Debates of Feb. 5th, 2024

Opposition Motion—Carbon Tax

[The Speaker, Liberal, Greg Fergus]

It being 3:13 p.m., the House will now proceed to the taking of the deferred recorded division on the motion of the member for Carleton relating to the business of supply.

Call in the members.

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

Vote #625

Business of Supply

[The Speaker, Liberal, Greg Fergus]

I declare the motion lost.

The House resumed from February 2 consideration of the motion that Bill C‑57, An Act to implement the 2023 Free Trade Agreement between Canada and Ukraine, be read the third time and passed, and of the amendment.

Canada–Ukraine Free Trade Agreement Implementation Act, 2023

[The Speaker, Liberal, Greg Fergus]

The House will now proceed to the taking of the deferred recorded division on the amendment of the member for Dufferin—Caledon to the motion at third reading of Bill C‑57.

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

Vote #626

[The Speaker, Liberal, Greg Fergus]

I declare the amendment lost.

I wish to inform the House that because of the deferred recorded divisions, Government Orders will be extended by 24 minutes.

Finance

[Peter Fonseca, Liberal, Mississauga East—Cooksville, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I have the honour to present, in both official languages, the 15th report of the Standing Committee on Finance in relation to Bill C-323, an act to amend the Excise Tax Act with respect to mental health services. The committee is requesting an extension of 30 days to consider Bill C-323.

[The Speaker, Liberal, Greg Fergus]

Pursuant to Standing Order 97.1(3)(a), a motion to concur in the report is deemed moved, the question deemed put and a recorded division deemed demanded and deferred until Wednesday, February 7, at the expiry of the time provided for Oral Questions.

Fossil Fuel Advertising Act

[Charlie Angus, NDP, Timmins—James Bay, ON]

moved for leave to introduce Bill C-372, An Act respecting fossil fuel advertising.

Mr. Speaker, last summer, 200,000 Canadians were forced out of their homes from toxic fumes. Children were unable to go outside, and there were asthma attacks in elderly people from toxic pollution caused by burning fossil fuels. There are more people dying every year from pollution caused by fossil fuels than from tobacco.

The big tobacco moment has arrived. We know that big oil has done years of disinformation and interference and false claims about the damage it is doing to the planet, but it is also killing people.

Today, I am proud to rise and introduce a bill that would make illegal false advertising by the oil and gas industry. The big tobacco moment has finally arrived for big oil. We need to put human health ahead of the lies of the oil sector.

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

Criminal Code

[Alexis Brunelle-Duceppe, Bloc, Lac-Saint-Jean, QC]

moved for leave to introduce Bill C‑373, An Act to amend the Criminal Code (promotion of hatred or antisemitism).

Mr. Speaker, it is an honour for me today to introduce this bill to amend the Criminal Code so that religious beliefs can never again be used as a justification for hate speech or words meant to incite violence under the Criminal Code.

It is very unfortunate that people in positions of influence, whether in the religious or civil domain, use their status to incite hatred and violence and sometimes even enjoy a certain impunity in that regard. The recent actions of a Montreal preacher are a shameful example.

This behaviour is unacceptable and must be punished. That is the purpose of our bill. We think that we need to take action as quickly as possible on this, particularly since the Israeli-Palestinian conflict could exacerbate tensions.

I invite the elected members of all parties in the House to join forces and to debate and pass this bill as quickly as possible.

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

First Responders Tax Credit

[Carol Hughes, NDP, Algoma—Manitoulin—Kapuskasing, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to table a petition. The petitioners indicate that volunteer firefighters account for 71% of Canada's total firefighting essential first responders, and that there are an additional approximately 8,000 essential search and rescue volunteers who respond to thousands of incidents each year.

The petitioners advise that the tax code allows these volunteer first responders to claim a $3,000 tax credit only if 200 hours of volunteer service are completed in the calendar year. That comes out to only about $450 a year, or $2.25 an hour, but if the volunteers work more than 200 hours, the tax credit becomes even less. They add that these essential volunteers not only put their lives on the line but also play an important role in keeping property taxes low in communities.

The petitioners are calling on the government to support Bill C-310, which would amend the Income Tax Act by increasing the volunteer firefighting and search and rescue volunteer services credit from $3,000 to $10,000.

Diversity and Inclusion

[Lloyd Longfield, Liberal, Guelph, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I have the honour to present in both official languages a petition from the members of the Dublin Street United Church in Guelph that draws the attention of the House to their concern about the growing rhetoric against trans and non-binary people. They are calling on the House to issue a strong government statement supporting gender identity, gender expression and the protection of trans people, including children; to enshrine into the Charter of Rights and Freedoms the important rights for trans and non-binary children, youth and adults already cited in Bill C-16; and to implement other awareness-raising measures to help counter this dangerous anti-trans rhetoric.

I thank the members of Dublin Street United for their advocacy.

Unsolicited Telephone Calls

[Brad Vis, Conservative, Mission—Matsqui—Fraser Canyon, BC]

Mr. Speaker, today I rise to present a petition on an anti-spam strategy.

Just this morning, like many Canadians, I was awoken by a call from some random number in China. In fact, in 2020 alone, 68,000 Canadians fell victim to fraud from spam calls, costing them approximately $379 million.

Constituents in my riding are demanding the government take this issue seriously. We all get annoyed by spam calls, and we all want them to stop.

