House of Commons Hansard #303 of the 42nd Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament's site.) The word of the day was environment.

Topics

Extension of Sitting HoursGovernment Orders

7:30 p.m.

Whitby Ontario

Liberal

Celina Caesar-Chavannes LiberalParliamentary Secretary to the Minister of International Development

Mr. Speaker, this is a classic case where the Conservatives say one thing and do another.

I will speak to this because the member brought it up, namely the 40-hour voting spree we had and her talk about our supporting the Prime Minister's back. I certainly do have his back. In our government we support each other here.

She spoke about the motions she brought forward on the women survivors of Daesh. When it came to voting for funding to support those survivors of Daesh, the Conservatives voted against it. What else did they vote against? They voted against ensuring that we reimburse first nations for emergency management. They voted against funding for youth employment. She talked about our defence and our military. They voted against funding to support Canada's defence policy.

When we talk about saying one thing and doing another, of actions probably speaking louder than words, the Conservatives have the market corned on actions and how very void they are when it comes to actually supporting the things they talk about.

Extension of Sitting HoursGovernment Orders

7:30 p.m.

Conservative

Candice Bergen Conservative Portage—Lisgar, MB

Mr. Speaker, my hon. colleague addressed a couple of issues there. I will begin with the first one, and that is on the marathon voting that went on here. What happened, just so I can remind her and everyone else, is that we were simply asking for Daniel Jean to come to the public safety committee to testify. It was not unreasonable. It was not a brand new request. It was something we asked for. We said we were going to show the government that we were serious and that there would be a whole lot of votes. There are very few tools we have in opposition. One of the tools we have is that we can have extended votes. We think that is something we have to be able to do to show the government we are serious.

The Prime Minister slept wonderfully that night on his feather bed. He did come in at about 8 in the morning after we had all been here and were exhausted. He came in eight hours later. He looked refreshed. He was energized. Apparently he brought donuts, someone said. My point on that marathon voting was that in the end, Daniel Jean came to committee.

Extension of Sitting HoursGovernment Orders

7:30 p.m.

Liberal

The Assistant Deputy Speaker Liberal Anthony Rota

I just want to remind hon. members of two things. One, we are not to speak of someone's presence in the House, whether they are here or not.

Two, another hon. member, I do not want to name him, should know that if he is sitting next to a microphone and it is on and the person who is speaking is trying to get a message across, it makes it hard for the rest of us to understand what she is saying, and I am very interested in hearing what the hon. member has to say.

The hon. member for Portage—Lisgar.

Extension of Sitting HoursGovernment Orders

7:35 p.m.

Conservative

Candice Bergen Conservative Portage—Lisgar, MB

Mr. Speaker, it is like being a singer. Sometimes a backup singer does help. I do not mind if the hon. member wants to be my backup singer.

My point to the hon. member is that most of the Liberal members sat here. I saw them toiling away hour after hour, and in the end the government gave in. This is something that the Liberals will have to make decisions on in the future. If their Prime Minister and the government is going to be giving into what Canadians are asking for, they need to rethink how much they have his back.

On the issue about voting on different measures, we can recall how sanctimonious the Liberals were during the 2015 election when they said they would never, ever use omnibus bills. Then, of course, they immediately started using omnibus bills, not only on public safety and justice legislation, but also on the budget. They threw everything but the kitchen sink into the budget so that they could say that we, the opposition, did not vote for this measure or that measure. It is an old trick. It is an old party; the old party with the old tricks.

Extension of Sitting HoursGovernment Orders

7:35 p.m.

NDP

Karine Trudel NDP Jonquière, QC

Mr. Speaker, I would refer to the NDP's proposed amendment concerning a compromise on extended sitting hours for opposition days. There has been a lot of talk about democracy, and democracy means allowing opposition members to express themselves and represent their ridings.

What does my colleague think of the amendment the NDP proposed to the House?

Extension of Sitting HoursGovernment Orders

7:35 p.m.

