Larry Miller

[Bruce Grey Music Hall of Fame, May 11th, 2015]

Mr. Speaker, it is with great pride that I rise in the House today to recognize the upcoming grand opening of the long-awaited Bruce Grey Music Hall of Fame.

The hall will officially open on June 7 and will be located in what was originally known as the Hepworth Country Music Auditorium.

The auditorium has a long music history with performances from several famous artists. It is said that Stompin' Tom Connors got his start at the auditorium when he asked if he could take the stage while the headliner took a break. I was there that night. The soon-to-be-open Hall of Fame will recognize all genres of local music and will highlight all local entertainers who have made their mark in Bruce Grey.

I would like to congratulate Bill Murdoch, Arnie Clark, Jim Merriam, and Kevin Moyse, for all the work they have put into this project.

As Stompin' Tom said in his farewell letter, the torch has been passed on to future artists to “keep the Maple Leaf flying high” in Canadian music. The Bruce Grey Music Hall of Fame will do just that by keeping local music in Bruce Grey alive for generations to come.

[Canada Shipping Act, 2001, May 6th, 2015]

Mr. Speaker, it is a pleasure to rise in the House today to speak to Bill C-638, An Act to amend the Canada Shipping Act, brought forward by the member from Nanaimo—Cowichan.

Our government is committed to the safety of mariners and the protection of the marine environment. We have ensured that responders are able to take action when dealing with the unique condition each wrecked vessel presents. The management of wrecks is certainly an important item. However, the private member's bill we are discussing today is unfortunately flawed in its approach to the management of wrecks.

I will use my time today to highlight the fact that the proposed amendments to the act from this bill will not result in an improved approach to managing vessels of concern. In fact, due to the new mandatory actions and the lack of owner responsibility contained in this bill, these changes could instead hinder Canada's management of these kinds of vessels.

As the member's bill proposes changes that will also impact the Canadian Coast Guard, I will also take this opportunity to inform the House on how the current system addresses environmental concerns from ships.

The Canada Shipping Act authorizes the Minister of Transport to designate persons or classes of persons as receivers of wreck. Bill C-638 proposes to make significant changes to part 7 of this act.

Currently, employees of Transport Canada are designated as receivers of wreck under the act. This bill proposes to expand this power to also designate the Canadian Coast Guard as a receiver of wreck as well. The Canadian Coast Guard's objective is to keep our waterways safe and accessible across the country. The brave men and women of the Coast Guard save the lives of countless boaters and sailors through search and rescue missions. Our fleet provides icebreaking services to keep commercial traffic and ferries moving across Canada. In the north, the Coast Guard delivers vital supplies to isolated communities.

The Coast Guard is currently the lead federal agency for all marine pollution from ships or mystery sources in Canadian waters.

When it comes to environmental response from the Canadian Coast Guard, our government has taken real action to protect Canadians and the environment. We have ensured that the Canadian Coast Guard has the capacity to respond quickly to marine pollution incidents across Canada. For example, the Coast Guard has official environmental response managers located across the country, in addition to approximately 80 equipment depots nationwide.

The Coast Guard is involved in all aspects of a response, actively engaging with its partners and stakeholders. Through this program, the Coast Guard's environmental response regime is world-class and ensures safe and accessible waterways for Canadians. When a ship is determined to be an environmental threat, the Coast Guard is there to protect our rivers and oceans. Responders consider the best course of action to address the threat, keeping sure our waterways are safe and healthy.

This brings me to my first point regarding this bill, which is the proposal to designate the Canadian Coast Guard as a receiver of wreck. The fact is that the Canadian Coast Guard cannot be designated a permanent receiver of wreck. Under federal legislation the Coast Guard is not a separate legal entity in and of itself. It is considered part of the Department of Fisheries and Oceans. Therefore, the Canadian Coast Guard, as an organization, cannot be a receiver of wreck or make regulations regarding their management.

My second concern regarding this bill is that it negatively impacts the ability of responders to determine the best course of action for a vessel. The current legislation allows receivers of wreck to assess each wreck on a case-by-case basis. This gives them the ability to determine the right course of action, depending on the realities on the ground. This is important to safeguard the ability of the responders to do a thorough risk assessment in order to understand the condition of the vessel, and to determine the best action to take. Each wreck is a different case, each with its own unique considerations. The reality is that these situations demand a tailor-made response. As this bill lacks a mechanism for responding to the most serious situations, it may cause responders to divert their attention and resources from more pressing vessels.

These amendments call for a sweeping change that would not address the real issue that many of these vessels are abandoned or uncared for in the first place.

That brings me to my next point. The bill does not require any additional responsibility to be borne by the vessel owners. The bill only focuses on the removal, disposal, or destruction of wrecked vessels. It does not include any requirements for vessel owners to prevent a ship from becoming a wreck or falling into disrepair.

