Debates of Dec. 14th, 2023

Canada Labour Code

[Kyle Seeback, Conservative, Dufferin—Caledon, ON]

Madam Speaker, it is Standing Order 30(6), which sets out that the government is the only one that can call bills for debate. I have a point of order on that.

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh!

[The Assistant Deputy Speaker, NDP, Carol Hughes]

I am sorry. I need to hear the point of order. The hon. member has not told me if he is looking for unanimous consent yet. Is the hon. member asking for unanimous consent?

[Kyle Seeback, Conservative, Dufferin—Caledon, ON]

Madam Speaker, I have a point of order and then I am going to move a motion.

[The Assistant Deputy Speaker, NDP, Carol Hughes]

I want to get an understanding of what the hon. member is asking. If he is tabling a motion and asking for unanimous consent, he needs to be careful not to go into a lot of detail.

I will go to the hon. member so I can have an understanding of what he is asking, because I am not quite sure yet.

The hon. member for Dufferin—Caledon.

[Kyle Seeback, Conservative, Dufferin—Caledon, ON]

Madam Speaker, I am trying to get there, but I keep getting interrupted by members of the Liberal Party.

I was saying that only the government can choose bills to come forward for debate. It has stated that Bill C-57 is a bill it urgently wants to be concluded in the House. It has not called it for debate today, so—

[The Assistant Deputy Speaker, NDP, Carol Hughes]

The hon. member can bring a unanimous consent motion.

[Kyle Seeback, Conservative, Dufferin—Caledon, ON]

Madam Speaker, I am now going to, assuming that I have the unanimous support of the House, move that, notwithstanding any—

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh!

[The Assistant Deputy Speaker, NDP, Carol Hughes]

I am sorry. Hold on.

The hon. member is able to move a unanimous consent motion if he wishes to. I will allow him to ask for unanimous consent. If there is none, then we will move forward and continue with the debate.

I would ask the hon. member for Dufferin—Caledon for the unanimous consent motion.

[Kyle Seeback, Conservative, Dufferin—Caledon, ON]

Madam Speaker, I move that, notwithstanding any standing order or usual practice of the House—

[Some hon. members]

No.

[The Assistant Deputy Speaker, NDP, Carol Hughes]

There is already no unanimous consent. It is obvious that somewhere along the line something went wrong. I would ask members who are looking for unanimous consent to make sure they have it from all parties before they come to the House.

Questions and comments, the hon. parliamentary secretary to the government House leader.

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

Madam Speaker, the member made reference to patterns. One of the patterns that I have seen is with respect to the Conservative Party having adopted the MAGA politics, which are coming from the south into the office of the leader of the Conservative Party of Canada.

Conservatives say one thing, for example, that they support workers, yet none of them stood up to say how they were going to—

[Tracy Gray, Conservative, Kelowna—Lake Country, BC]

Madam Speaker, I rise on a point of order. The member opposite is bringing U.S. politics into something that does not even relate to what we are discussing here today, so—

[The Assistant Deputy Speaker, NDP, Carol Hughes]

That is a point of debate.

The hon. parliamentary secretary.

[Kevin Lamoureux, Liberal, Winnipeg North, MB]

Madam Speaker, we all know the degree to which there is a lack of respect for organized labour from the MAGA right. This is something on which we have been challenging the Conservative opposition party.

What will Conservatives do with respect to Bill C-58? Will they or will they not support the legislation? They have not been able to answer that question. I suspect, if it has anything to do with their pattern, it is because of the MAGA movement from the States that is coming to Canada via the Conservative Party.

Can the member say whether or not he is voting in favour of the bill?

[Dan Albas, Conservative, Central Okanagan—Similkameen—Nicola, BC]

Madam Speaker, when I start talking about the very real concerns of federally regulated, provincially regulated and average, non-unionized workers, the member somehow tries to make it some sort of conspiracy theory. When the member starts spouting what seem to be conspiracy theories about how this is connected to this group and this group is connected to this group in the south, it sounds a little crazy to me.

If we cannot clearly express what our constituents are going through, the challenges they have and whether the government legislation is meeting the real needs of the people I mentioned, what else do we have to talk about here?

The member can keep asking those kinds of questions in disrespectful ways, or he can start to listen and not name-call.

[Louise Chabot, Bloc, Thérèse-De Blainville, QC]

Madam Speaker, the question as to whether our Conservative colleagues are in favour of this bill to prevent the use of scabs in the event of a labour dispute, strike or lockout is certainly relevant. It is a simple question.

The reason this bill is under consideration now is that, for decades, the Bloc Québécois has been lobbying for governments to pass anti-scab legislation. This is also happening because thousands of workers are pressuring the government.

We have had similar legislation in Quebec since 1977. In Canada, however, it took significant pressure for this bill to see the light of day.

Will you tell workers that you support the anti-scab legislation proposed by Bill C-58, yes or no?

[The Assistant Deputy Speaker, NDP, Carol Hughes]

I would remind the hon. member that she must address her questions and comments through the Chair, and not directly to the hon. member.

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

Madam Speaker, I rise on a point of order. I would like the record to show that the member for Dufferin—Caledon tried to have the House pass Bill C-57, the Canada-Ukraine free trade deal, and the Liberals refused to pass it. That is what Conservatives were putting forward.

[Kevin Lamoureux, Liberal, Winnipeg North, MB]

Number one, Madam Speaker, that is not a point of order. No such question was put to the House. I would suggest the ruling on the member's point of order is that it is not a point of order.

[The Assistant Deputy Speaker, NDP, Carol Hughes]

This is becoming debate.

If hon. members want to continue having a conversation about this, they should take it into the lobby, please.

The hon. member for Central Okanagan—Similkameen—Nicola.

[Dan Albas, Conservative, Central Okanagan—Similkameen—Nicola, BC]

Madam Speaker, my command of the French language is not the best, but I will try to answer the Bloc Québécois member's question.

With regard to Bill C-58, what is important for me, as a western MP, is to fully understand how this works in Quebec. That is a question I will be asking Conservative Party members from Quebec. I hope I will have a clear answer for the member.

[The Assistant Deputy Speaker, NDP, Carol Hughes]

I would remind members that when someone else has the floor, it is nice to give him the attention he deserves, especially when he made such an effort to respond in French. Members on both sides of the House were having conversations, and I would remind them to respect those who have the floor. It is good to hear what they have to say because members may have other questions for them.

The hon. member for Esquimalt—Saanich—Sooke.