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

8:40 p.m.

Liberal

The Speaker Liberal Geoff Regan

I declare the amendment to the amendment defeated.

The next question is on the amendment.

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

Vote #678

Extension of Sitting HoursGovernment Orders

8:50 p.m.

Liberal

The Speaker Liberal Geoff Regan

I declare the amendment defeated.

Extension of Sitting HoursGovernment Orders

8:50 p.m.

Liberal

The Speaker Liberal Geoff Regan

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

Extension of Sitting HoursGovernment Orders

8:50 p.m.

Some hon. members

Agreed.

No.

Extension of Sitting HoursGovernment Orders

8:50 p.m.

Liberal

The Speaker Liberal Geoff Regan

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

Extension of Sitting HoursGovernment Orders

8:50 p.m.

Some hon. members

Yea.

Extension of Sitting HoursGovernment Orders

8:50 p.m.

Liberal

The Speaker Liberal Geoff Regan

All those opposed will please say nay.

Extension of Sitting HoursGovernment Orders

8:50 p.m.

Some hon. members

Nay.

Extension of Sitting HoursGovernment Orders

8:50 p.m.

Liberal

The Speaker Liberal Geoff Regan

In my opinion the yeas have it.

And five or more members having risen:

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

Vote #679

Extension of Sitting HoursGovernment Orders

8:55 p.m.

Liberal

The Speaker Liberal Geoff Regan

I declare the motion carried.

[For continuation of proceedings, see part B]

[Continuation of proceedings from part A]

Bill C-75—Time Allocation MotionCriminal CodeGovernment Orders

8:55 p.m.

Waterloo Ontario

Liberal

Bardish Chagger LiberalLeader of the Government in the House of Commons and Minister of Small Business and Tourism

moved:

That, in relation 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, not more than 5 further hours shall be allotted for the consideration at second reading stage of the Bill; and

That, at the expiry of the five hours provided for the consideration at the second reading stage, 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 said stage of the Bill shall be put forthwith and successively, without further debate or amendment.

Bill C-75—Time Allocation MotionCriminal CodeGovernment Orders

9 p.m.

Liberal

The Speaker Liberal Geoff Regan

Pursuant to Standing Order 67.1, there will now be a 30-minute question period. I invite hon. members who wish to ask questions to rise in their places so the Chair has some idea of the number of members who wish to participate in this question period.

The hon. member for Niagara Falls.

Bill C-75—Time Allocation MotionCriminal CodeGovernment Orders

9 p.m.

Conservative

Rob Nicholson Conservative Niagara Falls, ON

Mr. Speaker, I would like to put a question to the justice minister. The obvious one is why are they doing this? There were no delays when this bill was called up a couple of days ago. We in the official opposition put up three speakers because there is a considerable amount of interest in this legislation. There was no attempt to disrupt or hold this up. I am very interested to hear what the minister has to say.

This bill was introduced the day before Good Friday, just as Parliament was rising. It has over 300 pages of changes to the Criminal Code. I agree with the Minister of Justice that there are some good things in it, but that being said, there are huge changes being made to the Criminal Code, particularly with respect to the question of sentencing. The minister says she is not reducing sentencing, but if they give the option to the courts to turn these into summary conviction offences, they will in effect be doing exactly that.

I would like to know this as well. Is the minister already starting to hear from groups who are worried about impaired driving and the possibility of it being a summary conviction offence? They make that possible for somebody convicted of impaired driving causing bodily harm. Then there are the changes relating to the kidnapping of children under the age of 14 and participation in criminal organizations. This is huge. Therefore, I am hoping that the minister will answer what the rationale is behind that. I will suggest to the minister that she separate some of those elements from the bill, and then get on with some of the other things that all of us could agree on?

Bill C-75—Time Allocation MotionCriminal CodeGovernment Orders

9 p.m.

Vancouver Granville B.C.

Liberal

Jody Wilson-Raybould LiberalMinister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada

Mr. Speaker, my hon. colleague raised a number of issues.

It is clear that there is a challenge with delays in the criminal justice system. The Supreme Court of Canada has challenged all of the actors in the criminal justice system to make substantive changes, to effect a culture shift. That is what we are doing with Bill C-75. Members on this side of the House have spoken. Members of the NDP have spoken. It is clear that members of the official opposition are trying to delay if not prevent second reading debate on this most important piece of legislation. It is my suggestion that we get this piece of legislation to committee, and that is what we are doing, so we can ensure that we have continued debate on this important piece of legislation to answer the Supreme Court of Canada's call.

