Debates of Nov. 6th, 2023

Alleged Unparliamentary Gesture in the House

[Chris Warkentin, Conservative, Grande Prairie—Mackenzie, AB]

Mr. Speaker, the point is this. You have made a great effort in your public comments to state you want to bring decorum to this House, which has been fundamentally undermined by the way in which this whole thing has unravelled. The chief opposition whip was unable to express the evidence being put before you. The member from the Liberal Party stood up and said that he was innocent of using the gesture, and it was only after multiple other interventions that you said you would take it back. I believe that undermines the public statements you have made with regard to bringing decorum to this House.

[The Speaker, Greg Fergus]

I regret that the member feels this way. However, as Chair, I feel that I have heard the point raised by the chief whip of the opposition. It was an important point and very well made. I wanted to hear if there were any new points related to it and no new points were raised. I asked the hon. member to rise and he offered his excuse. I indicated to all members, based on what was raised by the hon. whip of the opposition, that I am going to look at this matter and come back to this House if it is necessary to do so.

I hope the member for Miramichi is rising on a new point of order. If it is the same one, I think I have heard enough and we should move on to the next item of the House.

[Jake Stewart, Conservative, Miramichi—Grand Lake, NB]

Mr. Speaker, it is a new point of order.

I, many of my colleagues and many of the people at home continue to ask the same question: Why is the volume being turned down so often by the Speaker? Can you explain why that is happening so often?

[The Speaker, Greg Fergus]

This was—

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh!

[The Speaker, Greg Fergus]

It is because the Chair is standing up. I am going to allow the member to—

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh!

[The Speaker, Greg Fergus]

I am going to ask the hon. member—

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh!

[The Speaker, Greg Fergus]

This is the reason why microphones are sometimes turned off: to preserve the honour of the House when there are conversations happening back and forth without people having the floor. No member, I can guarantee, has ever been cut off in terms of making their presentation, posing a question or giving an answer, with the exception of the time when the Speaker is up.

This matter has been brought up with House leaders. I have talked about this issue and it is being addressed.

The hon. member for Miramichi—Grand Lake, on a new matter, I would hope.

[Jake Stewart, Conservative, Miramichi—Grand Lake, NB]

Mr. Speaker, this is on a point of clarification on the point of order.

Canadians are feeling like their members of Parliament are being subjected to the microphone's being turned off right at the point when they are making points of order and points of clarification. Making those points is something we are entitled to as members of the House. It is happening on this side more often than not. We do not like to be cut off.

It is debate, that is fine. If the Speaker does not agree that it is a point of order, that is fine. However, we still have the right to be heard, and the microphone needs to be left on when we are speaking.

[The Speaker, Greg Fergus]

On the same point of order, the hon. parliamentary secretary. I hope he will come straight to the point.

[Kevin Lamoureux, Liberal, Winnipeg North, MB]

Mr. Speaker, like you, I have been very patient, listening to commentaries. You, a while back, very clearly established that you had already received enough information to make some sort of a ruling, pending a review of the situation.

Members continued to stand up, which is a challenge of the ruling you have made as Speaker. I would suggest that people just tone it down and allow the Speaker to do his job.

[The Speaker, Greg Fergus]

That is not a point of order. I think we have finished with all the matters which were raised right now. I have promised members that I will come back to them on the original issue that was raised.

I wish to inform the House that, because of the deferred recorded division, Government Orders will be extended by 12 minutes.

There are two members who have their hands up. The hon. member for Saanich—Gulf Islands.

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

Mr. Speaker, I am rising briefly on a point of order, because I believe the point of order made by the hon. member for Gatineau may have been missed in the furor over other issues.

Being a virtual participant, I find it very distressing when, during votes, there is so much heckling. That was the point raised. It had nothing to do with anything visual we observed. However, auditory interruptions in the voting process are against the Standing Orders, and I just wanted to rise briefly to support the hon. member for Gatineau.

Perhaps the Speaker might come back to that question of decorum to remind us of the rules.

[Damien Kurek, Conservative, Battle River—Crowfoot, AB]

Mr. Speaker, on a new point of order, there is a member of Parliament who was called out the other day for an absolutely inflammatory tweet. However, it is interesting that, further, the member for Fleetwood—Port Kells not only has a habit of taking pictures of things taking place within this place. In his Twitter feed, he also has what he calls the “Fib-O-Meter”. He is calling members liars and talking about untruths in his Twitter feed. Certainly, when a member is in this place, we expect them to abide by the rules of decorum. The member for Fleetwood—Port Kells has acknowledged that when he puts his elbows up, his guard can come down.

I would ask that you, Mr. Speaker, take a look at the evidence, specifically the member's Twitter feed, on how the member is so flagrantly disregarding the rules of order and decorum in the House and ultimately bringing disorder. In his tweet posted seven minutes ago, he used language that is unparliamentary, and he has been doing so from the floor of this place.

