House of Commons Hansard #428 of the 42nd Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament's site.) The word of the day was environmental.
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 responses to two petitions.
Ken McDonald Liberal Avalon, NL
Mr. Speaker, I have the honour to present, in both official languages, the 24th report of the Standing Committee on Fisheries and Oceans, entitled “Bill S-238, An Act to amend the Fisheries Act and the Wild Animal and Plant Protection and Regulation of International and Interprovincial Trade Act (importation and exportation of shark fins)”.
The committee has studied the bill and has decided to report the bill back to the House without amendments.
I would like to thank all members of the committee and the staff for getting this done so quickly. I would like to recognize Senator MacDonald, who sponsored the bill in the other place, and of course the member for Port Moody—Coquitlam for his tenacity in getting this done in this House.
Neil Ellis Liberal Bay of Quinte, ON
Mr. Speaker, I have the honour to present, in both official languages, the 13th report of the Standing Committee on Veterans Affairs, entitled “Medical Cannabis and Veterans' Well-Being”.
Pursuant to Standing Order 109, the committee requests that the government table a comprehensive response to this report.
John McKay Liberal Scarborough—Guildwood, ON
Mr. Speaker, I have the honour to present, in both official languages, two reports from the Standing Committee on Public Safety and National Security. They are the 35th report, regarding Bill C-93, an act to provide no-cost, expedited record suspensions for simple possession of cannabis, and the 36th report, regarding the Main Estimates, 2019-20.
Mark Eyking Liberal Sydney—Victoria, NS
Mr. Speaker, I rise to represent the trade committee, but I would also like to say that five years ago I had the honour to represent the House with Mr. Harper and Peter Stoffer at the beaches in Normandy. I thank the House and Canadians for sending me there. It was an honour to be there, and I wish everyone there well today.
This is probably the last time I will rise in the House to represent our international trade committee by presenting the 17th report of the committee , entitled “Canada's Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises: Federal Support for their International Trade Activities”.
I thank the clerk and the analysts and the great committee we have. It is a non-partisan committee. We work well together for Canadians, trade, businesses and our citizens. I thank them very much for the hard work they did. We did many trade deals and many reports together.
Blake Richards Conservative Banff—Airdrie, AB
Mr. Speaker, I present a petition that indicates Canadians depend upon the economic benefits and the jobs created by Canada's oil and gas industry. Unfortunately, without the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion, there are thousands of unemployed Canadians who are worried about their next paycheque and where it will come from, instead of being able to plan for their families' future. With the carbon tax, even life's essentials have become a very costly burden.
Therefore, I table this petition calling on the government to immediately build the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion and repeal the carbon tax so we can get this country back on track and create opportunities for thousands of Canadians.
Anne Minh-Thu Quach NDP Salaberry—Suroît, QC
Mr. Speaker, I have here a petition initiated by the Elizabeth Fry Society that calls on the Government of Canada to respect the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child and recognize that some children are being excluded.
These children are facing discrimination with regard to child benefits because their parents are homeless, incarcerated or grappling with addictions or other problems, for example. These children may live with different families and move around a lot. The petitioners are calling on the Government of Canada to ensure that these children are also protected.
The petition was signed by many people from New Brunswick.
Jim Eglinski Conservative Yellowhead, AB
Mr. Speaker, I have two petitions to present today. The petitioners draw the attention of the House of Commons to the following: Whereas increasing concerns about international trafficking in human organs removed from victims without their consent have not yet led to legal prohibition on Canadians travelling abroad to acquire or receive such organs, and whereas there are currently two bills before Parliament proposing to impede the trafficking of human organs obtained without consent or as a result of financial transactions, and whereas Bill C-350 is in the House of Commons and Bill S-240 is in the Senate, therefore the petitioners urge the Parliament of Canada to move quickly on the proposed legislation so as to amend the Criminal Code and the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act to protect 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 abhorrent trade in human organs.
Jim Eglinski Conservative Yellowhead, AB
Mr. Speaker, the second petition is from petitioners who draw the attention of the House of Commons to the following: Whereas at one time Sikhs and Hindus in Afghanistan numbered in the hundreds of thousands, but today less than 5,000 remain, and whereas a recent bombing in Afghanistan that killed leaders from both communities demonstrates their ongoing vulnerability, especially since these leaders were on their way to meet the president, and whereas the Minister of Immigration is already empowered by legislation to allow vulnerable minorities to come to Canada as privately sponsored refugees directly from the country where they face persecution, and whereas the Sikh and Hindu communities are ready to sponsor Afghan minority refugees, therefore the undersigned urge the Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenshipto use the powers granted to him to create a special program to help persecuted minorities in Afghanistan.
Further, they urge the Minister of Foreign Affairs to raise the issue of the persecution faced by these communities with her Afghan counterpart and strongly advocate for more to be done to protect them.
Afghan Minority CommunitiesPetitionsRoutine Proceedings
The Speaker Geoff Regan
I remind members that we only have a certain amount of time for petitions each day, and therefore members are encouraged not to read the whole petition but to indicate what the petitioners are asking for in summary.
The hon. member for Courtenay—Alberni.
Gord Johns NDP Courtenay—Alberni, BC
Mr. Speaker, it is an honour and privilege to table two petitions today on the day before World Oceans Day. It could not be more important timing.
