Madam Chair, what is the budget for the delegation?
House of Commons photoLost her last election, in 2015, with 36% of the vote.
Business of Supply May 15th, 2012
Madam Chair, what is the budget for the delegation?
Business of Supply May 15th, 2012
Madam Chair, will the minister extend government accreditation for members of Parliament from the opposition?
Business of Supply May 15th, 2012
Madam Chair, will the minister include the opposition in his official delegation?
Business of Supply May 15th, 2012
Madam Chair, I will use my allotted time right now to jump right into things and start with questions. I have a number of questions for the minister concerning Rio Plus 20. They will be short questions and I look for some straightforward answers.
As we know Rio Plus 20 is coming up in June, will the minister attend?
Copyright Modernization Act May 15th, 2012
Madam Speaker, my question for my colleague is about the rights of creators. In answer to the last question, he said that the bill balanced rights. I disagree with him.
I am from Halifax where we have a lot of creators. Creators are not necessarily the owners of copyright. Therefore, what is in the bill that stands up for creators? There is this long list of exceptions in the bill that do not adequately recognize the rights of creators. The Conservatives are creating new ways for people to access copyrighted works, which then leaves creators out in the cold.
What exactly is in the bill that works for creators, because I do not see anything?
The Environment May 15th, 2012
Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister has not straightened out the fact that last week, the Minister of the Environment claimed that the round table was cut because it was redundant and then yesterday we heard the Minister of Foreign Affairs say that it was cut because the Conservatives did not agree with its independent research.
It seems that disagreeing with the government makes for a very short career with the Conservative government.
Why did the Minister of the Environment mislead Canadians about why the national round table was cut?
The Environment May 15th, 2012
Mr. Speaker, the Conservatives continue to contradict themselves.
At first, they said the National Round Table on the Environment and the Economy had to be cut because other groups do the same work.
Yesterday, the Minister of Foreign Affairs said that it was abolished because the Conservatives did not agree with its research. For once, the Conservatives are being honest.
Why are the Conservatives so afraid of the objective advice given by independent organizations?
Copyright Modernization Act May 15th, 2012
Madam Speaker, I would like to pick up where my colleague from Dartmouth—Cole Harbour left off. When I was listening to the parliamentary secretary's speech, I kept hearing this phrase over and over again, “creates new...”. He said that the bill creates new rules about this and new rules about that. He said “creates new” quite a number of times, although I did not actually keep track.
My colleague from Dartmouth—Cole Harbour raised an excellent point when he said that there was a lot happening with this bill. It would create new powers, new rules and new regulations. It essentially would create a new way of doing business.
Therefore, I do not know how the parliamentary secretary can stand up and justify, with any credibility in the House, why it is that there has been time allocation moved on this and why it is we are not doing a proper and thorough study of this review. I would like him to comment on the fact that the very words in his speech contradict the position that his government is taking.
Petitions May 15th, 2012
Mr. Speaker, I rise today to present a petition signed by constituents from my riding of Halifax. This petition is a Canadian interfaith call for leadership and action on climate change. The petition recognizes that global warming is a reality and that, despite the government's rhetoric of a commitment to decreasing greenhouse gas emissions, Canadian levels have continued to rise.
The petitioners are calling for the implementation of a binding international agreement to replace the Kyoto protocol. This agreement would commit nations to a reduction in carbon emissions and to a national renewable energy policy. If we are serious about ensuring global average temperatures to stay below a 2°C increase from pre-industrial levels, fair, clean carbon emission targets must be set and implemented.
Like so many Canadians, these constituents recognize that the Conservative government is failing to protect our environment. Both the petitioners and I look forward to the minister's response.
Request for Emergency Debate May 11th, 2012
Mr. Speaker, as you know, I wrote to you earlier today requesting an emergency debate on the refusal of the government to split the omnibus budget bill into separate pieces for proper study at the proper committee.
According to page 693 of House of Commons Procedure and Practice, an emergency debate is legitimate when the matter “could not be brought before the House within a reasonable time by other means, such as during a supply day”, which is the case here.
As time allocation was moved by the government to limit time for debate and as this is the last day of debate on the omni-budget, I believe this warrants an emergency debate. It is the case that we have a budget before us that is over 400 pages long when, historically, budgets have been about 30 pages long. It touches everything from the environment to old age security, assisted human reproduction, employment equity, CSIS, the Seeds Act, and telecommunications. It really does touch the lives of every Canadian as far as I am concerned.
The NDP has tried to negotiate with the government, asking it to voluntarily split this bill into the appropriate subject matters, but it has denied us this. You, Mr. Speaker, may also have heard that yesterday it was my intention to move a motion during the public session of committee to try to have the environment committee review the environment parts of this budget bill. We were not even able to be in public for me to do that. I was denied the opportunity to even move a motion to consider some of the environmental aspects at the environment committee where it properly belongs.
I urge you, Mr. Speaker, to take this application for an emergency debate seriously, to see the urgency of this issue and to grant an emergency debate on the government's refusal to be transparent and accountable on this bill.