Conservative

Candice Bergen Conservative Portage—Lisgar, MB

Mr. Speaker, I fully agree with my hon. colleague. Part of what makes our democracy so vibrant is the opposition. I talk a lot with my constituents about the role we we play. For example, on the the small business tax changes, the government was going to ram those through, penalizing so many of our hard-working men and women across the country, professionals as well as small business owners and farmers.

People will recall that those individuals and their voices were loud, but it was the voice of the opposition in this place that was able to amplify that day in and day out. In fact, we used things like opposition days. We used every tool we had to ensure the government knew it could not ram those small business changes through.

The problem is this. When the government starts to erode the fundamentals of our democracy, it become a slippery slope. We have seen the Liberals try to do it with people's fundamental right to beliefs and conscience. We see it in the House when they try to erode our ability as opposition to do our job. It is about the government recognizing that the role we play, although it might be difficult for the government and for the Prime Minister, is a vital role. It is what makes our democracy vibrant.

Many times, there are opposition motions that the New Democrats bring forward on which the Conservatives might not agree. Then when the vote comes, that is when we have the chance to express that. We have the time to express that during questions and answers during debates. That is when the Liberals can express their displeasure with our opposition day motions. In fact, they can defeat them every time, but we should have the ability to bring them forward and ensure they are talked about. If these days are cut short, it is disrespectful to opposition, whether Conservative, NDP, or other opposition members.

Extension of Sitting HoursGovernment Orders

7:35 p.m.

Conservative

Sylvie Boucher Conservative Beauport—Côte-de-Beaupré—Île d’Orléans—Charlevoix, QC

Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for that magnificent speech. Here is an excerpt from the Liberals' 2015 platform on prorogation and omnibus bills:

We will not resort to legislative tricks to avoid scrutiny.

That is funnier now than ever. I have reread that sentence several times since the Liberals were elected because I am interested and to see how that has played out, seeing as today's Prime Minister of Canada promised us he would be more transparent and cooler. Sure, everyone knows he is cooler. He takes so many photos that everyone knows that.

Anyway, does my colleague think today's Parliament is as transparent as the Prime Minister of Canada promised it would be?

Extension of Sitting HoursGovernment Orders

7:40 p.m.

Conservative

Candice Bergen Conservative Portage—Lisgar, MB

Mr. Speaker, my hon. colleague has been doing such an amazing job, working for her constituents and doing a great job in the House.

She is bang on. She sees something I think so many Canadians see. People who voted for the Liberal government, thinking they could trust what the Prime Minister said, wanting to give him a chance, are realizing that he has failed to keep his word on so many issues, not just the issue around respecting parliament, not just the issue around using his majority to ram things through the House and not allow for debate. On issues of balancing the budget, Canadians are seized with the impact of his reckless spending.

On issues around ethics and transparency, as I mentioned earlier in my speech, we have a Prime Minister who, for the first time in history, has been found guilty of breaking four parts of the Conflict of Interest Act. On fiscal responsibility, we see the government taxing Canadians. Canadians are paying more for everything because of the government.

There is electoral reform. The Prime Minister has betrayed veterans. On every front, everything the Prime Minister touches seems to fail. Everything the Prime Minister says he is going to do fails. He may have thought he was going to try hard. He may have thought that if he put his hand on his heart and was very sincere, it would work, but it has failed. This is a failure as well.

Extension of Sitting HoursGovernment Orders

7:40 p.m.

Liberal

Mark Gerretsen Liberal Kingston and the Islands, ON

Mr. Speaker, it is a pleasure to rise today to contribute to the debate on government Motion No. 22, which is an important motion. It addresses the manner in which the House will continue to work between now and when we eventually reach the summer break. It is important because it will allow us to make additional progress in advancing the agenda that Canadians have elected us to do in this place.

Motion No. 22 will also position the House to build on the good work that has already been accomplished by the committees and the work that the committees have put forward. I want to highlight that this is not just work that government members on the committees are doing; this is work that all parties and individuals on committees have been contributing to in order to get the legislation back to this place so it can be voted on before the summer break. That is really important.

