Debates of March 6th, 2023

Opposition Motion—Public Health Care Funding and Delivery

[Some hon. members]

No.

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

[Chair read text of motion to House]

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

Vote #262

Business of Supply

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

I declare the motion defeated.

I wish to inform the House that because of the deferred recorded division, Government Orders will be extended by 13 minutes.

Oral Questions

[Daniel Blaikie, NDP, Elmwood—Transcona, MB]

Mr. Speaker, I am rising on a point of order arising out of question period. A question was asked of a committee chair, and I am looking for clarification. I have had some personal experience with this in the chamber.

I would refer you to the 42nd Parliament. As a matter of fact, it happened to be the day the Prime Minister first decided to do Prime Minister's questions, where he answers every question. At that time, I was the second vice-chair of the access to information, privacy and ethics committee, and the chair and the vice-chair were both away on parliamentary business. A question was asked of the committee chair for that committee, and as the second vice-chair at that time, I stood to answer the question.

As it happens, the Prime Minister did not answer all of the questions that day, but more importantly, I think it served the House well to have someone who was an authorized spokesperson for the committee answer the question. There is often debate in this place about the appropriate role of parliamentary secretaries on committees and the right posture of the government toward committees, and I do not think it makes a lot of sense to have government members answer questions about committee business.

I wonder if the Chair might reflect on this point and come back with some guidance. I think the House would be well served if the Chair first looked to see if an authorized spokesperson for the committee is standing before proceeding to the government bench. I would welcome the Chair's reflection on that point at some appropriate time, whether that is right away or further down the line.

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

I will refer to it at a later point, but I will go to the hon. member for Perth—Wellington on the same point of order.

[John Nater, Conservative, Perth—Wellington, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I would refer you to Beauchesne's, sixth edition, which is one of this House's great authorities. It makes note of the importance of seeking information from the committee, in which case the chair or the vice-chair is certainly the appropriate person.

I would seek the guidance of the Chair, however, for situations in which the chair of the committee may be available online but nonetheless failed to indicate to the Chair that they were present online to answer the question. Therefore, I would seek the Chair's guidance. I would add that as vice-chair of the Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs, I am certainly ready, able and willing to table the committee's report at the soonest and nearest convenience of this House.

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

It is not often we get to bring out House of Commons Procedure and Practice, but I thought we would do that.

On the same page that was quoted, in the section “Questions Concerning Matters Before Committees”, footnote 92 cites pages 10,207 and 10,208:

On occasion, questions directed to committee Chairs have been answered by Ministers and points of order have been raised. For example, during Question Period, opposition Members twice addressed questions to the Chair of a standing committee and the Government House Leader responded.... In the 2008 example, the Liberal House Leader rose the following day on a point of order and asked the Speaker if someone other than the Chair of a committee could respond to a question concerning the agenda of a committee. The Speaker advised that his role is to “take a look at those who are standing to answer and choose who is going to answer”.

I can say that during today's session, no hands went up on Zoom and no other vice-chair stood up. The person who asked the question could not answer the question. Therefore, the government House leader was the one who got to answer that question, because he did stand to answer it.

However, we will look at it further. I do not want to be revising this book, so it is probably going to stand, but we will have a further look at it as well. I appreciate the interest.

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]

Mr. Speaker, just to add a bit to it, the concern I would have is that the types of questions that could be posed to chairs, from what I understand, are somewhat limited, dealing strictly with the timing of things on a committee's agenda. For anything beyond that, as I understand, it should be the option of the government to determine who answers the question.

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

It is getting too deeply in the weeds, but yes, the questions have to be based on the agenda of the committee at hand. I appreciate that intervention as well.

COVID‑19 Rapid Test Procurement and Distribution

[Jean-Yves Duclos, Liberal, Minister of Health]

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to table, in both official languages, the report on COVID‑19 rapid test procurement and distribution.

Health

[Sean Casey, Liberal, Charlottetown, PE]

Mr. Speaker, I have the honour to present, in both official languages, the 10th report of the Standing Committee on Health, entitled “Addressing Canada’s Health Workforce Crisis”.

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

Court Challenges Program Act

[Ron McKinnon, Liberal, Coquitlam—Port Coquitlam, BC]

moved for leave to introduce Bill C-316, An Act to amend the Department of Canadian Heritage Act (Court Challenges Program).

Mr. Speaker, I am happy to introduce my private member's bill, which would enshrine the court challenges program into federal law. The court challenges program supports Canadians seeking to bring cases of national significance that protect our constitutional rights. It plays a vital role in ensuring that the government acts within the bounds of the Constitution and the Official Languages Act.

