Debates of May 7th, 2019

Auditor General of Canada

[The Speaker, Liberal, Geoff Regan]

I have the honour to lay upon the table the 2019 spring reports of the Auditor General of Canada. Pursuant to Standing Order 108(3)(g), these documents are deemed to have been permanently referred to the Standing Committee on Public Accounts.

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 two petitions.

Royal Canadian Mounted Police Act

[Ralph Goodale, Liberal, Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness]

moved for leave to introduce Bill C-98, An Act to amend the Royal Canadian Mounted Police Act and the Canada Border Services Agency Act and to make consequential amendments to other Acts.

(Motions deemed adopted, bill read the first time and printed)

Interparliamentary Delegations

[Yasmin Ratansi, Liberal, Don Valley East, ON]

Mr. Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 34(1), I have the honour to present, in both official languages, the report of the Canadian delegation of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association respecting its participation at the International Executive Committee meeting held in Port Louis, Mauritius, from March 20 to 24, 2018.

Fisheries and Oceans

[Ken Hardie, Liberal, Fleetwood—Port Kells, BC]

Mr. Speaker, I have the honour to present, in both official languages, the 21st report of the Standing Committee on Fisheries and Oceans, entitled “West Coast Fisheries: Sharing Risks and Benefits”.

School Food Program for Children Act

[Don Davies, NDP, Vancouver Kingsway, BC]

moved for leave to introduce Bill C-446, An Act to develop a national school food program for children.

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to rise today to introduce my bill, the school food program for children act. I would like to thank the hon. member for Berthier—Maskinongé for seconding this bill.

This proposed legislation would require the Minister of Health, in consultation with the provincial and territorial governments and other relevant stakeholders, to develop a national school food program to ensure that all children in Canada have access to healthy food. The program would operate at little or no direct cost to children or their families, build on existing school food programs across Canada, use best practices from other jurisdictions and promote evidence-based healthy food education.

In a country as prosperous as Canada, no child should have to struggle through the school day on an empty stomach. However, today, more than one and a half million children live in families who have difficulty putting food on the table. Canada remains among the few industrialized countries without a universal school food program. A national school food program will not only give every student in Canada access to nutritious food; it will make healthy eating a daily lesson for our kids.

I hope all parliamentarians will support this important health and social justice initiative.

(Motions deemed adopted, bill read the first time and printed)

Business of Supply

[Mark Strahl, Conservative, Chilliwack—Hope, BC]

moved:

That, at the conclusion of today's debate on the opposition motion in the name of the Member for Carleton, all questions necessary to dispose of the motion be deemed put and a recorded division deemed requested and deferred to Wednesday, May 8, 2019, at the expiry of the time provided for Oral Questions.

[The Speaker, Liberal, Geoff Regan]

Does the hon. member have the unanimous consent of the House to move the motion?

[Some hon. members]

Agreed.

[The Speaker, Liberal, Geoff Regan]

The House has heard the terms of the motion. Is it the pleasure of the House to adopt the motion?

[Some hon. members]

Agreed.

[The Speaker, Liberal, Geoff Regan]

(Motion agreed to)

Falun Gong

[James Bezan, Conservative, Selkirk—Interlake—Eastman, MB]

Mr. Speaker, I am proud to present a petition today especially knowing that we are approaching Falun Gong international day. It will be the 20th anniversary this week. The petition is signed by over 100 Canadians.

The petitioners are asking the government to use the Magnitsky act, which we passed in this Parliament, to sanction individuals responsible for extrajudicial killings and organ harvesting from Falun Gong participants in China.

The motto of Falun Gong practitioners is truthfulness, compassion and tolerance. Unfortunately, they are not experiencing that in China, so we need to take action against those who are responsible for their persecution.

Pensions

[Richard Cannings, NDP, South Okanagan—West Kootenay, BC]

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to present two petitions on the same subject.

The petitioners point out that before the 2015 federal election, Canadians were clearly promised in writing that defined benefit pension plans, which have already been paid for by employees and pensioners, should not be retroactively changed into target benefit plans.

They also point out that Bill C-27, tabled by the Minister of Finance, permits precisely this change, thereby jeopardizing the retirement income security of Canadians who have negotiated defined benefit plans as a form of deferred wages.