A lot of the debate today has focused around government legislation, that it is only about what the government wants. Through my participation at committees and the work I have been able to do, I have seen that quite often committees have the ability to work really well together, to collaborate together, to work on a less hyper-partisan level than we seem to experience in this place, and quite often do come to compromises. I know that happens for me and my colleagues at the defence committee. We should all take great pride in that.

The problem is that if we do not have this motion, if we do not extend the sitting hours, we will be put into a situation where all the work we have done basically gets put on the table until the fall. That is why it is so important to do this.

I would like to highlight some of that important work the committees have done. Before I get to that, it is important to stress the fact that during the 2015 election, the governing party now, the Liberal Party at the time, of which I am a part of, made a commitment to strengthen parliamentary committees. In doing so, we were committing a new government's respect for the fundamental roles that parliamentarians played on committees in order to hold government to account.

This commitment included in the mandate letter of the government House leader that under the government, the parliamentary committees would be be freer and better equipped with legislation. One of the things out of a whole host of things that committees do differently now is the chairs are elected freely by the members. They are not appointed by the government. It is done with a secret ballot that allows members to freely express who they are putting forward as their selection for chair.

One of the other changes to committee recently was with respect to the addition of putting parliamentary secretaries on committees, but not in a voting capacity, in a capacity that they could be there to contribute when necessary. On the defence committee, parliamentary secretaries do not play a very active role, but they are there so they can stay informed about what the committee is doing. By not having a vote, it removes any potential interference that one might see coming from the minister's office into the committee.

The Standing Orders that enabled all this were passed in June 2017. In my opinion, and I think in the opinion of the majority of the people in the House, they have given committees the ability to genuinely act in a more open, transparent, and free manner.

I would like to quickly highlight some of the important legislation that is currently before Parliament that runs the risk of not being voted on and to be completed and enacted before the end of this session.

The first one I would like to speak to is Bill C-59, which was before the Standing Committee on Public Safety and National Security. The bill, the national security act, 2017, began in November 2017 and extended to clause-by-clause review in April 2018. This committee literally spent five or six months working on this legislation.

For anybody to suggest that the government somehow does not want committees to have full participation and input is absolutely ridiculous, when we consider the Standing Committee on Public Safety and National Security spent up to six months on the legislation.

Bill C-59 fulfill's the government's commitment to keep Canadians safe, while safeguarding the rights and freedoms of Canadians.

Members might remember the bill that was introduced by the previous government, Bill C-51, which ended up with massive public outcry and complaints about its infringement upon the rights and freedoms of individuals. During the election, a commitment was made to ensure new legislation would come forward. Now we have seen upward of five to six months of committee deliberation on that work. It is important to note that the committee adopted over 40 amendments to bring greater clarity, transparency, and accountability to the bill.

Another bill before the same committee is Bill C-71, an act to amend certain acts and regulations in relation to firearms. We know this is another thing about which Canadians are extremely concerned. Bill C-71 would enhance background checks on those seeking to obtain firearms. It would make background checks in the existing licensing system more effective. It would also standardize best practices among retailers to maintain adequate inventory and sales records that would be accessible to police officers.

Bill C-71 would also ensure that a classification of firearms would be done in an impartial, professional, and accurate manner, consisting of resorting to a system in which Parliament would define the classes of authorities, but leave would it to experts within the RCMP to determine firearms classification specifically. The most important part of that would be leaving the political influence out of it.

As we can see, Bill C-71 is an important bill that would contribute to public safety. That is why it is so critical to ensure it has an opportunity to come back to the House to be voted on before we break for the summer.

The biggest bill, and in my opinion the most important bill that would do the most for Canadians, is Bill C-74, the budget implementation act. This bill would affect every Canadian from coast to coast. It would increase the opportunities for people to have a fair chance at success, in particular those who are struggling.