It is important for there to be a balance between mandated government action and personal responsibility, the absence of which would cause the Canadian taxpayer to become the collector of wrecks. This bill does not contain much-needed additional requirements.

Without consideration of the obligation of vessels owners to mind their ships, this change could attract those who no longer want their vessels.

In conclusion, I cannot support this bill. It is flawed in its drafting regarding designating the Coast Guard organization. It mandates new obligations while not considering the unique conditions of these vessels. Finally, it does not offer any new requirements on owners for keeping their boats in good order to begin with.

The management of wrecks is an important discussion to have; however, this bill would not achieve results for Canadians. These sweeping changes would not result in better services for Canadians or improve protection of the environment.

For the reasons I have discussed this evening, I ask that members of this House join with me in opposing the bill.

[Committees of the House, May 4th, 2015]

Mr. Speaker, I have the honour to present, in both official languages, the eighth report of the Standing Committee on Transport, Infrastructure and Communities in relation to Bill C-52, An Act to amend the Canada Transportation Act and the Railway Safety Act. The committee has studied the bill and has decided to report the bill to the House with amendments.

[The Budget, April 22nd, 2015]

Mr. Speaker, I have had a lot of feedback, as I am sure all of us have in regard to what was just a terrific budget yesterday, and I particularly heard from a lot of small business owners. I just had an email not very long ago from a small-businessman who started up about five years. The business has built up and it now has 18 employees. It is a family business. He and his wife were just thrilled to see the small business income tax rate lowered from 11% to 9%. He said that he was as happy as the devil and now he hears that the leader of the third party wants to reverse that if he wins the election.

I want to ask the member how he would respond to that constituent.

[Mark Reeds, April 20th, 2015]

Mr. Speaker, this past week has been a bittersweet time for the Owen Sound Attack alumni. On April 15, former Attack coach Mike Stothers was named AHL coach of the year. Stothers spent five seasons in Owen Sound and is the winningest coach in franchise history.

The day before, on April 14, hockey lost one of its finest. Former Attack coach and Ottawa Senators assistant coach Mark Reeds sadly lost his courageous battle with cancer.

Mark enjoyed an NHL career with the St. Louis Blues and Hartford Whalers. Reeds spent four seasons as the head coach of the Attack and led the team to its first OHL championship. His success in Owen Sound caught the attention of the Senators. Reeds was respected both as a player and as a coach and will be greatly missed by the hockey community.

Both Stothers and Reeds coached a number of players on their way to the big leagues, including Bobby Ryan, Andrew Shaw, Brad Richardson, and Wayne Simmonds. They were two exemplary coaches and Attack alumni.

To Mike Stothers, congratulations. Mark Reeds, thanks for the memories, and rest in peace.

[Committees of the House, March 12th, 2015]

Mr. Speaker, it is a pleasure to rise again to present, in both official languages, the fifth report of the Standing Committee on Transport, Infrastructure and Communities in relation to the supplementary estimates, 2014-15.

While I am up, I have the honour to present, in both official languages, the sixth report of the Standing Committee on Transport, Infrastructure and Communities in relation to the main estimates, 2015-16.

[Committees of the House, March 12th, 2015]

Mr. Speaker, I have the honour to present, in both official languages, the fourth report of the Standing Committee on Transport, Infrastructure and Communities in relation to its study of the review of the Canadian transportation safety regime, transportation of dangerous goods and safety management systems.

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

[Reform Act, 2014, February 18th, 2015]

Mr. Speaker, it is indeed a pleasure to rise today to speak to Bill C-586, a bill that my good friend and colleague, the member for Wellington—Halton Hills, has brought forward.

I would like to thank him for his fortitude in putting together the bill. If we are honest with each other, no one likes change, and change in this place is always hard to attain. So I thank him for staying with it. Our hon. colleague across the way, the member for Burnaby—Douglas, mentioned this as well. I think a lot of people in this place, knowing how the process works and how time-consuming it can be, find it discouraging at times. Therefore, I thank the member for staying with it.

I would also like to thank the Minister for Democratic Reform, the member for Nepean—Carleton. He was instrumental in working with the member for Wellington—Halton Hills in making changes to or tweaking the bill in a way that made it acceptable to the House. From the comments I have heard here, I think it is a very strong bill and that it will get very strong support. That is a good thing.

I will speak to some of the amendments to the bill, because I think they are key. However, before I do that we should go back in history and get to why we are where we are today and why we need some changes.

We cannot all be ministers. We cannot all be leaders of parties, but we are all members of Parliament. Whether I am a backbencher MP, the prime minister, or the leader of the opposition, my vote is the same. It is the same as yours, Mr. Speaker, when you are in your chair. We all have that vote. Our people send us here for that. Therefore, we have to protect it.

