House of Commons Hansard #42 of the 44th Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament's site.) The word of the day was tax.

Topics

Business of SupplyGovernment Orders

3:25 p.m.

Conservative

The Deputy Speaker Conservative Chris d'Entremont

I declare the motion defeated.

Certificates of NominationRoutine Proceedings

3:25 p.m.

Ajax Ontario

Liberal

Mark Holland LiberalLeader of the Government in the House of Commons

Mr. Speaker, pursuant to subsection 39(3) of the Public Servants Disclosure Protection Act and Standing Order 111.1(1), I have the honour to table, in both official languages, a certificate of nomination and biographical notes for the proposed reappointment of Joe Friday to the position of Public Sector Integrity Commissioner for a term of 18 months.

I request that the nomination and biographical notes be referred to the Standing Committee on Government Operations and Estimates.

Government Response to PetitionsRoutine Proceedings

3:25 p.m.

Winnipeg North Manitoba

Liberal

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

Mr. Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 36(8)(a), I have the honour to table, in both official languages, the government's responses to 24 petitions. These responses will be tabled in an electronic format.

Agriculture and Agri-FoodCommittees of the HouseRoutine Proceedings

3:25 p.m.

Conservative

John Barlow Conservative Foothills, AB

Mr. Speaker, I have the honour to present, in both official languages, the third report of the Standing Committee on Agriculture and Agri-Food, entitled “Supplementary Estimates (C), 2021-22”.

FinanceCommittees of the HouseRoutine Proceedings

3:25 p.m.

Liberal

Peter Fonseca Liberal Mississauga East—Cooksville, ON

Mr. Speaker, I have the honour to present, in both official languages, the third report of the Standing Committee on Finance, entitled “Considering the Path Forward”.

I would like to thank our clerk Alexandre Roger; analysts Brett Capwell, Michaël Lambert-Racine, Sylvain Fleury and Joëlle Malo; and the whole team of interpreters, technology officers and staff of the committee for their dedicated work on this study and report.

FinanceCommittees of the HouseRoutine Proceedings

3:30 p.m.

Conservative

The Deputy Speaker Conservative Chris d'Entremont

I think there is a supplementary opinion from the hon. member for Abbotsford.

FinanceCommittees of the HouseRoutine Proceedings

3:30 p.m.

Conservative

Ed Fast Conservative Abbotsford, BC

Mr. Speaker, generally I work hard and the Conservative members of this committee work hard to secure consensus reports, but in this case that was impossible for a number of reasons. First, this report involves recommendations for tens of billions of dollars of spending for which no prioritization process was applied, none whatsoever. What is worse is that this was not placed within the context of balanced budgets. There was no spending restraint strategy attached to it.

On top of that, this whole report is going to set Canada way back. These recommendations were adopted uncritically by the Liberal, the NDP and the Bloc members of this committee. For that reason, we had to issue a dissenting report, which highlights the importance of being fiscally prudent within a balanced budget.

Procedure and House AffairsCommittees of the HouseRoutine Proceedings

3:30 p.m.

Liberal

Bardish Chagger Liberal Waterloo, ON

Mr. Speaker, pursuant to Standing Orders 104 and 114, I have the honour to present, in both official languages, the fifth report of the Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs regarding the membership of committees of the House. If the House gives its consent, I intend to move concurrence in the fifth report later this day.

Government Operations and EstimatesCommittees of the HouseRoutine Proceedings

3:30 p.m.

Conservative

Robert Gordon Kitchen Conservative Souris—Moose Mountain, SK

Mr. Speaker, I have the honour to present, in both official languages, the first report of the Standing Committee on Government Operations and Estimates, entitled “Supplementary Estimates (C), 2021-22”.

Procedure and House AffairsCommittees of the HouseRoutine Proceedings

3:30 p.m.

Liberal

Bardish Chagger Liberal Waterloo, ON

Mr. Speaker, if the House gives its consent, I move that the fifth report of the Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs, presented to the House earlier this day, be concurred in.

Procedure and House AffairsCommittees of the HouseRoutine Proceedings

3:30 p.m.