With respect to my hon. colleague's discussions, I would be very cautious of the hon. member across the way raising impaired driving when the Conservatives have proposed removing mandatory alcohol screening from this most important piece of legislation and that would actually gut Bill C-46. We are trying to ensure there is safety on the roads. I am more than happy to talk about why we are reclassifying offences.

Bill C-75—Time Allocation MotionCriminal CodeGovernment Orders

9 p.m.

NDP

Randall Garrison NDP Esquimalt—Saanich—Sooke, BC

Mr. Speaker, in just a moment I will be seeking unanimous consent for a motion dealing with Bill C-32. Bill C-32 would repeal an archaic section of section 159 of the Criminal Code. Adopting Bill C-32 would remove a longstanding point of discrimination against gay men by eliminating the unequal age of consent for anal sex.

Bill C-32 was tabled on November 25, 2016, and it has been sitting on the Order Paper since then. With the imminent passage of Bill C-66 in the other place, I am asking that Bill C-32 be adopted at all stages by the House today so that criminal records based on section 159 of the Criminal Code would immediately and clearly qualify for expungement as provided in Bill C-66.

That is why I am seeking unanimous consent for the following motion, that notwithstanding any Standing Order or usual practice of the House, Bill C-32, an act related to the repeal of Section 159 of the Criminal Code, shall be deemed to have been read a second time and referred to committee of the whole, deemed considered in committee of the whole, deemed reported without amendment, deemed concurred in at report stage, and deemed read a third time and passed.

Bill C-75—Time Allocation MotionCriminal CodeGovernment Orders

9:05 p.m.

Conservative

The Deputy Speaker Conservative Bruce Stanton

Does the hon. member for Esquimalt—Saanich—Sooke have the unanimous consent of the House to propose this motion?

Bill C-75—Time Allocation MotionCriminal CodeGovernment Orders

9:05 p.m.

Some hon. members

Agreed.

No.

Bill C-75—Time Allocation MotionCriminal CodeGovernment Orders

9:05 p.m.

Conservative

The Deputy Speaker Conservative Bruce Stanton

We are going to take two minutes more for questions on this. The hon. member for Windsor West.

Bill C-75—Time Allocation MotionCriminal CodeGovernment Orders

9:05 p.m.

NDP

Brian Masse NDP Windsor West, ON

Mr. Speaker, today we are debating a number of different issues in the House. Clearly, the government is moving ahead with this legislation.

The Prime Minister and his cabinet, which includes the justice minister, voted against the bill dealing with single sports betting, which is an important issue for communities across Canada. About $8 billion goes to organized crime and offshore betting. In a six to two decision, the United States Supreme Court agreed to allow this in the United States. Why is the minister not showing the same support for getting rid of organized crime around single event sports betting?

Why is the minister not dealing with offshore tax havens and nefarious operations related to the use of this money, and giving revenue back to deal with gaming addiction? Why is the minister allowing communities to compete with the United States, which now has an advantage for single event sports betting that we do not have?

Bill C-75—Time Allocation MotionCriminal CodeGovernment Orders

9:05 p.m.

Liberal

Jody Wilson-Raybould Liberal Vancouver Granville, BC

Mr. Speaker, when private members' bills are put forward, we consider them closely. I recognize the challenges posed by gambling and the need to address this issue. We considered that private member's bill closely.

We are now talking about Bill C-75, which would address significant delays in the criminal justice system. I am hopeful that we will have the support of all members of the House to move forward with this most important piece of legislation.

Bill C-75—Time Allocation MotionCriminal CodeGovernment Orders

9:05 p.m.

Conservative

Mark Strahl Conservative Chilliwack—Hope, BC

Mr. Speaker, this is the third time today that we have been dealing with a motion before the House to cut off debate. The Liberal Party spent the entire last Parliament crying every single time the government of the day moved forward with time allocation. Now the Liberals have done the same thing three times in the same day, cutting off debate of the opposition after only three speakers were heard on this particular legislation.

The minister is a new member of Parliament. I wonder if she is proud of the fact that her government has implemented closure, cutting off debate three times in a single day.

Bill C-75—Time Allocation MotionCriminal CodeGovernment Orders

9:05 p.m.

Liberal

Jody Wilson-Raybould Liberal Vancouver Granville, BC

Mr. Speaker, new member or not, I am incredibly proud of the work our government has done. I am incredibly proud to introduce Bill C-75, which answers the Supreme Court of Canada's call to address delays in the criminal justice system. We are making every effort.

Members across the way continue to ask me questions about delays and why we have not done anything about delays. I would assume that they will not cut off second reading debate and actually support this legislation and get it to committee so we can have the necessary discussions and debate and proposed amendments.