Debates of Dec. 14th, 2023

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 10 petitions. These returns will be tabled in an electronic format.

Procedure and House Affairs

[Bardish Chagger, Liberal, Waterloo, ON]

Mr. Speaker, before I present the 55th report of the Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs, entitled “Speaker's Public Participation at an Ontario Liberal Party Event”, I want to take a moment to thank our clerk Mike. I appreciate the hours put in and the speed at which our analysts Andre, Sarah and Isabelle moved. I also appreciate members from all parties, including the Liberals, the Conservatives, the Bloc and the NDP. I would like to thank the witnesses who arrived in short order and the behind-the-scenes crew, including for IT, food and maintenance. The list goes on. I thank especially interpretation and translation services, which worked around the clock to return this report to the House in the time the House gave us.

I also have to give a shout-out to team members from all teams. They were there with us every single minute of the way, not necessarily by choice but because they had to be. We appreciate everything they have done.

When committees move at the pace at which we were moving, it is often our constituents who are left behind. I know constituents in the riding of Waterloo were not able to have meetings with me because I had to cancel them. I want them to know that I appreciate them.

I want to wish everyone happy holidays. We will see each other next year.

Hopefully it is not before then. I would really appreciate not seeing anyone in this place until 2024 because I would like to be in my riding of Waterloo.

With that, I have the honour to present this report in both official languages. I am sure everybody will be reading it profusely.

Mr. Speaker, Merry Christmas and happy new year.

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

Merry Christmas and happy new year to you as well.

We have a dissenting opinion from the Conservatives.

The hon. member for St. Albert—Edmonton.

[Michael Cooper, Conservative, St. Albert—Edmonton, AB]

Mr. Speaker, I rise to present a dissenting report from the Conservative members on the Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs.

There is a long-standing tradition and expectation that the Speaker be impartial and non-partisan. That expectation was shattered by the current Speaker when he engaged in partisan commentary no less than on three occasions in the span of a week. This demonstrated not only a lack of judgment but a betrayal of the trust of all hon. members in this House.

I would note that both the official opposition and the third party, comprising nearly half of the members in this House, have called on the Speaker to resign. I would submit that it is untenable in the circumstances that he continue in his high office. In order to restore the trust and confidence of all hon. members in the speakership, it is with regret that Conservatives call on the current Speaker to resign.

[Claude DeBellefeuille, Bloc, Salaberry—Suroît, QC]

Mr. Speaker, it was with great sadness and a sense of regret that we prepared a dissenting opinion—

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

The hon. member needs unanimous consent to speak.

[Claude DeBellefeuille, Bloc, Salaberry—Suroît, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to seek unanimous consent.

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

Does the hon. member have the unanimous consent of the House?

[Some hon. members]

Agreed.

[Claude DeBellefeuille, Bloc, Salaberry—Suroît, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I will not talk for long because we have important work to do.

It is with regret and some sadness that the Bloc Québécois is presenting a dissenting opinion, but the impartiality of a Speaker is really very important to us. There must be zero tolerance for bias.

We are of the opinion that the Speaker's mistake is unforgivable and that he must resign. In our dissenting opinion, we provided a detailed explanation as to why we asked him to make the right choice and step down, because he failed in his duties.

We want the House to run smoothly, and the best way to make that happen is to have a Speaker who has the full confidence of all the elected members of the House.

Citizenship and Immigration

[Paul Chiang, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Immigration]

Mr. Speaker, I have the honour to present, in both official languages, the 18th report of the Standing Committee on Citizenship and and Immigration, entitled “In Demand Yet Unprocessed: Endemic Immigration Backlog”.

Pursuant to Standing Order 109, the committee requests that the government table a comprehensive response to this report.

[Brad Redekopp, Conservative, Saskatoon West, SK]

Mr. Speaker, as vice-chair of the Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration, I have the honour to table today a Conservative supplementary opinion to the report on backlogs and delays.

Eight years of Liberal-NDP leadership in the Department of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship were described by one witness as “nothing short of a dumpster fire”. The main report includes many Conservative contributions and recommendations that we proposed to the committee. That said, some common-sense recommendations were rejected by the NDP-Liberal majority while other recommendations could not be accepted by the Conservatives. For example, the Liberals are moving toward a “click for your citizenship” system, while Conservatives believe that taking the oath of citizenship should be treated with gravity and respect and be done in person, unless there are exceptional circumstances.

After eight years, we know the Prime Minister is not worth the cost, and his Liberal-made immigration backlog is causing more chaos in the department, as well as destroying the faith of Canadians in our immigration system. However, they should have no fear because soon a common-sense Conservative government will be here to restore faith and clean up these backlogs. Let us bring it home.

Canadian Women's Contributions to Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics Day Act

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

moved for leave to introduce an Act to establish a national day to honour Canadian women's contributions to science, technology, engineering and mathematics.

Mr. Speaker, it is an honour to introduce a private member's bill entitled “An Act to establish a national day to honour Canadian women's contributions to science, technology, engineering and mathematics”.

While I am on my feet, I move:

That the House do now proceed to orders of the day.

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

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

[Kevin Lamoureux, Liberal, Winnipeg North, MB]

Mr. Speaker, I would request a recorded vote.

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

Call in the members.

(The House divided on the motion, which was agreed to on the following division:)

Vote #611

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

I declare the motion carried.

[Andrew Scheer, Conservative, Regina—Qu'Appelle, SK]

Mr. Speaker, I rise on a point of order. I regretfully have to inform the House that there is evidence of another partisan activity that the Speaker was engaged with. I have, in my hands, a picture of the Speaker at an event with the hon. member for Pontiac, which was labelled and advertised by the Liberal Party as un cocktail militant.

The Instagram post for the hon. member reads, “This week, I had the privilege of participating in a remarkable event in the company of my colleague [the Speaker]. In this time when the political sphere is in full swing, supporting our colleagues is crucial. I want to express my gratitude to my provincial counterpart and friend André Fortin, as well as his liberal team, for organizing a stimulating evening focused on political discussions, both provincial and regional.”

This is not even the Speaker's riding. This is a neighbouring riding. It is billed as a cocktail, with activists and volunteers.

I would like to seek unanimous consent to table these documents. If any member of Parliament has ever said anything about the importance of the independence and integrity of the Speaker, they should allow me to table these documents and they should have allowed the debate on the Speaker to continue today.

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

Is it agreed?

[Some hon. members]

No.

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

Mr. Speaker, on the same point of order, we certainly did listen to what the House leader from the Conservatives had to say. If you would perhaps provide us with an opportunity to review, reflect and provide comments on that before making a ruling, we would really appreciate it.

[Andrew Scheer, Conservative, Regina—Qu'Appelle, SK]

Mr. Speaker, the whole point of tabling the documents is so that you can read them.

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

We are not going to have a debate on this. The information is apparently public now. People can go and have a look at it.

(Bill C-58. On the Order: Resumption of debate:)

November 27, 2023 — Resuming consideration of the motion of Mr. O'Regan (Minister of Labour and Seniors), seconded by Ms. Ng (Minister of Export Promotion, International Trade and Economic Development), — That Bill C-58, An Act to amend the Canada Labour Code and the Canada Industrial Relations Board Regulations, 2012, be now read a second time and referred to the Standing Committee on Human Resources, Skills and Social Development and the Status of Persons with Disabilities.