House of Commons Hansard #124 of the 43rd Parliament, 2nd Session. (The original version is on Parliament's site.) The word of the day was pandemic.

Topics

The National Strategy on Brain Injuries ActRoutine Proceedings

5:10 p.m.

NDP

Alistair MacGregor NDP Cowichan—Malahat—Langford, BC

moved for leave to introduce Bill C-323, An Act to establish a national strategy on brain injuries.

Mr. Speaker, today I am formally introducing my private member's bill to establish a national strategy on brain injuries. Brain injuries can happen to anyone, anywhere, and they can permanently alter people's lives in a split second.

June is Brain Injury Awareness Month in Canada, a time when national, provincial and local associations run campaigns to increase awareness about brain injury, the obstacles that exist and the need for more services and support during recovery.

The bill I am introducing today would require the Minister of Health, in consultation with provincial governments, indigenous groups and other relevant stakeholders, to develop a national strategy to support brain injury prevention and treatment. The strategy would include measures to promote preventative measures, identify training, promote research and data collection, and create national guidelines on the prevention, diagnosis and management of brain injuries.

There are more Canadians living with an acquired brain injury than those living with multiple sclerosis, HIV/AIDS, spinal cord injuries and breast cancer combined. It is my hope that a national strategy will coordinate efforts of our dedicated health care workers and help Canadians who are living with brain injuries.

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

International Mother Language Day ActRoutine Proceedings

5:10 p.m.

Liberal

Ken Hardie Liberal Fleetwood—Port Kells, BC

moved for leave to introduce Bill S-211, An Act to establish International Mother Language Day.

Mr. Speaker, I have the honour to introduce Bill S-211, an act to establish international mother language day throughout Canada on February 21 each year.

Our country is blessed with great diversity. Protecting, preserving and celebrating the cultural importance of mother languages enriches that diversity, especially the more than 60 aboriginal languages spoken in Canada.

I would like to recognize Mr. Aminul Islam of Surrey, a tireless advocate to establish this day in Canada; Senator Mobina Jaffer of British Columbia, who sponsored the bill in the other place; and my colleague, the hon. member for Surrey Centre, who graciously seconded this bill.

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

Effective and Accountable Charities ActRoutine Proceedings

5:10 p.m.

Conservative

Philip Lawrence Conservative Northumberland—Peterborough South, ON

moved that Bill S-222, An Act to amend the Income Tax Act (use of resources), be read the first time.

Mr. Speaker, it gives me pleasure to rise today on behalf of Bill S-222, an act to amend the Income Tax Act.

What this bill would do is fix a problem due to the archaic legislation in the Income Tax Act that restricts the ability of Canadian charities to do good work around the world. By reducing bureaucracy and redundancy, this bill will seek to provide greater accountability while also giving charities in Canada the ability to do greater work, unfettered by excessive regulation and bureaucracy.

Once again, it gives me great pleasure to introduce this bill, and I hope all members will support it.

(Motion agreed to and bill read the first time)

Effective and Accountable Charities ActRoutine Proceedings

5:15 p.m.

NDP

Peter Julian NDP New Westminster—Burnaby, BC

Mr. Speaker, there have been discussions among the parties, and if you seek it, I believe you will find unanimous consent for the following motion: That, in the opinion of the House, the government should designate the month of September, every year, as national recovery awareness month to recognize and support Canadians recovering from addiction and to demonstrate that recovery from addiction is possible, attainable and sustainable.

Effective and Accountable Charities ActRoutine Proceedings

5:15 p.m.

Liberal

The Speaker Liberal Anthony Rota

All those opposed to the hon. member moving the motion will please say nay.

Effective and Accountable Charities ActRoutine Proceedings

5:15 p.m.

Some hon. members

Nay.

Canada-China RelationsCommittees of the HouseRoutine Proceedings

5:15 p.m.

Conservative

Garnett Genuis Conservative Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan, AB

Mr. Speaker, I move that the third report of the Special Committee on Canada-China Relations, presented to the House on Wednesday, May 26, be concurred in.

Canada-China RelationsCommittees of the HouseRoutine Proceedings

5:15 p.m.