The budget implementation act would specifically introduce things like a Canada workers benefit to assist low-income workers. It would index the Canada child benefit to help nine out of 10 Canadian families. It would lower the taxes on small business. It would put in better supports for veterans. It is absolutely critical to have the bill work its way through the finance committee and the deliberations it has with Canadians throughout the country, so it can come back to the House and we can vote on it in a timely fashion.

I have so many more examples of other legislation before committee right now. However, for all of these reasons, it is so important we pass the motion now to allow us to sit later into the evenings so we can ensure we complete the work Canadians have put us here to do.

I want to take two more minutes to speak specifically to the amendments that have come forward today. I know there has been a lot of discussion about the proportion of time being spent on government business versus the proportion of time being spent on opposition motions and opposition days. This is not about proportioning of government versus opposition. This is about ensuring we can put more items on the agenda. That is why it is important to ensure we sit later into the evenings so we can do exactly that. The items I am speaking about are ones that have been collaborated on in committees by all members of all parties of the House.

That is why I personally cannot support the amendments. I do not think that they are particularly good amendments, because they are not going after what we need to do, which is to examine more pieces of legislation, as opposed to proportionally growing the amount of time that each political party gets, which is unfortunately the partisan nature that this debate has been put into.

With that, I see that we are approaching the end of the debate on this matter. I would like to leave an opportunity for people to ask questions. I am happy to entertain those at this time.

Extension of Sitting HoursGovernment Orders

7:50 p.m.

Whitby Ontario

Liberal

Celina Caesar-Chavannes LiberalParliamentary Secretary to the Minister of International Development

Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank my colleague for a very engaging speech, and one that really outlined, I think quite eloquently, the need to have this extra time to debate pretty important legislation that we are trying to advance. Of course, we are here to do the work that Canadians have brought us here to do, and advancing legislation is particularly important.

The member spoke in particular about the budget implementation act and the various initiatives in that legislation that would allow Canadians, such as people in my riding of Whitby, to do a lot better in their lives. I wonder if he can speak a little more about how that particular piece of legislation will impact people in his riding.

Extension of Sitting HoursGovernment Orders

7:50 p.m.

Liberal

Mark Gerretsen Liberal Kingston and the Islands, ON

Mr. Speaker, this is one of the most progressive budgets that has ever been before the House, in my opinion. The items within this budget, whether changes to the Canada child benefit or the workers compensation benefit or a whole host of other things that are within the budget, are going to have real impacts on the lives of Canadians and, to her question, to many members in my community.

One of the most basic fundamental functions of government, in my opinion, is to make sure that people have the opportunities to succeed, that they have the opportunities before them so that if they choose to chase after their passions and their dreams, they can fulfill them. That is what a budget like this does, whether it is about child care or about giving equal opportunities to women or changing the way in which we look at policies. That is exactly what this budget does. I am extremely proud to be standing in support of it. I look forward to having the opportunity to do that when we vote on the budget.

Extension of Sitting HoursGovernment Orders

7:55 p.m.

Conservative

Ed Fast Conservative Abbotsford, BC

Mr. Speaker, I was out in the lobby listening carefully to the speech by my friend, the member for Kingston and the Islands. He used to be a member of the environment committee and he did good work there. I enjoyed having him there. We miss him. However, he did suggest in his speech that there are remarkable reforms in the committee system and that the committees are independent. In fact, nothing could be further from the truth.

The reality is that the Prime Minister's Office controls every single committee. There are officials from the PMO at those meetings, directing the members on how they should vote. How do I know that? At the environment committee, we were just recently considering Bill C-65, and as we were going through these different—

Extension of Sitting HoursGovernment Orders

7:55 p.m.

An hon. member

It was Bill C-69.

Extension of Sitting HoursGovernment Orders

7:55 p.m.

Conservative

Ed Fast Conservative Abbotsford, BC

Yes, Bill C-69. Thank you.

