Debates of Feb. 15th, 2023

Public Sector Integrity Act

[The Speaker, Liberal, Anthony Rota]

Pursuant to order made on Thursday, June 23, 2022, the House will now proceed to the taking of the deferred division on the motion at second reading stage of Bill C-290 under Private Members' Business.

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

Vote #260

[The Speaker, Liberal, Anthony Rota]

I declare the motion carried. Accordingly, the bill stands referred to the Standing Committee on Government Operations and Estimates.

(Bill read the second time and referred to a committee)

The House resumed from February 14 consideration of the motion that Bill S-222, An Act to amend the Department of Public Works and Government Services Act (use of wood), be read the second time and referred to a committee.

Department of Public Works and Government Services Act

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

Pursuant to order made on Thursday, June 23, 2022, the House will now proceed to the taking of the deferred recorded division on the motion at second reading stage of Bill S-222 under Private Members' Business.

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

Vote #261

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

I declare the motion carried. Accordingly, the bill stands referred to the Standing Committee on Natural Resources.

(Bill read the second time and referred to a committee)

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

I wish to inform the House that because of the deferred recorded divisions, Government Orders will be extended by 39 minutes.

Use of Proper Equipment During Video Conferencing

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

Mr. Speaker, I would like you to inform the parliamentarians of the House about the rules around wearing the mandatory approved headset to speak in the House and in committee. I have before me a note that says that all parliamentarians must use the Jabra Evolve2 40 headset when participating by video conference in parliamentary proceedings and other meetings. Mr. Speaker, can you tell the House what the table officers do to determine whether a member speaking by video conference is using the right headset?

Today, I thought I saw that the member for Rosemont—La Petite-Patrie was not using the approved headset that helps ensure workplace safety for the interpreters. Could you tell us whether that headset has been checked by the table officers before recognizing the member for Rosemont—La Petite-Patrie? Could you confirm that he is using the right headset, the one that has been approved by the House and that complies with the order that was given by the House of Commons workplace health and safety bureau?

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

I thank the hon. member for raising that question.

I was not in the chair at that time. We know that the table officers knew it was not the right headset, but we do not know exactly why the member was not wearing the right headset. I will come back to the House with a more exact answer once I find out what happened at that moment.

The hon. member for Salaberry—Suroît.

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

Mr. Speaker, I would like to add a question, because the Chair's response will help clarify this issue. Each member will be better informed of the need to wear the proper equipment to speak. At the same time, the response will inform us of the mechanism put in place by the House to verify that the proper equipment is being worn.

I just want to clarify my request, and I hope that the Chair will provide us with clarification so we can guarantee the occupational health and safety of our interpreters.

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

I thank the hon. member for that clarification.

A message from Her Excellency the Governor General transmitting supplementary estimates (C) for the financial year ending March 31, 2023, was presented by the President of the Treasury Board and read by the Speaker to the House.

Supplementary Estimates (C), 2022-23

[Mona Fortier, Liberal, President of the Treasury Board]

Mr. Speaker, I have the honour to table, in both official languages, the supplementary estimates (C), 2022-23.

A message from Her Excellency the Governor General transmitting estimates for the financial year ending March 31, 2024, was presented by the President of the Treasury Board and read by the Speaker to the House.

Main Estimates, 2023-24

[Mona Fortier, Liberal, President of the Treasury Board]

Mr. Speaker, I have the honour to table, in both official languages, the Main Estimates, 2023-24.

Science and Research

[Corey Tochor, Conservative, Saskatoon—University, SK]

Mr. Speaker, I have the honour to present, in both official languages, the third report of the Standing Committee on Science and Research, entitled “Small Modular Nuclear Reactors”.

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

Medical Assistance in Dying

[Marc Garneau, Liberal, Notre-Dame-de-Grâce—Westmount, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I have the honour to present, in both official languages, the second report of the Special Joint Committee on Medical Assistance in Dying, entitled “Medical Assistance in Dying in Canada: Choices for Canadians”.