Conservative

The Deputy Speaker Conservative Chris d'Entremont

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

Agreed. The House has heard the terms of the motion. All those opposed to the motion will please say nay.

(Motion agreed to)

Address by the President of UkraineRoutine Proceedings

March 21st, 2022 / 3:30 p.m.

Winnipeg North Manitoba

Liberal

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

Mr. Speaker, there have been discussions among the parties and if you seek it, I believe you would find unanimous consent to adopt the following motion. I move:

That the address by the President of Ukraine, delivered in the Chamber of the House of Commons on Tuesday, March 15, 2022, before members of the Senate and the House of Commons, together with all introductory and related remarks, be printed as an appendix to the House of Commons Debates of Monday, March 21, 2022, and form part of the records of the House.

Address by the President of UkraineRoutine Proceedings

3:30 p.m.

Conservative

The Deputy Speaker Conservative Chris d'Entremont

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

The House has heard the terms of the motion. All those opposed to the motion will please say nay.

(Motion agreed to)

Rail WorkersPetitionsRoutine Proceedings

3:30 p.m.

Conservative

Gary Vidal Conservative Desnethé—Missinippi—Churchill River, SK

Mr. Speaker, it is an honour today to rise and present a petition on behalf of over 850 residents of Saskatchewan.

Last week, Saskatchewan's Premier Moe started a petition asking the federal government to classify rail workers as an essential service in light of what was a looming CP Rail strike at the time. This disruption will have a catastrophic effect on the supply chain in Saskatchewan, affecting many sectors such as agriculture, mining and forestry. The petition asks the federal government to start working on back-to-work legislation and begin working on legislation to make rail service an essential service, which would preclude any future disruptions.

The rail sector is a vital service not only for Saskatchewan's economy, but for Canada's economy.

The EnvironmentPetitionsRoutine Proceedings

3:30 p.m.

NDP

Rachel Blaney NDP North Island—Powell River, BC

Mr. Speaker, today I am tabling a petition from residents across my riding who are asking for Canada to address the urgent climate emergency that we are all facing.

I want to thank the Council of Canadians from my riding, which brought me this petition. It focuses specifically on human and workers' rights, respect for indigenous rights, decarbonizing housing and increasing public transit. It is a plan that includes rural and remote communities that are so essential, especially to my region.

InsecticidesPetitionsRoutine Proceedings

3:35 p.m.

Green

Elizabeth May Green Saanich—Gulf Islands, BC

Mr. Speaker, it is an honour to rise to present this petition.

The petitioners note that it has been nine years since the European Union took action against the dangerous class of pesticides known as neonicotinoids, particularly because of their devastating impact on pollinators such as bees. For food security, which is now increasingly imperilled, for the health of our agricultural areas, and indeed for biodiversity in general, the petitioners call for the Government of Canada to act to restrict the use of neonicotinoid insecticides to protect our pollinators.

FirearmsPetitionsRoutine Proceedings

3:35 p.m.

Conservative

Brad Vis Conservative Mission—Matsqui—Fraser Canyon, BC

Mr. Speaker, I am presenting a petition from my constituents in Mission—Matsqui—Fraser Canyon calling on the government to stop targeting licensed, law-abiding firearms owners and to cancel its plan to confiscate their legally obtained private property through its arbitrary firearms ban.

The petitioners are calling for the limited resources that do exist to focus on anti-gang enforcement, reducing involvement of at-risk youth in gang violence, and providing the CBSA with the necessary tools to keep our borders safe.

Charitable OrganizationsPetitionsRoutine Proceedings

3:35 p.m.

Conservative

Arnold Viersen Conservative Peace River—Westlock, AB

Mr. Speaker, I have a number of petitions to present today.

The first petition is from Canadians from across the country. They are concerned about the revocation of charitable status from pro-life organizations. They are calling on the House of Commons to do all that it can to prevent, block, organize against and vote against any effort by the government to revoke the charitable status of pro-life organizations.

Northern Residents Tax DeductionPetitionsRoutine Proceedings

3:35 p.m.

