Larry Bagnell

[National Security Act, 2017, November 20th, 2017]

Madam Speaker, I appreciate the member's speech and thoughtful consideration of the bill.

I have two questions. One, the member mentioned certain things that CSIS would not be able to do without a warrant, but there are a number of things they could do without a warrant. Could the member let the public know about some of those things?

Two, he seemed to suggest that the police and CSIS could not stop a terrorist act that was about to occur. However, as the member probably knows, under the Criminal Code already, with regard to any security legislation, the police, who should of course be working closely with CSIS domestically, can legally stop any criminal act that is about to occur, whether a terrorist act or any other criminal act.

[Porcupine Caribou Herd, November 8th, 2017]

[Member spoke in Gwich'in]

[English]

Mr. Speaker, this week the Gwich'in people of Yukon and the NWT are passionately lobbying senators, and their staff in Washington in a desperate plight to save the porcupine caribou herd and the livelihood that has sustained them for thousands of years.

The legislation permitting drilling in the pristine Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, the calving grounds of the herd, is pending shortly in Washington, despite our battle of three decades against it.

We had a good day this week lobbying Congress. Kudos to CPAWS Yukon, who collected, in less than two weeks, over 6,000 signatures on a supporting petition. Please sign it.

Kudos to the Yukon Government and Canadian Wildlife Service, who joined us in Washington. Thanks to the Ministers of Environment, Global Affairs, Crown-Indigenous Relations, and the Prime Minister for their unwavering support.

A special thanks to Canadian Ambassador MacNaughton, and the embassy staff, who have fought this battle for three decades to help the Gwich'in people save the caribou that are their lives, their hearts, and their souls.

[Budget Implementation Act, 2017, No. 2, November 7th, 2017]

Mr. Speaker, what is the member's plan to deal with the climate change crisis the world faces? I will give him a minute to think about it, because it may not be the number one priority for his party. I will make two comments while he is doing that.

First, it is fascinating how the Conservatives can make a loss out of a great win, and that is on the deficit. It has gone down from what was predicted because of the flourishing economy, and that is a great news story.

The other point is related to the fact that employment is at the highest in 10 years, as is growth, which was called “dismal”. Therefore, if the adjective for that is “dismal”, I wonder what the adjective for the Conservative record is.

[Budget Implementation Act, 2017, No. 2, November 7th, 2017]

Mr. Speaker, increasing the Canada child benefit, for instance, for lots of low-income aboriginal people, indigenous people, and others in my riding is crucial. As the member said, it is not taxable. There are 5,840 children in Yukon who receive this, an average amount of $6,240. Will the increases we gave to low-income seniors, low-income students, and the working income tax benefit contribute to the economy? Obviously, all of these people are going to reinvest that money right away. They really need it.

I will clarify what two opposition members said on northern benefits. We have increased the northern benefit so that people living in the far regions of the north get an increase, which was delightful for the north. Over three years, we will put in $89.9 million for indigenous language and cultures, so we agree with the NDP on that.

[Budget Implementation Act, 2017, No. 2, November 7th, 2017]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to add a perfect example of what the parliamentary secretary just said about not being in accord with Bill C-17, which hopefully we will get passed soon and have this dealt with that way.

It was great she mentioned access to resources. The Prime Minister was recently in my riding and announced $247 million, maybe the biggest announcement ever, for infrastructure. For time immemorial, the northern premiers and politicians have been arguing that the resources are there but we cannot access them.

On top that, for a lot of the rural and remote communities, there are infrastructure projects for almost every community I have announced so far, which have put so many people to work. We now are basically at full employment economically.

Has the member had the same experience in her riding with investment in infrastructure and the great economic benefits that has had?

[Committees of the House, November 7th, 2017]

Mr. Speaker, I have the honour to present, in both official languages, the 44th report of the Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs. The Committee advises that, pursuant to Standing Order 91.1(2), the Subcommittee on Private Members’ Business met to consider the items added to the order of precedence on Monday, October 23, 2017, and recommended that the items listed herein, which it has determined should not be designated non-votable, be considered by the House.

[Committees of the House, November 1st, 2017]

Mr. Speaker, on this 4-H day, I have the honour to table, in both official languages, the 43rd report of the Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs.

The committee advises that, pursuant to Standing Order 91.1(2), the Subcommittee on Private Members' Business met to consider the order for the second reading of private members' bills introduced in the Senate and recommended that the item listed herein, which it has determined should not be designated non-votable, be considered by the House.

[Yukon Environmental and Socio-Economic Assessment Act, October 26th, 2017]

Mr. Speaker, I am enjoying the speech, the treatise on western civilization and diamonds around the world, but we do not have diamond mines in the Yukon at the moment. However, on a point of relevance, I would appreciate it, and Yukoners would appreciate it, if we could concentrate more on this bill that would enhance mining.

[Yukon Environmental and Socio-Economic Assessment Act, October 26th, 2017]

Mr. Speaker, I am more excited about the member's speech than any others today, for several reasons. First, the member is absolutely right. I learned The Cremation of Sam McGee in grade 3. It is why I moved to Yukon and became chair of the Yukon Robert Service Society. I thank the member for bringing back those old memories.

The other reason I love the speech so much is the three main points the member made related to the bill. I am assured now that he will vote for the bill, because they were all in favour of Bill C-17. The first was that if it is different, will people invest there? People will certainly invest there because, as I mentioned to the media this morning, there is full employment there, unlike the rest of the country, because people are investing there. If it has a better assessment regime than anywhere else in the country, it will encourage people to invest. In fact, one of the most senior mining executives in Canada said that to me yesterday. At an assessment forum here yesterday, I was talking to someone yesterday about an assessment in another part of the country that in fact included four assessments, whereas this regime has only one assessment.

The other point the member brought up was by the grand chief of the Council of Yukon First Nation, who believes that it would change the distribution of power to a bilateral one not in the spirit of the treaty. All the comments you raised were criticisms of Bill S-6, the previous bill, the one we are changing. It is great that you have raised them, and since all of your points were in favour of this bill and against the previous one, I am delighted that you will be voting for it.

[Yukon Environmental and Socio-Economic Assessment Act, October 26th, 2017]

Mr. Speaker, my point of order also applies to other speakers. Basically, it is on relevance, and I know how you will rule. However, the lead critics from both parties could not even fill their entire speech on this. I do not think there is anything new that anyone in the House can add to the bill. Because of the goodwill of all parties and how co-operative they have been so far, I hope we will not continue with irrelevance or repetition so we can get on we other important work of the House.