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

I will take this opportunity to thank the members of our committee. Ten members from four parties and five senators worked for nine months to deliver this report. I also want to thank our clerks and our analysts for their excellent work during the last nine months. It is a challenging task. They showed exceptional patience and skill.

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

Mr. Speaker, I rise on behalf of the Conservative members of the Special Joint Committee on Medical Assistance in Dying to table, in both official languages, our dissenting report.

Conservatives completely reject the committee's endorsement of the Liberal government's new arbitrary deadline to expand MAID in cases of mental illness in one year. The evidence from experts, including leading psychiatrists, is clear. This radical expansion cannot be implemented safely, and there is no evidence to indicate that it will be any different a year from now.

We are also disappointed that the committee failed to undertake a meaningful study on the effectiveness and enforcement of existing safeguards, this at a time when there are multiple alarming reports of abuse, non-compliance and Canadians falling through the cracks under the Liberals' MAID regime.

Finally, we reject the committee's irresponsible recommendation to expand MAID for mature minors, especially having regard for significant knowledge gaps and a complete lack of consultation with impacted groups, including young Canadians.

Justice

[Matthew Green, NDP, Hamilton Centre, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to rise today to present three petitions.

The first petition, e-petition 3974, has been signed by Canadians across the country and highlights the fact that even though cannabis is legal in Canada, far too many people remain penalized for historic cannabis convictions. These historic convictions disproportionately impact people from marginalized communities and have negative consequences on their ability to work, find housing and travel outside the country.

This petition recognizes that cannabis-related pardon programs fail to remedy these concerns and, thus, calls upon the government to follow the lead of jurisdictions like New York and immediately table legislation that would provide automatic expungement for all Canadians living with non-violent cannabis convictions.

Yemen

[Matthew Green, NDP, Hamilton Centre, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the second petition, e-petition 3775, has the support of 1,345 Canadians and is an important reminder that there is an ongoing humanitarian catastrophe and illegal war unfolding in Yemen.

This petition calls on the government to immediately cancel all active and pending arms deals with Saudi Arabia, prevent any transfers of Canadian-made arms, demand the Saudi-led coalition to end its air strikes and military offensives, apply Magnitsky sanctions to Saudi leaders, significantly increase humanitarian aid to Yemen and expand the group of five sponsorship exemptions to Yemeni refugees.

Nuclear Weapons

[Matthew Green, NDP, Hamilton Centre, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the last petition, e-petition 3777, initiated by Henry Evans-Tenbrinke from Hamilton, is in relation to the Australia, United Kingdom and United States military pact and the willingness of the U.S. to sell nuclear submarines and related military technologies to the Australians. These weapons sales would be in violation of the UN Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons.

This petition requests the Government of Canada to not only refuse any participation in the AUKUS pact, but also strongly condemn it as a breach of the UN nuclear non-proliferation treaty and a dangerous escalation of military tensions.

Access to Medicines

[Dean Allison, Conservative, Niagara West, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I am presenting e-petition 4183, which was started by a constituent of mine, John Fulton. It is signed by over 2,161 Canadians.

The petitioners are calling upon the Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry and the Minister of Health to recommend to the Governor in Council to immediately add COVID-19 vaccines, diagnostics and therapeutics to schedule 1 of the Patent Act, thereby permitting export under Canada's access to medicines regime for humanitarian reasons.

Public Safety

[Cheryl Gallant, Conservative, Renfrew—Nipissing—Pembroke, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I am presenting a petition in which the petitioners oppose Bill C-21 and are asking for it to be repealed because it would do nothing to prevent gun smuggling or crimes involving firearms.

Food Insecurity

[Don Davies, NDP, Vancouver Kingsway, BC]

Mr. Speaker, I have two petitions to present today.

In the first petition, the petitioners note that more than four million Canadians, including one and a half million children, live in homes where the families report food insecurity. They point out that it is important to remember that the health and development of children requires that they have access to healthy food, particularly in a school setting. Canada is one of the few members of the OECD without a national nutritional school food program in place.

The petitioners call on the Government of Canada, in collaboration with the provinces, territories, municipalities and stakeholders, to develop a national school nutritious food program to ensure that all children in Canada have access to healthy food.