Debates of Oct. 6th, 2023

Oral Questions

[Michael Barrett, Conservative, Leeds—Grenville—Thousand Islands and Rideau Lakes, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I seek unanimous consent from the House to table a document. It is the voting record that shows the Liberal member for Avalon voting to scrap the failed carbon tax and voting with the Conservatives.

[The Deputy Speaker, Conservative, Chris d'Entremont]

Is it agreed?

[Some hon. members]

No.

[The Deputy Speaker, Conservative, Chris d'Entremont]

I hope this is the last one.

The hon. member for Cumberland—Colchester.

[Stephen Ellis, Conservative, Cumberland—Colchester, NS]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to table a document regarding the comments made by the member for Avalon, who said the following:

“I know the government is pushing people [to] switching over to heat pumps and whatnot”—

[The Deputy Speaker, Conservative, Chris d'Entremont]

Is it agreed?

[Some hon. members]

No.

[The Deputy Speaker, Conservative, Chris d'Entremont]

The hon. Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Agriculture.

[Francis Drouin, Liberal, Glengarry—Prescott—Russell, ON]

Mr. Speaker, on that point, it is clear that somebody else is probably going to stand up and try to do the exact same thing. I would ask, with your indulgence, that you consider speaking to the members of the opposition. We know what they are up to.

[The Deputy Speaker, Conservative, Chris d'Entremont]

I said that I hoped that was the last one, so it was my suggestion that it be the last one.

The hon. for King—Vaughan has a point of order.

[Anna Roberts, Conservative, King—Vaughan, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I was just informed today that my vote yesterday on Bill S-12, after receiving confirmation from IT that I voted yea, was not recorded. I have contacted IT and they are looking into the matter, and I would like my vote to count.

[Mark Gerretsen, Liberal, Kingston and the Islands, ON]

Mr. Speaker, we are inclined to be supportive of this, but it would have been really nice if the member had reached out to us to let us know in advance that she would be doing this, requesting what I imagine is unanimous consent to have that recorded. Perhaps she could endeavour to do that, so that when this UC motion, which is obviously important to the member, comes up, we can treat it very seriously. Maybe she could just hold off and have her whip's office talk to our whip's office so we can coordinate and bring this up at the next opportunity.

[Joël Godin, Conservative, Portneuf—Jacques-Cartier, QC]

Mr. Speaker, what I understood from my colleague is that she wants this checked. It is not a request for consent. It is about checking with IT, because she has confirmed that her vote was not properly recorded. I think her request is more along those lines.

I invite the Chair to reflect on this and take it under advisement.

[The Deputy Speaker, Conservative, Chris d'Entremont]

Quickly, let us go back to the history of this. Yesterday, after the vote, the system did not log the vote for the hon. member for King—Vaughan. Therefore, it put a little tag on her vote. It was brought up by the Bloc members that the picture was not there. We did make the call that day as to whether the hon. member was online, and she was not online to be able to vote one way or another. Therefore, I would probably suggest that we have her people talk to your people, and then she can come back and maybe do a unanimous consent motion just to make it as clean as we possibly can. That is good.

The hon. member for Calgary Skyview.

[George Chahal, Liberal, Calgary Skyview, AB]

Mr. Speaker, on this point of order, I want to bring to the attention of the House that yesterday, the Conservative deputy whip, after the vote, opposed members' being able to register their vote in this fashion. It was the Conservative deputy whip who opposed others, so I believe the members of the Conservative Party should have a conversation.

[The Deputy Speaker, Conservative, Chris d'Entremont]

Again, I will say that these people should talk to those people and then come back to the floor, rather than taking more time with this issue as we go.

I apologize to the member for King—Vaughan, but some chat has to take place in the back stage.

Interparliamentary Delegations

[Francis Drouin, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food]

Mr. Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 34(1), I have the honour to present to the House, in both official languages, three reports from the delegation of the Canadian branch of the Assemblée parlementaire de la Francophonie, or APF.

The first concerns its participation at the meeting of the Bureau of the APF held in France from January 28 to February 2, 2023. The second concerns its participation in a parliamentary mission to the United Nations held in New York on March 14 and 15, 2023. The last report concerns its participation at the meeting of the APF Political Committee and the Working Group on Reforming the APF Constitution, held in France, from April 17 to 20, 2023.

Health

[Mel Arnold, Conservative, North Okanagan—Shuswap, BC]

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to present four more petitions from concerned citizens of North Okanagan—Shuswap. These petitions call on the Minister of Health to work with the national health products industry and adjust Health Canada's cost recovery rates to accurately reflect the size and scope of the industry, implementing changes only once the self-care framework is adjusted.

Fossil Fuels

[John Aldag, Liberal, Cloverdale—Langley City, BC]

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased today to present a petition that was put forward by the Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment.

As we all know, the effects of climate change are upon us, which are costly to the environment, but there are also costs to human health. The organization notes that one in seven, or up to 34,000, premature deaths in Canada is related to fossil fuel air pollution. This petition calls for a ban on all advertising related to fossil fuels in Canada.

Old-Growth Forests

[Elizabeth May, Green, Saanich—Gulf Islands, BC]

Mr. Speaker, it is an honour to rise today to present a petition of great concern to the constituents of Saanich—Gulf Islands. The petitioners put to the House that indigenous peoples have, from time immemorial, shown stewardship for the lands and waters of what we now call Canada, and that indigenous knowledge is an important, critical component in responding to the climate crisis. They also point out that the lands and territories of first nations are where the old-growth forests, the original forests, are still found, but in dwindling percentage of the original forest cover.

Therefore, in pointing out that the long-term needs of responding to the climate crisis include protecting old-growth forests, the petitioners call on the federal government to work with indigenous governments and indigenous peoples for the shared stewardship and conservation, and the immediate halt of all logging of ancient forests in this country for climate biodiversity and for indigenous reconciliation.

Seniors

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

Mr. Speaker, I would like to table a petition signed by many in regard to our growing retiree population in Canada. Retirees are increasingly becoming the target of fraud, given that they have built up wealth over a lifetime to help them support their retirement years, and are vulnerable due to the lack of controls and protections through the transmission of money within the Canadian banking system.

The petitioners are calling for us to undertake a serious and comprehensive review of the current transit system of Canadian citizens' money in this country, with the aim of putting more stringent procedures, protocols and safeguards in place to protect seniors in particular from losing their lifetime savings and wealth through fraud.

Indigenous Affairs

[Mike Morrice, Green, Kitchener Centre, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I rise to present a petition that is fairly timely, from petitioners who call for the Government of Canada to follow through on the calls to action of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. The petitioners note that the Government of Canada has followed through on only a very small fraction of those calls to action since they were released in 2015.

The petitioners go on to note several of particular importance to them. I will call out just one: call to action number 21, recommending providing “sustainable funding for existing and new [indigenous] healing centres”.

The petitioners go on to call on the Government of Canada to follow through on all 94 calls to action of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission.

Questions on the Order Paper

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

Mr. Speaker, I would ask that all questions be allowed to stand at this time, please.

[The Deputy Speaker, Conservative, Chris d'Entremont]

Is that agreed?

[Some hon. members]

Agreed.