House of Commons Hansard #147 of the 44th Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament's site.) The word of the day was news.

Topics

Carbon PricingOral Questions

3:05 p.m.

Liberal

The Speaker Liberal Anthony Rota

I am going to interrupt. We were kind of doing well, and now it is getting out of hand. I understand everyone is excited about Christmas coming, but they should try to contain their excitement.

We will let the hon. minister continue from where he left off, please.

Carbon PricingOral Questions

3:05 p.m.

Liberal

Jonathan Wilkinson Liberal North Vancouver, BC

Mr. Speaker, as I was saying, the value of Bitcoin increased significantly and then crashed spectacularly, and for the Conservatives, that was an economic plan.

Canadians deserve thoughtful plans to address their very real concern about climate and about the economy, not reckless rhetoric from Conservative politicians.

Carbon PricingOral Questions

3:05 p.m.

Conservative

Fraser Tolmie Conservative Moose Jaw—Lake Centre—Lanigan, SK

Mr. Speaker, the government loves to tax Canadians. It implements schemes such as its ineffective carbon tax, a plan that has done absolutely nothing to lower emissions while it attacks the economic lifeblood of western Canada, yet it expects the good people of Saskatchewan to pay more in ever-rising taxes.

This Christmas, will the Liberals finally stop forcing their failed carbon tax on Canadians?

Carbon PricingOral Questions

3:10 p.m.

Edmonton Centre Alberta

Liberal

Randy Boissonnault LiberalMinister of Tourism and Associate Minister of Finance

Mr. Speaker, the great question of this Christmas season is, “When will the Conservatives actually stick up for Canadians by making sure that those who are suffering right now and need help in the face of global inflation can actually get it?”

Time and time again, the Conservatives have voted against our measures. Of the two visions in this country right now for how to govern, the voters of Mississauga—Lakeshore spoke last night, and who did they vote for? They voted for a Liberal. We will have the backs of Canadians through this Christmas and into the new year.

Fisheries and OceansOral Questions

3:10 p.m.

Liberal

Churence Rogers Liberal Bonavista—Burin—Trinity, NL

Mr. Speaker, the United States and Canada have a strong relationship built on working together to achieve shared goals. Just last week, the Canadian Coast Guard and the United States Coast Guard signed the renewed joint marine pollution contingency plan.

Can the Minister of Fisheries, Oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard inform the House what this important agreement means for protecting water and coasts?

Fisheries and OceansOral Questions

3:10 p.m.

Vancouver Quadra B.C.

Liberal

Joyce Murray LiberalMinister of Fisheries

Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank the member for Bonavista—Burin—Trinity for his strong advocacy for his constituents.

Canada and the United States do indeed have a strong tradition of co-operating in protecting our waters and minimizing oil spills. This agreement gives our countries better and stronger mechanisms and tools to respond to marine spills by working even more closely together. Alongside the U.S., we will continue to protect the oceans and keep our coasts clean and safe, and this agreement will help do exactly that.

FirearmsOral Questions

3:10 p.m.

NDP

Lisa Marie Barron NDP Nanaimo—Ladysmith, BC

Mr. Speaker, people deserve to know they are safe from gun violence in our communities. Bill C-21 was an opportunity to limit handguns and protect victims of domestic violence, but instead of protecting people, the Liberals made a last-second change that would unfairly impact hunters, farmers and indigenous people and the tools they use for food security and protection.

Concerned constituents in my riding of Nanaimo—Ladysmith want to know when the government will listen and clean up this mess.

FirearmsOral Questions

3:10 p.m.

Eglinton—Lawrence Ontario

Liberal

Marco Mendicino LiberalMinister of Public Safety

Mr. Speaker, I assure my colleague that we are indeed listening to indigenous peoples. Last week, I spent the better part of a morning consulting and engaging with indigenous leaders right across the country to make sure we protect indigenous traditions, including as it relates to food security.

We are creating space for indigenous-led initiatives when it comes to public safety, and we are going to make sure the language of Bill C-21 aligns with our government's priority, which is to take those guns that were designed for the battlefield off our streets and protect indigenous traditions at the same time.

FirearmsOral Questions

3:10 p.m.

NDP

Niki Ashton NDP Churchill—Keewatinook Aski, MB

Mr. Speaker, the Liberals could not be more out of touch with northern and indigenous communities. Indigenous leaders at the AFN unanimously oppose the Liberals' amendment to Bill C-21. This amendment is a threat to indigenous and northern ways of life. It is a slap in the face for communities that depend on hunting and trapping to live, people who are facing some of the highest costs of living right now. Bill C-21 was meant to be important legislation to deal with handgun violence, but the Liberals have chosen to play cheap political games.

Will the Liberals withdraw the amendment, stick to the main bill and stand up for northern and indigenous peoples, who are struggling right now?

FirearmsOral Questions

3:10 p.m.

Saint Boniface—Saint Vital Manitoba

Liberal

Dan Vandal LiberalMinister of Northern Affairs

Mr. Speaker, we will always respect hunters, sport shooters, and indigenous peoples and their traditions.

Our government has been extremely clear. We are not targeting hunting rifles. We are not targeting shotguns. This is about guns that were used at Polytechnique and the mosque attacks in Quebec City and South Simcoe. This is to create safer communities for all Canadians.

Presence in GalleryOral Questions

3:10 p.m.

Liberal

The Speaker Liberal Anthony Rota

I wish to draw the attention of members to the presence in the gallery of the Hon. Siobhan Coady, our former colleague and current Deputy Premier and Minister of Finance for the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador.

Presence in GalleryOral Questions

3:10 p.m.

Some hon. members

Hear, hear!

Presence in GalleryOral Questions

3:10 p.m.

