House of Commons photo

Crucial Fact

  • His favourite word was chairman.

Last in Parliament August 2016, as Liberal MP for Ottawa—Vanier (Ontario)

Won his last election, in 2015, with 58% of the vote.

Statements in the House

Citizen Voting Act February 3rd, 2015

Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank my colleague from Bonavista—Gander—Grand Falls—Windsor for sharing his time and my colleagues in the House for unanimously agreeing to let him do so.

I have some questions about the bill. I happen to represent a riding where possibly one of the higher number of electors abroad cast ballots, given the fact that Foreign Affairs and National Defence headquarters, and many public servants, are in the riding. I have had a number of people write to me from abroad asking, “What gives?”

The first thing I need to understand, and I hope the government would offer a rationale for this, is that it used to be that Canadians living abroad beyond five years could not vote unless they were members of the Canadian Armed Forces, public servants working abroad, or Canadian citizens working for an international organization of which Canada was a member, such as NATO or the United Nations. They and their families could keep voting if they had been there for longer than five years.

Two students in the United States wanted to vote in the last general election and could not, because they had been abroad for more than five years and were not part of the forces, were not public servants, and were not working for an international organization that Canada is a member of, so they were not allowed to vote. They challenged that in court. That is the decision we heard referred to this morning, Frank et al. v. AG Canada. I have read it, and I will quote a couple of paragraphs from it in my presentation.

The reason I am bringing this up is that the distinction that remains standing in Bill C-50 is the Canadian Forces. They will be able to continue voting, as they did before, but their spouses and families, and certainly public servants and Canadian citizens working for international organizations, will not.

I have had two people write to me who are working as interpreters for NATO. They are Canadian citizens, and they are concerned now, because the rules under which they used to be able to vote would not apply if the bill were adopted.

What is the rationale for limiting this to the Canadian Forces and restricting, through Bill C-50's measures, the rest of Canadian citizens who used to be able to vote even if they were abroad for longer than five years? That needs to be explained.

I will quote two paragraphs from the decision, because I think they may indicate the nature of the debate here. The magnitude of the vote is not all that much. In paragraph 113 of the decision, it states:

I am equally troubled by the notion of what is or is not “fair” to the resident majority of voters. Substantive “fairness” is almost always in the eye of the beholder. To put the issue in context, since the Special Voting Rules were implemented in 1993, a vastly smaller number of non-resident Canadian citizens have exercised their right to vote than expected. Elections Canada estimated at the time that approximately 2,000,000 Canadians were living abroad and planned for 200,000 registrations. In the election that followed, a little over 15,000 special ballots were requested and issued. Over the next several general elections, the number of external ballots issued ranged from a low of 10,733 (in 2011) to a high of 19,230 (in 2000). In the most recent election, in the ten Canadian ridings with the highest number of special ballots, as a percentage of total registered electors in the constituency, the non-resident votes ranged from a low of 0.05% to a high of 0.2%. Also in that election, Elections Canada reported that barely 6,000 votes were recorded from international electors, compared to approximately 26,000 votes from Canadian Forces electors and almost 15,700 votes from incarcerated electors.

The other paragraph I will quote is paragraph 114.

This is comes from the government in its presentation of arguments.

The second objective, concerns over electoral fraud, while less vague than the first, is subject to the same frailties. In this case, the government has failed to identify any particular problem with non-resident voter fraud or of non-resident voting causing an undue drain on Parliamentary resources. Indeed, the only evidence of these concerns at all comes from the speculation of a political science professor teaching at the University of Buffalo - State University of New York, who opines that an increase in non-resident voting “could,” “may” or “might” give rise to concerns in the future. The available evidence from Elections Canada is that there are no documented problems associated with non-resident voting.

The reason I brought these up is that the numbers also show quite clearly that 6,000 of two million non-resident Canadians voted versus 26,000 Canadian Forces members. I am wondering if that is part of the rationale with respect to the first question I asked. It would be good for Canadians to know that.