The first petition calls on the government to delay the approval of any geoduck aquaculture until alternatively friendly and safe methods and equipment are developed. Plastic debris and microplastics pose a serious threat to the health and survival of the world's oceans, as we know, and aquaculture makes highly intensive use of plastic.
The petition is signed by Denman Islanders and Hornby Islanders. I want to thank them for their hard work on that issue.
Gord Johns NDP Courtenay—Alberni, BC
Mr. Speaker, the second petition is signed by hundreds and hundreds of constituents from my riding of Courtenay—Alberni. They are from Courtenay, Parksville, Qualicum, Port Alberni, Tofino, Ucluelet and the other 31 communities in my riding. The petition calls on the government to follow through with its commitment after the unanimous support of the House for Motion No. 151 to develop a comprehensive plan to combat plastic pollution.
The petitioners are excited about the government's rolling it out this month, and hopefully all of the provisions that are outlined in this petition will be adopted.
Bob Zimmer Conservative Prince George—Peace River—Northern Rockies, BC
Mr. Speaker, I am here today on behalf of my colleague from Langley—Aldergrove, who is home fighting his battle with cancer. We wish him well today. I am sure he is watching.
I am presenting this petition with 13,740 signatures. The person who initiated it is with us today, Mr. Gerry Tiede. It calls on the Government of Canada to promote and protect earned pensions for all Canadians in the future, to withdraw Bill C-27, and to establish a national pension insurance program to ensure that seniors can live with financial security.
Tom Kmiec Conservative Calgary Shepard, AB
Peter Julian NDP New Westminster—Burnaby, BC
Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to table a petition signed by dozens of residents of New Westminster—Burnaby, Vancouver and Victoria, who add their names to the thousands of Canadians across the country asking the Government of Canada to withdraw Bill C-27, an act to amend the Pension Benefits Standards Act, 1985.
As these petitioners say, before the 2015 federal election, Canadians were promised that defined benefit plans would not be changed to target benefit plans, but Bill C-27 would effectively impact this. It is why the petitioners are calling for the withdrawal of the bill.
I would like to thank the BC Retired Teachers' Association, and particularly JoAnne and Dale Lauber, who have been instrumental in bringing this petition forward. They are present in the gallery today.
Paul Manly Green Nanaimo—Ladysmith, BC
Paul Manly Green Nanaimo—Ladysmith, BC
Mr. Speaker, the second petition calls upon the Government of Canada to cease incarceration of those who suffer from drug abuse and to begin rehabilitation of said victims back into society through treatment programs, as is done in Portugal.
Rosemarie Falk Conservative Battlefords—Lloydminster, SK
Mr. Speaker, I rise today to present three sets of petitions.
The first set of petitions is signed by Canadians across the country who are gravely concerned with the shortage of quality palliative and end-of-life care available in Canada. These petitioners assert that it is impossible for a person to give informed consent to a physician-assisted suicide if appropriate palliative care has not been made available to them.
They are calling on the Government of Canada to create a national strategy to ensure that all Canadians have access to quality palliative care when they need it.
Rosemarie Falk Conservative Battlefords—Lloydminster, SK
Mr. Speaker, the next set of petitions is signed by constituents of mine who are concerned with the efforts to restrict the rights of farmers to save and plant seeds from their crops. They are calling on the Government of Canada to affirm, through legislation, their right to freely save, reuse, select, exchange, condition, store and sell their seeds.
Rosemarie Falk Conservative Battlefords—Lloydminster, SK
Mr. Speaker, the last petition I am presenting today is signed by constituents in my riding who are concerned about the accessibility of sexually explicit material to children. These petitioners are calling on the House of Commons to ensure that meaningful age verification is used on pornographic websites to better protect underage children from violent and explicit content.
Alexandre Boulerice NDP Rosemont—La Petite-Patrie, QC
Mr. Speaker, I am glad to be here to table a petition launched by the Elizabeth Fry Society about ending discrimination against children in Canada because their parents are in difficult situations with drugs, incarceration or homelessness. Dozens of good citizens from British Columbia and New Brunswick ask the government to fulfill what is in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child.
Salma Zahid Liberal Scarborough Centre, ON
Mr. Speaker, I would like to present a petition signed by hundreds of my constituents. They are calling upon the House of Commons to support Bill S-214 and ban the sale or manufacture of animal-tested cosmetics and their ingredients in Canada.
Elizabeth May Green Saanich—Gulf Islands, BC
Mr. Speaker, it is a great honour for me to rise to present this very important petition on the awful subject of the trafficking of human organs removed without consent or as a result of a financial transaction.
The petitioners are calling on this government and this Parliament to pass Senate Bill S-240.
Elizabeth May Green Saanich—Gulf Islands, BC
Mr. Speaker, the second petition is one that I am very happy to say is related to supporting my bill, Bill S-203, to ban the keeping of whales and dolphins in captivity.
These petitioners are hoping the House will pass this bill before the end of June. Thanks to the kind auspices of the hon. member for Skeena—Bulkley Valley—and I also want to thank the member for Courtenay—Alberni and the hon. minister of fisheries—the good news is that this bill will come before us on Monday for the second hour of report stage. I am thankful for the opportunity to present this petition, and I hope we have good news soon.
Garnett Genuis Conservative Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan, AB
Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to be tabling nine petitions today.
The first is in support of Bill S-240, which is a bill that some members may have heard of before. It is a bill currently before the Senate. It deals with the issue of forced organ harvesting. Hopefully, we will be able to get this done in this Parliament.