Liberal

The Speaker Liberal Anthony Rota

I also would like to draw the attention of members to the presence in the gallery of the Hon. Elvis Loveless, Minister of Transportation and Infrastructure for the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador.

Presence in GalleryOral Questions

3:10 p.m.

Some hon. members

Hear, hear!

Presence in GalleryOral Questions

3:10 p.m.

Liberal

The Speaker Liberal Anthony Rota

The hon. member for Jonquière on a point of order.

Presence in GalleryOral Questions

3:15 p.m.

Bloc

Mario Simard Bloc Jonquière, QC

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 the House call on the Prime Minister to meet with the premiers of Quebec, the provinces and the territories as soon as possible regarding long-term sustainable funding for health care through the Canada health transfer.

Presence in GalleryOral Questions

3:15 p.m.

Liberal

The Speaker Liberal Anthony Rota

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

Presence in GalleryOral Questions

3:15 p.m.

An hon. member

Nay.

Presence in GalleryOral Questions

3:15 p.m.

Liberal

The Speaker Liberal Anthony Rota

I call the members to order for a moment.

Charles RobertOral Questions

3:15 p.m.

Liberal

The Speaker Liberal Anthony Rota

Colleagues, next month, Charles Robert, Clerk of the House of Commons, will retire after 42 years of service to the Parliament of Canada.

Charles was appointed Clerk of the House of Commons in July 2017. The accomplishments over those five years under his leadership were many and they were significant. Let me underline the historic move from the House of Commons in Centre Block to our interim chamber in this place. Of course, equally historic, was the nimble and efficient move to hybrid proceedings and e-voting in response to COVID-19 pandemic.

Everyone here has benefited from his experience and excellent understanding of parliamentary procedure. He also has a knack for distilling and explaining complex procedural and administrative questions. These qualities have made him a trusted source of advice for parliamentarians.

As a Speaker, I can attest to his briefings. They are always thorough and grounded in his encyclopaedic knowledge of history, Parliament and procedure. As a colleague and friend, I find even casual conversations with Charles leave me better informed and very often laughing, thanks to his dry wit.

Charles started his career on Parliament HIll in the Library of Parliament. Over the years, he served in this House and eventually the Senate where he was appointed Clerk in 2015.

Among his many achievements in the other place are the development of the manual, Senate Procedure in Practice, and a complete revision of the rules of the Senate. In addition, Charles has written numerous articles and reviews exploring procedural aspects of our parliamentary history.

Charles, you leave a legacy of scholarship, wisdom and collegiality. Your presence and sage advice have been invaluable to all parliamentarians.

On behalf of myself and all those who have had the honour of serving the House in the chair, MPs and employees of the House of Commons administration, I would like to thank you for your rich, long-standing contribution to our institution. You have always served with dignity, humility, a strong sense of duty and a great sense of humour.

I wish you health and happiness as you begin this new chapter of your life.

The House resumed consideration of the motion that Bill C-18, An Act respecting online communications platforms that make news content available to persons in Canada, be read the third time and passed.

Online News ActGovernment Orders

3:20 p.m.

NDP

Peter Julian NDP New Westminster—Burnaby, BC

Mr. Speaker, I just want to conclude my remarks by thanking members of the committee. The 16 amendments from the NDP that were adopted have improved Bill C-18 immeasurably, and we have a much better bill coming into the House.

I look forward to questions and comments from my colleagues.

Online News ActGovernment Orders

3:20 p.m.

Winnipeg North Manitoba

Liberal

Kevin Lamoureux LiberalParliamentary Secretary to the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons

Madam Speaker, I appreciated the comments prior to question period that were made by the New Democratic House leader. With respect to the Facebook, YouTube and Google search engines, they have been a major benefactor of journalism here in Canada, yet the creators, the journalists and so forth of a lot of the things that appear in social media do not get the credit and, in particular, the compensation. What this bill would do, in good part, is ensure through the CRTC that there would be an appropriate compensation of sorts. I am a bit surprised that the Conservative Party would not support that and I do not quite understand why.

I wonder if the member has some thoughts in regard to the importance of passing this particular piece of legislation and if he wants to provide commentary as to why the Conservatives would not support this.

Online News ActGovernment Orders

3:25 p.m.

NDP

Peter Julian NDP New Westminster—Burnaby, BC

Madam Speaker, the member for Winnipeg North is asking me to imagine what it is like to be in the mind of a Conservative and I have great difficulty in doing that.

I found a bit of a muddle from the Conservative side, and we have seen this before in other legislation. On the one hand, Alberta community newspapers and Saskatchewan community newspapers stepped up. These are newspapers that basically represent nearly half of the Conservative caucus. Their representatives came to committee and said that Bill C-18 has to be adopted, but to improve the aspects from journalism so that more journalists and more Canadian newspapers can benefit from this.

Conservatives should have taken their marching orders from their constituents, including the local community newspapers across Alberta and Saskatchewan who said that Bill C-18 was needed but improvement needed to be brought. The NDP brought forward that improvement. The NDP brought forward an amendment that would allow for a two-person operation, even if they are owners and operators of that business, to access the money that would come from big tech and those negotiations. What did the Conservatives do? They voted against the NDP amendment.

Online News ActGovernment Orders

3:25 p.m.

Conservative

Marilyn Gladu Conservative Sarnia—Lambton, ON

Madam Speaker, later today, I certainly will have the opportunity to, in great detail, let the members of this House and all Canadians understand why the Conservatives voted against the measures in this bill.

One of the more controversial discussions was about the fact that we wanted this to benefit local news media outlets, many of whom have one person who is the owner-operator and the journalist. Although we brought amendments to include them at committee, the NDP and the Liberal members voted against that. Why did they want to exclude ethnic media and those smaller media outlets in rural communities that only have one journalist?