As we were going through all of these amendments, with each one it was funny to see the rep from the Prime Minister's Office running up behind the Liberals and telling them how they should be voting, telling them how they should be dealing with the issue. They had been told that with 100 amendments yet to be considered and debated at committee, they were going to cut off debate and vote on those amendments without any further debate. It was to be just up-and-down votes on each one, without our being able to share our views on them.

I would throw that back to the member, whom I do respect and who has had a taste of the environment committee. How can he say that there has been this tremendous reform of our committee system when nothing could be further from the truth?

Extension of Sitting HoursGovernment Orders

7:55 p.m.

Liberal

Mark Gerretsen Liberal Kingston and the Islands, ON

Let me get this straight, Mr. Speaker. If I understand this correctly, the rep from the PMO needed to run up behind the Liberal members to tell them how to vote on every vote when they were voting in favour of every single one.

That is the problem with the discussion and the discourse that is going on in here. The member for Abbotsford is making an assertion, and the very least he could do is at least say “in my opinion”, but he does not even do that.

It was no different from when the House leader spoke before I did and said that the Prime Minister himself directed the members of the status of women committee to not vote in a particular chair. How on earth does she know for a fact that is what happened? At the very least, why would she not at least say “in my opinion”?

To that end, I was on committee with that member. We had the opportunity to collaborate. The member should know that I, of all people on that committee, was willing to say at certain times, “I disagree with my members. I agree with what the member for Abbotsford said.” The member knows that I did that.

For him to ask me that question is extremely rich.

Extension of Sitting HoursGovernment Orders

7:55 p.m.

Liberal

Chris Bittle Liberal St. Catharines, ON

Mr. Speaker, the member for Kingston and the Islands does a good job.

This comes down to hard work. Constituents send us here to do hard work to get the job done. Opposition members must be heard. That is their right. Disagreement is welcome and vigorous debate is encouraged, but at the end of the day we are legislators and we have to arrive at decisions.

I would like to ask the hon. member for Kingston and the Islands what his thoughts are. What would our constituents think about the opposition to putting in a few extra hours to get the job done?

Extension of Sitting HoursGovernment Orders

7:55 p.m.

Liberal

Mark Gerretsen Liberal Kingston and the Islands, ON

Mr. Speaker, I should point out that the member for St. Catharines does incredibly hard work for his constituents too.

In all seriousness, I have absolutely no problem explaining to my constituents what is going on here. The irony is that until one gets to this place, there is this preconceived notion that things actually happen in the appropriate way, but when one actually gets here and witnesses the antics, it is something else. Opposition members did not get what they wanted on Friday, so they spent 30 minutes banging on their desks. I would not even expect that from my two-year-old.

I will digress from that. I really appreciate the opportunity provided by the member for St. Catharines to express that.

Extension of Sitting HoursGovernment Orders

8 p.m.

Conservative

The Deputy Speaker Conservative Bruce Stanton

It being 8:01 p.m., it is my duty to interrupt the proceedings and put forthwith every question necessary to dispose of Government Business No. 22 now before the House.

The question is on the amendment to the amendment. Is it the pleasure of the House to adopt the amendment to the amendment?

Extension of Sitting HoursGovernment Orders

8 p.m.

Some hon. members

Agreed.

No.

Extension of Sitting HoursGovernment Orders

8 p.m.

Conservative

The Deputy Speaker Conservative Bruce Stanton

All those in favour of the amendment to the amendment will please say yea.

Extension of Sitting HoursGovernment Orders

8 p.m.

Some hon. members

Yea.

Extension of Sitting HoursGovernment Orders

8 p.m.

Conservative

The Deputy Speaker Conservative Bruce Stanton

All those opposed will please say nay.

Extension of Sitting HoursGovernment Orders

8 p.m.

Some hon. members

Nay.

Extension of Sitting HoursGovernment Orders

8 p.m.

Conservative

The Deputy Speaker Conservative Bruce Stanton

In my opinion the nays have it.

And five or more members having risen:

Call in the members.

(The House divided on the amendment to the amendment, which was negatived on the following division:)

Vote #677