House of Commons photoWon his last election, in 2011, with 69% of the vote.
Justice March 4th, 2010
Mr. Speaker, let me start again. They do not want to hear this.
In the last session of Parliament, the Liberal leader's senators delayed and gutted our tough on crime legislation at every turn. Now the Liberals are again preparing to block important justice legislation, this time in both the House of Commons and the Senate.
Could the Minister of Justice please tell the House what this government plans to do to stand up for victims and the—
Justice March 4th, 2010
Mr. Speaker, in the last session of Parliament, the Liberal leader's senators delayed and gutted our tough on crime legislation at every turn. Now we hear that the Liberals are again preparing to block important justice legislation, this time in the House of Commons and the Senate.
Petitions December 8th, 2009
Mr. Speaker, the second petition that I would like to present is also from many residents in and around the area of Saltcoats in my constituency. They call upon the federal government, as it is considering ending the current moratorium on post office closures, to instruct Canada Post to maintain, expand and improve postal services.
The federal government has introduced legislation to legalize the activities of remailers, which would erode the revenue of the Canada Post Corporation needed to maintain its current universal service obligation. As our public post office plays a key role in our social and economic life by providing the infrastructure that healthy communities need to thrive and businesses need to grow, the petitioners call upon the Government of Canada to maintain the moratorium on post office closures and to withdraw the legislation to legalize remailers.
Petitions December 8th, 2009
Mr. Speaker, I have two petitions that I would like to present. The first petition is from many of my constituents in the Yorkton and Esterhazy areas. The petitioners call upon members of the House of Commons to respectfully reject private member's Bill C-384, which seeks to legalize euthanasia and assisted suicide.
The petitioners say that legalized euthanasia speaks of a culture of death, of giving someone else the right to kill another and is not about compassion, dignity, love or care, but is deliberate killing. As Canadians we stand behind palliative care where intention is crucial, where pain is managed responsibly, and people are embraced and cared for with dignity.
The petitioners need to be assured that we will oppose and prohibit euthanasia and assisted suicide in Canada. They are asking that we reject Bill C-384.
Committees of the House December 7th, 2009
Mr. Speaker, I have the honour to present, in both official languages, the fourth and fifth reports of the Standing Committee on Public Safety and National Security. The fourth report is in relation to Bill C-34, An Act to amend the Criminal Code and other Acts, and the fifth report is on the statutory review of the Sex Offender Information Registration Act.
Firearms Registry November 2nd, 2009
Mr. Speaker, responsible firearms owners in Canada are delighted that their time has finally come. Just two days from now, members of Parliament will have the golden opportunity to start dismantling the useless long gun registry by voting in favour of private member's Bill C-391.
The registry has not saved a single life beyond the political lives of a select few who pretend the registry is effective. It has escalated to costing 500 times the amount originally estimated, which makes the cost of this registry the most excessive program overrun in the history of Canada. It is a tangled mess of unnecessary red tape for hunters, farmers and sport shooters.
This week, the Canadian Taxpayers Federation said:
The long-gun registry has been a wasteful fiasco from inception through execution.
We could not agree more. On November 4, we urge all MPs to gaze boldly at the big picture and support Bill C-391.
Ending Conditional Sentences for Property and Other Serious Crimes Act October 26th, 2009
Madam Speaker, I will make this question very brief in order to give an opportunity for the member to answer the questions that the Minister of State for Democratic Reform asked regarding the gun registry and which the member very cleverly avoided answering.
Will he be accountable to his constituents? Will he tell them publicly now how he is going to vote on that and on conditional sentencing?
Petitions October 20th, 2009
Madam Speaker, I have a petition from my constituents, mainly from the town of Esterhazy, who express concern that the current moratorium on post office closures may end. Our public post office plays a key role in our social and economic life by providing infrastructure for healthy communities to thrive and for businesses to grow with the assistance of the local post office. They call upon the Government of Canada to maintain the moratorium on post office closures and withdraw the legislation to legalize remailers. They call upon the Government of Canada to instruct Canada Post to maintain, expand and improve postal services.
Universal Declaration on Animal Welfare October 1st, 2009
Mr. Speaker, I would also like to thank the member for Scarborough Southwest for bringing forth this motion.
The Government of Canada takes issues of animal welfare very seriously indeed and is committed to improving the living standards of animals both here at home and around the globe. I will highlight some of the various ways in which our government has already acted on this issue.