Children and Families

[Pam Damoff, Liberal, Oakville North—Burlington, ON]

Mr. Speaker, it is my honour to table petition e-4517, signed by 1,140 Canadians who know that the use of parental alienation accusations in court is real and that it revictimizes abused women. The petitioners call on the government to make legislative changes to address the issue.

Seniors

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

Mr. Speaker, I rise to present a petition of deep concern for many of my constituents. Our tax system in many ways is a discriminatory system toward seniors who are single. Married seniors are able to take advantage of income splitting on pensions. Because of the treatment of RRSP with the death of one's spouse, that registered retirement fund or tax-free account can be rolled into the RRSP of the other spouse. Single seniors, at death, just have it added into income, and it affects their taxes in so many ways. The petitioners are begging the government to look at the reality for six million seniors in Canada. Over one-third of them are single seniors, and most of those seniors are women.

Fair taxation for seniors is the call of these single seniors. They ask for the government to review the situation, offer single seniors a reduction of 30% on their income to be taxed, and allow, upon death, single seniors with an RRSP, RRIF or TFSA to transfer it into one of their other savings accounts for the beneficiary of their choice. It is only fair.

Women and Gender Equality

[Leslyn Lewis, Conservative, Haldimand—Norfolk, ON]

Mr. Speaker, today I rise to present a petition that has been signed by almost 2,000 Canadians.

These petitioners are concerned about the security of women in women's spaces, including changing rooms, shelters and women's prisons. They are concerned about the trend across Canada of granting access to women's spaces based purely on self-identification. As such, they are calling upon the House of Commons to protect women's spaces through instituting guidelines and formulating policies that will protect the dignity and bodily autonomy of women and girls.

First Responders Tax Credit

[Richard Cannings, NDP, South Okanagan—West Kootenay, BC]

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to present a petition from members of my riding.

The petitioners point out that volunteer firefighters account for 71% of total Canadian firefighting first responders. Canada allows volunteer firefighters and search and rescue volunteers to claim a $3,000 tax credit if 200 hours of volunteer services were completed in a calendar year. That amounts to only about $450 for each member, which often does not cover the cost of their own gear.

Therefore, petitioners are asking the Government of Canada to increase the tax credit to $10,000 and to support Bill C-310, which would do just that. I hope every member of the House supports the bill.

Electoral Reform

[Frank Caputo, Conservative, Kamloops—Thompson—Cariboo, BC]

Mr. Speaker, it is always a pleasure to rise on behalf of the people of Kamloops—Thompson—Cariboo.

One of the things I really appreciate, regardless of whether I believe in a cause or not, is civic engagement. This particular instance of civic engagement recently came to me from about 185 of my constituents, who put forward the petition I have in my hand.

The petition is asking members of the House to consider electoral reform and to support Motion No. 86.

Ukraine

[Ben Carr, Liberal, Winnipeg South Centre, MB]

Mr. Speaker, it is an honour to rise today to present my first petition on behalf of constituents in my riding of Winnipeg South Centre.

The petitioners are asking for the House to swiftly adopt Bill C-57, the renewed Canada-Ukraine free trade agreement.

It is timely that the petition is being presented shortly after members opposite voted to disallow the bill from moving forward.

[The Speaker, Liberal, Greg Fergus]

As the hon. member knows, the Chair has made a ruling on what is permissible for presenting petitions. I will ask the hon. member to withdraw those comments and give a brief summary of the petition.

[Ben Carr, Liberal, Winnipeg South Centre, MB]

Mr. Speaker, I withdraw them and apologize. I draw the attention of the House to a remark I made earlier in the statement, which is that it is my first petition. I am learning the rules as we go.

I want to thank the constituents of Winnipeg South Centre who have put this petition forward. I represent one of the largest Ukrainian populations in Canada and am grateful they have chosen, alongside other members of my community, to engage in the democratic process through me by allowing me the opportunity to put the petition forward.

[Yvan Baker, Liberal, Etobicoke Centre, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I rise today on behalf of my constituents of Etobicoke Centre to present a petition concerning Bill C-57, the Canada-Ukraine free trade agreement. It was signed by over 60 of my constituents just last week. They are petitioning Parliament, including MPs on all sides, to support the Canada-Ukraine free trade agreement and pass it swiftly.

The petitioners note that President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and the Ukrainian Canadian Congress have called on the Parliament of Canada to swiftly adopt the legislation.

They note that the misinformation regarding Canada's carbon pricing scheme's having an effect on the agreement has been widely debunked. They ask all parliamentarians to affirm their unwavering support for Ukraine by swiftly passing Bill C-57, the Canada-Ukraine free trade agreement.

[Kevin Lamoureux, Liberal, Winnipeg North, MB]

Mr. Speaker, I am presenting a petition signed by residents of Winnipeg North, who are calling on all members of Parliament of all political parties to support the Canada-Ukraine trade agreement.

It is a very timely petition, and it is a pleasure for me table it.

Climate Change

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

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

The first petition is on behalf of members of my community who are calling the attention of the government to the warning by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change that rising temperatures over the next two decades will bring widespread devastation and extreme weather, and that the climate crisis requires a drastic reduction in greenhouse gas emissions to limit global warming to 1.5°C.

Therefore, they call upon 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 for a reduction in emissions by 2030.