Also, as has been brought up a number of times, there is the matter of delays. It is true that if 36 days, which is the span of an election, is the time that triggers when one can register, it will cause significant problems. One has to wonder if indeed that is not a way of suppressing votes that would otherwise be more likely to be cast. The question asked by a colleague of the member for Toronto—Danforth is quite accurate. Given that we now have a fixed election date law, why can Canadians who are resident abroad who want to vote not start registering now? If the law says that the election is going to be on October 19, 2015, then it would help Elections Canada, it would help voters, and it would help declared registered candidates. They would be able to approach these folks in terms of trying to convince them to vote one way or the other. Why not now, as opposed to once the writ is dropped? That to me is troubling, and I would like to hear the rationale for that, too.

Finally, there is a question about the last address. Why would people have to register every election, when they did not have to before? I am wondering about that. If they are part of the registry, and nothing has changed in their citizenship and so forth, why must they always re-register, and with the same address? What happens if they have lived in an apartment building that is now demolished and the address does not exist anymore? Will they be able to register if the address does not exist anymore? If the apartment building is gone and all their neighbours are gone, how will they get someone to ascertain that they were indeed living there? It is going to be difficult.

I wonder to what extent the Conservatives might be open to amendments to this kind of provision, because I do not believe they have thought things through completely.

Finally, a number of us in this room have been declared candidates for our respective parties. I have always tried to send some material to Canadians residing abroad who are eligible to vote. If that registry no longer exists, and if they cannot register until the writ is dropped, then obviously, the local candidates, of whatever party, will have a difficult time communicating with these Canadian citizens who are eligible to vote, presumably, but who may be in the midst of trying to register. Therefore, we would have no idea of how to communicate with them, and voters will not have any idea of who the local candidates are.

All of these are issues of some concern. I have received, again, a number of complaints from constituents who are Canadian citizens who would vote abroad, and I hope that these will be answered either here by the minister or in committee, either by the government or by Elections Canada. These are serious matters, and if they are not answered, I would think we would not be able to support such a bill.

Caroline Andrew January 29th, 2015

Mr. Speaker, last month, Caroline Andrew, a constituent of Ottawa—Vanier and the Director of the Centre on Governance at the University of Ottawa, was appointed to the Order of Canada, our highest honour.

Ms. Andrew has long been working on promoting cultural diversity in Canada, including among Ontario's francophonie. She is also recognized for her contribution to urban and feminist studies, and for her social engagement.

She was the dean of the Faculty of Social Sciences from 1997 to 2005. Ms. Andrew remains humble and genuine. Through her active and lengthy career and in the context of her community involvement, Ms. Andrew's efforts have had a positive impact on the growth of our community.

An appointment to the Order of Canada is an excellent way to recognize the scope and impact of her contribution.

Bravo, Caroline. On behalf of my colleagues, I wish to express our most sincere congratulations and best wishes for all your endeavours.

Questions Passed as Orders for Returns January 26th, 2015

With regard to the government’s announcement that it will transfer to the National Capital Commission up to 60 acres of land belonging to Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada for the construction of a hospital and teaching facilities: (a) was this decision preceded by public and private consultations; (b) what was the consultation process and what were the methods involved; (c) when was the consultation process launched; and (d) what organizations were consulted?

Questions on the Order Paper January 26th, 2015

With regard to the Canadian observers sent by the government to monitor Tunisia’s recent presidential and legislative elections: (a) how many observers took part in the observation missions and what are their names; (b) with which organizations did the observers work; and (c) what selection process was used to choose the observers?

National Flag December 12th, 2014

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in recognition of the 50th anniversary of the adoption of our national flag. On the evening of December 14, 1964, MPs gathered to conclude a controversial and sometimes acrimonious debate on the commitment made by then Prime Minister Pearson to adopt a distinctly Canadian pennant

Today, everyone loves our flag. It has become a proud symbol of our Canadian identity, our values and our hopes. I encourage all members of the House and all Canadians to discover the history of our flag in all its splendour.

The results of a free vote that took place at 2:15 a.m. on December 15 are as follows: 125 Liberals voted in favour and one voted against; 6 Progressive Conservatives voted in favour and 73 voted against; 19 Socreds voted in favour and 3 voted against; 13 New Democrats voted in favour and one voted against.

In all, 163 MPs voted in favour and 78 voted against.

In conclusion, I hope that we might all agree that 50 years ago the House of Commons acted decisively and did the right thing.

Points of Order December 11th, 2014

Mr. Speaker, I rise on a point of order. I heard a moment ago that there seemed to be unanimous consent to see the clock. Will you seek whether there is consent?

