Lynne Yelich

[Strengthening Military Justice in the Defence of Canada Act, October 22nd, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, my question is about the composition of the grievance board. It has been talked about this afternoon that 60% of the board should be made up of other than ex-military participants and they should not have a military background. In the defence act, clause 29 (16) refers to establishing the board by the Governor-in-Council. Then further on it says how every member, before commencing the duty of office, takes an oath. That says to me that the board perhaps should be made up of military participants. We know the integrity of the members and participants cannot be in question because they take an oath. Plus, being ex-military personnel, they could apply their expertise on the tribunal. This expertise and experience would be beneficial.

Could the member please comment on that and the makeup of the board and why she would not put her trust in ex-military participants on the grievance board.

[Strengthening Military Justice in the Defence of Canada Act, October 22nd, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, there have been repeated assertions by the hon. members opposite that none of the amendments made at committee to the predecessor Bill C-41 were retained in Bill C-15.

Is the hon. member aware that in fact two of the amendments made at committee are present in Bill C-15? They are found in clauses 101 and 135 of the bill. Could the member please clarify?

[Infrastructure, October 19th, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, I thank the member for Yellowhead, a member of our team, the Conservative team, remaining committed to creating jobs, growth and long-term prosperity.

I am proud to say that we are moving full steam ahead on the community infrastructure improvement fund. Our government will provide funding for dozens of projects that will help strengthen communities while creating jobs and growth.

Yes, this is a sharp contrast to the high-tax NDP that voted against this program. The NDP's 2011 election platform planned to raise over $21 billion in tax revenue from carbon tax, a job-killing carbon tax, increasing the price of everything from gas, groceries--

[Bill C-45—Jobs and Growth Act, 2012, October 19th, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, I rise on a point of order. There have been consultations and I think you would find unanimous consent for the following motion. I move:

That the House recognize that the provisions of Bill C-45 dealing with members' pensions should be enacted as quickly as possible, and passed without further debate;

That Bill C-45, a second act to implement certain provisions of the budget tabled in Parliament on March 29, 2012 and other measures, be divided into two bills: Bill C-45, a second act to implement certain provisions of the budget tabled in Parliament on March 29, 2012 and other measures, and Bill C-46, an act to amend the Members of Parliament Retiring Allowances Act; and

That Bill C-46 be composed of

(a) clauses 475 to 514 of Bill C-45, as it is presently composed,

(b) a clause, inserted before all of the other clauses, to provide that “This act may be cited as the Pension Reform Act”, and

(c) a clause, inserted after all of the other clauses, to provide that “This act comes into force, or is deemed to have come into force, on January 1, 2013”;

That Bill C-46 be deemed to have been read the second time and deemed referred to a committee of the whole, deemed reported without amendment, deemed concurred in at report stage and deemed read the third time and passed;

That Bill C-46 be composed of its remaining clauses;

That Bill C-45 retain the status on the order paper that it had prior to the adoption of this order;

That the Law Clerk and Parliamentary Counsel be authorized to make any technical changes or corrections as may be necessary; and

That Bills C-45 and C-46 be reprinted.

[Combating Terrorism Act, October 19th, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, I rise on a point of order. There have been consultations concerning the provisions of the second budget bill dealing with members' pensions. I hope to receive the unanimous consent of the House for the following motion. It is a slightly edited version of what was proposed by the Liberal House leader yesterday.

I move that the House recognize that the provisions of Bill C-45 dealing with members' pensions should be enacted as quickly as possible and passed without further debate; that Bill C-45, A second Act to implement certain provisions of the budget tabled in Parliament on March 29, 2012 and other measures, be divided into two bills: Bill C-45, a second act to implement certain provisions of the budget tabled in Parliament on March 29, 2012 and other measures; and Bill C-46, An Act to amend the Members of Parliament Retiring Allowances Act; and that Bill C-46 be composed of: (a) clauses 475 to 553 of Bill C-45 as it is presently composed; (b) a clause inserted before all of the other clauses to provide that this act may be cited as the pension reform act and; (c) a clause inserted after all of the other clauses to provide this act comes into force or is deemed to have come into force on January 1, 2013; that Bill C-46 be deemed to have been read the second time and deemed referred to committee of the whole, deemed reported without amendment, deemed concurred in at report stage and deemed read the third time and passed; that Bill C-45 be composed of the remaining clauses; that Bill C-45 retain the status on the order paper that it had prior the adoption of this order; that the law clerk and parliamentary counsel be authorized to make any technical changes or corrections as may be necessary; and that Bill C-45 and Bill C-46 be reprinted.