Before I do that, I want to mention that I represent a riding in Saskatchewan that is heavily dependent on agriculture. It is important to know what impact this declaration will have on farmers and ranchers of all types. They hold me, as their representative, responsible to ask the question, what impact will this have on those who are in these occupations?
Our government along with the provinces enforce humane slaughter regulations which apply in federally and provincially registered facilities. We also uphold humane transport regulations which apply throughout Canada, whether by land, air or sea. Canadian livestock and poultry producers, livestock haulers and processors have made great strides to improve farm animal welfare, such as the certified livestock training program for livestock and poultry transporters.
Moreover, this government has taken a number of steps to improve animal welfare over the years. For instance, we have amended protocols for the seal harvest and we have tightened sanctions against acts of animal cruelty through provisions in the Criminal Code.
Our government is continuing to carry out innovative research in conjunction with universities to explore ways to assess and improve the welfare of animals on farms, including improving housing conditions for livestock. The National Farm Animal Care Council provides a key means to ensure the well-being of farm animals in Canada.
With respect to animals used in research, the federal granting agencies have set requirements that animals must be handled in accordance with the principles and guidelines set out by the Canadian Council on Animal Care.
These and a number of other related initiatives continue to be supported and advanced under the responsibilities of my hon. colleague, the Minister of Agriculture.
With our partners in the provinces, a wide variety of similar steps have been taken to address this issue to ensure that a high standard of animal welfare in Canada is vigorously pursued. For instance, provincial veterinary licensing bodies have taken steps to encourage veterinarians to report instances of animal abuse.
Lastly, there are a number of non-governmental organizations in Canada that are actively working toward improving animal welfare. The Canadian Veterinary Medical Association, to name one, has identified animal welfare as a top priority and has produced a series of animal welfare position statements.
I see my time is up. I will finish my speech next time.
Universal Declaration on Animal Welfare October 1st, 2009
Mr. Speaker, Canadian activism on the issue of animal welfare could detract from the pursuit of these clear Canadian priorities, keeping in mind that the process of lobbying for support and negotiating texts at the United Nations can be a lengthy and energy consuming process.
For these reasons, the government prefers to see the important issue of animal welfare addressed by international institutions other than the United Nations and not be diminished in their importance, institutions which are already focused on this issue and have made valuable progress on this issue already.
The primary such institution is the World Organisation for Animal Health, of which Canada is an active and founding member. In this capacity, Canada already actively works to coordinate its activities with those of the international community, including through the development and implementation of international standards.
It is appropriate for Canada to continue its approach on animal welfare issues through this existing framework, rather than proposing a new mandated area of responsibility for the United Nations. This is not our role in the international community of member nations.
The government believes strongly that the World Organisation for Animal Health should continue to be the primary established international body for developing and improving science-based animal welfare standards.
The government supports the principle and general spirit of the motion and recognizes the laudable goals of a universal declaration on animal welfare. However, government support of this motion must be on condition that reference to the United Nations be removed as this issue is best dealt with by an existing organization responsible for animal welfare issues, the World Organisation for Animal Health.
Furthermore, I have to raise the important fact that any universal declaration on animal welfare could potentially carry long-term consequences, which we are not today in a position to predict. Because there is at present no accepted international text for such a declaration, such a text must first be negotiated by the appropriate international body. The final document could conceivably include provisions that the current proponents would never have intended, or they could include provisions that would be contrary to the national interests of Canada and the well-being of Canadians.
It would be unwise for Canada to commit itself to adopting a certain document under international negotiation before being fully able to assess that document's implications on domestic law. For that reason, the government could only support this motion if it were made clear that we support the underlying principle, but that we maintain the flexibility to be able to judge the final document based on its content rather than on its spirit.
This position is consistent with our government's approach to this issue in 2007, when we supported, in principle, the development of a universal declaration on animal welfare at the World Organisation for Animal Health. We continue to support this goal.
I therefore move that Motion No. 354 be amended as follows:
That, the words “at the United Nations as well as” be removed, that the words “and adoption” be removed, and that the words “in principle” be inserted in its place.
The motion would then read as follows:
That, in the opinion of the House, the government should support, in principle, the development of a Universal Declaration on Animal Welfare at all relevant international organizations and forums.