Conservative

Arnold Viersen Conservative Peace River—Westlock, AB

Mr. Speaker, my next petition is from Canadians from across the country and particularly from Fox Creek and Swan Hills. These are some remote communities located in northern Alberta. They have extended travel times and more expensive heating costs than other communities do. The residents of Fox Creek and Swan Hills have to travel great distances to access groceries and shopping centres. They are not able to avail themselves of the northern living allowance, given that there is an arbitrary geographical line that fails to consider other factors including access to other communities.

Neither Fox Creek nor Swan Hills is part of either the northern or intermediate zones in Alberta; therefore, the people of these two communities are calling on the Government of Canada to put them within the prescribed intermediate zone to allow these residents to claim the residential deductions for living in northern Alberta.

Age Verification SoftwarePetitionsRoutine Proceedings

3:35 p.m.

Conservative

Arnold Viersen Conservative Peace River—Westlock, AB

Mr. Speaker, the next petition I have is signed by Canadians across the country who are concerned about vulnerable Canadians who are not adequately protected on social media platforms from potential exploitation. They are concerned about people being bullied, blackmailed and harassed. The petitioners are calling for meaningful age verification that can determine the age and identity of users. They are commenting that age verification software on social media platforms can significantly reduce the creation or sharing of child sexual abuse materials, instances of fraud and online bullying and child luring. The petitioners are calling on the government for a commitment to defend these vulnerable people and for the government to enact legislation for meaningful age verification.

EqualizationPetitionsRoutine Proceedings

3:35 p.m.

Conservative

Arnold Viersen Conservative Peace River—Westlock, AB

Mr. Speaker, my next petition is from people from across Alberta. These petitioners note that Alberta is the single largest per-capita contributor to the federal equalization program, contributing over $600 billion since the 1960s. They comment that the current equalization formula was set when Alberta had record growth. Since then, we have experienced job losses and high unemployment. Bill C-69 and Bill C-48 and the failure to build pipelines have devastated the Alberta economy.

They are calling on the government to fix the equalization formula, and they are calling on the government to defend and advocate for the building of pipelines so that Keystone XL, in particular, and others can be built.

Ukraine RefugeesPetitionsRoutine Proceedings

3:35 p.m.

Conservative

Michael Kram Conservative Regina—Wascana, SK

Mr. Speaker, it has obviously been a very emotional few weeks for Canadians across the country, and that is especially true for the local Ukrainian communities in Regina and southern Saskatchewan who have signed this petition.

Ever since Vladimir Putin's illegal invasion of Ukraine, there has been an unfolding humanitarian crisis as Ukrainian refugees flee the war zone. This petition calls on the Government of Canada to expedite the processing of refugee applicants from Ukraine and to resettle them in Canada.

Regina and southern Saskatchewan have a very large Ukrainian community and there is certainly a great deal of interest in helping to resettle the refugees and in doing their part.

Human Organ TraffickingPetitionsRoutine Proceedings

3:40 p.m.

Conservative

Garnett Genuis Conservative Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan, AB

Mr. Speaker, I have two petitions today. The first is, of course, in support of my private member's bill that I am sponsoring in this place: Bill S-223, a bill to finally combat forced organ harvesting and trafficking. Petitioners are hopeful that this Parliament will be the one that finally gets it done.

HazarasPetitionsRoutine Proceedings

3:40 p.m.

Conservative

Garnett Genuis Conservative Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan, AB

Mr. Speaker, the second petition highlights the ongoing terrible human rights situation of the Hazara community in Afghanistan. It is a situation that was bad prior to the Taliban takeover and it is certainly getting much worse.

This particular petition asks the House to designate September 25 as Hazara genocide memorial day to recognize a historic event of ethnic cleansing from the 19th century as a genocide against Hazaras, but most importantly to continue advocacy for the rights of Hazaras and other ethnic and religious minorities in Afghanistan.

Questions on the Order PaperRoutine Proceedings

3:40 p.m.

Winnipeg North Manitoba

Liberal

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

Mr. Speaker, the following questions will be answered today: Nos. 267, 277, 278, 280, 283, 286 to 289, 295, 299 and 301 to 303.