[Jobs, Growth and Long-term Prosperity Act, June 18th, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, part of our budget and our implementation bill would help the mining sector. People have asked us to make changes so the overlap of the assessments will be less cumbersome.

Our mineral production was $45.3 million and 21% of it was accounted for by Saskatchewan. That is a significant figure. Canada is a world leader in the production of potash and uranium. We rank fifth in the world for the production of aluminum, cobalt, sulphur, nickel and platinum and third in the world with respect to diamond production. All of these rely on good policies and lots of emphasis on efficiency and to ensure there are no barriers to the production of sustainable development in gas, oil and minerals.

The member does not seem to understand how important the budget is for aboriginal people in the north. We have invested in schools and in the University College of the North. Does she not appreciate the fact that we have put education high on the agenda—

[Jobs, Growth and Long-term Prosperity Act, June 18th, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, the member should understand that it is not seasonal workers who are the concern. Employers want employees. For example, in Fort McMurray, Tim Hortons and other employers are looking for people to fill positions. They are offering $15 or $20 an hour and because they cannot get anyone to fill the jobs they would like to have foreign workers come in. In some areas there is high unemployment not very far from these centres. This is not targeting seasonal workers. It is trying to help fill positions where employers are asking for foreign workers and foreign workers are being brought in to fill positions for which there are probably people available. I would like the member to understand the broader picture for the legislation.

[Jobs, Growth and Long-term Prosperity Act, June 18th, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, while the member quotes Andrew Coyne's observation, I will quote the Toronto Sun that said:

As Europe stands poised on the brink of a disastrous economic wildfire that could blacken the world, [the] NDP leader['s] hypocrisy and self-obsession is in full flame.

...vowing to delay the passing of [economic action plan 2012] by playing silly bugger with amendments and procedure....

This is nothing but grandstanding.

This is a budget designed to create jobs and inspire economic growth, and it comes to the House of Commons at a moment that can only be described as the 11th hour of a global economic conflagration....

Right now, there is only one enemy in our fight to protect Canada from the repercussions of Europe's burning.

And it's [the NDP leader]....

This is inarguable.

While the member can quote someone who speaks to democracy, the member also belongs to a party that unequivocally decided to vote against it before its members even read the budget, so I do not think that was exactly a representation of democracy.

[Jobs, Growth and Long-term Prosperity Act, June 13th, 2012]

Madam Speaker, I would like to dispute the opening remarks of the member in which she suggested that we would not be helping middle-class Canadians. The middle class has some focus from our budget, as do the working poor, through WITB. We have had WITB for the working poor to ensure they can take more income home, and there is our $100 per month child payments.

Also I would like the member to be more forthcoming on the fundamental rights that would be included and protected in collective bargaining. When she suggests that we took away women's rights, when the change was made it was fundamental rights and collective bargaining and women not having to go to court for years to have those rights. I suggest that the member put some correct comments on the record and continue to—

[Jobs, Growth and Long-Term Prosperity Act, June 12th, 2012]

Madam Speaker, I do not have enough time to tell the member the positive things that I am doing with western economic diversification.

What I will tell him is that one of the areas we went over, when we went through our strategic review, was trying to cut the overlap on audits. Together, I asked my department to see how many audits it does per year. It amounts to about 84. I have four pages of audits. I will just go through some of them. I will not tell the member how frequent they are, the number of reports or the total.

However, these are reports: audit and evaluation, corporate administration, and they include audit reports, chief audit executive annual report, chief audit executive overview report, departmental audit committee agenda and minutes, evaluation reports, five-year evaluation plan, follow-up on outstanding audit recommendations, report on disclosure of wrongdoing, risk based audit plans, Access to Information Act annual report to Parliament, annual hazardous occurrence report, business continuity plan questionnaire.

These are reports that my department has had to fill out. These people are the ones who are serving the department. They are writing reports for capital and repair expenditures, for capital expenditure survey, for Communications Security Establishment Canada signing authority, comprehensive land claims agreements contracting obligations report, departmental performance report green procurement, infosource, management accountability framework, Privacy Act annual report to Parliament, proactive disclosure, proactive disclosure grants and contributions, proactive disclosure travel and hospitality, procurement annual report, procurement strategy for aboriginal business, purchasing activity report, report on plans and priorities—