The petitioners are calling on the Government of Canada to withdraw Bill C-27, an act to amend the Pension Benefits Standards Act.

Human Organ Trafficking

[Cathay Wagantall, Conservative, Yorkton—Melville, SK]

Mr. Speaker, I have two petitions to present this morning.

The first petition is from citizens who are concerned about the international trafficking of human organs that are removed from victims without consent. There is no legal prohibition on Canadians travelling abroad to acquire or receive such organs.

We are aware that Bill S-240 is now back in the other place, and we certainly look forward to the petitioners' concerns being met.

Canada Summer Jobs Initiative

[Cathay Wagantall, Conservative, Yorkton—Melville, SK]

Mr. Speaker, the other petition is from Canadians who continue to call on the Prime Minister to defend the freedom of conscious thought and belief and withdraw the attestation requirement for applications to the Canada summer jobs program, including this year 2019. The program still exists, and the petitioners consider the attestation to be discriminatory.

Employment Insurance

[Guy Caron, NDP, Rimouski-Neigette—Témiscouata—Les Basques, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to table a petition signed mainly by people from Quebec City, Saguenay—Lac-Saint-Jean and eastern Quebec who are calling for universal access to employment insurance. As members know, only 35.2% of unemployed women are eligible for regular EI benefits, compared to 52% of unemployed men.

The petitioners are calling on the government to ensure universal access to employment insurance by lowering the eligibility threshold to 350 hours or 13 weeks, establishing a minimum threshold of 35 weeks of benefits, and increasing the benefit rate to 70% of salary based on the best 12 weeks of salary. The petition also proposes other measures. I am pleased to table it in the House.

Human Organ Trafficking

[Jamie Schmale, Conservative, Haliburton—Kawartha Lakes—Brock, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to rise and present this petition from 60 or so concerned residents of the Greater Toronto Area.

The petitioners urge the Parliament of Canada and now the other place to move quickly on the proposed legislation to amend the Criminal Code and the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act to prohibit Canadians from travelling abroad to acquire human organs removed without consent or as a result of a financial transaction, and to render inadmissible to Canada any and all permanent residents or foreign nationals who have participated in the illegal trade of human organs.

[Tom Lukiwski, Conservative, Moose Jaw—Lake Centre—Lanigan, SK]

Mr. Speaker, it is my pleasure to stand today and present a petition in support of Bill S-240, which is back in the other place today.

The petitioners come from a wide range of regions within Canada, and all of them support the petition for one single, solitary reason, which is to combat the scourge of forced organ harvesting.

The petitioners call upon the Senate to act upon this legislation as quickly as possible, because it has been before this place on several previous occasions.

[Earl Dreeshen, Conservative, Red Deer—Mountain View, AB]

Mr. Speaker, I have a petition to present today that has been signed by nearly 70 people who want to make sure we are all aware of the scourge of international trafficking in human organs, which are removed from victims without their consent. Bill S-240, which is in the Senate, would place a legal prohibition on Canadians travelling abroad in order to acquire or receive such organs. It is incumbent upon all of us to make sure we recognize that.

With that in mind, I am proud to present this petition today.

[Randy Hoback, Conservative, Prince Albert, SK]

Mr. Speaker, this petition is in regard to Bill S-240. The signatories to this petition want to see the bill progress through the Senate relatively quickly.

I cannot think of a more disgusting trade than the trade of human organs. That people would travel abroad to take an organ from somebody who has been forced to give it up or who has given it up through a financial transaction is just unthinkable. We would like to see this trade stopped. We are looking for this petition and this legislation to move forward so that it will do just that.

The petitioners call upon the Senate to move quickly on this bill; they hope it comes back to this House relatively quickly and that we can deal with it relatively soon.

[Kevin Lamoureux, Liberal, Winnipeg North, MB]

Mr. Speaker, like many others, I too bring forward a petition in regard to organ harvesting.

I applaud all those individuals who took the time to sign these petitions in support of such an important cause. It is encouraging that the House of Commons has responded, at least in good part, to the petition.

Questions on the Order Paper

[Kevin Lamoureux, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons]

Mr. Speaker, I ask that all questions be allowed to stand.

[The Speaker, Liberal, Geoff Regan]

Is that agreed?

[Some hon. members]

Agreed.