Consumer Protection December 9th, 2014

Mr. Speaker, this response was a little more respectful and less flippant, so I appreciate that.

I am not expecting the government to direct the Competition Bureau. I understand it is an arm's-length agency. However, I hope it will pay attention to this significant issue.

A campaign was launched, freethebeans.ca. Many Canadian consumers have written both to the minister and to the Competition Bureau hoping they will indeed take a look at this to prevent behaviour that is not appropriate. I am not suggesting that is the case; that is not my job to do. However, I would hope we would see this happen so this market niche, which is now in the competitive environment, remains in the competitive environment and no one uses a dominant position to drive out the competitors. I think if that is done, then Canadians who drink coffee using the single server pod will all benefit from this.

Consumer Protection December 9th, 2014

Mr. Speaker, on November 17, I asked a question of the Minister of Industry, and I was a little surprised and disappointed with his answer. That is why I chose to take the opportunity that is offered tonight in adjournment debate to raise this matter.

I want to explain the question first. I started it by saying, “Canadian consumers believe in and benefit from a fair and open competitive marketplace”.

Previous to November 17, I attended a presentation at the Ottawa Economic Club luncheon, where the CEO of Club Coffee, John Pigott, explained the situation consumers are facing in terms of single-serve coffee pods, which is a fairly significant market. He told us that in 2012, sales were about $204 million; in 2013, they were $367 million; and in 2014, they were almost half a billion dollars. Over one billion of these things are sold in North America.

What was being raised was that his company had started competing in 2012, when the foreign company that had the largest single share of the market, almost a monopoly, because of patents that were coming to term at that point, started selling. The average cost was 52¢ a pod versus 73¢ a pod for the larger company. Their market share from coffee was increasing, and it was being alleged that the larger company was now trying to do things that would reassert its monopoly, so to speak. They lodged a complaint with the Competition Bureau.

My question to the minister, asked in an absolutely non-partisan manner, was whether the government would respond as to whether there would be an inquiry initiated by the Competition Bureau in a timely manner. I also mentioned that five other independent companies in Canada also supported the complaint. I mentioned one of the companies that happened to be in the minister's region of the country.

I was surprised by the response, because it was a little flippant. He said that if this was the most serious question coming from the opposition, then we were doing great in Canada.

Over 70% of Canadian adults consume coffee. If we are looking at that kind of price differential, then we are talking about tens of millions of dollars. That is why a fair marketplace is important. I just wanted to make sure the minister was aware of it, and he did confirm that he was. After I asked the question, he told me he had talked to the company I had mentioned, the Granville Island Coffee Company.

All I am saying tonight is that we ought to treat parliamentarians with respect. When we raise questions that are of significance to millions of Canadians on a daily basis, then we ought not to be flippant in our answers. That is why I thought this evening I would raise this matter, and hopefully I will get a response from the parliamentary secretary that is not flippant and not partisan in any way, shape, or form.

Leslie Armour December 9th, 2014

Mr. Speaker, on November 1 our community lost one of its better minds when Professor Leslie Armour passed away.

After obtaining a Ph.D. at the University of London in 1956, he taught at many universities and held chairs in philosophy at the Dominican University College, Saint Paul University, and the University of Ottawa, where, in 1996, he became professor emeritus.

A fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, Dr. Armour had a distinguished career as a philosopher and commentator on social economics. Indeed, since 2004 he had been editor of the International Journal of Social Economics. The Canadian Encyclopedia said of him, “Like many Canadians foremost in their fields, his work is better known abroad than at home.”

Next spring his family will host a memorial service to celebrate his life. I hope to be there, and in the meantime I will endeavour to read his last book, Inference and Persuasion: An Introduction to Logic and Critical Reasoning. Now, however, our condolences go to his grandchildren; to his children, Carol, Adriane, and Julian; and to his wife, Diana.

Foreign Affairs December 5th, 2014

Mr. Speaker, we must all help fight violence against women and girls here in Canada and all around the world.

It has been almost seven months since Nigeria asked Canada for help to find and rescue more than 200 young girls who were kidnapped by Boko Haram, a known terrorist group.

Can the government tell us where things stand in our efforts to rescue these young girls, who are victims of extreme violence, before it is too late, if it is not too late already?