In about 1969 or 1970, former Prime Minister Trudeau made a statement that, if I had been a member that day, I am sure I would have been offended by. He basically said that backbenchers were nobodies. I think that was wrong then and is still wrong today. Anything we can do to empower all of us in this place is very important. That is what taxpayers around the country want.

Quite often in the House, because most people only see what happens at question period, they believe that we are always at odds with each other. In this debate and on some other bills we have had, of course there are differences of opinions and philosophies and that type of thing. We need to thank the member for being flexible enough to work with other parties to get something that was acceptable to everyone in Bill C-586. To hear that around this place is very nice and good to see.

The amendments I will speak to were adopted by the Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs. I want to explain how these modify the bill.

The member removed the requirement from the bill and Canada Elections Act that party leaders sign a candidate's nomination papers. That has never been an issue in the party that I belong to. Someone has to make sure that all the i's are dotted and the t's crossed. I cannot say that about all parties. Sometimes there is interference in nominations. At the end of the day, what will be improved by this bill is grassroots democracy, as people from the ridings will have more of a say in this. The changes under the bill would confer that power to nomination officers. Those changes would give that authority to a person or persons authorized by the party. Again, that change was made at the procedure and House affairs committee.

This amendment would remove overly prescriptive and outdated provisions and would provide political parties with greater flexibility. Parties, for the first time, would be able to determine their own processes for candidate sign-off, and that is a good thing. They can choose who to vest this power in rather than having it prescribed by law. That is a very key and positive change.

In addition, the committee adopted an amendment that would require the chief agent of each political party to submit a written report to the Chief Electoral Officer of Elections Canada containing the names of the persons designated by the party to endorse prospective candidates. The report would be submitted no later than 25 days before the polling date. This would ensure that Elections Canada and returning officers would be informed of who was authorized by the party to endorse prospective candidates, et cetera.

A consequential amendment was also adopted that would require a party to submit, within 10 days of the writ being issued for a general election, a statement with the names of the persons authorized to endorse prospective candidates in the election to the CEO of Elections Canada. These amendments to the Canada Elections Act are in keeping with the spirit of the reform proposed by the member for Wellington—Halton Hills.

There are a couple of amendments to the Parliament of Canada Act. I want to talk about those provisions and how they would change. The original proposals in the reform act sparked quite a lot of interest and debate in the House. One of the concerns raised was whether it was appropriate to legislatively regulate the governance of party caucuses, and it was a good discussion to have. In September of last year, the sponsor of the bill announced an amendment that would have each caucus decide whether it would be subject to the caucus rules outlined in the bill instead of the rules being imposed on it.

These amendments were made by the procedure and House affairs committee at the committee stage of the bill. They require that at the first meeting after a general election that each party caucus hold a separate vote to determine whether it wants to adopt the rules outlined in the bill regarding four things: the expulsion and readmission of a member; the election of a caucus chair; leadership reviews; and the election of an interim leader, should that be necessary. This would mean that four separate votes, one for each of these processes, would take place. One caucus may decide to adopt all of these processes while another may decide to adopt none of them or only the rules relating to leadership. What is important is that it is the decision of the caucus, and that is very valuable.

There are some other minor amendments and changes, but to wrap up, I want to pass on my support. The day that the member for Wellington—Halton Hills announced he would table this bill, I was at the press conference, and I have supported him from day one. I am very proud of that, and I will continue to support him. I urge all members in the House to stand in the House next Wednesday and support this.

[Protecting Taxpayers and Revoking Pensions of Convicted Politicians Act, February 4th, 2015]

Mr. Speaker, there was a bit of fun being had over here, with the consequence that I believe I voted twice. I want my first vote to count, not the last one.

[Rail service, February 2nd, 2015]

Mr. Speaker, it is a pleasure to rise today. I would like to wish everyone a happy Groundhog Day. I am kind of disappointed that you do not have your Wiarton Willie tie on today, Mr. Speaker, but I do.

I would like to thank the member for Sydney—Victoria for his motion. I know my colleague across the way as a fellow farmer and someone who cares for agriculture. I am a little surprised that he brought something forward in a motion and not a private member's bill. However, I am happy to be able to speak to it.

I rise today to outline the critical role the rail sector plays in Canada and to highlight the importance of the rail transportation system to Canada's overall economic success. I know that all members of the House support our efforts to ensure that the system is working effectively for Canadians.

Canada's railways, led by Canadian National, Canadian Pacific, and a number of short lines, are vital to our success as a global economic competitor, as a partner in the North American economy, and as a community that stretches from coast to coast to coast.

As we know, the first trans-Canada rail system was completed on November 7, 1885. It was a system that was central to the development of our country then, and its importance has only increased over time. Today we have one of the largest rail networks in the world, with more than 46,000 kilometres of track. Canadians and Canadian businesses depend on rail to transport goods to market efficiently and safely, and move goods they do. In 2012, our railways moved 337 million tonnes of goods.

