House of Commons Hansard #372 of the 42nd Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament's site.) The word of the day was regard.
A message from Her Excellency the Governor General transmitting supplementary estimates (B) for the financial year ending March 31, 2020, was presented by the President of the Treasury Board and read by the Speaker to the House.
A message from Her Excellency the Governor General transmitting Interim Estimates for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2020, was presented by the President of the Treasury Board and read by the Speaker to the House.
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 124 petitions.
Rodger Cuzner LiberalParliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Employment
Mr. Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 32(2), I have the honour to table, in both official languages, Canada's report with respect to international labour law and labour organization instruments adopted at the 106th session of the International Labour Conference held in Geneva, Switzerland.
Pat Finnigan Liberal Miramichi—Grand Lake, NB
Mr. Speaker, I have the honour to present the 15th report of the Standing Committee on Agriculture and Agri-Food in relation to advancements of technology and research in the agriculture industry that can support Canadian exports.
Luc Berthold Conservative Mégantic—L'Érable, QC
Mr. Speaker, I want to thank my colleagues from Red Deer—Mountain View and Lambton—Kent—Middlesex, who worked on this dissenting opinion with me.
Witnesses who spoke about the carbon tax said that this additional tax was going to disadvantage Canada both abroad and at home. This dissenting opinion aims to clarify the issue and make an additional recommendation to the government to ensure that Canadian exporters can increase trade without being hampered by a new tax, as well as avoid increasing the tax burden on the agriculture and agri-food sector. This tax will not encourage farmers to invest more in technological advances. Several witnesses said that the technological advances being introduced by their companies are environmentally responsible. Farmers look after their land and care about the environment because it is their livelihood. One witness even said that he already had a plan to reduce his company's environmental footprint.
The report as presented does not reflect what witnesses said about the negative impact that a carbon tax will have on the agriculture and agri-food industry. That is why our recommendation is that the government eliminate the carbon tax, which hurts Canada's international competitiveness and hinders agriculture and agri-food innovation.
John Nater Conservative Perth—Wellington, ON
moved for leave to introduce Bill C-424, An Act to amend the Criminal Code (sexual exploitation).
Mr. Speaker, it is an honour to rise today to speak at first reading of my private member's bill, an act to amend the Criminal Code, regarding sexual exploitation. I thank the member for Oxford for seconding this motion.
I am also pleased to be the first member to move a private member's bill in this new West Block House of Commons. This bill addresses the very real concerns of the people of Perth—Wellington, particularly those in Stratford. Our community was angered when we learned last year that an individual who was employed to work with children and people living with disabilities was found to have sexually exploited a person with a disability in our community. This individual pleaded guilty to obtaining sexual services for consideration but was sentenced to a mere monetary fine and probation. This lenient sentence sparked outrage in my community.
The bill would prevent such situations from occurring again by adding a provision to the Criminal Code to make it an aggravating circumstance in sentencing when the victim of the crime is a person with a mental or physical disability. Further, it would ensure that the sentencing guidelines for those who sexually exploit children or people living with disabilities are consistent and appropriate for these terrible crimes.
In short, the bill would provide stricter sentences for those who take advantage of the most vulnerable in our society: young people and persons living with a disability.
(Motions deemed adopted, bill read the first time and printed)
Canada–Madagascar Tax Convention Implementation Act, 2018Routine Proceedings
January 28th, 2019 / 3:25 p.m.
Toronto Centre Ontario
Liberal
Bill Morneau LiberalMinister of Finance
moved that Bill S-6, An Act to implement the Convention between Canada and the Republic of Madagascar for the avoidance of double taxation and the prevention of fiscal evasion with respect to taxes on income, be read the first time.
(Motion agreed to and bill read the first time)
Diane Finley Conservative Haldimand—Norfolk, ON
Mr. Speaker, on this first day in the new chamber, I am very pleased to rise to present two petitions I received from Canadians. The first one calls on the government to listen to Canadians and to abandon its recently implemented job-killing carbon tax.
Diane Finley Conservative Haldimand—Norfolk, ON
Mr. Speaker, the second is from Canadians who, like me, suffer from thyroid disease and need to take specific medication to regulate their thyroid. They call on the government to ensure equitable access to all thyroid drugs approved by Health Canada, and for doctors to be educated on various other treatments that exist to help thyroid patients.
Dave Van Kesteren Conservative Chatham-Kent—Leamington, ON
Mr. Speaker, I am tabling a petition in support of Bill S-240, which deals with organ harvesting and trafficking. It has been passed by the Senate and supported unanimously here at second reading. It is now about to be studied at the foreign affairs committee.
Richard Cannings NDP South Okanagan—West Kootenay, BC
Mr. Speaker, it is an honour to rise in this new and beautiful chamber to present a petition from residents of Canada who point out that feminist women's organizations have been struggling for decades to keep the lights on and doors open due to a lack of federal core operational funding. The petitioners point out that women's organizations are the most underfunded in Canada's non-profit sector, yet are the single most effective means to building better lives for women and that women's organizations need reliable, long-term, stable operational funding and direct investment to help women.
Therefore, these residents call on the Government of Canada to immediately provide secure, multi-year core operational funding to feminist women's organizations and set national standards to ensure equality of access to services and protection for all women.