Conservative

Dan Albas Conservative Central Okanagan—Similkameen—Nicola, BC

Mr. Speaker, first let me say that it is always a pleasure to rise in this august chamber on behalf of the good people of Central Okanagan—Similkameen—Nicola. I wish it was under different circumstances.

To all of the parties that supported the creation of the Canada-China special committee, I thank them. It has opened a door into a world that we often have failed to see. There are a number of things the Communist Chinese government has for its own goals. I am reminded of a phrase that I heard recently: We do not understand a system until it has been exploited. Many systems within this great country have been undermined in many cases by the Communist Chinese government, whether through cyber-espionage or in other fashions. There has also been the unlawful detainment of our citizens in a process that could only be explained as lawful by a dictatorship.

I am particularly concerned that as we point a finger at these authoritarian countries, we should always be aware of how we run our own ship of state here at home. I am going to speak briefly about the importance of responsible government.

When we talk about the rule of law, it is important that as a rule-of-law country we support it, but responsible government actually predates Canada as a Confederation. In responsible government the executive, fused in the legislative body of the people, must ultimately carry the support of the members of the chamber. When this chamber passed a motion in response to the Public Health Agency of Canada denying information that was requested and passed by the Canada-China relations committee, it violated an order of that committee given a particular purview of the House.

The members of that committee, even Liberal members, asked for some accountability from the Public Health Agency and from the minister responsible, and they received none. They brought those concerns to this chamber and, after multiple efforts to bring that agency into alignment, a motion was passed in this chamber requiring a public servant to come to the bar, as we well know, to be admonished.

In my mind, there is still the troubling matter of the other half of the order, which was to have those documents submitted to the House. As I rose earlier today, I indicated my displeasure with the government going to the Federal Court. If we are to have responsible government in this country, the government, which is fused at the hip to Parliament and to this House, must recognize that when a lawful order is given, requiring it cannot be circumvented. It cannot be misaligned, and it cannot be diverted away by appealing to another court of law. Parliament, in its own matters, remains supreme.

I am sure there will be many arguments made by the government saying all sorts of things, whether in the public space, in Federal Court or in the House, but let me remind the government that responsible government requires it to be subject to something greater than its own authority. It is not the authority outside this chamber that it should ultimately recognize, but the authority granted by the Canadian people to the House. I hope the Speaker will protect those things. I know he said he would and he will do it with due diligence, but I have to again publicly admonish the government for its approach to treating this chamber, the voice of the people, with such contempt.

I know there are many things on the minds of many of us as we start to think of the summer and have heard rumours of an election. We need to preserve the underpinnings of our great system, responsible government and the rule of law. We need to always stand up for those things, and we should always bear in mind that we must first emulate those principles.

Last, I would also encourage the Prime Minister to listen to the Leader of the Opposition when he asks questions about ethical government. Those are things that the government would be well served to consider more often.

In conclusion and while I am on my feet, I move:

That the House do now adjourn.

Canada-China RelationsCommittees of the HouseRoutine Proceedings

5:20 p.m.

Liberal

The Speaker Liberal Anthony Rota

If a member of a recognized party present in the House wishes to request a recorded division or that the motion be adopted on division, I would invite them to rise and indicate it to the Chair.

The hon. member for Louis-Saint-Laurent.

Canada-China RelationsCommittees of the HouseRoutine Proceedings

5:20 p.m.

Conservative

Gérard Deltell Conservative Louis-Saint-Laurent, QC

Mr. Speaker, I believe if you seek it, you will find unanimous consent for the motion to be adopted on division.

Canada-China RelationsCommittees of the HouseRoutine Proceedings

5:20 p.m.

Liberal

The Speaker Liberal Anthony Rota

Is that agreed?

Canada-China RelationsCommittees of the HouseRoutine Proceedings

5:20 p.m.

Some hon. members

Agreed.

Canada-China RelationsCommittees of the HouseRoutine Proceedings

5:20 p.m.

Liberal

The Speaker Liberal Anthony Rota

I therefore declare the motion carried on division.

The motion that the House do now adjourn is deemed to have been adopted. Accordingly, the House stands adjourned until Monday, September 20, at 11 a.m. pursuant to Standing Orders 28(2) and 24(1).

I want to wish everyone a wonderful summer. Spend it with your family and friends, and enjoy the time.

(The House adjourned at 5:24 p.m.)