In particular, railways play a vital role in moving our bulk commodities, such as minerals, oil and gas, agricultural goods, and forest products, to locations across North America and to port positions for export overseas.

The railways play an equally important role in moving imported goods, on which Canadians and Canadian businesses rely, from ports in B.C., Halifax, and Montreal to various locations across Canada. It is because of all of this that we must ensure that the rail system in Canada continues to operate as efficiently, effectively, and reliably as possible.

Allow me to provide members with some specifics. In 2013, Canadian railways moved 16.4% of Canada's exports and 8.5% of its imports, when measured by value. This includes $30 billion in automobiles, $10.6 billion in chemical products, $9.5 billion in forest products, $8.2 billion in metals, and $3.5 billion in agriculture and food products.

While the system works effectively most of the time, situations do arise, as they do in any industry, that require prompt and effective government intervention. In that regard, last winter, the government took decisive action to respond to rail transportation challenges that emerged, particularly on the prairies. We did this in support of farmers and to address the impact these challenges were having on our reputation as a global supplier of grain and on our economy overall. We all know that there were a number of factors that led to that decision last year, including one of the worst winters in memory.

The actions the government took required railways to move minimum amounts of grain, ensured that shippers in Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba had competitive rail transportation options, better-defined operational terms in service level agreements, allowed shippers to use the level of service provision in the Canada Transportation Act to seek compensation for any expenses they incurred as a result of the railways' failure to meet their service obligations, and required railways to provide additional information to Transport Canada to enhance monitoring of the rail-based supply chain. As a result, I am pleased to report to the House that this winter, the transportation of grain is progressing well.

This government understands that the key to good transportation policy is to understand emerging trends and to respond appropriately. We have taken action in recent years to improve competitiveness and to expand transparency in the rail transportation system. For example, the Fair Rail Freight Service Act, which received Royal Assent on June 26, 2013, creates a strong incentive for shippers and railways to negotiate service agreements commercially.

Likewise, our enhancements to the grain monitoring program and our enhanced support for supply chain stakeholders' collaboration were designed to improve supply chain performance over the longer term.

As the Minister of Transport has said, Canada's transportation system is crucial for our government's goals to create jobs, promote growth, and support families and communities. I would like to take this opportunity to welcome the minister back to the House and wish her all the best of health.

While we know that the actions we have taken in recent years have strengthened our transportation system and our economic future, we have not rested on these past successes. Indeed, last June the Minister of Transport launched a statutory review of the Canada Transportation Act. She appointed six eminent Canadians to lead this arm's-length review, with the Hon. David L. Emerson leading the review and with five advisers representing a broad range of transportation perspectives and industry experience in various regions of the country ably supporting him. I understand that their work is well under way.

Let me reaffirm that our government regularly reviews its policies and regulations to ensure they serve Canada's current and future needs.

This review provides us with a unique opportunity to consider how the national transportation system can best be leveraged to support Canada's continuing economic growth. It reaffirms the government's commitment to meeting the transportation challenges and opportunities of the next decade in a sustainable manner.

The chair will be guided by the terms of reference established by the minister, which determine the scope for the review, including provisions of the act that are relevant to the transportation of grain by rail and more broadly to the rail-based supply chain for all commodities. This will take into account the broader goal of a commercially based, market-driven multi-modal transportation system that delivers the best possible service in support of economic growth and prosperity.

The review panel's work, which will involve engagement and advice from all interested parties and produce a report for the Minister of Transport by the end of the year, will play an important role in informing any government action to further strengthen the safety, efficiency, and competitiveness of Canada's transportation system.

This is a valuable process, one that we do not want to pre-empt or prejudge. I think it is important to underscore that the panel's work will benefit from extensive input from all interested stakeholders, and we are confident that it will strike the right balance between the needs of the users of the transportation system and those of the providers, while striving to support the broad goals of a safe, efficient, competitive, and sustainable transportation system in Canada.

Let me repeat that this government has taken decisive action to respond to challenges in the transportation system in the past, including a series of measures just months ago that are proving effective in dealing with recent challenges in the grain transportation system. Let me also assure the House that our government will continue to take whatever action is necessary to respond to challenges and support an effective transportation system in whatever form is most appropriate—legislation, collaboration, or any other means that produces results.

We remain fully committed to ensuring that the transportation system serves the needs of Canadians and fully supports the economy for the benefit of all Canadians.

In closing, I want to thank the member for Sydney—Victoria. As I said earlier, I know he sincerely supports anything that benefits agriculture, but at the same time I have to ask him to recognize the good work that has been done in the agriculture industry, which we both have been involved in for years. It changes and evolves all the time. This government has to do the best that we can to change with that evolution. I think our record speaks for itself. I will continue to work with him and other members of the committee in the future, and I can stand here and say that the minister will as well.