Mauril Bélanger

[Business of Supply, April 10th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to add, if I may, to the response by my colleague to the House Leader of the Official Opposition as to why the motion would focus on these two particular bills. It is because the Elections Act and the Parliament of Canada Act are fundamental to our democracy. If we are going to have a functioning democracy, we need certain constructs. Parliament is essential to that, and so is the Elections Act. If those two bills can be amended by imposing time allocation and forcing things without due process and due debate, and without the ability of Canadians to become aware of the importance of whatever legislation Parliament is confronted with by the executive, they can undermine democratic principles, the democratic process, and democratic institutions.

Therefore, the reason for the focus is quite obvious. These two acts are of great significance in terms of protecting and enabling checks and balances in our country to provide a free and transparent expression of democracy. If we start tampering with those in a manner that is not appropriate, then indeed, we are facing a situation that we should not be facing. That is why the focus is on these two today.

[Rwanda and Central African Republic, April 7th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, today marks 20 years since the beginning of hostilities in Rwanda, where, in less than 100 days, 800,000 people, most of them Tutsis, were massacred.

At the time, we promised that we would never forget that genocide.

On this sad anniversary, we must consider how the international community could have prevented this atrocity. We remember the important role played by Canadian peacekeepers and the work done by Canada and retired Lieutenant-General Roméo Dallaire, who undertook to create the responsibility to protect doctrine.

About 40 minutes ago, I ran into a group of retired military people visiting the library, people who were in Rwanda back in 1994. I asked them what they would want me to mention. One of them said that if we truly remember the lessons of Rwanda, why are Canadian peacekeepers not in the Central African Republic?

On this, the 20th anniversary of the Rwandan genocide, that is a very good question.

[Michel Picard, April 4th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank a man whose community is very important to him and whose career is coming to an end. After working at Radio-Canada for 41 years, today, Michel Picard is retiring, thus ending a remarkable career in the media.

Michel is known for his professionalism, volunteer work and warmth and, over the course of his career, he attracted the interest of an ever-growing number of people who watched and listened to his programming on Radio-Canada.

I would like to recognize and thank his wife, Brigitte, for agreeing to share him with us for so many years.

Although tomorrow is the first day of his retirement, Michel plans to remain closely and actively involved in our community. By way of evidence, I will be seeing him tomorrow at lunchtime as he judges a pancake-eating contest taking place near the Vanier sugar bush—North America's only urban sugar bush—as part of the 28th edition of the Maple Sugar Festival.

[Interparliamentary Delegations, April 2nd, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 34(1), I have the honour to present to the House, in both official languages, the report of the Canadian Parliamentary delegation of the Canada-Africa Parliamentary Association respecting its bilateral mission to Morocco and Republic of Côte d'Ivoire from September 29 to October 5, 2013.

[Protecting Canadians from Online Crime Act, March 26th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, my question for the minister is on process and deals with the fact that, again, the government has chosen not to refer the bill to committee before second reading. If the matter were of the urgency the minister says it is, after five hours of debate the bill could have been automatically referred to committee before second reading, if the government had chosen that route. That would have then allowed committee to hear all the witnesses and to engage in a very constructive manner on that bill.

I do not recall that the current government has, at any time, chosen to use that particular process, which greatly legitimizes the work of committees. It is just forcing a guillotine on the time, again, without using a much more constructive approach by referring it to second reading.

Why has the government, again, decided not to choose a more constructive and, I think, more participatory manner of dealing with the bill?

[Qalipu Mi'kmaq First Nation Act, March 6th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to make a comment and ask a question.

I listened very carefully to the minister's comments on what happened this morning and on the possibility that the Chief Electoral Officer's appearance in committee will have to be cancelled. He implied that if the House did not hold a recorded vote, the Chief Electoral Officer could possibly have a chance to testify before the House of Commons Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs this morning.

On our side, we accept that recommendation. We have no intention of rising to demand a recorded division. We would accept a decision on division.

Now for my question. We have been discussing this issue for years and we have negotiated. Now, the government has introduced a bill. We only had one opportunity to discuss it last Friday. However, the government has once again decided to issue a gag order, as usual. The official opposition has indicated that it supports this bill. We will not even get a chance to constructively debate this bill before it is passed.

Why did the minister not have the decency to consider referring the bill to committee before second reading stage?

[Canada-Africa Parliamentary Association, March 4th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, a little more than 10 years ago, the Canada-Africa Parliamentary Association, or CAPA, was formed. In its first decade, CAPA constructively engaged with fellow African parliamentarians to help them entrench democratic principles and to share best practices in our dual roles of overseeing government and legislating.

Over the course of that first decade, the Canada-Africa Parliamentary Association built a good reputation among our Canadian and African colleagues, among African ambassadors to Canada and Canadian ambassadors to Africa, at the Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development, as well as among NGOs operating in Africa.

On behalf of my colleagues in the House and the Senate, I express our gratitude for having had the opportunity of getting to know this vast, diverse, and complex continent and its 54 countries. I also wish to express CAPA's strong desire to continue to strengthen our relationships with our fellow African parliamentarians in the coming years.

[Taxation, February 14th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, our system of government requires cabinet to speak with one voice. However, we are currently seeing a worrisome trend.

The Minister of Finance says that the government should not keep its promise on income splitting. However, the Minister of Employment and Social Development says that the Minister of Finance is wrong. On top of that, the Prime Minister does not seem to want to deal with the issue.

Now that Canadians' confidence in this government is very low, can the government tell us who is right, the Minister of Finance or the Minister of Employment and Social Development?

[The Budget, February 13th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, the budget touches upon social housing, but there is not a mention of co-op housing.

Over the last decades, the Government of Canada helped build 60,000 co-op units, in which 250,000 Canadians live. Through agreements, 20% of these people receive geared-to-income support.

The bulk of these agreements will expire in the next few years. Why did the government choose not to include the renewal of these agreements in its 2014 budget?

[Situation in the Central African Republic, February 12th, 2014]

Mr. Chair, I do not disagree, because there is an element of urgency and, in my opinion, a moral obligation to act. I want to qualify that by saying that nobody can expect a single country, such as Canada, to solve every problem.

We have to be part of collective solutions, and collective responsibility usually arises from multilateral organizations, such as the United Nations, the African Union and the European Union. We need to participate in and support such efforts without necessarily taking on all of the responsibility. I do not think that would be fair to our taxpayers and our constituents. Still, we have to do our part because that is what all Canadians expect us to do.