Tom Kmiec Conservative Calgary Shepard, AB
Mr. Speaker, I have three petitions to table today. The first one is on Bill C-399. I have nearly 100 petitioners from my riding who are writing in and asking the Government of Canada to support my private member's bill, which would help persons with disabilities obtain greater access to the disability tax credit.
Tom Kmiec Conservative Calgary Shepard, AB
Mr. Speaker, the second petition I am tabling today is on Bill S-240. It is in support of it. It asks that the Government of Canada do more to combat forced organ harvesting and impose inadmissibility to Canada on those who have been involved. The petitioners mention that there are four bills that have been proposed in various parliaments over the last 10 years and that we have to start all over again every time there is a new election.
Tom Kmiec Conservative Calgary Shepard, AB
Mr. Speaker, the final petition is from 39 petitioners from my riding who are asking that the mortgage stress test introduced by the government be completely reviewed and changed. They are saying that it has had a huge impact on people in the riding, as well as on individual petitioners. They are asking for the B20 stress test rules to be reviewed and amended.
Gord Johns NDP Courtenay—Alberni, BC
Mr. Speaker, it comes as no surprise that the first petition I am tabling in the House, on behalf of Vancouver Islanders, is calling on the government to immediately create a national strategy to combat plastics in our oceans. My motion was passed in the House unanimously. These petitioners are calling on the government to develop this strategy in time for the budget and in light of the recent announcements in the EU and India to ban single-use plastics. They are calling on the government to implement a strategy, similar to the ones in those countries, immediately.
Kevin Lamoureux LiberalParliamentary Secretary to the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons
Mr. Speaker, it is with pleasure today that I rise to table yet another petition for the residents of Winnipeg North. It calls upon the Prime Minister, the government and in fact all sides of the House to recognize the value of a national pharmacare program. It asks that we work with stakeholders to ensure that Canadians from coast to coast have a national pharmacare program to deal with prescribed medicines.
Kelly Block Conservative Carlton Trail—Eagle Creek, SK
Madam Speaker, I am honoured to rise and table a petition on behalf of hundreds of residents in Saskatoon and across Saskatchewan who are calling on the Government of Canada to improve public safety by instituting stiffer penalties for impaired driving offences. Among other things, these concerned citizens want to see a mandatory minimum sentence for impaired driving as well as a redefinition of “impaired driving causing death” to “vehicular manslaughter”. I trust that the government will deal expeditiously with these citizens' concerns.
Dave MacKenzie Conservative Oxford, ON
Madam Speaker, this petition supports Bill S-240. It is hard to believe that there is currently no law in Canada that prohibits going abroad and taking a person's vital organs without consent. This bill would fill that legal gap and needs to be passed right away.
Cheryl Gallant Conservative Renfrew—Nipissing—Pembroke, ON
Madam Speaker, I am pleased to present a petition signed by Canadians from the ridings of Cloverdale—Langley City, Port Moody—Coquitlam and Pitt Meadows—Maple Ridge. They call on the House of Commons to respect the rights of law-abiding firearms owners and to reject the Prime Minister's plan to waste taxpayers' money by setting a ban on guns that are already banned.
Len Webber Conservative Calgary Confederation, AB
Madam Speaker, I am pleased to table a petition in support of Bill S-240. Bill S-240 would amend the Criminal Code to create new offences in relation to trafficking in human organs and tissues. It would also amend the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act to provide that permanent residents or foreign nationals would be inadmissible to Canada if the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration was of the opinion that they had engaged in any activities relating to trafficking in human organs or tissues. This bill is currently before the foreign affairs committee.
Garnett Genuis Conservative Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan, AB
Madam Speaker, I am pleased to table six petitions in the House today.
The first petition deals with the challenges faced by Pakistani asylum seekers who are currently in Thailand. It is a major priority that has been brought to my attention by the community. It notes that the recent crackdown on asylum seekers in Thailand has shaken and deeply affected the Canadian Christian community of Pakistani origin. Pakistani asylum seekers fled their homes with hopes of resettling in countries where they could freely practice their religion without fear of being victimized under blasphemy laws. The petition urges the Government of Canada to take up this matter with the Government of Thailand, and urges the proper protection of Pakistani asylum seekers who are there. It asks that they be provided with refugee status by the UNHCR and support for resettlement.
Garnett Genuis Conservative Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan, AB
Madam Speaker, the second petition deals with the plight of Afghanistan's Sikh and Hindu minorities. It calls on the Minister of Immigration to use the powers granted to him to create a special program to help persecuted minorities in Afghanistan. This is something that has not happened yet, and the community has been calling for it. The petition further urges the Minister of Foreign Affairs to raise the persecution faced by this community with her Afghan counterpart.
Garnett Genuis Conservative Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan, AB
Madam Speaker, the third petition is about the persecution of Falun Gong practitioners in China and calls on Chinese officials to immediately end the persecution of Falun Gong practitioners. It calls on Parliament and the government to undertake steps to advocate for those facing this persecution.
Garnett Genuis Conservative Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan, AB
Madam Speaker, the fourth petition is about Bill C-71. It raises concerns about that bill and supports the right of lawful firearms owners to not face punitive measures from the government.
Garnett Genuis Conservative Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan, AB
Madam Speaker, the fifth petition calls on the government to support the construction of the Trans Mountain pipeline to ensure its completion.