[The Speaker, Greg Fergus]

It is an important issue that the member is raising; however, there are limits to what the Speaker can do. There is enough to do in policing what happens in this place and at committee in terms of the exercise of our parliamentary duty, but to be able to monitor all members' social media feeds is difficult to do. I do know that it was raised on one issue, and I invited the hon. member to withdraw his comments. The member was present and did so. I cannot do that right now, but I thank the hon. member for that.

This is a good opportunity once again to encourage all members to rise to the level that is befitting of the chairs and jobs they hold in this place and to conduct themselves accordingly. I think that is an important reminder for all of us so we can conduct ourselves in a way that we would be proud to have done.

It is important for all members to comport themselves with dignity, to live up to the positions we all hold in the House of Commons.

I thank all members for their interventions today.

Government Response to Petitions

[Kevin Lamoureux, Liberal, Parliamentary 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 response to two petitions. These returns will be tabled in an electronic format.

Agriculture and Agri-Food

[Kody Blois, Liberal, Kings—Hants, NS]

Mr. Speaker, I have the honour to present, in both official languages, the 13th report of the Standing Committee on Agriculture and Agri-Food.

The report is entitled “Stewards of the Land: Examining Canadian Agriculture's Environmental Contribution”. We maybe could have used a bit more of a simple title, but, of course, we are proud as a committee to talk about Canada's tremendous role in the agriculture sector towards environmental contribution. Pursuant to Standing Order 109, the committee requests that the government table a comprehensive response to this report.

I thank all those involved in the study. The fact that we presented another unanimous report back to the House shows the good work of the agriculture committee.

Public Safety

[Dan Mazier, Conservative, Dauphin—Swan River—Neepawa, MB]

Mr. Speaker, it is an honour to present a petition on behalf of my constituents. I rise for the 23rd time on behalf of the people of Swan River, Manitoba to present a petition about the rising rate of crime.

The NDP-Liberal government is failing to get results for the people of Swan River amidst a crime wave that has swept through this rural town of 4,000 people. Based on a recent report from Manitoba's West district RCMP, I mentioned that, within 18 months, the area saw 1,184 service calls and 703 offences committed by 15 individuals. The report also showed that just 10 individuals categorized as “prolific offenders” were responsible for 133 violent offences. This is why the rural community is calling for action.

The petitioners demand jail, not bail, for violent repeat offenders. The people of Swan River demand that the Liberal government repeal the soft-on-crime policies that directly threaten their livelihoods and their community. I support the good people of Swan River.

Eye Care

[Judy Sgro, Liberal, Humber River—Black Creek, ON]

Madam Speaker, I am pleased to finally have the opportunity to present these petitions.

Over eight million people are suffering from eye diseases, and 1.2 million live with vision loss or blindness. Therefore, petitioners call upon the House of Commons to adopt Bill C-284, an act that would establish a national strategy for eye care, as soon as possible.

This was done a few days ago, and I am very pleased that it was done.

Falun Gong

[Judy Sgro, Liberal, Humber River—Black Creek, ON]

Madam Speaker, in the second petition, petitioners draw attention to the Falun Gong.

They request that the Canadian Parliament and government pass a resolution to establish measures to stop the Chinese Communist Regime's crime of systematically murdering Falun Gong practitioners for their organs, to amend the Canadian legislation to combat forced organ harvesting and to promptly call for an end to the persecution of Falun Gong practitioners in China.

Employment Insurance

[Rosemarie Falk, Conservative, Battlefords—Lloydminster, SK]

Madam Speaker, November is Adoption and Permanency Education Month. With that in mind, I am honoured to take this opportunity to present a petition from Canadians who are calling on the Liberal government to provide a royal recommendation for my private member's bill, Bill C-318.

The current EI system discriminates against adoptive and intended parents, so recognizing the importance of time to attach, the petitioners are urging the government to deliver equitable access to all parents for EI leave and to follow through with the Liberals' 2019 and 2021 campaign commitments.

Women's Rights

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

Madam Speaker, I rise today to present a petition from constituents of Saanich—Gulf Islands concerned about equal rights for women. One would not think we would need a petition in November 2023 to point out that, after all this time, women are not receiving equal pay for work of equal value. Canadian women still receive 21¢ less on the dollar than men for substantially the same kind of work.

Petitioners ask that the House of Commons enact legislation and policies to promote pay equity and pay equality and to do it without delay.

Climate Change

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

Madam Speaker, once again, I have another petition on the same subject. They keep coming into my office. This petition has to do with the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

Petitioners identify what is well known in terms of the impacts of climate change in Canada, including flooding, wildfires and extreme temperatures. They are quite aware of the Government of Canada's commitment to reducing global warming to 1.5°C. They specifically call on the Government of Canada to move forward immediately with bold emissions caps for the oil and gas sector that are comprehensive in scope and realistic in achieving the necessary targets Canada has set to reduce emissions by 2030.