radio-Canada no longer broadcast our national anthem at 5 a.m., as they did in the past.
Why is that? When I asked, I was told that it is because they are on the air 24 hours a day. That is not an adequate response, because they have been on the air 24 hours a day since 1995, yet they stopped playing our national anthem only a few months ago.
Does the Liberal government agree with us? One minute a day for our public broadcaster to play O Canada is not too much to ask. It would in fact be welcome.
Arif Virani LiberalParliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Canadian Heritage (Multiculturalism)
Mr. Speaker, I appreciate my colleague's question.
We are standing up for the CBC, which is why we reinvested $675 million. We are also defending our national anthem. We always take pride in the changes, initiated by Mauril Bélanger, to the lyrics of the national anthem. Now that they are gender neutral, they are more inclusive and better reflect diversity. This is an important symbol for us.
Rhéal Fortin Québec debout Rivière-du-Nord, QC
Mr. Speaker, yesterday, we attempted to better protect young girls in Canada by fast-tracking the passage of Bill C-38, a government bill to combat pimping.
We would have preferred Bill C-452, but the Prime Minister went back on his vote. In collusion with the Conservatives, the Liberals said no to our motion. They said no to making life hard for pimps. The Liberals and the Conservatives would rather preserve the status quo than protect our young girls.
How can the government justify refusing to pass its own bill?
Marco Mendicino LiberalParliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada
Mr. Speaker, as I said earlier, human trafficking is one of the most heinous crimes imaginable, and our government is working to combat it in many ways. We are committed to strengthening efforts to combat it and to better protect the victims of this crime. Bill C-38 proposes to give law enforcement and prosecutors new tools to investigate and prosecute human trafficking offences that can be particularly difficult to prove. Our government is committed to advancing this legislation and we look forward to receiving support on its passage into law.
Elizabeth May Green Saanich—Gulf Islands, BC
Mr. Speaker, a Canadian company, indeed a Victoria, B.C., company called AggregateIQ, has been the subject of debate in the Palace of Westminster. Our parliamentary colleagues there are hearing that this company played a significant role in manipulating data to affect the vote on the Brexit referendum.
I want to know if the Minister of Justice, or any of the relevant ministers, could decide that we can help get to the bottom of this kind of shenanigan. It is illegal, and it should be illegal. Can we get an inquiry into the activities of AggregateIQ?
Andy Fillmore LiberalParliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Democratic Institutions
Mr. Speaker, our government takes its fundamental responsibilities to protect the private information of Canadian citizens and the integrity of our electoral system extremely seriously, which is why we engaged the Communications Security Establishment to conduct the first-ever threat assessment of Canadian democratic processes.
The threat assessment looked at cyber-threats facing our democratic process. It is a critical step in addressing the potential issues Canadians may face. Happily, CSE found that there was no significant interference in the 2015 election, but we know this is going to change in 2019, and addressing this will take a whole-of-government approach. This is an issue we take extremely seriously, which is why budget 2018 committed over $750 million for—
Hunter Tootoo Independent Nunavut, NU
Mr. Speaker, I have asked several questions in the House regarding the promised changes to the nutrition north program, which the minister has publicly stated is failing northerners. Last May, the response was that the new program would be launched very soon. In September, the response changed to “we intend to get it right this time”. In December, it was “we're considering all feedback”.
In budget 2018, there is not one mention of nutrition north. It seems with more time there is less progress. Why is the government continuing to fail Nunavummiut by not fixing this broken program?
Yvonne Jones LiberalParliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Indigenous and Northern Affairs
Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for his advocacy on this issue. It is completely unacceptable that northerners are still struggling to feed their families and pay the most extraordinary prices for food in Canada.
Our government has already expanded the nutrition north program to include 37 more communities across Canada. We have also increased the budget by $65 million over the next five years. We are continuing to engage with those in northern regions to ensure we can expand this program to ensure affordable access to food for all people in the northern regions of Canada.
The Deputy Speaker Conservative Bruce Stanton
The hon. member for Louis-Saint-Laurent on a point of order.
Gérard Deltell Conservative Louis-Saint-Laurent, QC
Mr. Speaker, my intervention is about the fact that CBC no longer plays O Canada. I submitted an information request to CBC, and I would like to table this document, which contains CBC's response explaining why it no longer plays the national anthem on CBC or Radio-Canada.
The Deputy Speaker Conservative Bruce Stanton
Does the hon. member for Louis-Saint-Laurent have the unanimous consent of the House to table this document?
The Deputy Speaker Conservative Bruce Stanton
Pursuant to subsection 79.2(2) of the Parliament of Canada Act, it is my duty to present to the House a report from the Parliamentary Budget Officer entitled “Status Report on Phase 1 of the New Infrastructure Plan”.
Andrew Leslie LiberalParliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Foreign Affairs (Canada-U.S. Relations)
Mr. Speaker, on behalf of the Minister of Foreign Affairs, and pursuant to Standing Order 32(2), I have the honour to table, in both official languages, three treaties.
The first is entitled “Amendments to Annex III of the Rotterdam Convention on the Prior Informed Consent Procedure for Certain Hazardous Chemicals and Pesticides in International Trade”. These amendments were adopted in Geneva from April 24 to May 5, 2017.
The second is entitled “Protocol amending the Agreement between the Government of Canada and the Government of the United Mexican States on Air Transport of February 18, 2014”, signed in Mexico on June 29, 2017.
The third is entitled “Agreement between the Government of Canada and the Government of the Republic of Columbia on Air Transport”, signed in Ottawa on October 30, 2017.
An explanatory memorandum is included with each treaty.
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 response to one petition.
Procedure and House AffairsCommittees of the HouseRoutine Proceedings
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 109, I have the honour to present, in both official languages, the government's response to the 48th report of the Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs entitled “Services and Facilities Provided to Members of Parliament with Young Children”.
Jody Wilson-Raybould LiberalMinister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada
moved for leave to introduce Bill C-75, An Act to Amend the Criminal Code, the Youth Criminal Justice Act and other Acts and to make consequential amendments to other Acts.
(Motions deemed adopted, bill read the first time and printed)
Jody Wilson-Raybould LiberalMinister of Justice
Mr. Speaker, I would like to table, in both official languages, a charter statement with respect to Bill C-75, an act to amend the Criminal Code, the Youth Criminal Justice Act and other acts and to make consequential amendments to other acts.
Leona Alleslev Liberal Aurora—Oak Ridges—Richmond Hill, 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 delegation of the Canadian NATO Parliamentary Association respecting its participation at the 2017 spring session held in Tbilisi, Georgia, from May 26 to 29, 2017.
Rob Oliphant Liberal Don Valley West, ON
Mr. Speaker, I have the honour to present, in both official languages, the 18th report of the Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration entitled “Road to Recovery: Resettlement Issues of Yazidi Women and Children in Canada”.
Pursuant to Standing Order 109, the committee requests that the government table a comprehensive response to this report.
I might just add that there are two very good supplementary reports from the opposition parties, which have been very helpful in this debate, and I commend the whole committee for their responsible action in this report.
Michelle Rempel Conservative Calgary Nose Hill, AB
Mr. Speaker, the Conservative Party will append a dissenting report to this report, given that we do not feel that the report covers all of the recommendations included in the UN standing report that was issued in 2015 entitled “They came to destroy”. It also does not provide a comprehensive enough set of recommendations to address the crisis that resettled Yazidi women face here in Canada.