Enshrining this program into legislation would provide greater certainty for the program and allow it to continue its important work well into the future. It would send a strong message about the importance of protecting the rights of Canadians, and it would demonstrate Parliament's shared commitment to ensuring that the rights and freedoms guaranteed by the charter and the Official Languages Act are respected and upheld.

(Motions deemed adopted, bill read the first time and printed)

Health

[Bonita Zarrillo, NDP, Port Moody—Coquitlam, BC]

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to present a petition initiated by Ryan Hooey and the Canadian National Institute for the Blind on the importance of fully accessible insulin pumps for persons with diabetes.

Diabetes and sight loss are closely connected. Here in Canada, 25% of people with sight loss, one in four, have diabetic retinopathy. An estimated 750,000 Canadians live with this condition. Individuals living with sight loss and diabetes live independent lives but are unable to safely and independently use insulin pumps due to the lack of accessibility features.

That is why thousands of petitioners call upon the Government of Canada to ensure that Health Canada approval processes for new medical devices such as insulin pumps include an accessibility assessment, and to work with insulin pump manufacturers to address the safety concerns with the existing insulin pumps, expressed in the contraindications, and ensure that future contraindications are not considered for insulin pumps.

Taxation

[Lindsay Mathyssen, NDP, London—Fanshawe, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I am honoured today to stand in this place to present a petition signed by over 14,000 people from across the country.

Due to the fact that counselling therapy and psychotherapy have long been extremely beneficial tools for those seeking mental health supports, and that registered therapists and psychotherapists in Canada are required to charge GST and HST, while other service providers are exempt from charging this tax, the petitioners are calling on the government to remove that unfair GST/HST requirement for all counselling therapists and psychotherapists.

I have a private member's bill, Bill C-218, that would actually do just that.

The signatories of this petition are calling on the government to make these changes in a budgetary bill so that they will not be charged GST.

Iran

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

Madam Speaker, I rise today to present a petition on behalf of 5,381 signatories, who call to the attention of the government the atrocities that are happening in Iran.

Specifically, they are calling on the government to declare the entire Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps a terrorist entity. They are asking for the government to designate authorities to investigate reported threats and stalking by the IRGC against Iranian Canadians and their third party agents. They are further asking the government to create legislation to revoke visas of Iranian officials and their families living in Canada who have embezzled billions of dollars into Canada through business fronts and properties.

They are asking for Canada's allies to end all negotiations with Iran and to provide continuous support to Iranians fighting for regime change by opening discussion between world leaders and the Iranian people to support the transition to a secular, democratic Iran.

The Environment

[Don Davies, NDP, Vancouver Kingsway, BC]

Madam Speaker, I rise to introduce a petition signed by many constituents in the Lower Mainland of British Columbia, who point out that Canada has signed the 2030 Nature Compact, which commits us to halt and reverse biodiversity loss by 2030.

They point out that the Fraser delta is recognized as a Ramsar wetland of international importance, a western hemisphere shorebird reserve network site and part of the southwest B.C. priority area. They point out that researchers have published peer-reviewed studies warning of extensive habitat loss and risk of ecological collapse on the Fraser River delta. Finally, they note that Environment and Climate Change Canada experts have warned of unmitigable and irreversible species-level risk to western sandpipers and shorebirds should the Roberts Bank terminal 2 project proceed as designed.

The petitioners are calling on the government to halt any further work on the proposed Roberts Bank terminal 2 project until a regional assessment of the cumulative impacts, environmentally, socially, culturally and economically, is complete to preserve this remarkable habitat.

Questions Passed as Orders for Returns

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

Madam Speaker, if the revised response to Question No. 1134, originally tabled on January 30, could be made an order for return, this return would be tabled immediately.

[The Assistant Deputy Speaker (Mrs. Alexandra Mendès), Liberal, Alexandra Mendes]

Is that agreed?

[Some hon. members]

Agreed.

Question No.1134—

[Blake Desjarlais, NDP, Edmonton Griesbach, AB]

With regard to government policies on funding directed towards First Nations, Inuit and Métis people, broken down by department since fiscal year 2015-16: (a) what policies, processes, and protocols exist to validate claims of Indigenous ancestry or Indigenous community; (b) what reviews or audits have been conducted to ensure that government funding has not been delivered to individuals, organizations, or companies that falsely claim an Indigenous identity; (c) is the government aware of any funding that has been allocated to individuals, organizations, or companies that falsely claimed an Indigenous identity; and (d) for each funding allocation in (c), how much funding has been recalled on the basis of false claims of Indigenous identity?

(Return tabled)

Questions Passed as Orders for Returns

[Kevin Lamoureux, Liberal, Winnipeg North, MB]

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

[The Assistant Deputy Speaker (Mrs. Alexandra Mendès), Liberal, Alexandra Mendes]

Is that agreed?

[Some hon. members]

Agreed.