Bruce Hyer

[Anti-terrorism Act, 2015, February 18th, 2015]

Mr. Speaker, as a former adjudicator myself, I am quite alarmed by Bill C-51. It is not, in my opinion, primarily directed against terrorism. Let us look the definition of “illegality”: “activities that undermine the security of Canada”. That is so vague and broad that it could apply to nearly any action taken in an act of non-violent civil disobedience or to groups even considering such actions. Maybe a better name for the bill would have been “an act to monitor and suppress the raging grannies”.

My question for the hon. member is this: what would stop the bill from being used against philosophical and political enemies of the party in power?

[Petitions, February 18th, 2015]

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

The first one is from citizens of Thunder Bay—Superior North who are concerned about the nuclear waste management organization's plan to perhaps bury nuclear waste from southern Ontario in northern Ontario, especially in the Lake Superior watershed, which supplies drinking water indirectly to 60 million people in the Great Lakes Basin, which holds over 20% of the world's fresh water.

The petitioners ask that the proposals be rejected and that transport through Thunder Bay—Superior North also be rejected.

The second petition is with regard to climate change. The petitioners say that the economic costs will be in the tens of billions of dollars annually, that flooding damages to a variety of coastlines will occur and that there are many other effects as well.

The petitioners want us to invest in climate adaptations.

[Petitions, February 17th, 2015]

Mr. Speaker, I have a petition from Canadians from B.C. and from coast to coast concerned about student loan fairness. They want to see us create a federal need-based grant system for Canada's student loans that reduces the federal student loan interest rate, creates the federal student loan ombudsperson, and helps defer payments for those who have massive student loans through their undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral work.

[Parliamentary Precinct Security, February 16th, 2015]

Mr. Speaker, I am a former police officer. I have observed the behaviour of the House security guards and the RCMP on the outside for six and a half years, and I have a practical question.

As usual, the hon. member for the Northwest Territories was philosophically elegant and eloquent today. However, I have a practical question for him, which is this. Why is it when the security guards, who he has pointed out do a great job, were effective last October 22, whereas the problem occurred outside with the Mounties? Why would we be handing it over to the guys who screwed up instead of handing it over to the guys who do a good job and always have?

[Petitions, February 16th, 2015]

Mr. Speaker, I find it interesting that I am still receiving petitions from across Canada regarding the Canada-China FIPA. They are decrying it, and asking the government not to make it happen.

As we know, cabinet has already approved it, but I am still receiving petitions asking us not to do this silly thing.

[Infrastructure, February 16th, 2015]

Mr. Speaker, our cities have crumbling infrastructure. We are the only G20 country with no national housing strategy. For decades the feds have downloaded onto the provinces, and the provinces onto the municipalities. So when will the Conservatives stop subsidizing undertaxed multinational corporations like big oil and start working with mayors to invest in critical infrastructure like public transit, municipal housing, and important projects like the proposed event centre in Thunder Bay?

[The Environment, February 3rd, 2015]

Mr. Speaker, we know that we need to price carbon, but we have two parties with no plan to price carbon and one party with a flawed and ineffective plan. Citizens' Climate Lobby has an excellent plan to reduce both carbon and poverty. Will the government consider the carbon pricing system that is not a tax and will put money into pockets of Canadian families, the carbon fee and dividend?

[Petitions, January 28th, 2015]

Mr. Speaker, I have a petition from people across Canada who are concerned about the use, for the past 70 years, of tens of thousands of chemicals, many of them cancer causing, which resonates with me as a cancer survivor.

The petitioners are concerned that these chemicals are ubiquitous, that they are in our air, water and food. They ask for two things: that there be a royal commission on the environment and health to look at the full suite of new chemicals and to make recommendations regarding them; and to apply the precautionary principle when dealing with new chemicals.

[Natural Resources, January 28th, 2015]

Mr. Speaker, eastern Canada imports 80% of its oil from places like Arabia and Venezuela, the world's most expensive and risky oil, while we export twice as much as we import, as well as the jobs that go with it, as raw crude to the U.S.A. at a 20% to 30% discount.

Why do we buy high and sell low, and why are we the only member of the G20 with no national energy strategy?

[Petitions, January 26th, 2015]

Mr. Speaker, I have a petition from hundreds of Canadians from across the entire country who are concerned about the northwest pipeline in B.C. They are very concerned about it, but the particular focus of the petition is that they want the government to allow the National Energy Board and the regulatory agencies to do their work, to not interfere in the process, and to stop supporting the pipeline project explicitly.